Aluminum as a commercial conductor of electric energy

In considering the adaptability of any metal to serve as a distributing agent of electrical energy, the investigation must shape itself along three lines, viz, - the electrical, the physical and the chemical properties which the metal may possess. Evidently a deficiency in any of these properties, if serious, will debar it from successfully coping in the market with its competitors. A metal may have excellent conductivity and its behavior electrically may be thoroughly satisfactory, but if it lacks strength, physically, or ability to resist the destructive forces of the atmosphere, chemically, it is obviously inadaquate sic to serve as a conductor --page 1