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By Richard E. Chism

The metric system is now in official use in the Republic of Mexico, having been adopted by the Government in the year 1862. Athough it is used to compute all customs and other duties to be paid to the General Government, in the measurement of public and private lands arid in all freight and other transactions on the railroads, and is taught exclusively in the public schools, the system has made but slight head way among the people,and has not succeeded in displacing the old-time weights and measures, which are still used in ordinary commerce. The latter were founded on old Spanish models, but, owing to the inexactness of the first standards and to subsequent changes, differ at present very widely from their originals. As to local modifications, weights are the same all over the Republic, but measures of the same name differ greatly in capacity in different States, and even in neighboring towns. The value in the metric system here assigned to each denomination of the old weights and measures is that fixed by the Mexican Government at the time of the adoption of the metric system. The equivalents in American weights and measures were calculated by me from data found in Trautwine's Pocket-Book as to the comparison between the French and American weights and measures, and are believed to be correct. I shall be thankful for early notice of any error that may be detected, that it may be corrected before the final publication of this paper in the Transactions. Linear Measures. Kilometers. Miles. 1 legua (league) = 5000 varas . = 4.19 2.604375 Meters. Feet. 1 vara (yard) = 3 pies.....= 0.83800 2.749578 1 pie (foot) = 12 pulgadas.....=0.27933 0.916526 Inches. 1 pulgada (inch) = 12 lineas . = 0.02328 0.916526 1 linea (line).......= 0.00194 0.076577 The vara is also divided (for dry-goods-selling) into palms or cuartas (palms or quarters). Meters. Feet. Inches. 1 palmo or cuarta .. .. = 0.209500 =0.687394 = 8.248728

Jan 1, 1887

By J. C. Bayles

Jan 1, 1886

By Arthur F. Wendt

Within the last few years the production of iron, and of the metals generally, by a given furnace-plant, has been largely increased, in many instances trebled. Iron-furnaces exceeding one hundred tons' capacity per diem are now the rule in new constructions. Copper and lead-furnaces smelting from 60 to 100 tons of ore per day are common. With this greatly augmented product, the life of furnace-linings has been diminished, and recourse has been had to various cooling devices for prolonging the life of such liuings. The object of this paper is to call the attention of the profession to an arrangement recently patented by the writer. The common course of projecting water against the exterior of the brickwork of a furnace has been in a large measure abandoned by our most progressive managers. All have recognized the danger of this proceeding, especially when applied to the crucible of a furnace below the line of the tuyeres. Cast-iron water-jackets, with wroughtiron pipes for circulating the cooling-water, have replaced the cruder methods. In iron-smelting the use of such jackets has been confined to the crucible and the space around the tuyeres; and it has been the custom to support the jackets on the brickwork of the furnace. But the erosion of the brickwork below tuyere-jackets allows them to sag, and often displaces the alignment of the tuyeres and leads to other annoyances. The principle of construction adopted by the writer to remedy this and other evils, is to use a thin fire-brick lining (not over nine inches) from the tuyeres up to the bosh, to back this lining with wrought-iron or steel water-jackets, hung from the mantel-ring, and thus to carry the whole weight of the furnace and its filling upon the supporting pillars. The crucible proper is lined with three or four thicknesses of fire-brick on the sides, and not less than forty-eight inches in the bottom. It is supported on independent pillars, and is practically an independent structure. It could even be placed on wheels and made removable, were there any adequate advantage to be gained by such an arrangement.

Jan 1, 1885

Jan 1, 1885

William Kent, New York City: I regret that I have not had the time since the Cincinnati meeting to make as complete a study of Mr. Salom's paper as I wished. I regard it as one of the most important papers that have been presented on this subject, and worthy of complete study. I started out, on the limited time I had, on a system of study which I would recommend to any one else who has leisure to complete the investigation. I took the original report presented at the Cincinnati meeting, and selected from it' such tests as had the analyses reported along with the physical tests, giving the amounts of carbon, phosphorus, manganese, etc., taking only those in which all these elements are given.

