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R. 8. MACPHERRAN, Milwaukee, Wis. (communication to the Secretary): The importance of carbon in pig-iron, as well as the desirability of buying, for some purposes, irons which are high in carbon, has always been recognized. Mr. Summers, I think, has given undue weight to the carbon-determinations. The combined carbon often decreases materially as the center of the pig is approached, with a corresponding increase in the graphite. Even the determination of total carbon, to be of service, must he supplemented by that of other elements. By it alone, the softness of a foundry-iron cannot be determined. Car-wheels and No. 5 iron, for instance, frequently contain 3.75 per cent. of carbon. This is the percentage specified by Mr. Summers for his No. 1 iron, " with the silicon about anywhere the furnace-man wants it." It is true that, other things being equal, the higher the carbon the softer the iron for foundry-use. But to introduce any given percentages of graphitic and total carbon into a pig-iron specification would but make the specification more complicated, without increasing its value in a commensurate degree. Mr. Summers does not believe in the governing of mixtures by the silicon, and, in support of his views, gives several tables. It seems to me that both his conclusions and his tables are somewhat unsatisfactory. He comments on the irregularity in carbon, but fails to note the significance of the irregularity in silicon..The variation of 0.7 per cent. in silicon, for example, is too great to be accounted for by difference in blast. It might better be attributed to bad grading at the furnace, unsystematic sampling, or irregular charging. Deductions drawn under such conditions are of little value. In ordinary work the castings from the same mixture should

Jan 1, 1899

By James Norman

DIATOMACEOUS earth occurs in deposits widely distributed throughout the nation. The chief producing areas are in the Western States, where many high-grade deposits are known. Eastern deposits of diatomite are unsatisfactory for many purposes either because of impurity or because of the extremely fine particle size. Eastern users of diatomite, on the whole, must pay for transportation of the material from the west coast. The freight rate is necessarily high because of the great bulk of the diatomite. A satisfactory process of purifying the diatomaceous earths of Maryland and Virginia, which are unsuited for wide use only because of impurities, should be of value to eastern users. In the past, benefication of diatomite by wet processes has been limited to classification or sedimentation for the removal of sand from diatoms. Calcination with salt is used to produce a white diatomite when iron is present in the impurities, and small amounts of clay are rendered inactive in the process. No treatment has been developed whereby a large proportion of clay can be removed from a low-grade diatomaceous earth to give a diatomite of very high purity. In August 1937 the Federal Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with Dr. R. C. Williams, of Baltimore, undertook the problem of purifying low-grade Maryland diatomite by froth flotation. Work was done at the Eastern Experiment Station, College Park. Unless otherwise stated, the crude diatomite used was from the Patuxent River deposits near Dunkirk. This material, consisting of roughly one-third each of clay, quartz sand and diatoms, was representative of the usual low-grade marine diatomite found in the Coastal Plain Miocene beds of Maryland and Virginia and sporadically in other Atlantic coast states. As received, it contained 50 to 60 per cent moisture and probably had been wet since its formation.

Jan 1, 1940

By Juptner von Jonstorff

A discussion of the paper by Messrs. Jüptner von Jonstorff, Blair, Dillner and Stead, read by title at the Lake Superior meeting, but presented first at the New York meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute (October, 1904), and here published under a mutual agreement between the two Institutes. Correspondence. MR. R. HAMILTON (Glengarnock) wrote to say that it was known for many years, that unless certain precautions were taken in dissolving the sample, there was a liability to obtain a solution from which the ammonium-molybdate solution would not precipitate the whole of the phosphorus. In 1877 Blair and Finkiner independently attributed this interference to the presence of carbonaceous matter in the solution, derived from the action of acids on the combined carbon of the metal, and they directed that the solution should be prepared in such a manner as to destroy these carbonaceous compounds. This was practically effected by evaporating the acid solution to dryness and roasting the residue. Adolf Tamm, in 1884, accentuated the same view. There are methods founded on the above-mentioned observations which leave nothing to be desired in point of accuracy, but the evaporation to dryness with subsequent roasting and re-solution consumes much time, besides the minor inconvenience caused by large amounts of acid fumes. In 1888 P. W. Shinier suggested that the incomplete precipitation of phosphorus was due to incomplete oxidation of -.the phosphorus, and proposed to render all the phosphorus precipitable by oxidizing the solution with potassium permanganate, etc. Experiments were made to test the accuracy of this view (details will be found in the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, vol. x., p. 904), and the results obtained seem to-prove that it is the correct one. It was first proved that carbonaceous matter in solution did not prevent the precipitation of properly oxidized phosphorus

