Class JUjL_^l_ 
 Book ___^_o SiL 
 Copyright N° 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
..SOLDER... 
 
 ITS PRODUCTION 
 
 and 
 
 APPLICATION 
 
 WITH 
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 TIN and LEAD 
 
 BY 
 
 F. W. SCHULTZ 
 
 AUTHOR OF POLITICS AND PATRIOTISM 
 THE COURSE OP PROGRESS 
 

 
 ^LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
 Two Copies Rwenaa 
 JAN 31 190b 
 
 _Coi»yngAt tnuv 
 CUSS A- XXc, flu, 
 COPY 8. 
 
 4' 
 
 vA 
 
 '■!. 
 
 . 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1908, by 
 
 F. W. SCHUI/TZ, 
 in the Office of the librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 In this busy age, if it is desired to give information, 
 it must be concise in order to gain attention, therefore 
 the various facts and features concerning the produc- 
 tion and application of solder, which have been observed 
 by practice in its use and manufacture during a period 
 of nearly forty } r ears, are sought to be given in this 
 volume as concisely as lucidity will permit, and at the 
 same time in such plain and simple language, free from 
 technical or scientific interpolations, that the busy man 
 may comprehend without difficult research or laborious 
 study. Thus far publications upon this subject, if any, 
 have not been wide spread, and opportunities for its 
 intelligent consideration have been few, it is therefore 
 hoped the relation of facts herein gathered, may be 
 of interest to those engaged in occupations in which 
 solder is a necessary factor. 
 
 That eminent philosopher Josh Billings once said: 
 "It is the little things in life that give trouble, you 
 can dodge an elephant, but you can't a mosquito," and 
 if it had been in consonance with his philosophy, he 
 might have added, that it is the little things in our 
 experience which gathered and concentrated, oftimes 
 shed useful light upon the most profound subjects. It 
 is so with the subject in hand, which to the average 
 observer may not appear to be especialty profound, but 
 when it is understood that solder is more frequently 
 used than any other metallic alloy known in the me- 
 chanical arts, and that its application fills a necessity 
 in our domestic economy — not otherwise to be bridged, 
 it can he seen that any light which may be cast upon 
 
the subject, can not fail to be reflected in a beneficial 
 manner. 
 
 The brief stories of tin and lead which precede the 
 matter in chief, are given to amplify the readers* knowl- 
 edge upon the subject generally, and also because it is 
 believed that insight respecting the sources from which 
 is obtained the vast quantity of this alloy which is an- 
 nually consumed, may be interesting. 
 
 The writer desires to express his thanks to the officers 
 of the U. S. Geological Survey for the courteous man- 
 ner in which they acceded to his requests for publica- 
 tions bearing upon this subject, from which much ex- 
 cellent information was obtained. 
 
TABLE OF CONTEXTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 A lesson in human progress. Past toils may lit- appreciated 
 
 through present effort. The loss of records. A picture of crude 
 effort. Warlike ambition destructive to civilization. Records lost 
 in the destruction of ancient cities. Toils of ancient inventors. 
 
 CHAPTER 2. 
 
 Supposed discovery of metals. Tin and Lead perhaps the 
 first known. Xo knowledge of how early they were employed. 
 Stone record of smelting iron. Xot known how early solder was 
 used. Used at an early period in Home. At present the most 
 useful alloy known. The extensive use of tin. Possibility of 
 being exhausted. Xot likely from present indications. 
 
 CHAPTER 3. 
 
 A story of tin. Earliest historical records. Known to ancient 
 Egyptians. Testimony of the Iliad. The ore difficult to obtain. 
 Testimony of the bronze age. Beautiful Greek bronzes. Ex- 
 quisite alloys. Industries neglected during Roman Conquests. 
 
 CHAPTER 4. 
 
 Revival of industries. Sources of tin ore. Production of Tin 
 during 1905. Tables showing production and consumption of tin. 
 Principal sources of production. Other localities. 
 
 CHAPTER 5. 
 
 Australia. Tasmania. Cornwall. The United States. Califor- 
 nia. Texas. Xorth Carolina. Alaska. China. Mexico. South 
 America. Vast Bolivian tin fields. Primitive transportation. 
 Table of Production. Bolivian tin inferior. Excellent if refined. 
 
 CHAPTER 6. 
 
 Tin production in Malay Peninsula. Topography. Principal 
 mining district. Method of mining. Primitive features. Banka. 
 Similar to - Straits conditions. Estimating product. Bill it on. 
 Labor features. Cornwall. Elaborate mining. Difficult produc- 
 tion. Bolivia. The Congo region. 
 
 CHAPTER T. 
 
 Fluctuation in price of tin. Average price during six years. 
 Reduction of tin ores. Earliest methods. Open fireplace. The 
 bellows. The shaft furnace. The reverberator? furnace. Singa- 
 pore smelters. Refining tin. Detinning. Reduction of Tin dross. 
 r<os for tin. Consumption. Amount consumed for solder. Solder 
 made in the United states. 
 
 CHAPTER a 
 
 A story of lead. Mythology and lead. Well known in the 
 time of Mo'ses. Biblical reference. Ores widespread. The United 
 
 States. Argentiferous ores. The Lead Trust. Excessive duty on 
 lead, i.ead in Idaho. In r, dorado. Tabulated production for 
 seventy-sis years. Table of lead smelted in eleven years, iso- 
 lated mine-. 
 
CHAPTER 0. 
 
 Lead in the Mississippi Valley. A romance of lead. Indians 
 as Lead producers. Early French Traders. Dubuque the pioneer. 
 Grants to Dubuque. Visited by Pike. Death of Dubuque. 
 Schoolcraft's narrative. Primitive mining by Indians. Indian 
 commerce in lead. A vast development. 
 
 CHAPTER 10. 
 
 A story of solder. Its earlv History unknown. Used in the 
 heroic ages. The Pre-Exodus age. Earliest method of soldering. 
 An abased industry. Incompetent workmen. Automatic ma- 
 chines. Careful workmen required. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Keeping the tool in condition. Soldering with the copper 
 tool. Degree of heat important. The philosophy of tinning. 
 Skilled workmen. Best temperature for soldering. The Blow- 
 pipe. How to use it. Discovery of the Blowpipe. The compound 
 Blowpipe. Improved Blowpipe. Description. 
 
 CHAPTER 12. 
 
 Solder in plumbing. Wiping solder. Alloys of Wiping solder. 
 Wiped joints. The method of wiping. Upright and angle Joints. 
 Overhead wiping. Wiping unseen joints. Expert manipulation 
 of solder. Peculiar qualities of wiping solder. The Wiping 
 Cloth. The plumber's chief tool. Wiping seams. Wiping large 
 joints. Cup joints. 
 
 CHAPTER 13. 
 
 Solder's part in a past economy. Tin plate and consumption 
 of solder. Various grades of solder for tin plate. Half and half 
 solder. Quality shown by surface appearance. Solder for roof- 
 ing. Differing views of economy. Soldering galvanized work. 
 Why solder with an excess of tin is required. Alloy of solder 
 for roofing plates. Chemistry of the atmosphere. Solder should 
 suit atmospheric conditions. Solder for block tin pipes. Lime 
 stone water. Bismuth solder for uniting tin pipes. Its melting 
 point. Tin plates, block tin and sheet block tin. Description. 
 
 CHAPTER 14. 
 
 Solder in canmaking and packing. Annual consumption of 
 solder. Rise and progress of canning. The wonderful 10th 
 century. One of its remarkable developments. The discoverer 
 of the 'method of canning. Died in poverty. First patent granted. 
 Secret brought to America. Factory established in Boston. Can- 
 ning in New Brunswick. First oysters canned in Baltimore. Can- 
 ning or packing brought to Baltimore. Evolution in the industry 
 and appliances. Method of making the first cans. Slow and 
 costly. Presses and Dies. Expert in soldering. Strikes destruc- 
 tive to the trade. Labor-saving devices. The hot plate. The 
 Joker The continuous floater. The line method of making cans. 
 The inventor's dream. 
 
 CHAPTER 15. 
 
 Slow method of capping. The Tillery tool. Description. 
 The cupping steel. Segment solder. Large canning operations 
 retarded. The first multiple capper. The second multiple capper. 
 The automatic capping machines. A review simply to illustrate. 
 Harmony necessary to success. Good business men usually not 
 good mechanics. Machines require intelligent management. Loss 
 through indifferent labor. Automatic machinery only successful 
 when intelligently handled. Incompetency the bane of success. 
 
CHAPTER 16. 
 
 The automatic capper, how to handle it. Duties and pre- 
 cautions simple. Using the solder bath. The solder should be 
 
 kept clean. Proper heat should be supplied. Inexpert manu- 
 facturers of solder. The necessities of refining. Impurities in 
 American lead. Proper tempera tint; for pouring solder. No pub- 
 lished instructions for refining. Amateur refining. Illustrative 
 incidents. 
 
 CHAPTER 17. 
 
 Qualities and grades of solder. Alloy for filling. Alloy 
 for terne plates. For common purposes. For roofing-, common 
 tin ware and ordinary purposes. Alloys for plumbers' use. An 
 excellent alloy for any purpose. Alloy largely used for elec- 
 trical work. Favorite aloys for tin ware. Alloys for meat, 
 salmon, corn and condensed milk cans. The favorite grade. 
 Abuse of the term of half and half. Cupidity vs. common sense. 
 Illustrative incident. Ignorance of the nature and quality of 
 solder. Purpose of this book to give a clearer knowledge. Ex- 
 cuse for buyer, but not for manufacturer. Another illustrative 
 incident. Alloys for specific purposes. Lowest fusing point of 
 solder. 
 
 CHAPTER 18. 
 
 Quality of solder often disputed. Chemical analysis not 
 conclusive. Quality determined by assay. What may be ana- 
 lyzed. What may be assayed. Chemists differ greatly. Illustra- 
 tive incidents. Quick and sure test for solder. Description. Use 
 of this instrument would insure justice. 
 
 CHAPTER 19. 
 
 Care in manufacturing. Enemies to solder. Some difficult 
 to detect. Others quite easy. Ignorance of users as to the pres- 
 ence of enemies. Manufacturers unfairly blamed. Zinc. Anti- 
 mony. Copper. Iron. 
 
 CHAPTER 20. 
 
 To detect copper. To detect iron. Tin and Iron alloy. To 
 detect sulphur. Sulphur the great enemy of solder. Reduces 
 the lead to an elemental condition. Mistakes of users of solder. 
 Abuses by the incompetent and ignorant. Manufacturers wrong- 
 fully abused. Illustrative incidents. Arsenic an enemy to solder. 
 Appearance of solder alloyed with arsenic. How to eliminate 
 arsenic. 
 
 CHAPTER 21. 
 
 Appearance of absolutely pure snider. If zinc is in it. If 
 antimony is in it. If copper is alloyed with it. If iron is 
 present. If sulphur is in it. Tin, I. cad and I'.isinutli alloys. For 
 wiping .joints on block tin pipes. Alloy for soldering I'.rittania- 
 ware. Low melting alloys. Alloy with cadmium. Alloy with 
 mercury. Table giving inciting points of various alloys. Table 
 ■ if difference in lengths of different grades of wire snider. The 
 breaking strain of different grades of solder. The bursting strain 
 of differenl grades of solder. The weight per cubic Inch of 
 
 varices grades Of snider. 
 
SOLDEE PRACTICALLY CONSIDERED. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 D 
 
 T IS a great lesson in human progress to delve 
 
 into the vistas of the past, and view the suc- 
 cessive stages by which remarkable discoveries, 
 improvements and arts, were brought into the service 
 of mankind; to surmise their inception, to scan their 
 progress, and to observe and appreciate their applica- 
 tion and value, is one of the chiefest pleasures that can 
 he imparted to the contemplative mind. 
 
 All the advantages we now enjoy are the results of 
 human effort, delving into the mysteries of nature, and 
 wresting from its store house, the secrets which an All- 
 wise Providence provided, and made possible for man 
 to obtain. 
 
 The generous keeper of those hidden depths, holding 
 as we may believe an untold store of know ledge, whose 
 advantages we are yet to reap, whose future disclosures 
 are reserved for man's exalted enjoyment, is ever lib- 
 eral and responsive, and yields graciously to the ear- 
 nest seeker at her willing gates, her stored treasures, and 
 asks but the price of an inquiring mind and a respon- 
 sive intellect. 
 
 We may only appreciate the toils id' the past, by the 
 efforts and accomplishments of the present; and as 
 we journey on through paths of expanding inquiry, our 
 gratitude will go forth to those wonderful intellects that 
 have handed down to us. that which vet exists of the 
 fruit gathered with toil only to he guessed at. from 
 the obscure channels of long gone ages. 
 
HISTORICAL RETROSPECT. 
 
 Science and Art are horn and thrive in the halls 
 of peace. Domestic economy;, which includes the pro- 
 gressive advantages which come to communities through 
 trade, commerce, manufactures and the liberal arts, is 
 the hand maid of peaceful endeavor, and whenever these 
 features are developed in a community, the higher 
 branches of education and science grow in accordance. 
 And as we cannot conceive education and advancement 
 without historical record, it is therefore reasonable to 
 suppose, that the remarkable state of civilization which 
 existed in the great cities of the ancients, was accom- 
 panied by records of the knowledge gained by those. 
 who, in every enlightened land, devote themselves to 
 teaching, and thereby to the welfare and progress of 
 their fellowmen. 
 
 The loss of records which would have, perhaps, given 
 the world the source of many of the mechanical pro- 
 ducts which have come to us without history, baffles 
 the inquiring mind, and leaves to surmise that which 
 should be authentic. 
 
 We may easily understand the birth of crude effort; 
 we may picture the first hewers of wood, the first gath- 
 ering of the fleece, the first crude smelting of ore, for 
 if intelligence did not disclose these primitive arts, fortu- 
 nate accident must have brought about their accomplish- 
 ment. But, when elemental production afforded ma- 
 terial, and a higher knowledge, a broader skill, was 
 needed to utilize these, who wrought them into shape. 
 fabric or utensil, for man's use, who gave them me- 
 chanical mobility, are questions which might have been 
 answered had not ruthless barbarism destroyed that 
 which enlightened wisdom sought to preserve. 
 
 The instincts of savagely taught the destruction and 
 obliteration of that which intelligence built, and strove 
 
II [STORICAL RETROSPECT. 
 
 to maintain as instructive records for future ages. The 
 unlettered warrior, intent only upon successes suggested 
 by rude ambition, wiped out not only mural wealth 
 grown to wonderful splendor, but even the very monu- 
 ments laboriously built to commemorate the achieve- 
 ments of his kind, and has left but a legacy of stu- 
 pendous rains, amid which the scientist may grope 
 and speculate, and weave an indistinct history of a 
 magnificent civilization, lost to us forever. But it is 
 the destruction of the more priceless wealth of learn- 
 ing, which existed in libraries and archives, which the 
 world will never cease to mourn, and whose value, 
 thus lost, our imaginations may but faintly picture. 
 
 The destruction of Thebes, Nineveh, Illium and 
 other great cities of remote antiquity; of Corinth, 
 Cartilage and Syracuse of a more recent date: the wip- 
 ing out of the Etruscan cities by the Savage Romans; 
 the sacking of Rome ; the conflagration of Alexandria: 
 the destroying inroads of Barbarian Scythians, Alle- 
 mania, Goths and Vandals; and finally the mad cam- 
 paigns of the Crusaders, all guided by the iron will of 
 ignorant and savage conquerors, wiped out to large 
 extent knowledge, which, no doubt, had been indus- 
 triously stored in Labored manuscripts, and thus com- 
 pelled mankind to grope anew through unexplored 
 fields, to regain the arts with which peace and indus- 
 try brightened and made happy the homes of the past. 
 
 Comparisons may teach that, which supposition may 
 not suggest, or imagination depict. 
 
 The two greatesl of modern inventions, steam and 
 electricity, were broughl to their presenl efficiency by 
 the utmosl toil, patience and cost, through several cen- 
 turies of tireless effort, by thousands of the brightesl 
 and nmst intelligent minds, whose patient, unselfish dc- 
 
HISTORICAL RETROSPECT. 
 
 votion, built up with endless, and often disappointing 
 labor, the magnificent fabrics of power which now ex- 
 ist. These being almost contemporaneous improve- 
 ments, Ave can see, know and understand the vast labor 
 spent in bringing them to their present state; and 
 yet all these remarkable efforts, and wonderful results, 
 but serve to epitomise and thus make more conspicu- 
 ous, the heaven-born qualities of human effort and en- 
 erg}^ which grew and labored in the obscure avenues 
 of antiquity. Thus beholding the blessings we now 
 enjoy and knowing their cost, we can in a measure ap- 
 preciate the toils, trials, disappointments, and cease- 
 less endeavor of those, who in the dark ages, before 
 writing made possible the recording page, to carry the 
 labors and knowledge of those gone before, to aid and 
 inspire those to follow, struggled in circumscribed ave- 
 nues for the acquirement and distribution of knowl- 
 edge, without the applause of appreciative fellowship, 
 with no source of inspiration save the consciousness of 
 duty well done, and essaying the problems of progress 
 alone and unaided, save by the God-given intellect 
 which always arises at the demand of necessity. 
 
CHAPTEE II. 
 
 H CANNING in its earliest possible stages, the 
 subject with which Ave propose to deal, we 
 may imagine the surprise of the ancient no- 
 mads, who, building their fires upon supposed inert 
 rocks, Found in the ashes a new substance, an unknown 
 element which brighter minds, perhaps ages after. 
 wrought as serviceable metals, and through succeeding 
 centuries, utilized their strength and founded their al- 
 loys, to serve and benefit all future generations of men. 
 
 Therefore, because of the absence or loss of all rec- 
 ords referring to such matters, just where, how and 
 when, the art of smelting metals from their ores was 
 first discovered will never be known, though what slen- 
 der data we have, points to a very early period in the 
 far past. It is likely the art began with the metals 
 easiest to reduce, and as a consequence tin and lead 
 were doubtless the first metals known to men. How 
 far their use extended can only he surmised, nor have 
 we much data to teach us to what purposes they Mere 
 applied. The destruction of all evidences of early 
 domestic economy, leaves the question open as to their 
 general employment, though objects of bronze, found 
 in the ruins of prehistoric cities, teach us. that to some 
 evlcnl at least, they were used and wrought. 
 
 The early manner of smelting is also problematic, 
 though such methods as were employed must have been 
 crude and wasteful. The relics found in ancient ruins 
 are mainly the sources from which we gain any idea 
 of prehistoric political and domestic economy, and 
 those bearing upon the matter under consideration are 
 
HISTORICAL RETROSPECT. 
 
 so infrequent^ that they do not help us to solve the 
 problem : therefore in pursuing this subject, we can 
 only deal with later periods, through the fragments of 
 records which have come to us in the way of history. 
 
 It has, however, lately been discovered that a method 
 of smelting iron in a crude way was known more than 
 a thousand years before the Christian era; an etch- 
 ing upon a stone has been unearthed in an Egyptian 
 ruin, showing what is supposed to be the smelting of 
 iron. It shows a shallow pit with a bellows and a 
 reed tube to convey the blast, the iron being appar- 
 ently melted in a wood or charcoal fire. Another etch- 
 ing shows the conversion of the smelted iron into 
 wrought iron, by heating it and beating it with a 
 hammer upon an anvil. 
 
 Just how early the alloy of tin and lead in the 
 form of solder was used, is also unknown, but as it 
 was used by the ancient Eomans, who were essentially 
 a war-like and non-inventive people, Ave can readily be- 
 lieve the knowledge was filched from an older and 
 more civilized people whom their arms subdued. Later 
 in its excess of wealth and power, Eome also became 
 the center of luxury, and great aqueducts gave to the 
 city its vast water supply, and lead pipes are known to 
 have conducted the water to its splendid baths. 
 
 It is a reasonable supposition that* other cities of 
 wealth and luxury were equally well supplied with 
 water, and that lead in the form of pipe, at least was 
 iu general service. 
 
 The various lengths of pipes naturally required for 
 conducting water, also required a method of joining 
 them, and nothing could have produced this result so 
 easily and perfectly but solder; therefore, reasoning 
 upon this hypothesis, we may safely say that just be- 
 
HISTORICAL RETROSPECT. 
 
 fore the Christian era solder and the method of solder- 
 ing was widely known and generally nsed. 
 
