Search Documents

By E. A. Anderson

IN another paper1 the writer has shown that the low permissible maximum fiber stress in a loaded zinc sheet demands a much closer support spacing than is used for steel. The limiting fiber stress in 13-gage (0.032 in.) sheets having a 1-in. depth of corrugation was found to be about 5000 lb. per sq. in. on a 37-in. span under a load of 40 lb. per sq. ft. Corrugated steel sheets are commonly laid with spans varying from 48 to 60 in. In order to increase the span in 13-gage zinc to 54 in. (a common spacing) the metal must be capable of withstanding, under long-continued loading, a maximum fiber stress of about 10,000 lb. per sq. in. This is known to be impossible with unalloyed zinc. In this paper the writer describes a series of experiments leading up to the development of an alloy capable of safely sustaining this fiber stress. The effect of alloying on the slow creep of zinc was studied by means of static tensile tests, accurate determinations of apparent elastic limits and finally by means of loading tests on full-size roof sections. Two industrial buildings roofed with alloyed zinc sheets on spans involving fiber stresses in excess of 10,000 lb. per sq. in. have been under observation for over two years without signs of sagging.

Jan 1, 1929

By N. A. Ziegler

THE present publication is a continuation of the work on gas analysis, described in a paper presented before the Institute of Metals Division a year ago.1 While that paper was largely descriptive in character, dealing with the various parts of the apparatus and method of operations, the present one gives numerical data obtained as a result of a series of experiments with iron-carbon alloys. The apparatus and the methods applied are essentially the same as previously described, changes being only in minor details. Attention should be called to the fact that in the present work we are dealing with the gaseous mixtures obtained as a result of vacuum melting of various ferrous alloys. It should be understood that when the terms "degasified sample" and "products of degasification" are used, they refer to the sample remaining after the vacuum fusion of the alloy and the gaseous products removed therefrom, respectively. The writer does not wish to create the impression that the metallic products of this process are absolutely free from any gaseous elements, nor that the gases obtained are present as such in the original sample. These two points are not yet definitely known and are subjects for future investigation. The point, however, which has been established beyond doubt, is that all the gases dealt with come from the metallic charge and are present either in the charge as such, or are produced as a result of chemical reactions going on within the charge.. The suggestion that the gases are due to the reactions between the metallic charge and the refractory materials has no valid basis.

Jan 1, 1929

By Harrison Schmitt

IN the practice of ore finding the geologist is continually confronted with the question of oreshoot extension, so that the general problem seems worthy of systematic investigation. This problem appears when the reserves are estimated and when the advisability of deepening the shaft comes up. Moreover, there is need for lower development cost to keep pace with cost reductions in other departments, or even to offset a rising cost of ore finding or ore following. This can be gained by close geologic control of the development; and much of the geology involved is that bearing on the downward, upward, and horizontal extensions of shoots. Furthermore, the purchase of a mine or prospect often depends directly on the question of shoot extension; because it is seldom that the ore is fully developed and the purchase price is almost invariably based largely on "possible" and geologically prospective ore. Most current methods for estimating "possible" and the more nebulous classes of ore are crude and indecisive. In the following pages the extension of oreshoots is the major theme, although the more basic subject, the general art of ore finding, is given some space.

