The Junior Historian, Volume 8, Number 4, January 1948 Page: 14
24 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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THE JUNIOR IIISTCRIAN
AMERICA'S NEWEST INDUSTRY
by ANN DURST
Texas City High SchoolT IN, although often called one of
the inferior metals, adds greatly
to the comfort of daily living.
Now used largely for kitchen utensils
and containers for the canning indus-
try, the lustrous white metal also plays
an important part in the making of
alloys, type metal, tin foil, and soft
solders.
Before the war, the United States
had to depend on England and British
Malaya as her source of tin supply. At
the beginning of the war in Europe,
our government, fearing that our sup-
plies might be cut off, made plans to
build in this country a tin-producing
plant, so that we could make our own
tin. This plant, a subsidiary of the
Dutch N. V. Billiton Company, whose
headquarters are now in The Hague,
I lolland, was to be the only one of its
kind of any size in the Western Hemi-
sphere. The directors of the company
chose Texas City, Texas, as the site for
this industry for reasons easily appar-
ent: her supply of necessary raw ma-
terials and excellent docking facilities
available there. The announcement of
this choice of location came early in
1941, and the plans were drawn up.
The first general manager of the
plant, Van der Hoop, was chosen before
construction on the plant began. He and
another of the plant's officials were
traveling in a plane piloted by a man
famous to Americans for his skill in
the air in both World War I and World
War II - Eddie Rickenbacker. During
this flight, however, the plane crashed,
killing the officials and seriously injur-
ing Rickenbacker. The New York office
then chose Van der Berg as general
manager, and the construction began in
June, 1941. In November, 1941, A. L.
ter Braake came from the Dutch East
Indies to New York, and in 1944 hesucceeded Van der Berg as general
manager.
On Easter Sunday, 1941, came the
announcement that the Longhorn 'Tin
Smelter had produced its first tin. Nine
other furnaces began operation within
the 3 ear. Even so, the construction
work was completed later than planned,
delayed because of difficulty in getting
supplies.
The original purpose of the smelter
was to smelt ore from Bolivia. This ore,
because of its many impurities and low
tin c(.ntent, is inferior to that of the
Dutch East Indies. Before construction
was completed, our government had
declared war with Japan, and the size
of the plant doubled, and in some parts,
tripled. This expansion of original
plans became necessary in order that
it might supply the amount of tin es-
sential for war production. The Dutch,
fearing that our supply lines would be
cut off, sold great quantities of tin con-
centrates to the United States govern-
ment, which had it stored in the ware-
houses on the Texas City wharves. This
ore helped the plant start its production
and lasted for some time.
America, since the war, obtains her
tin from both Bolivia and the Dutch
East Indies. The ore, after arriving at
Texas City, undergoes several processes
before it becomes a commercial product.
It first goes through an analysis to de-
termine the impurities and tin content.
Based on this analysis, the ore passes
through a roasting process; then
through a leaching process used to re-
move impurities. Then the ore goes to
the furnace for smelting and to the
refinery to be purified. The molten tin
is then cast into bars, or ingots, weigh-
ing seventy-five or eighty pounds. The
capacity of the smelter depends on the
(Continued on Page 18)I4
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Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 8, Number 4, January 1948, periodical, January 1948; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391365/m1/16/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas State Historical Association.