When
the war broke out the British had the ore supply, but were unable at
first to work it because they were not familiar with the processes.
Germany, being short of tungsten, had to sneak over a little from
Baltimore in the submarine _Deutschland_. In the United States before
the war tungsten ore was selling at $6.50 a unit, but by the beginning
of 1916 it had jumped to $85 a unit. A unit is 1 per cent. of tungsten
trioxide to the ton, that is, twenty pounds. Boulder County, Colorado,
and San Bernardino, California, then had mining booms, reminding one of
older times. Between May and December, 1918, there was manufactured in
the United States more than 45,500,000 pounds of tungsten steel
containing some 8,000,000 pounds of tungsten.
If tungsten ores were more abundant and the metal more easily
manipulated, it would displace steel for many purposes. It is harder
than steel or even quartz. It never rusts and is insoluble in acids. Its
expansion by heat is one-third that of iron. It is more than twice as
heavy as iron and its melting point is twice as high.
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