E. G. Acheson.
E. G. Acheson, the inventor of carborundum, which may be called an artificial gem that, unlike the majority of gems, is much more useful than ornamental, has proven that for a man of ideas and ability the world of to-day is as full of opportunities as it was in those periods which are somewhat vaguely alluded to by less successful men as “the good old times.” Mr. Acheson was born at Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1854, and after receiving a public school, college and technical training, entered the employ of Edison, the inventor. From the first he was a persistent and somewhat daring experimentalist, one of his scientific fads being the manufacture of artificial diamonds, and it was during the investigations made by him in relation thereunto that carborundum—a substance which has revolutionized some industries and incidentally brought fame and fortune to its discoverer and his associates—was obtained. The principle of the electric furnace, by means of which the substance in question is manufactured, was in existence many years before Mr. Acheson began to use it in connection with his experimental work, but other scientists had failed to recognize its possibilities. Carborundum is produced by fusing carbon and silicon by means of a huge electric arc, the result being a mass of beautifully colored crystals which are harder than any known substance except diamonds. Carborundum is rapidly taking the place of emery for abrasive purposes. Another product of the electric furnace—artificial graphite—is also a discovery of Mr. Acheson, and which is of great value in many of the arts and sciences.