Mar 1, 1905

By H. H. Stoek

(Wilkes-Barre Meeting, June, 1911.) THE origin of the Mine-Rescue Service of the State of Illinois can be traced to two distinct sources, the work of the Rescue Station at Urbana and the Cherry disaster. During the early part of the year 1909, the Technologic Branch of the U. S. Geological Survey, now the Bureau of Mines, in connection with the Illinois Geological Survey and the College of Engineering of the University of Illinois, established at the University of Illinois, in Urbana, a branch rescue-station to supplement the work of the Pittsburg station of the Geological Survey. As a result of the work of training at the station in Urbana by R. Y. Williams, mining engineer, and James Webb, foreman of the Bureau of Mines, and the use of the helmets at several mine-accidents in the State of Illinois, . the people of the State were somewhat familiar with oxygen-helmets when the Cherry disaster occurred, in November, 1910. The oxygen-helmets were successfully used in connection with that disaster, and upon the recommendation of the Illinois Mining Investigation Commission, the Legislature of the State, assembled in special session during the winter of 1910, passed a bill appropriating $75,000 for the erection and maintenance of three rescue-stations, stipulating that they should be located in the northern, central, and southern parts of the State. The Act also provided that the stations should be in charge of a Commission of seven, two representing the United Mine Workers of Illinois, two the mine-operators, one the Federal Bureau of Mines, one the State mine-inspectors, and one the Department of Mining Engineering of the University of Illinois. This Commission was called together by the Governor of the State, Aug. 2, 1910, and since that time three stations have been located, built, and equipped: at La Salle for the northern

Dec 1, 1911

By R. E. Somers

Discussion of the paper of R. E. SOMERS, presented at the San Francisco meeting, September, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 101, May, 1915, pp. 957 to 996. A. C. LAWSON, Berkeley, Cal.-One point to which Mr. Graton (in summarizing the paper for us) called attention is that the author had not explained why some copper was fixed in the zone of oxidation. I recollect very well puzzling over that question at Ely, Nev., some years ago. Mr. Sales, in his paper on Butte,1 suggests the explanation. It is clue according to him to the paucity of pyrite in the primary ore. Where there is abundant pyrite sufficient sulphuric acid is formed by oxidation to take all the copper into solution and carry it to lower levels; but where the pyrite is scant so that insufficient sulphuric acid is formed, some of the copper is carbonated and so fixed in the gossan. The hypothesis, or some modification of it, as for example the combination of the sulphuric acid with lime, would appear to explain satisfactorily the fixation of the copper in the gossan as carbonate. I have, however, had no occasion in recent years to study the phenomenon. L. C. GRATON, Cambridge, Mass.-As I remember, the rocks in which the chrysocolla occurs in the Burro Mountains are both silicified and kaolinized. It seems probable that in surroundings deficient in carbon dioxide, complete oxidation of chalcocite may yield chrysocolla up to a maximum of half the copper in the chalcocite; while in rocks, like garnet contact zones and certain easily decomposable porphyries, surface decomposition appears often to yield silica in the necessary form to convert the copper of primary sulphides into chrysocolla immediately and directly upon oxidation.

