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Page: of 428
296 The Mining and Scientific Press.
fe{ovnse AND Somme RESS.
W. B. EWER,....-ccccccecasecenneeneensnsnnee Sentoa Epitor.
W. 5B. EWEA. 4. T, DEWEY.
DEWEY «& CO., Publishers.
Orrics—No. 414 Ciay strect, belween Sansome and Battery.
Writersahould be cautious aboul addressing correspon:
dence relating lo the business or interests of a firm Lo an individual member lhercof, whose absence at the lime miyiit
cause dciay.
Terms of Subscription:
r annum, In advance,
x months, In advan
For saic by Carriers a
One copy,
One copy,
a
Our Agents.
Ova Faiznps can do much 1n aid of our paper and the
cause of praclical knowledge and sclence, hy assisting our
Agenls in their iabors of canvassing, by lending their Influe shail send none but ence and encouraging favora.
worthy men. >
xr. A. C. Knox, is our city soliciting and collecting
Agent, and ali subscriptions, or other favors cxtended to
him, will be duly acknowledged al this officc. Jan. 11, 1866.
LL. G@, Wate is our duly authorized traveling
duly 6, 1667.
r. A. IS. Butler is a duly authorizcd lraveling
agent and correspondent for this paper. July 15, 1867.
Resldent Agents.
Hevtens, Nontana.—R. F. May.
Brack Hawk, C. T.—Harper M. Orahood.
CENTRAL City, ©. -Messrs. Richards & Crane, of the
City Book Store, Main street, wiil act as our agents.
Gxoacxrown, C.T.—John A. Lafferty, Postmaster, is our
agenlin lhis piace.
SERVER City, C. T.—Messrs. Woolworth & Moffal, are our
agents for this place.
Cugvenne, 0, T.—Mr. Robert Beersis our authorized
agent for ED EO EE
Omaua, N. T.—Messrs. Barkalow & Brothers, arc our
agenis for thls piace.
Ts
agenl,
san Francisco:
Saturday Morning, Nov. 7, 1868.
Notices to Correspondents.
Furnace Burnper, Humboldt.—For the fusion of pure quartz a heat is required as
intense as that whichis given by the oxygen-bydrogen blowpipe; by which it can
be melted into a transparent glass, and
drawn into fine, flexible, elastic threads.
In its purely anhydrons state, quartz is
insoludle in water and all acids excepting the hydrofluoric. It is not volatile
when heated alone, but, if accompanied
by acurrent of steam, it will undergo
partial sublimation, as is not unfrequently evidenced by the concretionary
nodules sometimes found in the throats of
furnaces, resembling in appearance ordinary caledony.
Dyer.—Aniline colors are so called on account of the basis of most of them beiug
formed of various degrees of oxidation of
aniline, the basis of the coloring principle ofindigo. These beautifully brilliant
dyes are obtained from coal tar. It was
Professor Hoffman who first pointed ont
this unwrought field. The practical benefits are traceable uot only to the impetus
given to inquiry by the above recommendation, but also to the recondite experiments made by tbat eminent chemist on
aniline, its derivatives and compounds.
Uutil tbe aniline dyes came into vogue,
similar but more fugitive brilliaut tints
were obtained from licbens.
M. F. W., Sacramento.—We regret: that
we cannot refer you to any work specially
devoted to gold and silver mining. There
are several works on the reduction and
metallurgy ot these metals atter their
ores bave been brought to the surface of
tho earth, or, to use mining language,
brought to grass. But of mining tor
these metals per se, no work exists. Ordinary copper mining, however, greatly
yesembles gold and silver mining. Prof.
W. W. Smith published, we helieve, in
London lately, 2 most excellent little
work containing a synopsis of every description of mining. We suspect, howevery, no copy is obtainahle in Californie.
Von will find some good romarks in Ures’
Dictionary.
