Raymond Bedford, age 9, of Fairfield, Conn., for his question:

How is asbestos made?

Asbestos is one of the natural minerals of the ground, put there as the earth was made. It does not look like the familiar rocks, clays and metals in and on the ground, You might mistake it for a wad of half‑buried old clothes. For asbestos comes in a solid mesh of tightly packed fibers. It occurs in hard igneous or metamorphic rocks, pressed in veins or tucked in pockets.

Stones and brick‑making clays are our durable building materials. Asbestos is nature’s protector mineral. Like stony minerals, it refuses to burn in ordinary fire, It insulates like a thermos flasks keeps heat separate from cold. It absorbs noise and makes fine sound proofing material. It resists acid and a jacket of asbestos protects metal pipes. Finally, asbestos refuses to wear out, In brake and clutch lining, it withstands the friction of the power from moving engines.

Nature provides protective asbestos in a convenient form to do all its duties. Its sturdy, pliable threads are easily pulled apart. They can be woven into fabrics, pressed into boards, felted into tiles, rolled thin as paper or mixed with cement and other materials to make bricks,

It is taken from. mines and quarries, imbedded in hard rocks. This ore is taken to a mill, chomped and pounded to free the fibrous asbestos pocketed in the stone. The threads are then torn apart and sorted. The longest fibers are woven into fabrics. They will go to make suits and gloves for fire fighters, safety curtains for theaters. The shorter threads are felted and matted, Some will become sound proofing boards, some will come tiles. A roof of asbestos tiles refuses to burn and also insulates house. It keeps out the heat of the summer sun and keeps in the heat in the winter furnace,

Some of the felt will be rolled thin and packed around chafing machinery. Will be packed around pipes to protect them from corrosion. Even these tiny scraps of asbestos are used. They are mixed with masonry stones to make long wearing floors and gutters.

There are several varieties of asbestos. The most useful is chrysotile, a fibrous form of the mineral serpentine. Serpentine is often cut and polished to make those green marbleized tops for soda fountains. Chrysotile is mined from layers of serpentine in Arizona, though the; worlds greatest output comes from Quebec. Its green‑yellow fibers are 3 to 4 inches long and very pliable. The 18 inch fibers of amphibole asbestos are brittle and shatter into pieces suitable for re‑enforcing masonry. This variety is found in a few southern states and Idaho