Jan 12, 1915

The Development of Research and Quality Control in the Modern Steel Plant. By Leo F. Rein-artz. (Metals Technology, April 1943) Blast Furnace and Raw Materials Essential Considerations in the Design of Blast Furnaces. By A. L. Foell. (,Metals Technology, December 1942) Results Obtained from Surveys of Gas at Furnace Tops. By James M. Stapleton. (Metals Technology, January 1943) Physical Aspects of the Dust Catcher, Gas Washer and Precipitator on No. 3 Furnace at Carrie. By C. P. Clingerman and C. J. FleiscH. (Metals Technology, January 1943) Slag Control by Introduction of Flux through Blast-furnace Tuyeres. By Carl G. Hogberg (Metals Technology, January 1943) The Electrical Conductivity of Molten Blast-furnace Slags. By A. E. MaRtin and GerRard Derge. (Metals Technology, August 1943) Some Physical Characteristics of By-product Coke for Blast Furnaces. By CEarles C. Russell and MichaeL Perch. (Metals Technology, December 19+2) Pyrometry at the Coke Oven. By Robert B. Sosman. (Metals Technology, December 1942) Calcination Rates and Sizing of Blast-furnace Flux. By T. L. Joseph, H. M. Beatty and Gust Ritsianes. (Metals Technology, December 1942) The Low-temperature Gaseous Reduction of a Magnetite. By M. C. Udy and C. H. Lorig. (Metals Technology, October 1942) Steelmaking Problems of Total Operation in Steelmaking. By William C. Marshall and Frank G. Norris. (Metals Technology, April 1943) Silicon-oxygen Equilibria in Liquid Iron, By C. A. ZapFFe and C. E. Sims. (Metals Technology, September 1942) Equilibria of Liquid Iron and Simple Basic and Acid Slags in a Rolating Induction Furnace. By C. R. Taylor and John Chipman. (Metals Technology, September 1942) Rapid Analysis of Oxygen in Molten Iron and Steel. By Gerhard DeRGe. (Metals Technology, January 1943) Silver Chloride as a Medium for Study of Ingot Structures. By Karl L. Fetters and Margaret Dienes. (Metals Technology, August 1943)

Jan 1, 1943

By John Gillie

PRioR to the year 1902 electricity was used in the Butte district only for lighting, for the tramming of ores on the surface, and for the electrolytic refining of copper. In that year the Canyon Ferry hydro-electric plant on the Missouri river, with a transmission line to Butte and Anaconda, was completed, and enabled the mining operators to purchase electric current in large quantities at reasonable rates, and its application and use in the various mining operations and reduction works proceeded rapidly. The principal applications of electric current in metal mining may be listed as follows: Compressing air for hoisting. Compreeaing air for rock drills and pneumatic tools. Pumping. Ventilating. Lighting. Tramming. Compressing air for blast furnaces and converters Running shop and miscellaneous motors. Compressed Air for Hoisting. The Anaconda Copper Mining Co. operates 22 mine shafts and plants at Butte. Of these, 15 are large plants and hoists, through which most of its ores are hoisted. In 1912 this company commenced using compressed air in place of steam, in operating a number of its large hoists, and at this date has 10 main hoisting engines and 10 auxiliary hoists driven by compressed air. The compressed air is furnished from a central plant containing six compressors, each having a capacity of 7,500 cu. ft. of free air per minute compressed to 90 lb. pressure in large receivers, and conducted by suitable pipe lines to the various hoists, the air being reheated before passing to the engines. Each of these compressors is driven by a 1,200-h.p. synchronous motor, directly attached to the drive shaft, and takes electric current at 2,200 volts. Two additional compressors are being installed,

