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By M. R. Campbell

Coal is the geological product of entombed vegetal tissues. This view of its origin led Stopes and Wheeler to define it as "mummified plants." They evidently intended this term to be used in a broad way and to mean the preservation of the organic material, as such, regardless of the means employed to accomplish the purpose. The term " coal" should be regarded, therrfore, as broadly generic, and applicable to all accumulations of vegetal tissues as soon as they are covered and protected either by water or by earthy material. In this sense peat should be regarded as the first stage of coal formation and the term coal should include the resultant products of transformation in all other stages of the process until they have lost all resemblance to the original matter from which they were derived. If this idea of the development of coal is accepted and it is admitted, as the geologists claim, that the forces which produced this transformation of the coal have been active since vegetation began to grow upon the land, and are still in operation, it is obvious that somewhere in the world there are all gradations of this material from peat just forming in the swamps of today to graphitic anthracite which presumably marks the most advanced stage that can be recognized with certainty as belonging to the series. Some of these coals, particularly those occurring in the upper part of the series, are fairly well known because they are the ones that are most widely distributed and have been mined and utilized most extensively. On the other hand, the coals in the lower part of the series are but little known because they are not so abundant and, owing to their relative inefficiency, have been only slightly exploited and utilized, especially in regions where the better coals are abundant. The result of these conditions is that much research work has been done on coals of the higher ranks and a great body of facts regarding their physical and chemical properties and the uses to which they are best adapted has been accumulated, but little information is available regarding the coals of the lower ranks. Many able scientists, particularly chemists, have attempted to bring some order of the chaos of coals of various compositions and uses by

Jan 1, 1930

By Frederick N. Rhines, William A. Anderson

The investigations of Wymanl have demonstrated that copper deoxidized with several of the commonly used agents that confer immunily to ordinary hydrogen em-brittlement can still be embrittled if it is annealed alternately under oxidizing and reducing conditions. During the oxidizing cycle, oxygen diffuses into the copper and frequently deposits a subscale composed of the oxide of the residual deoxidizing agent. Upon subsequent reduction with hot hydrogen, the copper becomes ruptured along the grain boundaries to a depth sharply limited by the previous penetration of oxygen as delineated by the inner boundary of the subscale. Obviously the sensitivity to this kind of hydrogen embrittlement is engendered by the introduction of oxygen during the oxidizing anneal, but beyond this the mechanism of the process, and hence the controlling factors, remain obscure. There are several possibilities: (I) oxygen dissolved in the copper matrix of the subscale may, upon cooling prior to the hydrogen anneal, precipitate as cuprous oxide which is subsequently reduced by hydrogen as in the familiar case of hydrogen embrittlement; (2) oxygen in solid solution in copper may itself confer susceptibility to embrittlement by hydrogen; (3) the normally refractory oxides such as those of aluminum, silicon and titanium may themselves be reduced by hydrogen when in contact with copper; or (4) the precipitated oxides of the subscale may be complex compounds such, perhaps, as SiO2.Cu2O, which are partially reduced by hydrogen. These possibilities have been examined, and it has been concluded that the first three and possibly the fourth are operative collectively or individually under more or less predictable conditions. Effect OF Precipitated Cuprous Oxide and Dissolved Oxygen The literature provides no definite proof that oxygen in solid solution in copper can confer susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement; indeed, the research of Leiter2 seemed to indicate the opposite—that to produce the effect, cuprous oxide must be present in massive form and in a more or less continuous network along the grain boundaries. To test this point, pure copper has been annealed in hydrogen under conditions designed to ensure the presence in various samples of: (I) precipitated cuprous oxide, (2) dissolved oxygen only, and (3) no oxygen in any form. Very pure copper" said to contain no oxygen and no spectro-scopically detectable traces of any other element (that is, no individual detectable impurity in quantity greater than 0.0001 per cent) was used. Strips of this material cold.-rolled 75 per cent to 1/8 in. in thickness were subjected to the following treatments, the results of which are noted:

Jan 1, 1941

By Frederick N. Rhines, William A. Anderson

The investigations of Wymanl have demonstrated that copper deoxidized with several of the commonly used agents that confer immunily to ordinary hydrogen em-brittlement can still be embrittled if it is annealed alternately under oxidizing and reducing conditions. During the oxidizing cycle, oxygen diffuses into the copper and frequently deposits a subscale composed of the oxide of the residual deoxidizing agent. Upon subsequent reduction with hot hydrogen, the copper becomes ruptured along the grain boundaries to a depth sharply limited by the previous penetration of oxygen as delineated by the inner boundary of the subscale. Obviously the sensitivity to this kind of hydrogen embrittlement is engendered by the introduction of oxygen during the oxidizing anneal, but beyond this the mechanism of the process, and hence the controlling factors, remain obscure. There are several possibilities: (I) oxygen dissolved in the copper matrix of the subscale may, upon cooling prior to the hydrogen anneal, precipitate as cuprous oxide which is subsequently reduced by hydrogen as in the familiar case of hydrogen embrittlement; (2) oxygen in solid solution in copper may itself confer susceptibility to embrittlement by hydrogen; (3) the normally refractory oxides such as those of aluminum, silicon and titanium may themselves be reduced by hydrogen when in contact with copper; or (4) the precipitated oxides of the subscale may be complex compounds such, perhaps, as SiO2.Cu2O, which are partially reduced by hydrogen. These possibilities have been examined, and it has been concluded that the first three and possibly the fourth are operative collectively or individually under more or less predictable conditions. Effect OF Precipitated Cuprous Oxide and Dissolved Oxygen The literature provides no definite proof that oxygen in solid solution in copper can confer susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement; indeed, the research of Leiter2 seemed to indicate the opposite—that to produce the effect, cuprous oxide must be present in massive form and in a more or less continuous network along the grain boundaries. To test this point, pure copper has been annealed in hydrogen under conditions designed to ensure the presence in various samples of: (I) precipitated cuprous oxide, (2) dissolved oxygen only, and (3) no oxygen in any form. Very pure copper" said to contain no oxygen and no spectro-scopically detectable traces of any other element (that is, no individual detectable impurity in quantity greater than 0.0001 per cent) was used. Strips of this material cold.-rolled 75 per cent to 1/8 in. in thickness were subjected to the following treatments, the results of which are noted:

Jan 1, 1941

By Howard Evans

Moderate but substantive gains were recorded in 1972 in the minerals processing industry. In the area of mill design, a number of large plants under construction during the past two to three years were tuned up and went into production. The application of operating controls has also made some significant strides. Progress here has been made in the areas of on-stream particle size analysis, on-stream x-ray analysis, slurry transportation, tripper control, flotation reagent control and digital control of grinding circuits. The major contributions to improved equipment are coming from smaller specialized equipment makers.

Jan 2, 1973

By H. H. Stoek, G. W. Harries

The term " Anthracite Coal-Field " is generally used to refer to a comparatively small territory lying in the eastern-central part of Pennsylvania. This territory includes about 3,300 sq. miles of area, located chiefly in five counties in which anthracite-mining is the dominant industry. Although an area of 3,300 sq. miles is embraced in the region, less than one-fifth of this area, or only 484 sq. miles, is underlain by workable coal-seams. Moreover, this prorluctive portion is not a continuous area, but consists of a number of detached basins. These are known as the Northern, containing 176 sq. miles; Eastern-Middle, containing 133 sq. miles; Southern, containing 181 sq. miles; and western-Middle,containing 194 sq. miles. From the standpoint of business and trade, the region is divided into three districts, known as (1) the Wyoming, which includes the Northern field and the small Bernice basin; (2) the Lehigh region, which includes all of the Eastern Middle field and that part of the Southern field east of Tamaqua; and (3) the Schuylkill region, which includes the WesL ern-Middle field and that part of the Southern field west of Tamaqua. The relative commercial importance of these districts at the present time is shown by the coal-shipments as given in the following table :

Jan 1, 1904

By W. M. Brown

SEQUACHEE Valley includes portions of the counties of Marion, Sequachee, Bledsoe and Cumberland. It extends in a general direction parallel with the Great Valley of East Tennessee, some 75 miles northward from the Alabama state line. It is separated from the Valley of East Tennessee by a mountain arm about a dozen miles wide, known as Wallen's or Walden's Ridge. The genesis of the valley, geologically speaking, is simple. It is an erosion-valley along the axis of an anticlinal. The point of the wedge remains in a row of low "saw-tooth" hills, running up the center of the valley. These hills are of Lower Silurian age, and consist of Trenton limestone, covered and protected in some measure by chert. Walls of Carboniferous age form the inclosing mountains on either side; whilst a magnificent arch of Hudson River, Niagara, Hamilton and Subcarboniferous strata closes the valley at the

Jan 1, 1886

By H. R. Wheeler

CREATION of a "committee on promotion of student interest in coal mining" has an encouraging implication for the coal industry. It is indicative that mining men, both in the field and in the educational centers, realize that the problems of the industry require the best talent available. Young men are being invited into coal on the premise that it needs them, that it offers opportunity for creative work and the realization of their objectives. In initiating a movement which purports to meet the objectives of any young man who spends four or five years of his life in college, the industry does so with a full realization of its obligations.