Ranouero, Alameda.—Tobacco is one of the
most, 14 notthe wnost exhausting of crops,
which an agriculturist can cultivate, as it
carries away from tbe soil not less than
Qi per cent. of the growth in the dricd
leayes, of which potash alone contributes
one-third and nitric acid occasionally onetenth. Onr Obinese gardeners know bow
*to make practical use of this fact, as the
observer will find that witb them tobacco stalks aro extensively employed as a
top-dressing in the suburban cabbage
gardens.
8. G.—Pure iridium does not dissolve in oil
of vitriol, uitric acid, or melted bi-sulphate of potash; the latter, however,
slowly converts it into sesquioxide,
withont being dissolved or absorbed,
which, wben heated above the melting
point of silver, hecomes resolved into
metallic iridium and oxygeu.
G. R. W., Grizzly Flat, and Wooster,
Santa Clara, next week.
‘earry. ‘They only are entitled to respectful
) filled with mineral deposits of the class
Earthquake Philosophy, and HarthquakeProof Building.
‘What is your theory of oartbquakes ?”
To tbis question a writer in ¢he November
Overland Monthly replies :
“You and I have no rigbt to form a
theory on the snbject, It is the curse of
scientific inquiry that you start with a theory hnilt upon one fact; your theory is like
an Irishman's wheelharrow loaded witb ditt:
it is supported on one wheel—tbe rest you
consideration for their theories who bave
exhausted all the material of facts, bearing
upon the subject, before fixing upon a
theory. There are those whose opinions
are entitled to the most respectful considereration, who for the last twenty years have
been laboring to bring order out of chaos
in the phenomena of earthquakes, to determine their laws, and by the aid of matbematics they bave reduced their manifestations to an exact science, upon which they
bave bestowed the name of ‘seismology.’
This has been done while you have beeu
speculating in stocks, trading jack-knives,
orgrowiug rich by the advance in water lots.
Mallet, Scrope, Dana, Deville, and older
observers like von Bueh and Humboldt,
whose scientific lives and labors seemed to
have grown out of the great contests which
immediately followed the birth of Geology,
between the Neptunians and Plutonians—
the aqueous and tbe igneous theorists—
have furnished us with a mass of interesting and relevant facts on the subject of volcanocs and earthqnakes, concerning the
intiiusic relationship of which no well-informed person can express a donbt; and
the Physical Atlases of Bergbaus and of
Black, contain dozens of elaborate charts,
maps, graphic tabulations, plans and profiles, illustrating tbe laws which have been
developed by the closest observation and
thought of thousands of well-informed persons on the subject, for moro thau balf a
century. We designate the positive results
arrived at in such cases by the short word
** science,” the signification of which is too
often confounded with the very opposito of
“theory,” which is tbe especial field and
province of uninformed persons, who are
uevertheless quite frequeutly ready to argue
their ease, without having read the briefs.
The writer above qnoted continues, very
much to our own way of thinking:
“Tt may be determined, for example,
with great accuracy, from a certain number
of observations within the circle of earthquake influence, what place is vertical over
the focus or starting-point of the sbock,
and at what depth below the surface that
force was exerted to produce it. And all
the phenomena that follow are proper subjects for physical science and mathematics
—whether they have reference to tbe crust
of the earth, or the buildings constructed
upon it; but the origin of tbe power which
has produced these phenomena may be still
a subject for specniation—whether to the
snap and jar occasioned by the sudden and
violeut rupture of solid rock-masses (as is
held by Serope) or to access of a greater or
less quantity of water to the red-hoi lava of
subterranean fires,” (as is held by Mallet).