Jan 1, 1914

R. W. NEWCOMB,* New York, N. Y. (written discussiont).-On page 1638 mention is made of a new -instrument with an exceptionally high resistance that has been developed by Charles Engelhard. All friction and wear of moving parts of the moving system has been elimi-nated by replacing the hardened steel pivots and jeweled bearings, commonly used on other instruments, by a double metallic filament, one at the top and One at the bottom, under slight tension. Any pos-sible distortion of the moving coil, because of tension, has been eliminated by introducing a solid spindle as the axis of the coil between the points on the coil where the metallic filament is attached. The filaments serve not only as a support for the moving coil; but also to lead in the current from the binding posts to the moving coil, and as a source of counter-torque; instruments so constructed, do not require leveling, and are mechanically very robust. The clock of the recorder serves only to drive the chart at its specified rate and -to operate a small contact-making device; i.e., there is no other mechanical load on the clockworks. The contact-making de-vice is so constructed that there is a quick-make, a quick-break, and a wiping effect while the contact is being made. Contact surfaces on this switch are of platinum platinum-iridium. The operation of this contact, which occurs once each minute, sends a current, from a 6-volt supply; through a solenoid magnet, which operates the depressor bar mechanism in the case of the single-record instrument; in the case of the multiple-record instrument, it operates the automatic switch and color-changing features, as well as the depressor bar.

Jan 12, 1919

A MINING institute open to all men interested in any branch of the mining industry will be held at the Col-lege of Mines, University of Washington, Seattle, during the week beginning March 5. Prospectors, miners, mine owners, persons interested in metallurgy, investors in min-ing enterprises, and the public generally are invited to at-tend. This institute will take the place of the Winter Min-ing Session which originated at Seattle in 1897 and con-tinued for twenty-eight years. The complete new equip-ment of the Mines Laboratory will be used to give demon-strations of new machines and processes of mining, ore dressing, and metallurgy. This year the ceramic industry, including cement and branches of clay working of special Importance in the Northwest, will be included in the insti-tute. All instruction will be given by specialists. Prominent technical men and managers will give lectures on their special subjects. Among the speakers engaged are G. T. Jackson, formerly superintendent of the Alaska-Gas-tineau and the Chichagof mines, who will speak on the mining of large bodies of low-grade ore; R. F. McElvenny, superintendent of the Tacoma Smelter, on the nature of contracts that a smelter can offer to mines and prospects; M. D. Leehey, mining lawyer, on some popular errors re-garding the mining law; H. H. Townsend, on the explora-tion and purchase of prospects by operating companies; J. L. McAllen, on quartz mining in the Willow Creek dis-trict, Alaska; F. Powell, on gold dredging. In the evenings, lectures illustrated by stereopticon views and moving pic-tures will be given. The week will close with an excursion o mines and plants.

Jan 3, 1928

Professor Sir John Cadman, K. C. M. G. (1918) D. Se., F. G. S., M. Inst. C. E., was for two years Technical Adviser' of the Chemical Warfare Department and Liaison Officer between British and French Forces. The Cross of Officer of the Legion of Honor was awarded him in 1917 by the President of the French Republic "in recognition of valuable services rendered by him in the cause of the Allies." At the moment, Sir John is Director of the Petroleum Executive and Chairman of the Inter-Allied Petroleum Conference. In 1915, he was Technical Adviser of the Trench Warfare Supply Department and was awarded C.'M. G. in 1916. J. Edwards-Leckie, C. M. G., D. S. 0., went to Valcartier as second in command of the 72d Regiment, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, with rank of Major, and later sailed for France as second in command of the unit now known as the, 16th Battalion, the Canadian Scottish. He was promoted to Lieutenat-Colonel on Aug. 14, 1915, and returned to England to take command of the 2d Canadian Reserve Training Brigade at Shornecliffe. On Jan. 2, 1916, he was promoted to Colonel. R. G. Edwards-Leckie, Lieut.-Col. of the 72d Regiment, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada (which unit later became known as the 16th Battalion, The Canadian Scottish, and under that name distinguished itself in France), left Canada for "Over There" on Sept. 14, 1914. He was promoted in France to the rank of Brigadier-General on Aug. 14, 1915, and served until severely wounded in February, 1916. He was Acting Chief of the General Staff, Canadian Overseas Forces in England from September to December, 1916. He returned to Canada in May,