Jan 1, 1940

By B. S. Old, E. R. Poor

PRODUCING more steel without major capital investment in new plants is one of the most perplexing difficulties which confront the nation's postwar steel industry. The lack of scrap at a reasonable price results in an especially heavy pressure being brought to bear on the pig-iron production facilities which consist of 245 blast furnaces scattered throughout the country but concentrated most heavily in the Pittsburgh-Chicago area. Present demands exceed the total optimum output of these existing blast-furnace plants. Management hesitates to authorize erection of new plants on a scale sufficient to satisfy 'the demand for pig iron for two main reasons: first, extensive building under the present high costs of construction would greatly increase . the over-all capital investment per ton of iron capacity; and, second, the amount of steel necessary for a major construction program would upset the already tight supply-demand situation. The answer to the problem would then seem to be the development and application of a method which would increase the capacity of existing blast furnaces with a minimum of alterations and expense. Experiments consisting of operating a blast furnace at higher-than-normal top pressures, as proposed by Arthur D. Little, Inc., were carried out by the Republic Steel Corp. initially during World War II, and much more extensively during the past twenty months. The results of the Republics trials indicate that pressure blowing is a solution to the problem of increasing pig-iron capacity without necessitating major changes to existing equipment.

Jan 1, 1948

By J. R. Linney

THE Eastern Magnetite Industry produced approximately 7,850,000 long tons of crude ore in 1945 from which was obtained approximately 3,650,000 long tons of shipping product or a ratio of 2.10 to 1. Lack of skilled or experienced miners was the greatest handicap. Veterans returning to work improved the underground labor shortage in some localities but as a whole the labor shortage was keenly felt throughout the industry. One cannot now predict what may be accomplished in 1946 but barring major steel strikes a worthwhile improvement can be expected. At the Richard mine of the Richard Ore Co., the shipping product for the year amounted to approximately 124,650 long tons of concentrate and lump ore. Crude-ore production was 160,600 long tons. The average analysis for lump ore was 63 per cent iron and for concentrates 66.05 per cent. The Warren Foundry and Pipe Corp. at their Mt. Hope mine produced 73,000 long tons of lump ore averaging 59.5 per cent and 57,000 long tons of concentrate averaging 67 per cent. The total mine hoist was approximately 209,000 long tons. Operations were commenced through the new Leonard shaft on Jan. 18; the Brown shaft through which operations had been conducted since 1912 caved beyond repair on Sept. 26. No one was injured but pumping facilities were somewhat disrupted. In order to reach designed capacity a total of 400 men will be required with 300 underground. Due to shortage of labor all operations in 1945 were concentrated on the 1700 level. As fast as men can be hired and trained development of the 2100 and 2500 levels will commence. Mt. Hope has a consider-

Jan 1, 1946

By Rossiter W. Raymond

By the courtesy of Mr. Charles W. Jenks, of Boston, one of the owners of this interesting mine, I am enabled to lay before the Institute a suite of specimehs, illustrating its peculiar formation and the paragenesis of mineral species which it presents; and a recent brief visit and rapid reconnoissance of the locality permit me to supplement this exhibition with a general description, based upon personal observation. The mine is situated upon the Culsagee Fork of the Tennessee River, in Macon County, North Carolina, a few miles from Franklin. The most practicable route by which it can at present be visited is by wagon (or preferably on horseback) from Seneca City, S. C., a station on the Charlotte and Atlanta Air Line Railroad. The itinerary is as follows: to Walhalla,* nine miles; Walhalla to Highlands, twenty-nine miles; Highlands to the Culsagee, fourteen miles. By passing the night at or near Highlands, the mine can be reached and examined and the return to Highlands made on the second day; and the round trip, if performed in the saddle, can be completed in three days from Seneca City. It is not easy, with due regard to steed and rider, to do it in less time. The rough and precipitous mountain roads do not permit rapid travel; and the journey is at best a fatiguing one. But its slight hardships are overpaid by the stimulating effect of the climate and the great beauty of the scenery, both of which are destined to become more widely known than at present, to seekers for health and pleasure. Indeed the town of Highlands, already named, is almost entirely made up of northern immigrants, attracted by these advantages and by the inducement of cheap land for agriculture and stock-raising. The Culsagee or Sugartown fork of the Tennessee traverses the belt of ancient crystalline schists on the west flank of the Blue Ridge. This belt abounds in valuable minerals. Among those of the nonmetallic class may be mentioned graphite, soapstone, serpentine, asbes-