 At the present time- the employment of solder is 
 one of the most important mechanical arts existing, 
 and as an alloy, it is more widely nsed than any other 
 combination of metals known to the arts. Indeed, it 
 would be difficult to imagine the world without solder, 
 or to design an appliance that would supercede its use; 
 for there is scarcely a work shop or factory in which 
 metal is handled, that does not at some time, in some 
 manner, require the use of solder. 
 
 In this work, the discussion of solder, will be con- 
 fined to those alloys made entirely of tin and lead, with 
 a short reference to several other soft metals, that are 
 sometimes alloyed with tin and lead to make a more 
 fusible metal. 
 
 The hard solders made of copper, zinc, tin and silver, 
 used for the purpose of brazing or fusing together the 
 harder metals, will not be discussed, these being for- 
 eign to the industries we will have under consideration. 
 
 Tin being the most important metal used in the al- ' 
 loy of solder, because of its high cost and limited pro- 
 duction, and because of its extensive use for purposes 
 other than solder, has attracted the close attention cf 
 economists, and lately the suggestion has been held 
 forth by some, that tin presents the aspect of not keep- 
 ing pace in production with the constantly increasing 
 demands of trade and commerce; and they say. should 
 this condition continue, the demand for consumption 
 would be so great, that the earth's store would become 
 exhausted, and thus leave it to he known only as one 
 of the rare metals; and therefore among the many 
 evils this condition would bring about, would he the 
 unfortunate fact that the application of solder to me- 
 
HISTORICAL RETROSPECT. 
 
 clianical purposes would become a lost art. 
 
 This view of economists is encouraged by statistical 
 reports, made from time to time by the several Metal 
 Exchanges, large operators in tin, and by papers de- 
 voted to trade and commerce; but as it has been found 
 that such reports are sometimes made to conceal the 
 real situation, and to encourage speculation, the worth 
 of these statements is questionable. 
 
 Those who follow the tin situation closely are en- 
 couraged in the belief that an early tin famine is not 
 possible, and a remote one hardly probable, for while 
 it is true that some of the older tin mines have be- 
 come exhausted, and others, notably, the Cornwall Tin 
 Mines of England have become much depleted, other 
 sources of production are being brought to light, which 
 will supply for many years the world's consumption^ 
 Besides Mother Earth, through her wonderful alchemy,, 
 is constantly producing, slowly but surely, new supplies 
 of our various metals, which nature's plutonic forces 
 are gradually unlifting from her workshop in the earth' &• 
 bowels, for the use of future generations of men. 
 
 Furthermore, as nothing is lost in the economy of 
 nature, all of our wastage of metals, all that seems to' 
 lie lost by oxidation, disintegration and other methods; 
 of destruction, are being deposited through the cease- 
 less operation of the elements, in the bosom of the earthv 
 to reappear in some far distant age, obedient to the 
 miner's pick, to seek transformation again in the smelt- 
 er's fire. 
 
 In order to introduce and to gain a comprehensive 
 view of the main objects of this work, a short story 
 of each of the component parts of solder, tin and lead, 
 will likely be found interesting. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 A STORY OF TIN. 
 
 nJIK earliest mention we have <>f tin in history, 
 is given in accounts of the Phoenician Mar- 
 iners, who voyaged to the Cassiterides, or 
 British Islands, and brought hack either metallic tin, 
 or the ore to be utilized at home. Some mention seems 
 to have been made of tin in Hebraic history as early 
 as the times of Moses. That the ancienl Egyptians 
 knew of it and nsed it. is quite evident, as ai tides 
 made of bronze of a time antedating written history, 
 nave been discovered in the ruins of Thebes; these 
 bronze articles were found to be composed of an alloy 
 partly tin. Some authors, however, advance the propo- 
 sition that the ait of smelting tin was not known so 
 early, and that these bronze alloys weie made by roast- 
 ing the tin stone or ore with molten copper. 
 
 Somewhat contradictory of tins we have the testi- 
 mony of Homer in the Iliad, that in making the shield 
 ■of Achilles, tin, with other metals was thrown into 
 the furnace to complete the alloy. 
 
 To the practical mind, it would appear that if the 
 method of smelting eoppei was known and practiced 
 a1 the time when the ancient bronze objects are sup- 
 posed to have been made, surely the ait of smelting tin 
 must also have hern kni wn. because the smelting and 
 refining of copper is a more intricate and laborious op- 
 peration, than the smelting and refining of tin. 
 
 The answer to this propositon, however, might reason- 
 ably be, the sources of copper ore were many, the pro- 
 
A STORY OF TIN". 
 
 duct ion large, and in smelting a satisfactory percentage 
 of metal was obtained; whereas, the sources of tin ore 
 were few and widely separated, and without laborous 
 concentration, the percentage of metal yielded was ex- 
 ceedingly low, and if the ancient metalurgists were 
 unaware of the methods of concentration, they found 
 their crude efforts of reducing metal from tin ore so 
 pooily rewarded, that to make their alloy, they re- 
 sorted to the less troublesome way of crushing and 
 roasting the tin stone with the molten copper. 
 
 Ee this as it may, the bronze age, which unfortunate- 
 ly reflects upon history but shadowy outlines, is yet 
 in sufficient evidence to show, that the ancient metal 
 workers must have had a somewhat extensive knowl- 
 edge of the smelting of metals, to have produced the 
 excellent specimens of bronze work, which have been 
 unearthed by our A rcheologists. 
 
 The Greeks from 1500 before Christ, down to the 
 times of the Roman Conquests, seems to have had an 
 intimate knoAvledge of the means of producing tin, and 
 of successfully using it; the many beautiful specimens 
 of bronze statuary and other art work, which have been 
 preserved, prove that they were not only masters in 
 the highest degree of the art of modeling in clay or 
 other plastic substances, and reproducing the subjects 
 in bronze, but that they were masters also of the pro- 
 duction of the most exquisite alloys of copper, tin and 
 other metals, from which their art subjects were cast. 
 Indeed so beautiful in color were some of these alloys, 
 that modern ingenuity and ability have thus far been 
 unable to duplicate them. 
 
 During the period of the Roman Conquests, the plan- 
 ning of campaigns in the theatre of war, the attack and 
 defense of cities and provinces, were the lessons that 
 
A STORY OF TIN. 
 
 chiefly engrossed the nations, and in many lands, the 
 fabric of existence' was made up of armed camps and 
 howling wilds. Industries were submerged in the tide 
 of martial enterprise that swept over the world, and 
 the trades that prospered were those that gave to war- 
 fare its levei-s of success. The gentler arts of peace 
 were neglected, and the utilization of those agents 
 which gave beauty to the earth, and adornment to so- 
 ciety, were lost for the time in the ruthless acquisition 
 of power. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 0BOUT the third and fourth centuries of the 
 Christian era a revival of the industries was 
 _ _ noticable, a gentler mood for a while pre- 
 vailed with man. The art of working - in metals grew, 
 and tin received its share of attention among the others. 
 
 Tin ore was mined in Spain, parts of the Italian 
 Peninsula and Germany. Cornwall in England was, 
 however, the main source of tin supply, and so contin- 
 ued until the discovery of tin in the East India Islands, 
 owned by the Dutch Government, and in the Malay 
 Peninsula, known now as the Straits Settlements, an 
 English Colony. 
 
 These two latter sources supply about three-fourths 
 of the world's product, and it is owing to statements 
 that the tin mined in these places scarcely keep pace, 
 proportionately, with the consumptive demand that has 
 brought about a remote fear of a tin famine. 
 
 In a bulletin of the I T . S. Geological Survey, 1905, 
 by Mr. Frank L. Hess, the following percentage of 
 production of the tin producing countries is given for 
 the year 1905 : 
 
 Short tons. Per Cent. 
 
 Australia 5,028 4.88 
 
 Banka '. 11,155 10.81 
 
 Billiton 2,715 2.63 
 
 Bolivia 13,616 13.23 
 
 Cornwall ' 5,010 4.88 
 
 Malay States 65,565 63.57 
 
 103,149 100.00 
 
A STORY ()F TIN. 
 
 The same author says: "The Malay Peninsula still 
 contributes by far the largest quantity, although the 
 output was less than that of 1!><»4. owing to the ex- 
 haustion of main - of the placers, and to a shortage of 
 labor, said to be due to many of the Coolies having 
 gone to South Africa to work in the gold mines/' 0l 
 Banka and Billiton he says: "The total tin sales from 
 Banka and Billiton for 1905 showed a decided falling 
 off from 1904, the shortage being undoubtedly due 
 to the exhaustion of the placers." 
 
 The following tables kindly furnished by the X. Y. 
 Metal Exchange show the production and consumption 
 of tin for the past 15 years. It is well, however, to 
 obrerve that one important feature impossihle to de- 
 tennine as to quantity, and therefore not to he con- 
 sidered in this report, is the amount of tin held for 
 stock purposes, for speculation, and that retained at 
 the sources of production. This is unquestionably large, 
 and if tabulation were possible, no doubt the balance 
 would lie much in favor of supply: 
 
 SEE TABLES ON FOLLOWING PAGES 
 
 It will lie here observed that production has grown 
 from 64,300 tons in 1892 to 90,550 tons in 1905, and 
 the consumption from 63,200 in 1892 to !»:!.;."> I tons 
 in 1905, showing apparently a serious increase of con- 
 sumption over production, though in addition to 
 quantities held for stock purposes, for speculation, and 
 at the sources of production, this is further offset by 
 large stocks of Banka and Billiton tin known to he 
 held in reserve by the Dutch Government, as it seem- 
 to he the policy of the far seeing economist statesmen 
 of that conservative government to place upon the mar- 
 kets only such quantities of tin as will preserve a 
 
 dthly balance between supply and demand. 
 
 Other localities in which tin is known to exist, and 
 which will he hugely drawn upon in the future to 
 maintain the required supply, are Australia, China. 
 the United States, Smith America, and some of the 
 
 islands of the Paci fie I Icean. 
 
A STORY OF TIN, 
 
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A STORY ()[•' TIN. 
 
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CHAPTER Y. 
 
 D 
 
 X AUSTRALIA tin is widely distributed ; it 
 is mined in New South Wales., Queensland, 
 South Australia, Victoria and West Aus- 
 tralia, and is derived from alluvial and vein deposit". 
 Stream tin is obtained from several creeks in the form 
 of tin gravel, and is believed to exist in large quanti- 
 ties, though as usual in tin bearing matrix, the per- 
 centage is small, the average being about 20 pounds of 
 ore to the cubic yard. 
 
 It was thought when tin was first discovered in 
 Australia that a never-failing supply was at hand, and 
 in such large quantities that the woild might reason- 
 ably count on a continuous surplus; but later expe- 
 rience is -disappointing, for while it is known that vast 
 quantities of tin exist in the various deposits, yet the 
 production has shown but little if any improvement 
 in the last fifteen years. Tin's may be laigely attri- 
 buted to labor problems; the mining and smelting of 
 tin being extremely laborious, it was found difficult 
 to compete with the Straits, Banka and Billiton mines, 
 where cheap Coolie and East Indian labor is solely em- 
 ployed, at the low prices raling for tin a few years 
 ago, but it seems with the high prices which have pre- 
 vailed since 1903, production in Australia should be 
 greatly stimulated. 
 
 In Tasmania the tin deposits aie in the Mount Bis- 
 choff region, the pi eduction being deiived firm the de- 
 composed bed lock in the shape of tin guncl. These 
 gravels are at times remarkably rich in tin, and again 
 will show very poor. In one instance 240 tons of con- 
 
A ST > I : Y OF TIN. 
 
 centrated ore was taken firm an area of < - >i; square 
 feet, while not over 100 feet away from tins deposit 
 .the gravel showed only a trace of tin. 
 
 The ore is concentrated by picking and washing, then 
 by crushing and furthei concentrating; up to 1899 
 ahout six million tens of the material were mined and 
 handled, which aie -aid to have yielded ahout 45,000 
 tons of black tin. which in turn yielded ahout 7~> per 
 cent, of metallic- tin. 
 
 The tin-hearing district of Cornwall is in the extreme 
 south of England, and occupies an area altogether of 
 ahout 1,200 squaie miles. The mining is chiefly from 
 lodes: the stream tin or gravel was exhausted by the 
 ancient prospectors, and what is now called stream 
 workings are only the tailings of stamp mills, oper- 
 ated when economy in gathering tin ore was not so 
 oecessaiy. 
 
 The Dolcoath mine is one of the best known of the 
 Cornwall tin mines. In 1902 the lodes had been traced 
 for over two miles, while the workings had reached a 
 vertical depth of 2,100 feet, ami were still producing 
 large amounts of me. ire deepest levels being found 
 to be the richest in tin. During 1902 the average prod- 
 uct of this mine was about 28 pounds of black tin 
 to the excavated ton. an e juivalent of one per cent. 
 of metallic tin. 
 
 Thus far the United State?, as a factor in tin pro- 
 duction, is of no importance. Seme tin has been found 
 in North Carolina, Virginia, and several other At- 
 lantic seaboard slates, also in California, South Da- 
 kota, ami Western Texas, hut in no place in sufficient 
 quantity to pay the cost of mining and smelting. In 
 fact in no less than K states and .territories tin ore 
 has been produced, though up to the presenl time not 
 
A STORY OF T12J. 
 
 over '200 tons of tin has been mined and smelted from 
 all sources. 
 
 In Alabama the ore occurs in quartz veins, but not 
 in workable quantities. 
 
 In California small amounts of the ore have been 
 found in gold placers at widely separated localities. 
 The ore is found in places at the Temescal mines, five 
 miles southeast of Riverside. Two hundred and ninety- 
 two pounds of metallic tin were produced from ore 
 mined at Temescal previous to 1902, when the mines 
 were abandoned. 
 
 The Texas mines, located in the Quitman Mountains, 
 southeast of El Paso, gave expectation of a laige pro- 
 duction of tin ore, but a futile effort to make a sue- 
 cessfu] showing of tin from this source at the St. Louis 
 Exposition wrecked all hope in this respect. 
 
 At one time it was thought the tin deposits of Xorth 
 Carolina were of a promising nature, but after mining 
 and concentrating 18 tons of the ore, the result was 
 disappointing. An interesting disci iption of the tin 
 region of Xorth Carolina is contained in Bulletin Xo. 
 19 of the Xorth Carolina State Geological. Survey. 
 
 The only promising tin deposits within the boundar- 
 ies of 'the United States are found in the York region 
 of Alaska — the territory of such remarkable mineral 
 resources. This has been surveyed and mapped by the 
 United States Geological Survey, and an exhaustive 
 report lias been made by Mr. Arthur J. Collier in 
 Bulletin Xo. 229, entitled. -The Tin Deposits of the 
 York Region, Alaska." The report shows that tin is 
 there in sufficient quantities to be successfully mined, 
 as soon as the conditions of labor, transportation, etc., 
 will warrant. At present the absence of fuel, the want 
 of a harbor, and the hardships labor would necessarily 
 
A STORY OF TIN". 
 
 encoimtc: in the c e inhospitable latitudes would pre- 
 clude the possibility of any mining enterprise that 
 
 would pay. 
 
 The tin deposits of China are an unknown quantity; 
 it has been vaguely estimated that China's product would 
 teach 20,000 tons, but the mines being situated in re- 
 mote or obscure localities, such estimates are nothing 
 more than mere guess work; however, should the pro- 
 duction be near the amount stated, the local consump- 
 tion must be extraordinary, as very little tin from China 
 finds its way into the usual channels of trade, and if tins 
 estimate should eventually prove to he near the truth, 
 when the march of progress opens up China to in- 
 telligent exploitation, a great addition to the world's tin 
 supply may he looked for. 
 
 Some tin has been mined in Mexico, and it is said 
 there is a probability of large deposits being opened up. 
 This however, is a problem for the future, as there is 
 nothing to encourage the hope that any output of tin 
 may l»e expected at an_early date. Thus far a great 
 deal of the mineral lands of Mexico remain unexplored, 
 hut when remote localities have been intelligently pros- 
 pected, tie persistent rumors of the existence of tin bear- 
 ing regions may he verified. 
 
 It i< to the west coast of South America, in the vast 
 Andean iegion°, the world must look- for its future souice 
 of tin: there upon an arid plateau rising from 12,000 to 
 17,000 feet above the sea. extending 1,000 miles north 
 and south, inexhaustible fields of tin exist, though thus 
 far the only mines that are worked are in that part of 
 Bolivia extending north and south about o-"><» miles, and 
 lying between the Bastern and Western cordileras, the 
 productive districts being La Paz in the North, Oruro 
 m the centre, ('horohpie in the South, and Potosi in the 
 Bast. 
 
A STORY OF TIN. 
 
 The transportation facilities in these regions are 
 limited. The only railroad tapping the tin territory thus 
 far completed has been built from Oruro to the port of 
 Antifogasta in Chile, from whence nearly all the tin 
 produced is exported. Other railroads, however, are 
 projected, some are under construction, and when these 
 are completed, and ample transportation facilities af- 
 forded, a lar°:e revival of the tin industry may be looked 
 for. 
 
 At present the tin products are carried on mules and 
 lamas from the various mines to where the one railroad 
 may be reached. As some of these distances so traversed 
 are from one hundred to two hundred miles, some idea 
 of the difficulties of tin production in Bolivia may be 
 arrived at. 
 
 The lamas travel in droves of several hundred, each 
 carrying about 100 pounds, and as they live on the scant 
 provender afforded by the sward of the mountain passes, 
 they have become the most economical medium of trans- 
 portation. 
 
 The following table shows the production of tin in 
 the four above mentioned districts, from 1897 to 1902, 
 inclusive, in tons of 2,240 pounds, though the Bolivian 
 statistics are given in quintals of 220 45-100 pounds. 
 
 
 1897 
 
 1898 
 
 1899 
 
 1900 
 
 1901 
 
 1902 
 
 Oruro 
 
 j 404 
 
 1700 
 
 4357 
 
 8ro5 
 
 9873 
 
 9545 
 
 
 
 Chorolque 
 
 855 
 
 1079 
 
 2031 
 
 3955 
 
 6798 
 
 5537 
 
 
 
 Potoni 
 
 823 
 
 901 
 
 '954 
 
 2953 
 
 3860 
 
 13*7 
 
 
 
 La Paz 
 
 611 
 
 653 
 
 798 
 
 980 
 
 1062 
 
 939 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 3693 
 
 4333 
 
 9140 
 
 15993 
 
 21593 
 
 17338 
 
 
 
A STORY OF TIN. 
 
 This table, however, includes metallic tin and the 
 concentrated mineral in the form of black tin. the 
 proportion exported being about one-seventh metallic 
 
 tin and six-sevenths black tin. and as this concentrate 
 yields but 60 to 70 per cent, of metallic tin. the total of 
 tin exported will be very much reduced. 
 
 The metallic tin produced in Bolivia is of an inferior 
 quality, owing to the fact that it is not refined before it 
 is exported, and therefore has not met with much favor 
 from consumers; it is usually billed as 93 per cent, pure, 
 though much of it runs as low as 85 per cent. This fact 
 basresulted in frequent loss to consumers, and has greatly 
 reduced the consumption of Bolivian tin in this country. 
 The importers hill it all as 93 tier cent., and generally 
 manage to get an assay bearing out their figures, and 
 the buyer or consumer has to suffer this imposition, 
 though if this injustice is continued, it will finally drive 
 Bolivian tin altogether from our markets. The tin. 
 however, is largely used in England and the Continent 
 of Europe, and it is said with satisfaction, but it is 
 most likely refined before going into European con- 
 sumption, for when properly refined it makes most ex- 
 cellent tin. and for some purposes it is superior to 
 Straits or Banka tin. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Pkoduction, Mining and Smelting Tin in the 
 Malay Peninsula. 
 
 nHE Malay Peninsula,, in which the tin deposits 
 of the Straits Settlements are located, consists 
 of a range of rugged hills running North and 
 
 South through the centre of the Peninsula, with occa- 
 sional spurs reaching out on either side. The whole 
 region is covered by almost impenetrable jungles of 
 tropical growth; tin ore is found on the Western side of 
 the range throughout the whole length of the Peninsula, 
 a distance of probably 900 miles. The principal mining 
 fields, known as the"Kinta" district, are about 300 miles 
 north of Singapore. This district is about 40 miles in 
 length, with an uneven width averaging about 20 miles. 
 The soil is alluvium, and the tin is mined from -this at 
 varying depths in the form of oxide of tin or cassiterite. 
 The tin bearing beds run from one foot to thirty feet 
 in thickness, and occasionally reach one hundred feet, 
 and are usually covered by from 20 to 40 feet of alluvial 
 top soil. 
 
