The farmer and mechanic. [volume], October 19, 1915, Page 5, Image 5

About The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??

Image provided by: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, Chapel Hill, NC

                
THE FARMER AND MECHANIC.
' ' ' ' '
I - I -- II ! II. NIL
11
(IS
(ISO
IRON
jrazil's Mighty Ore Deposits to Be
veloped by American Capital
De-
c
I.
an Englishman, found it ratine in a
bed of rust.
"'ii years later a tew
V ...
uioKn iij. ,y aid
and lire and somf of tl
to other museums. Th.-
now
pieves were
of 1 HSt !' U "! fi t S
e ver taken
i-
near the River fUc-m. In 1S0 a
p!on of 00 ru rat was discovered n t
tha rr . ..;: on- of th
: :m u . t . . . I with
far from
m;n-r tr
It v.
nudied-Million Dollar Syndicate.
here the Ore Beds Arc Equal to
K. Superior A Talk With Dr.
ille Derby, the Famous Gcolo-
vt Passed Upon by the Ivxperts
Our Steel Trust and the Krupps.
anioiuis in itrazii now Mined.
mo Uich Finds Wees of Pro
ms Stones Carbons and Topazes.
pyrignt, iy rranK u. car-
penter)
RIO DI: JANEIRO.
A i American syndicate with a cap-
(.!' about one hundred million dol-
s has been formed to. develop the
;n deposits of the central part of
jius Geraes."
1 take this statement from a late
hlication authorized by the Brazil-
a government. it relates to some or
,t greatest iron beds yet developed
IrL.A Geraes is a great State a shon
stance back from the Atlantic ocean.
i
I is separated from the Atlantic by
le narrow States of Kspirato Santo
lid i:io de Janeiro. The country is
lis Ji. and it has many kinds of min
Vsil-i, including diamonds. It has
.Treat beds of iron. In the central
nd southern parts of the State there
re said to be more than two billion
ons of ore in sight, and one block of
rn inai contains twenty minion ions;.
Til1 latted is 50 per cent pure. The
llins ores have been analyzed by ex
perts from the United States Steel
Company and from the Krupps, and
ih-y are known to be very valuable.
l'ar fifty-two out-crops have been
t iivt-yed by the mining engineers of
Jth Brazilian government, and their
' imate is that they contain no less
t!i; ii twelve billion tons of high-grade
ere. Minas Geraes has one small iron
vi irks that is now smelting six tons of
jaetal a day at a profit of $8 per ton.
FxperimenLs are being made to reduce
th iron by electricity, and the govern
Hi a m US Oil m ill Uin.'h
"'"u.1 aner i;r. iei:y came to
thai he coj-.eluded t,, -t tio- p-t
iwio a;- Janeiro. A
oeen Imi t in ti.r.
pec-iui truck was mud1 to work m the
rails, it tooK I2t days t., -
meteorite to th.' railroad, and it ua
linally brought hcif. t.. in.. ..- i. .
in i5s. rhe meteorite wa
overa wild country and
range oi mountains wiiii H u. 1 Am
lei nign. t
: it- ;
railroad l;.id '
nu'un.whilf ai: a
a si'is:'
St !..-.
if;- t
ll!' d
d
: Thf
IV"
iron used by the world. Th5 f.r.t ;L
known to the iron and st-el com
panies of other countries, and a syn
dicate Was recntlv fnrmorl
ot Englishmen and Americans to buv
certain parts of the iron beds and
develop them. This syndicate had a
bona fide capital of 25.000,000 pounds
aternng, or $ lZo.UOO.OOO. and I have
no doubt but that when matters be
come quiet once more its operations
will be continued. At oresent th sit
uation is such that no great undertak
ing can be entered into, and there
have been troubles in connection with
the concessions here in Brazil that
will have to be settl-ed before the syn
dicate will proceed with its work I
uouot not tnat the ore beds will
eventually be developed and that they
will result in a great industry."
"WTiere is this fteld of iri, Dr
Derby?" I asked.
