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By Arthur V. Abbott

TO rightly use materials, two kinds of knowledge are essential: first, the actual strength of the substance; and secondly, the forces to which, in the structure, it may be subjected. Nearly all of the data which we have at the present time have been obtained from the experiments made on the materials used in Europe, and by foreign investigators. The materials commonly used in this country, es-

Jan 1, 1884

By A. J. R. Curtis

THE Portland Cement Association was organized more than a third of a century ago by a group of cement manufacturers, to do cooperatively the educational and research work needed to ensure proper use of their product. Specifically, the Association has a threefold purpose: (1) to search out facts to ensure the best possible service from concrete; (2) to give the widest possible circulation to facts affecting the use of concrete; (3) to urge practical application of those facts on actual building projects. An organization of technically trained men conducts many research projects in the Association laboratories, interprets their findings and applies them practically in the field. The net effect of this work has been to improve the design and prolong the life of roads, bridges, industrial, commercial and public buildings, homes, farm structures and concrete products. The results of this technical research and experimentation are made available to the entire construction industry through bulletins and reports. Information is also released to the general public through newspapers, magazines and Association publications. In addition to a1 technical staff in the general office in Chicago, the Association has district offices in 22 cities. Field engineers cover 37 states, the District of Colum-bia and British Columbia, to give service to users of Portland cement.

Jan 1, 1937

Discussion of the paper of Godfrey T. Vivian, presented at the Cleveland meeting, October, 1912, and published in Bulletin No. 76, October, 1912, pp. 1103 to 1109. COURTENAY DEKALB, Tucson, Ariz. (communication to the Secretary*) :--Mr. Vivian's paper is interesting as an evidence of renewed attempts to solve the problem of adapting the centrifugal machine to the uses of the metallurgist. It would not seem that the Gee machine has solved the problem, because it is manifestly of use only with quite high-grade material, since low-grade pulp could not stand the cost of treatment by a discontinuous process. The mechanism, however, would seen to accomplish grading more perfectly than the ordinary centrifugal basket. This is an entirely different thing from concentration, which is intended to yield a finished marketable product. The real problem is to design a successful continuous centrifugal machine. Ten years or snore ago a machine, which might be described as having an inverted step-basket, offered much promise, and was constructed and tested at considerable cost, but it presented insuperable difficulties. The construction of a successful continuous centrifugal would be welcomed by the whole industrial world, since its uses would be most extensive. Mr. Vivian suggests the utilization of the centrifugal machine as a substitute for slime filters in the cyanide process, but he, has apparently not tried the experiment. I tested the efficiency of centrifugal machines for this purpose in 1897-8, having to extract the cyanide solution from a highly argillaceous slime of the sticky kind which the Mexican call ?lama." Our filter-presses yielded cakes containing usually :30 per cent. of moisture, and so dense as to preclude washing. The centrifugal machine readily Brought the moisture content down to 9 per cent. and permitted fairly successful washing. Despite these advantages, the cost of power, labor, and repairs, and the loss of time in discharging the cake, exceeded the costs and

Jan 5, 1913

By Stanley M. Kaplan

As we all know, the electric-furnace operation consumes practically 100 pct cold steel scrap. This is in contrast to the operation of the open-hearth furnace, in which 40 pct or more of the charge may be hot metal. The problem of quality of scrap for the electric furnace is really twofold, and in the interest of simplification may be described under two headings: (I) physical specifications, (2) chemical composition. Shipment of electric-furnace scrap to meet required physical specifications is a relatively easy task. The scrap dealer is accustomed to preparing material to certain sizes and shapes. His employees readily execute orders when they are given in terms of length, width and thickness of the material to be loaded.