 Most of the mines are operated by Chinamen, and the 
 labor is performed by Coolies from Southern China. 
 The tin bearing strata is worked mostly in open mines, 
 or large pits, though occasionally where the alluvial top 
 soil is very thick shafts are sunk and short tunnels 
 run, though no great depth can be reached, because of 
 the water that flows into the shafts or pits, as the 
 primitive methods here used for mining do not pro- 
 vide modern hydraulic machinery for disposition of the 
 
A STORY OF TIN. 
 
 water. It is a common tiling to see water raised from 
 these pits, by rude tread mill pumps, worked by the 
 feet of Chinese laborers. The tin bearing gravel dug 
 from the pits is carried up an incline in baskets hung 
 oh either end of a stick carried on the back of a China- 
 man. It is then dumped into wooden troughs, supplied 
 with running water, it is stirred with a hoe or shovel, 
 and after this preliminary washing is pushed into sluice 
 boxes, built of wood and about 200 feet long. 
 
 After the material lias been washed for some time 
 the water is shut off and the residue removed, when it is 
 finally cleansed by hand picking, and by this means 
 nearly all of the objectionable matter is removed. The 
 ore in this state will average 60 to 70 per cent, tin, and 
 is now ready for shipping to the smelters at Singapore. 
 
 Up to this point the modus of mining, concentrating, 
 and preparing the tin ore are like a leaf taken from 
 mediaeval history, so primitive are all the features, but 
 because of the exceeding cheapness of labor it is doubt- 
 ful whether the elaborate machinery used in up-to-date 
 mining would reduce the cost of production to any 
 extent. 
 
 In the island of Banka, which is under control of the 
 Dutch Government, the geological features resemble 
 those of the Malay Peninsula. Here the average thick- 
 ness of the alluvial top soil is 25 to 35 feet, and shallow 
 diggings and open mines and pits are the methods of 
 mining, though steam pumps have been installed in 
 some of the open cuts where the flow of water is exces- 
 sive; the washing, picking, and concentrating is done in 
 the same manner as in the Peninsula. 
 
 There is however, a different and peculiar way of 
 estimating the product. In 1891 and 1892, according 
 to the United States Bureau of Statistics, "i .V$2 men 
 
A STORY OF TIN. 
 
 were employed in the mines of Banka, > produced 
 5,780 tons of tin, a yearly product of about three 
 quarters of a ton to each man employed. It has thus 
 heen found that a ready estimate of product may he 
 made by the number of men employed, as the average 
 product of each man per year is about the -rime. 
 
 The island of Billiton or Blitong, formerly a British 
 dependency, hut in 1824 ceded to the Dutch Govern- 
 ment, has valuable tin deposits, the production being- 
 somewhat less than the island of Banka. The geologic 
 features are similar to those of the Malay Peninsula and 
 Banka, the tin coming from alluvial deposits, therefore 
 the method of mining is the same. The 1 labor condi- 
 tions are also similar to those of Banka : in 1891 and 
 1892, 8,690 men were employed in the mines, the out- 
 put averaging slightly less per man than that of Banka. 
 The tin fields are prospected by the Government, and 
 are then let to Chinamen, who employ Coolies "(together 
 in the manual labor. 
 
 In Cornwall the methods of mining and concentrat- 
 ing the tin ore are more elaborate and intricate, and be- 
 cause of the great depth of some of the mines, the most, 
 modern and expensive hydraulic machinery is required, 
 to keep the workings free from water. Concentrating is. 
 also more difficult owing to the small pei eentage of tin. 
 found in the matrix:; here again modem invention lias, 
 come to the rescue, and mechanical appliances accom- 
 plish expeditiously that at which manual labor would 
 be an absolute failure. 
 
 The ore is milled and placed on tables of Urinous de- 
 signs, with corrugations over which water is run, the 
 tin settles and the earthy particles pass of! with the 
 water; these tailings are again subjected to further con- 
 centration, until little, if any, tin is carried off with 
 
A STORY OK TIN. 
 
 the washings. Thus a concentrate of 60 to 70 per cent, 
 is obtained which is ready for smelting. 
 
 In Bolivia the tin hearing matrix is of rock forma- 
 tion, and as a consequence, other metals in minute 
 quantities are associated with the tin ore, so that when 
 the tin is smelted an assay will show their existence. 
 Tin assaying 93 per cent, pure will contain approxi- 
 mately: Lead, 3 per cent. ;bismuth,2 per cent. ;antamony, 
 1.5 per cent., with traces of silver, copper, iron and 
 sulphur. These, however, can he removed by properly 
 refining. 
 
 Lately deposits of tin have heen found in the Congo 
 region, Central Africa; the tin bearing district has heen 
 explored for 175 miles, and it is estimated at least 
 twenty thousand tons are in sight. Should this prove 
 true, Aery soon another great source of tin supply will 
 he opened to the world. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HHE price of tin fluctuates more than any known 
 article of merchandise. In 1896;, in the 
 United States, during the period of depression 
 
 following the great panic of 1893, tin was sold as low 
 as 12% cents per pound; in June, 1906, it reached 50 
 cents per pound, and in less than six weeks it dropped 
 to 38 cents, and again in two weeks it had advanced to 
 43% cents. Fluctuations of a cent a pound frequently 
 occur within 24 hours, so that it is difficult for one 
 dealing in this metal to make any safe calculations as 
 to price; the experience of most dealers is a losing one. 
 
 Below is a tabulated statement of the average price 
 of tin in New York each month during the years 1901, 
 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905 and 1906. 
 1906. 
 
 Jan 36.49 
 
 Feb 36.48 
 
 March 36.64 
 
 April 38.90 
 
 May 43.36 
 
 June 39.20 
 
 Julv 37.32 
 
 August .... 40.57 
 
 Sept 40.38 
 
 October . . . 42.74 
 
 Nov 42,93 
 
 Dec 42.80 
 
 Yearly ave. . 39.82 
 
 These figures are taken from "The American Metal 
 Market and Daily Iron and Steel Report." 
 
 The reduction of tin ores is a process not generally 
 known. Because of the very limited sources of tin, the 
 
 1905. 
 
 1904. 
 
 1903. 
 
 1902. 
 
 1901. 
 
 29.54 
 
 28.98 
 
 28.31 
 
 23.66 
 
 26.66 
 
 29.37 
 
 28.31 
 
 29.45 
 
 25.07 
 
 26.75 
 
 29.59 
 
 28.31 
 
 30.23 
 
 26.37 
 
 26,13 
 
 30.62 
 
 28.16 
 
 29.97 
 
 27.84 
 
 26.04 
 
 30.16 
 
 27.89 
 
 29.48 
 
 29.76 
 
 27.15 
 
 30.41 
 
 26.43 
 
 28.34 
 
 30.03 
 
 28.52 
 
 31% 
 
 26.57 
 
 27.80 
 
 28.50 
 
 27.91 
 
 32,97 
 
 27.05 
 
 28.41 
 
 27.92 
 
 26.87 
 
 32.16 
 
 27.79 
 
 26.95 
 
 26.65 
 
 25.36 
 
 32.55 
 
 28.72 
 
 26.14 
 
 26.20 
 
 24.78 
 
 33.50 
 
 29.32 
 
 25.56 
 
 25.72 
 
 27.14 
 
 35.85 
 
 29.39 
 
 27.61 
 
 25.71 
 
 24.66 
 
 31.55 
 
 28.08 
 
 28.19 
 
 26.95 
 
 26.94 
 
.\ STORY OF TIN". 
 
 knowledg • 'lifined to a few localities; generally the 
 method is ir to that used in the reduction of other 
 
 ores, though specifically there are important differences. 
 
 The e - and simplest method of reducing tin was 
 as follow- A hole about two feet in diameter was dug 
 in a haul-; of earth, preferahly where the wind would 
 have a I - i ep at it, in which sticks of wood and 
 clean pit k< were piled in alternate layers. This was 
 
 burned usually when the wind was favorable, and the 
 tin thus ••'! id dropped to the bottom of the pit: the 
 tin so obi ii • was gathered ami melted in an iron pot, 
 skimmed and was then ready for use or for market. 
 Remains ti any such furnaces have been found in 
 
 Cornwall Later the bellows Mas used to force the fire, 
 and charcoal substituted for wood. In some parts of 
 the Ma 1 '! nsula small amounts of tin are still re- 
 
 duced in this primitive manner. 
 
 The ne> si ■:> in tin smelting was the employment of 
 the shafi -e and fan blower: tins in turn has been 
 
 superseded ' the reverberatory furnace. These fur- 
 naces h . found superior to all others, because the 
 substan -melted does not come in direct contact 
 with the fuel, and therefore escapes the impurities which 
 may be ■ fuel, the metal coming in contact only 
 with the mm - ierated heat and fiame. 
 
 In the ters near Singapore Hie furnaces are built 
 
 over hollov * mlts, in which water is kept to catch the 
 tin whicl - through the floor of the furnace, the 
 
 tin being fluid at the high temperature necessary 
 
 for redvi The bed or floor of the furnace slopes 
 
 from thref \ ■- to a tap hole in the end: there is also 
 ■• door Eo juii:' the furnace, ami doors for work- 
 
 ing the _ at both ends. The average charge is 
 
 about t'.- , - of concentrated ore, mixed with LO 
 
A STORY OF TIN. 
 
 per cent, of powdered anthracite, a small amount of 
 slacked lime and a little fhior spar. 
 
 The heat is raised to the temperature of melting 
 cast iron, and so maintained from 5 to 7 hours; the 
 reduced tin is then drawn off at the tap hole, and the 
 residue or slag raked from the furnace and put aside 
 for further treatment. 
 
 The tin thus obtained is impure, and requires re- 
 fining to fit it for commerce. There are several meth- 
 ods of doing this; the one chiefly followed is called 
 poling. In this operation the tin is melted in a large 
 pot or crucible until nearly red, a green wood pole is 
 then thrust into it and kept below the surface, ebulli- 
 tion takes place, caused by steam and gas escaping 
 from the charring wood ; this brings to the surface 
 the impurities in the tin, which is repeatedly skimmed 
 until it is found to be in proper condition. There are 
 other methods of refining, much more intricate, but 
 which bring more satisfactory results, a discription of 
 which would be too voluminous for this work. 
 
 The uses to which tin is applied are many and varied, 
 though there are several industries which take up by 
 far greater bulk; these are the manufacture of tin 
 plate, the founding of bronze alloys, the manufacture 
 of Brittania metal, pewter and other white alloys used 
 for table ware, the manufacture of Babbit metal or 
 antifriction metal, and the manufacture of solder. It 
 is difficult to state with any degree of accuracy what 
 proportion of tin is used in these various industries, 
 as no statistics are available, but as they consume prob- 
 ably nine-tenths of the total output, a subdivision may 
 not be impossible. By close scrutiny and careful con- 
 sideration of facts the consumption of tin may be sub- 
 divided as follows: For the world's production of tin 
 
A STORY OF TIN. 
 
 plate, about 37,000 tons are used: for bronze alloys, 
 
 Babbit metal, Brittania. pewter, and other white metal, 
 about 1? per cent. more, or 31,000 tons: allowing about 
 8,000 tons for the various minor purposes for which 
 tin is used, there would be about 35,000 tons con- 
 sumed in the manufacture of solder: this would seem 
 to l)e a fair distribution of the world's annual supply 
 of 90,000 to 93,000 tons of tin. 
 
 In making these calculations, however, two very im- 
 portant sources of tin production, or rather repro- 
 duction, have been lost sight of: these are the de- 
 tinning of scrap or waste tin plate, and the reduction 
 of tin dross which accumulates in the process of tin- 
 ning the iron sheets. There are several methods of 
 detinning, each of which is said to be successful, but 
 just about what amount of tin is recovered cannot 
 even be approximated, but it must be considerable, as 
 those engaged in the industry seem to be well satisfied 
 with the results. 
 
 The dross which accumulates from the process of 
 tinning the iron sheets is a substantial part of the 
 tin used. It comes from the skimmings of the tin 
 pots; tbese are melted and sweated until all the free 
 tin is extracted. The residue is a black oxide contain- 
 ing from 40 to 80 per cent, tin; this can only be re- 
 duced by treatment in a reverberatory furnace, and an 
 after process of refining. 
 
 The United States consumes about L5 per cent, of 
 all the tin annually produced; tin 1 computation made 
 on the foregoing basis with regard to the subdivision 
 of industries shows that the apportionment if ap- 
 plied proportionately to this country, based upon the 
 data it has been possible to obtain, is substantially 
 oorrecl ; such being the ease it follows that the amounl 
 
A STORY OF TIN". 
 
 of tin devoted to the manufacture of solder in this 
 country, about 11,250 tons, bears out a previous close 
 estimate made in respect to the production of this 
 alloy, and we are therefore enabled to arrive at the 
 safe conclusion that from 62 million to 64 million 
 pounds of solder is manufactured and consumed an- 
 nually in the United States, about one third of which 
 is used in the ramifications of the canning industry. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A Story of Lead. 
 
 HROCEEDIXG to the consideration of lead, a 
 short review of its history, production, ap- 
 plication and statistics may be to seme ex- 
 tent interesting. 
 
 Lead was well known to the ancients, and it is diffi- 
 cult to determine how early lead became a mechani- 
 cal servant of the people. The ancient Greeks and 
 Latins, who evolved their histories always through poeti- 
 cal myths, somewhat contradictory, connected the great- 
 est of their gods, the Kronos of the Greeks, or the 
 Saturn of the Latins, with this heavy, dull, unim- 
 pressive metal, although at the same time they glorified 
 the reign of Kronos or Saturn as the Golden Age of 
 the Earth. This only serves to prove that the use of 
 lead was known long before authentic history was 
 written. In the times of Moses lead was a well known 
 and well used metal, several mentions being made of 
 it in the Bible : Exodus, Chapter XV, 10th verse : 
 Numbers, XXXI, 22nd verse: Job. XTX. 24th verse. 
 and Ezekiel, XXVII, 12th verse. Indeed it is a fact, 
 according to Holy Writ, that not only was lead known 
 ami smelted during those early times, but even the 
 ait of separating silver from lead was well known and 
 practiced, for it is plainly indicated in Jeremiah VT. 
 2D and 30: ■'The bellows are burned, the lead is con- 
 sumed of the tire: the founder melteth in \ain: for 
 the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver 
 shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected 
 
 I hem." 
 
A STOKY OF LEAD. 
 
 The ores of lead are found in nearly every coun- 
 try, though in some there may be such scant quan- 
 tities that it does not pay to produce it. It is now 
 mined largely in England, Spain, Germany, France, 
 Italy, Greece, Belgium, Austria, Bussia, the West Coast 
 of South America, and especially in Mexico. The 
 United States, however, produces nearly as much as 
 the combined output of the world, its principal sources 
 being the Central and Upper Mississippi Valley, and 
 the Western States traversed by the Eocky Mountains. 
 Small quantities are also mined in Kentucky, Vir- 
 ginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, on the slopes of 
 the Appalachian Bange. The more important output 
 is the lead reduced from argentiferous ores, mined in 
 Idaho, Utah, Colorado and Nevada. These ores con- 
 tain an important percentage of silver, and a small 
 percentage of gold, and are mined especially for the 
 precious metals contained in them, though the lead 
 itself, when freed from its argentiferous contents, is 
 a product of remarkable value, and being in the con- 
 trol of a grasping and avaricious trust, it is made the 
 vehicle by which those using or requiring lead in their 
 business operations are oppressed and fleeced in a most 
 outrageous manner by those composing the trust. This 
 condition of things is made possible by a prohibitory 
 duty of 2y 8 cents per pound, placed by Congress upon 
 all foreign lead imported, and it is a fact that by such 
 legislation the United States Government is solely re- 
 sponsible for the existence of the predatory band called 
 the Lead Trust, who are thus licenced to use and abuse 
 the people to any extent they may chose. 
 
 Mr. Charles Kirchoff, in a bulletin of the U. S. 
 Geological Survey, of which Mr. Charles D. Walcott 
 is director, says of the production of lead in 1904: 
 
A STORY OF LEAD. 
 
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A STORY OF LEAD. 
 
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 gives the amount of lead smelted from ore produced 
 in the various States and Territories, also from Mexi- 
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A STORY OF LEAD. 
 
 dp to tlic year 1882 the figures have been com- 
 piled from the best data available. Since 1882 the 
 statistics are those collected by this Office, with the ex- 
 ception of the year 1889, when they were gathered by 
 the Census Office. 
 
 Production of lead in the I T nited States, /S^j-ipo^. 
 
 [Short tons.] 
 
 Year 
 
 Quantity 
 
 Year 
 
 Quantity 
 
 Year 
 
 Quantity 
 
 Year 
 
 Quantity 
 
 1S25 
 
 1,500 
 
 1848 
 
 25,000 
 
 1867 
 
 15,200 
 
 1 1S86 
 
 130,629 
 
 1830 
 
 8, 000 
 
 1849 
 
 23, 500 
 
 1S6S 
 
 16,400 
 
 1887 
 
 145.700 
 
 1831 
 
 7,500 
 
 1850 
 
 22,000 
 
 1869 
 
 17,500 
 
 1888 
 
 'si^^ 
 
 1S32 
 
 10,000 
 
 1S51 
 
 18,500 
 
 1S70. ... 
 
 17,830 
 
 1889 
 
 156,397 
 
 1S33 
 
 11,000 
 
 1852 
 
 15,700 
 
 1S71... 
 
 20,000 
 
 1890 
 
 143,630 
 
 1S34 
 
 12,000 
 
 1853 
 
 l6,Soo 
 
 1S72 
 
 25,880 
 
 lSqi 
 
 17S.554 
 
 1835 
 
 13,000 
 
 'S54 
 
 16,500 
 
 1873 
 
 42.540 
 
 1892 
 
 173 305 
 
 1836 
 
 15,000 
 
 1S55 
 
 i5,Noo 
 
 1S74 
 
 52,. So 
 
 IS93 
 
 163,982 
 
 1S37 
 
 13,500 
 
 1856 
 
 16,000 
 
 1875 
 
 59.640 
 
 1S94 
 
 162,686 
 
 1838 
 
 15,000 
 
 iS57 
 
 15,800 
 
 \S-jb 
 
 64,070 
 
 «895 
 
 170,000 
 
 1839 
 
 17,500 
 
 1S58 
 
 15,300 
 
 1877 
 
 81,900 
 
 1S96 
 
 i^\o<o 
 
 1840 .. 
 
 17,000 
 
 1859 
 
 16,400 
 
 1878 
 
 9i,c6o 
 
 1897 
 
 212,000 
 
 1841 
 
 20,500 
 
 i860 
 
 15,600 
 
 1879 
 
 92,780 
 
 1S98 
 
 222, oco 
 
 1842 
 
 24,000 
 
 (86r 
 
 14,100 
 
 1SS0 
 
 97,8 5 
 
 1899 
 
 210,5(0 
 
 1S43 
 
 25,000 | 
 
 1862.. 
 
 14,200 
 
 1S81 
 
 117,085 
 
 
 270^24 
 
 I s 44 
 
 26,000 
 
 1863 
 
 i4,Soo 
 
 1882 .. 
 
 132,890 
 
 I90I 
 
 271, 700 
 
 1845 
 
 30,000 
 
 1864 
 
 15,300 
 
 18S1 
 
 I43,9. l 7 
 
 1902 
 
 270,000 
 
 1846 
 
 28,000 
 
 1865 
 
 14,700 
 
 1884 
 
 139,897 
 
 1903 
 
 282,000 
 
 1847 
 
 2^,000 
 
 1866 
 
 16,100 
 
 18S5 
 
 129,412 
 
 1904 
 
 307,000 
 
A STOEY OF LEAD. 
 
 "The Coeur d'Alene district in Idaho is the most 
 important single lead-producing district in the United 
 States. The returns from the smelting works show 
 the lead contents of the Idaho mines — which is prac- 
 tically the Coeur d'Alene district — to have been 108,- 
 854 short tons." .The report of the State of Idaho 
 mine inspector places the contents of the output of the 
 Coeur d'Alene mines for 1904 at 108,964 short tons 
 of lead and 5,947,326 ounces of silver. Thus the 
 value of the argentiferous lead mined in 1904 in Idaho, 
 that is the intrinsic value of the lead, not counting 
 the enhanced or fictitious value caused by the tariff 
 of 2y 8 cents per pound, was about ten million dol- 
 lars, being about 6,500,000 dollars for the lead and 
 3,500,000 dollars for the silver, not counting the cop- 
 per or gold which were by-products of smelting. 
 