Jan 8, 1918

By W. P. Blake

One of the most remarkable iron-ore districts of the world is found in Southern Utah, in Iron County, about 270 miles south of Salt Lake City, and 10 miles west of Cedar City. This region has long been known in a general way; but, being at present somewhat difficult of access, it has been rarely visited by 'any of our members. Professor Newberry has published somewhere a short description. Last year, by the invitation of J. R. Walker, Esq., of Salt Lake City, one of our associate members, I formed one of a party, including Professor G. W. Maynard and W. S. Keyes, to visit and inspect the region. A special car was placed at our disposal by the courtesy of Hon. John Sharp, Superintendent of the Utah Central Railway. From the present southern terminus of the road at Milford, a drive of 55 miles took us to Cedar City, about 10 miles east of the iron region. The ores outcrop in a low range of hills or mountains, and stand out in such bold relief from the general surface, and are so massive and jet black, that they may be seen for miles before they are reached. These outcrops extend in long lines over the hills, and mark very . clearly the course of the beds, conforming generally to the inclosing stratified formations, probably of Palaeozoic age. These rocks are somewhat obscure, but there are large outcrops of limestone without much alteration. This, in places, appears to be the adjoining rock, at others the wall-rocks are porphyry, and at others apparently a quartzite and a fine-grained felsite. The beds of iron-ore are from 10 to 100 feet and more in thick ness, and some of the outcrops extend unbroken continuously for 1000 feet and more. It consists chiefly of magnetite and hematite,

Jan 1, 1886

By John Blatchford, William T. Hall

The product obtained by roasting stibnite is likely to contain some unoxidized antimony trisulphide and a mixture of antimony trioxide and antimony tetroxide. It was desired to determine, as accurately as possible, the condition of the antimony as well as the total quantity present. Attempts were made to separate the trisulphide and the two oxides by methods based upon their varying solubilities in different solvents, but no satisfactory results were obtained in this way. It was found, however, that by determining the total antimony content, the antimony present as trioxide, and the antimony present as trisulphide, a good idea of the chemical composition of the roasted product could be obtained. The total antimony was determined by dissolving the sample in concentrated hydrochloric acid, reducing the antimony entirely to the trivalent condition by means of hydriodic acid and eventually titrating the antimony back to the pentavalent condition by means of iodine in the presence of sodium bicarbonate1* The details of the procedure are as follows: Weigh out 0.25 gram of the roasted product into a trapped flask (Fig. I), add 4 grams of powdered tartaric acid, 2 grams of potassium iodide and 40 c.c. of concentrated hydrochloric acid. Boil the solution gently f;r 5 min. and then cool to room temperature by shaking the flask while holding it under running water. Then, very carefully discharge the iodine color by the cautious addition of 0.05-normal sodium thiosulphate solution, adding a little starch toward the last. Nearly neutralize the acid with ammonia solution, but leave the solution distinctly acid. Pour the slightly acid solution into 200 c. c. of water containing an excess of sodium bicarbonate and titrate to a permanent blue color with standard 0.1-normal iodine solution.

Jan 1, 1916

By Oliver C. Ralston, James Norman

DIATOMACEOUS earth occurs in deposits widely distributed throughout the nation. The chief producing areas are in the Western States, where many high-grade deposits are known. Eastern deposits of diatomite are unsatisfactory for many purposes either because of impurity or because of the extremely fine particle size. Eastern users of diatomite, on the whole, must pay for transportation of the material from the west coast. The freight rate is necessarily high because of the great bulk of the diatomite. A satisfactory process of purifying the diatomaceous earths of Maryland and Virginia, which are unsuited for wide use only because of impurities, should be of value to eastern users. In the past, benefication of diatomite by wet processes has been limited to classification or sedimentation for the removal of sand from diatoms. Calcination with salt is used to produce a white diatomite when iron is present in the impurities, and small amounts of clay are rendered inactive in the process. No treatment has been developed whereby a large proportion of clay can be removed from a low-grade diatomaceous earth to give a diatomite of very high purity. In August 1937 the Federal Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with Dr. R. C. Williams, of Baltimore, undertook the problem of purifying low-grade Maryland diatomite by froth flotation. Work was done at the Eastern Experiment Station, College Park. Unless otherwise stated, the crude diatomite used was from the Patuxent River deposits near Dunkirk. This material, consisting of roughly one-third each of clay, quartz sand and diatoms, was representative of the usual low-grade marine diatomite found in the Coastal Plain Miocene beds of Maryland and Virginia and sporadically in other Atlantic coast states. As received, it contained 50 to 60 per cent moisture and probably had been wet since its formation.