It is scattered over considerable
territory," was the reply. "It lies in
annas ueraes. Mhe eastern end of it
is about 270 miles from tire seacoast.
and it is so situated that the way to
the ocean is almost all down grade
Some of the beds farther back in the
country will have to be hauled to the
top of the ridge and then go on down
to tne sea. aon oy slaves, and any slave that
"Can you give me some ideo of the found a gem of eighteen carats got
extent ot the deposits?" his freedom. Up to 1850 more than a
"I can only say that they are enor- quarter of a million carats of dia-
mous. I reeentJ.w-Uisimated them at monds were taken out of two rivers
A . 1 1 ' 1 - I . . i nfli;i . . . 1 '
ivvu mousunu million ions, nil in tnis vllI" nuui mo river uiviih;- more
tw. a i . ;
i 1 ,",mii
r :-.v.-. :o-y ,
J..'! ! p , J
-n::h Afr.M.
u. -d..r.
tl.!-'0--f,...; th.
n Lor. i.-n a;
are ..: i
r --.ij.i i h )
. rn r than
A : : diarnopj,
A ti.v W M - hi 1
. f 't ; - .T , ; .- i . f
two and on.--h.ih .a rat
I asked Dr. Iirrby whether dn niond
pipes, such as exist in South vfri.v
would ever be found in l'.ray.il h
would not prophesy. There is uo
doubt, however, that diamonds ;
still being found in this countrv, and
no ones knows whether diamond
pipes may not yet be discovered. Un
til the opening up of the mines of
South Africa most din
found in the gravel of streams. This
was the case with the diamonds of
Brazil. They were known to exist al
most 200 years ago and wore used
as counters by the gold miners be
fore their value was known. As far
back as 17.,2 no less than 30,000 men
were searching for diamonds in the
state of Minas, and during the follow
ing half century Brazil exported pre
cious stones to the value of $1S,00'
000. During the eighteenth centurv the
stones were sold In parcels by con
tract under governrnene regulations,
and the average price was onlv nbnm
$3 per carats Much of tho work was
donp
t i m
at S
Th.-
' ". I 1 1 I o
o!l. ft
v luaMiw,,- iouau m i;oo.. .in i lw1 hh;, .wutrt
across a o: cs of t u. -.o x ... ; .,..
" 1 ' n .li.il Kill .J
ar.4is wre Uiscnrtid about the
":sii er.nvr5 jw.-'.v. a!o-I
ar mad'- un almost r--
tifeO of iJra.lH.:!; .-hiv. ij, 1
t"6 di;in;ond cki;n;.s m
alo'.e. scattered o,r in
area of aboit loO.inoi ari-s. Tlir
produced on.- mil!;,,!) .l-'.'ar ' w.irtii of
diamond that year. Altot.-! h.-r i i
said that up to i.yo.-. Hra.i! hal ex
ported a to:al of -oiio-ih:ru: like fu-n
l.ms- r diamond-, in
carbons and oih
tliere Were
1 iainanti!i.t
addition t
tier priou- Moncs
There is a great deal of money in th
carlor.s of l: rax.il. Curhons are in pur.
diamonds of a black or brown color.
They are very hard and are ued t..
make boring machines ami for polish
ing hard substances. They are found
in all sizes from some as big as a
grain of sand to others that weiph
hundreds of carats. We buy thousand
of dollars' worth of these carbons
every year. On was found some Un
aeo that weighed :'.() oo carats. It wa
sold in llahia and sent out to Uprope
where it brought $.", Oao; another,
weighing 97o carats, was stml to Paris,
where it sold for 10e.vM.rn fran.-s.
I included only the high-grade ore
that could be used for the manufac
ture of steel. That ore is equal to the
best of our Lake Superior regions and
of a higher grade than a great part of
it. Some of the geologists of the
United States, including professors of
the University of Wisconsin at Madi
son, have stated that my estimate was
a conservative one. Wisconsin pro
than a million carats had Icen taken
up to that date. Until 1S71 Brazil
held the first place in the world in
the production of diamonds.
The first diamonds were discovered
m trie state ot Minas Geraes. in a
country which is about n00 miles;
north of Rio de Janeiro. So manv
Were found tlmt the eonntrv- n-o V.t
t i . i - I 1 t,
nas i uaige oi ui eiectric luriidce. fcssors you know, have had much to coming known as Diamantina and i
:u uuro i-reto wnicn nas Deen re- do with investigating the Lake Su- is still identifie
feniiy erected at a cost or vzo.ooo.