Jan 1, 1885

By C. A. Stetefeldt

FoR the convenience of those who do not care to enter into the details of this long essay, I begin with a summary of the most important results it presents. The extraction of silver by the lixiviation-process from ores which have been subjected to a chloridizing-roasting, is based upon the fact that silver chloride is easily soluble in solutions of sodium or calcium hyposulphite, and that silver is precipitated from such solutions by an alkaline sulphide, with regeneration of the hyposulphite salts. In case the ore contains lead a large portion of the latter is and dissolved, lead sulphate being soluble in hyposulphite solutions. If, at the same time, copper is present, the sulphides precipitated from the solution, contain silver, copper, and lead, a combination of metals not desirable for subsequent treatment. Mr. E. H. Russell, of Park City, Utah, is the inventor and the patentee in the United States and several foreign countries of a new lixiviation-process, based upon the chemical facts discussed in this paper. Mr. Russell has discovered that lead can be completely separated from a sodium hyposulphite solution, as lead carbonate, by sodium carbonate or purified soda-ash, without precipitating any copper or silver. After decanting the solution from the lead carbonate, silver and copper are obtained from it in the usual way. This method of separating lead prohibits the use of calcium poly-sulphide as a precipitant for the sulphides, because any calcium entering the regenerated lixiviationsolution would also be precipitated as a carbonate with the lead by soda-ash. Hence, a sodium sulphide must be employed. A full investigation has demonstrated that this is by no means detrimental. Sodium sulphide and hyposulphite are more advantageously used in the lixiviation-process than the corresponding calcium-salts. Another defect in the lixiviation-process consisted in the necessity of a very perfect chlorination of the silver in the ore, because silver in

Jan 1, 1885

By R. W. Raymond

This name is applied to the present mining law, as enacted in 1872 and since, to indicate its leading characteristic—in which it differs from all previous mining laws of this or any other country. The earlier act, passed in 1866, was practically the first attempt of Congress to deal with the question of mining titles upon the public domain. It was framed after nearly twenty years of acquiescence on the part of the Government in the self-constituted tribunals, officials, rules, and customs of the mining districts. In its recognition of these, and in several other particulars, the act of 1866 was open to serious criticisms. It is the purpose of this paper, not to trace the history of legislation on this subject, or show in detail what were the faults of the earlier law, but rather, by a discussion of certain aspects of the present law, to point out how great a revoluition it has effected in the rights of mining locators, and to indicate some of the difficulties attending its application. In the attempt to correct the vagueness of the act of 1866 an entirely new elernent was introduced into the law, bringing with it a new set of difficulties. Under the act of 1866 and the miners' customs which it followed, the lode was the thing claimed and subsequently acquired by patent. And the claim to a given number of feet on the longitudinal course of the lode was rooted in 'a discovery of any part of the lode in any part of the claim. ("Extensions" could in many districts—perhaps universally—be located and claimed on the strength of the discovery in the principal claim to which they referred; but this is a point not essential to the present discussion.) It was not necessary to find the outcrop or the upper edge of a lode in order to lay a valid location upon it. An explorer, sinking a shaft and intersecting a lode not already discovered and claimed by another, could claim by that discovery the number of feet along that lode which the local laws might permit (not exceeding the maximum set by the United States statute) whether his sur-

Jan 1, 1884

By A. N. Rogers

Jan 1, 1883

By A. J. Bowie

The discovery of the auriferous cement gravel deposits in and near Deadwood Gulch, Lawrence County, Dakota Territory, in 1876, created a mining excitement, and rush to the Black Hills. Numerous ten and twenty-stamp mills were built on Deadwood Gulch; Central City and the town of Deadwood sprang into existence, and became the centres of the mining industry of the Hills. Gold quartz deposits were subsequently discovered and located on a so-called mineral belt, extending from Whitewood Creek on the south, to Deadwood Gulch on the north. A northerly group of these quartz locations was purchased in December, 1877, by parties in San Francisco, who formed a company, incorporated under the name of the Father de Smet Consolidated Gold Mining Company. This company immediately commenced the work of exploration The deposits were proved to be extensive, and easily mined, but it was found that the ore, on an average, would not yield more than $10.00 per ton* of 2000 pounds. • At this trine the cost of supplies and materials in the Hills was high. Miners' wages were $3.50 per diem, and custom mills charged $6.00 per ton. The successful working of mines on "the belt" necessitated cheap milling. The ores being of so low grade,f this could be accomplished only with large and economically running mills. To insure the greatest possible economy, the Father de Smet mill

