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One of the engineering proposals in the last Congress which was of interest to engineers was the soldiers' land settlement plan proposed by Secretary Lane, under which returned soldiers, sailors and marines would be employed on construction work in the reclamation of swamp and arid lands and would thereafter be given preference in the selection and settlement of those lands. This bill failed in the fillibuster at the end of the session. It is likely that some sort of a plan for soldiers' settlement will come before the next Congress. A new bill has been written up for introduction at the next session which proposes an "infiltration method" of buying improved farms in established communities for' the soldiers' settlement purpose, under the authority and direction of the Farm Loan Board. The contrast of this bill to the one recommended by Secretary Lane is of vital importance to engineers at this time; first, because of the broad engineering improvement program that the latter bill proposes as against no engineering improvement under the infiltration plan; secondly, the community settlement plan of Secretary Lane means improvement of waste lands requiring much engineering work.

Jan 7, 1919

Inflation, fuel shortages, environmental restrictions, and a worldwide recession that sharply curtailed the demand for goods and services, were the main causes for the poor performance & virtually all industrial minerals in 1975. This poor showing was not a surprise. As Felix Shay correctly predicted in his introductory remarks to last year's industrial Minerals Review (ME, Feb. 1975, p. 70), ". . . the minerals industry will soon be facing falling demand as a consequence of sharp declines in auto production, housing, appliances, and other consumer goods. Moreover, when sales weaken. the high-volume, low-priced industrial minerals will incur sharply.

Jan 3, 1976

By Bruno Nordberg

THE high cost of coal in Butte and the development of large amounts of cheap electric power from the Missouri river caused the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. in 1908 to make an investigation as to the possibility of adapting this cheap electric power for the operation of their many large hoisting plants. At this time electric power had already been adopted for practically all other power purposes around the mines, such as pumping, compressing air, etc. The map (Fig. 1) shows the location of the mines of the Butte mining district. These mines are located within a circle of approximately a 1-mile

Jan 9, 1913

ENGINEERS AVAILABLE (Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members.) Member, Cornell M. E., graduate, aged 31, married. Will soon complete 2 years' engagement in the Russian oil fields. Eight years' practical experience in drilling for and producing oil. Can speak Russian fluently and some French and German. Open for engagement. Interview after August 15, in the United States. No. 299. Member, graduate mining engineer. Married. Aged 38. For past 6 years, general superintendent of large silver mine in. Mexico. Desires connection with responsible mining company, preferably in the United States. Has had 15 years' experience in the United States and Mexico, including mine engineering, sampling, examinations,' milling and mine superintendence. No. 312. Metallurgist, 4 years' experience in electric furnace operation on steel, ferro-alloys and smelting of ores, both practical and research, desires position as metallurgist or superintendent. No. 314. Member, technical mining graduate. 5 years' experience in coal and metal mines and construction work. Married. Aged 27. Employed at present. Interview in Salt Lake City or Denver. No. 316.

Jan 10, 1916

By L. G. Huntley

THE only oil produced in Colombia during the past year has been that from the Tropical Oil Co. concession, operated by the International Petroleum Co. This has been about the same in amount as that of 1923, or approximately half a-million barrels gross, which has been used to supply the domestic requirements of the republic and for the company's own use, in about equal proportions. The Tropical Oil Co.'s field at Infantas has 17 producing wells, for the most part shut in. The company claims an average initial production of about 1000 bbl. each for these wells, which would represent a total potential production of 10,000 bbl. However, the area already outlined by this work is considerable, as drilling has apparently been carried on with the idea in mind of blocking out the field, rather than developing the greatest possible production. Therefore, whether or not the pipeline of the Andian National Corpn. is being built to take care of the amount of crude production admitted by the Tropical Oil Co., or a greater prospective amount, it is certain that this production could be quickly increased if desired.

Jan 3, 1925

The National Labor Board, on June 25, ended its activities preparatory to final, dissolution by the President. No new cases will be heard nor new applications received. Controversies, jointly submitted, that could not be concluded prior to June 30, were assigned to the joint chairmen or a section of the board for disposition. The conclusion of the board's activities marks the passing of. one of the governmental agencies created during the war to further production of war materials. The board was organized under a Presidential proclamation with former President Taft and Frank P. Walsh of Kansas City as joint Chairmen, and with five members representing labor, five employers' representatives, and two members acting for the public. Mr. Walsh resigned soon after the signing of the armistice and was succeeded by Basil M. Manly of Washington. During the year that ended May 31, the hoard received 1245 cases, made awards in 462 cases, dismissed 391 for various cases, referred 315 to specified agencies, and suspended one case. Fifty-three cases remained on the docket because the hoard could not agree, and 23 cases were pending.

