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AMERICANIZE THE MINING INDUSTRY Americanization is the snaking of American citizens; men and women controlled by the ideals of American citizenship, which have been built up by this country's heritage and its unceasing struggle for freedom and democracy and opportunity. That means, first of all, a necessary understanding of what those ideals are and what they mean for the newly arrived foreigner. It means that every kind of anti-American propaganda must be stamped out; that racial prejudices and the misunder-standings which lead to unrest and disloyalty and make fruitful soil for anti-American propaganda must be overcome. The foreigner must understand. He must understand what we are trying to do here in America; he must understand something, at least, of the kind of government we have built up in our efforts to, accomplish our particular aims; he must understand how lie can fit into it all, not only to help America, but to help himself-to make it possible for hint to get from this country what he carne here seeking. First of all, he must learn the American language. He must be able to talk with his fellow Americans-those who were born here and those who have recently cone, like himself, but from a different land. The most dramatic, the most crucial demonstration of the urgency of the need of all this is given to us right now. At the time when it is most essential for this country to be solidly American, enemy propagandists are winning an occasional success here because they give their message to men and women and boys and girls who do not understand our language and consequently do not understand us. These foreigners, whom the enemy is trying to make disloyal, are really in our army, the big army that is fighting the war for America. Most of them are not among the soldiers who will fight on the battle front, but they are in the lines back of these soldiers. The worker in the shipyards and in the mines is just as important a soldier in this war as the man in the trenches. That has been said over and over, but it cannot be said too often. It is just as vital for that man in the mine to know why we are at war as it is for the soldier. His employer has just as great a responsibility to the country as has any general, and it is the same responsibility.

Jan 8, 1918

MAJOR AWARDS JAMES DOUGLAS GOLD MEDAL 1960-Augustus B Kinzel "For outstanding contributions and inspiring leadership in the field of electrolytic and electrothermic winning of nonferrous metals and for his notable administrative ability " BENJAMIN F FAIRLESS AWARD 1960-Charles McElroy White "His ability, energy and determination in starting the top-pressure blast furnace and foresight in providing it with prepared burdens have created the world's dominant metal producer " HAL WILLIAMS HARDINGE AWARD 1960-Samuel H Dolbear "Eminent mineral consultant and engineer-first chairman, Industrial Minerals Division of AIME-first editor, 'Industrial Minerals and Rocks'-for the improvement and increase of industrial mineral knowledge "

Jan 1, 1960

West Virginia University, Engineering Experiment Station, Morgantown, W Va C E Lawall, Director. For copies of Bulletins or other information address the Director Two classes of the Bulletins published by the Engineering Experiment Station are of particular interest in this directory- Research Bulletins, and Extension Bulletins, or bulletins published for use in extension work They are. Research Bulletin 1, The conservation of natural gas in West Virginia (1918), 2, Acceleration stresses in hoisting ropes (1927), 3, Classification of gas wells for operation (1927), 4, Mining methods in West Virginia (1929), 5, The whiteware industry of West Virginia, Extension Bulletin 1, Electricity in mines, series

Jan 1, 1933

EVERY forward-looking mining company realizes the need for employing graduate mining engineers so that there will be a supply of qualified men from which to draw for company officers, executives, and mine managers. The mining industry is competing today with numerous other fields of engineering for its supply of technical men, many of which are more attractive than mining because of better pay, living conditions, and well- regulated company training programs. The Ontario Mining Association and the mining companies of Ontario are conducting a postgraduate training plan which if adopted in the United States, might well encourage top quality men to study mining.

Jan 3, 1950

(Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons. ) Position of laboratory assistant in metallurgy, pyrometry, and physical testing is vacant. Salary $80 to $100 to start. Knowledge of metallography desirable. Opening for a mine superintendent familiar with stoking methods on narrow gold quartz veins; also for a. superintendent of a 50-ton fine-grind-in, cyanide mill. College man under 40 preferred. Position in sales department is open for a mining engineer, with experience in mine ventilation and possessing some knowledge of fan design; one competent to lay out ventilating systems to meet various conditions.