Jan 1, 1940

The Development of Research and Quality Control in the Modern Steel Plant. By Leo F. Rein-artz. (Metals Technology, April 1943) Blast Furnace and Raw Materials Essential Considerations in the Design of Blast Furnaces. By A. L. Foell. (,Metals Technology, December 1942) Results Obtained from Surveys of Gas at Furnace Tops. By James M. Stapleton. (Metals Technology, January 1943) Physical Aspects of the Dust Catcher, Gas Washer and Precipitator on No. 3 Furnace at Carrie. By C. P. Clingerman and C. J. FleiscH. (Metals Technology, January 1943) Slag Control by Introduction of Flux through Blast-furnace Tuyeres. By Carl G. Hogberg (Metals Technology, January 1943) The Electrical Conductivity of Molten Blast-furnace Slags. By A. E. MaRtin and GerRard Derge. (Metals Technology, August 1943) Some Physical Characteristics of By-product Coke for Blast Furnaces. By CEarles C. Russell and MichaeL Perch. (Metals Technology, December 19+2) Pyrometry at the Coke Oven. By Robert B. Sosman. (Metals Technology, December 1942) Calcination Rates and Sizing of Blast-furnace Flux. By T. L. Joseph, H. M. Beatty and Gust Ritsianes. (Metals Technology, December 1942) The Low-temperature Gaseous Reduction of a Magnetite. By M. C. Udy and C. H. Lorig. (Metals Technology, October 1942) Steelmaking Problems of Total Operation in Steelmaking. By William C. Marshall and Frank G. Norris. (Metals Technology, April 1943) Silicon-oxygen Equilibria in Liquid Iron, By C. A. ZapFFe and C. E. Sims. (Metals Technology, September 1942) Equilibria of Liquid Iron and Simple Basic and Acid Slags in a Rolating Induction Furnace. By C. R. Taylor and John Chipman. (Metals Technology, September 1942) Rapid Analysis of Oxygen in Molten Iron and Steel. By Gerhard DeRGe. (Metals Technology, January 1943) Silver Chloride as a Medium for Study of Ingot Structures. By Karl L. Fetters and Margaret Dienes. (Metals Technology, August 1943)

Jan 1, 1943

By Jan D. Miller

Under the name given to this column, I almost feel obliged to write about some aspect of grinding, but I have decided instead to comment on the future of chemical processing. In recent years, I have seen a tremendous interest in extractive metallurgy develop among undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Utah. For example, of the 12 graduating seniors this year, over half seem to prefer extractive metallurgy to physical metallurgy. In particular, they seem to be most interested in hydrometallurgy, or chemical processing, obtaining industrial exposure to the phenomena they study via part-time employment at the Kennecott Research Center and the USBM Metallurgical Center in Salt Lake City. The stimulus has been generated by society itself. Many students are dedicated to the proposition that new technology can circumvent the destruction of our environment, a concept which provides considerable motivation. At the governmental level, the recent concern for the quality of our environment has created action in the area of chemical processing both through imposition of stringent air and water quality standards, and through increased funding for technological research in this area. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) gave impetus to this movement when it pointed up the need for development and support of such disciplines as extractive metallurgy, particularly chemical processing, in a recent report on Mineral Science and Technology. The recommendations in the NAS report have prompted governmental action on many fronts, including the Bureau of Mines, and have also given rise to direct legislation in the form of two bills -H. R. 3492 and S. 635- presently before Congress to a mineral engineering education. The report recommends that chemical processing technology (more generally extractive metallurgy) be developed by both new engineering techniques and unconventional chemical techniques such as application of the chemistry of nonaqueous liquids to mineral systems.