Jan 1, 1947

IN addition to the gold and silver that b drawn, a certain kind is also prepared that is called spun; not that it is spun as the word says, but because a linen thread is covered with it so that it seems a spun thing, and it is called spun silver or gold. To make this, a desired quantity of fine cupeled silver is taken-the batch used is customarily [I4I] fifteen pounds. A square bar is made with this, a braccio or more long. Then the quantity of gold that you wish to put on is taken, that is, a ducat for every pound, and of this another bar is made, sufficiently thin, long, and wide exactly to cover on one side the

Jan 1, 1942

By C. L. Mantell

When considered from the viewpoint of world annual output, tin is one of the rarest metals. Its annual production is exceeded by that of iron, copper, lead, zinc. aluminum, magnesium; probably by that of the ferroalloys of manganese, chromium, and silicon, and possibly by the world production of sodium; while it exceeds only the output of such common metals as nickel, antimony, mercury, tungsten, molybdenum, silver, gold and the precious metals. Cassiterite, or tinstone, until the second World War was the only mineral that was an important source of tin. This mineral is frequently called "tin ore." The use of the term should be restricted to the ore containing the mineral, and not, in addition, to the concentrates of the mineral obtained from the ore or from stanniferous alluvial deposits. There is a general misuse of the term "tin ore" in the Malay Peninsula and adjacent localities, particularly where most of the mineral is obtained from secondary stanniferous deposits. The term "cassit-erite" is exclusively used in mineralogical, geological, and other scientific writings; it is unfortunate that it is not mole frequently used when referring to the occurrence of the mineral on an economic scale. Ores "Tinstone" js a very convenient old English term deserving a more frequent use. Tinstone is a dioxide of tin, or stannic oxide. When chemically Pure, as in the very rare transparent variety, it has a metallic content of 78.6 per cent tin. Frequently, however, the crystals and grains contain appreciable amounts of impurities, chiefly iron and tantalum. The impurities here referred to are those actually in the mineral itself. Tinstone usually has a deep brown or black color with an adamantine luster. Several other colored varieties are known, among them red ruby tin, yellow rosin tin, and yellow wax tin. the names jn each case being descriptive of the mineral's appearance. Ainalite is a variety of cassiterite con-taining almost g per cent of tantalum pentoxide. Sparable tin, tooth tin, and needle tin, as a result of their acute dite-tragonal pyramidal crystalline form, re-ceive their names from their crystallo-graphic appearance. Wood tin is a compact variety of cassiterite composed of radiating fibers resembling dry wood. Toad's-eye tin is a similar variety on a smaller scale in which the fibers appear to resemble the eye of a toad. Stream tin is water-worn tin-stone. Float tin is sometimes employed to describe the cassiterite occurring in soil derived from the weathered surface of a mineralized area. Stannite is an ore of tin of lesser impor-tance than cassiterite. It is a sulphide of tin, copper, and iron, sometimes known as tin pyrites or bell-metal ore. Its chemical com-position is sometimes expressed by the for-mula Cu,S.FeS.SnSz with zinc usually present in varying quantities. The tin con-tent varies from 22 to 27 per cent and there is about 29 per cent of copper, 13 per cent of iron, and 30 Per cent of sulphur.

Jan 1, 1944

Suggestions for Directorial representatives should be submitted by the District Committees between November 1 of the year indicated and the following Annual Meeting District 1 New York Section (Each Year) District 2 Boston (1950) Pennsylvania Anthracite (1951) Lehigh Valley (1952) Philadelphia (1953) Connecticut (1954) Adirondack (1955)

Jan 1, 1952

By W. J. Taylor

In making heating gas with anthracite coal for roasting ore during the past few years, I have tried many forms of gas generators. So far, the most successful and satisfactory one has been what we call a fluxing producer, which is simply a small cupola or blast furnace, in which we charge with the coal, say, 30 or 40 per cent. of basic blast-furnace cinder, to unite, when melted, with the ash or earthy matter in the coal, and carry it off as cinder. The producer we have in use at Chester, N. J., has more of the lines of a blast furnace than a cupola, the hearth being 24 inches diameter and 24 inches high. It then enlarges on an angle of about 25 degrees from a perpendicular to 4 feet, and then is drawn into 3 feet on top ; total height, 12 feet. We use one water coil-tuyere 12 inches above the bottom, and blow through a 1 1/2 - inch nozzle. The depth of coal above the tuyere averages about 6 feet. The producer-is blown with