Jan 10, 1913

By Frederic Benard

THE treatment of Balbach-Thum slimes at Copper Cliff by the Ontario Refining. Co. is of interest because it differs considerably from methods usually employed for the recovery of fine gold from parting-plant slimes. Owing to the comparatively high percentages of pal-ladium and platinum, wet methods are used to remove the greater proportion f these metals before electrolytic refining in the Wohlwill cells. THE PLANT The platinum-metals department, Wohlwill room, and gold-melting room extend along the north side f the silver refinery and are separated from the parting plant by a glass partition (Figs. 1 and 2). The platinum-metals department resembles a laboratory built on a large scale, with the various pieces of equipment laid out on terraces to facilitate handling. Because of the corrosive nature of the solutions, chemical stoneware is used throughout. Elevation of acids is accom-plished by means of Mariotte bottles. On the top level are three steam-jacketed stoneware kettles of 50-gal. capacity, also a packed tower. One kettle is used for digesting the slimes while the remaining kettles are used for precipitating the gold. The dissolver is equipped with a treated concrete hood, which is connected to the flue system. Gases are drawn off through the packed tower by means of a 6-in. stoneware exhaust fan. A 15 per cent solution of sodium carbonate is continually circulated through the tower. On the intermediate level are two suction filters, one for removing silver chloride and the other for the gold sand. The filter medium consists of an asbestos pad covered with a filter paper on which is a layer of twill.

Jan 1, 1938

CENTRAL EMERGENCY COMMITTEE Chairman, MRS. H. N. SPICER As no further requisition will be Made for knitted garments, for the boys of the 27th Engineers, all completed garments and wool have been collected and returned to Mr. W. R. Ingalls, and the activities of the

Jan 12, 1918

By W. Julian Patron

TREATMENT of the breaker wash-water discharges to remove the suspended particles of finely divided material is usually most efficiently and economically accomplished in settling or thickening tanks. The purpose of these tanks is to separate the excess water from the solids by sedimentation whereby the solid particles suspended in the water are thickened by the force of gravity. The water overflowing these tanks is either reused for coal cleaning or discharged directly to the streams. The settled solids, which are in a relatively concentrated condition, forming a sludge or thick pulp, can be disposed of by pumping to a storage dam, by slushing into mine workings, by processing for recovery of coal, or filtering by vacuum or centrifugal means and discharging with the breaker refuse. The scope of this paper will be limited to the discussion of settling and thickening equipment, the factors that influence the settlement of solids, and a brief description of tests that can be made to determine the size of settling facilities required for any particular condition. The practical application of sedimentation to the treatment of coal falls into two groups, one of classification or hydro- separation, and the other of clarification and thickening. Classification may be employed to prepare a relatively low- grade fuel, which can be used as is or can be further processed separately. Clarification and thickening is employed where the primary objective is to recover a relatively dewatered solid and return a satisfactorily clear water to breaker or streams. When a stream of water flows across a tank, the time required for a particle to travel from the feed inlet to the overflow must be a little greater than that required for the finest particles or flocs in the feed to settle out of the stream. OPERATION AND TYPES OF SETTLING EQUIPMENT Theoretically, the liquid in a settling tank should rise at a more or less constant rate throughout the area of the tank Under these conditions the rising velocity of the water must be less than the settling rate of the finest particles if clarification is to be obtained. When classification of particles is to be made in the tank, the overflow velocity must be greater than the settling velocity of the particles that are to be removed with the tank overflow. The performance of a settling tank, then, depends on the settling rate of the solids and the current velocities in the tank. The oldest types of sedimentation employ intermittent types of settling tanks of any convenient shape. Means are provided for filling the tank with pulp and allowing it to settle until quiet, for moving the clean liquor and for removing the thickened sludge. The operation is necessarily intermittent but a sufficient number of tanks is employed so that a continuous flow of clear water is maintained. Continuous methods for the sedimentation of slurries were developed in the metallurgical industry. Cones from which settled solids were discharged by gravity

Jan 1, 1946

By Richard P. Rothwell

THOUGH coal has been mined in this country for more than a century, no systematic effort was ever successfully made to ascertain the total amount produced. The production of the Cumberland Basin, Md., and the shipments from the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania, have been placed upon record, thanks to the intelligence sand foresight of Mr. C. Slack in the former case, and to the late Mr. B. Bannan in the latter. For some of the years between 1822 and 1842, the production of the Richmond Basin was reported by Mr. R. C. Taylor, but since that date till the author undertook this work it was impossible to obtain any statement of the production of this field. A few of the newer fields, such as that of Mt. Diablo, Cal., have been fully reported, and a few of the newer States have also had this service performed by some intelligent private individuals.; but no statistics of coal production have ever been collected either by the State or General Government, if we except the returns for the years 1869-70 of the census report. During the year 1875, by great exertions, I succeeded in obtaining, and July 3d, 1875, gave in the Engineering and Mining Journal what, "though not an accurate statement of our coal production," was " by far the most full and reliable that had ever been published." Though that report showed the production of bituminous coal to be 23,630,094 gross tons, or about six million tons more than had ever before been reported, it was in reality two and a half million tons below the actual output. The more full returns I obtained for 1875 gave many figures for 1874

