Tim Ninta(i Americas
IIETHER tin, as such, was
known to tho ancient world
Is a mooted question. Most
probably It was not, although
the alloy of copper and tin
called bronze was used ages
before that time whereof the
earliest legends run and loose
ly called the dawn of history.
It Is common to say that the
ago ot bronze followed the
age of stone and that loth
are prehistoric. Unscientific
as Is such a marshaling of
"ages," and untrue It applied
to man the world over. It
yet presents a picture something near tho known
facts about that part of the ancient world which
lies around the Mediterranean sea. Bronze was
no doubt the first metal hero used by man, Just
emerging from the lowest state of savagery. Its
superiority for the forming of weapons and tools
over flints, bones, and lire-hardened sticks was
manifest. Whence tho European savage derived
It, by what process tho metals were separated
Jrbm the ore, whether the alloy of tho two metals
was made by man or fortuitously occurred in na
ture, aro Interesting subjects, but not within tho
scope of this article The fact Is, however, that
had pure tin been the first metal known it would
have received but scanty consideration from primi
tive man; for, except for Its weight, which would
have rendered It suitable for a maco or club head,
Its want of strength and softness Is such that
for his uses it would have been Inferior to flint,
bone or oven flre-hnrdened wood.
Tho remarkable property which certain metal3
have, and among these tin is one of the most con
spicuous, that when alloyed with another metal
the compound possesses a quality of strength,
hardness, malleability, or resonancy superior to
that of either of tho metals entering into tho com
pound is what in Its ilrst use gave value to the
union of copper and tin called bronze. At a later
period in the world's history the property which
tin has of not tarnishing, or rather of being In
a high degree resistent to tho decomposing action
of air, water and the common acids and alkalis,
was taken advantage of In the use of the metal
as a coating for harder and stronger but moro
easily affected metals, liko Iron or steel. Tin
alone has even now but few industrial uses, prin
cipally In tho making of certain pharmaceutical
Instruments and tin foil. For almost every other
purpose for which tin is sultablo an alloy ot
tin and copper, or tin and zinc, or tin and lead, or
hm .m mrjiT 1.1. ir i ft'Riffi'Aaiii
.lb AV '
an exceptionally high grade of ore.
In colonial days Berenguela was a
rich silver mlno. The two ores are
In distinct veins.
Tho tin mines of the northern Hold
of Bolivia are in two groups Hunyna
Potosl and Milluni, north of the Great
Plateau. Included In the Inquisivl
Melds aro tho mines of Qulmsa
Cruces, Araca and Santa Vela Cruz.
Tho first area Is at tho southeast
end of Lake Tltlcaca, in the moun
tains some 13,000 feot above sea level.
During colonial days theso ruins were
silver mines, but silver now In this
locality Is but little moro than a tradi
tion, for tho only mining now carried
on is tin mining. There nre a great
number of small mining properties in
this locality, but the principal output
comes from tho French company,
which owns the Carmen mlno of the
Huayna-Posotl and the Milluni mine.
The Quimsn Cruz or Tres Cruces
district of Inquisivl Is one of the most
promising of the Bolivian fields. It Is
in the heart of the Cordillera Real,
which here rises over 17,000 feet above
sea level. These fields are about
equidistant from La Paz and Oruro
but much moro accessible to the lat
ter. Tho principal tin property In tho
district is tho group of Monte Blanco
mines, owned by a Chilean company.
Theso mines are on the western slope
steel, iron, or brass coated with tin, Is moro suit
able, and it is these uses of tin, as an alloy or
as a coating, which give it its real value and Its
placo In tho arts and industries. Just as primitive
man would have found but little use for pure iron,
bo civilized man might easily dispense with It
were it not for its use as an alloy or as a pre
servative coating. As such It is of enormous uso
to tho world and easily ranks among the four or
five most valuable metals. Of the so-called com
mon metals It is the least widely distributed and
the most costly.
Tho valuo of tho Imports of tin Into tho United
States as given by the bureau of statistics is now
about 130,000,000 a year. In 1907 it amounted to
nearly J43,000,000. This includes ore, bar and
block tin, and some of the manufactures thereof,
and also tin plate, but does not include the ordi
nary alloys of tin, such as bronze, pewter, gun
metal, and bell metal, nor does it include a very
largo Importation of manufactured articles in
which tin is a considerable and sometimes tho
major element of valuo.
For 1909 the figures wero as follows:
Quantity
Article. (pounds.)
Tin plates 18,115,771
Casslterlte 26,661
Bars, blocks, pigs, etc. 91,133,413
Foil
.Manufactures
Value.
