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(Members are urged to send in for this column any notes of interest concerning themselves or their fellow-members.) Members and guests who called at Institute headquarters during the period Jan. 10, 1916 to Feb. 10, 1916: William Rettie, Yonkers, N. Y. Wallace E. Pratt, Manila, P. I. R. V. Norris, Wilkesbarre, Pa. T. Skewes Saunders, El Oro, Mex. Fred MacCoy, El Oro, Mex. M. L. Requa, San Francisco, Cal. Reno H. Sales, Butte, Mont. R. W. Schultz, Ravenna, O. R. T. White, Batourn, Russia. H. J. Brown, Chester, Pa. David T. Day, Washington, D: C. A. M. Van Rensselaer, New Rochelle, N. Y. H. M. LaFollette, LaFollette, Tenn. Norman C. Stines, Russia. F. N. Speller, Pittsburgh, Pa. Howard R. Hughes, Houston, Tex. Robert W. Hunt, Chicago, Ill. C. F. Schnepp, Ridgefield Park, N. J. B. E. Fernow, Toronto, Ont., Can. George L. A. Thomson, Elizabeth, N. J. A. F. Bennett, New York City. Jasper T. Robertson, Chicago, Ill. J. C. Ralston, Spokane, Wash. J. B. Tyrrell, Toronto, Ont., Can. George J. Lyon, Schenectady, N. Y. H. G. Officer, New York Cty. Jesse C. Porter is now superintendent of the San Fernando Mine, Hoyo de Manicaragua, Santa Clara Province, Cuba.

Jan 3, 1916

By John V. Beall

One Sunday night last month the phone rang and it was George Schenck from Penn State. How would we like to see a big scrap operation, he wanted to know. A few days later we were on the Connecticut turnpike headed for New Haven to visit a large scrap operation, M. Schiavone and Sons. George had a large clam basket in the back which he explained was for collecting trophies. The car shredder, he said, turns out some fancy metal shapes. In fact, they have gained a certain acceptance as objets d’art among George's friends and relatives. He thinks there may be a small, but possibly lucrative secondary market for shredded cars in the art world if the idea is imaginatively promoted. On the way to New Haven we received a briefing on the scrap industry. The scrap business grew from humble beginnings. Mostly it was started by a few immigrant Jews who collected junk in hand- or horse-drawn carts. The fortunate one might even have had a truck. Before proceeding further, we hasten to point out that the word "junk" is strictly taboo among scrap people, who prefer to refer to their industry as the "secondary metals industry."

Jan 1, 1970

GEORGE K. BURGESS,* Washington, D. C. (written discussiont).-Professor Sauveur refers to the International Aircraft Standards Board in terns that would indicate his non-familiarity with, the organization and the working of this Board which, of course, is excusable on account of Professor Sauveur's absence in Europe at the time. He implies .that the work of this Board was entirely dominated by American interests, whereas diametrically the opposite was the case. The Board, was organized for the purpose of facilitating purchase in the United States, on the basis of common specifications, by the Allied air, services in the United States, and the Board performed a very valuable service in unify-ing the specifications of Italy, Great Britain, France, Canada, and the United States for such purposes. The proceedings of the Board were car-ried out on the basis of unanimous agreement of the representatives of the five countries and all the members from each of the countries were technical specialists or, had the advice of technical assistants. It would be difficult to find an instance of greater unity of purpose, readiness to' compromise, and efficient production than was shown by this Board, which produced seventy-eight specifications, in the preparation of which representative American manufacturers appeared before the Board.

Jan 12, 1919

By AIME AIME

ORGANIZATION of The Federated American Engineering Societies was effected at the organizing conference of national, local, state and regional engineering and allied technical organizations at the Cosmos Club, Washington, D. C., June 3 and 4. Thus is brought into being the greatest national engineering society in the world. The object of the organization is to further the interests of the public through the use of technical knowledge and engineering experience, and to consider and act upon matters common to engineering and allied technical professions. Prominent engineers from all parts of the country, representing more than 75 engineering societies, with an aggregate membership of more than 125,000, participated in the organization. The constitution as adopted by the conference, calls for the creation of s managing body to be known as the American Engineering Council, and its executive board. The belief was expressed that the entire organization would come to be spoken of as the American Engineering Council. The council is to coordinate the activities of state councils and of local affiliations whenever these activities are of national or general importance or may affect the general interests of engineers. Representation in the council is to be according to membership of the component societies.