Jan 1, 1929

By Jerry B. Newby

The outstanding features in Pennsylvania and New York during the past year were the buying of acreage for water-flooding in other Pennsylyania fields than the Bradford and Allegany districts, the wide adoption and use of the five-spot plan of development and water-flooding in the Bradford and Allegany districts, the discovery of gas production in the Onondaga lime in southwestern New York and the opening of the T. W. Phillips Gas & Oil Co. Fifth Sand pool in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Water-flooding has occurred in many other fields than the Bradford, Pa., and Allegany, N. Y., fields. In some the flood was a natural encroachment of edge water, in others the water was introduced into the productive sand through wells either accidentally or intentionally. Most of these floods have not been commercially successful. There has been some interest aroused in the Clarendon field, Warren County, Pennsylvania, by a new and apparently successful flood and other floods have been begun. Five-spotting in the Bradford and Allegany fields is the plan of water-flood development under which the area to be drilled is laid off in a grid of equal-sized squares with water intakes located at each corner of the squares and oil wells located in the centers of the squares. So far there are two five-spot water floods that are, beyond doubt,, commercial successes. There were 600 acres under five-spot flooding at the end of 1928, as against 150 at the end of 1927. By the end of 1929 there will be a total of between 1200 and 1500 acres five-spotted unless a low market for Pennsylvania grade crude oil develops. An increase of 6000 bbl. in average daily production is expected to accompany this development in 1929. The Belmont-Quadrangle Drilling Corpn. found the Onondaga lime or a higher strata at 3995 ft. north of Bolivar, Cattaraugus Country, N. Y., and a number of miles from any other important gas production. When drilled to 4006 ft. the well yielded 3,500,000 cu. ft. of gas and when shut in 1700 Ib. rock pressure. The one oil pool opened in 1928 was in Buffalo township, Butler County, Pa., in October, when the T. W. Phillips Gas & Oil Co. completed a wildcat well in the Fifth sand at 700 bbl. a day, which by the end of

Jan 1, 1929

By G. W. Grove

The Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association acid the Holmes Association have fostered many chapters that have served as a medium in increasing safety in the mining industry. Details relating to the formation, operation, and achievements of the J. J. Forbes District. Council of the Holmes Safety Association, which operates in the Uniontown-Brownsville bituminous coal district of western Pennsylvania will be of interest to all who are striving to increase safety in mines, quarries, and in the oil fields. The Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association The Joseph A. Holmes, Safety Association' was organized in 1916 by 24 of the leading technical societies and mining organizations to perpetuate 'the memory of Dr. Joseph Austin Holmes, first Director of the United States Bureau of Mines.

Jan 1, 1929

By A. R. Lee, G. D. Bengough, J. M. Stuart

Corrosion tests should be designed so as to facilitate as far as possible the interpretation of results, consequently factors which may affect the rate of corrosion should be controlled as far as practicable, and very full data should be given regarding the conditions of the test. Among the most important factors affecting the rate of corrosion is often the rate of supply of oxygen to the metal surface. It is essential therefore to understand the mechanism by which oxygen is transferred from the liquid surface to the surface of the metal. The work of Adeney and his coworkers has thrown much light on this mechanism. They have shown1 that the aeration of deaerated water and salt solutions proceeds much more rapidly than can be accounted for by mere diffusion, and have suggested that downward "streaming" takes place from the surface of the water, due mainly to an increase of density brought about by evaporation. The evaporation reduces the temperature of the surface layer, and also increases the concentration in the case of salt solutions. The effect of evaporation in facilitating the transfer of oxygen to a metal and increasing the corrosion of the metal was shown in some experiments due to Friend.2 He tested the corrosion of mild steel plates immersed in water in glass jars, a steady stream of air being drawn over the surface of the water in the jars. The air passing through half the number of jars was saturated with moisture, that passing through the others was dried with calcium chloride. He found that "in every case the water exposed to dry air was approximately twice as corrosive as that exposed to air saturated with water vapor." Conditions for Quantitative Corrosion Tests These results show that we must either control or prevent evaporation at the liquid surface, if we wish to avoid effects on the rate of cor-

Jan 1, 1929

By T. S. Fuller

The work of D. J. McAdam, Jr.1,2 at the U. S. Naval Engineering Experiment Station, Annapolis, Md., on what has been called by him "corrosion-fatigue" has focussed the attention of the engineering profession in general, and of those interested especially in the study of corrosion in particular, on the importance of making tests which will indicate as nearly as possible what can be expected from a given material in service. Pitting is unquestionably the chief agent operating so tremendously to reduce fatigue limits, but in the light of previous work3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 it is fair to assume that absorbed hydrogen resulting from the action of the corroding medium upon steel may, under certain conditions, have a perceptible influence. The experiments described in this paper deal more precisely with stressless corrosion, or "prior-corrosion fatigue,"9 and have been carried out to test such an assumption, to segregate, if possible, the effect of pitting from that of absorbed hydrogen, and although very preliminary in nature they indicate results which are striking.

