Franklin the product for the year end- got copper. The receipts, including $2, ing November 30 has been 112 masses, weighing 72,166 lbs.; 721 barrels of barrel work, 469,116 lbs.; and 67 barrels stamp work, 63,816 lbs. Total, 605,098 lbs., equal to 180 tons refined copper. The actual shipments were about 267 tons rough, or 158 tons ingot copper. The stamps are Ball's, consisting of two pairs of two heads each. They did not commence work till November 19. Huron total shipments this year, 65% tons of 641 per cent. barrel work, and 12,311 lbs. of refined copper, smelted at the Portage Lake works. There is ready for the stamps an amount equivalent, at a fair estimate, to the quantity shipped this sea son. Isle Royale total shipments this season 458, tons, averaging over 70 per cent. Preparations have been made for opening a large amount of ground during the winter, with a view to large shipments at the opening of navigation. Minesota: November returns, 150 tons. The total shipments in 1860 were 1992 masses, and 2127 barrels of barrel and stamp work. Net weight, 4,366,718 lbs. This is the largest shipment made in one year by any mine at the lake. The promise for future production is as great, at least, as the result for this year. Pewabic: November product, 304, tons. The actual shipments for the season have been 2,727,632 lbs. The product for one year to November 30 was as follows: 467 masses, weighing 348,658 lbs.; 2294 barrels kiln or barrel work, weighing net, 1,450,778 lbs.; 342 barrels No. 1, stamp, 379,718 lbs.; 399 barrels No. 2, stamp, 389,973 lbs.; 401 barrels No. 3, stamp, 346.912 lbs.; add on tributers' account, 27,428. Total, 2,943,467 lbs. The smelting returns are not yet all made, but on an estimate based on past experience, the result will not vary much from 2,030,992 lbs., or about 1000 tons of ingot copper. During the year there have been shipped 1533 ounces of silver. Pittsburg and Boston: November product, 114 tons. Total shipments, 1357 tons. Total product for the year, 1402 tons. The annual report recently published gives the result of the year ending December 1, 1859. The product for that year was 1,099 tons, yielding 64 per cent., or 707 tons in 405 17 from sales of silver, were $292,503 14. The expenditures were $272,175 75, leaving net profit, $20,327 39. COPPER SMELTING The ores of copper, unlike those of most of the other metals, are not in general reduced at the mines; but after being concentrated by mechanical processes called dressing-which consist in assorting the piles according to their qualities, and crushing, jigging, and otherwise washing the poorer sorts they are sold to the smelters, whose establishments may be at great distances off, even on the other side of the globe. The richer ores, worth per ton three or four times as many dollars as the figures that represent their percentage of metal, well repay the cost of transportation, and are conveniently reduced at smelting works situated on the coast near the markets for copper, and where the fuel required for their reduction is cheap. At Swansea, in South Wales, there are eight great smelting establishments, to which all the ores from Cornwall and Devon are carried, and which receive other ores from almost all parts of the world. It is stated that in this district there are nearly 600 furnaces employed, which consume about 500,000 tons of coal per annum, and give employment to about 4,000 persons besides colliers. The amount of copper they supply is more than half of that consumed by all nations. The total product of fine copper produced by all the smelting establishments of Great Britain for 1857 is stated to be 18,238 tons, worth £2,079,323. The former are The copper smelting works of the United States are those upon the coast, depending chiefly upon foreign supplies of ores, and those of the interior for melting and refining the Lake Superior copper. There are also the furnaces at the Tennessee mines, which have been already noticed. situated at the following localities: At Point Shirley, in Boston harbor, are the furnaces of the Revere Copper Company, which also has rolling mills and other works connected with the manufacture of copper at Canton, on the Boston and Providence railroad. At Taunton, Mass., a similar establishment to that at Canton is owned by the Messrs. Crocker, of that town. There are smelting furnaces at New Haven, Conn.; at Bergen Point, in New York harbor; and at Baltimore, on a point in the outer harbor. one or two smeltings. The treatment of the Lake Superior copper is comparatively an easy operation. For this large reverberatory furnaces are employed, through the roof of which is an opening large enough to admit masses of 3 to 3 tons weight, which are raised by cranes and lowered into the fur The barrels of barrel work are introduced in the same way, and left in the furnace without unpacking. When the furnace is charged, the opening in the top is secure The furnaces established for working the Lake Superior copper are at Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburg. At the last named are two separate establishments, with each of which is connected a rolling mill, at which the ingot copper is converted into sheets for home consumption and the eastern market. A furnace was also built at Port-nace. age lake, Lake Superior, in 1860, of capacity equal to melting 6000 tons of copper annually. The details and extent of the operations carried on by the smelting works ap-ly closed by fire-proof masonry, and the fire pear to have been carefully kept from publication. In a work on "Copper and Copper Smelting," by A. Snowdon Piggott, M. D., who had charge of the chemical assays, etc., for the Baltimore Company, published in 1858, while the English processes are fully described, no information is given as to the methods adopted at the American works; and of their production all the information is contained