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THE great event in American affairs was the sudden death of President Harding, on Aug. 2, in San Francisco. A few hours later Vice-Presi¬ dent Coolidge took the oath of office while in his father's farmhouse in Vermont and forthwith proceeded to Washington as the 30th president of the United States. The French and Belgian governments' replied to the British refusing the proposed discussion of the German offer and declaring that they would pursue their policy in the Ruhr until the German government abandoned its resistance and surrendered unconditionally. The economic collapse of Germany .appears to be nigh. Chancellor Cuno and his cabinet resigned the govern-ment of Germany on August 12, and Gustav Strese-mann, head of the People's party, accepted the task of forming a four-party coalition government. Coinci-dentally, there were food riots throughout Germany, and many persons were killed and wounded. The , National Assembly of the Turks at Angora ratified the Lausanne treaty, in the latter part of August, whereupon the retirement of the military forces of the Allies from Constantinople and the Straits began. Thus, Turkey was fully reinstated as a European power. The Greek government also ratified the Lausanne treaty and commenced to put its army on a peace basis. The number of unemployed persons in Great Britain is again increasing, which is causing much concern. The flood of crude oil and gasoline, which is severely taxing storage capacity, had its natural economic effect. Some small refiners were constrained to liqui-date in distress. The Governor of North Dakota, having acquired a supply of such cheap gasoline, insti-tuted a drastic cut in price, deliberately egging on the big refiners to do likewise. The Standard Oil Co. of Indiana accepted the challenge with enthusiasm, say-ing that it had always been its policy to sell as cheaply as any competitor. There was a humor in this situation which paved the way for the Standard to extinguish its small competitors and do by invitation of the State exactly what the muck-rakers had always charged as its greatest crime. The gasoline war spread to other states and reductions in price were made even on the seaboards. All of this was purely economic.

Jan 8, 1923

By Richard D. Divine

In the Parkes process of extracting precious metals from lead, zinc is added to the molten lead containing gold, silver, copper, and some antimony. These metals, with the exception of antimony, form an alloy with the zinc by reason of their greater affinity for it than for the lead, and this alloy, being lighter than lead, rises to the top, carrying the precious metals with it, whence it can be removed by skimming. These skimmings are further treated for the separation of the zinc therefrom, and the recovery of the precious metals, the zinc being driven off by heat and again used for another operation. In addition to the zinc that combines with the silver, etc., a certain amount is necessary to saturate the lead, and it is therefore necessary to treat the desilverized lead to free it from this residual zinc. TO do this it is heated again in a reverberatory furnace and air or steam is blown through it. This oxidizes the zinc together with a small amount of lead and antimony, leaving the lead free from zinc and antimony, and forming oxides of these metals, which rise to the top and are skimmed off. This process relates to the separation of the metals in these oxides or skimmings. The skimmings are cooled, crushed, and mixed with carbonate of soda and pulverized oil coke. The mixture is heated in a reverberatory furnace on a bath of lead, to about 1,000" C. The metals are reduced by the coke, the lead and antimony go into the lead bath, while the zinc is volatilized and burned to oxide. This impure oxide is at the present time treated at Omaha by the Hall process of electrical precipitation, making a very pure metallic zinc. It can also be very easily refined by the old Schnabel process of using ammonia and carbon dioxide as a solvent. It seems to be in an ideal form for this purpose, and very few changes from the original method are required to obtain the zinc oxide practically C. P., leaving the lead and antimony as residues. There has been considerable difference of opinion regarding the effect