Jan 1, 1929

By James Aston

THREE years ago the writer presented a paper on the trend of development in the wrought iron industry,1 wherein was described a process in the development of which he has been a factor, which at that time had passed through several years of progressive experimental development but which had not then been put upon a commercial scale of operation. The present paper deals with two years of observation and experience in the commercial operation of a plant by the A. A Byers Co. at Warren, Ohio. It will not enter into the controversial field of the relative merit of wrought iron and steel in various classes of service, nor will it elaborate upon the characteristic services or fields of utility to which wrought iron is particularly adapted. It is sufficient to state that the wrought iron industry is upon a substantial basis and that the material finds service in pipe, where its advantages are in superior corrosion, fatigue, welding and threading qualities; in bar iron for staybolts, engine bolts, and rivets, demanding maximum service against corrosion and fatigue; in plates for corrosion service; and in chains, because of welding and shock-resisting characteristics. In short, ability to withstand the stresses of shock and vibration, or the ravages of corrosion, to hold protective coatings, and to give maximum efficiency in welding, are its features of relative superiority. If these features were not well recognized, the wrought iron industry would have shrunk to insignificance in the face of high costs and acknowledged limitations in manufacture. To charge that this industry is built upon a structure of assumption, psychology, and improperly weighed evidence is an impeachment of the integrity or belittling of the powers of observation of users through many centuries of service experiences.

Jan 1, 1929

By O. W. Ellis

The question of the influence of gases upon the properties of copper has received the attention of a number of investigators, among whom Sieverts,' Iwase,2 Lobley and Jepson3 stand preeminent. Solubility of Gases in Copper Sieverts and Iwasé concerned themselves with the solubility of a variety of gases in the metal in the solid and liquid states. They determined the absorption coefficients of these gases and in all cases found a sharp change in solubility at the melting point of the metal. In this respect they disagree with Lobley and Jepson, who have based their opinions upon the appearance of small ingots of the metal which had been fused in an atmosphere of one or other of three gases and had then been rapidly cooled, while surrounded by gas, to the freezing point (rate—possibly 30" to 60" C. per sec.). The ingots that had been fused and cooled under nitrogen and carbon monoxide were free from blowholes and it was assumed that these gases were not absorbed in amounts much in excess of those which would dissolve in the solid metal; the ingots similarly treated under hydrogen were full of blowholes and it was assumed in this case that gas was ejected on solidification of the copper. The effect of varying the rate of freezing upon the character of the test ingots was not examined by these investigators; otherwise, it is felt, their views might have been subject to modification. Sieverts' most important contribution is that the solubility of a gas in any metal is proportional to the square root of its pressure or concentration. Knowing then the absorption coefficients of the various gases in copper, it should be possible to determine the analysis of the

Jan 1, 1929

By A. J. Lyon

The stability and permanence of any structural material used in aircraft are of paramount importance. The spontaneous hardening, or age-hardening, which takes place in some of the aluminum alloys under ordinary conditions of temperature and atmosphere, is accompanied by an increase in tensile strength and proportional limit and a decrease in elongation or ductility. Within the last few years the introduction of a number of strong and ductile casting alloys led to a study by the Materiel Division, Air Corps, of the permanence of the physical properties in several of these alloys. It has been found that even though some alloys have good properties directly after casting or heat treatment, they are not satisfactory for stressed parts that require a combination of strength and ductility. It has also led to the conclusion that all alloys that can be hardened by artificial aging—heating in a temperature range below 170" C. (340" F.)—will harden spontaneously if allowed to stand for a sufficient length of time. It follows that, in aircraft work where the factors of safety are limited on account of the necessity of keeping the weight of the structures as low as possible consistent with their safe operation, the properties of the alloys in the stable or final condition should be used as a basis for design rather than the properties obtained on the material directly after casting. The work of Wilm in Germany, Hanson and Gayler at the National Physical Laboratory in England, and Merica, Jeffries, and others in the United States, has shown that the spontaneous hardening is characteristic to a greater or less extent in all aluminum-base alloys in which the solubility in the solid state of the alloying constituents decreases with the temperature. It has been shown that, by heating to a temperature as near as possible to the melting point of the material and soaking at that temperature for a sufficient length of time and then quenching or cooling rapidly, a maximum amount of the soluble constituents can be retained in solution and the condition of maximum hardening effect upon aging can be obtained. Also, in ordinary sand and chill castings, without heat treatment, a sufficient amount of the alloying constituents is held in solution to cause important changes in the final physical properties.