Jan 1, 1920

E. D. TILLYER,* Southbridge, Mass. (written discussion?).-It is quite generally known that there is very little that is standard about a mercurial thermometer at temperatures above 212° F. (100° C.) because so many precautions must be taken-precautions that are rarely realized in practice-such as depth of immersion, aging, elastic fatigue, separation of mercury column, and accidental deformation from very slight excess temperature. One cannot help wishing that Mr. Brown would dwell at greater length on the practical side of both radiation and optical pyrometey, both of which have great possibilities as commercial instruments. In the radiation pyrometer we have ideal conditions for a permanent instru-ment, no materials being exposed to excessive temperatures or subjected to contamination from the furnace fumes which may raise such havoc with an ordinary pyrometer. The development of a radiation pyrometer requires a thermocouple having a relatively high electromotive force but which need stand temperatures of only 200° F. or 300° F. instead of 1500 to 2000° F., which is required of even a base-metal couple. The galva-nometer, if located near the thermocouple, does not need to have a high resistance as at such low temperatures no changes can occur in the thermocouple that will affect its resistance and, consequently, the in-dicated temperature.

Jan 11, 1919

Discussion of the paper of EDWARD G. NORTON, presented at the New York meeting, February, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 97, January, 1915, pp. 93 to 102. G. D. HARRIS, Ithaca, N. Y. (communication to the Secretary *).¬Since I have on several occasions1 expressed at length my general views on this interesting subject, it seems fitting that I endeavor here to comment as briefly as possible on a few points suggested by the paper. Doubtless you all know of the rather extensive publications of Lachmann on mid-European salines and his scarcely successful, attempt to make the phenomena presented by our domes fit. into his "Exzeme" theory based on studies of European phenomena. This paper is a most welcome indication that scientific America is very much alive to the difficulties that have been encountered in attempts already made to explain the origin of the salt domes in the lower Mississippi embayment region. Praiseworthy, too, is the attempt to explain these phenomena by agencies still in operation. I may, perhaps, be permitted to state here that a former student of mine, and co-worker in Louisiana, A. C. Veatch, is now interested in the Algerian region, where it would seem similar dome-phenomena are to be found, and hopes may well

Jan 5, 1915

A dinner was given to Ambrose Swasey by the United Engineering Society, at the Engineers' Club, on November 14. Those present -included -twenty-one presidents and past presidents of the Founder Societies. Charles F. Rand, President of United Engineering Society, presided. President Robert S. Woodward, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Dr. Robert W. Hunt, of Chicago, made addresses to which Mr. Swasey responded. Dr. Michael I. Pupin, Chairman of Engineering Foundation, made the closing address. The evening was marked by the high character of the addresses, inspiration for grave duties lying before the engineering profession, and by the spirit of good fellowship. Among the seventy-two persons present were the following members of the Institute: E. E. Bartlett, William N. Best, J. Parke, Channing, C. R. Corning, F. C. Cottrell, J. V. Davies, J. V. N. Dorr, H. S. Drinker, Karl Eilers, H. M. Howe, A. C. Humphreys, Robert W. Hunt, Wm.. B. Jackson, D. S. Jacobus, J. H. Janeway, J. E. Johnson, Jr., John Johnston, George F. Kunz, Edwin Ludlow, Philip N. Moore, Fred'k. H. Newell; Wm. H. Nichols, H. Hobart Porter, Charles F. Rand, R. M. Raymond, .Jesse M. Smith, E. Gybbon Spilsbury, Bradley Stoughton, . Joseph Struthers, Benj. B. Thayer, Wm. H. Wiley, S. T. Wellman.