Jan 1, 1971

By L. S. Pratt

In 1910 the author was engaged in a qualitative study of the radioactivity of several chemical substances and a few minerals. In the course of the work he studied the mineral allanite (obtained from granite ledges at Topsham, Maine), and found it to be appreciably radio-active. Recently the fact was brought to his attention that the radio-activity of allanite is not well known, although Hon. R. J. Strutt in 1905 published a list of radio-active minerals with their analyses, including allanite from Amherst County, Virginia.' In the work done, a standard type of electroscope was used, and the readings were made with a telescope, fitted with a scale, by means of which the rate of discharge could be readily determined. The natural "leak" of the instrument was carefully determined, and all results corrected accordingly. The method of study was as follows: The material to be tested was finely powdered, and spread over the bottom of a small, inactive pan. The electroscope was then charged, and the pan placed in position. The door of the instrument was closed, and the rate of discharge carefully determined. All results were reduced to common form to permit of comparison. It is to be noted that the materials tested were not used in strictly comparable quantities, such as if 1 g. of each had been used, but about the same quantity of powder was used (in the cases of the solid substances), so that the results are qualitatively accurate. The results obtained were the following, reduced to common form and corrected for the natural "leak" of the instrument used: Mm. in 6 Min. (on Scale) "Leak1'...................................... 1 Radium residue (in pan)....................... 720 Thorianite.................................... 62 Nernst mantle................................ 17 Uranium nitrate............................... 11 Allanite ...................................... 3

Jan 1, 1917

COLUMBIA LOCAL SECTION Executive Committee F. A. THOMSON, Chairman GEORGE W. RODDEWIG, Vice-Chairman L. K. ARMSTRONG, Secretary- Treasurer, P. O. Drawer 2154, Spokane, Wash. R. S. MCCAFFERY S. H. RICHARDSON The quarterly meeting of the Columbia Local Section of the Institute Was held in Pullman, Wash., May 16-17, 1914, as a joint meeting with the Spokane Sections of the. American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers, each holding separate sessions on the afternoon of the 16th With a joint meeting in the evening. The Section meeting was held in Science Hall, the Chairman, Prof. Francis A. Thomson, presiding. E. Jacobs, Secretary of the Western Branch of the Canadian Mining Institute, acted as Joint Secretary: About 35 members and guests Were present. H. C. Bellinger, formerly Metallurgical Manager of the Great Cobar Co., Ltd., N. S. W., Australia, described the Horwood process. Papers as follows were presented and discussed: A Smelting Furnace for Cyanide Precipitate, by P. S. Anderson. Mining Methods in Rossland, by C. H. Loux. Geological Notes on a Part of Central Idaho, by Prof. D. C. Livingston. Some Notes on the Ore Deposits of Republic, Wash., by A. M. Balfour. E. Steidl, of the U. S. Bureau of Mines Rescue Car, spoke on the mine rescue service of the Bureau, and E. Jacobs described what is being done along similar lines in British Columbia and elsewhere. The evening was occupied in joint session, J. B. Fisken presiding. Mr. Fisken read a short paper on the benefit to the young engineer of an association y membership in the local section of either of the societies represented in the meeting, and C. F. Uhden gave a stereopticon lecture on Power Development Along the Spokane River.