Jan 1, 1929

By R. W. Drier

THE conductivity of copper wire is of prime importance to the electrical industry and consequently to the copper refiner and wire manufacturer. Annealed copper wire has a higher conductivity than hard-drawn wire, but, on the other hand, its tensile strength is lower. In an attempt to explain the reasons for these changes in property or at least to study the conditions existing in these two types of copper wire, the experiments described here were carried on in the Department of Metallurgy of the Michigan College of Mining and Technology. This is only a partial and preliminary report on some of the work done to date on a research program of which the object is an intensive study of copper. It is offered with the hope that, though it is not an exposition of the most rigorous of conclusions, the general trend of inferences which may be drawn will be of value and interest.

Jan 1, 1929

By Jerry B. Newby

In the central Ohio area well completions and new production each increased 60 per cent. in 1928 over the previous year. Gas wells increased only 27 per cent. The ratio of dry holes to total completions was unchanged. Ashland County led with 113 completions; a new pool in the shallow Berea sand near Jeromesville stimulated activity. Licking County in the Clinton deep sand territory, however, lead in new production with 972 bbl. Two other deep sand counties followed closely, Coshocton with 831 bbl., and Muskingum with 718 barrels. The Trenton rock or Lima field of northwestern Ohio declined sharply in oil well completions to 130 for 1928 from 210 for the previous year. New production increased from 3000 to 6100 bbl., the increase coming from the Murphy pool in Liberty township, Seneca County. The total of gas wells was unchanged as compared with 1927. The ratio of dry holes to total completions rose from 13 per cent. in 1927 to 27 per cent, in 1928. The largest producer in the Murphy pool made 1200 bbl, in the first 24 hr. The total depth of the wells in this pool averages 1475 ft.; average initial production, 125 barrels.

Jan 1, 1929

SINCE 1900, five underground fires of consequence have beenrecorded in the Broken Hill mines. These occurred at the Junction(1906), Proprietary (1906 and 1916), Block 14 (1906), and Centralmines (1923). All have been extinguished, but at an enormouscost; e.g., in the eleven months following on the 1923 Central mine fire the sum of £187,123 was expended in fire-fighting operations.To this series may be added others, as the South (1925) and British mine (1918) fires, which were extinguished before serious damage had resulted. All, however, have occurred within a period of 28 years, and in a district where spontaneous combustion, a prolific source of fire in the U.S.A., has been practically nonexistent. Therefore, definite fire risks exist in the underground workings of the Broken Hill mines, and, as a consequence, an active fire prevention policy is a necessity...

Jan 1, 1929

By Sherwin F. Kelly

Drilling in the Oligocene potash basin of Alsace prior to 1927 had shown important differences of level in the salt beds thus encountered. TO explain this a somewhat unsatisfactory hypothesis of faulting had been advanced. During the latter part of 1926 and the beginning of 1927 our firm was engaged by two organizations1 for the purpose of trying to supplement, by an electrical survey, the geological data this far collected. As a result of this exploration it was possible to affirm that salt dome structures were present in the Oligocene basin of the Upper Rhine, something heretofore absolutely unknown in that region. Two salt domes were actually outlined: one, near Meyenheim, was made the subject of a communication to the Academy of Sciences, by G. Friedel;2 the other, near Hetten-schlag, was briefly discussed by C. and M. Schlumberger3 before the same academy. The purpose of this paper is to indicate the stratigraphic and structural conditions of the area where these salt domes were found; to discuss the results of the electrical survey which led to the location of the domes; and to indicate the new geological outlookwhich such a discovery suggests. Stratigraphy In the southern part of the Rhine graben the Oligocene rests almost directly on the Middle Jurassic and consists, in ascending order, of: 1. Green marls, not salt-bearing, composed of fresh and brackish water deposits. 2. Middle stage, salt-bearing, consisting of lower-schistose marls and upper, variegated marls. 3. Blue marls, not salt-bearing, but including gypsum deposits; hence sediments laid down in a bay more or less connected with the sea.

