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H. G. DAVIS, * Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (written discussion ? ).-The only practical method of testing mine air for gas, until recent years, was by the effect of the gas on the flame of the ordinary Davey Lamp, and it is quite surprising how nearly the correct percentage of gas can be deter-mined by many men by observing the behavior of the safety-lamp flame in the different mixtures. Mine foremen frequently guess the percentage of gas to within 0.1 per cent., making certain allowances to cover the dust-laden atmosphere, in which the test was made. It is not meant by this that anthracite dust is explosive, but that its properties increase the length of a fuel cap on an ordinary oil-burning lamp, which, as Prof. -Young contends, increases in height with the proportion of gas and in-creased temperature. Naphtha or benzine-burning lamps have a hotter flame, and, there-fore, are more sensitive so that a smaller percentage of gas can be detected. Some of the fire bosses in this region some years ago preferred the Koehler lamp, while others did not care to use it in their morning examinations. In 1911, when the experimental mine of the Bureau of Mines at Bruce-ton, Pa., was being prepared to be exploded, a large number of mining men went through it to examine the entries, which were lighted by electricity. While so doing, they saw in the face-return-airway a Koehler or Wolfe lamp, that seemed to he burning with difficulty. An investigation showed that the lamp had been filled to overflowing with naphtha and was generating this surplus gas. This shows how easily we can be

Jan 11, 1919

The meeting of the Institute of Metals Division was held in Phila-delphia from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, inclusive. On Monday evening preceding the meeting, a dinner was held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at which many of the former officers of the Division and of the present officers and execu-tive committee were present. The subject of a membership committee was discussed and a motion to appoint such a committee with powers to go over the membership list for the selection of divisional members and to institute plans for additional members was passed. Mr. H. E. Howe and Dr. Johnston of the National Research Council attended the meeting and presented their plans for an Alloys Research Association. Many opinions were voiced as to the practicability of such a scheme and Mr. Howe expressed himself in appreciation of the cooperative thought and efforts given him. On Tuesday morning the Institute of Metals Division joined sessions with the American Foundrymen's Association and listened to the opening addresses. In the afternoon a boat ride was taken on the Delaware River, visiting the plants of the Cramp Ship and Engine Building Co. and the shipyard of the Emergency Fleet Corpn. at Hog Island. The launching of the boat christened "Afoundria" at 5 p.m. was witnessed by members of the party. The opening technical session was held on Tuesday evening at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at 8 o'clock. The next session was held at the Ritz-Carlton at 10 o'clock on Wednesday morning and the final session at the same time and place on Thursday morning. The sessions were well attended and the discussion was good. The highly technical nature of some of the papers on the program was of special note. Taken as a whole the meeting was one of the most successful ever held. The follow-ing papers were presented:

Jan 11, 1919

The smoker, Monday evening, was an unusual success. It was held in the beautiful gold room of the Congress hotel, which was very elabo-rately decorated with American flags. More than 500 were present. The gallery was filled with ladies, who responded to the request of the song leader and helped in many ways to grace the occasion. The enter-tainment, was a varied one and was original with the Chicago Committee, which deserves great credit for the unusual success of the event. Al-though it was mostly funmaking, Dr. F. B. Cottrell and George S. Rice of the Bureau of Mines gave some very interesting talks, illustrated by flags and moving pictures, of their trip through Europe since the armis-tice. Mr. Rice's talk dealt particularly with the demonstrative coal and iron regions and Doctor Cottrell's was devoted almost solely to that part of his trip in Northern Italy where he was investigating the application of volcanic steam to power purposes. This steam is derived from boracic-acid springs and helium is secured as a byproduct.