Jan 1, 1882

By Augustus J. Bowie

THE discovery of the auriferous cement gravel deposits in and near Deadwood Gulch, Lawrence County, Dakota Territory, in 1876, created a mining excitement, and rush to the Black Hills. Numerous ten and twenty-stamp mills were built on Deadwood Gulch ; Central City and the town of Deadwood sprang into existence, and became the centres of the mining industry of the Hills. Gold quartz deposits were subsequently discovered and located on a so-called mineral belt, extending from Whitewood Creek on the south, to Deadwood Gulch on the north. A northerly group of these quartz locations was purchased in December, 1877, by parties in San Francisco,, who formed a company, incorporated under the name of the Father de Smet Consolidated Gold Mining Company. This company immediately commenced the work of exploration. The deposits were proved to be extensive, and easily mined, but it was found that the ore, on an average, would not. yield more than $10.00 per ton* of 2000 pounds. At this time the cost of supplies and materials in the Hills was high. Miners' wages were $3.50 per diem, and custom mills charged $6:00. per ton. The successful working of mines on "the belt" necessitated cheap milling. The ores being of so low grade,† this could be accomplished only with large and economically running mills. To insure the greatest possible economy, the Father,& Smet mill * Up to December 31st, 1879; the de Smet mine had produced bullion of the value of $718,211.68 from 76,155 tons of ore, being an average value of $9.41 per ton. During the year ending December 31st, 1879, the mine produced 46,344 tons, which yielded $425,360.42, or $9.18 per ton. The total gross cost of working for the corresponding period, including deadwork, exchange, legal expenses, fete., wits $219,914.82. The yield of the mine for the year 1880 (Engineering and Mining Journal, February 5th, 1881), was $600,011, with total expenses of mining and milling, of $313,108. † The first 4083 tons extracted from the de Smet mine, were selected, yielding $62,783.97. The next 25,728 tons produced $230,067.24. The total 29,811 tons were weighed, and worked at custom mills. The yield of the first 409 tons from tine Golden Terra Mine was $11.44 per-ton.

Jan 1, 1882

By William Metcalf

William Metcalf, Pittsburgh, Pa. : In rising to discuss Dr. Dadley's paper, I feel somewhat as I did at the Baltimore meeting —that a "crucible" man has no right to interfere in a "Bessenier" discussion; yet having read the paper very carefully, I feel impelled to say something, for two reasons: First, because I believe Dr. Dudley is entirely on the right and having undertaken and partly accomplished a great work, he .is entitled to the help of all who have experience in these matters; and second, because the data given force me to colicur in Captain Jones's opinion that the analyses are incomplete, since they ignore sulphur, copper, nitrogen, and possibly other injurious elements. In an experience of fourteen years, and with probably more than a hontlwl tests, we have never found the chemistry and the of crucible steel to disagree. If in any cave a disagreement tins sp- . peared, it has been our invariable custom to go over all our physirtal testa with great care, and if we found no error, then to refer the matter back to the cherubt, who has invariably found some unexjmted element to account for the trouble. It is only just to the chemist to say here, that ordinarily be is only expected to determine phosphorus, silicon, sulphnr. Generally the metals, with the exception of manganese, are not looked for, although a watch is usually kept for copper and arsenic. Further, in most cases we have found our own work more liable to be faulty than the chemist's. Having arrived then at such a degree of experience that we can preJict the analysis from our tests, or our tests from the analysis, with almost absolute certainty, I can see no reason why the same results map not be attained in the Bessemer practice. But two things are essential, neither of which we have here; first, cornplete analyses; and second, a record of the nature of the blow, the heat at which the ingots were bloomed, and the mile finished,—in short, a complete history of the This latter is quite as essential as accurate and complete analyses. Dr. Duclley ignores sulphur and copper on fair enough grounds commercially speaking, bnt when he announces so gmve a conclusion as he has reached, in a scientific way, the omission of any elementn that, may affect the conclusion is hardly justifiable. His diEerenvcs of phosphorus units, which I milst term units of rottenness 83 fr os phosphorus is concerned, and which I am sorry be did not llama wnits of alloys,—are very small, and if eulphur and copper hod been inclurlid they might havo upset hie conclusions sitogether, The

