There was a time when everyone was so excited about asbestos that they used it in everything. Unfortunately, no one knew of the real danger of asbestos until 20+ years later when asbestos workers and miners developed malignant mesothelioma.
Facts Concerning Asbestos
In the animal and vegetable kingdoms fibrous structure is common and renders many materials most useful to man. The discovery and utilization of fibrous structure is one of the early steps in the development of civilization. But organic fibers are ephemeral. They are easily destroyed.
In the mineral kingdom fibrous structure is unique. It is practically limited to asbestos, according o J.S. Miller, a geologist of the United States Geological Survey, in a recent report. The possibilities of usefulness possessed by this mineral are far from being fully appreciated, not only by the general public but by manufacturers in search of material for special purposes to which asbestos may well be applied.
Asbestos in its richest development is not only fibrous but its fibers have a high degree of flexibility and a good degree of strength and elasticity. Furthermore, it is incombustible, but thus strongly contrasted with organic fiber and rendered most valuable for fireproofing.
Has An Important Role
Asbestos plays a more important part in the national life than is generally credited to it. The well made asbestos theater curtain assures the safety of the audience from stage fires. In the home the asbestos covering of the furnace and heating pipes, or the gas logs in the open fireplace, makes for economy and comfort. Wherever steam is used as a motive power in factories, on trains or in ships, it is asbestos packing that holds the steam to its work; on the other hand, if electricity is employed the wires are probably insulated by asbestos tape and the adjacent parts are made of asbestos “lumber.” Asbestos shingles and sheathing make houses cooler in summer and warmer in winter and reduce the fire risk. From the ice house, where asbestos protests the brine pipes from the heated air, to the foundry, where it shields the workman from molten metal, in the workshop, the home, or the place of amusement, asbestos contributes materially to the human welfare.
United States Asbestos Deposits
The United States has long held first place as a manufacturer of asbestos goods, but the raw material for that purpose was freely drawn from Canada, at present the chief source of the world’s supply. It is, however, gratifying to learn from Mr. Diller’s report that the production of asbestos in the United States is not only increasing in quantity but improving in quality. The total output for 1910 was the greatest ever credited to the United States, being 3,693 tons, valued at $68,357. This was an increase of 20 percent in quantity over the production of 1909, with brighter prospects for the future.
There are two varieties of asbestos — the serpentine variety and the amphibole variety. The former is the more valuable. Georgia and Vermont are the chief asbestos producers, the former of amphibole and the latter of chrysotile which is reported by manufacturers to compare favorable with that imported from Canada. The production in Wyoming and Idaho has advanced, but in those States the industry is still in the development stage and has not become permanently established.
Source: The Evening Herald. Newspaper. May 13, 1911.