* * * % There are some facts of practical importance that we sbould all know:
that the primary shock, of which we have
no warning, (either through tbe barometer,
thermometer, or magnet, any more than
through our eyes or nose,) is, wken from a
great depth, followed by second waves at
right angles to it, like the waves when a
stone is thrown into the water, and which
are often more destructive to hunildings than
the normal shock. It is also known that
the most destructive effects are felt on soil
of low elasticity, as clay and alluvium, and
least on firmest rock. The earthquake at
Lisbon, iu the space of a few miuutes, destroyed sixty thousand lives in tbat portion
of the city huilt upon tbe tertiary formations; bud nota building was injured on the
secondary limestone or basull.” * * * *
Other things being equal, the shock would
be more severe ou the alluvial tormation
around the bay than on the rocky ground.”
Probably tbere is also some difference in
the effect, attributable to the character of
the rock, whether stratified, jointed and}
seamed toa great extent, or volcanic. It
is tho earthquakes that opeu the cracks and
seams iu the earth, which are afterwards
known as truc fissure veins,
No science exists which has not its immediate practical bearing, for its bistory
will show tbat it was tbe latter invariably
which furnisbed the clne to thinkers, and
whicb gave theimpulseto development. It
seems to have been left to the Anglo-Saxon
race to devise a system of cconomical earthquake proof building; for the Latin races
still build, in Naples as well as in South
America, with the simple floor timhers resting on fragile walls, serviug as the best devisable trap for the mangifig and wholesale slaughter ot the devoted inmates.
Worthy of consideration iu this conuection
are the recommendations of a judicious
citizen, Mr. George Gordon. He recommends alterations in the metliod of bnilding, as follows:
First-—-That extreme care be taken with
foundations, no matter whether on solid or
made ground; let the entire bed-frame on
which the building rests he a unit, like a
sbip's keel, and strong enongb to bear twice
the weigbt of the building if set up on posts
ten or twelve feet apart, and so tied together that you could lift it bodily by a
derrick from auy point and swing it about.
Second—Dispense with the use of brick,
stone or cast iron, except as an exterior
protection against fire. Give these materials nothing else to do.
Third—Rely on timber and wronght iron
entircly to carry the load and resist motion. Mortice alltimbers and rivet all iron.
Use boiler plate witb anglo iron riveted to
it, above and below all openings, as sills
and caps. No form of irou comeatable in
this market is so simple, cheap and strong
as these combined.
Fourth—Dispense with lathe and plaster,
and face the insido walls, and make the
ceilings with tongued and grooved lumber.
Put op every board, and lay the floors so as
to form diagonals—braciug in every direction. Iu nailing, put every nail square
through the face of tbe boards, and discard
the silly carpenter's foihle of blind nailing.
Fifth—The lower the ceilings, and the
more numerons the rooms iu a bnilding,
the s‘ronger is the structure.
Tbe cost of such a building as Ihave been
deseribing will vot, including the foundation, exceed the cost of an ordinary building of the samo size morethan $1,500. My
remarks, in tbis letter, are intended to apply to buildings of moderate cost.
For our comfort I will add a piece of information obtaiued froma friend. In one
of the South American cities—I forgot
whirh for the moment—tbere stands intact
a dwelling bouse built to resist earthquakes.
The city is 2 beap of ruins, but this bonse
not only sustained the shocks unharmed,
but was filled with the tidal wave witbout
hudging—an aggravation which cannot possibly happen to San Francisco.
On tho same subject, the writer in the
Overland Monthly exhibits sound judgment,
aud touches the truo issue, in the following
remarks ;
“ Ttis certain that entire safety may be assured to life and property on solid ground
by proper attention to the construction of
buildings, though we should havo earthquakes as severe as are recorded; and it is
as cortain that all improperly-tyed walls, of
poor mortar and as poor bricks, will be
tumbled down to the peril of buman life,
as that earthquakes will occur, as tliey have
occurred in the past. Especially sbould all
walls with frouts veneered with stone be
immediately taken down. It is mean and
cowardly to patch up these structures and
plaster up the broken cbimueys, trusting
tbat the shock that will hurl them to the
dust will not come in your time, or nntil
you have sold tbe property. The terror inspived by an earthqnakeis measured by the
lives that are lost; and if a falling wall or
chimney should invariahly come upon the
head of the owner, it would he a sad thiug,
but it would be infinitely sadder that the
blameless should he stricken down by so
nnnecessary aud reckless a cause. Arebitects are called to survey public buildings
only to determine—not whether they are
capable of witbstanding a severer sbock
tbun we have yet bad—but whether they are
likely to fall without external aid. The
street is barricaded until the rickety structure is secured; the workmen in tbe meantime trembling for their own safety. The
dislocated cbimney is carefully roplaced,
the fracture is pointed up with mortar, and
the trap is set—for whom? Can there be
no commission witb power to command
that all buildiugs and walls or chimneys
endangering lite, private as well as public,
shall come down?”
