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WHY PLATINUM IS GROWING DEARER.

Platinum jewellery Is in danger of becoming a thing of the past. The amount manufactured this year is just about onehalf of that of last year. For the last six months the price of the precious metal haß been rapidly advancing, nntil now It has made an advance of over 60 per cent of the original price. The demand is greater thau the supply, and in a short time the price will be out of reach of every jewellery manufacturer. The advance is attributed to the large number of electrical works now in operation in the United States. The amount of platinum used in the manufacture of electrical apparatus ia enormous. Bach electric light contains about six inches of platinum wire, and if the metal is not pure it will not stand the great heat. As the electric light grows more in favour, the demand for platinum Is greater, and unless some substitute can be procured, the chances are that platinum will be indeed a precious metal. Platinum la at present worth 14 dols. an ounce, gold 20.70 dols. and silver 1.04 dole. The manufacture of platinum jewellery ia more expensive than that of any metal. The ordinary heat of the blowpipe will not melt it, and it has to go through a process which is very expensive, and about 15 per cent is lost in the workiDg. — American paper.

Quebec is almost entirely French. II haß a population of 1,500,000, and cf thie number 1,200,000 are Frenoh. The French Canadian is by no means a myth. The German girls are beginning to complian that|American and English girls'aeni to Germany for education are encroaching upon their matrimonial preserves. There Is a building In St. Petersburg unbroken by pillars, which is 620 feet long by 120 feet wide. It has the distinction oi being the largest room in the world. The number of exiles to Siberia last year (up to Ootober lat) amounts to 16,000 ■onltj. ' WillU— Money talkH, you know. ' Wallanoi—That Isn't fturpriting. Money ia tight t

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GRA18910214.2.18

Bibliographic details

Grey River Argus, Volume XXXIX, Issue 6989, 14 February 1891, Page 4

Word Count
342

WHY PLATINUM IS GROWING DEARER. Grey River Argus, Volume XXXIX, Issue 6989, 14 February 1891, Page 4

WHY PLATINUM IS GROWING DEARER. Grey River Argus, Volume XXXIX, Issue 6989, 14 February 1891, Page 4