Tin great trouble is the lack of good
perior fields."
c al for smelting, and it is a ques-
tinr whether any such can be found
lv. 1'tazil.
"Can you tell me something about
the owners of the fields?"
"Some of them are American capi-
identified with the diamond in
dustry. Some of the fields are situated
l A i'ii line "P . i --i t Va it i.i. . . . . , , , . . . 1 .
-ivv iium iiir nracuaai unu one
can go to within several days' mule
ride of them by railway. The country-
has an elevation of from 3.a00 to r.-
700 feet above the sea. Much of the
1 - - . .... -m
iron ore is ronu in every uraznian iuis ae..i " 'diamond countrv is made un of ra-
:ate. One of the fields in Minas, nere to examine me teinioiy a iter fl tVl. - n
. I n-t r r,fr.tAmvnf r. c f hn it n.n f r.Y til A I ' ....j ' " " "
sort of blue clay deposit in beds a few-
feet in thickness. The diamond pipes
ot Africa consist of blue clay
There are also diamond fields in
central Bahia and many are found iti
the streams. Some of the gravels are
hich i more than fifty miles long, is my statement as to the -extent of the
crossed by the Central railroad, and ore and its value, it was upon trie
the Leopoldino railroad passes by aavice oi tne experts mai wiey uougm
other great beds. In the State of large tracts of ore-bearing property
Carana there is a irreat denosit of ore irom in3 original owners, xuese men
which is only three miles from a sea- mciuae sucn wen kiiowmi persons us,
. , t I tn-mcka I I1 1 1 1 o t I Atnor-a r nprp nrp
port, anu ore in ia.rge quanuues 18 " tT in swamDV districts, buried from 20 to
known to exist in Sao Paulo and Santa yermaii a m t
'-ltli'irina I wno nave Dougnt tracts ot ore iaiius
The iron ores of Brazil are of two Some of the syndicate are men in
distinct types. The magnetite ores are terested in shipping. The proposi-
fnnnd In HAver.il Strifes. Thev are of lion is to a iarge extern, a. tiititio uii,
.v,nii imnnmnrA nnmirrin? onlv n tor tne ore win De carnea aowii to
" ' a J l a. J V.I,- 4. 1 nUA.
tne sea. auu siuyycu to viic amcucio ui
the United States and Europe
30 feet under water and mud, and
some He in streams on the bedrock
below the gravel. There are also dia
mond fields in iMatto Grosso, that vast
province of central Brazil, but so far
none has been found there which
weighs more than five carats. Some
Couldit not be smelted in Brazil?" of the mining of Matto Grosso is done
I asked I uicujuig, uuu iiul very tuccesMuiiy.
"So far we have not discovered coal reuges are aiso employed in Annas
ueittrs.
scattered deposits. Tho hematite ores
arc found chiefly in Minas Geraes.
They occupy the south-central part of
the State and the principal beds are
ti'ithin o -lf nrv inrt m i 1 f i lnnr anil
Mxty miles wide. It is in this region fit for smelting f m such quantities as
that tho electric furnace is operating ! ,nS!3e J?' PV
and It 13 hero that the enormous beds i-D
Wrlitoli T ViVtt rafarroH trt ft frt fflllTlli. I xauw JUU.l. oiutmna "J
riuLii a Alt . J I Oil
l 1 n 4V.on 1 1 UO not tlUlltN- Ulill iccioiwic
!, more tlfan 4 000 feet thick Tlfipi much coal as smelting alto- Axes the prices. There no one can
' more man I.UUU ieet vniCK. auo I , . ,, l mine for diamonds without thn rnn-
ore seems to bo a true sedimentary I wjr
formation laid down at the same time
a the inclosing rocks, and tho rocks 1 wre these iron beds of Minas
During my stay in Ilio 1 have visited
many of the jewelry stores. They hav
magnificent diamonds, but I am told
the prices are about the same as those
of other cities. Senor Brill of the
Avenila Central sells rough diamonds
up to one-fourth of a carat from
to $12 each, ami from one-fourth
carat to one carat in size from $1" to
Bough diamonds, which weiIi
from one to two carats, bring
and upward. Above two carats there
are no fixed rates. Cut stones are fat
mof" expensive than the stones in
the rough.