: 3,230,659
3,13
26,007,216
43,612
60,251
uzav; jp&roj; Rasmus..
vial deposits which represent, tho remains ot the
same veins washed down from the hills after the
disintegration of the surrounding rock through
the action of air and water and cokl and hent.
Unlike gold tin occurs in a compound, casslterlte,
while gold Is generally more or less pure. Tho
tin mines of Cornwall In England and of Bolivia
aro mostly vein deposits, while those of the Malay
Peninsular, the Dutch Islands and elsewhere aro
alluvial.
The following figures give approximately tho
world's production. of tin In 1908. Quantities aro
given in short tons (2,000 pounds), and the re
duction from ore in tin Ingots is made:
Short Tons.
Straits Settlements 67,760
Bolivia 19,040
Island of Banka 12,880
Australia 6,552
Cornwall 6,048
Island of Billlton 2,464
South Africa 1,904
of the Cerro Ataranl. The quarters and mine of
fice of tho company are at an elevation of 14,800
feet and some of the lodes mined are 1,500 feet
higher up tho mountain slope. Among theso lodes
in the Santa Fe, which outcrops for about 1,000
feet, with an average width of from six to nine
feet. Tho ore runs about 12 per cent, pure cas
slterlte. In pockets the mineral Is found nearly
pure. In the neighborhood of tho Monto Blanco
mines are the mines of Barosso Cota, Santa Itosa,
La Florencla, Copacabanca and others.
About twenty miles south of Monte Blanco is
tho Santa Vela Cruz field. The most Important
property in this field is' that of the Concordia
Tin company, nn English corporation. The loca
tion is not quite so high as Monte Blanco. Here
tho best mining methods are being adopted and
tho property jjWlll bo without doubt a large pro
ducer, nlthough not yet fully developed.
South of Santa Vela Cruz are the fields of Saya
quirl, a new field In which some prospecting has
been done which promises large results, and Col
qulrl, formerly a silver field, but now developing
Into a tin-producing district.
The northern tin fields of Bolivia have in the
past suffered much for laok of good transportation.
Thl3 condition Is being greatly improved with the
recent railroad development In tho country.
$29,344,872
Total
This exceeds largely the Imports of nny other
metals except iron and steel gold and sliver not
being considered true Imports. If the total value
of tin Imported into the United States could be
given, including all manufactured articles and
alloys at the proportionate value of the tin there
in contained, tho amount would probably be over
140.000,000 for the year 1909.
About one-fourth ot the tlm imported is used
for the making of tin plates, sheet steel dipped
in tin, and the bulk of tho remainder goes Into
tho alloys of which there are scores of varieties
containing different proportions of tin with copper,
zinc, lead, nickel, silver and antimony.
Metallic tin Is rarely found in nature and then
never in commercial quantities. Fine grains ot
the metal sometimes occur in the gold ores of
several localities, principally in Bolivia and in
Siberia. There are a number ot tin compounds,
oxides, chlorides and sulphides, but thero is but
one ore of any considerable Importance in tin
mining, and that is the blnoxide of tin or stannic
acid called tinstone or casslterlte. Tinstone is
ot various colors brown, gray, yellow, red or
black ordinarily duo to the presence of peroxldo
of iron or manganese. In its pure state tho ore
is nearly colorless. It Is a remarkably hard and
heavy mineral, so hard that it will often strike lire
from flint, and of spoclflc gravity 6.7, about equal
In weight to antimony, and not much less than
cast Iron.
Tin mining bears many resemblances to gold
mining. Like gold tin is found either in veins,
running through older rock formations, or in allu-
Total 116,648
The Socavon do la Vlrgon, San Jose, Huanunl,
Negro Pabellou, Morococala and Antiquera mines,
new rich tin mines, were in the old Spanish colon
ial days rich silver mines, tin being held of sucn
little value that It was rarely extracted. The San
Jose mine Is about two miles from Oruro. It is
both a silver and a tin mine, but the tin Is of
tho greater Importance. The Antiquera mines are
near Poopo, on the Antofngasta and Oruro rail
way. Huanunl Is said to contain the richest tin
mines in the department of Oruro. These are lo
cated about fifteen miles from the station ot
Machacaraaca ot the Antofngasta railway. The
Cerro de Pozacanl, in which these mines are sit
uated, arises to the height of about 10,000 feot
a rough cone in shape. It is laced by Innumerable
lodes and veins, some of which are worked on a
large scale. The Catarlcagua vein produced in
1905 ore equivalent to 1,192 metric tons. The
vein runs from two to eight feet In width and Is
from 20 to 50 per cent, casslterlte.