in the two closing sentences of the appendix, as follows: "Of the coppersmelting establishments of the United States I have no statistics. Baltimore turns out about 8,000,000 pounds of refined copper annually." Applications which have been made by the writer to the proprietors of several of the establishments for information as to the business, have been entirely unsuccessful. The total production of copper in 1858 was supposed to be about 13,000 tons per annum; and of this about 7000 tons were required by the rolling mills for making sheet copper, sheet brass, and yellow metal. The French treatise on Metallurgy by Professor Rivot contains the only published description of the American method of smelting copper. By the English process, the separation of the metal from its ores is a long and tedious series of alternate roastings or calcinations, and fusions in reverberatory furnaces. The system is particularly applicable to the treatment of poor, sulphurous ores contaminated with other metals, as iron, arsenic, etc., and can only be conducted to advantage where fuel is very cheap, the consumption of this being at the rate of about 20 tons to the ton of copper obtained. The process employed in Germany is much more simple, and the methods in use at the American smelting works are more upon the plan of these. Blast or cupola furnaces supply at some of them the place of reverberatories, and the separation of the metal is completed in great part by of bituminous coal is started, the flame from which plays over the bridge, and, reflected from the roof, strikes upon the copper, causing it gradually to sink down and at last flow in a liquid mass. A small portion of the copper by the oxidizing action of the heated gases is converted into a suboxide, which is partially reduced again, and in part goes into the slags in the condition of a silicate of copper, the metal of which is not entirely recovered. The mixture of quartz, calcareous spar, and epidote accompanying the copper, is sometimes such as to melt and form a good cinder without addition of any other substance, but usually some limestone or other suitable material is added as a flux. Complete fusion is effected in 12 to 15 hours according to the size of the masses, and this is kept up for about an hour in order that the fine particles of copper may find their way through the fluid slag, which floats upon the metal. Working tools called rabbles are then introduced through the side-doors of the furnace, and the charge is stirred up and the slag is drawn out through the door. It falls upon the ground, and is taken when sufficiently cool to the cupola or slag furnaces where it is chilled with water to render it easy to break up. Those portions which contain as much as one fourth per cent. of copper are reserved to be passed through the slag furnace. The total amount of slag is usually less than 20 per cent. of the whole charge. In the melting the copper absorbs carbon, which if allowed to remain would render it brittle and unfit for use. To remove it the fire is so arranged that the gases pass through with much unconsumed air; this playing on the surface of the copper produces a suboxide of the metal, which in the course of half an hour is quite taken up by the copper, and coming in contact with the particles of carbon the oxygen combines with this, and removes it in the form of carbonic acid gas. It now remains to remove the excess of oxygen introduced, which is effected by the ordinary method of refining. A large proportion of fuel is employed on the grate for the amount of air admitted through it, so that the flames as they pass over the bridge convey little free oxygen, and the surface of the metal is covered with fine charcoal. After a little time a pole of green wood is thrust into the melted copper and stirred about so long as gases escape from the surface. It is then taken out, and if on testing the copper some suboxide still remains, the refining is cautiously continued with charcoal, and just when, as appears by the tests, all the oxide is reduced, the work of dipping out the metal is commenced. This is done by large iron ladles, the whole set of men employed at two furnaces, to the number of about 12, coming to this work and taking turns in the severe task. They protect themselves from the intense heat by wet cloths about their arms, and as quickly as possible bale out a ladle full of copper and empty it into one or more of the ingot moulds, of which 36 are arranged in front of the furnace-door upon three parallel bars over a trough of water. As the metal becomes solid in each mould, this is upset, letting the ingot fall into the water. The weight of the ingot being 20 pounds, the filling of them all removes 720 pounds of copper from the furnace. The metal that remains is then tested, and according to its condition the discharging may be continued or it may be necessary to oxidize the copper again and repeat the refining, or merely to throw more charcoal upon the surface and increase the heat. The time required to ladle out the whole charge is from four to six hours. When this is completed the sole of the furnace is repaired, by stopping the cracks with sand and smoothing the surface to get all ready for the next charge; and at the same time the second furnace has reached the refining stage of the process. One charge to a furnace is made every evening, and as in the night it is necessary only to keep up the fires, the great labor of the process comes wholly in the day time. The following is the estimated cost at Detroit of the smelting, on a basis of two furnaces, each of which is charged with four and a half to five tons of mass copper, consuming two and a half tons of coal, and producing from three to three and a half tons of ingots : To this should be added, for superintendence, office, and general expenses, perhaps ten dollars more, which would make the