 Mr. Kirchoff further says: "In Colorado, Leadville 
 continues to be the principal lead producing camp. 
 Fresh discoveries at Leadville hold out the promise 
 of a considerable increase in the production. It is 
 estimated the lead contents of ores shipped from Lake 
 Pitkin, Mineral and San Juan counties, aggregate 
 about 41,951 tons. Utah has increased its output 
 
 by enlarged operations in the Tintic district and at 
 Park City." 
 
 The following table taken from a bulletin of the 
 U. S. Geological Survey, title, "The Production of 
 Lead in 1904, by Charles Kirchoff," gives the quantity 
 of lead produced in the United States from 1825 to 
 1904: 
 
A STORY OF LEAD- 
 
 [solated mines producing argentiferous ores are 
 
 scattered all over the State? of Colorado, Utah and 
 Idaho, and the extent of production if circumscribed 
 only by the facilities for transportation. In fact in 
 some of the mines three-fourths of the cost of mining 
 and delivering the ore to the smelters is the cost of 
 transportation: there are several mines paying divi- 
 dends that haul their ores over one hundred miles. 
 When railroad facilities have become more general, the 
 lead product of these States will be wonderfully aug- 
 mented. 
 
CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 HHE Mississippi Valley was the chief domestic 
 source of lead supply for this country, until 
 the discovery of the wonderful mineral re- 
 gions lying along the slopes and spurs of the Eocky 
 Mountains. The States of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, 
 Missouri and Kansas are large producers of lead. In 
 1825 the lead production of the United States, presum- 
 ably from these States, was 1,500 tons; in 1904 these 
 same States produced 92,275 tons, while the total pro- 
 duction from all sources in the United States in 1901 
 was 318,679 tons. Thus the States of the Mississippi 
 Valley produced about 30 per cent, of all the lead 
 mined. 
 
 It is seldom that romance trenches upon the regions 
 of the practical, yet. the discovery of lead and the de- 
 velopment of production in the Mississippi Valley read 
 more like a fanciful tale than a statement of facts 
 whereby a great industry was evolved, and the wealth 
 of a nation vastly increased. 
 
 The following romantic history of the discovery of 
 lead ore in the Uppef Mississippi Valley has been ob- 
 tained from the following sources : Bulletin No. 294, 
 U. S. Geological Survey, by H. Foster Bain; Wiscon- 
 sin Historical Eecords, summarized by Mr. E. G. 
 Thwaits, and transcript from Wisconsin Academy of 
 Arts, Science and Letters, by Dr. O. G. Libbey, assisted 
 by F. Belle Stanton, B. M. Palmer and A. J. Smith. 
 
 The existence of of important ore deposits in the 
 Upper Mississippi Valley attracted attention to this 
 region at an early date, and lead had become an ar- 
 
A STORY OF LEAD. 
 
 ticle of commerce with those voyaging the great river 
 long before an} 7 permanent settlements were made upon 
 its banks; though it is improbable the Indians, who 
 trafficked in lead, knew anything about the smelting 
 of lead or ore or the use of lead, until they were 
 taught by the early French pioneers. Since, however, 
 French exploration of the region began with jSTicolet's 
 voyage in 1634, and the occurrence of lead ores was 
 reported as early as 1658, the statement may be safely 
 made, that as early as 1690* lead was purchased from 
 the Indians by traders at Peoria, though it was not 
 until a hundred years after that white men settled in 
 the region and took up regular mining. 
 
 "In the 18th century the region was practically given 
 up to Indians and traders. The presence of ore de- 
 posits was well recognized, and the location of the 
 mines was shown in many of the maps, such as that 
 of Hennepin, 1687; of William de Lisle, 1703, and 
 of G-uettard, 1752. Lead was a regular article of com- 
 merce, purchased by traders at posts, such as that of 
 Nicholas Perrot, opposite the present site of Dubuque, 
 and Le Gueur on an island farther up the river, as 
 early as 1695. These settlements were, however, essen- 
 tially temporary, though M. Le Guis, in 1743, found 
 18 or 20 mines in operation along Fever River. 
 
 The first serious attempt at permanent settlement in 
 the region for the purpose of mining was that of Du- 
 buque, and we are indebted to Schoolcraft for a narra- 
 rative of the discovery of lead, and the subsequent settle- 
 ment by Dubuque. 
 
 *"In 1780 discovery of lead ore was made upon their 
 lands by the wife of Peosta, a warrior of the Kettle 
 
 *H. R. Schoolcraft, Journal of Travels, etc. 
 
 *H. E. Schoolcraft narrative, etc., 1821. 
 
A STOEY OF LEAD. 
 
 Chiefs Village, and extensive mines have since been dis- 
 covered. These were granted by the Indians to Julian 
 Dubuque at a council held at Prairie Du Chien in 1788, 
 by virtue of which he settled upon the lands, erected 
 buildings and furnaces and continued to work the mines 
 until the year 1810. In the meantime, 1796, he received 
 a confirmation of the Indian grant from the Baron De 
 Carondelet, Governor of Louisiana, in which they were 
 designated "The Mines of Spain/' 
 
 Under Dubuque's control several mines were opened, 
 though no shafts were sunk. The ore was obtained by 
 means of pick, shovel and crowbar from open cuts. 
 While Dubuque's concession covered only certain lands 
 west of the Mississippi, he seems to have engaged the 
 Indians in mining on the east of the river, and trading 
 the ore to him. 
 
 A visit to Dubuque was one of the objects of Pike's 
 expedition up the Mississippi in 1805. He found M. 
 Dubuque polite, but evasive, and he did not visit the 
 mines, although an interesting statement was drawn up 
 and signed by Dubuque and Pike in 1805, in which it. 
 is declared the annual output of lead amounts to 20,000 
 to 40,000 pounds; it also stated that copper had been, 
 found, but no attempt had been made to reduce it. 
 
 After Dubuque's death the . Indians burned his: 
 houses and destroyed all traces of civilized life, though 
 they continued to work the mines intermittently and 
 selling the ore to Indian traders who had furnaces lo- 
 cated on islands in the river. 
 
 H. E. Schoolcraft, in his narrative journal of travels,, 
 gives an interesting description of the methods of the' 
 Indians in mining the ore. He says: "The lead ore 
 at these mines is exclusively dug by the Fox Indians,, 
 and, as usual among savage tribes, the chief labor de- 
 
A STORY OF LEAD. 
 
 yokes upon the women. The old and superannuated 
 men also partake of these labors, but the warriors and 
 young men hold themselves above it. The}' employ the 
 hoe. shovel, pick ax and crowbar in taking up the ore, 
 which are supplied by the traders. Xo shafts are sunk, 
 and the Avindlass and buckets are unknown to them : but 
 they run drifts into the hills as far as they can con- 
 veniently go without blasting, and if they have a cavein 
 hie drift is abandoned. They always dig their trenches 
 and drifts at an incline that will permit them to walk 
 in and out, and I descended into one which had been 
 carried in forty feet. All this work is done by Indian 
 women and old men. who discover a degree of perse- 
 verance and industry which is deserving of commenda- 
 tion. 
 
 "When a quantity of ore has been gotten out it is 
 carried in baskets by the women to the banks of the Mis- 
 sissippi and then ferried over in canoes to the island, 
 where it is purchased by the traders at the rate of two 
 -dollars for 120 pounds, payable in goods. At the profit 
 at which these are usually sold it may be presumed to 
 •cost the traders 75 cents to one dollar rash value per 
 hundredweight. The traders then smelt the ore in I'ur- 
 .naces which they have erected upon the island. 
 
 "Before they began selling the ore to the traders the 
 Indians made rude attempts at smelting the ore upon 
 log heaps; by this means much of the lead was lost; the 
 greater pari was converted into what is called lead ashes 
 and thus lost. Now the traders induce the Indians to 
 search about the sites of their ancient fires and carefully 
 collect the lead ashes, for which they are paid one dollar 
 per bushel, delivered al the island, payable in merchan- 
 dise." 
 
A STORY OF LEAD. 
 
 Thus was begun an enterprise that has brought wealth 
 and prosperity to thousands of our citizens. From the 
 simple efforts of the Indians with their crude appliances 
 we may trace the gradual development of the industry 
 through its various stages until now the most approved- 
 methods of mining and magnificent smelters occupy the 
 places where the Indian dug his trench and built his fire 
 of logs. Hundreds of tons of lead now are produced 
 where scarcely pounds were gained, and millions of dol- 
 lars are now employed where the capital engaged was 
 only the traders' indifferent merchandise". Such is one 
 of the phases of wonderful development which has helped 
 to make this country great. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 HOLDER is a fusible alloy used to join, her- 
 metically, surfaces of metal. There are three 
 
 kinds of solder that are generally used in the arts — hard 
 or braziers solder made for joining iron, steel, copper 
 and brass, composed of zinc and copper in various pro- 
 portions; silver solder used by gold and silversmiths, 
 and made of copper, tin, zinc and silver, in proportions 
 to suit the work for which it is intended; and soft or 
 tinners' solder, made for hundreds of purposes. It is with 
 the latter article, its composition, use and application, 
 this work is intended to deal, in simple and compre- 
 hensive language, unobscured by scientific terms or 
 propositions, so that the average workman may under- 
 stand without difficulty the facts intended to be con- 
 veyed. 
 
 .hist how early solder was used, by whom discovered, 
 and the extent of its application, will never be known, 
 as there is no data in written history bearing upon this 
 subject, and the best Ave can do is to surmise from con- 
 tributory subjects and circumstantial evidence, and thus 
 propose arguments that must satisfy our desires for 
 knowledge. 
 
 We have the evidence that tin was known and used 
 during the heroic ages, and that lead was a common 
 article when the Saturnian period gave to mankind the 
 golden age. Judging from the historic shreds we have, 
 it is likely these two periods were so close as to be almost 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 synonymous in date. At any rate tin and lead were 
 both known and nsed during these very early times, and 
 such being the case, we may readily argue that solder 
 was also well known; for given the two metals in the 
 hands of a fairly intelligent person, urged by necessity, 
 the production of solder would be a simple proposition, 
 and its mechanical application would naturally and 
 quickly follow. 
 
 A brotherly feeling may prompt us to dwell upon the 
 fact that f ellow-workrnen lived and exercised their call- 
 ing before the Exodus began, and while we may regret 
 that we will never know of their domestic affairs, their 
 political and economical conditions, or whether they 
 were advocates of trades unions or of the open shop, yet 
 we do know the art they discovered and used has de- 
 scended to us, and that it is now, and has been during 
 the past fifty years, practiced vigorously, skilfully, and 
 at times scientifically, to help in the general betterment 
 of mankind and the onward progress of the earth and its 
 human family. 
 
 Our discussion of this subject will therefore only 
 concern the past and present century. 
 
 Solder is an article of almost universal use. There is 
 scarcely a factory or work shop in existence that does not 
 employ it at some time; even in the household it has its 
 place in mending and repairing utensils. It is em- 
 ployed for soldering or uniting copper, brass, tin, lead 
 and even iron, and in the varied proportions of its alloys 
 it is used for hundreds of jDurposes. 
 
 It is composed of tin and lead, though the alloy dif- 
 fers in its fusibility and consequently as to its purposes, 
 in accordance with the quantity of either metal con- 
 tained in its mixture. 
 
 The earliest known method of applying solder was 
 
A STQRY OF SOLDER. 
 
 by the copper soldering tool; the next step was the em- 
 ployment of the blow pipe, then came the plumber's 
 wiping cloth; the next was developed by the necessity 
 of quickly soldering hermetically sealed tin cans, and 
 was the annular steel tool, then in turn the hot plate, 
 the floater, the bath, and the wire contact. Each of 
 these methods still have their advocates and are in one 
 way or the other largely used. 
 
 The art of soldering, to be done correctly and with 
 mechanical precision, requires the highest skill. Noth- 
 ing is more beautiful to the trained workman's eye than 
 a perfectly soldered seam, or a symmetrically soldered 
 joint, and at the same time nothing shows more plainly 
 the unskilled workman than the same mechanism im- 
 perfectly executed. Xotwithstanding the fact that much 
 training and skill are required to solder correctly, there 
 is no branch of industry more abused by imperfect and 
 inexperienced workmanship than that in which solder- 
 ing forms an essential part. 
 
 Because the act of soldering seems so simple almost 
 everybody believes they can solder, and often men having 
 absolutely no knowledge of the method of using solder. 
 ignorant of its composition, and no conception of its 
 multifarious utility, are put to work to solder, or to 
 direct the soldering of such articles, for which purposes 
 only trained workmen should lie employed. The fact 
 that it may be to manage an automatic machine for 
 soldering does not lessen the necessity for experience. I'M' 
 while the machine may be able to do the work ex- 
 cellently, yet the absence of features of precaution, con- 
 ditions of care, etc., which the experienced workman has 
 observed and found necessary in soldering by manual 
 -kill, may render the machine imperfect in operation, 
 and of but little value as a labor-saving appliance. It 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 is the want of knowledge of these features by the un- 
 skilled man, which, of course, he will never admit, that 
 leads to complaints of the machine being imperfect, the 
 solder not good, the flux worthless, and in fact anything 
 or everything wrong but himself, who after all is the 
 only worthless proposition in the whole category. Usu- 
 ally the employer knows less about these matters than 
 the employee, he usually being a man trained to busi- 
 ness and not a mechanic; he therefore takes the com- 
 plaints made by the workman as being correct. The 
 result is the maker of the machine is put to trouble, the 
 solder is condemned, and the flux thrown out. 
 
 JSTone of this would happen if the man operating the 
 machine was skilled in soldering; he would see that his 
 soldering irons were hot enough or not too hot, that 
 the soldering irons were clean and free from oxide, that 
 the surface of the metal to be soldered was free from 
 dirt, rust, scale, grease, brine syrup or other impurity 
 that would prevent the solder and flux acting in proper 
 conjunction, that the solder and flux were applied in 
 proper quantity, and that the adjustment of the solder- 
 ing irons was perfect and in condition to do the work 
 successfully. 
 
 As an example of want of ability, but readiness to go 
 ahead and solder up any thing, the following incident 
 suffices : A man applied to one of our large canning 
 houses for a position to run an automatic capper ; he 
 was asked if he knew how to solder; his answer was, 
 "Why, yes, all }^ou have to do is to melt the stuff, put it 
 on, and be careful you don't burn your fingers/' 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 nHE copper soldering tool, which is supposed to 
 be the first instrument used for the purpose of 
 
 soldering, is a piece or bolt of copper, fitted with an iron 
 handle, long enough to allow the copper to be inserted 
 into a fire, to heat it until its temperature will melt the 
 solder; while this tool will melt solder applied to it, it 
 will not solder, or rather be fit for the act of soldering 
 until put in proper condition for that purpose; this 
 consists of filing bright that part of the tool which is to 
 convey the solder to the surface of the article to be 
 soldered: this bright part of the copper is then to be 
 tinned — that is, the bright surface of the copper is covered 
 by a flux consisting of rosin, chloride of zinc, or sala- 
 moniac — the solder is then rubbed on the surface until it 
 melts and has covered the bright parts of the copper 
 with a surface of solder, which, uniting with the flux, 
 forms a mild amalgam upon the copper and is called 
 tinning. 
 
 When the tinning is completed the tool is then ready 
 for use ; if heated properly it will quickly melt the 
 solder applied to it, and will convey the molten metal 
 to the surface of the article to be joined. Care must be 
 given to the soldering tool; it must have sufficient heal 
 to melt the solder quickly, and to communicate its heal 
 to the article to be soldered, for soldering cannot bo 
 accomplished unless the article to be soldered attains a 
 Burface temperature of the soldering tool. Again, the 
 soldering tool must not receive too great a degree of heat, 
 for if it does, the tinned face of the copper tool will be 
 
A STORY OF SOLDEK. 
 
 burned off, and before the tool will solder again, the 
 surface will have to be filed smooth and bright and be 
 retinned. The philosophy of this is, tin, which is a part 
 of the solder, has a strong affinity for copper; when the 
 copper is heated to a certain degree tin will readily com- 
 bine with it in a surface amalgam, but if the copper is 
 heated beyond a certain temperature, the oxygen in the 
 air has a greater affinity for the tin upon the surface, and 
 if an excessive heat is reached the oxygen at once com- 
 bines with the tin and converts it into an oxide and thus 
 destroys the tinning upon the copper. The oxide thus 
 formed is infusible, and does not permit the usual af- 
 finity of tin for copper to exist until the oxide is re- 
 moved, and when this is done the tinned surface of the 
 copper may be again restored. 
 
 It is just here where the skilled workman's experience 
 is important ; by holding the heated copper near his face 
 he instantly determines whether the proper heat has 
 been attained, and it is seldom he allows his soldering 
 tool to be injured by the tinned surface burning off, as it 
 is technically called. The best temperature for solder- 
 ing is about 750° F. ; much beyond that there is clanger 
 of destroying the tinning, and when the tool begins to 
 show a dull red its usefulness is much impared, and when 
 the red becomes bright the tool is entirely unfit for use. 
 
 The next step in soldering was the employment of the 
 blow pipe in its simple form. This is a small metallic tube 
 ten inches long and % of an inch in diameter at the 
 larger end, tapering to an aperture at the other end of 
 about one sixty-fourth of an inch; this tube is some- 
 times straight, and for certain purposes may be curved 
 or bent at an angle deemed most advisable by the opera- 
 tor; the large end of the tube is held in the mouth, and 
 the small end in the flame of a lamp or gas burner. By 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 blowing through the tube a small jet of flame is shot out 
 from the lamp to the surface intended to be soldered. 
 The jet of flame thus obtained is blue and of intense 
 heat, owing to the fact that complete combustion of the 
 carbon in the flame is brought about by having it 
 impinge upon the surface to be soldered ; it quickly heats 
 the article to a temperature that will fuse solder, and if 
 the surface is properly prepared by the removal of oxide 
 or other obstructive substance, and supplied with a 
 proper flux, the solder may be melted upon the surface, 
 and by moving the flame back and forth until the solder 
 is evenly fused a neat and substantial soldered scam 
 may be made. 
 
 To operate the blow pipe successfully the services of 
 a skilled workman is required; this instrument, however, 
 has not come into general use for soldering, and is 
 seldom used except where the copper tool cannot be 
 employed : its great field is for assaying or for laboratory 
 work. It was first used by Professor Swab, of Sweden. 
 in 1738, and so great was its popularity that Professor 
 ( 'ronstet. another Sweedish scientist, published a work 
 in 1758 which exhaustively described its use. and greatly 
 extoled it- value. 
 
 There are other forms of blow pipes, some used in a 
 limited way. which are employed for soldering. The 
 compound or oxy-hydrogen blow pipe was invented by 
 Dr. Robert Hare, of Philadelphia, about 1S10. A com- 
 pound of oxygen and hydrogen gas is employed in this 
 apparatus, and an intense heat is obtained ; it is chiefly 
 used to burn or unite the seams of lead tanks, in which 
 acids are made, but the heat is too great to use on solder 
 made of tin and lead, though it has sometimes become an 
 airent in brazing or hard soldering. 
 