Jan 1, 1929

By H. R. Hanley

IT is a well-known fact that the solubility of zinc compounds decreases when these compounds are roasted in contact with iron compounds, but descriptions of tests to quantitatively express the fact have not appeared in the literature. Possibly such an expression cannot be uniformly and exactly duplicated by different operators because of the variation in the personal equation. In a general way, however, the reactions between zinc compounds and iron compounds under roasting conditions will show a certain trend with changing conditions and the approximate quantitative expression of this trend appears reasonably well established by experimental work conducted for this purpose. Ferrites and Marmatites The name "ferrite" has been given to the compound of zinc and iron which has the formula Zn0.Fe203. Among the questions pertinent to this subject are those involving inherent or natural ferrite, and also the synthetic or artificial variety. The inherent or natural product is formed when the mineral containing iron and zinc sulfides isomorphously crystallized is subjected to oxidation at roasting temperature. These isomorphously crystallized minerals are known, mineralogically, as marmatites, and contain ZnS and FeS in ratios of 2 to 1 up to 5 to 1 respectively. The zinc and iron sulfides form a definite mineral. They are firmly attached to each other and form common contact planes through which diffusion of the entities occurs during the roasting process. This diffusion of the molecularly intimate entities produces, during roasting, the compound referred to as ferrite, in proportion to the amount of iron originally present in the marmatite. For example, a marmatite from British Columbia containing 9.739 per cent. Fe and 56.87 per cent. Zn corresponds with the mineral having the formula 5ZnS.FeS. The ferrite produced in roasting, which has the formula ZnO.Fe203, contains 27.07 per cent. Zn and 46.40