cost for six or seven tons of ingot copper, $60.75, or $9 to $10 per ton. At Pittsburg the rate charged has been $11 per ton; and fuel is there afforded at about one third the amount allowed in the above estimate. The cupola furnaces for treating the slags are of very simple plan and construction. They are of cylindrical form, about ten feet high, and three feet diameter inside. Their walls, the thickness of a single length of fire brick, are incased in boiler-plate iron, and stand upon a cast-iron ring, which is itself supported upon four cast-iron columns about three feet above the ground. Transverse iron bars support a circular plate, and upon this the refractory sand for the sole of the furnace is placed, and well beaten down to the thickness of a foot, with a sharp slope toward the tapping hole. A low chimney conveys away the gaseous products of combustion, and through the base of it the workmen introduce the charges. The blast is introduced by three tuyeres a foot above the sole; but before it enters the furnace it is heated by passing through a channel around the furnace. A steady current is obtained by the use of three double acting blowing cylinders, which give a pressure equal to about three and a half inches of mercury. The hands employed at the Detroit establishment, besides the superintendent and head smelter, are eighteen furnace men and from five to ten workmen, according to the arrivals of copper during the season of navigation. After the stock thus received is worked up, the furnaces remain idle during the remainder of the winter. USEFUL APPLICATIONS OF COPPER. The uses of copper are so numerous and important that the metal must rank next in value to iron. In ancient times, indeed, it was the more useful metal of the two, being abundant among many nations to whom iron was not known. In the ancient Scandinavian tumuli recently opened in Denmark, among the various implements of stone were found swords, daggers, and knives, the blades of which were, in some instances, of copper, and in some of gold, while the cutting edges were formed of iron, showing that this was more rare and valuable than either copper or gold. It has been supposed that several of the ancient nations, as the Egyptians, Greeks, etc., possessed the art of hardening copper, so as to make it serve the purposes of steel. That they employed it for such uses as those to which we now apply tools of steel is certain, and also that the specimens of some of their copper tools are considerably harder than any we make of the same metal. These are found, on analysis, to contain about one part in ten of tin, which, it is known, increases, when added in small proportions, the hardness of copper, and this was probably still further added to by hammering. Among the most important uses of the metal at present is that of sheathing the bottoms of ships in order to protect the timbers from the ravages of marine animals, and present a smooth surface for the easy passage of the vessel through the water. The metal is well adapted, from its softness and tenacity, for rolling into sheets, and these were first prepared for this use for the Alarm frigate of the royal navy, in 1761. Sheet lead had been in use before this time, but was soon after given up for copper. On account of the rapid deterioration of the copper by the action of the sea-water, the naval department of the British government applied, in 1823, to the Royal Society for some method of preserving the metal. This was furnished by Sir Humphry Davy, who recommend ed applying strips of cast iron under the copper sheets, which, by the galvanic current excited, would be corroded instead of the copper. The application answered the purpose intended, but soon had to be given up, for the copper, protected from chemical action, it was found, became covered with barnacles and other shell-fish, so as seriously to impair the sailing qualities of the vessels, and for this reason it has been found necessary to submit to the natural wasting of the metal, and replace the sheets as fast as they become corroded. of the metals is guarded against by a covering of fine charcoal kept upon the melted surface. The bolts, nails, and other fastenings for the sheathing, and for various other parts of the ship, are made also of copper and of yellow metal; and to secure the greatest strength, they should be cast at once in the forms in which they are to be used. The manufacture of all these articles is extensively carried on at the different copper establishments in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Baltimore. Sheet copper is also applied to many other very important uses, as for copper boilers and pipes, for large stills and condensers, the vacuum pans of sugar refineries, and a multitude of utensils for domestic purposes, and for employment in the different arts. For engraving upon it is prepared of the purest quality and of different thicknesses, according to the kind of engraving for which it is to be used. The engraver cuts it to the size he requires, planishes it, and gives to it the dead smooth surface peculiar to engraving plates. The smaller utensils of sheet copper, as urns, vases, etc., are very ingeniously hammered out from a flat circular sheet. As the hammering is first applied to the central portion, this spreads and takes the form of a bowl. As the metal becomes harder and brittle by the operation, its softness and ductility are restored by annealing, a process that must often be repeated as the hammering is continued, and toward the last, when the metal has become more susceptible to the change induced by the application of the hammer, the annealing must be very carefully attended to, and the whole process be conducted with much skill and judgment acquired by long experience. For larger and more common hollow articles, the sheet copper is folded around, and lapped by various sorts of