Jan 11, 1919

(Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members.) Mining Engineer. Graduate of Colorado School of Mines, 1912, experienced in coal, lead manganese and limestone mining, wishes execu¬tive position. A-2146. Graduate Mining Engineer.-Discharged, reserve officer, age 32, single, 7 years' experience holding responsible executive positions, in iron, copper, and talc mining. Well recommended. A-4913. Mine Manager, Superintendent or Engineer. Age 41, graduate of Michigan College of Mines; 20 years' experience in responsible positions in connection with large operations; in iron, copper, pyrites, lead and zinc mines; successful in finding and developing orebodies, increasing production, and reducing costs. Desires a position with a future. A-4081. Mining Engineer.-Graduate from Polytechnicum, Stockholm; 14 years' practical experience in Sweden, United States, Belgium, and Spain, in iron-ore development, mining, and milling; thorough knowledge of English, French and Spanish; desires position as superintendent or assistant manager. Good references; member; now in Sweden. A-4914. Research Engineer. Now in Chile on the erection of a 50-ton mill with modern machinery for the treatment of Chilean nitrate. Desires connection from the first of next year; with firm operating in South or Central America. A-4915. Metallurgical Engineer. Junior member, age 26, single, graduate Columbia School of Mines; recently discharged as lieutenant in the heavy artillery. A-4916. General Superintendent. Technical graduate, age 35, desires position over a group of four or five mines or as assistant general superintendent for a large. company. Has had experience in superintending mines, construction work, opening new and abandoned mines, safety and effi-ciency engineering and handling organized labor. At present employed by a coal company in the middle West. A-4917.

Jan 11, 1919

At the request of representatives of the Treasury Department, President Winchell appointed the following committee, which .held a two-day conference with the Treasury representatives in Washington Oil Oct. 6 and 7 to aid in deciding upon the principles of mine taxation to he adopted by the Government. The results of this conference, which is not yet concluded, will be published in a future Bulletin.

Jan 11, 1919

CHARLES SCHUCHERT,* New Haven, Conn. (written discussion?).- I embrace ace the opportunity to take part in a discussion of Mr. Woodruff's paper because a successful discerning of what actually constitutes pet-roliferous areas from the geologists' standpoint is worthy of our endeavors, not only from the intellectual side, but also because it may lead, as Mr. Woodruff hopes, to the more certain establishment of principles that can be applied to other continents in exploiting them for petroleum. This discussion will also embrace the results of two other recent papers, one by Alexander W. McCoy and one by Maurice G. Mehl.1 Sources of Petroleum.-Mr. Woodruff is agreed that petroleum comes from plants and animals, or possibly from both, and that it has ac-cumulated by migration into reservoir rocks. These reservoir rocks must of course be porous to become catch basins for the oil and gas, and then, too, their present structures are variable, as they occur in anticlines, domes, terraces, etc. , The structures, he states, are more widespread than are the oil pools, and the same is true for the reservoir rocks. Accordingly, there must be many good sands and structures

Jan 11, 1919

Executive-A. R. Ledoux, chairman. Membership-J. V. W. REYNDERS, chairman. Finance-J. V. N. Dorr, chairman. Library-E. GYBBON SPILSBURY, chairman. Papers and Publications--BRADLEY STOUGHTON, chairman. Nominations-Pope YEATMAN, chairman.

Jan 11, 1919

The only technical session on Thursday was a continuation of the Symposium on Pyrometry. The members not attending the symposium -made the trip to La Salle. They were welcomed by the Mayor, to whose speech Major Arthur S. Dwight briefly responded. After luncheon the party divided and was taken by automobile to the various chosen points of interest, such as the cement works, the various zinc smelters, the coal mines, and underground cement-rock mines, where underground steam shovels were operating, etc. A special scenic trip was arranged for the ladies. The party returned by special train to Chicago, arriving at 7:30. Those desiring to visit the coal mines at Franklin and Macoupin Coun-ties left by train that evening on a special car for Benton, and were piloted through the field by Mr. Putnam, superintendent of the Old Ben Coal Corpn., Mr. Carroll, assistant general superintendent of the Chicago, Wilmington & Franklin Coal Co., and Carl Scholz, general manager of the Vallier Coal Co. Through the courtesy of the various railroads the visitors were furnished a special coach which took them to the various mines with the least delay and enabled them to see more than would be otherwise possible. Mines 8 and 9 of the Old Ben Coal Corpn., at West Frankfort, were first visited; thence the party proceeded to Orient mine of the Chicago; Wilmington & Franklin Coal Co., where luncheon was served, and then proceeded to Vallier, where both the top and the under-ground workings were inspected. The party returned to. Benton and from there proceeded in automobiles to inspect the washery plant of the United States Fuel Co. at that point; and boarded the train reaching Chicago Saturday morning. Several left Benton for their homes without returning to Chicago.