 Later an improvement was made in the compound 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 blow pipe, which makes it more convenient for me- 
 chanical use, and instead of pure hydrogen, carburetted 
 hydrogen gas is used ; this consists of an outer and inner 
 tube, the outer tube conveying the gas, and the inner 
 tube air under pressure. The gas from the outer tube is 
 ignited, and the air blast from the inner tube converts 
 the yellow gas flame into a blue flame of intense heat. 
 By means of rubber hose connecting the gas and air with 
 the tubes, the apparatus can be easily handled, and the 
 heat of the flame can be so regulated and directed that 
 soldering can be done with solder made from tin and 
 lead, or hard soldering or brazing may be successfully 
 accomplished. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 EXE of the earliest and best known fields for em- 
 ploying solder was in the mechanical art of 
 
 plumbing. This in its true sense being solely the appli- 
 cation of lead to its various industrial uses, necessarily 
 required large quantities of the only known agent that 
 would substantially unite its parts: thus the use and 
 working of solder became the essential part of the 
 plumber's acquired skill. While some of the plumber's 
 work was done with the copper soldering tool, and occa- 
 sionally with the blow pipe, using what is termed fine 
 solder, generally equal parts of tin and lead, the far 
 greater part of his work was done with a cloth and what 
 is termed plumber's or wiping solder. The alloy com- 
 posing this solder was made variously to suit the views 
 of the workman, and ranged in proportions from 40 
 pounds of tin to 60 pounds of lead, to 33 pounds of 
 tin to 67 pounds of lead. Lead pipes were united by 
 what is technically termed wiped joints — that is. the two 
 ends of pipe were prepared by spreading one end. and by 
 rasping down the other to fit in if : about an inch space 
 was shaved clean on each end, to remove the oxide and 
 dirt from the pipe: beyond the clean shaved ends a ring 
 was painted around the pipe with a black substance 
 called soil, made from lamp black and glue boiled to- 
 gether: this left a clean space of about two inches, in 
 i he rent re of which were the two Lnterlappfeag ends of the 
 pipe. The soil rings, which defined the limits in which the 
 joint was to be wiped, were for the purpose of preventing 
 the molten solder tinning the pipe beyond the limits of 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 the joint. These preliminaries being completed the 
 joint was ready to be wiped ; a little grease was put upon 
 the shaved or cleaned space to flux the solder and cause 
 it to tin quickly upon the lead. The solder now being 
 melted to the proper degree, which is a very important 
 matter in wiping a joint successfully, a cloth about three 
 inches square, made of several thicknesses of heavy 
 muslin or other cotton fabric, and well greased, is held 
 under the joint of the pipe, and with a small ladle the 
 solder is dipped from the pot and slowly and carefully 
 poured upon the space prepared for the joint, the solder 
 is caught upon the wiping cloth and held up to the pipe 
 and frequently pushed on top, while fresh molten solder 
 is poured upon it from the ladle. This is continued until 
 the pipe has received heat enough to keep the solder upon 
 the pipe and the cloth in. a plastic condition until the 
 plumber can form, shape and wipe the joint; this is done 
 by the quick action of the workman getting the solder 
 mass into the size and shape of an elongated egg, press- 
 ing it together to form a solid body, and then wiping the 
 surplus solder off with the cloth before the metal begins 
 to cool. An expert plumber could in this way make a 
 beautiful and symmetrical joint, which added materially to 
 the beauty and mechanical appearance of the plumber's 
 handiwork. 
 
 The above is a description of the way in which a 
 simple or small horizontal joint is wiped; there are, how- 
 ever, hundreds of other sizes and shapes of wiped joints, 
 as well as ways of wiping them. The cloth is used for 
 wiping joints from half -inch to fourteen inches; they 
 may be horizontal, perpendicular, at any angle, above 
 head, below almost out of reach, hidden so they cannot 
 be seen and wiped by feeling, and, in fact, it is almost 
 incredible what an expert plumber could do in the way 
 
A STORY OF SOLDEU. 
 
 of wiping joint?. In wiping upright or angle joint?, the 
 pipe is prepared in the way described, and the solder 
 applied to the space for wiping, by allowing it to fall 
 upon the cloth and flow therefrom to the joint, or by 
 throwing the solder from the ladle upon the joint with 
 a small wooden paddle, [t was obviously necessary foi the 
 workman to be exceedingly quick with his cloth and 
 paddle to keep the molten solder from dropping off the 
 joint, especially when it had assumed the plastic state 
 in sufficient quantity to form and wipe the joint, which 
 when accomplished had not only to he symmetrical, but 
 also to he of a solid. substantial nature, capable of resist- 
 ing a high pressure of water. Joints from one-half-inch 
 to eight inches in diameter Avere frequently wiped this 
 way, though there were few workmen who ever attained 
 the proficiency to enable them to wipe in this manner 
 joints of the larger dimensions. 
 
 Some times a workman was compelled to wipe a patch 
 on the bottom of a four or five-inch pipe overhead: this 
 was perhaps the most difficult feat possible in handling 
 molten solder, but a patch six inches long and three or 
 four inches wide, with one-half inch thickness of solder, 
 was no uncommon thing to be wiped overhead; it was 
 accomplished by making a saucer shaped depression in 
 the wiping cloth, pouring the solder therein, and stick- 
 ing it up against thebottom to be patched. This was con- 
 tinued until the solder became of sufficient thickness to 
 form the patch : an alcohol torch was then used to heat 
 the solder stuck to the patch, and by quick manipulation 
 of the torch and cloth a clean substantial patch was soon 
 obtained. 
 
 Joints were sometimes wiped where they could not be 
 Been. Thiswas, however, only necessary in repairing bursts 
 of lead pipes; the expert plumber could by the sense of 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 feeling close the burst, clean the pipe and wipe the joint, 
 and make the mend sufficiently strong to withstand water 
 pressure. So expert have plumbers become in working 
 solder that instances have occurred where men have been 
 blindfolded and wiped joints with precision and nicety, 
 and without burning their hands or fingers. 
 
 This deftness in handling molten metal could not be 
 acquired were it not for the peculiar qualities of 
 plumber's or wiping solder; in the alloys above stated 
 from 40 tin and 60 lead to 50 tin and 100 lead, the metal 
 will remain for a considerable time in a plastic state, 
 about the consistency of baker's dough, which gives the 
 expert workman time to form the joint, press the metal 
 into a solid body, and wipe off the surplus solder, before 
 the metal cools enough to grow hard. Solder with more 
 tin in it than 40 tin and 60 lead, or less tin than 50 tin 
 and 100 lead will not work well in wiping joints ; it will 
 not retain the required plastic condition, cools quickly 
 and becomes intractable. 
 
 In plumbing the wiping cloth is, however, not con- 
 fined to wiping joints ; it is used almost as frequently in 
 wiping seams, patches, hold fasts, etc. Frequently tanks 
 to hold water were lined with lead; the seams in these 
 were usually too large to be soldered with a soldering 
 iron ; it was necessary therefore to solder them by wiping. 
 The joints in the sheet lead were cleaned and prepared 
 in a manner similar to that described in wiping a joint, 
 and if it was a corner seam, the molten solder was 
 thrown from the ladle upon the seam with a small 
 wooden paddle, both upright and horizontal seams being 
 treated in the same way. "When sufficient solder had col- 
 lected upon the seam, an iron of bulbus form, called 
 a plumbing iron, heated to redness, was used to melt 
 the solder and bring it to the plastic state necessary for 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 wiping; in this manner the seam was wiped or soldered 
 until completed. It was then in a condition to resist the 
 pressure of water that might he placed in the tank. 
 
 Drain or soil pipes were usually made of heavy sheet 
 lead; the seams of these pipes were nearly always wiped 
 in the manner described in wiping the seams of tanks. 
 These pipes were made in sections of seven feet, and if 
 they had to run any distance inside a building, the con- 
 nections or joints had to be wiped also. It was usually 
 a very difficult matter to wipe a joint on a 14 or 15- 
 inch lead pipe: they were generally run in close places 
 where it was difficult to get around them. Usually but 
 little space was left between the bottom of the pipe and 
 the floor over which they were placed, but no matter how 
 contracted the space, the joint had to be made. A cloth 
 was used about 5 inches wide and reaching from the 
 finger tips to the middle of the fore arm ; the ends of the 
 pipe were stopped up to prevent the passage of air, and 
 heat was gotten up on the pipe with an alcohol torch. 
 When sufficiently heated the solder was poured on in the 
 usual way, and then it remained for the workman and 
 the wiping cloth to do the rest. If the solder was of the 
 proper alloy he usually succeeded : if he did not he had to 
 cut the joint out and begin the job anew. 
 
 The plumber also used the copper soldering tool, but 
 chiefly on light work: sometimes the workman, for vari- 
 ous reasons, was unable to wipe an upright joint; he was 
 therefore constrained to make the joint with the copper 
 soldering tool. This was called a cup joint and con- 
 sisted of opening the end of the lower pipe like a cup, 
 and inserting the end of the upper pipe into it: in the 
 enp thus formed by the two ends the workman, using the 
 
 soldering tool. incited the soldel' and floated it 
 around in the cup. Idling it. and thus making a secure 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 but indifferently appearing joint. The plumber also 
 used the copper tool in mending leaks, and in making 
 small patches when they were in convenient places, but 
 his great reliance was on the wiping cloth and plumber's 
 
 or wiping solder. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 nHIS discription of the mechanical art of plumb- 
 ing is made chiefly in the past tense, as it ap- 
 plies to plumbing as it was practiced thirty or forty 
 years ago, and has but little relation to the class of 
 plumbing which now prevails, and is by no means in- 
 tended to extol plumbing as an art in mechanism, but 
 altogether to exemplify the use and application of 
 solder, its remarkable qualities, what it may accom- 
 plish, the singular manner in which it may be used, 
 and the part it has played in a past economy. 
 
 The working of tin plate for the multitudinous pur- 
 poses to which it is applied, consumes three-fourths of 
 the solder manufactured. In making tinware and in 
 roofing with tin plate, the solder used is of various 
 grades; for the finer class of tinware solder made 50 
 parts tin and 50 parts lead is used, and is known by 
 the trade name of half and half. It may be dis- 
 tinguished by its uniformly bright appearance, having 
 no white streaks upon the face of a bar when run into 
 an open mould; if white streaks appear upon the ex- 
 posed face of a bar, it would indicate at once that it 
 was not 50 tin and 50 lead. 
 
 Solder made of these proportions of tin and lead, and 
 -older having ;i greater proportion of tin. will always 
 show uniformly bright upon the upper surface or face <*( 
 a liar poured in an open mould. It has very much the 
 appearance of pure tin, and when tinware is soldered 
 with it it can scarcely he distinguished from the pure 
 tin upon the tin plate. When solder is made less in tin 
 
A STOEY OF SOLDER. 
 
 contents than 50 to 50, it begins to show white or frosted 
 streaks upon the upper surface of a bar poured in an 
 open mould, and as the lead grows in excess, the white 
 streaks grow larger, until the alloy amounts to 50 tin 
 and 100 lead, when the upper surface of a bar thus 
 poured will have a white or frosted appearance all over, 
 and no part of the surface will appear bright. 
 
 The fact that solder may have an excess of lead in it 
 does not indicate that it is not good solder, for it may 
 at times be used to better advantage if there is a pre- 
 ponderance of lead in the alloy, as, for instance, plumber's 
 solder; therefore solder is made in various proportions 
 for various purposes, from 75 parts tin and 25 parts 
 lead, to 75 parts lead to 25 parts tin. 
 
 In roofing with tin plates solder made 50 tin and 100 
 lead may be used advantageously, because the excess of 
 lead is believed to present greater resisting power to the 
 acids which chemistry has demonstrated are held in 
 suspense in the atmosphere; others contend this ad- 
 vantage, if an} r , is slight, and is overcome by the 
 economy apparent in the use of solder 50 tin and 50 
 lead, giving as a reason, that because the solder of equal 
 parts melts at a lower temperature than solder with an 
 excess of lead, the workman is enabled to accomplish 
 more work with the high grade solder, and some going 
 more elaborately into the question of economy declare 
 the higher grade solder, although apparently greater in 
 cost, is pound for pound greater in bulk, because of the 
 less specific gravity of tin, and is therefore as cheap, if 
 not cheaper, than the solder having an excess of lead. 
 
 Further on in this work the difference in bulk of 
 solder, in various proportions of tin and lead, will be 
 given in a table, so that every reader may be able to 
 judge from his point of view whether solder with excess 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 of tin or excess of lead is the more economical. 
 
 In soldering work that has been galvanized, solder, 
 having a small excess of tin, should always be used; it is 
 difficult to use solder with an excess of lead on such 
 work. It will not make either a substantial or workman- 
 like job; the cause of this is, that galvanizing is simply 
 coating metallic articles with zinc, and while zinc will 
 readily alloy with tin. it will only alloy in a very limited 
 proportion with lead, the philosophy of soldering being 
 simply the creation of a surface alloy of the metal being 
 soldered and the solder, it follows that an excess of tin 
 alloys readily with the zinc upon the galvanized article 
 and makes a clean, strong seam or joint, whereas if 
 there is an excess of lead, it refuses to alloy with the 
 zinc, and the result is the seam is rough, unsightly and 
 will easily break or crack. 
 
 Solder is also largely used for coating roofing plates; 
 these are called terne plates, a compound name, taken 
 from the French word terne. meaning dull and English 
 plate, meaning dull plates, in contradistinction to brighl 
 plates, a name frequently given to tin plates. The 
 alloy for coating these is made of 25 parts tin to 75 parts 
 lead, which gives the plates a dull leaden appearance. 
 Terne plates are believed for some Localities to he su- 
 prior to tin plates for roofing purposes, because of the 
 salt or carbonic acid in the atmosphere. Salt exists to 
 a considerable extent in the air near the seaboard, and 
 carbonic acid is generated in swamps and absorbed by 
 the atmosphere. It has therefore been found thai lightly 
 coated tin plates disintegrate much quicker than well 
 coated terne plates, iii localities where these peculiar 
 at mospheric conditions prevail. 
 
 Solder is also \\>rt\ in joining block tin. such as block 
 tin pipes and block tin sheets, which are employed for 
 
A STOKY OF SOLDER. 
 
 conducting and lining wherever absolute cleanliness 
 and purity are desired. Block tin being innocuous and 
 free from the toxic qualities of lead, is used for re- 
 ceptacles and conductors of water, mineral water, beer, 
 ale and syrups. Frequently block tin pipes take the 
 place of lead pipes where limestone water exists; water 
 of this character will disintegrate lead, and cause the 
 salts of lead, thus formed, which is soluble in water, to 
 mix with the water, and at times bring about cases of 
 lead poisoning among those who use the water; block 
 tin not being susceptible to the action of limestone 
 water, is therefore a safe medium of conducting it. It 
 being just as necessary to join tin pipes for such service, 
 as it is to join lead pipes, soldered joints are therefore 
 required; the melting point of tin being so close to 
 that of plumber's solder, tin melting at 442° F., and 
 wiping solder made of 40 tin and 60 lead melting at 
 384° F., it is found impossible to wipe a joint with 
 plumber's solder upon tin pipe, as it will melt before the 
 joint can be formed and wiped; it is therefore neces- 
 sary to use an alloy melting at a lower temperature. 
 For this purpose a mixture of 2 tin, 2 lead and 1 
 bismuth, melting at 292° F., may be used and a very 
 servicable joint wiped. The copper soldering tool is 
 also used for soldering or joining sheets of block tin 
 which serve for linings, and for this purpose an alloy 
 made of 3 tin, 1 lead and 2 bismuth, melting at 236° F., 
 is used. 
 
 Some confusion may be created in the minds of per- 
 sons unfamiliar with the nature or qualities of tin plate, 
 block tin, and sheet block tin by the use of these terms. 
 In order to make the matter clear, it should be stated 
 that tin plates are sheets of iron rolled to a required 
 gauge, which are prepared for tinning by being pickled 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 in diluted acid, and by being scoured and cleaned and 
 then dipped or immersed in a bath of molten tin until 
 the surface is thoroughly coated; the plates are then 
 passed through rollers which squeeze off the. surplus tin 
 and leave a thin coating of pure tin over the surface; 
 these are tin plates, or more properly iron plates coated 
 with tin, from which tinware, tin cans, etc., are made. 
 Pure tin, block tin or pig tin. as it is variously termed, 
 is the tin of commerce described in the hist part of this 
 work; it is often rolled into sheets, similar to sheets of 
 lead, and used for the purposes mentioned above, and 
 should not be confounded with tin plate. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 kwwi TITLE solder is used for innumerable purposes 
 M Am m the course and progress of manufacturing, 
 the one industry in which it is conspicuously essential 
 is that of can-making and canning, which comprises the 
 canning of fruits, vegetables, meats, fish and syrups. 
 It is roughly estimated that about 1,500,000,000 cans 
 are annually manufactured for the above purposes in 
 the United States; the amount of solder consumed in 
 manufacturing these is about two-fifths of all the solder 
 made in this country. It is estimated that between 60 
 and 70 million pounds of solder are consumed here every 
 year, therefore from 24 to 28 million pounds of this 
 go into the manufacture and selling of cans for the 
 above named purposes; and as but little of this vast 
 amount of metal is ever recovered from the cans that 
 have been used, it may be looked upon as being entirely 
 lost to the economy of mankind. 
 
 The rise and progress of the canning industry may be 
 regarded as one of the greatest industrial developments 
 of that wonderful nineteenth century, in which man- 
 kind, reveling in the might of intellect and disclosing 
 energy unknown heretofore in human force, brought 
 into the channels of progress such remarkable accessories 
 to industrial service, such extraordinary fruition to the 
 aspirations of genius, that even the unseen, silent and 
 heretofore supposed inert forces of nature were wrought 
 into mechanical servants, harnessed, and made sub- 
 servient to the will of man. 
 
 It would require another Homer and another Ilaid 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 to voice even the outlines of the wonderful story of 
 progress of that remarkable epoch. The pen of the 
 historian may dryly indite in statistics the record of 
 advancement, hut only the language of some great poet 
 could thrill the mind hy singing in heroic lines the story 
 of gigantic achievements and extraordinary results of 
 man's efforts during the past century. So remarkable 
 has been the successful course of the canning industry 
 that a brief history of its rise and progress may not be 
 inappropriate in this work. 
 
 It was a son of France that gave to the world the 
 knowledge of hermetically sealing and preserving food. 
 Nicholas Appert, born in 1750 of humble parents, passed 
 his life in the occupation of pickling, preserving and 
 making confections. His mind was evidently enquiring 
 and progressive, and his genius of an inventive order, 
 for in 1795, during the throes of the French Eevolution, 
 he discovered the fact that food treated with heat for a 
 certain time and to a certain degree, if hermetically 
 sealed, could be preserved for a long time, and yet re- 
 tain very much of its natural flavor. His first efforts 
 were with glass, stone and crockery jars, and later, about 
 1810, with tin cans. Appert appears to have derived 
 but little benefit from his discovery, although he was 
 awarded a prize of 12,000 francs by Napoleon Bonaparte 
 for bringing about this addition to the world's economies. 
 He died, however, in 1841 in extreme poverty. 
 
 He had during his life made his discovery known to 
 others, for in 1810 he communicated the knowledge of 
 his methods to anEnglish firm, which successfully manu- 
 factured preserved or hermetically sealed foods. 
 
 About the year 1810, a patenl was granted in England 
 to one Peter Durand for a can made of tin in which to 
 preserve food by hermetically scaling: doubtless this 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 knowledge was conveyed to Durand by Appert, or by 
 some one in his employ, for in the application for the 
 patent, Dnrand admitted he obtained his knowledge 
 abroad. 
 
 In 1817 the secret of preserving food was brought to 
 America, presumably by an employee of the above men- 
 tioned English firm, and in 1819 the first factory for 
 preparing such food was started in JSTew York. In 
 18:20 an employee of the same English firm brought the 
 secret of manufacture to Boston, and two years later, in 
 connection with Boston parties, established a packing 
 house in Boston. iVn improvement in the method of 
 packing seems to have been discovered by this firm, or 
 else they obtained the knowledge from the older house 
 abroad, which consisted practically of the same process 
 now generally used, that is of exhausting, venting and 
 then cooking. 
 
 A few years later, in 1843, the canning of lobsters 
 and fish was begun in New Brunswick and Maine, and 
 three years later the first oysters were canned in Balti- 
 more. This, however, does not refer to the packing or 
 canning of raw oysters, for that industry began six years 
 earlier. Mr. Maltby was the pioneer in packing and 
 shipping raw oysters; the oysters were shucked, washed 
 and put in square cans and, surrounded by ice, were 
 shipped to points that could be reached by wagons. 
 
 The business of packing and hermetically sealing food 
 was brought to Baltimore in 1850 or 1851, and from that 
 time it began to grow in importance, until now it is 
 one of the foremost industries of this country. 
 
 The evolution in appliances for canning has been al- 
 most as remarkable as the expansion of the industry it- 
 self. 
 
 The first cans used in packing or canning were made 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 entirely by hand ; regular tinsmiths were employed to do 
 the work; the bodies were rolled up, double seamed and 
 soldered; the edges of the tops and bottoms were drawn 
 over on an edging stake and fitted over the body of the 
 can. The can was then held in the hand, and the solder 
 dipped , off a cake with a copper soldering tool, and 
 soldered around on the outside; the opening in the top 
 was plain, and the cap fiat, and when the can was ready 
 for sealing, a heavy body of solder was placed around 
 the edge or seam of the cap. It can be well understood 
 that this method of making cans was slow, costly and 
 prevented any large output of canned goods. It was 
 not long, however, before better and cheaper methods of 
 can-making were adopted; the treadle press and the 
 simple die came into use, followed by the compound die 
 and power press; the method of soldering was improved ; 
 after the body of the can was rolled up a flat seam 
 joined it. and triangular drops of solder were cut. each 
 of sufficient size to solder or float, as it was called, the 
 top and bottom inside the can. 
 