Jan 1, 1929

MEMBERS, JUNIOR MEMBERS, ASSOCIATES AND JUNIOR ASSOCIATES LIST OF MEMBERS ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED EXPLANATION OF SYMBOLS ** Junior Member. t Associate. || Junior Associate. Members are not marked. Capital letters signify Honorary membership. Student Associate and Rocky Mountain members on pages 165-167. Abadilla. Quirico A Catanawan. Tayabas, P. I. Abbey. Robert Graham. District Mgr The W. W. Sly Mfn. Co., 60 Church St New York. N. Y. Abbott. A. N Mines Supt Mazapil Copper Co Ltd . .Conception del Oro. Zac., Mexico. Abbott. Ckrence E Mgr Mines & Quarries, Tenn. Coal. Iron & R. R. Co 1242 Brown Marx Bldg Birminrham. Ala. Abbott. Louie Benjamin. Chief Enar Consolidation Coal Co Elkhorn Div .Jenkins, KY. Abeel. Gsorge H Jr., Cons. Min. Enar .Box 427. Santa Monica. Cal. Abel. Albert E Asst. to Pres Valley Mould & Iron Corp Hubbard. Ohio. Abel. Raymond L. Asst. Prof., Dept. of Pet. Refin Univ. of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh. Pa. Abernathy. George Elmer. Prof. of Geol. & Min Kansas State Teachers College. Pittsburg. Kans. IlAbernethy. D. Carl, Jr. Min. Engr Hudson Coal Co .Scranton. Pa. Abey, Hiroshi. Min. & Met. Engr., Min. & Met. Dept., The Higher Technical School, Osaka. Japan. tAbarn, Robert H Instructor in Met Harvard University Cambridge, Mass tAbozeid,Mahmood. Pet. Production E r . . Marland Oil Co. Ponca City, Okla. Abraham. Arthur W Geol., Richfield Oil Co Box 788. Bakersfield, Cal. Abraham, W. E. V Member, Staff of Burmah Oil Co Ltd. Nyaunghla. Upper Burmz, India. Abrahams. Alexander I Gen'l Mgr., Racon Electrical Co Slough, Bucks England. tAbrahammn. C. W Min. Engr The Mond Nickel Co Ltd . Coniston, Ont Canada. IlAbmn. Guy W., Asst. Metallographist, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., Research Dept., Youngstown. Ohio. Abstein. Henry T., Engr. & Mgr Profile-Tamarack Mines Co . .Yellow Pine, Idaho. tAcker. E. O'C Met I28 East Washington Lane. Germantown, Philadelphia. Pa. Ackerman. D. E Met. Research Lab International Nickel Co Inc Bayonne. N. J. tAbckerman. Ernest R Pres., Lawrence Portland Cement Co . .Plainfield. Union Co N. J. ||Ackerman. George F Jr. Min. Engr El Potosi Min. Co. .Apt. 13. Chihuahua, Chih Mexico. Acres, T. H Geol. Dept Valuation & Pet. Engr., Richfield Oil Co. 655 S. Flower St Los Angeles. Cal. Adachi. Jinzoo Address Wanted. Adair. Arthur C Valuation Enar., Internal Revenue. Treasury Dept., Washington, D. C. Adam. John. Min. Ennr., The Zinc Corp. Ltd., Box 4 C. Broken Hill, N. S. W Australia. Adami. Arthur E V. P Montana State School of Mines.Butte, Mont. Adami. Charles J Min. Ensr St. Joseph Lead Co 4540 Lindel Blvd., St. Louis, Mo. Adams. C. W.729 South Normandie St LaGranada Apt Los Angeles, Cal. Adams. Cmyler Geerwwd. Minn. Adams. F. J Gen'l Anent. Gulf Production & Pipa Line Cos .Fort Worth. Tex. ADAMS. FRANK DAWSON. Logan Prof. of Geology and Dean, Faculty of Applied Science, McGill Univ Montreal. Que Canada. Adama, Gale L Research Enar., General Pet. Corp. of California, Higgins Bldg Los Angeles. Cal. Adams. George I, Prof. of Geol. & Mineralogy Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Ala. Adams. H. H Cons. Geol Room 416, W. T. Waagoner Bldg Fort Worth. Tex. Adams, Henry. Cons. Min. Ennr 1050 Edgewood Ave., Plainfield, N. J. Adams, Henry H.285 Madison Ave., New York. N. Y. Adams, Henry Farnum. Engr., Charge. Experimental Work. Inspiration Concentrator, Inspiration Cons. Copper Co Box 354. Inspiration. Ariz. Adams. Huntington. Min. Enar I41 Broadway, New York. N. Y. Mama, Leland D., V. P., Leslie-California Salt Co 166 Montgomery St., San Francisco, Cal. Adams, Louis W., Illinois Steel Co .Gary. Ind.

Jan 1, 1929

By Henry Ferguson

THIS paper is a preliminary statement, intended to present the more important results of the recent studies of the ore deposits of the Alleghany district in advance of the publication of the complete report, now in preparation. The Alleghany district (Fig. 1) has been a producer of gold since the early days of California gold mining. As in other California gold camps, placers yielded the bulk of the earlier production, but during the last 30 years lode deposits have been the only important source of output. The district differs from other California gold-quartz districts in that nearly all the production is from small shoots of high-grade ore. The mining camps of Alleghany and Forest are on the western flank of the Sierra Nevada range about 20 miles west of the crest. The gently sloping lava-covered plateau which controls the upland topography has been trenched by deep canyons of the westward flowing streams, which are cut to depths of as much as 2000 ft. below the crests of the ridges. The district is about 18 miles from Nevada City but the automobile road which connects the two places is 31 miles long. The senior writer first visited the district in 1913 and published a short description of the lode deposits.1 The increasing importance of the district made further study desirable. A detailed topographic map was therefore made by W. B. Upton, Jr., of the U. S. Geological Survey, in the spring of 1924, and the senior writer spent parts of the field seasons of 1924 and 1925 in the district. For the second field season the Geological Survey was fortunate in securing the services of R. W. Gannett, who had already done geologic work in the district for several of the mining companies. Owing to the death of Mr. Gannett in October, 1925, just before the close of his field work, the work of preparation of the entire report fell to Mr. Ferguson. He takes this opportunity of acknowledging how deeply he is indebted to Mr. Gannett for his excellent work in the field, and his realization of how greatly the completion of the report on the district has suffered from lack of Mr. Gannett's assistance in the office. In October, 1.928, after the completion of the first draft of the manuscript, Mr. Ferguson made a short visit to the district.