Chemical and Metallurgical Works,
It is of the utmost importance to our new
States and Territories, and to every individual interest connected with manufacturing and mining, that we should be up to
the “times,” and possessed of the latest
developments of practical science and specialism in older parts, relating to chemistry
and metallurgy—the corner stones of our
industry and existence as a State, or cluster
of States, beyond the condition of miserable hide-producing and potato raising
ranches.
In mining and metallurgy, an indubitable want of confidence has existed on the
part of a portion of the best working element
for the development of the country in
“seientiic hnmbngs,” such as Whitney,
Silliman, and Blake, are honorably distinguisbed to be, not to mention a bost of
meritorious but less theoretic and more
practical men, who are now engaged in out
of the way districts, in furnishing soul to
that branch ofour industry. The existenco
of a few real, with not a few practical humbugs, argues notbing morc than that a prevailing ignorance as to the genuineness of
that kind of scientific merit which can make
or save dollars, has permitted pretenders to
thrive, and tempted some men of scientific
acquirements to assnme to be all that others
havo supposed them to be—oracle, alchemist and astrologer,in one. Sucb matters,
however, regulate tbemselves very speedily.
Capitalists find out soon cnongh the importance of fortifying themselves against
foolish expenditnres and investments; while
the talkers subside as soon as the first case
of real difficulty presents itself, and it is
tbe unassuming practical men possessed
of, the requisite techuical acquirements,
who are, or ought to be, relied upon in the
mills and mines. In manufacturing, on the
:
other hand, little was ever risked to the {
luck, or trusted to the management of
“genius.” Txperts are sought for and oLtained at the very commencement, and
chemistry and the practical sciences are
acknowledged to be the foundation of every
procedure,
Not a steamer lands from the interior, or
from the nortbern or southern coasts,
but brings tous in San Francisco one or
many inquiring individuals, or expectant
speculators, bearing with them a new or a
refractory ore, au unknown mineral that is
supposed to be of economical value, or
some known valuable substance that is to
be quantitativelydetermined. Usually these
people try to find their way to capitalists at
once, while they should go first to the
technologists.
Concerning this indispensable class, consisting partly of professionally-educated
gentlemen—technical specialists—and their
establisbments here and there in San Francisco, we propose to furnish our readers
with a few facts, describing things and
speakiug of persons as we have found them.
THE PACIFIC CHEMICAL WORKS,
are located in that pretty large expanse of
country —now all city—which is commonly
designated as the Mission, corner of Folsom and Sixteenth streets. Louis Falkenau
and Henry G. Hanks are the proprietors,
and respectively superintendents of two
separate departments, the former of analytical and manufacturing chemistry, the latter of assaying, metallurgy, paint manufacture, etc. Botb are thorougbly informed,
theoretically and practically, in their business, having gone each through his own
proper ‘‘ mill” to become so. Sage brush
and laboratory experiences are happily
blended. Nothing is manufactured bere
but articles that are demanded in the market, aud in which competition from abroad
would be an impossibility. The Works are
not merely founded ona very sonnd and
safe basis, but are certainly of sucb usefalness, in our progressing developmenf, «8
to be deserving of every encouragement,
being of themselves an importaut develop}