 Tin can making became an important business, and 
 workmen became so expert in production that some were 
 able to make as many as 1,000 or 1,200 per day. Like 
 many other industries, the workmen themselves were its 
 greatesl enemies, and were eventually the cause of its 
 obliteration as a mechanical trade: strikes became - 
 frequent, and such excessive juices were demanded l'"i 
 making cans, that intelligent and inventive minds were 
 soon directed to the production of labor saving ma- 
 chinery. The first of these was what was termed the hot 
 plate: this was a smooth castiron plate, capable of hold- 
 ing a dozen cans: it was set at an angle of about 
 twenty degrees; under the plate were several hydro-car- 
 bon burners to give the accessary heat: the can bodies 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 were rolled up and seamed by hand with the nsnal flat 
 soldered seam; the tops and bottoms were put on by 
 hand, and the triangular drop of solder thrown inside, 
 and the can placed on the hot plate. The heat of the 
 plate was communicated to the tin of the can and the 
 solder melted; the can was then slowly turned round by 
 hand until the solder had floated uniformly around the 
 inner edge of the can; after the top was thus finished, 
 the can was reversed and the bottom soldered in the 
 same manner. 
 
 This method, though not requiring skilled labor, was 
 slow, and on account of the great heat required to melt 
 the solder the tin was often discolored, which made the 
 cans objectionable. This was soon abandoned and the 
 next step was the production of what was called the 
 "joker soldering machine;" this was a crude affair in- 
 volving little or no invention, as it was likely copied 
 from a somewhat more ingenious soldering affair used bv 
 Messrs. Eichardson & Eobbins, of Dover, Del. The 
 'soldering method which they employed successfully for 
 a long time was a copper block about three inches square 
 and one-half inch thick; in the centre was a crescent 
 shaped segment sunk into the block, into which a cor- 
 responding segment of the periphery of the can fitted 
 when held at an angle of forty-five degrees. A hydro-car- 
 bon burner was placed under the copper block to conve} r 
 the requisite heat, and drops of solder were placed in the 
 sunken segment* of the block; these were melted, and the 
 edge of the can placed in contact with the solder and the 
 coppers of the sunken segment. The can was revolved by 
 hand and effectually soldered, the copper in the block 
 acting as a copper soldering tool. 
 
 The "joker soldering machine" operated somewhat 
 similarly, but instead of the copper soldering block a 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 small iron pot was used in which the snider was kept 
 molten: a cover over this with an oblong slot or opening 
 permitted the edge of the can to he rolled in the solder. 
 This method was crude and lasted but a short time. 
 
 The next step in soldering cans was the invention of 
 the continuous floater; this was an elaboration of the 
 "joker machine/"' inasmuch that, instead of soldering 
 one can as a complete operation, a continuous line of 
 cans was rolled through a bath of molten solder by an 
 endless belt or chain. 
 
 Thus while mechanical means were provided for 
 soldering the cans, much had to he done by manual 
 labor, and continued efforts and experiments were made 
 to reduce hand work to' a minimum. The line method 
 was finally brought about, which, after the tops and bot- 
 toms had been cut and shaped, and the bodies had been 
 rolled, locked and soldered, consisted of an apparatus 
 into which the tops, bottoms and bodies wi'vv fed. and 
 which automatically pressed the tops and bottoms upon 
 the bodies, swagged the edges tight, and then rolled 
 them off to the soldering bath, where after being soldered 
 they were again rolled off to the tester, ami then by 
 endless bell carried to the packing room. This descrip- 
 tion is somewhat general, as there were several different 
 machines of this character, with modifications or im- 
 provements, but these differences were chiefly in the 
 method of soldering; some, discarding the solder bath, 
 applied the solder to the tops and bottoms while the 
 can was in an upright position, by means of an auto- 
 matic soldering tool fed by w i re solder. 
 
 The several methods of manufacturing tin cans are 
 now about as automatic as it is possible ever to become, 
 for a gap exists which may never be bridged, from the 
 fact that before the can comes under control of ihe 
 
A STOEY OF SOLDER. 
 
 automatic apparatus, the tin plate must be cut into 
 shapes for the tops, bottoms, bodies and caps, by presses, 
 dies, and shears, and to accomplish this manual labor 
 must be emploj^ed. 
 
 The dream of the inventor in the tin can line has 
 been to produce a machine into which could be fed a 
 sheet of tin, and a complete can brought forth, without 
 the interposition of handiwork; this, however, may be 
 regarded as a mechanical problem that never will be 
 solved. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 I WwlllKX the manufacture of cans <ivow to such an 
 ^A^ extent that packers could readily be supplied 
 with large quantities the business of packing or canning 
 grew rapidly, but was greatly, handicapped by the dif- 
 ficulty of soldering on the caps as quickly as the cans 
 Mere filled. Houses packing 50,000 to 100,000 cans a 
 day were compelled to employ a large number of men 
 expert with the soldering tool to close and solder the 
 rapidly filled cans. The capping was first done with a 
 tinner's pointed soldering tool and a bar of solder, and 
 for a long time this was the only method of capping 
 the cans. In the early seventies, a capper by the name 
 of Tillery invented and patented a tool which greatly 
 expedited the capping of cans. This was an L-shaped 
 body of iron or brass, having a wooden handle upon the 
 longitudinal part of the L, through which passed a 
 movable rod, pointed at the lower end, and a wooden 
 knob on the upper end; the horizontal part of the L 
 had a hole through it into which could be inserted the 
 handle of a copper soldering tool and fastened therein 
 by a set screw. The method of working the tool was 
 similar to the manner in which dividers are used to in- 
 scribe a circle; the pointed end of the rod was placed 
 in the vent of the cap; the soldering tool was fitted into 
 the crease holding the cap, and revolved by moving the 
 
 w len handle of the L while the rod was held stationary 
 
 on the cap. Thus the soldering tool was made to rotate 
 in the circular crease in the can top holding the cap, 
 and when heated, and a drop of solder applied, the 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 rotation of the soldering tool melted the solder drop, 
 carried it around the circular crease, filled it and com- 
 pleted the soldering of the cap. With this tool a work- 
 man would do, perhaps, three times as much work as 
 with the tinner's pointed copper and bar of solder. 
 Besides it did not require men skilled in soldering to 
 use this tool : any man with ordinary mechanical ideas 
 could in a few* days learn to handle it, and to cap or 
 solder successfully. 
 
 The one drawback to the success of this soldering 
 device was the excessive price charged for it; being a 
 patented article with no competition, the owners asked 
 in the beginning one hundred and twenty-live dollars a 
 pair for them, although the actual cost of making them 
 was about fifty cents each. This excessive price seri- 
 ously curtailed their use, though the price was quickly 
 reduced, until now they are sold at a profit at one 
 dollar each. 
 
 Almost coincident with the advent of the Tillery de- 
 vice, and largely because of its excessive cost, the capping 
 steel was brought into use; this consisted of a piece of 
 round steel about three inches long hollowed out on the 
 inside of one end, and turned to fit in the annular 
 crease in the top of the can; a movable rod passed 
 through the centre of the steel longitudinally, and held 
 the cap in position while the steel was rotated. A drop 
 of solder was placed over the crease; the heated steel 
 melted it and carried it around and filled the crease, 
 while the centre rod held the cap in position It was 
 found there was some difficulty in causing the steel to 
 carry the solder melted from the drop all around the 
 annular crease, therefore solder segments of one-third of 
 a circle, cut to fit the various size caps, were brought out 
 and thereafter and up to the present time capping steels 
 
A STOET OF SOLDER. 
 
 and segment solder are largely used by- the packing 
 trade. 
 
 Large operations in canning were nevertheless still re- 
 tarded by the comparative slowness of the various 
 methods of capping. Sealing a single can by one com- 
 plete operation was found entirely too slow to permit 
 extensive packings and a method of multiple capping 
 was sought. The first attempt in this line was made by 
 Mr. James Carmine, in 1878. He devised a somewhat 
 crude machine which capped six cans at one operation; 
 the cans were placed on a tray and slid under six cap- 
 jDing steels which were heated by hydro-carbon burners; 
 by means of a treadle the tray holding the cans was 
 elevated until the cans reached the steels, each of which 
 fitted in the annular grove or crease in the top of a 
 can; these steels were hollowed out on the inside suf- 
 ficient to allow space for a small weight to rest upon 
 the cap and hold it to the can: solder segments were 
 placed in the cap crease, and when the cans and solder 
 came in contact with the heated steels, the steels were 
 made to rotate by a series of gear wheels actuated by a 
 crank turned by hand; in this manner the solder was 
 melted and carried around the annular crease, and the 
 soldering of the cap completed. 
 
 This machine was operated for some time in the can- 
 ning house of Thomas J. Lambdin &, Co., of Balti- 
 more. 
 
 The next step in the process of multiple capping was 
 an invention by Mr. J. H. Cox, of Bridgeton, N". J. 
 This machine was somewhat similar to the one brought 
 out by Carmine, but more perfect in construction and 
 more exact in operation. It capped six cans in one 
 operation, and was propelled by hand, but bad many 
 improvements which made it at the time quite success- 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 ful. The machine was brought to Baltimore and placed 
 on exhibition in a factory where it attracted much at- 
 tention and favorable comment. 
 
 This machine paved the way for the introduction of 
 the larger and more elaborate automatic capping ma- 
 chines, worked by power, which were constructed to cap 
 twelve or more cans at one operation, and so perfect 
 have these machines become that two intelligent and 
 expert men operating one, can do more work than 
 twelve men could do, using the old methods of hand 
 capping. These machines in operation employ wire 
 solder altogether, and by feeding and using only desig- 
 nated sizes of this they have brought about great 
 economy in the consumption of solder, and consequently 
 lessened the cost of packing. 
 
 This review of the canning industry, though not 
 strictly partaking of the main object under consideration, 
 is necessary, in order to illustrate conditions under which 
 more than one-third of the solder manufactured in this 
 country is consumed ; because the bald statement, that a 
 single canner would consume during a packing season 
 lasting three months as much as fifty tons of solder for 
 capping or sealing cans would scarcely be believed; 
 therefore a comprehension of the magnitude of the can- 
 ning business is necessary in order to understand that 
 vast quantities of solder are really consumed. 
 
 It may be set down as an axiom, that a whole, in its 
 concrete sense, whether it be an extensive or moderate' 
 enterprise, whether it be an elaborate or simple appa- 
 ratus, or if it be anything in combination with parts, to 1 
 be successful in its intended field, must have all its units- 
 coact harmoniously without prejudice or friction; as for 
 instanace, a business with its individual parts working 
 at cross purposes will never succeed, or an apparatus or 
 
 i. ore 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 machine with its parts ill-fitting, or without intelligent 
 management, for such management must be regarded as 
 part of the concrete apparatus, can never properly do the 
 work intended. 
 
 In scanning the Held of can making and capping or 
 sealing cans, where automatic machinery is employed, the 
 above stated facts are especially applicable thereto. 
 
 Men of business ability are usually alive to the value 
 of labor saving devices, and seldom hesitate to employ 
 them in their business when advantage may be thus 
 obtained. They may. however, have limited ideas of 
 what mechanism can accomplish, and looking upon au- 
 tomatic machines as a shobboleth that will unaided con- 
 jure to perfection all the results desired they are led 
 to believe that an expensive skilled operator is not neces- 
 sary to the success of such machines; that as they were 
 •constructed especially to do certain work they should do 
 it without regard to the intelligence controlling them; 
 cheap labor is therefore frequently deemed sufficient, 
 .and as a result incompetency is soon in evidence. 
 
 In thus economising much loss and delay in the mat- 
 ter of can making and capping have been observed. In 
 automatic can making the side seam of the can may 
 not lock properly, the soldering 'may be imperfect, the 
 bodies may be crushed, the tops ami bottoms put out of 
 service, the solder bath at fault, all because some part 
 or parts of the machine have not beeD properly ad- 
 justed, or some correctable trouble discovered. 11 the 
 operator or man in charge is a competent man. he will 
 quickly see where the faults are. and promptly correct 
 them: if he is an incompetent man. the faults are in- 
 differently corrected, and to defend his ignorance be 
 •oudemns the macnine; the employer, a good business 
 man. but deficient in mechanical knowledge, will \'vo- 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 quently listen to the plausibilities of ignorance, and 
 agree that the machine is at fault; result, trouble for the 
 maker of the machine. 
 
 Just the same in the operation of soldering the cans, 
 imperfections are observed, some adjustment of the ma- 
 chine is required, the competent man sees it at once and 
 applies the remedy; the incompetent man promptly con- 
 demns the solder, and so on throughout the gamut. 
 
 The same facts and features apply to automatic cap- 
 ping machines ; the operator may be a skilled, intelligent 
 man. He will run through the packing season without 
 trouble and without making complaints ; or he may be a 
 man without experience and of ordinary intelligence 
 who will have trouble in plenty ; his work does not show 
 up successfully, therefore the machine is not in order, it 
 is overhauled by experience and found all right; then 
 the solder is not good. This is rejected and other substi- 
 tuted with no better results ; then the flux is at fault ; in 
 fact, everything is wrong but the man himself. The 
 packer meets with loss and becomes disgusted with the 
 machinist, the solder maker, the flux manufacturer and 
 feels that he has been imposed upon, and withdraws his 
 trade from these parties. He will not comprehend that 
 the fault is with himself through the employment of 
 cheap or incompetent labor. 
 
 The truth is the world is full of incompetents and un- 
 fortunately they must live, therefore it is a burden those 
 of ability must shoulder and have fastened upon them; 
 they are like the old man of the mountain, they cannot 
 be shaken off ; their incompetency arises sometimes from 
 a lack of industry and a desire to have an easy thing, 
 sometimes from congenital want of intelligence, some- 
 times through sheer carelessness, and at all times be- 
 cause they find it easier to invent excuses to cover their 
 
A STOKT OF SOLDER. 
 
 faults than to try industriously to overcome them ; such 
 men should only be hewers of wood and drawers of 
 water; positions requiring the exercise of intelligence 
 should be denied them. 
 
CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 LL automatic soldering machinery, to bring 
 good results, should be carefully cared for and 
 intelligently handled. 
 
 In using the automatic capping machine the passage 
 of the cans to and under the soldering tools should be 
 exact and the position positive. The soldering tools 
 should rest perfectly in the annular crease of the top; 
 they should fit evenly all round, so that the whole lower 
 edge of the tool would rest in the crease, where they 
 should move evenly and without friction. The steels or 
 tools should be kept carefully tinned and absolutely free 
 from oxide; if any crust should gather upon them, or if 
 the tinned surface should become discolored, they should 
 at once be retinned. The heat applied to them should 
 be ample to melt the solder freety, but not great enough 
 to attack the tinned surface, uniform heat being the 
 chief essential to successful work. The flux should be 
 absolutely clean and without sediment; the solder should 
 be fed in sufficient quantity to accomplish the work 
 neatly and no more. 
 
 The above precautions are simple and require no ex- 
 acting attention or labor; they are only matters of 
 care that any intelligent man Would exercise in the or- 
 dinary course of his duties. The careless or incom- 
 petent man would neglect some, or, perhaps, all of 
 these matters, and bring trouble and loss to all inter- 
 ested in any way in the machine or its operation. 
 
 In soldering by rolling the cans in a solder bath 
 similar precautions are necessary. The surface of the 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 molten solder should be kept absolutely free from 
 oxide or dirt of any kind; scrap, drops or wastage from 
 the bath should never be gathered from the floor and 
 put back into the bath, because substance injurious to 
 the solder may adhere to the scrap and thus destroy the 
 efficiency of the bath. If chloride of zinc is used as 
 the flux for soldering with "the bath, the zinc in the 
 flux; will in time unite with the solder and cause it to 
 lose its fluid nature, and bring lumps and rough streaks 
 upon the can seams. The seams of cans made in the 
 solder bath should be absolutely clean, with no surplus 
 Milder clinging upon them; this will be brought about, 
 if the solder is pure, by having the bath heated to just 
 the right temperature. If the heat is too great, the 
 solder in the bath will be oxidized, and the seams be- 
 come dirty and discolored; if the heat is not sufficient, 
 the solder will cling to the seams and the waste be 
 excessive. Should the temperature be at the proper 
 point and the seams show imperfections, the solder in 
 the bath has then been injured by oxidization, some 
 foreign metal getting into it, or the zinc in the flux has 
 combined with it and destroyed its limpid qualities; in 
 such cases, the solder should be dipped From the hath, 
 the bath carefully cleaned, and the solder thoroughly 
 refined before again using. 
 
 Many concerns that consume solder largely manufac- 
 ture it for their own use in their factories; they usually 
 employ laboring men or well grown hoys for this work, 
 believing that a knowledge requisite for the proper treat- 
 ment of metals is not required, and that the only ability 
 necessary IS to be able to melt the tin and lead together, 
 pour the mixture out and thus produce solder: as a 
 matter of fact, they have an alloy of tin and lead, 
 which is verv iml ifferenl Bolder. An experience.! manu- 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 facturer of solder, after melting the tin and lead, would 
 carefully note its appearance, get it to the proper tem- 
 perature, and see that it was thoroughly refined before 
 pouring it. This is absolutely necessary in order to 
 make good, clean solder when American lead is used, 
 for this lead has always more or less impurities in it, 
 which should he removed in order to make the soklei 
 work perfectly. The matter of heat is of great im- 
 portance in manufacturing solder; it should never be 
 poured at a temperature exceeding 775° F., and should 
 not be poured at a temperature less than 675° F. It 
 may be necessary to heat it beyond 775° F. to refine it, 
 but it should always be allowed to cool until brought 
 to the proper temperature before pouring; if poured 
 too hot oxide will gather and pass into the mould with 
 the flowing solder and cause it to work badly ; if poured 
 too cold — that is, below 675° F., the tin and lead have 
 a tendency to separate — the lead, because of its higher 
 melting point and greater specific gravity settling to 
 the bottom of the pot, and the tin, because of its lower 
 melting point and less specific gravity floating to the 
 top, and solder thus poured will have an excess of tin 
 in one part and an excess of lead in another. 
 
 The proper refining of solder is an important feature 
 in its manufacture. Thus far there have been no pub- 
 lications treating this subject; the manufacturer has 
 to obtain his knowledge by the exercise of his faculties 
 of intelligent observation; usually his eyes become so 
 educated that he can tell at a glance the condition of 
 the solder, and he thus determines whether it has ar- 
 rived at a point that. will give satisfaction to the con- 
 sumer, and if not, the knowledge he has gained in his 
 occupation teaches him at once the remedy to apply. 
 Not so with the amateur solder maker; he may have 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 acquired some vague notions of refining, but he usually 
 goes wrong. Some years ago a large consumer of soldei 
 was manufacturing it for their own use, but seemed to be 
 always in trouble with the solder; the workmen com- 
 plained constantly about it because it worked rough and 
 showed dark streaks upon the soldered seams; the best 
 brands of tin and lead were bought, and still they had 
 trouble; the writer was called in to consult and inves- 
 tigate. In stating the case the proprietors declared they 
 used only the highest quality of metals; the man they 
 employed to make it was painstaking and competent, 
 and he carefully refined every pot of solder he made, 
 and was particular to use for this purpose nothing but 
 sulphur. This at once exposed the trouble; they re- 
 fined with sulphur, the greatest enemy of metals known ; 
 they were simply converting the lead in the solder into 
 a sulphuret, and turning it back to its mineral state 
 before it became lead. I advised them to give up 
 amateur refining and to keep sulphur as far as possible 
 from the metal; this they did, and after the loss of 
 thousands of dollars through their previous methods 
 they obtained an alloy of tin and lead which might 
 fairly be called solder. 
 
 A similar incident is as follows : A large metal firm 
 in a ISTorthern city made solder in their warehouse to 
 supply their trade; they employed two laboring men 
 to do the work; these men had no knowledge of the 
 nature or qualities of solder further than that it was 
 tin and lead melted together; they somehow got zinc 
 into several lots of solder they made, amounting to 
 about three tons, and as it could not be used in that 
 condition it became a serious loss. The head of the 
 concern, believing he knew all about refining, ordered 
 the men to burn the zinc oui with sulphur: they did 
 
A STORY OP SOLDER. 
 
 so and it became a wonderful mess. The writer was 
 appealed to and cleared np the trouble, but advised them 
 to eschew sulphur hereafter. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Qualities and Grades of Solder. 
 