Jan 1, 1879

By George M. Fowler, Joseph P. Lyden

PaGE Scope of this Report.................................................... 206 Production of Tri-State District.......................................... 207 Historical Sketch....................................................... 207 Location and Topography............................................... 211 Geology............................................................... 212 The Tri-State District.............................................. 214 Stratigraphy........................................................... 217 General Geological Section in Tri-State Region....................... 217 Stratigraphic Section of Mineralized part of Boone Formation........... 218 Stratigraphic Section Bird Dog Well.................................. 219 Metamorphism........................................................ 220 Structure............................................................. 225 Regional.......................................................... 225 Due to Metamorphism.............................................. 229 Ore Deposits.......................................................... 231 Types............................................................ 232 Hard-ground Deposits.......................................... 232 Brecciated................................................. 232 Stratified............................................ 232 Sheet Ground............................................. 232 In Dolomite............................................... 233 In Shale.................................................. 233 Soft-ground Deposits.......................................... 233 In the District as a Whole....................................... 233 Ore Minerah and Analysis......................................... 233 Paragenesis....................................................... 234 Conclusions........................................................... 236 Structure.......................................................... 236 Genesis of the Ore.................................................. 237 Future of the District............................................... 239 Acknowledgments..................................................... 239 Discussion............................................................ 239 Scope of This Report The Tri-State district. as outlined in this paper. refers to the entire mineralized area in sout'hwestern Missouri. southeastern Kansas and

Jan 1, 1932

By H. A. Guess

AT the outset, said Mr. Guess, I may say that although I believe the present engineering courses in the various colleges and universities could be arranged to give the student within the same time limit a broader general education of un- doubted value, still I do not agree with the view held by many that engineers in comparison with those of other occupations-let us say doctors, lawyers, bankers, and so-called business men-seldom arrive at high executive positions. After all, we must remember that engineers are not very numerous as compared with the occupations just mentioned and therefore a lesser number reaching high executive positions stated numerically might be a larger number stated as a percentage. We all know there must be throughout the United States say three doctors to one engineer, but I don't think that even numerically there are as many doctors in high executive positions as engineers, and it is a fortunate thing for the country that doctors as a class are so busily engaged in alleviating sickness and suffering and in the advancement of medical science that they do not aim particularly for high executive positions.

Jan 1, 1926

By Ralph E. Esarey, George V. Cohee

In Indiana, 349 wells were drilled for oil and gas in the year 1942. Of this number, 125 oil wells and 21 gas wells were successfully completed and 203 were dry holes. Drilling activity declined 37 per cent as compared with that of the year 1941. This reduction was brought about largely by Federal Conservation Order M-68, restricting drilling to one well on 40 acres, in order to save steel. This Order was later supplemented to permit closer spacing of wells drilled to sandstone formations in southwestern Indiana. Most of the drilling in 1942 was in the southwestern part of the state. Posey County ranked first, with 94 completions and 44 producers; Gibson County, second, with 77 completions and 38 producing oil wells and 2 gas wells. There were 58 drilling operations in the state at the end of the year. During 1942 a total of 589,734 ft. of hole was drilled, of which 231,702 ft. was wildcat footage. The total initial production of the oil wells completed was 9974 bbl. and of the gas wells, 11,148,000 cu. ft. (Table 2). Of the 349 wells completed, 122 were wildcat wells (Table 3); 26 were completed as oil wells; 17 were extensions to proven fields and 9 discovered new pools. Posey County was foremost in wildcat drilling, with 37 wells completed (Table 6). Thirty-five per cent of the wells drilled in 1942 were wildcat, as compared with 25.5 per cent in 1941. It is anticipated that the percentage of wildcat wells drilled in 1943 will be greater, although the total number ol ,wells drilled in the state will probably be less. The new discoveries in Indiana in I942 were, for the most part, one-well pools in the southwestern part—in Posey, Gibson and Spencer Counties (Table 4). Most of the development in pools took place in the . Hazelton and Kirksville pools in Gibson County, Mr. Vernon pool in Posey County and the Vernon Heights pool in Vander-burgh County. Deeper production was obtained from the Osage limestone in the Hazelton pool at a depth of 2402 ft., 650 ft. below the productive McClosky limestone. The well had an initial production of 140 barrels. Extensions to 17 pools in the southwestern part of the state were successfully completed (Table 5). An interesting development during 1942 was new production from the Devonian limestone in the Dodds Bridge pool, Sullivan County. The Ohio Oil Co. deepened one of its wells, which had been producing from a shallow sand, to the,Devonian, and it was completed for an initial production of 77 bbl. Five other Devonian producing wells were completed in that area. Crude-oil production in Indiana in 1942 was 6,609,000 bbl. (Table I). The Griffin field, Gibson and Posey Counties, which produced approximately 3,550,000 bbl., accounted for more than half of the state's production. The Mt, Vernon and New Harmony fields were next in importance of production, with 684,000 and 523,000 bbl., respectively. The price of crude oil was $1.22 a barrel for the old