The Bolivian ores are ground and concentrated
tor tho pure casslterlte. In this form is sand
called tin barilla; It is exported. A very consider
able part of the valuable oxide is lost In treat
ment. The mines of Negro Pabellon, Morococala and
Vllacollo aro about ten miles . south ot Huanunl,
near Parla. The principal lode of the Negro Pa
bellon is about three feot in width and is crossed
by several smaller veins! with hjoro and there rich
pockets of casslterlte. The barilla obtained from
this ore is exceptionally rich, containing more
than 70 per cent, metallic tin. Concentrated Bo
livian ores ns a rule runVabout 60 v-er cent., or
a little less, metallic tin. in tho Morococala mine
the vein is from twelve to fifteen feet thick, ot
a good grade of ore.
Berenguela, In the province of Cocbabamba, has
Another Change of the Times
Nurses and parents do not frighten children so
much nowadays with foolish stories as they did a
generation or two ago. Children are not territled
into "being good." But in the remoter country
places this objectionable and dangerous form of
tyranny still lingers. In parts of Scotland the
bodach still has his terrors for youngsters. The
chief of these specters is "The Son of Platter
pool from gray spike, silken spike, great cater
pillar." There Is almost a Shakespearean sugges
tion about tho name. This terrific bugbear peers
in at windows, flattens his wicked face against
tho pane, sharpens his teeth with murderous dis
tinctness, and carries away crying or noisy chil
dren In a twinkling. But he never enters a house
without being called. The threat tc summon him
Is enough, and the unhappy child goes to bed
quietly, to brood over nameless terrors In tho
dark. London Chronicle.
Use for the Crickets
Tho cricket has had other uses besides that of
affording an excuse for argument. In China crick,
eta were frequently trained for fighting purposes
and brisk betting went on over cricket matches.
In Florence, too, rrlckets In ences were hawked
about the streets on Ascension day to be bought
and let loose about the houses in order to insure
n year of good luck. Theonhlle Gautier mentions
how tho people of Madrid kept pet crickets In
small cages decorate,! with glass ornaments. Also,
presumably, to bring good luck.
Where He Drew the line
"Ethel." said Mr, Brown, "1 want you to give
that young man of yours a little message from
me."
"Yes, father," said Ethel, blushing.
"Tell him that yqur mother and father don't ob
ject to big gas bills, but they object to his carry
ing the morning paper away with him when h
leaves." Tit-Bits.
lifefel tftttik St" Willi' foVst
i inn 1 1 in m ii ' ii in 'MTRimwH r i t him r w n mr 11 n sisw
MPT--.- ( y kfS i ill I i ill iMiii i i i I j JBHtfi)' fr.V-ti'V
i
IT is but little over a year ago, at
the time when Kirig Edward lay
In state' in Westminster hall, that
thousands of Londoners made
their first acquaintance with f.he
rlversido district which lies between
Vauxhall and Lambeth bridges. No'
one who witnessed the wonderful spec
tacle presented by tho vast crowds
that thronged Grosvenor road, Mill
bank street and Abingdon street in
their patient pilgrimage can ever for
get it. Joining the multitude at or
even beyond Vauxhall bridge, those
who walked, step by step, felt that
when at last they reached Lambeth
bridge the goal was almost in sight,,
for Just beyond the great Victoria
tower was the royal death chamber.
Few paused to notice tho rather squal
id appearance of the approach by Mill
bank street to the houses of parlia
ment and old palace yard as compared
with tho splendor of the opposite ap
proach along the spacious ways of
Whitehall and tho embankment, and
few know much of the proposed
scheme destined to transform this
part of London and make it worthy
of the imperial center of tho metropolis.
In the old days the river banks here
on both sides were lonely marshlpid;
where Lambeth bridge now spans the
stream there was an ancient horse
ferry. (Horseferry road preserves Its
name), tho revenues of which be
longed to the archbishops of Canter
bury, whoso palace of Lambeth lies
opposite, on the Surrey side. Just out
side the southern wall of tho abbey
precincts there arose In later times a
little suburb much favored by the gen
try of tho days of Anno and the
Georges. College street, Cowley street
and Barton street still show the
quaint, dignified facades of these
charming specimens of eighteenth cen
tury domestic architecture. Here in
1716, in Smith square, was built the
singular church of St. John, with Its
four belfry towers, which was ad
mired and abused moro, perhaps, than
any church in London; some likened
it to "a parlor-talile upset with Its legs
In the nir, a chef d'oeuvro of the ab
surdity of its architect, Thomas Arch
er"; others spoko of it as an orna
ment to the city of Westminister, and
regretted that a vista had not been
opened up from old palaco yard to
show its beauty.. Nowadays, perhaps,
wo aro better able to appreciate its
merits, tho originality of its design
and its massive construction. St.