Among the other stones sold which
are especially beautiful are tournma
lines, aqua marines and topa.es. one
of the most beautiful topazes ever dis-
covereu came iron; lirazil. It va.s
originally given tiy the Bmperor 1 on
Pedro to I 'ope Pius IX, who gave it to
the King of Naples. Upon this was
engraved a figure of Christ, so deli
cately that it took twelve years t
make it. The price asked for the stone
was $200,000. In the National Mu
seum here there is a topaz which
weighs four and one-half pounds, and
Dr. Co.ta Senna, director of the School
of Mines at Ouro Preto. has a bluish
white stone that weighs forty-eight
grammes. A ruby-red topaz of twenty
four carats sold in the nineteenth cen
tury for $25. A white one in the
Portuguese crown jewel weighs (.r
1,600 carats.
FRANK G . UARPENTHB.
Mining for diamonds in South Africa
is done on a grand scale. The fields
are owned by the diamond syndicate
and the whole is in the hands of a
great trust which hires the labor and
mine for diamonds without the con
sent of the trust and the government,
and he cannot even buy or sell dia
monds without government permis
sion. In Brazil any one can get a
license to mine diamonds, and the dia
mond fields are full of prospectors
and ore have the same dip. Some of loeraes recently discovered?"
the ore layers form the tops or hill or i "No. They have been known rpr
ridges and there are great cliffs of ore hundreds of years. The colonial rec
to be seen along the hillsides. ords show that an exploiting party aml srnall errouns of men who have
started out from the town of Sao 1 -foined together to search for the Dre-
Iliirlnf mv etnv hnrfl T have had a Paulo in 1590 and discovered iron ore
rimis stonps. The. work Is donp much
chit with rr Orvillf T. "Derbv. who is in the mountains which are about six- 1ik( nio0xr washing in the United
at the head of the geological survey of ty miles to the southward. -About one gtates an(j all the tools necessary can
iirazil. and who has heen tor many nunarea years ii:i tiio buu "- be carried on a mule. Mucn or trie
years tho chief geologist of the coun- Ouro Preto, where the electric itir- work is done in the streams, the min-
trv Tv Tm.Uv ia a ATrkftn AmnrAn. I nace IS now. were oucnuu. uu emu rc rthHno- fi own from hoatc t fi K- i n rr
w Knpn In hn TTnt1 Ktaiea and I iron fields Were made known to the I .i h thpm ranvas hn?? hpld nnpn hv
reelvH hlc A1ioattnn fit rrmll TTni-1 World. A large part Of the gold in I. n rina Flanh miner fills hi?; hacr
versity. It was away back in 1870. that district is iouna in toimmiuu With the gravel and then rises to the
forty-Ave ycars'ago, that he first came wun tne iron aiuwuga bcat, where he empties it. After suf-
1 ... . . . m : I Wunlrail vacnt Wnt hv npfnrP iWe have 1 e s t. -1 l l l
m're Wltn One OI n3 proiessora m wuit- I uuuuiu y , r . , , uueni aiiiuum. ui erav iia.a ucun si-
iiection with the Morgan exploration any records of the iron s being turned CUred it is carried to the shore and
. expedition, sent out from the United into use. Along aDout tne uepnmn the diamonds sorted out. Where the
. ' A. A. n Ia nf I y4 1 m tT TITO 13 I . . .
States to do geological work in Brazil, or tne last cemury sum J men have enough capital they some-
proaucing its own nun, ouu.c ." times dam the streams and turn tne
using me orumiir uiatnoiunu c o Water so that the dry oed can oe
and at tnat time a uttie auditing piam. i00iced over
was established wnicn turned out iron Th miners work only in the dry
at a rate or aoout a nunarea pouuua season They go over the gravel again
ner dav. Later still the whole or the
i o era In V.von t H e cand Is sifted find
r. . ' , . j.ii.j :v. i; - -
mining district was aotteu wim uu sorted and at the close women go
furnaces and about the time of our tnroUgn the refuse and pick out the
civil war. 1864. as many as one nun- r),nDQ t.iinf ha.Vft hepn missed.
w i l. j iii. v a a . - - t -
dred and twenty were still in opera- If there are pieces of conglomerate
tion. I they are broken un and explosives are
He returned to complete his college
course, after which he became pro
ftMsor of geology at Cornell. He had
served but a short while when the
Emperor of Brazil engaged him to
come to Ilio and take charge of the
mineralogy department of the Na
tional Museum. He held this office
for some years and then left to make
& geological survey of the State of
Sa.o Paulo. Since then he has done
other geological work all over Brazil,
having been continually employed in
that pursuit up to the present. Dr.