Jan 1, 1881

By Tkeoclore Marvi

IT is singular that an industry quite the antithesis of flying should record tremendous strides in the utilization of aviation through- out the entire depression period, .while in the same years private interests lagged and airplatie manufacturing plants closed to such an extent that he purchase of new planes of certain types was practically impossible. Though receiving little notice from aviation publications and national associations, this use of the airplane progressed by sheer merit. It saved money, conserved energies, and made minutes in the air the equal of weeks on foot or water. The advent of aviation into mining and petroleum operations dates back many years, yet it \vas not until the depression that this new facility of the mineral industry was put on its proper economic basis. There, by its possibilities for saving effort, time, and money, it takes its place equally with other great technical advances in nietl

Jan 1, 1934

By David Baker

IN a paper presented to the American Institute of Mining Engineers, September, 1904, entitled ? Improvements in the Mechanical Charging of the Modern Blast-Furnace,"' I showed the great fault of mechanical charging-devices to be that the materials charged by the dumping of the skip were separated, the coarse materials having high velocity, and the fine, low-thus giving paths of low resistance through the stock in the furnace, which resulted in unequal distribution of the furnace gases, unequal reduction, slips, scaffolds, irregular cutting of the. inwall, " off " iron, and increased fuel-consumption. I showed how this could be prevented by rotary distribution, through which the irregular distribution in one layer charged is compensated by charging the subsequent layers from successively varied positions of the charger, and becomes practically eliminated when the angle between two successive positions is a little more or less than an even fraction of a full circle. Of all the devices then on the market, the nearest approach to the ideal arrangement was found in the Brown distributor, a full description of which was given. The one defect pointed out, however, was the difficulty of maintaining so much mechanism on the top of a blast-furnace. Since the presentation of that paper, I have designed a very simple form of rotary distributor, which may be applied to any form of double-bell charger, retaining the perfect gas-seal, which is so admirably obtained by that construction. In seeking protection for this invention, I found no similar distributor on record in the patent offices of the various countries where application was made; but an application show-

Jul 1, 1906

By A. T. Schwennesen

(Wilkes-Barre Meeting, June, 1911.) EVERY engineer has occasion to trace or copy a map, plan, or other drawing on paper too thick for the ordinary way of using tracing-cloth or tracing-paper. When the figure is small and simple a copy may be made by holding the original against a window-pane, covering it with the paper, and tracing direct by the aid of the strong sunlight from outside. The need of utilizing this principle on a larger scale and in a more convenient position led Dr. J. C. Branner to plan the table of which the following is a description: This table was first made in the form of an adjustable glass-top table with a mirror beneath, in 1887, while Dr. Branner was State Geologist of Arkansas. Later it was modified as experience suggested until the form as here described was evolved. The device consists essentially of a drafting-table with a plate-glass top, upon which the original drawing and the paper are laid, and a mirror mounted underneath to reflect the light of the sky up through the drawing. The glass top is hinged and fitted with two arms and thumb-screws, so that it can be raised and fixed to any position, either inclined or horizontal. The mirror is pivoted and revolves about a horizontal axis, so that it may be tilted to any angle. The hood of cardboard or black cloth prevents the reflection of light from the tracing, and may or may not be attached to the table. The apparatus is set up before a window through which part of the unobstructed sky is visible. The mirror is then adjusted like the reflector of a microscope, so that the skylight is reflected up through the drawing. If the mirror can be so located that the direct rays of the sun are reflected through the drawings, thicker paper can be used. The map or drawing may be held in place by clips screwed