Jan 1, 1919

ST. LOUIS SECTION H. A. BUEHLER, Chairman, CHARLES T. ORR, Vice-Chairman., THOMAS T. BREWSTER, Vice-Chairman, L. L. HUTCHISON, Vice-Chairman, W. E. McCOURT, Secretary-Treasurer, Washington University, St. Louis. CHARLES J. ADAMI, EUGENE MCAULIFFE, A. C. TERRILL, JAMES A. CASELTON, JAMES D. ROBERTSON. The annual meeting of the St. Louis Section was held at the St. Louis Club, Saturday evening, Mar. 10, 1917. Philip N. Moore, President, and Bradley Stoughton, Secretary of the Institute, were the guests of the Section. The meeting was preceded by a dinner, at which 70 were present, and was presided over by F. W. DeWolf. Addresses were made by Mr. Moore and Mr. Stoughton. The routine reports of the officers were- presented and the Executive Committee named above was elected for the current year. The special business of the meeting was a report of progress concerning the arrangements for the Institute meeting to be held in the St. Louis Section district, Oct. 8 to 13, 1917. The general program for the meeting met with the cordial approval and cooperation of the members of the Section. It was evident that the members are united in an endeavor to arrange a successful meeting. W. E. McCOURT, Secretary.

Jan 4, 1917

Discussion of the paper of George K. Burgess, J. J. Crowe, H. S. Rawdon, and R. G. Waltenberg, Finishing Temperatures and Properties of Rails. By Albert Sauveur, R. Trimble, William R. Webster, P. H. Dudley, George B. Waterhouse, M. H. Wickhorst, James Aston, E. F. Kenney, A. W. Gibbs, W. A. Aiken, and G. K. Burgess . . 767 Discussion of the paper of Albert Sauveur, Manganese Steel and the Allotropic Theory. By G. K. Burgess and J. E. Stead 787 Discussion of the paper of J. V. Emmons, The Surface Decarbonization of Tool Steel. By Albert Sauveur, Bradley Stoughton, E. G. Spilsbury, Oliver W. Storey, H. O. Hofman, and J. V..Emmons 790 Discussion of the paper of Richard H. Rice, Turbo Blowers for Blast-Furnace Blowing. By S. G. Valentine, W. McA. Johnson, L. Iversen, J. E. Johnson, Jr., Karl Nibecker, W. Trinks, Otto Banner, H. S. Braman, Arthur G. McKee, and Richard H. Rice . . . 794 Discussion of the paper of J. K. Furst, The Plant of the Duplex Process for Making Steel. By W. McA. Johnson, Arthur G. McKee, Henry D. Hubard, and Bradley Stoughton . . 810 Discussion of the paper of E. C. Harder, The Iron Industry in Brazil. By I. C. White and E. C. Harder 813

Jan 4, 1915

By J. V. W. REYNDERS

FIRST of all let me express my affectionate gratitude for the cordiality and good will of your reception. On the part of the men I venture to interpret the character of your greeting, not only as a recognition of the position to which you have been good enough to elect me, but also as an expression of your friendly attitude. However, I cannot pass over the tribute of the ladies so casually: Nor does it seem possible to do justice to my sentiments in addressing them collectively. I would feel more equal to the task if I could have the opportunity to talk to them singly, in doing which I know I may count upon their good sportsmanship not to compare notes. There has been some discussion between Mr. Kelly and myself as to our respective duties on this occasion: The precedents are not clear as to whether the retiring or the incoming president is expected to speak at length. Mr. Kelly's argument was that as the incoming president confines himself to promises for the future his field is a broad one and his opportunities for extending his remarks correspondingly unlimited.

Jan 1, 1925

By Charles W. Frey

OF all the machinery used in mining work, mine cars are probably the most abused. They are hauled through water and muck, up hill and down grade, whipped around curves, bumped and jerked, and exposed to the ravages of the weather. However, as a general rule their lubrication is not altogether neglected. The mine operator may not heed the extra drag that a frozen conveyor bearing gives, but he is all too aware of the increased load that faulty mine car wheels put on his power plant. When the circuit breakers begin to fly, and when his mine loco- motives come out with only half the cars that they were able to carry a month before, then neglected mine car wheel lubrication becomes apparent, and woe to the person responsible.