Jan 1, 1881

Jan 1, 1880

THE opening session was held on Tuesday evening, February 17th, in the house of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The President of the Institute, Mr. E. B. Coxe, after a few introductory remarks, congratulating the members on the general prosperity in all the branches of the professions and manufactures represented by the Institute, called on Mr. E. F. Loiseau, of Philadelphia, for the first paper, On the Successful Manufacture of Compressed Fuel at Port Richmond, Philadelphia. Professor Prime called attention to the fact that the work of the United States Testing Board had been left unfinished at a point when valuable results had just been reached, and offered the following resolutions: WHEREAS, The American Institute of Mining Engineers has seen with regret that the work of the United States Testing Board has been suspended through the lack of an appropriation by Congress, which appropriation dues not seem likely to be renewed, and WHEREAS, It seems most important to the vital interests of our iron and steel manufactures that the experiments commenced by the United States Testing Board should be carried to successful completion ; Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed, to act with a like, committee to he appointed by the American Society of Civil Engineers, to carry out to completion the work commenced by the United States Testing Board. Resolved, That the American Society of Civil Engineers be requested to cooperate with this society by the appointment of a like committee. Resolved, That the committee have authority to request, in the name of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, contributions to a fund to be devoted to the completion of the experiments aforesaid. Resolved, That the Council of this Institute be authorized, whenever requested by the committee so appointed, to petition Congress for the free use of the testing machine at the United States Arsenal at Watertown. Resolved, That a committee be appointed by the President, to select the afore-said committee of experts. Resolved, That the President of the Institute have authority to fill any vacancies which may occur in the committee. The resolutions were unanimously adopted, and President Coxe appointed the following committee in accordance with the resolutions : Messrs. A. L. Holley, James Park, Jr., and J. F. Holloway. The President also appointed Messrs. Heinrich, Mickley, and Spils-

Jan 1, 1880

By Rossiter W. Raymond

In the case of The Eureka Consolidated Mining Company v. The Richmond Mining Company of Nevada, recently tried at San Francisco, California, the real defendant was the Richmond Consolidated Mining Company, of London; but this being a foreign corporation, holds its mining property in Nevada through the Nevada corporation of similar name, in which the London Company owns all the stock, except the few shares necessary to " qualify" the American directors. The trial would naturally have taken place in the Circuit Court at Carson City, Nevada, and before a jury. But by stipulation of the parties, the case was tried in San Francisco, before Hon. Stephen J. Field, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Hon. Lorenzo Sawyer, United States Circuit Judge of the Ninth Circuit, and Hon. E. W. Hillyer, United States District Judge, for the District of Nevada. The hearing began July 23d, 1877. The witnesses occupied two weeks, and the argument of counsel three days. Very eminent lawyers were engaged on both sides; for the plaintiff, Messrs. Solomon Heydenfeldt, R. S. Mesick, John Garber, and H. J. Thornton; for the defendant, Messrs. S. M. Wilson, Thomas Wren, and J. J. Williams. The court held the case under advisement until August 22d, when Mr. Justice Field delivered its unanimous opinion in favor of the plaintiff. The action was a complaint in ejectment, and an appeal was taken to the United States Supreme Court. The questions at issue between the Eureka and the Richmond Company in this suit, comprised several points in the construction of the mining law of the United States, and its relation to the customs and regulations of the mining districts, which possess an importance and an applicability far beyond the limits of the case in which they arose. It is my purpose to state these points, the arguments