Jan 11, 1919

FRANCIS T. OMENS, ? Watsontown, Pa. (written discussion§).-In the second paragraph, Dr. Thwing mentions the various stages through which clay ware. must pass but he does not analyze the third stage, oxidation, suffficiently. There are two elements to dispose of in a great many, of the shales that must he burned; these elements are carbon and sulfur. Dr. Thwing speaks' of the carbon, but intimates that it is safe to have a temperature of -800° C., which we find to be rather dangerous on a great tiffany shales. With. one shale that we handle, we cannot go above 535° C. until we have passed this particular stage. At 800° C. the sulfur will begin-to pass off and it is very necessary that plenty of air be ad-

Jan 11, 1919

Hugh M. ROBERTS,* Minneapolis, Minn. (written discussion ? ).¬The paper by Messrs. Hall and Row marks a distinct advance in the art of diamond drilling, because it records a systematic-application of a method for directing the path of the diamond bit. Their work is an admirable example of engineering development. They had a definite object to attain; i.e., the drilling of many vertical diamond-drill holes to depths of 2500 or 3000 ft. (762 or 914 m.). They availed them-selves of a method of wedging seldom used, improved the manner of making the wedges, developed a technique of survey, and put the process into practical, continuous operation. So effectively has this been done that they determine the average cost of the work. The publication of the results, in the form of detailed diagrams, makes the application general to whoever has a similar problem. The wedging of diamond-drill holes has been practised in the Lake Superior region for the purpose of making branch holes, particularly where the original hole has penetrated a great thickness of glacial drift. The uneven nature of the iron formations has caused the results to be somewhat uncertain. One operation, in 1907, near the American mine on the Marquette Range, by the firm of Longyear & Hodge, predecessors of the E. J. Longyear Co., resulted in the drilling of a hole 1828 ft. (557 m.) deep, with two branches at depths 100 ft. (30 m.) and 770 ft; (234 m.), respectively. A second hole from the same set-up went to a depth of 2497 ft. (761 in.) with a branch at 185.0 ft. (563 m.). In this instance, the wedges were forged to the desired shapes and angles with respect to each other. A drill hole, sunk in 1915,. in the township of Bates in the. Iron River district of Northern Michigan, which penetrated 385 ft.

Jan 11, 1919

With the coming of the month of 'October the various sections are beginning active work for the winter. The Colorado, Washington, Montana, and New York Sections are all doing good work in raising funds for the hospital bed at Rheims which is to be a memorial to the members of the A. I. M. E. who gave their lives in the great war. We hope that all the other sections will begin to work with this object in view and will make even a better record than they did with the Belgian Relief Fund. It was with much regret that the President, Mrs. James F. Kemp, and the Secretary, Mrs. Sidney J. Jennings, were obliged to forego the pleasure of attending the Chicago meeting in September. They were, however, ably represented by Mrs. Arthur S. Dwight who gave an informal talk after which was formed the Illinois Section, which has our best wishes for all success-" Over the top and the best of luck!"