Jan 1, 1938

Jan 1, 1907

By AIME AIME

A MODERN copper reduction works has both a genera1 chemical laboratory for control work and a research laboratory for the study of improvement of present processes and better working-up of by-products. The division of work in the general laboratory would naturally differ in different plants. The following statement to the writer from a chemist in one of the works will give a good idea of the type. of work in the general laboratory :

Jan 1, 1929

By WALTER B. JONES

PIG iron was first produced in Alabama in 1818 from limonite or brown ore and since then much of this ore has come from the so-called mineral district of northern Alabama, especially along the Cretaceous-Paleozoic contact. For many years the Russellville district in Franklin County, where the first blast furnace was erected, produced more than 100,000 tons of brown ore annually. Limonite has been reported at many places in the Coastal Plain region, where the formations are of Mesozoic and Cenozoic age, but these scattered deposits were never considered to be of much commercial importance. However, in the last three years a considerable quantity of this ore has been scraped up and shipped, particularly from the city of Greenville in Butler County.

Jan 1, 1938

By E. J. Rapperport, J. P. Pemsler

The thermodynamic activities of zinc in six solid solution Cu-Zn alloys ranging from 5 to 35 at. pct Zn were determined experimentally in the temperature range 400° to 600°C. This low temperature investigation was canducted in order to evaluate techniques developed to utilize the inherently high sensitivity of atomic absorption flocesses in the measurement of thermodynamic activities. Analytical expressions ,for the activity and actizlity coeflcient are given for the six alloys in the temperature ranges investigated. RELATIVELY few experimental methods are available for investigation of thermodynamic activities of alloys, especially in the solid state. The techniques most frequently used have been the electrochemical potential and the effusion methods, both of which have severe limitations in many instances. It is therefore desirable to expand the ability to perform such measurements in order to obtain new information as well as to provide an additional independent verification capability. In this work, we present a significant improvement in the spectrophotometric method for sensing small vapor pressures in static absorption cells. Similar techniques have been used previously;1"5 however, applications had been limited to relatively high pressures, often greater than 1 torr. Prior investigators have, for the most part, used broad spectral sources such as xenon or mercury lamps, and high intensity arcs. Hollow cathode sources were first suggested in 1956 6 and were used soon afterwards.4'5 These sources offer significant improvements in sensitivity and freedom from interfering spectral lines.'-' EXPERIMENTAL High purity zinc was obtained from Cominco Products, Inc., and copper from American Smelting and Refining Co. Both elements were of 99.999 pct purity. Copper-zinc alloys were vacuum melted in a high fired carbon crucible with each alloy pulled from the melt as a 4 -in. diam bar. The bars were swaged to -1/4 in. rods and vacuum annealed for 160 hr at 800° + 1°C. Samples for gross chemical analysis were taken at intervals along the length of the rods to ascertain the axial zinc gradient. Electron microprobe analysis of homogenized specimens indicated that the alloys had uniform compositions over their cross sections on a macro (200 p) and micro (1 u) scale to better than *1 pct (20) of the gross composition. This tolerance was determined by counting statistics, rather than assured composition fluctuations. All SiO 2 windows were high-ultraviolet-transmission grade to minimize intensity losses. Silica absorption cells were scrupulously cleaned consecutively in organic solvents, dilute HF, and distilled water before use. The empty cells were then flamed while under a dynamic vacuum, cooled, and removed to an argon-filled glove bag. Alloy pieces were cut and filed in the glove bag to produce fresh surfaces, and then loaded into the cells. The loaded cells were temporarily sealed, removed from the glove bag, reevacuated to 10-5 torr or better, and permanently sealed. The instrument used is schematically shown in Fig. 1. The spectral emission from a commercially made hollow cathode lamp (A) of a selected element is focused through an absorption cell (B) inside a well-controlled furnace (C). The intensity of the transmitted beam is measured using the spectrometer* (D) 'Techtron model AA4 atomic absorption spectrometer. which contains a grating (E) that disperses the light prior to impingement on the photomultiplier (F). The monochromator grating is adjusted so that only the wavelength of interest is measured. The power supply delivered an interrupted voltage to the lamp, causing a chopped radiation output to be transmitted. The detector read only the intermittent component of radiation incident upon it, so that all continuous noise signals (furnace radiation, and so forth) were eliminated. Three recording thermocouples contained in the muffle furnace were positioned along the length of the absorption cell: one at each end and one at the center. An effort was made to keep the ends of the cell several degrees hotter than the center to avoid window condensate. Appropriate thermal corrections were then necessary to relate cell pressure to radiation attenuation. Water-cooled heat shields, as shown in Fig. 1, were found to aid signal stability by protecting the hollow cathode and the photomultiplier from furnace radiation. The furnace had a 2-in. diam muffle, Kan-thal wound, with SiO 2 windows at its ends to minimize convective effects. The hollow cathode radiation was masked and focused to form a conic beam that was a maximum of { in. diam within the furnace. Thus, the 1.5 in. diam absorption cell easily contained the entire beam. The furnace was mounted on ball-bearing slides with positive positioning detents. This arrangement allowed the removal of the entire furnace assembly from the radiation path, position [I], Fig. 1, so that frequent sampling of the unattenuated beam intensity could be obtained. In all cases the beam intensity was kept constant to 0.1 pct as judged by readings taken immediately before and immediately after data collection. Only data for absorptions of less than 80 pct were utilized, as systematic deviations from linearity were found for greater absorptions.