May 1, 1911

By W. Spencer Reid

ALTHOUGH there have been some developments during the last five years which have had far- reaching and important bearing on lead smelting, it cannot be said that any basic principles of pyrometal-lurgy have been discovered. Eighteen or twenty years ago the Dwight & Lloyd sintering machine was intro-duced and literally turned the roasting end of lead smelting upside down. There has been nothing com-parable to the advent of the sintering machine during recent years. Actual blast-furnace practice today is slightly, if any, better than it was five years ago ; although immeas-urably better than it was twenty to thirty years ago. Some tell us that as far as cleanness of slags is con-cerned, it is no better today than in the days of the old Romans. The metallurgist of a generation ago did very good work, considering the equipment he had available. It is true he was working with the cream of the ores, the clean oxides and carbonates and the low-zinc sul-fides. He was troubled very little with high zinc and selected his type of slag according to preference of -some authority such as Eilers, Iles, Raht, Hahn, etc. As these free-smelting ores were depleted the complex ores were encountered, and the metallurgist gradually discovered that he had to forget the old type slags and run a slag according to the percentage of zinc on the charge. I believe it is now universally agreed that SiO2 and CaO must be lowered and FeO raised in a slag as the ZnO increases. The ratio of these variations is practically uniform and can be relied upon over wide fluctuations of the determining element, zinc. These "bastard" slags, as they are sometimes inappropriately designated, are actually in daily use, and the metallurgist of today has been forced to adopt certain standards, as a guide to successful operation. These slags practically refute the old Eilers' theory that all good slags are chemical combinations of SiO2 with FeO and MnO, and CaO and MgO. Eilers' and the other type-slag theories were based upon the assumption that a good slag must con-form to a definite formula, such as 3 (FeO)2 SiO2 + 2 (CaO)2 SiO2 or 2 (FeO)2 SiO2 + 2 (CaO)2 SiO2 which respectively figure 31.3 and 36 per cent SiO2. The SiO2 was supposed to remain constant even with the entrance of impurities such as Zn and A1,0? into the slag. The increasing amount of impurities, espe-cially Zn, soon discredited the theory, for in actual practice the slag failed to run freely.

Jan 1, 1927

By AIME AIME

THE 139th meeting of the Institute will be held Feb. 17-20, in the Engineering Societies Building, New York. The annual business meeting will be held on Feb. 18 at 10 a. m., and no technical sessions will be scheduled at that time, so that all members may participate in the election of officers, hear the presentation of the annual reports of officers and committees and discuss any matter which they may care to bring up at that time. The annual dinner will be held at the Conlmodore Hotel on the evening of Feb. 20, and the usual good time is promised. Arrangements for this and other social features of the meeting are, as usual, in hands of the New York Sec- tion, of which the chairman this year, Ralph M. Roosevelt, has a well-established reputation earned as president of the Zinc Institute, as host.

Jan 1, 1930

By Edward H. Robie

IN many ways, the Annual Meeting of the Institute in February was the most successful yet held. Attendance surpassed even that of the 75th Anniversary Meeting in 1947 with its international flavor. The number of technical sessions and the number and quality of papers presented almost certainly set a new record. The banquet was the best attended of any yet held even though the price reached a new high. Despite the demand for almost 1700 tickets to the banquet, some felt that the price-$13.50-was higher than they could afford. There are two points of view: One is that this is the big social event of the year for members and that it is worth from three to five dollars more to have it at the Waldorf and to have a luxury menu, as we did this year, with turtle soup, a fish course, guinea hen for the entree, and wild rice (which we understand is $3.50 per lb) for a vegetable. The other point of view is that a seven or eight dollar banquet of more simple food at the Commodore Hotel would more than make up in appeal, especially to the younger and less well-heeled members, what it would lack in glamour.

Jan 1, 1952

PRESIDENT Mrs Oliver Bowles 5000 Massachusetts Ave N W Washington 16, D. C FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT Mrs David Eugene Park 350 East 57th Street New York 22, N Y. SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT Mrs A B. Kinzel 320 Park Avenue New York 22. N. Y

Jan 1, 1952

YEAR OF ELECTION 1913. FRANK DAWSON ADAMS Montreal, Canada. 1935. GUILLAUME DANIEL DELPRAT Melbourne, Vic., Aust. 1920. HENRY STURGIS DRINKER Merion Station, Pa. 1933. KARL EILERS New York, N. Y. 1922. FEDERICO GIOLITTI Trino,Italy. 1906. SIR ROBERT A. HADFIELD London, England. 1921. FRANK WILLIAM HARBORD London, England. 1917. HERBERT HOOVER New York, N. Y. 1931. WALDEMAR LINDGREN Cambridge, Mass. 1921. C. MCDERMID London, England. 1913. EZEQUIEL ORDOAEZ Mexico City, Mexico. 1935. ROBERT PEELE New York, N. Y. 1937. GEORGE S. RICE Washington, D. C. 1911. ROBERT H. RICHARDS Cambridge, Mass. 1934. T. A. RICKARD..... Victoria, B.C., Canada. 1933. ALBERT SAIVEUR CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

