State

Л truck load of fine block mica on its way to the sheeting house to be prepared for market. Display of large sheets of mica. Note the 12-inch ruler in the lower left corner of the picture. King Mica Mica is essential in tlie manufacture of parts and e «1 u i p in onl for tele¬ phones. radio, radar, armatures, dynamos, motor vehicles, hcmling. lighting, and air condi¬ tioning units anil many other commodities. ft;; С. P. ItOIIHKTSOft DID you have toast or waffles for breakfast this morning? There was mica in the electric toaster and the waffle-irons, and it played an important part in relay¬ ing the heat from the generator miles away. When you went to your office, were your clothes properly pressed? Without mica, the electric ironer would be a cumbersome piece of machinery. Without mica, the airplane that flew over yester¬ day might have fallen and landed on your head. Did you ride an ele¬ vator upward to your office-floor? Without mica, the ride might have been possible, but it would have been slower, less gliding and more troublesome. The man on the outside of our gigantic war industries, as well as the one who is unlearned in mineralogy, does not know how essential mica is in making the tools of war. And. only a scientist in the electrical field knows how necessary is mica in providing the conveniences of modern living. The fact is. very few people under¬ stand and appreciate the part that this mineral, with its unusual properties, plays in our daily lives, at home and far away on our battle fields. Even before the war. mica had become a “must” in our then enormously expanding elec¬ trical spheres, including the manu¬ facturing of motor cars. We were then using 250 millions of small plates of mica in our annual out¬ put of automobiles. Mica is used and is an almost essential need in everything elec¬ trical. It is one of the fundamental materials of our intricate civiliza¬ tion. and it is destined to become more and more useful and need¬ ful. Those who are engaged in its production and those who use it in manufacturing are thoroughly sold on its value and appreciative of its wonderful and almost un¬ limited possibilities. It is indis¬ pensable in a wide range of usages. Thomas A. Edison is given the credit for first learning and ap¬ plying the merits of mica in elec¬ trical insulation. He found that it would successfully insulate the armatures of dynamos and com¬ mutator segments. Incidentally, the major portion of the world's gross tonnage of sheet mica now annually consumed is used for the purpose of electrical insulation. Mica is used in stove windows. under extreme temperatures in highly heated chambers. It is also used in peep-holes, under ex¬ tremely hot conditions, in facilitat¬ ing observations. It stands the heat. Among the commercial and non-electrical usages of ground mica may be listed roofing, alumi¬ num paints, wall paper, axle- grease. rubber tires, water proofing materials, temporary airport mats and Christmas-tree decorations. And. yet, the mining of mica in this country is in its infancy and is one of the least of the industries which make this nation the great¬ est on earth in industrial achieve¬ ments. Mica in North Carolina North Carolina is preeminently “the mica state.” It today produces about 65 per cent of the entire output of the United States. Three western North Carolina counties mine half of all that is mined in all the states. Spruce Pine, North Carolina, is the mica capital of the southern states. It is an attractive little mining town, situated in a setting of rustic and rugged beauty, with a population of some three thou¬ sands of people. It is built on the banks of the North Too River, near the foot of Mount Mitchell. Spruce Pine is about 3.000 feel above the level of the sea. It boasts of a rather cosmopolitan population. It is not typically southern, because there is not a colored family nor more than a dozen colored people within its limits. There is no special reason for this in the way of racial antipathies, but colored people have never taken to this part of the state. They just don't like the cold climate, which even the most enthusiastic chamber-of-commerce- THE STATE DICIMBCR 29 1945