 H~~ OLDER is made in various proportions, from 
 75 pounds tin to 25 pounds lead to the 
 100 pounds, to 25 pounds tin to 75 pounds 
 lead. An alloy of 25 pounds tin to 75 pounds lead 
 is used chiefly for backing and for filling silver, brass 
 or copper mouldings, pipes, plates, etc., for the pur- 
 pose of bending; this alloy will not flow under the 
 copper or steel soldering tool. It is also used as a 
 dip or bath for sheet-iron plates, to make the terne 
 plates largely used for roofing purposes. Solder made 
 28 parts tin and 72 parts lead may he used under the 
 blow pipe, and may also he used with the steel solder- 
 ing tool and will flow fairly well. Solder made 30 tin 
 and TO lead will melt readily and flow under the 
 copper and steel soldering tools, and fairly good re- 
 sults may he had by floating with it in the solder 
 bath. Solder made 33 1-3 tin and 66 2-3 lead can be 
 used by an expert workman for any ordinary pur- 
 pose, such as roofing, making tin cans and coarse tin- 
 ware: it may also he used for wiping solder joints on 
 lead, where cold water only is to he used, or where a 
 very white surface is required. The old Scotch plumb- 
 ers used this mixture when they desired to make their 
 lead work of an ornamental nature. The contrast of 
 the black soil used upon the pipe and the exceedingly 
 white metal of the joints was ornamental from the 
 mechanic's point <»t' view. A mixture of 35 tin and 
 65 lead may he used for wiping plumber's joints, hut 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 should not be used for hot water pipes; it may also 
 be used for ordinary coarse work; 37 tin and 63 
 lead, 38 tin and 62 lead each make an alloy that may 
 be used for wiping joints, wiping seams, making tin 
 cans, roofing or for any ordinary purpose of soldering. 
 Solder made 40 tin and 60 lead is a most excellent 
 alloy for any soldering purpose; it may be used for 
 wiping plumbers' joints and especially for hot-water 
 pipe joints, though the quantity of tin in the alloy 
 has about reached the limit to which it may be- ap- 
 plied for joint purposes. With a greater percentage 
 of tin the solder is what the plumber technically calls 
 too fine — that is, the tin in the joint shows up brighter 
 than necessary; the solder chills too quickly to wipe 
 a smooth, symmetrical joint, causing the edges of the 
 joint to l)e rough and uneven; it is, however, a most 
 excellent mixture for making or capping cans. It is 
 strong, does not oxydize quickly, and, its melting point 
 being 384° F., it will maintain its strength -at an)' 
 degree of heat arrived at in the process of hermetical 
 sealing and preserving food. 
 
 Solder made 42 tin and 58 lead may be used for 
 any of the above-named purposes, except wiping plumb- 
 er's joints ; it is largely used in electrical work and 
 flows freely under the blow pipe or soldering tool. Mix- 
 tures of 44 tin and 56 lead, 45 tin and 55 lead are 
 favorite alloys for many tinware manufacturers ; it is 
 used largely in making condensed milk cans, meat and 
 salmon cans, and corn and pea packers use these grades 
 frequently in making their cans. Forty-six tin and 
 54 lead and 48 tin and 52 lead are also mixtures fre- 
 quently employed for the above-named purposes ; the 
 notion, fancy or prejudice of the consumer usually 
 guides him in selecting his favorite alloy. As there 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 is but little difference in the working qualities of solder 
 from 44 tin to 48 tin, it is also doubtful that any 
 economy may be found in the selection of these alloys, 
 except that which may be observed in the price of the 
 metal. 
 
 Solder made 50 tin and 50 lead is. however, by far 
 the favorite grade of consumers; as a matter of fact, 
 when the parts are absolutely 50 to 50, the solder 
 works exceptionally smoothly, flows freely, and presents 
 a bright, handsome appearance on the parts soldered. 
 It can be used for every purpose to which solder is ap- 
 plied, except wiping plumber's joints. The term half 
 and half which is applied to this solder is variously 
 used and abused; it is the incantation by which the in- 
 experienced user of solder believes he can bring forth 
 a mechanical job from crude effort, and strange to say 
 many buyers and users of solder do not even know the 
 significance of the term, but insist on having the solder 
 they purchase, irrespective of grade, being termed half 
 and half. To meet this demand, though the practice 
 must be regarded as reprehensible, manufacturers have 
 designed various grades of solder and called them half 
 and half, usually characterizing 50 to 50 solder as 
 warranteed halt 7 and half, and then a gamut is run 
 wherein may be found guaranteed half and half, strictly 
 half and half, market half and half, trade half and half. 
 special half and half, and, in fact, any name what- 
 ever which the maker may chose to embellish with half 
 and half, the quantity of tin in the mixture being 
 based entirely upon the price the buyer is willing to 
 pay. This practice, though decidedly wrong and cal- 
 culated at all times to bring doubt of the honesty of 
 the manufacturer, is nevertheless largely the buyer's 
 fault: he insists on having a grade of solder with cer- 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 tain proportions of tin and lead, and fixes the price 
 at figures ridiculous in comparison with the prices of 
 the metals composing it. Now, the market prices of 
 tin and lead can be found in every daily paper, and 
 by putting the cost of a pound of tin and a pound of 
 lead together anyone, even of the most limited intelli- 
 gence, can see at once the cost of solder made of 50 
 tin and 50 lead, which, arithmetically reduced, is one 
 pound of tin and one pound of lead; of course, com- 
 mon sense should teach him that a manufacturer would 
 not sell him an article, and be anxious to do so, at two 
 or three cents a pound below the cost of the material 
 composing it, but just here is the point where common 
 sense seems to take flight and greed steps in, and if 
 the buyer can argue himself into the belief that he 
 has bought something on which the other fellow lost 
 money he is happy. 
 
 An incident will show the peculiar ideas people have 
 in reference to grades or alloys of solder: A party in 
 the South, engaged somewhat largely in packing fruit 
 and vegetables, had been buying solder from a certain 
 manufacturer; the desideratum was the solder must 
 be cheap. The manufacturer gave him a mixture he 
 knew would work properly, and for several years he 
 had been getting this same solder; all at once the 
 packer obtained a new wrinkle. Someone mentioned 
 half and half solder to him; he wrote to the manu- 
 facturer that hereafter his solder must be half and 
 half and exactly like the solder he had been getting 
 and at the same price. The solder he had been getting 
 was one tin and two lead. 
 
 The fact is, obscurity as to the nature and composi- 
 tion of solder is so widespread, and the sources from 
 which knowledge of this nature may be obtained are 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 so few, and, if sought and found, so clouded by the 
 ambiguity of technical signs and phrases, that the con- 
 sumer may be to some extent excused for his want of 
 knowledge. It is for the purpose of giving a clear in- 
 sight into solder, its composition and its various fea- 
 tures that this book is written, and the incidents herein 
 given are not cited in a spirit of derision or levity, 
 but simply to illustrate more forcefully the facts the 
 writer desires to impress. 
 
 There is, therefore, some shred of excuse for the 
 buyer who sends his orders to manufacturers for speci- 
 fied grades of solder, limiting his prices to figures much 
 below the cost of the tin and lead composing the solder, 
 but there is no shadow of excuse for the manufacturer 
 who accepts the orders with the deliberate intention 
 of becoming a party to this solicited deception. 
 
 A well-known incident, frequently repeated, illus- 
 trates the above statement: A certain buyer, whose 
 annual purchases of solder were from 25 to 30 tons, 
 would every year scour the market until he obtained 
 the lowest figures possible for the cheapest solder used — 
 30 tin and 70 lead; he would then visit the various 
 manufacturers and offer his order for 40 to 60 solder 
 at the price he had been quoted for 30 to 70. The 
 reputable manufacturers would decline with thanks, but 
 in the end he always found some irresponsible maker 
 who would take his order, furnish him with 30 bo 70, 
 bill it as 40 to 60, and thus the dealer would be satisfied. 
 
 Returning to the different grades of solder, but little 
 is used with an excess of tin beyond 50 to 50 : when 
 grades bigher in tin are made they are usually for 
 specific purposes. For manufacturing gas meters, elec- 
 trical instruments, the finest quality of tinware ami 
 other purposes requiring very bright, free flowing solder, 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 the following grades are variously used — 52 tin and 
 48 lead, 54 tin and 46 lead, 56 tin and 44 lead, 58 
 tin and 42 lead, 60 tin and 40 lead, and, in fact, thus 
 upward in tin until 75 tin and 25 lead is reached. 
 These alloys high in tin are frequently used in the be- 
 lief that the more tin in the alloy the lower the melt- 
 ing point becomes, hut this is an error, for when the 
 alloy reaches 56 tin and 44 lead -the melting point is 
 3 to F., the lowest fusing point at which solder made 
 of tin and lead will arrive. As tin is added the melt- 
 ing point again gradually rises, until 70 tin and 30 lead 
 is reached, when it drops again to 345° F. and then 
 gradually rises again. The only advantages to be gained 
 by using solder with more tin contents than 50 to 50 
 is a lower melting point and greater tensile strength 
 and bursting strain, up to 56 tin and 44 lead; beyond 
 these pro]3ortions the advantage of a lower melting 
 point disappears, and greater tensile strength alone re- 
 mains as a compensation. 
 
 One of the disadvantages of using solder with an ex- 
 cess of tin is if a copper soldering tool should be 
 used the tin, being in excess, readily combines or 
 amalgamates with the heated copper and quickly etches 
 away the tinned surface, causing it to become pitted 
 and rough and difficult to file smooth because of the 
 exceeding hardness of the tin and copper surface amal- 
 gam. A blow pipe, steel or bath may, however, be 
 readily and successfully used with solder having any 
 desired proportion of tin. 
 
D 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 HE grade or quality of solder is at times the 
 cause of disputes between buyer and seller, 
 and analytical tests are improperly sought to 
 determine such disputes. As a matter of fact, an an- 
 alysis of solder by chemical analysis is never conclu- 
 sive, for the simple fact that it is seldom or perhaps 
 never correct. Submit a sample of solder to a dozen 
 chemists for anaysis and every one will differ as to its 
 contents. In fact, chemical analysis should never be 
 applied to metallic alloys to discover the component 
 parts; an assay would be the more correct method; it 
 is the using of these two terms as s}Tionymous which 
 causes confusion when their difference in application is 
 marked. Analysis is the process of reduction to .ele- 
 ments, and is applicable to all things liquid, solid or 
 gaseous, except minerals and metallic alloys; applied 
 to these analysis is of but little value. 
 
 Assaying is the combined mechanical and chemical 
 operation in which the quantity of one or more com- 
 ponents of a mineral or alloy is determined. An an- 
 alytical chemist is seldom a good assayer, as special 
 study and constant practice are required to become pro- 
 ficient in this branch of science. 
 
 Food, drugs, fluids and air may be analyzed, or a 
 metal may be analyzed to determine its elements, but 
 alloys should be assayed to determine their proportions. 
 
 Like most expert witnesses, chemists, in giving the 
 results of their analysis in order to determine a dis- 
 pute, always differ widely and often so far from the 
 actual facts as to make their testimony valueless. Re- 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 curring incidents reveal the truth of this assertion. 
 There was a dispute between a can manufacturer and 
 a solder manufacturer which resulted in a legal test. 
 The solder man had sold by contract to the canmaker 
 a number of tons of solder made 40 tin and 60 lead, 
 constituting a supply for four months; the canmaker 
 used up all his solder, sold his cans and at the end 
 of the packing season had reclamations made upon him 
 for a large number of defective cans. The canmaker 
 was compelled to pay these claims and sought to re- 
 coup from the soldermaker, alleging the solder was 
 defective, not up to grade, and caused the leaks. Emi- 
 nent counsel was emplo} r ed on each side, as it was ex- 
 pected the determination of the matter would be far- 
 reaching in the canmaking and canning industries. The 
 plaintiff canmaker made the mistake of employing two 
 eminent chemists to analyze the solder; a sample taken 
 from the same bar was sent to each of these scientific 
 gentlemen. The testimony in court of one was that 
 the solder was composed of zinc 18, antimony 4, tin 
 20 and lead 58; the other's testimony was zinc 3, an- 
 timony 15, tin 28 and lead 54. Another eminent chem- 
 ist employed by the soldermaker testified a piece from 
 the same bar analyzed tin 40, lead 60. The judge 
 instructed the jury to disregard the testimony of the 
 chemists, it being so contradictory as to be of no value, 
 and finally charged the jury to bring in a verdict for 
 the defendant soldermaker on the ground that the 
 plaintiff had failed, if the solder was not of the qual- 
 ity specified in the contract, to reject the solder be- 
 fore using it; but having used it, and even though he 
 may have complained of it to the defendant, he could 
 not now recover, because his negligence was the chief 
 contributing cause of his suffering. 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 Another instance is as follows: A manufacturer 
 
 sold to five different vegetable packers certain quanti- 
 ties of solder, made 50 tin and 50 lead, with the un- 
 derstanding that the solder was to he subject to analy- 
 sis. The five lots of solder were made at one time in 
 the same pot, of the same tin and lead, mixed, tested 
 and poured at the same time, and by weight the metals 
 used were 50 pounds of tin and 50 pounds of lead in 
 each hundredweight: after melting, refining and mix- 
 ing the static test showed 50 tin and 50 lead. The 
 live different packers, each in different stales, had 
 samples of the solder analyzed : three were analyzed 
 by the same chemist, the other two by different chem- 
 ists. Of the three samples sent to the one chemist, 
 -one was declared oo tin and 45 lead, the second 4-~> tin 
 and do lead, the third 4S tin and 52 lead. Of the 
 other two samples sent to two different chemists, one 
 was declared 44 tin and 56 lead, the other 5.°) tin and 
 IT lead. As a matter of fact, the solder, as stated 
 above, was absolutely 50 tin and 50 lead, and a proper 
 assay would have so disclosed it. 
 
 A very satisfactory test of solder may lie made, with- 
 out the assistance of chemist or assayer, by using the 
 static test: the tin and lend contents of any alloy may he 
 disclosed close enough For all practical purposes. The 
 instrument is very simple, and parties using huge quan- 
 tities of solder should not he without one. It is a 
 scale similar to the old-fashioned steel yard, and is 
 numbered from LOO t<» 0. It has a movable indicator, 
 which acts as a balancing weight: a conical cartridge 
 mould accompanies each instrument. In this mould 
 a cartridge of pure tin and one of pure lead are cast ; 
 the tin balances the scale with the indicator a1 100. 
 the Lead balances at 0. To disclose the tin and lead 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 contents of solder a cartridge is cast of the alloy under 
 question; it is placed on the scale, and when the in- 
 dicator balances the record on the heam gives the tin 
 and lead contents., the beam being spaced off into 100 
 parts. The tin contents are reconed back from the lead 
 end and the lead contents from the tin end, as, for 
 instance, if a cartridge of solder is placed on the scale 
 and the indicator balances at 30, there are 30 pounds 
 of tin and 70 jxrands of lead in the alloy; if the indi- 
 cator balances at 65, there are 65 pounds of tin and 
 35 pounds of lead in the alloy. The use of this scale 
 would always insure the purchaser getting what he 
 bought, and would compel the manufacturers to fur- 
 nish what they sold. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 D 
 
 X manufacturing solder the greatest care 
 should be taken to prevent the introduction 
 of other metals into the alloy of tin and 
 lead. Zinc, antimony, copper, iron, arsenic and sul- 
 phur are all enemies of solder, and, as all or some 
 of these are at times in lead, care should be taken 
 to remove them by refining the solder. It is difficult 
 to detect the presence in small quantities of antimony, 
 copper or iron, but zinc, sulphur and arsenic ma} r be 
 seen, no matter how small in quantity may be their 
 invasion. 
 
 Zinc is perhaps the greatest enemy to solder; the 
 presence of one ounce of zinc in a thousand pounds of 
 solder can be readily detected by the skilled manu- 
 facturer; even in this small quantity it perceptibly in- 
 jures the working of solder. The soldered surface or 
 seam will be rough, with small lumps appearing upon 
 the parts; it will blacken the tinning upon the solder- 
 ing tool, and the solder will refuse to flow or follow 
 the tool. As the quantity of zinc is increased the qual- 
 ity of the solder grows worse, and. if as much as one 
 pound of zinc is admitted into one thousand pounds 
 of solder, it becomes absolutely unfit for use. Much 
 error exists among users of solder as to the preseiu-e 
 of zinc in solder. "Workmen having no knowledge of 
 the foregoing fads frequently complain of zinc being 
 in solder, and the manufacturer is berated and ac- 
 cused of putting in zinc to cheapen the solder: while 
 this is absurd, il is nevertheless diffieull to convince 
 some consumers thai il is ao\ so. No manufacturer 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 would ever permit solder to pass out of his factory 
 with zinc in it; the smallest quantity would destroy 
 the worth of the* solder, and in no manner or way 
 could any advantage be gained by permitting the mix- 
 ture of zinc; on the contrary, he would know that it 
 would be unquestionably a source of loss to him; be- 
 sides, even if through accident zinc should get into 
 the alloy, as zinc is the easiest of all metals to remove 
 from solder, the manufacturer would have no trouble 
 in expelling the objectionable metal. 
 
 When solder is submitted to chemical analysis by 
 supposed experts the presence of zinc is sometimes 
 noted, generally in absurd quantities; this can scarcely 
 be called an error; absolute incompetency can only ac- 
 count for such statements, because the presence of zinc 
 destroys unquestionably the characteristics of solder in 
 an alloy of tin and lead. Antimony in quantities of 
 not over one per cent, does not injure solder; it has 
 no effect upon its working qualities, and, while it in- 
 creases the melting point in an allo} r of tin and lead 
 two degrees, it is not perceptible in soldering; large 
 industries in making specifications for solder sometimes 
 permit the presence of one per cent, of antimony. At 
 times it is impossible to avoid the existence of this small 
 percentage of antimony, as most American leads con- 
 tain from one to two per cent, of antimony, especially 
 the lead characterized as desilvered. 
 
 When antimony is added to an alloy of tin and 
 lead the melting point is increased and the metal grad- 
 ually hardens; when five per cent, of antimony is 
 reached the copper soldering tool cannot be used with" 
 it, though a fairly good seam may be made with it 
 under the blow pipe; but much of the value of the 
 alloy as solder has been destroyed, because the metal 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 has lost much of its strength, has become hard and the 
 soldered seams are easily cracked or broken. When 
 eight per cent, of antimony is readied the alloy should 
 not he used as solder, as its tensile strength has de- 
 parted and seams, if soldered by the only agent at this 
 stage possible — the blow pipe — will crack or break when 
 being slightly bent. When ten or twelve per cent, an- 
 timony is admitted to the alloy it is no longer solder; 
 it is in a state of transition between solder and anti- 
 friction metal. The melting point is much increased 
 and it lias, no tensile strength and its torsal proper- 
 ties are also gone, as it breaks if bent at right angles. 
 With fifteen per cent, antimony added it becomes full- 
 fledged anti-friction metal, suitable for machinery, 
 boxes or bearings; it breaks if bent at an angle of 60 
 degrees, and the surface of the fracture is composed 
 of small granulations. It is exceedingly hard and 
 has a slight resonance when struck. AVlien IS per 
 cent, of antimony is added the alloy becomes exceed- 
 ingly brittle; it can scarcely lie bent to an angle of 
 ;."> degrees without breaking. On the surface of the 
 fracture the granulations show larger and the resonance 
 i- also greater: a bar of it will break quick and short 
 if smartly struck over a sharp angle. To this alloy 
 the addition of five per cent, of copper hardening 
 will make a very reliable and useful anti-friction metal. 
 It is difficult to remove antimony from solder, though 
 it may he done; hut the process is slow. and. because 
 of the tin lost in the operation, it i- expensive. 
 
 Copper may he present in solder to the extent of 
 one-tenth of one per cent, without materially injuring 
 its working quality; a- the quantity of copper is in- 
 creased the quality of the solder deteriorates, and when 
 one per cent. is reached the injurious effecl is quite 
 
A STOEY OF SOLDER. 
 
 perceptible; more than one per cent and less than two, 
 the solder is scarcely fit for use. It will not flow, be- 
 comes sluggish under the copper soldering tool, will 
 not follow it and can only be used successfully under 
 the blow pipe. Beyond two per cent, and up to three 
 per cent, the alloy is worthless as solder, and when 
 five per cent, is reached the alloy will scarcely flow 
 from the ladle and the melting point is greatly in- 
 creased. Ten per cent, of copper in an alloy of tin 
 and lead brings the fusing point up to 1050° P. and 
 a crucible must be used to melt it. Because of the 
 great affinity of tin for copper it is difficult to re- 
 move copper from solder, as it forms an alloy with 
 the tin that will not oxidize in. the process of refining, 
 and it is only by an intricate process that copper can 
 be mechanically removed from tin or solder, though it 
 may be accomplished chemically by reduction and pre- 
 cipitation. 
 