Jan 1, 1943

By George V. Cohee, Ralph E. Esarey

In Indiana, 349 wells were drilled for oil and gas in the year 1942. Of this number, 125 oil wells and 21 gas wells were successfully completed and 203 were dry holes. Drilling activity declined 37 per cent as compared with that of the year 1941. This reduction was brought about largely by Federal Conservation Order M-68, restricting drilling to one well on 40 acres, in order to save steel. This Order was later supplemented to permit closer spacing of wells drilled to sandstone formations in southwestern Indiana. Most of the drilling in 1942 was in the southwestern part of the state. Posey County ranked first, with 94 completions and 44 producers; Gibson County, second, with 77 completions and 38 producing oil wells and 2 gas wells. There were 58 drilling operations in the state at the end of the year. During 1942 a total of 589,734 ft. of hole was drilled, of which 231,702 ft. was wildcat footage. The total initial production of the oil wells completed was 9974 bbl. and of the gas wells, 11,148,000 cu. ft. (Table 2). Of the 349 wells completed, 122 were wildcat wells (Table 3); 26 were completed as oil wells; 17 were extensions to proven fields and 9 discovered new pools. Posey County was foremost in wildcat drilling, with 37 wells completed (Table 6). Thirty-five per cent of the wells drilled in 1942 were wildcat, as compared with 25.5 per cent in 1941. It is anticipated that the percentage of wildcat wells drilled in 1943 will be greater, although the total number ol ,wells drilled in the state will probably be less. The new discoveries in Indiana in I942 were, for the most part, one-well pools in the southwestern part—in Posey, Gibson and Spencer Counties (Table 4). Most of the development in pools took place in the . Hazelton and Kirksville pools in Gibson County, Mr. Vernon pool in Posey County and the Vernon Heights pool in Vander-burgh County. Deeper production was obtained from the Osage limestone in the Hazelton pool at a depth of 2402 ft., 650 ft. below the productive McClosky limestone. The well had an initial production of 140 barrels. Extensions to 17 pools in the southwestern part of the state were successfully completed (Table 5). An interesting development during 1942 was new production from the Devonian limestone in the Dodds Bridge pool, Sullivan County. The Ohio Oil Co. deepened one of its wells, which had been producing from a shallow sand, to the,Devonian, and it was completed for an initial production of 77 bbl. Five other Devonian producing wells were completed in that area. Crude-oil production in Indiana in 1942 was 6,609,000 bbl. (Table I). The Griffin field, Gibson and Posey Counties, which produced approximately 3,550,000 bbl., accounted for more than half of the state's production. The Mt, Vernon and New Harmony fields were next in importance of production, with 684,000 and 523,000 bbl., respectively. The price of crude oil was $1.22 a barrel for the old