Jan 1, 1915

By R. W. Bowers

In order to hoist the ore according to grades, stope samples are taken. Three equidistant grooves are picked across the breast at right angles to the dip of the ore, the part removed being caught in the hand and then put into a small bag. When there is broken ore in the breast, the lines are continued down the pile and a small amount taken at intervals of the length of the sampler's pick handle. The quantity of sample from each breast will be between 2 and 3 Ib. If there are two grades of ore, bessemer and non-bessemer, there are two sets of brass checks for each chute, each check stamped with the number of the chute; one set of checks has the word "bessemer" and the other "non-bessemer." Before any ore is removed from the chutes, it is the duty of one man to see that the proper set of checks is at each chute in the mine. As each motor car is loaded, a check is attached to it. When the train reaches the shaft, the sample man removes the check on the first car, notes the grade, and directs the motorman to spot it over the proper pocket. The check is then hung on a hook with the number corresponding to the chute from which the ore came. The sample man throws a short rope with a knot in the end over the car and at the point where the knot falls a standard scoopful is taken. This is placed in a large bag that hangs directly under the hook containing the checks for that particular chute. These chute samples represent a check on the grading of the various contracts and by counting the tags a check is obtained on the miner's tally of the ore going into each chute; the total of the checks represents the hoist. During the stocking season, a standard scoopful is taken from each top tram car. This sample is taken in the same way as the chute samples at the plats underground. Top-of-car Samples These samples are taken by using a rope, preferably a clothesline, knotted each 18 in. of its length, and a hammer and a scoop. The standard scoop measures 31/2 by 21/4 by 11/4 in. and holds about 1/2 Ib. of ore. The rope, as applied to the usual railroad cars at the mine, is knotted into fifteen sections. It is placed diagonally over the car from

Jan 1, 1925

By G. H. Enzian

W. C. Ellis—The intergranular fracture observed by these authors in brass seems to be characteristic of metals when tested under similar conditions. It has been observed by us in room temperature tests on lead alloys subjected to constant stress when the stress has been low enough to afford a small strain rate. If, however, the test be carried out at a high stress and therefore at a large strain rate, a characteristic, tapered, transcrystalline fracture is obtained. The same change of fracture has been observed by others with decrease of strain rate and increase of temperature for other metals—for example aluminum—and may be presumed, as the authors point out, to be general for metals. These findings suggest a plastic flow mechanism under conditions of small strain rate and high corresponding temperature differing from classical block slip. The required conditions point to a process fundamentally diffusive in nature—a less organized process than block slip. Nabarro18 has shown that plastic flow can occur by stress induced diffusion of vacant sites— a process of self-diffusion. Movements of a pseudo-viscous nature at grain boundaries are suggested in the work of Ke.15 Deformation near to a grain boundary by other than a slip mechanism appears necessary to Boas and Hargreaves.19 Wood and Rachinger20 report a cellular structure in slowly deformed alumi- num—the cell size is larger, the higher the temperature and the slower the strain rate. Presumably in the latter case diffusive movements occurred in the cell boundaries. In any case the nonslip mechanism seems somewhat obscure and further work is indicated. Such studies will undoubtedly clarify the nature and behavior of lattice imperfections—the very core of the strength and plastic properties of metals. F. H. Wilson and E. W. Palmer (authors' reply)—It is certain that the metallic behavior which has been termed "creep" includes many interdependent phenomena of which a nonslip type of plastic flow may well be one. The reports to which Mr. Ellis refers are illustrative of the many different observations that must be correlated for a complete understanding of creep. The list could be extended considerably. For example, we ourselves have been impressed by the sensitivity of creep phenomena to the presence of minor impurities and feel that this aspect of the problem warrants more thorough study than it has yet received. References 18 F. R. N. Nabarro: Report of Bristol Conference on Strength of Solids. P. 75, (1948) London. 19 Boas and Hargreaves: Proceedings Royal Society. (1948) 193. 89. 20 wood and Rachinger: Journal Institute of Metals. (1949) 17, 237.