Jan 11, 1919

FRANCIS B. SILSBE,* Washington, D. C. (written discussion?). ?This paper is an interesting example of the -solution by the methods of metallography of what seemed at first a purely chemical problem. The authors have shown: in detail, how the well-known corrosion of spark-plug terminals is due to the dropping out of the individual crystals of the metal as it becomes surrounded by an oxide film. This corrosion is usually quite slow but in special cases may become a serious factor in limiting the life of spark plugs. There still remains the problem for the metallurgist to produce a material that will be entirely free from, this trouble. One of the most startling results of the work is. the demonstration that it affords of the deleterious effect of a mechanical stress continuously applied to material that is at the same time subject to adverse chemical or thermal conditions. The particular style of spark plug shown in the illustration, and in which serious trouble was caused by this corrosion, has the side terminals fastened at both ends and the method of assem-bling is such that a considerable initial tension is applied to the wire. It is without doubt this superimposed tension that causes the inter-crystal-line network to line up, as it were, into a few continuous and deeply penetrating transverse fissures instead of forming a great number of shallow surface cracks. This result is clearly shown both in the case of

Jan 11, 1919

There were two official representatives of Foreign Governments as guests at the Chicago Meeting. One was Frederick Goransson, managing director of the Saudvikens Steel Works, who represented the Jernkonteret, the Iron and Steel In-stitute of Sweden, and who came to this country especially for our meeting. The other distinguished guest was Commander Toublet, who repre-sented the French Embassy. Commander Toublet delivered a most polished address at the Banquet, dealing with the felicitous relations existing between this country and France for the last 150 years. Com-mander Toublet was accompanied by Mrs. Toublet, who won the hearts of all the ladies present, whose guest she was.

Jan 11, 1919

A regular general meeting of the Canadian Mining Institute will be held in Vancouver, B. C., on Nov. 26-28. The Council extends a cordial invitation to all members of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers to attend.

Jan 11, 1919

LAWFORD H. FRY, Burnham, Pa. (written discussion*).-As a sup-plement to the information given by Mr. Bash, a diagram is submitted showing the results of a somewhat similar experiment carried out at the ordnance plant of the Standard Steel Works Co. In this case the ingot to be heated was a nickel-steel octagon ingot, weighing 14,700 lb. (6667 kg.). This ingot was to be forged into two 255-mm. howitzer jackets. A hole was bored half way of the length of the ingot, extending into the longitudinal axis, and a base-metal thermocouple inserted in this hole.

Jan 11, 1919

GEO. F. COMSTOCK,* Niagara Falls, N. Y. (written discussion?).-In this exposition of experimental data, the author infers, indirectly at least, that by the Charpy test information was obtained that led to the improve-ment of certain ordnance parts and that this improvement could not have been attained without the Charpy test. On examination of the data, however, it appears that the important point of the whole matter was that while the material had been accepted from the results of longitudinal tensile tests, it was really transverse ductility that was desired. The writer has no desire to attempt to detract from the value of the paper or to discredit the Charpy test in any way, but he would like to ask the author if he will not give more clearly his reasons for preferring the Charpy impact test for investigational and control work of this kind, over the more usual tensile test made in a transverse direction. The tensile test pieces are more cheaply made than the square notched impact bars; and from the former the limit of elasticity and the ultimate strength as well as, the ductility are obtained, while in the Charpy test only one property is measured. It does not seem that the author has shown a sufficient reason for favoring the latter test, when both it and the trans-verse tensile test served his purpose equally well in indicating the proper metal and treatment required for his special forging, and it is hoped that this reason will be given more clearly as a matter of useful general information.