Jan 1, 1943

By R. E. Tate, L. J. Herman

We have had occasion to produce wire of Np-237 in small diameters for use in some chemical experiments. Since the mechanical metallurgy of neptunium has not been investigated extensively, it seems desirable to report our successful extrusion technique. Because of the neptunium activity and its attendant health hazard the experimental work was done in glove boxes and related equipment also used for Pu-239. At room temperature a phase neptunium' is a hard (Dph -355) orthorhombic metal of high density (p = 20.45 g per cu cm). a neptunium transforms2 to tetragonal ß neptunium at about 280°C and this in turn transforms to bcc y neptunium at about 577°C. The y phase melts at about 637°C. A temperature of 340° to 345°C was selected for the extrusion, this temperature being a compromise be- tween a possible advantage of working with the presumably more plastic cubic y phase above 577°C and the risk of having the neptunium react with the alloy steel die to form the low-melting Fe-Np eutectic. A 0.75-in.-long, 0.26-in.-diameter ingot of good-purity* Np-237 was extruded by the direct *C = 230 ppm, Pu = 200 ppm, thirty-five metallic elements below limit of detection by spectrographic methods. process through flat-face orifices to form several sizes of wire ranging from 0.010 to 0.030 in. in diameter. Molybdenum disulfide was used as the die lubricant. The extrusion was done in a vacuum of about 10-4 torr to reduce reaction of the neptunium with atmospheric gases. British workers3 at Harwell have extruded neptunium under similar conditions. The force required to extrude 0.010-in.-diameter wire at the rate of 4 in. per min was 6000 lb, as measured with an electrical load cell. Wire 0.020 in. in diameter was extruded with a force of 4700 lb at a rate of 2 in. per min, and wire 0.030 in. in diameter was extruded with a force of 4000 lb at a rate of 1.3 in. per min. An extrusion constant, c, can be computed from the measured forces, P, for the equation4 P = c log-A/a where A/a is the extrusion ratio or the ratio of the cross-sectional areas of the container and the

Jan 1, 1965

By AIME AIME

T HE Executive Board of the American Engineering Council held its fourth meeting at St. Louis on the first anniversary of the organizing conference which met in Washington on June 3,1920. Representatives of a number of the leading engineering organizations in the vicinity of St. Louis were present by invitation. The members of the Executive Board were guests of the Associated Engineering Societies of St. Louis. They were given a delightful ride about the city and were entertained at the Glen Echo Country Club at dinner. The special committee that had been appointed to draft resolutions to Mr. Hoover submitted the following, which were adopted : WHEREAS, our President, Herbert Hoover, has been appointed Secretary of Commerce in the Cabinet of the President of the United States, and WHEREAS, in consequence of his acceptance of this high public office, he has deemed it necessary to tender his resignation as President of The Federated American Engineering Societies.

Jan 1, 1921

By B. F. Tillson, C. M. Haight

I. General Remarks..........................723 1. Location............................723 2. Characteristics of the Orebody..................725 (a) Mineralogical (b) Shape, Strike, Dip, Size, Etc. (1) Ore (2) Country Rock 3. Historical Sketch........................725 11. Mining Method..........................726 1. Outline of Methods Now in Operation............... 726 (a) Stopes (b) Fill . (c) Pillars (d) Slices (e) Transportation (f) Miscellaneous 111. Mining Operations........................727 1. Shaft..............................727 (a) Sinking (b) Dimensions and Equipment, Sketches (1) Size, Inclination. Direction, Etc. (2) Timbering (3) Stations (4) Track (5) Hoisting Equipment (a) Skips (b) Engines and Ropes (c) Idlers (d) Man Cars (6) Loading Pockets (a) Operating Figures (7) Headframe

Jan 1, 1918

Jan 1, 1953

By M. S. NORTH

IT may be a far cry from the days of the old horse whim, and it is relatively a long way back to hand production in factories. Modern machinery has made possible deep shaft-sinking, newer methods have increased the recovery of mineral. Technically, excavating and ore dressing have advanced as has mass production and its many ramifications in the manufacture of commercial product. To those of the mining industry who would have us believe that mining and manufacturing are totally different enterprises, it can be said that certain differences do exist. These differences rather than being fundamental are the result of adhering to past practices which were possibly sound years ago but do not measure up today. Differences in managerial control, sales, and distribution, cost finding, etc., are often so pronounced that efforts to compare or contrast are almost futile.

Jan 1, 1930

The visitors to the October meeting will be given opportunity to visit the coal fields in Illinois, adjacent to St. Louis, the steam-shovel operations near Pittsburgh, Kan., and the Oklahoma oil fields. The coal mines of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas furnish fuel over all of the central region of the country. Especially at this time, this district is of importance because of the necessity of producing enormous quantities to meet the country's demand. Some of the mines produce as much as 5,500 tons in 8 hr., and. the total output of Illinois, alone, in 1916, was 63,000,000 tons. Visitors may see elaborate underground electric tram systems, large underground machine repair shops, surface plants equipped for rapid loading, and some of the most modern coal-washing installations. The conditions for mining here are somewhat simpler than in the east.

Jan 8, 1917