Jan 1, 1877

By Peter G. Groer

Several methods1-3 are being used to determine the WL and individual Rn-daughter concentrations in uranium mine atmospheres. The best of these methods is the one given in Ref. 3. According to this method, the WL and the Rn-daughter concentrations are determined from the total a-counts observed during three consecutive time intervals. Its only disadvantage lies in the fact that rather involved calculations are necessary to convert the observed counts into WL or pCi/l (picocuries per liter). There are, however, counting intervals that give simple weighting coefficients for the observed counts. This fact makes it possible to convert from a-counts to WL or pCi/l with the aid of a graph. After some trial runs on a computer the following equations emerged as the basis for the most practical procedure: [ ] NA, N.., and & stand for the number of RaA, RaB, and RaC atoms per liter of air. C(t1,t2) denotes the counts observed from time t. to time t2 (in minutes) after the end of the 5-min sampling period. E is the detector efficiency and V is the flow rate in liters per minute. With an accuracy loss of less than -5% one finds from [Eq. 1] by adding the corresponding terms: If the WL would have been calculated according to [Eq. 2] instead of using the graph, the result would have been 0.31. Since the values used for C's under [Eq. 3] represent the exact number of counts from a Rn-daughter mixture in equilibrium with 100/3 pCi of Rn the exact WL of this mixture can be calculated easily. The exact value is: [ ] This shows that the method is quite accurate for the 0.3 WL domain. The precision of the method excluding errors made in reading the graph can be estimated with the help of the following formula: [ ]

Jan 1, 1974

By C. P. McCormack

THE Cuyuna manganiferous iron ores can be a principal source of manganese for the iron and steel industry in the United States, provided metallurgical methods as a whole are adjusted so as to use run-of-mine ore. The use of manganese in steelmaking is growing. Increasing amounts of impurities in raw materials call for more manganese, a constant cheap supply of which is wanted. There are few deposits of ore in the United States carrying over 35 per cent. manganese that can be mined and marketed at a profit in normal times. We are largely dependent on foreign ores. The small domestic deposits should rightly be held in reserve for an emergency, such as a war, when importation might cease. Even the production from lean ores, concentrated it may be, might not carry us through a protracted stringency. The Cuyuna district is, therefore, during normal times capable of supplying a large total of manganese. The ores are iron ores containing 5 to 25 per cent. of manganese with the inverse range of 52 to 28 per cent of iron. The manganese costs no more per unit in the ore than the iron, because cost of mining, largely by open-pit methods, is not affected by the manganese content. The manganese units should, perhaps, command a higher price, but as their value is contingent on metallurgical practice, a higher price may be justified only when a shortage in manganese occurs. Manganiferous iron ores can never entirely supplant straight manganese ores though methods are employed that will permit them to do so partly. For the manufacture of ferromanganese, ores carrying above 42 per cent. manganese are needed. Ores with manganese running between 20 and 42 per cent. are used for making spiegeleisen. But established practice in certain plants, based on the admixture of manganiferous iron ores to straight iron ores has greatly lessened the consumption of high-priced, scarce, manganese alloys with good results.

Jan 2, 1925

By F. W. Bloecher, A. M. Gaudin

THIS paper describes the results of a series of tests carried out to determine the partition of dodecylamine between distilled water and the surface of quartz at various concentrations of dodecylamine acetate in solution. An adsorption-column technique was utilized for this purpose. Ralston and Harwood, of Armour and Co., had synthesized marked dodecylamine acetate for us.' In their preparation which we employed, 0.0007 pct of the total carbon was the radioactive isotope, carbon fourteen. Unmarked dodecylamine acetate of high purity was also prepared by them for our use. The presence of carbon fourteen in the dodecylamine enabled us to analyze quantitatively for dodecylamine on the surface of quartz, using a radioactive-tracer technique. The method used was that known as internal gas counting of carbon dioxide, formed by oxidation of the amine. This method has already been described, "3 ' and the reader is referred to these papers for details of the analytical method and procedures. and surrounding liquor, a technique analogous to chromatographic columns was utilized. The experimental setup is shown in fig. 1. The dodecylamine-acetate solution was made up in a volumetric flask and poured into the glass funnel shown. It was allowed to drip slowly onto the quartz bed, the rate of flow from the funnel reser- voir being controlled by a hose clamp. The quartz column was contained in a small, fritted-glass filter (size 20 mm, C). The beaded top edge of the filter was cut off to enable the holder and contents to fit into the open end of the 30/45 joint on the combustion tube. This combustion tube is used in the analytical train described in a previous paper.' A piece of gum-rubber tubing joins the bottom of the fritted-glass filter to a filter flask, which in turn is connected to a vacuum line, or water aspirator. The rate of flow of amine solution through the bed was