Jan 1, 1937

PROF RICHARD ÅKERMAN Stockholm, Sweden DR. FRANK DAWSON ADAMS Montreal, Canada PROF RICHARD BECK Friberg, Germany ANDREW CARNEGIR New York, N.Y. DR. JAMES DOUGLAS New York, N.Y. PROF HATON DE LA GOUPILLIERE Paris, France SIR ROBERT A. HADFEILD London, England PROF HANS HOFFER Leoben, Austria PROF HENRI LOUIS LE CHATELIER Paris France EZEQUIEL ORDONEZ Mexico City, Mexico ALEXANDRE POURCEL Paris, France DR. ROSSITTER W. RAYMOND New York, N.Y. DR. ING H. C. EMIL SCHROEDTER Dusseldorf, Germany JOHN E. STEAD Middlesborugh, England JAMES M. SWANK (Associate) Philadelphia, Pa. PROF DIMITRY CONSTANTIN TSCHERNOFF St Petersburg, Russia PROF TSUNASHIRO WADA Tokyo, Japan CHARLES D WALCOT Washingtion D.C.

Jan 1, 1917

CURRENT MATTERS Page Page New York Meeting : v 27th Engineers xl Year Book, 1918 v Professional Classes War Relief. x1i Minutes of Meeting, Board of W. S. S x1i Directors vi American Engineering Standards xlii President's Report vi Hadfield Prize xlv Local Section News: Members in Military Service... xlviii Columbia xiii Personal li San Francisco xiv Positions Vacant liii New York xvi _ Engineers Available liv Southern California xxxi Forthcoming Meetings 1v United Engineering Society xxxii Library...% lvi Engineering Council xxxv Membership lix Other Societies: Institute Committees lxxviii Mining and Metallurgical Soc- Officers and Directors lxxxvi iety of America xxxix

Jan 3, 1918

YEAR OF ELECTION 1913. FRANK DAWSON ADAMS, Montreal, Canada. 1938. HENRY CORT HAROLD CARPENTER, London England 1933. KARL EIKERS New York, N. Y. 1922. FEDERICO GIOLITTI Torino, Italy. 1906. SIR ROBERT A. HADFIELD London, England. 1921. FRANK WILLIAM HARBORD London, England. 1917. HERBERT HOOVER Washington, D. C. 1931. WALDEMAR LINDGREN Cambridge, Mass. 1921. C. McDERMID London, England. 1913. EZEQUIEL ORDONEZ Mexico City, Mexico. 1935. ROBERT PEELE New York, N. Y. 1938. A.M. PORTEVIN Paris France 1937. JOHN V.W. REYNDERS, New York, N. Y. 1937. GEORGE S. RICE Washington, D. C. 1911. ROBERT H. RICHARDS Cambridge, Mass. 1934. T.A. RICKARD Victoria, B.C., Canada

Jan 1, 1939

PROF RICHARD ÅKERMAN Stockholm, Sweden PROF RICHARD BECK Friberg, Germany ANDREW CARNEGIR New York, N.Y. DR. JAMES DOUGLAS New York, N.Y. PROF HATON DE LA GOUPILLIERE Paris, France SIR ROBERT A. HADFEILD London, England PROF HANS HOFFER Leoben, Austria PROF HENRI LOUIS LE CHATELIER Paris France M FLORIS OSMOND Paris, France ALEXANDRE POURCEL Paris, France DR. ROSSITER W. RAYMOND New York, N.Y. PROF ROBERT W. RICHARDS Boston Mass. DR. ING H. C. EMIL SCHROEDTER Dusseldorf, Germany JOHN E. STEAD Middlesborugh, England JAMES M. SWANK (Associate) Philadelphia, Pa. PROF DIMITRY CONSTANTIN TSCHERNOFF St Petersburg, Russia PROF TSUNASHIRO WADA Tokyo, Japan CHARLES D WALCOT Washingtion D.C.

Jan 1, 1917