IMPORTANT METALLURGICAL INVENTION. IMPORTANT METALLURGICAL INVENTION.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1231, 9 February 1883, Page 2

IMPORTANT METALLURGICAL INVENTION. IMPORTANT METALLURGICAL INVENTION.

(From the London Daily Telegraph, December. 4th ) An invention which it is beslived 1 .willeffect important. changes in the r m'etal trade, not only in this country, but throughout the. World, has recently been patented in Great Britian and most foreign countries, and is nowbeing sold as an article of commerce. The invention consists of a new method of manufacturing alumina by whic.li one tenth of the present cost is saved, while it can be made in immense quantities in the course of a few days instead of requiring nine months to produce it, as was formerly the case. Thu inventor

is Mr Webster, of Hollywood, neai Birmingham, who has been engaged ir the experiments since 1951, and onlj succeeded in perfecting his procesf about 12 months ago, after having expended nearly £80,000 in the expen ments. Prior to this invention alumina was only made in France, tbe attempi to introduce the manufacture into England -having failed after promoters had lost upwards of a million oi money. The extent and value of the discovery may be gathered from the fact that a French syndicate have offered no less a sum than nearly hali a million for the patent rights in France alone, and companies in the United States have offered £1,000,000 (ortheof right manufacture inAmerica, whilst the Belgians and Germans are negotiating for the purchase for their respective countries. The ordinary method. of making alumina is by precipitation, and the cost is no less than LIOOO a, ton whereas by Mr Webster's process the, cost is reduced to less than LI 00 a ton. When converted into ■aluminium, and alloyed with copper, tin, and other alloys, it produces a bronze metal, which is considered to he supeVior to anything in use for ship fitting^, steam propellers, and also the manufacture of artillery. Although it has only just been placed in the market, bronze is in extensive demand by shipbuilders, and the British Government are in treaty for a supply of the metal of the Royal Gun Factory at Woolwich. A scientific analysis shows that the aluminium bronze has a resisting power of 42 tons per inch, as compared ' with 23 for gunmetal, and 30 for Bessemer steel. At the same time, it is exceedingly ductile and tenacious and when used for ships will bend rather than break from the force of a cotffeion. The metal is supplied in ingots, "rolled into sheets, or drawn into wire. In its different forms it may be- used for all purposes for which electro-plating is now employed; also for pen-making, nail-making, bellfoundiiig, and even for jewellery^ Kings of pre&bus stones are in vast demand for the ' United States, and spoons, knives and forks, dish-covers, railway carriage door bandies, and other articles made frpm the metal are in extensive inquiry ih this country*