Jan 1, 1970

By George H. Hanna

THE importance of the Donets coal field (the Donbas) to the national economy of the Soviet Union is well known. Great as was the significance of this tremendous deposit of coal in prewar days it is destined to become an even greater factor in the economic life of the country now that the tremendous havoc wrought by the Germans is being remedied. Since the war began, new coal fields have been extended; for example output of the Moscow and Karaganda (Kazakhstan) fields has become considerably larger while new mines are producing coal in several parts of Uzbekistan and Kirghizia. The huge West Siberian coal field, the Kuznetsk Basin, is producing more coal than ever before to supply the industries of that region and of the Urals. But so great has been the development of industry to meet war needs, especially in those districts of the Soviet Union that lie to the East of the Urals, that the coal obtained, eked out by such locally-won fuels as peat and wood, is still barely sufficient to meet industrial requirements. The main burden of the coal supply for the restored industries of the West, therefore, will fall on the Donbas.

Jan 1, 1945

By Herbert Hoover

THE time has arrived in our national development when we must have- a definite national- program in the development of our great engineering problems. Our rail and water transport, our water supplies for irrigation, our reclamation, the provision of future' fuel resources, the development and distribution of electrical power, all 'cry out for some broad-visioned national guidance. We must create a national engineering sense of provision for the nation as a whole. If we are to develop this national sense of engineering wand its relations to our great human problems, it must receive the advocacy of such institutions as this. We, together with our sister engineering societies, represent the engineers of the United States. It is our duty as citizens to give voice to those critical matters of national policy which our daily contact with this, the fundamentally constructive profession, illuminates to us. Just as our medical associations voice the necessity of -safeguards to national health; as the bar associations of safeguards to our judiciary, so the engineers should exert themselves in our national engineering policies. We have none; but we need some, or the next generation will face a lower instead of a higher standard of living than ours.