Jan 1, 1951

By J. Parke Channing

THE growth of and profession depends on meeting and solving new problems. It is a continuous process. 'A period free from new, or hitherto unknown, questions will be a period of arrested development in the profession it affects. The present generation has witnessed a' mechanical development that has been truly marvelous: Almost every day marks the advent of a new, or the improvement of an old; process, method or machine. Wonders are now commonplace. The impossible is regularly accomplished. Yet, with all our progress in every realm of science and with our development in the engineering field, advances which have made possible the marvelous growth in industry, we have not made commensurate gains in methods affecting the human factor. Without the cooperation of the worker, we shall always fall short of our goal in a mechanical or statistical sense. If we do not make the individual members of the human family strong, healthy, happy, and ambitious for better things for themselves and their children, we will have failed utterly, for that is the real reason for our existence as men and the purpose of our organized effort as an engineering group. Thomas A. Edison

Jan 1, 1921

Following the declaration of a national emergency by the President on Dec. 16, 1950 the Office of Defense Mobilization was established with Charles Wilson as director. It has been obvious since the entry of Red China into the Korean War that the previous defense setup was not adequate for accelerated mobilization.

Jan 2, 1951

By Lap-yan Chan

Chan and Goodman (1983) presented a procedure for simulating joint traces and identifying key blocks on an excavation. This paper defines six measures of support requirements that characterize the number and dimensions of key blocks, taking into account the frictional properties of joints and actions of support systems. When correlated with case histories, these measures of support requirements can help in choosing an optimal design for shallow excavations in discontinuous hard rocks.

Jan 1, 1984

By Karl S. Hughes

ANY one of the mining engineers who spent three years under the benevolent and protective custody of the military forces of His Imperial Nipponese Majesty will admit that he has survived a most disagreeable experience, but our friends here in the States all demand that we tell them something about our thrilling adventure. Many of the younger men who were on Luzon in December 1941 joined up with the Army, either as civilian technical employees or through their reserve officer status. They served through the Bataan and Corregidor defense and had five months of thrills and hardship, if that is what constitutes adventure. Unfortunately, too many of them are not alive to tell their stories. But for most of us, our internment as alien civilians was just one long, drawn-out pain in the neck. Yes, we starved; yes, we contracted beriberi, dysentery, typhus, dengue, and for a while had no quinine to fight the ever-present malaria; but these things are not exciting, neither is the account of them interesting. Our contingent from Mindanao, 250 .in number including 25 mining men, went through one period of starvation at Davao. When the activity of the Allied fleet interfered with the importation of staple foodstuffs, and the natives stopped bringing fruit and vegetables into the market, the food situation became acute, and in December 1943, with stocks in sight and in prospect insufficient to provision their own soldiers, our custodians decided that we must be moved to Manila. The story of that ten-day voyage in an antiquated Jap freighter is too disgusting to tell, but hardly more adventurous than the account of a game of solitaire.

Jan 1, 1945

By H. Firmstone

DEPOSITS of cadmia, or impure oxide of zinc, are of common occurrence in the upper parts of blast furnaces using ores containing zinc, and were very common in the charcoal furnaces of Virginia working the brown hematite ores found near the Cadent black slate. These deposits were known to the old charcoal founders as "sulphur rings," and the characteristic green flame of burning zinc frequently to be seen at the tymp of furnaces working ores containing zinc, was held by them to indicate the presence of a "sulphur fall." When zinc is burning in considerable quantities at the tymp, the

Jan 1, 1879

By M. P. Nackowski

Geological engineering expanded its role and significance during 1966 in the areas of construction, raw materials exploration and inventory, water supply and pollution, mechanical properties of earth material and regional environmental planning. Efforts varied immensely in scope and magnitude, in simplicity, difficulty and importance. Observations, measurements, and analysis encompassed both simple and sophisticated procedures. CONSTRUCTION Activities in construction ranged from preliminary to detailed evaluations of sites, development of preventative measures and designing corrective measures following construction failures. Most investigations concerned dam sites, highway locations and slope stability, building sites, tunnels and underground storage facilities.