Jan 11, 1919

The following list comprises the names of those persons who became members during the period Sept. 10, 1919, to Oct. 10, 1919. ADAMS, R. L Chief Min. Engr., Old Ben Coal Corpn., Mine 12, Christopher, Ill. Arizumi, Hiroshi The Kuhara Min. Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. BAILY, T. F Pres. & Gen'l Mgr., Electric Furnace Co., Alliance, 0. BALDWIN, A. J., Min. Engr Box 145, Pikeville, Kentucky. BALTZELL, WILL H., Chief Engr., Canadian Steel Corpn., Ltd., Ojibway, Essex Co., Ont., Canada. BANON, E. MAGAWLY, Examining Engr., Dawes Bros., Inc. 108 So. LaSalle St., Chicago, Ill. BARNES, W., Mech. Engr., Excavating Dept., Ruston & Hornsby, Ltd., Lincoln, England. BASHORE, E. GORGAS, Head Chem., The Babcock & Wilcox Co., Bayonne, N. J. BASS, A. L Supt., Hobson Silver Lead Co., Ltd., Ymir, B. C., Canada. BORN, SIDNEY, Chief Chem., Empire Gas & Fuel Co. & Associated Companies, 1100 Cherokee Ave., Bartlesville, Okla. BRADLEY, J. G,, Coal Operator, Pres.,& Gen'l Mgr., Elk River Coal & Lumber Co., Dundon, W. Va. BENNETT, G. W., Min. Engr., Sales Engr., Taylor-Wharton Iron &- Steel Co., High Bridge,. N. J. BRUFF, CHARLES E., Member firm Bradley, Bruff & Labarthe, 85 Second St., San Francisco, Cal. COLLINS, FRANK W., Chief Engr., Bradley, Bruff & Labarthe, 85 Second St., San Francisco, Cal. CONNELL, F. M., Min. Engr., Eastern Alin. & Mill. Co., Ltd., 905 Bank of Hamilton Bldg., Toronto, Ont., Canada. CooK, HARRY H., Vice-pres., Valley Mould & Iron Corgn., 137 Shenango St., Sharpsville, Pa.

Jan 11, 1919

E. D. WILLIAMSON,* Washington, D. C. (written discussion?).-The paper is interesting and suggestive and the work described should he carried to completion, as it presents points of interest quite apart from the immediate application in glass manufacture. It ought to help, for instance, in throwing light on the chemical nature of glasses and on all questions of viscous flow.

Jan 11, 1919

GEO. F. COMSTOCK,* Niagara Falls, N. Y. (written discussion?).¬A study of this paper raises a question on which it is hoped Mr. Stork will throw more light; that is, why does an oxygen content generated on poor melting conditions have a deleterious effect on the properties of the iron, while an oxygen content generated by the oxidation of steel scrap in the cupola is beneficial to the strength and chilling ability? In each case the oxygen is absorbed at the same time and place in the process of melting and it is by no means clear why the superiority of semisteel should be assigned solely to its oxygen absorption, when oxygen absorbed without the steel addition is admitted to be injurious. It is not apparent why oxygen caused to be absorbed by the steel addition should not pro-duce the effects of burning, sluggishness, slag inclusions, gas occlusions, etc., the same as oxygen absorbed by the iron in the cupola for any other reason, and it would seen that other factors to which he has not given sufficient emphasis must enter into the author's results. To an impartial reader of this paper, who was most favorably inclined toward J. E. Johnson, Jr.'s theory of the improvement of cast iron by oxygen, the discrepancy in the author's reasoning or statements is difficult to accept, and it is hoped that an explanation will appear in the final discussion.

Jan 11, 1919

By L. C. Graton

THE Federal taxes on incomes and excess profits are of course heavy. In 1917, the value of the mineral production of the United States was a little in excess of $5,000,000,000. The total of Federal taxes for that year, for the mineral producing companies, as computed by themselves, amounts, according to tentative compilations, to about $207,000,000, and the total for the comprehensive group of mineral and metal indus-tries to about $766,000,000, which figures represent respectively 9.5 per cent. and 35.1 per cent. of the total tax paid by all corporations. Be-cause of greater complexities in applying the revenue laws to mineral properties than to most other industries, opportunity is afforded for wide differences of view. The taxes indicated above, therefore, are not final

Jan 11, 1919