Jan 1, 1929

By Max Mason

In 1923 a Western mining company was experimenting with the device of an inventor designed to locate buried ores by radio. Because the progress was slow and the results were confusing, the company began to doubt the usefulness of the method and invited me to review the whole question of the application of physics to ore detection. I was fortunate in securing the cooperation of several physicists who had worked with me during the war on the problem of submarine detection. This group has been increased and has been studying the problem of physical exploration for ores since that time. It was evident that the problem is a big one, with many angles of approach. Its general features may be set down, in rough outline, as follows: The soils, rocks and ores hidden beneath the surface differ one from another in many respects. These differences may be made to furnish a clew for the physicists working from the surface. To bring these differences into action the physicist creates some kind of an effect which penetrates into the ground and is distorted and reflected when it meets boundaries between different sorts of underground structure. In other words, he sends a message down, and the rocks and ore send back signals in reply. In picturing this process, we should not regard the ground as dense and impenetrable. The kind of messages used pass through the earth about as readily as a sound wave travels the air. If, then, the fundamental procedure is to shout down questions in the hope that an orebody will hear and answer back to us, it is clear that a large part of the expert's study must relate to the kind of questions best suited to the temperament and intelligence of orebodies. It will be easier for the ore to reply to some of our questions than to others, and it is for us to find the right questions. In certain cases, we are spared the necessity of using a messenger, because nature has already provided one. For example, we already have a terrestrial magnetic field which automatically and continually conveys messages from underneath. We also have available the earth's gravitational field which furnishes us

Jan 1, 1929

Jan 1, 1929

By D. M. Collingwood

The year 1928 has been marked by scattered but considerable wildcat drilling considering the overproduction prevalent in the oil industry. This wildcatting has resulted in the discovery of oil in one interior salt dome, several small fields producing from serpentine, Taylor marl, and Austin chalk, and two new fields producing from the Edwards limestone, one of which in the Bruner or Salt Flat area of Caldwell County promises to be of major importance if not quite as large as the Luling field. Fig. 1 shows production by fields for 1928, compared in the case of the older fields, with that for 1927. New Production From Salt Domes Boggy Creek Dome This salt dome was discovered in 1927 by core drilling and deep tests recommended on the evidence of surface geology. A large block of acreage controlled by the Humble Oil & Refining Co. covers the dome. Since the discovery of the deep-lying salt plug and oil on the flank of this dome in 1927, development has proceeded slowly. Since most of the acreage is controlled in a large block by one company there has been no intensive competitive drilling. Approximately 8 producers and 16 dry holes have been drilled. Production is from the eastern equivalent of the Woodbine and Eagleford horizons of the Mexia district, and has been found extending in a northeast-southnlest direction across the River Neches on the southeast flank of the dome. One of the best wells, the T. H. Jones No. 2, had an initial production of 90 bbl. per hr., and others have made from 100 bbl. per day to 50 bbl. per hr., but production of the better wells has either been shut in or choked down to less than 2000 bbl. per day. At the end of the year the daily average, production was about 2500 bbl. from 8 wells. Considerable gas pressure is present and one well, the Elliot Clark No. 2, drilled in 1927, was shut in with an estimated wet gas production of over 5,000,000 cubic feet.

Jan 1, 1929