joints, some of which are secured by rivets, and some by a double lap, the two edges locking into each other, and made close by hammering. The edges are also soldered either with soft or hard solder. For the latter an alloy is Various alloys have been proposed as sub-made for the purpose, by melting in a crucible stitutes for copper. That known as yellow a quantity of brass, and then stirring in onemetal, or Muntz's, has been the most success- half or one-third as much zinc, until the blue ful and has been very generally introduced. It consists of copper alloyed with about 40 per cent. of zinc, and is prepared by plunging cakes of zinc into a bath of melted copper contained in a reverberatory furnace. The volatilization of the zinc and oxidation flame disappears. The mixture is then turned out into a shallow pan, and when cold the plate is heated nearly red hot, and beaten on an anvil or in a mortar. This is the hard solder of the braziers. A still more important application of the copper is in the manufacture of the alloy material for the works of watches and clocks, known as brass; and that called bronze also almost all sorts of instruments in which great serves many useful purposes. The former is hardness is not essential, and for various composed of copper and zinc, the latter of household utensils, and ornaments upon furcopper and tin. It is a curious fact in met- niture. In thin plates it is stamped and emallurgy that brass was extensively manufac- bossed in figures, and is thus cheaply applied tured, and used more commonly than any to many useful and ornamental purposes. single metal or other alloy, many centuries Its ductility is such, that those sorts containbefore the existence of such a metal as zinc ing little zinc are beaten out, as in Dutch was known. It was prepared by melting gilding, like gold-leaf itself, so as to be used copper and introducing fragments of the as a cheap substitute for this in gilding in lapis calaminaris, an ore of zinc, in which some cases. It is also drawn out into wire, the oxide of the metal is combined with car- often of great fineness; and of the suitable bonic acid. Charcoal was also added to the sizes of this there is a very large consumption mixture, and by the reaction with this the in the manufacture of pins, and hooks and zinc ore was reduced to the metallic state, eyes. By ingenious machinery the brass and at once united with the copper, without wires are clipped to their proper length for appearing as a distinct metal. This process pins, pointed, headed, and after being tinned, is still in use for making brass, but the more are stuck in paper, with very little attencommon method is to introduce slips of tion from the workmen. This manufacture copper into melted zinc, or to plunge beneath serves to exemplify the perfection of machinmelted copper lumps of zinc held in iron ery, and some of the most admirable of this, tongs. The proportion of the two metals is particularly that by which the finished pins always uncertain, owing to the unknown are stuck in their papers, is a peculiarly quantity of zinc that is consumed and es- American invention, and worth, to the manucapes in fumes. This is prevented as much facturers at Waterbury alone, many thousand as possible by covering the melted metal dollars annually. The solid-headed pin, with fine charcoal, and by throwing in pieces made somewhat after the manner in which of glass, which melt and cover the mixture cut nails are headed, was invented by two citwith a thin protecting layer. Old brass is izens of Rhode Island, Mr. Slocum and Mr. S. much used in making new, and the addition G. Reynolds. This was before the year 1840. of quantities of this to the pot containing the The brass pins and hooks and eyes are covother ingredients, adds to the uncertainty of ered with a coating of tin by placing them the composition. The best proportion of in a barrel, together with about twice their the two metals is believed to be two parts of weight of tin in grains, several ounces of copper to one of zinc, which is expressed by cream of tartar, and several gallons of warm the term "eight-ounce brass," meaning eight water. The barrel is then made to revolve ounces of zinc to sixteen of copper. Sixteen- upon its axis, until the pins or other articles ounce brass-the two metals being equal-are perfectly clean. After this they are is a beautiful golden yellow alloy, called boiled in a similar mixture. prince's metal. But all brass of more than ten ounces of zinc to the pound of copper is whitish, crystalline, hard, and brittle; of less than ten ounces it is malleable, soft, and ductile. The alloys known as pinchbeck, Manheim gold, bath metal, etc., formerly much in use as imitations of gold, are about three to four ounce brass. Brass combines a number of excellent qualities, which adapt it for many uses. Its compactness, durability, strength, and softness, render it an excellent material for fine work, and nothing, except tin, perhaps, is better adapted for shaping in the lathe. In use it is not liable to rust by exposure, is easily kept clean, and takes a polish almost as beautiful as that of gold. It is hence a favorite Much of the brass of the ancients was properly bronze—that is, a compound of copper and tin. This alloy, in different proportions of its ingredients, is still of very great service. Gun metal-the material of the socalled brass cannon-is composed of copper 96 to 108 parts, and tin 11 parts. The compound resists wear extremely well, but its strength is only about one-half that of wrought iron. Statues, and hard castings for machinery, are formed of this alloy. Messrs. Mitchell, Vance & Co., of New York, have been very successful in casting bronze statuettes and ornaments, clock cases, &c., which rival the antique bronze in beauty. One of the most noted foundries for the casting of cannon, statues, and bronze ornaments in |