Jan 1, 1951

By F. W. Bloecher, A. M. Gaudin

THIS paper describes the results of a series of tests carried out to determine the partition of dodecylamine between distilled water and the surface of quartz at various concentrations of dodecylamine acetate in solution. An adsorption-column technique was utilized for this purpose. Ralston and Harwood, of Armour and Co., had synthesized marked dodecylamine acetate for us.' In their preparation which we employed, 0.0007 pct of the total carbon was the radioactive isotope, carbon fourteen. Unmarked dodecylamine acetate of high purity was also prepared by them for our use. The presence of carbon fourteen in the dodecylamine enabled us to analyze quantitatively for dodecylamine on the surface of quartz, using a radioactive-tracer technique. The method used was that known as internal gas counting of carbon dioxide, formed by oxidation of the amine. This method has already been described, "3 ' and the reader is referred to these papers for details of the analytical method and procedures. and surrounding liquor, a technique analogous to chromatographic columns was utilized. The experimental setup is shown in fig. 1. The dodecylamine-acetate solution was made up in a volumetric flask and poured into the glass funnel shown. It was allowed to drip slowly onto the quartz bed, the rate of flow from the funnel reser- voir being controlled by a hose clamp. The quartz column was contained in a small, fritted-glass filter (size 20 mm, C). The beaded top edge of the filter was cut off to enable the holder and contents to fit into the open end of the 30/45 joint on the combustion tube. This combustion tube is used in the analytical train described in a previous paper.' A piece of gum-rubber tubing joins the bottom of the fritted-glass filter to a filter flask, which in turn is connected to a vacuum line, or water aspirator. The rate of flow of amine solution through the bed was

Jan 1, 1951

By G. C. Stone

IN common with many members of the Institute, I was much interested in Mr. Kent's paper on " Manganese Determinations in Steel," * read at the Virginia meeting. Having recently had an opportunity to collect a similar series of results for spiegel, I venture to offer them to the Institute, hoping that they may also prove of interest. Sample No. 1 was taken at our works, where the spiegel was made,

Jan 1, 1883

By Theron Wasson

Michigan has had another record year. Its production has been maintained by the development of fields discovered in 1938. Two minor fields were listed as discoveries in 1939. These are in the southwestern part of the state, where the greatest drilling activity took place. During the year 1465 tests were completed, of which 828 were oil wells, 56 gas wells and 581 dry holes. The four southwestern counties—Allegan, Ottawa, Kent and Van Buren—had 1077 tests drilled, while nine other southwestern counties had 70 tests, making a total of 1147 for this part of the state, 78 per cent of all drilled during the year. Michigan's production of 23,400,000 bbl. during 1939, equal to an average daily production of 64,110 bbl., exceeded 1938 by 4,655,000 bbl., thus establishing another annual record, which brought the cumulative amount for the state to a little over 125,000,000 barrels. A map showing location of Michigan oil and gas fields was published in the TRansactions in 1939 (Vol. 132, p. 353). Active Oil Fields.—The Walker field, near Grand Rapids, Kent County, had a rapid development during the year. Traverse limestone production was discovered here in September 1938, and development has been rapid during 1939. At the end of the year 5500 acres have been proved by drilling. The Traverse limestone is found in Walker field at a depth of about 1810 ft. The Temple field, Clare County, was the most active in Central Michigan. Its production is from the Monroe dolomite at a depth of 3890 ft. In this field 2500 acres have been proved by 125 producing wells. Michigan's largest producer for 1939 was drilled in the Temple field, with a rated potential of 8760 bbl. per day. The Wise field, Wise township, Isabella County, discovered in 1938, had a steady and orderly development because the operators agreed on a staggered 20-acre spacing program. So far 760 acres have been proved for production from the Dundee limestone, found at 3650 feet. Active Gas Fields.—The most active areas in which drilling was done during the past year for gas were the Freeman and Lincoln fields in Clare County, the Clayton field of Arenac County, and the Home field of