John's church is the central feature
of tho Mlllbank improvement schemo
now being carried out at Immense
cost by tho London county council.
This great schemo, known as tho
"Thames Embankment Extension and
Westminister Improvements at Mill
bank," was proposed thirteen years
ago in a resolution ot the council that
a plan should bo prepared for the em'
bankment ot tho Thames from the Vic
torla tower garden to Lambeth bridge,
including the widening ot Mlllbank
street. In 1901 provision was made
for the scheme by a capital' vote of
$7,576,000, of which the sum of $5,'
915,000 was the estimated cost of ac
quiring the properties east and west
of Mllkbank street and for widening
the west Bide 'of the street itself;
while 1250,000 was reserved for the
rehousing ot the laboring Classes dis
lodged by so extensive a sweeping
away ot the unsightly dwellings o&
cupylfg the sito.
The most Important part of tho
scheinb is the construction ot the new
Hardens between the existing Victoria
tower gardens and Lambetn bridge.
the extension tit the embankment be
tween the bouses of parliament and
the bridge, and the widening of Mill
bank street, which will thus fprm a
broad and pacious approach from the
south. Tl)o new gardens and embank
ment will taKo the place oi oia rqws
of wbaives and breweries. Few, now.
ver, will regret that stateliness and
spaciousness h&ve dispossessed
picturesque squalor which was
tho characteristic feature ot this
uuiKtfu uuu luh wuuueu uicLU uei
uimtiH will irivn iiiiicn lm ciiih ii
worthy of tho site.
It was by the horse-ferry here
land, the king throwing into
stream tho great seal, which
airerwnxtis nroucnt. un in a ns
mniffi npt. Din nrlnts Rhnw tho ti
na ir rnpn wnn witn tr.n I mnnp fn
house built in tho time of the
mnnwofiltn finil tn Inner Rtrpro
Mlllhnnlf wnltr. wtfh nnllnril will
nninir tiir river Kinn null r.nws lep
nniiRn nun errnnnnfl wns tnn innt n
in j-ionuon up uiu river rrum vv
in ! ti c t fiT- riTifl ilia wnllr hatWDnn It
promenade in the palmy days of
Queen Anno suburb of Smith sqi
nnrt thn Rtrnfa nrilnnont. It is Kti
favorite neighborhood, especially
those whose business lies In tho
llament houses.
TTi bti r ic rnm Tiini i 1 1 nun i h i i i w i r
riVLTBlllH LiUUUUIl Will UU1U 1L UWU
niiinr rnnrm wirn imv ninnr imr
to tho tower.
Sword Which Terrified Europe
Tn future tho femnress Eticenie
"I am .not getting younger, she p
etlcally says, "and Farnham la
mw nnmo - i iiiiro l u ri Npr uu n i ii
Napoleon IV as tho Imperialists
prlnco of France, who was killed
these Is a baby carriage which
presented to the emperor and
press of France for their son
Queen Victoria and the prlnco
Dnrr rnn miTfJi- iinvinir 11 ohiith pi
Ins mother Drought Dade from Ai
tv n on enn mnno npr iniirnpv in hpr
spot where he was slain. Hut
Interesting of all Is the sword
tv ninn no HiriiPirn,ii in iihiriiii mi
vvnrpr nrw ir. ih ihil ji hwiiiii hi k
eheath. When King Cetawayo
a . 1. 1 v. I . 1 ...
cujl(;uercu, ima uibiuiju bwuiu w
had terrified Europe was among
spoil In his kraal.
One Use of Adversity,
"The lato Senator Frye." said a
eran Republican of Lewlston, "was
OTnpr v nn nriimr. mil iir linn n ip
way of driving homo a point.
nltv. hn once rebuked a somewhat
rr mriiuniH izuiiiuiiLLtfti ill rtiiuni
trnnsrroflRorfl toft hnrri wnntfli
crush them, In fact but Frye said
" 'You, gentlemon, have had an
time of it through lifo. I think If
inn 1 1 1 ti l wuu in u i n tin v 1:1 qi i ) u u
more lenient toward these poor
lows.'
"Then he smiled and nodded In
nirnpiinn ill ii wihih'huih uuicne
the committee.
" 'Man,' be said, "is like one ot
1 1 . lln n.nntn IIa n
n Inl nf nnmirllnrr beforar ha'ft tn
to others.'"
On the Wrong Train.
She Did you ever get on a
when It was moving?
He ea once.
She What was the sensation?
Womau's Heme Companion.