Jan 2, 1967

By William E. Ford, Edward Salisbury Dana

430. The more important of the special properties of a mineral species with respect to heat include the following: Fusibility; conductivity and expansion, especially in their relation to crystalline structure; change in optical characters with change of temperature; specific heat; also diathermancy, or the power of transmitting heat radiation. The full discussion of these and other related subjects lies outside of the range of the present text-book. A few brief remarks are made upon them, and beyond these reference must be made to text-books on Physics ant1 to special memoirs, some of which are mentioned in the literature (p. 305).

Jan 1, 1922

By Christopher M. St. John, Michael P. Hardy

The paper discusses an approach to geotechnical monitoring of a geological repository constructed for the purpose of isolation of high-level nuclear waste, and describes the conceptual framework for development of an integrated monitoring scheme that is initiated during the earliest phases of site investigation and continues through facility decommissioning. The approach that is proposed recognizes the need to provide specific data to support the licensing process for the repository while avoiding adverse impact upon the system performance. Further, it recognizes present and inherent limitations in both the instrumentation and techniques that night be used within a monitoring scheme.

Jan 1, 1982

By Frank S. Hurley

To comply with the California Mine Safety Orders pertaining to transportation of mine workers over mine railroads, the management of the New Idria mine in San Benito County, Calif., designed special man-cars. The new regulations, dated October 1958, make it mandatory for mine man-cars to be designed for carrying five or more men to and from the mine workings. At the New Idria mine, largest single producer of mercury in the U.S., each shift normally employs about 70 men. However, with the possibility of a future increase in the work force, seven man-cars were constructed with a total carrying capacity of 84 men. The general design of the mine man-cars was dictated by safety regulations plus the physical characteristics of the mine-low headroom, limited side clearance in haulageways, and track irregularities due to ground swells. The cars measure 10 ft long, 44 in. wide, and 50 in. high and were built at an average cost of $450 per car. All assembly work was done at the mine site.

Jan 7, 1960

Jan 1, 1947

Jan 1, 1888

(Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members.) Mining engineer and geologist. Member. 29 years old. Married. Seven years' experience in Lake Superior iron district; two as superintendent of extensive exploration in new fields. Capable of handling all details of the exploration and development of new properties. Available now. No. 431.

Jan 2, 1918

By E. J. Schmitz

This trip, beginning at Springfield, August 12, 1897, and ending at the same place fourteen days later, extended south and southeast through Christian, Ozark and Taney counties,

Jan 1, 1899

By D. H. Davis

Coal operators have been justified in spending most of their efforts and capital expenditures on improvements in productivity at the working face, on better transportation facilities, and on surface plants for improvement of the product by means of modern cleaning and drying equipment. Although the above subjects will continue to receive close study for further technological advances, there are other operations involved in the production of coal, which can be improved by the application of ingenuity and modern equipment.

Jan 3, 1961

By F. P. Dewey

THE Falling Cliff Mine adjoins on the west the Bertha Mine, from which a large amount of first-class ore has been taken, producing the purest zinc known to commerce. The two mines are in the same hill, Bertha being on the northern 'slope and Falling Cliff on the top and opposite slope. The formation is No. 2 limestone. Although considerable exploration has been done by numerous shafts and' tunnels (there being over six hundred feet of the latter), no satisfactory determination of the dip and strike of the .vein could be made on account of its contortions, the ore descending from the top to the. bottom of the tunnels and rising again in very short distances; but enough has been done to indicate a very large mass of

Jan 1, 1882

By F. P. Dewey

The Falling Cliff Mine adjoins on the west the Bertha Mine, from which a large amount of first-class ore has been taken, producing the purest zinc known to commerce. The two mines are in the same hill, Bertha being on the northern slope and Falling Cliff on the toy and opposite slope. The formlation is No. 2 limestone. Although considerable exploration has been clone by numerous shafts and' tunnels (there being over six hundred feet of the latter), no satisfactory determination of the dip and strike of the vein could be made on account of its contortions, the ore descending from the top to the bottom of the tunnels and rising again in very short distances ; but enough has been done to indicate a very large mass of

Jan 1, 1882