 Copper becomes more frequently mixed with solder 
 than, perhaps, any other metal; this occurs through the 
 habit of filing the soldering coppers to brighten and 
 tin them and permitting the filings to fall upon the 
 shop floor and to be swept up and remelted with the 
 solder scrap. Great care should be taken that these 
 filings do not in any way become mixed with the sol- 
 der, as they always injure it and sometimes render 
 solder worthless. These filings often injure the solder 
 bath where cans are soldered b} r rolling in the molten 
 metal; copper and iron filings falling upon the floor 
 are swept up with the scrap and put back into the 
 bath and through this practice the solder in the bath 
 soon becomes thick and loses its fluid qualities; it 
 will not flow from the can seams, but leaves lumps and 
 smears upon the surface soldered. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 n — HE presence of copper, even in minute quanti- 
 ties, may be detected by pouring a bar in an 
 open iron mould; if copper is present a slight 
 irridescent or pale blue appearance will be observed 
 on the bottom or sides of the bar where the metal 
 comes in contact with the iron mould; this irridescence 
 may not be detected by the casual observer, but to the 
 skilled manufacturer it is quite perceptible. 
 
 Iron may exist in solder alloys in exceedingly small 
 quantities without perceptibly injuring the quality, 
 though if as much as five one-hundredths per "cent, be 
 present the effect may be plainly observed. The ac- 
 tion of iron is similar to that of copper in a solder 
 alloy; the metal assumes a higher melting point, loses 
 its fluid quality, and becomes sluggish and hard; if 
 two per cent, of iron is admitted it becomes brittle 
 and is of no value as solder until the iron is removed; 
 this process is difficult and expensive, because tin is 
 necessarily lost in the operation, tin having also an 
 affinity for iron, and readily amalgamates with it. An 
 alloy of tin and castiron can be made, producing a 
 peculiar light yellow metal, which will not oxidize, 
 though it is too hard and brittle for any useful pur- 
 pose. Iron, however, may be removed from solder 
 through the same process by which antimony is re- 
 moved: the method is found expensive by reason of 
 the tin lost in the operation. The presence of iron 
 may also be detected in solder, even when in very 
 minute quantities, l>\ making a 1 tin and 2 lead 
 alloy of it and pouring into an open iron mould, if 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 iron is present; the white exposed surface of the solder 
 will have dark streaks or smears upon it, which will 
 be perceptible to anyone. 
 
 Sulphur is a deadly enemy to solder because of the 
 readiness with which it combines with lead and forms 
 lead sulphide; this is an intractable substance, and in 
 the very smallest quantities injures the Working qual- 
 ity of solder; in large combination it brings solder 
 to the condition of an inert mass, to be restored to use 
 only by reduction in a reverberatory furnace and the 
 necessary aftermath of refining, inasmuch as the com- 
 bination of sulphur with lead brings the lead back to 
 the elemental condition of lead ore, or lead sulphide, 
 consisting of 86.6 of lead and 13A of sulphur, the 
 primitive state in which it existed before it was reduced 
 to lead. This fact, the knowledge of which may be 
 obtained by the simplest research, seems, however, to 
 have escaped the observation of very many users of sol- 
 der, as most of them believe that by stirring sulphur 
 in molten solder they eliminate or destroy fancied im- 
 purities, instead of which the} r are simply destroying the 
 solder. Other users take the opposite tack and have 
 what may be called sulphurphobia. If a workman, after 
 a good, or, maybe, bad time Saturday night and Sun- 
 day, feels badly on Monday morning and things do not 
 go altogether right with him, the solder is the easiest 
 and safest thing to abuse; he arrives at the conclusion 
 that it is full of sulphur and won't work. Or a poor 
 mechanic, who would make a bad job with any kind 
 of solder, excuses his inabilit}^ by charging the solder 
 is full of sulphur, and if there be a number of work- 
 men in the factory the majority usually side with the 
 complainant, and the solder, like the proverbial dog 
 with a bad reputation, is generally abused. Sulphur 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 never exists in solder made by a manufacturer, and 
 yet it is the most frequent avenue of abuse with which 
 the manufacturer contends: illustrative of this the fol- 
 lowing incidents may tie cited: A large manufacturer 
 of tinware, because of the high price of charcoal, de- 
 termined to use coke for heating the soldering tools in 
 Ins factory. He obtained gashouse coke, and in a short 
 time complained greatly to the party from whom he 
 bought his solder: he declared it was full of sulphur, 
 and the fumes from it were unbearable. The solder 
 maker knew the presence of sulphur in the solder was 
 an impossibility and so informed the tinware man, but 
 he would not he satisfied and declared he would di- 
 vert his trade to some other manufacturer who would 
 not put sulphur in his solder. Finally an expert was 
 called in, who saw at once that sulphurous coke was 
 being used : lie had the owner do away with it and no 
 complaint of sulphur being in the solder was heard 
 again. 
 
 A large can factory was situated near a wharf where 
 foreign steamers discharged cargo. One day in mid- 
 summer, when windows were open everywhere to per- 
 mit the circulation of air, a manufacturer of solder 
 who was supplying the above can factory was called to 
 the telephone by the owner of the can factory, who in 
 a very excited manner declared he was being ruined 
 by sulphur being in Ins solder: that the fumes were so 
 strong and unbearable the workmen threatened to qui!. 
 and that the solder was absolutely Avorthless. He de- 
 manded the solder man should come at once and so 
 the great loss to which he was being put. The man of 
 tin and lead started at once for the can factory, but 
 on his way lie saw a number of wagons hauling sul- 
 phur which wa- being discharged from an Italian steam- 
 
A STOUT OF SOLDER. 
 
 ship upon the adjacent wharf; these wagons were con- 
 stantly passing under the windows of the can factory 
 and filling the air with sulphurous odors. The solder 
 man was met by the can manufacturer and roundly 
 abused, but as soon as the can man could be quieted 
 he was led to the window and the sulphur in transit 
 pointed out. He reluctantly admitted, finally, that he 
 might be wrong, but seemed, nevertheless, to feel in- 
 jured because the sulphur was not in the solder. 
 
 Arsenic is a serious enemy to solder, though fortun- 
 ately it will combine with lead onby in small quantities ; 
 it is, however, so widely distributed throughout the min- 
 eral world that nearly all lead, and to some extent tin, 
 contain traces or more of arsenic. Nearly all mineral 
 sulphides seem to contain it, and in the reduction of 
 lead sulphide to metallic lead metallic arsenic is formed, 
 though because of its oxidizing freely fortunately but 
 little of the metal is retained. It has the property of 
 making any metal with which it is alloyed very brittle, 
 and in an alloy of tin and lead in which there is one- 
 tenth of one per cent, of metallic arsenic the surface 
 of a bar poured in an open mould will show a very 
 fine, mottled appearance; this amount of arsenic does 
 not injuriously affect the working of the metal in any 
 way except to slightly impair its tensile strength; it 
 has, however, the propert}^ of making the metal flow 
 more freely and of melting at a slightly lower tem- 
 perature. Beyond one-half of one per cent, in an alloy 
 the metal grows brittle, and if as much as one per 
 cent, is permitted the metal grows quite brittle and its 
 property as solder is much impaired. 
 
 The presence of arsenic in solder may always be 
 detected by the peculiar odor of garlic, with a slight 
 sulphurous addition which is emitted when the metal 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 is in a molten state; and when it is once alloyed with 
 metal it is extremely difficult to eliminate it. There 
 seems to be no published rule for this, and after much 
 experiment the writer has found that the only effectual 
 method is to spray the molten metal in a blast of 
 heated air and thus destroy it by oxidation. 
 
CHAPTEE XXI. 
 
 H~~ OLDEE, when absolutely pure, or clean, as the 
 manufacturer terms it, in any grade, from 75 
 tin and 25 lead to 25 tin and 75 lead, 
 when heated to the proper temperature and a bar 
 poured into an open iron mould, the upper exposed 
 surface will show absolutely clean and smooth. If any 
 impurity whatever is in the solder it will always ap- 
 pear in some manner upon the surface. If zinc is in it 
 the bar will show irregular waves and lumps, rough 
 places will cover the exposed surface and a dull, yel- 
 lowish white color will be apparent. 
 
 If antimony in excess of two per cent, is in the 
 alloy the bar will run smooth and even, but little bright 
 dots about the size of a pinhead will begin to show upon 
 the surface, which will gradually increase in size and 
 number until eight per cent, is present, when these 
 dots will merge continuously and the bar will show 
 the characteristic appearance of an antimonial alloy. 
 If copper is alloyed with solder beyond one-tenth of 
 one per cent, the surface of a bar poured in an open 
 mould will also show a mottled appearance, and the 
 bar will flow short, the metal will scarcely run to the 
 end of the mould, will be extremely sluggish, dull and 
 uneven in appearance, its fluid properties will be lost, 
 and it can only be melted with difficulty by a copper 
 soldering tool. If iron is present the flowing quality 
 of the solder is likewise injured, and when poured into 
 a mould the action of the metal is similar to that con- 
 taining copper, and in addition the surface of the bar 
 has a dull appearance and has dark streaks and smears 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 upon it. The presence of sulphur in;iy be known by 
 its familiar odor when the solder is in a molten state: 
 when ponied in a mould, the bar upon its exposed sur- 
 face shows a dull white and the tin brightness is de- 
 stroyed. As sulphur is a non-metallic element, it does 
 not alloy with the metal: it. however, combines with 
 the lead and forms a sulphide of lead in microscopic 
 particles, which invade every atom of the metal and 
 destroys its usefulness. 
 
 Alloys are made of tin, lead and bismuth, but are 
 only used as solder when in the proportions of 2 tin, 
 2 lead and 1 bismuth, melting at 292° F. : or 3 tin, 3 
 lead and 1 bismuth, melting at 310° F. : or 3 tin, 1 
 lead and 2 bismuth, melting at 236° F. The two 
 former alloys can lie used for wiping plumber's joints 
 on block tin pipes; the latter may be used with the 
 blow pipe for soldering block tin articles or Brittania 
 ware. Other alloys of tin, lead and bismuth are made 
 to melt as low as 199° F., but they are of little me- 
 cbanical value unless it be for making fusible plugs 
 and latches. Alloys of tin, lead, bismuth ami cadmium 
 are made to melt as low as 150° F., and an alloy of 
 tin, lead and mercury can be made that will melt at 
 1 K>" F. Each of tbese alloys, however, is extremely 
 fragile and of no mechanical value; the latter is ex- 
 ceedingly brittle, having little cohesiveness, as a slight 
 blow will reduce it to fragments. 
 
 The following tables give the melting point of 26 
 grades of solder, the melting point of alloys of tin, lead 
 and bismuth; also of tin, lead, bismuth, cadmium and 
 mercury; the weights per cubic inch of 2 1 dill'erent 
 alloys of tin and lead, the difference in lengths of equal 
 weights of various grades of solder run into wire of 
 
A STOEY OP SOLDER. 
 
 different gauges, the breaking strain of solder of 26 
 different alloys, the bursting strain of 24 different grades 
 of solder at 56° F., 212° P. and 240° P.: 
 
 The melting point of 26 different alloys of Tin and 
 Lead, in degrees Fahrenheit. 
 
 Tin Melts at 442° 
 
 Lead " " 616° 
 
 25 to 75 " " 452° 
 
 28 " 72 " " 446° 
 
 30 " 70 " " 440° 
 
 o3y 3 " 66 2 / 3 " « 416° 
 
 35 " 65 " " 406° 
 
 36l/> " 63i/o «■ " 397° 
 
 3? « 63 " « « 395 o 
 
 38 " 62 " " 391° 
 
 381/-, « 6iy 2 " " 389° 
 
 40 " " 60 " « " 384° 
 
 42 " 58 " " 377° 
 
 44 " 56 " " 370° 
 
 45 " 55 " . " 368° 
 
 46 " 54 " " 365° 
 
 48 " 52 " " 360° 
 
 50 " 50 " " 356° 
 
 52 " 48 " " '. .. 351° 
 
 54 " 46 " " 347° 
 
 56 " 44 " " 346° 
 
 58 " 42 " " 348° 
 
 60 " 40 " " 350° 
 
 62 " 38 " " 353° 
 
 64 " 36 " " 355° 
 
 67 " 33 " " 349° 
 
 70 " 30 " " 345° 
 
 75 " 25 " " 352° 
 
 These melting points were arrived at after many tests 
 under various conditions. It was always found there 
 was more or less variation in the degrees of heat. How- 
 ever, the figures may be regarded as fairly accurate. 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 The melting point of 13 different alloys of Tin, Lead, 
 
 Bismuth, Cadmium and Mercury. 
 Tin. Lead. Bismuth. Cadmium. Mercury 
 
 •O 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 ■6 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 ■5 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 g 
 
 5 
 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 ercury. Melting 
 
 Point 
 
 330° 
 
 F. 
 
 320° 
 
 a 
 
 310° 
 
 u 
 
 254° 
 
 Li 
 
 292° 
 
 .. 
 
 236° 
 
 (i 
 
 202° 
 
 (( 
 
 •?|H 
 
 U 
 
 199° 
 
 •• 
 
 156 c 
 
 it 
 
 1 tm 
 
 .. 
 
 212° 
 
 c< 
 
 210 
 
 « 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 Weight per cubic inch of 24 different alloys of Tin 
 and Lead. 
 Tin. Lead. Oz. Tin. Lead. Oz. 
 
 o 52 5.01 
 
 25 
 
 to 
 
 75 
 
 5.65 
 
 18 
 
 28 
 
 u 
 
 72 
 
 5.60 
 
 50 
 
 30 
 
 u 
 
 70 
 
 5.53 
 
 52 
 
 32 
 
 i( 
 
 68 
 
 5.49 
 
 51 
 
 33% 
 
 « 
 
 66% 
 
 5.15 
 
 56 
 
 35 
 
 a 
 
 65 
 
 5.10 
 
 58 
 
 37 
 
 u 
 
 63 
 
 5.37 
 
 60 
 
 38 
 
 ec 
 
 62 
 
 5.30 
 
 62 
 
 10 
 
 a 
 
 60 
 
 5.21 
 
 61 
 
 12 
 
 cc 
 
 58 
 
 5.18 
 
 66 
 
 15 
 
 a 
 
 55 
 
 5.09 
 
 70 
 
 16 
 
 a 
 
 51 
 
 5.01 
 
 75 
 
 50 
 
 4.98 
 
 48 
 
 4.93 
 
 46 
 
 4.89 
 
 41 
 
 4.84 
 
 42 
 
 4.78 
 
 40 
 
 4.72 
 
 38 
 
 4.67 
 
 36 
 
 4.60 
 
 34 
 
 4.56 
 
 30 
 
 4.50 
 
 25 
 
 4.46 
 
 These weights are given so that the consumer may 
 determine the question of economy in using the various 
 grades, taking in consideration the difference in weights 
 and prices. 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 Breaking strain of wire solder No. 9, Birmingham 
 gauge, in 25 different grades. 
 
 Breaks at a strain of 120 pounds 
 
 49 - 
 
 65 " 
 
 68 " 
 
 69 " 
 
 i 6 
 
 74 " 
 
 ; 8 " 
 
 79 
 
 80 " 
 
 78 " 
 
 84 « 
 
 85 - 
 87 " 
 91 " 
 93 " 
 95 " 
 97 " 
 981- - 
 
 101 " 
 
 103 " 
 
 105 " 
 
 108 " " 
 
 1091/-, « 
 
 112 " 
 
 115 " 
 
 These tests were repeatedly made and may be re- 
 garded as accurate; they were made to show the com- 
 parative strength of the various grades of solder. 
 
 Tin 
 
 
 
 Lead 
 
 25 to 
 
 75 
 
 28 " 
 
 72 
 
 30 •'• 
 
 70 
 
 33^ « 
 
 66^ 
 
 35 " 
 
 65 
 
 36i/ 2 ' 
 
 64y 2 
 
 37 - 
 
 63 
 
 38 - 
 
 62 
 
 38% a 
 
 611/, 
 
 40 " 
 
 60 
 
 42 •'■ 
 
 58 
 
 44 - 
 
 56 
 
 46 " 
 
 54 
 
 48 « 
 
 52 
 
 50 " 
 
 50 
 
 52 a 
 
 48 
 
 54 " 
 
 46 
 
 56 « 
 
 44 
 
 58 " 
 
 42 
 
 60 " 
 
 40 
 
 62 " 
 
 38 
 
 64 " 
 
 36 
 
 67 a 
 
 33 
 
 70 " 
 
 30 
 
 75 a 
 
 25 
 
A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
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 WCOMCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCO 
 
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 KHOM300«\tl'0«COOO 
 
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 rt ^ 
 
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 cu pj 
 
 
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A STORY OF SOLDER. 
 
 Bursting pressure per square inch of 24 grades of solder 
 
 at different temperatures, the pressure 
 
 being dead, not expansive. 
 
 
 
 At56°F.- 
 
 > 
 
 At 212° F. 
 
 At 240° F. 
 
 Tin. 
 
 
 Lead. 
 
 Pounds. 
 
 Pounds. 
 
 Pounds. 
 
 25 
 
 To 
 
 75 
 
 362 
 
 146 
 
 74 
 
 38 
 
 
 72 
 
 384 
 
 158 
 
 77 
 
 30 
 
 •• 
 
 70 
 
 417 
 
 170 
 
 84 
 
 32 
 
 ..' 
 
 68 
 
 436 
 
 179 
 
 88 
 
 ssy 3 
 
 it 
 
 66^ 
 
 1 i:; 
 
 181 
 
 89 
 
 35 
 
 
 65 
 
 460 
 
 188 
 
 93 
 
 31 
 
 ■• 
 
 63 
 
 476 
 
 196 
 
 97 
 
 38 
 
 
 62 
 
 482 
 
 199 
 
 99 
 
 40 
 
 .. 
 
 60 
 
 493 
 
 202 
 
 100 
 
 4-2 
 
 
 58 
 
 491 
 
 208 
 
 10.°. 
 
 45 
 
 
 5 5 
 
 505 
 
 212 
 
 105 
 
 46 
 
 
 54 
 
 508 
 
 213 
 
 106 
 
 48 
 
 
 52 
 
 515 
 
 215 
 
 107 
 
 50 
 
 
 50 
 
 522 
 
 220 
 
 109 
 
 52 
 
 
 48 
 
 527 
 
 223 
 
 111 
 
 54 
 
 
 46 
 
 52*3 
 
 223 
 
 111 
 
 56 
 
 .. 
 
 44 
 
 528 
 
 223 
 
 111 
 
 58 
 
 •• 
 
 42 
 
 533 
 
 227 
 
 113 
 
 60 
 
 a 
 
 to 
 
 533 
 
 227 
 
 113 
 
 62 
 
 .. 
 
 38 
 
 535 
 
 227 
 
 113 
 
 c.l 
 
 
 36 
 
 539 
 
 227 
 
 114 
 
 66 
 
 
 :il 
 
 511 
 
 227 
 
 111 
 
 TO 
 
 (C 
 
 30 
 
 550 
 
 230 
 
 115 
 
 75 
 
 <{ 
 
 25 
 
 561 
 
 235 
 
 118 
 
A STOBY OF SOLDER. 
 
 In arriving at the foregoing figures it was found 
 impossible to use an expansive test — because, after a 
 number of experiments, it was observed the figures dif- 
 ferd materially. It was then determined to use dead 
 pressure, and this was found accurate, with an atmos- 
 pheric temperature of 56° ¥.; but when the tests were 
 subjected to heat at 212° F. it was discovered that the 
 length of time to which the test was subjected in this 
 degree of heat made an important difference in the 
 amount of pressure required to produce the burst. 
 When subjected to 240° P. the difference was found 
 still greater, and in both cases the longer the test was 
 subjected to heat, the less pressure was required to pro- 
 duce the fracture. The figures giving the bursting 
 points at 212° and 240° must therefore be regarded as 
 only approximately correct. 
 
 The End. 
 
MACNEAL 
 PRINTING 
 COMPANY 
 
iAN 31||»; 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 013 972 607 8 
 
 i