Jan 1, 1879

THE first session was held in the small hall of the Academy of Music, on Tuesday evening, February 18th, 1879. The proceedings were opened by the reading, by President Eckley B. Coxe, of the following Address : SECONDARY TECHNICAL EDUCATION. Technical education is a subject to which both the American Institute of Mining Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers have of late years given much attention, and deservedly so. We all remember the admirable address of our former President, Mr. Holley, at the Washington meeting, upon this subject, and the very interesting reunion of the two societies in Philadelphia for its discussion. The problem to the solution of which the meeting devoted its attention was, "Shall the practical education of the engineer in the mine, in the rolling-mill, in the workshop, or in the field, precede, be contemporaneous with, or follow his theoretical studies in the technical school ?" I do not propose to add anything to what was so admirably said by so many of our leading engineers on that occasion ; but I shall ask your attention to another question in technical education, which seems to me equally worthy of our consideration, and which, I am sorry to say, has as yet attracted but little attention in this country. It is, "Shall the apprentices (I call them so for the want of a better general name), who are growing up and learning their trades in and around our mines and works, and from whose ranks the master mechanics and foremen of the future must be taken-shall they be provided with some means of obtaining as much theoretical training as may be necessary to enable them properly to understand the various processes and operations that they may be called upon to superintend, and not be obliged to pick up, as best they may, here a little and there a little truth mingled with much error?" In the former case, those who have the ability and industry to avail themselves of the advantages that should be offered to them would fit themselves to become real foremen, men who would understand and appreciate the true engineer and his methods. Of late years the young men of this country who have wished to enter our profession have had great facilities offered to them for so doing ; there have been undoubtedly great improvements in the methods of instruction; and although I am very far from imagining that no further progress can be made, or is demanded, yet I feel sure that

Jan 1, 1879

Jan 1, 1879

By Rossiter W. Raymond

(Read at the Amenia Meeting, October, 1877.) IN the case of The Eureka Consolidated Mining Company v. The Richmond Mining Company of Nevada, recently tried at San Francisco, California, the real defendant was the Richmond Consolidated Mining Company, of London; but this being a foreign corporation, holds its mining property in Nevada through the Nevada corporation of similar name, in which the London Company owns all the stock, except the few shares necessary to "qualify" the American directors. The trial would naturally have taken place in the Circuit Court at Carson City, Nevada, and before a jury. But by stipulation of the parties, the case was tried in San Francisco, before Hon. Stephen J. Field, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Hon. Lorenzo Sawyer, United States Circuit Judge of the Ninth Circuit, and Hon. E. W. Hillyer, United States District Judge, for the District of Nevada. The hearing began July 23d, 1877. The witnesses occupied two weeks, and the argument of. counsel three days. Very eminent lawyers were. engaged on both sides ; for the plaintiff, Messrs. Solomon Heydenfeldt, R. S. Mesick, John Garber, and H. J. Thornton ; for the defendant, Messrs. S. M. Wilson, Thomas Wren, and J. J. Williams. The court held the case under advisement until August 22d, when Mr. Justice Field delivered its unanimous opinion in favor of the plaintiff. The action was a complaint in ejectment, and an appeal was taken to the United States Supreme Court. The questions at issue between the Eureka and the Richmond Company in this suit, comprised several points in the construction of the mining law of the United States, and its relation to the customs and regulations of the mining districts, which possess an importance and an applicability far beyond the limits of the case in which they arose. It is my purpose to state these points, the arguments