Jan 1, 1920

By W. M. Fox, D. P. Detwiler

IN the course of research on semiconducting inter-metallic compounds, it became necessary to obtain gallium metal of greater purity that that available commercially. Several methods were considered for further purification, including acid leaching,' fractional crystallization,' and zone-refining.3-5 The method of fractional crystallization was discarded as being equivalent to zone-refining in purification but inefficient in material and time. Both acid leaching and zone-refining were tried, and the method finally adopted is a combination of the two. The acid leaching technique has been reported' to produce gallium in which no impurities are detectable spectroscopically. Although this method is very effective in removing oxides and surface contaminants, semiconducting material made of gallium subjected only to leaching indicated little reduction in the concentration of metallic impurities. Zone-refining, however, appears very effective in removing trace metallic impurities, but comparatively ineffective in removing the surface oxide film. Consequently, the method evolved consists of acid leaching to thoroughly clean the surface, followed by zone-refining to remove metallic impurities. The low melting point and relatively high thermal conductivity of gallium introduce some difficulty in maintaining frozen and molten zones in zone-refining. To accomplish this, it is found necessary to reduce the effective ambient temperature by circulating ice water in coils about the regions that are to be kept frozen, while heat is supplied to the molten regions by resistance coils. The power supplied to the heating coils is regulated by a constant-voltage transformer and a variable autotransformer. Both heating and cooling coils are mounted on a transite base. The gallium ingot is held in a closed pyrex tube sliding inside the heating and cooling coils, the reciprocating method of Tanenbaum et al. being employed to move the molten zones through the ingot at a rate of 2 in. per hr. This apparatus is shown in Fig. 1. The results of a spectroscopic analysis f a zone-refined ingot, as well as of the material as-received and after acid leaching, are shown in Table I. The ingot was 32 cm in length, and received 37 molten-zone passes, the molten zone being about 4 cm long. The only impurity found was lead, the following elements being reported also as checked but not found in the pure material: Al, Sb, As, Ba, Be, Bi, B, Cd, Ca, Cr, Co, Cb, Cu, Ge, Au, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pt, Si, Ag, Na, Sr, Sn, Te, Ti, W, V, Zn, and Zr. There thus appears no indication of pickup of Al, Mg, or Si from the pyrex boat as reported by Zimmerman' in his fractional crystallization. Thus it appears that definite removal of lead from gallium occurs during the zone-refining process. It also may be concluded that a more sensitive analytical procedure than spectroscopy is required to evaluate quantitatively the purity of zone-refined metals. One such procedure which is proposed for use in the near future is the measurement of very low temperature resistivity. Although this will not identify the impurities present, it offers a very sensitive check of total impurity. Acknowledgment This work was supported by the Air Research and Development Command, United States Air Force.

Jan 1, 1956

By Arthur W. Ruff

One of the major challenges to management in the mining industry today is the establishment and maintenance of positive and dynamic programs for cost control and cost reduction. To meet the challenge, management must have a good cost system. There are various types of cost accounting systems in use today: some companies check their, performance by comparing the costs incurred during one period with the costs incurred during previous periods, while others compare the current costs with estimated costs which the company considers desirable. A third type of system is a standard cost system which provides predetermined allowances for the various cost elements and operating activities. Such a system, based on sound standards, can be established to fix responsibility for cost performance in each segment of the operation; recognize the impact of volume or rate of activity by establishing a standard volume and evaluating departures: take into consideration fixed and variable costs and their dissimilar behaviour at varying levels of operations: and provide consistent and equitable yardsticks for measuring performance.

Jan 11, 1962

By JAS. F. McCARTHY

THE present Hecla Co. is a Washington corporation; the Hecla Co. of Idaho was the old company. The older corporation owned two claims, the Hecla and the Katie May, and was incorporated for 500,000 shares of one dollar par value. The principal shareholders and officials of the older company were among the early mining men of the camp. Among the active officials were John A. Finch and A. B. Campbell. Among the directors and share- holders were Patrick Clark, J. R. Smith, Frank Upman, F. J, Kipp, Chas. Kipp, B. A. Kipp and Carl Landsee. F. J. Kipp and Carl Landsee are now directors of the Company. All of the others mentioned have died, but the surviving members of their families retain their ownership in the Company's shareholders. B. A. ,Kipp, who recently died, was the largest shareholder at the time of incorporation and Patrick Clark was the second largest shareholder. B. A. Kipp is a brother 'of F. J. Kipp, director of the Company.

Jan 1, 1924