Derby for a long time has been at the
head of the national geological sur
vey of this country and he still holds
that position.
' ne of my first questions to Dr.
Derby was as to the future of Brazil.
He replied that he was not a prophet
nor the son of a prophet, and went on
to speak of the mineral resources of
tr.; country, saying:
'One of the irreat assets of Brazil
its iron. The country has enormous
quantities of this metal and it will
eventually supply a large part of tho
OS LONG AUTO.MOltlU: TRIP.
J
used to get out the boulders blocking
T4 -no. oiiin nr.vhv -who hroue-ht the stream. The diamonds are orten
XL 1 i-fi w ' .--., ' ' - - o l ,
. IIai'i and Family Have Covered
15.000 Miles.
Memphis Commercial-A ppeal.
J. A. Harps, a wealthy manufac
turer of Greenfield. Ohio accompanied
by his family, arrived in Memphis in
a big touring car and registered at
Hotel Gayoso. Mr. Harps is finishing
a transcontinental trip in his auto.
The party consists of Mrs. Harp?, Ua
Ted R. and Alexander Harps, hi
three sons, and Charles Morley, me-
chanican. "Rob" Scott, of San An
tonio, Texas, Is also with Mr. Harps'
party, having Joined them In Texas.
Mr. Scott is touring the country on a
motorcycle. He is the son of a
wealthy ranch owner in Texas and
is taking this method of seeing the
country.
Mr. Harps left home July 10. Since
then he has traversed Indiana. Illi
nois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming. Colo
rado, Utah, Nevada, California, Ari
zona, New Mexico Texas Arkansas a
part of Mississippi and incidentally
dipped down into old Mexico.
He will take his family to see the
great Tri-State Fair and probably re
sume his journey. He will o to Hir
mingham, Atlanta and up the coast t
Washington, thence Lack home. He
will have traveled between 12.000 and
la.OOO miles by the time he gets back
to Greenfield.
Mr. Harps said that he adopted this
method of educating his boys a.s to
the wonders of their native land. The
best way to see it. he said, was to tour
it in an automobile, and he wanted his
boys to see it. The party rrosswl the
Rocky Mountain range thre-e times,
: visited the expositions at San Fran
I cisco and San Diego, went through
md th
is Dr. OrviUe Derby who Drougnt tne i.u . Zm ,: hlthe Grand Canyon and saw all of na-
the great meteorite trom tne state oi touuu i , """" i ture's marvels in the West that II-
Bahia to Rio de Janeiro, inis meteor- uuuwa.
: a I 4Kn lnriraci in 5 n v museum It is I
" ,.t. fwt inn- nimost five The finest diamond ever discovered
Z tn width nnd'its weight when it in Brazil is known as "The Star of the
fell was about 12.000 pounds. It was South." It weighed in the rough 25
first discovered in 1784. and the fol- carats and 125 carats when cut. The
lowln- yeaS an attempt was made to next was the Dresden green diamond,
convey it to the town of Bahia by which weighed 119 1-2 carats, and an-
mean of a truck built for the pur- other was the Star of Minas. which
se It took the men three days to weighed 175 carats. Dr Derby thinks
foad it and eighty oxen dragged it a that these three diamonds were of the
distance of ' 1 500 feet to the bed of a same original form Each was a com-
iream near by. whore they had to bination of curved faces consisting of
stream nwi . . - Anrn Hcir from a Diane surface.
along the Lincoln Highway
Santa Fe trail.
In the total population of ths Uni
ted States more than two-fifths of all
persons over three-fifths of all the
males, but considerably less than one
fifth of all the females were engaged
in gainful occupation in 1910. In the
population of 10 years of age and over
more than on-fifth of all persons
over four-fifths of the males but less
than one-fourth of the females wer
& -
r-i
ft
5
x 5
i
If
us
i 'J
i:
i r?
5 1
t
IP
.1
"J ;
r i
1 1
i
- i
''fe
f
t
' i n