Jan 7, 1914

By Heinrich Ries

The manufacture of fire-brick represents one of the oldest branches of the clay-working industry in New Jersey, and is of more importance than is commonly imagined. The New Jersey clays were first used for fire-brick after the war of 1812, and one of the earliest records, according to Professor Cook, shows that clay was taken from Woodbridge to Boston in 1816, arid used for that purpose. The value of the clays of the Woodbridge district does not seem to have been well and widely recognized for some years, however, although in 1855 the statistics, given in the Geological Report, show that clay for making 50,000,000 fire-bricks was then taken annually from the pits at Woodbridge, Perth Amboy and South Amboy. Perhaps the oldest works in the State was that known as the Salamander works (no longer in existence), where brick were made as early as 1825. A little later, in 1836, John R. Watson established a factory at Perth Amboy, and in 1858 Sayre & Fisher began the manufacture of fire-brick at Washington. The works of W. H. Berry at Woodbridge began operations in 1845, and have continued up to the present clay, although in 1896 the name was changed to J. E. Berry. The works of Henry Maurer & Son were established in 1856, and those of M. D. Valentine & Brother in 1865. These latter were started for making bath brick; later, sewer-pipe, and, finally, fire-brick and other refractory shapes were produced. A branch-works, located at Valentine on the Central railroad of New Jersey, was started in 1887. Even in the last two years several works have begun the manufacture of fire-brick. These include factories erected by

Jan 1, 1904

ARTHUR PHILLIPS,* Bridgeport, Conn. (written discussion?).-It is to, be regretted that the very valuable paper by Messrs. Bassett and Davis did not appear in the early war period. The data presented would have been of inestimable service to inspectors, of cartridge brass who, admittedly, had little or no knowledge regarding the relation of grain size to temperature of anneal, and no real appreciation of, the significance of the Brinell hardness test. The paper is of considerable interest to, metallurgists also. WALTER R. HIBBARD, ? Bridgeport. Conn. (written discussion§).-The writer has carefully studied Messrs. Bassett and Davis's paper with considerable interest, inasmuch as our laboratory has tested cartridge brass by means of a Brinell machine. In March, 1917, at the suggestion of the Technical Department of the American Brass Co., we started a comparison of grain-size measurements and Brinell hardness of-cartridge brass with a gage of 0.1 in. or greater. This was continued until March, 1918, when we adopted the Brinell hardness test as standard for brass 0.1 in. gage or greater, and discontinued grain-size measurements upon this metal. The data collected during the test showed that the Brinell hardness indicated more accurately how the metal acted in actual working operations. It was also more reliable because two manipulators check themselves closer by the Brinell test than by the grain-size measurements. It also consumed less time in making the tests. Alfred V. de Forest, formerly assistant research engineer of our laboratories, has described the apparatus and some of the checking results in a paper read June, 1918, before the American Society for Testing Materials.1 The writer hopes that a more satisfactory. method for testing cartridge brass and gilding in gages thinner than 0.1 in. may be devised than the present method of grain-size measurements.

Jan 3, 1919

By I. N. Knap

Discussion of the paper of HOWARD R. HUGHES, presented at the Now York meeting, February, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 99, March, 1915, pp. 629 to 635. I. N. KNAPP, Ardmore, Pa.-The claims made in the paper for the Sharp & Hughes cone bit are modest. I have used it with satisfactory results. It is a wonder for eating through hard, brittle rock; it will drill through iron pyrites that the fish-tail bit cannot enter. Soft ground is apt to contain concretions that are much harder than the containing ground. ?We have at times in drilling with a fish-tail bit thought the hole was partly in such hard material and partly in soft, thus making a difficult place to drill past in the ordinary way. By changing to a Sharp & Hughes cone bit such obstructions were easily overcome. This cone bit has greatly widened the range of work that may now be profitably accomplished by the hydraulic rotary method of drilling. It is not, however, adapted to drill soft or sticky ground, the old fish-tail bit being better for such purposes. The fish-tail bit usually scrapes its way through the material drilled, but not always. I believe at times it cuts and chips in soft friable rock. That is, the bit seems to bite into the rock, and when sufficient torsion is put on the drill stem it breaks its hold and jumps around and chips the rock from the bottom of the hole, like a stone cutter's chisel, and then takes another hold. This condition occurs only in friable material when the bit is sharp and the feed properly controlled. The Sharp & Hughes cone bit is a most valuable -tool for the rotary driller.

Jan 5, 1915