Jan 1, 1940

By Theron Wasson

Michigan has had another record year. Its production has been maintained by the development of fields discovered in 1938. Two minor fields were listed as discoveries in 1939. These are in the southwestern part of the state, where the greatest drilling activity took place. During the year 1465 tests were completed, of which 828 were oil wells, 56 gas wells and 581 dry holes. The four southwestern counties—Allegan, Ottawa, Kent and Van Buren—had 1077 tests drilled, while nine other southwestern counties had 70 tests, making a total of 1147 for this part of the state, 78 per cent of all drilled during the year. Michigan's production of 23,400,000 bbl. during 1939, equal to an average daily production of 64,110 bbl., exceeded 1938 by 4,655,000 bbl., thus establishing another annual record, which brought the cumulative amount for the state to a little over 125,000,000 barrels. A map showing location of Michigan oil and gas fields was published in the TRansactions in 1939 (Vol. 132, p. 353). Active Oil Fields.—The Walker field, near Grand Rapids, Kent County, had a rapid development during the year. Traverse limestone production was discovered here in September 1938, and development has been rapid during 1939. At the end of the year 5500 acres have been proved by drilling. The Traverse limestone is found in Walker field at a depth of about 1810 ft. The Temple field, Clare County, was the most active in Central Michigan. Its production is from the Monroe dolomite at a depth of 3890 ft. In this field 2500 acres have been proved by 125 producing wells. Michigan's largest producer for 1939 was drilled in the Temple field, with a rated potential of 8760 bbl. per day. The Wise field, Wise township, Isabella County, discovered in 1938, had a steady and orderly development because the operators agreed on a staggered 20-acre spacing program. So far 760 acres have been proved for production from the Dundee limestone, found at 3650 feet. Active Gas Fields.—The most active areas in which drilling was done during the past year for gas were the Freeman and Lincoln fields in Clare County, the Clayton field of Arenac County, and the Home field of

Jan 1, 1940

By W. N. Best

THIS paper is not intended as a scientific discussion of the combustion of oil but is written from, the standpoint of an operator who has the experience and qualifications necessary to guide others in producing the most economic results in the use of liquid fuels. Oil, in this paper, usually, means petroleum or its products but incidental reference is made to other liquid and gaseous fuels, so that the term may be considered, as referring to all liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in comparison with solid fuels, as coal and. wood. However, only a few of the principal factors in the use of oil as a fuel can be given. The present, and prospective, high price of coal is causing users of fuel to renew inquiry as to the merits of other forms of fuel for industrial purposes. Crude oil (petroleum) is proving to be one of the world's most valuable mineral resources. The recent discovery that oil underlies a considerable area of the United States, Mexico, and other parts of the world to a greater extent than was formerly believed and the large production of some of the wells in these areas shows the probable quantity of fuel oil that may now be available. Through the energy of Lord Cowdrey, who was one of the pioneers of the oil industry in Mexico, oil has been discovered in England; some prominent geologists believe that it may be found yet, in quantity, in Great Britain. For years, oil has been known to be of great value in the manufacture of metals. It has proved incomparable in forge shops, steel foundries, heat-treating furnace s, and wherever accuracy of temperatures is essential, or where a maximum output is desired as well as quality of metal. In some types of equipment, the output produced with oil as fuel is double that obtained with coal and, at a reduction of 50 per cent, in the cost of the fuel. For example, in drop-forging plants, the metal is always waiting for the man when oil is used as fuel, whereas with coal, the man must wait for the metal to become sufficiently heated.

