Page:McClure's Magazine v9 n3 to v10 no2.djvu/469

THE SAND TOWER.

When the sand has been separated from the ore a conveyer carries it out of the building and up an immense craneway, from which it is dumped on a pile. The large arm from which the sand is dropped is movable. One pile is made, then another. Cars carry the first one away, then the arm is swung back and the gap is filled up. The sand is valuable for building purposes, and long train-loads of it are carried away from the village of Edison every day.

Over on one side of the works a very beautiful sight may be viewed. It is a cataract of sand, fine, even, and pure, and different from any other sand in the world. From the magnet-house extends a derrick-like structure holding a conveyer. Projecting far out into the air from the end of this structure is a giant arm. The arm, like its support, holds a conveyer. This contrivance spouts sand. A stream of it, shimmering and shining in the sunlight, descends and mixes with the great cone already piled up beneath. Nothing could be more beautiful than this gorgeous cataract of powdered rock falling like a veil, and noiselessly adding to the great mass below. Nor is it a useless accumulation. It is sold for various purposes to builders and manufacturers, who seek it more eagerly than they do the sand of the seashore or