Jan 1, 1878

THE opening session* was held in the hall of the Franklin Institute, on Tuesday evening, June 20th, President Holley in the chair. The President introduced. Mr. Franklin B. Gowen, who addressed the Institute as follows MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN : It has been made my pleasant duty to welcome you to the city of Philadelphia, but in so doing I shrink, with some natural reluctance, from appearing before an audience so much better fitted than I am to cope with the subjects which are usually presented to your association, and I can assure you that no trembling neophyte, first venturing within the groves of the Academy, or walking, with sacred reverence, in the gardens of Plato, felt more natural dread at the consequence of his own temerity than I do in appearing before an audience composed of gentlemen belonging to a scientific society of which I am but too sensible that until now I have been a member only in name. In olden times, upon entering a temple sacred to the worship of any deity, it was customary to lay some offering upon the altar, and, in following this custom, it will be my duty, before entering upon the more pleasant part of the task which is assigned me, to call your attention to a subject with which I have been somewhat familiar, and which is entirely within the scope of your investigations, in the belief that I may throw out some hints or some suggestions of a pro¬cess that may be fully developed by some of you, and eventually lead to the introduction of that which may be of service to the human race. The satirist who described the philosopher whom he met, as engaged in the process of extracting sunbeams from cucumbers, * A joint discussion of the subject of Technical Education, by the members of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Institute of Mining Engineers, was held in the hall of the Franklin Institute, on Monday evening, June 19th, and Tuesday morning, June 20th. This discussion has been printed in a separate pamphlet by both societies.

Jan 1, 1877

By William P. Prof. Blake

WHEN we consider the efforts made in Europe to promote the physical and moral well-being of the working classes, the question is suggested whether in this country, where, theoretically, every man is peculiarly the arbiter of his own destiny, we may not be too prone to expect every man to take care of himself, and neglect to make those provisions for the welfare of the employed, demanded alike by enlightened economy and humanity. In the older countries, where the disproportion between capital and labor is greater, and the working classes are more dependent, their welfare largely occupies the attention of employers. The subject is involved in the problem of the just relations of capital and labor, and we are rapidly approaching the time, if we have not already reached it, when a generous paternal interest in the welfare of the employed should be more generally manifested. It is a subject which is of special importance to mine-owners and engineers in this country, especially to those located in the coal regions. My own attention has been particularly directed to it by a visit made to the Hassard collieries, a few miles from Liege, Belgium, under the direction of M. Andrimont. This celebrated engineer has established a comfortable home for the miners near the mouth of the shaft of the mine. It has been highly successful and beneficent in its results, and may to a great degree be regarded as a, model for such undertakings. It is known as "Hotel Louise," this being the name of Madame d'Andrimont, who laid the corner-stone of the building April 4th, 1871. The structure is of brick, upon three sides of a square, and

Jan 1, 1875

By Eckley B. Coxe

IN the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania the custom has been to sight either at an open light (generally a mine-lamp), or at the string of a plumb-bob. If the station was intended to be a permanent one, a spud, as it is called, that is, a nail resembling a horseshoe nail with a hole in the head, is driven into the timbers over the station, or, if there be no timber, a hole is drilled in the coal or rock roof, into which a wooden plug is driven, which serves to hold the spud. The first operation in making a survey is to lay out the stations, that is, to mark the place where the holes are to be drilled for the plugs or the points on the timbers where the spuds are to be driven in. This should be done before any instrumental work is begun, as much labor can generally be spared, and the use of very short sights can often be avoided, by carefully laying out the stations beforehand. When the stations were laid out, a plumb-bob was hung from the innermost spud, which I will call No. 1, the instrument was put in position at No. 2, by plumbing down and putting a centre-pin under the spud, and then setting up over the centre-pin, and another plumb-bob was suspended from No. 3. If great accuracy was not required, a mine-lamp was set up under the plumb-bobs, at No. 1 and No. 3, and the engineer sighted at them. If great accuracy was required, a lamp or some white surface was held by an assistant behind the strings of the plumb-bobs. To work with any speed by the latter method (i. e., the accurate one), it was necessary for the engineer to have three assistants on whom he could rely even when the chaining was done afterwards; viz.: one to hold the light behind the string at No. 1, one at No. 3, and an assistant at the instrument to hold the light while levelling, reading the in-

Jan 1, 1873