Jan 8, 1920

By Roscoe C. Clark

In October 1945. R. F. Farris. in an AIME paper entitled Method For Drtermining Minimum Waiting OIL Cenzent Time, presented a method for caiculating the minimum WOC* time required in oil well cementing operations. Briefly. this method consisted of shutting in a well. after the cement had been placed and noting the time required fur the wellhead pressure to reach a. maximum. This time was then multiplied by a factor of 1.5 to determine when the cement had reached sufficient strength to support the weight of the casing. As a result of this work, a number of areas have reduced their WOC time ~Wuirements with the subsequent saving of considerable rig time. The tests conducted by Farris were, for the most part, conducted under cementing temperatures in excess of 70°F. This was done because in the overwhelming majority of cases. cementing temperatures are in excess of 70°F (only in tile northern part of the country. primarily in the Rocky Mountain ares. in cementing surface casing are temperatures below 70° F. encountered, and such temperatures occur only during the winter months). The Stano-lind Research Laboratory since that time has performed a number of tests both in the laboratory and in the field to evaluate this WOC factor when cemeriting temperatures are lower than 70°F. The results of these tests indicated the need for greater WOC time in areas affeaed by abnormally low cementing temperatures. These tests indi.cated that a woc factor of 2 (Time from start to mix cement to maximum wellhead pressure x 2 = Time to drill plug) will allow sufficient time for the cement to develop adequate strength. A field test under abnormally low cementing temperatures (surface temyerature 35°F., mud discharge temperature <70°F. and cementing depth 500 ft.) in the Rangely Field, "* using the WOC factor of 2, indicated the time to drill the plug as 45 hours. Well conditions preventing getting back into the well until a 48-hour WOC time had elapsed. At this time, the plug drilled firm to hard indicating that the cement had reached its final set. It is contemplated that during next winter additional field tests will be performed to further check the results of the laboratory and field tests conducted to date,

Jan 1, 1949

By Roscoe C. Clark

In October 1945. R. F. Farris. in an AIME paper entitled Method For Drtermining Minimum Waiting OIL Cenzent Time, presented a method for caiculating the minimum WOC* time required in oil well cementing operations. Briefly. this method consisted of shutting in a well. after the cement had been placed and noting the time required fur the wellhead pressure to reach a. maximum. This time was then multiplied by a factor of 1.5 to determine when the cement had reached sufficient strength to support the weight of the casing. As a result of this work, a number of areas have reduced their WOC time ~Wuirements with the subsequent saving of considerable rig time. The tests conducted by Farris were, for the most part, conducted under cementing temperatures in excess of 70°F. This was done because in the overwhelming majority of cases. cementing temperatures are in excess of 70°F (only in tile northern part of the country. primarily in the Rocky Mountain ares. in cementing surface casing are temperatures below 70° F. encountered, and such temperatures occur only during the winter months). The Stano-lind Research Laboratory since that time has performed a number of tests both in the laboratory and in the field to evaluate this WOC factor when cemeriting temperatures are lower than 70°F. The results of these tests indicated the need for greater WOC time in areas affeaed by abnormally low cementing temperatures. These tests indi.cated that a woc factor of 2 (Time from start to mix cement to maximum wellhead pressure x 2 = Time to drill plug) will allow sufficient time for the cement to develop adequate strength. A field test under abnormally low cementing temperatures (surface temyerature 35°F., mud discharge temperature <70°F. and cementing depth 500 ft.) in the Rangely Field, "* using the WOC factor of 2, indicated the time to drill the plug as 45 hours. Well conditions preventing getting back into the well until a 48-hour WOC time had elapsed. At this time, the plug drilled firm to hard indicating that the cement had reached its final set. It is contemplated that during next winter additional field tests will be performed to further check the results of the laboratory and field tests conducted to date,

Jan 1, 1949

By C. P. Parsons

During the past year considerable interest has been shown in cementing operations for shutting off bottom water, whipstocking, etc. A number of plug-back methods have been used, with various adaptations for special conditions, but those described in this paper are representative of the methods now in use. Conditioning the Well Various preliminary operations for improving the results from plug-back operations have been evolved. In one method, a nitroglycerin shot is discharged at the upper portion of the formation to be plugged off, the purpose being to make a wide place in the hole in order to give the cement a more secure anchor against thrust pressure of the water against the bottom of the cement plug after the well is again put on production. Another is intended to attain a similar result by under-reaming a wide place in the hole by means of a rotary wall scraper. In one well in which this device was used there was a water sand at the bottom of the well immediately below the cap rock above which the oil sand occurred. Before the plugging back operation, the water sand was underreamed in an attempt to get a square shoulder on the underside of the cap rock, in order to prevent the water from breaking in over the top of the cement plug after the well should be put on production, and also to get a more secure anchor for the cement plug against the thrust pressure of the water against it. As an aid in calculating the amount of cement required to fill a given amount of hole to be plugged back, a device has been developed for measuring and recording the irregularities and cavities in open holes, called an "open-hole recording caliper." If consists of a steel shell, 5 in. in diameter, which encloses a recording mechanism that receives impressions from four movable arms that make sliding contact with the wall of the hole. The arms operate a ratchet, which raises and lowers a recording stylus against a chart. Each arm registers its own radius. The device is run into a well on a steel measuring line. While the device is being lowered, the arms are folded inside the shell; they are

Jan 1, 1936