Jan 8, 1919

By Willard L. Thorp

AFTER the first session which Secretary Marshall had with the Foreign Relations Committee, the members of the press asked what he had said His only comment, in summarizing his two-hour conference was, "The world is in a very critical condition " Undoubtedly he had many different aspects of the world in mind, but I wish to underline today the truth of the statement with reference to the economic field V-E day was 22 months ago, V-J day was 19 months ago The hoped-for world of peace and plenty gives signs of attaining the peace, but the plenty seems tragically remote For great areas in the world, the present level of economic activity is very, very low Men are not working, goods are not being produced, whole areas of activity suffer from economic paralysis We in this country do not fully appreciate the situation because the United States is above prewar levels in economic activity We are the exception The same cannot be said for the world in general There are still large areas where industrial activity is not more than half the prewar level

Jan 1, 1947

It was a brilliant idea that suggested the formation of Local Sections of the Institute. The results in increase of membership and attendance at, annual meetings of the Institute have been very gratifying. Many different plans have been followed by the various Local Sections to interest members in the local meetings. It has been found to be almost necessary that the meetings be preceded by luncheon or dinner at some club or hotel where a suitable assembly room is available for the after meeting. Each Local Section has to work out its own type of meeting to suit its conditions. Like all human affairs, a great deal depends on the leader. Special attention should be paid to the qualifications of the Chairman and Secretary as these two officers have to shoulder most of the responsibility for the success or failure of the Section. They should be chosen, not so much on account of prominence in the profession as for their push and popularity with the local membership. It has been developed that in most Local Sections the meetings should not be more frequent than once a month with a vacation during the summer months.

Jan 7, 1919

In 1934 the Southern Experiment Station of the U.S. Bureau of Mines in. cooperation with the University of Alabama began an investiga-tion of the availability of kyanite ores as a source of raw material for the manufacture of refractories. Under this program, gravity concentration and flotation tests have been made on two varieties of Georgia kyanite ore, mica schist and massive. Most of the attention has been directed to the mica schist ores, as they are more widely distributed and seem to offer greater economic possibilities than the massive ores. It is evident that the preparation of kyanite for use as a refractory material involves other considerations than the mere elimination of impurities. A concentration process that eliminates impurities satisfactorily may have to be followed by some additional treatment, since the final product must be of a coarse-ness and size ratio that will make it suitable for refractories manufacture. So far in the investigation at the Southern Experiment Station of the U.S. Bureau of Mines only the concentration problem has been considered, and this paper is intended as an interim report.

Jan 1, 1936

By L. G. Huntley

THE only oil produced in Colombia during the past year has been that from the Tropical Oil Co. concession, operated by the International Petroleum Co. This has been about the same in amount as that of 1923, or approximately half a million barrels gross, which has been used to supply the domestic requirements of the republic and for the company's own use, in about equal proportions. The Tropical Oil Co.'s field at Infantas has 17 producing wells, for the most part shut in. The company claims an average initial production of about 1000 bbl. each for these wells, which would represent a total potential production of 10,000 bbl. However, the area already outlined by this work is considerable, as drilling has apparently been carried on with the idea in mind of blocking out the field, rather than developing the greatest possible production. Therefore, whether or not the pipeline of the Andian National Corpn. is being built to take care of the amount of crude production admitted by the Tropical Oil Co., or a greater prospective amount, it is certain that this production could be quickly increased if desired.

Jan 3, 1925

This brief resume of the events transpiring in Mexico, culled from the daily New York newspapers since the last Bulletin went to press, does not show any degree of improvement in the situation. MEXICO SEEKS TO AVOID BLAME FOR BANDIT RAIDS All foreign passengers leaving Nogales for Mexico on the Southern Pacific or Mexico Railroad. whose business would take them through territory occupied by the Yaqui Indians or Mexican bandits were requested by Mexican Consul Emilio Tamez to sign a statement that they relieve the Mexican government of responsi-bility for anything which might happen to them while in that part of Mexico. The Mexican consul stated, says the N. Y. Tribune, that this was by order of Mexican Ambassador Ignacio Bon ill as, at Washington. When the State Department was advised of this activity Secretary Phillips, in a message to the consulate at Tampico, according to the N. Y. Tribune, asserted that "compliance with the waiver requirement will not interfere with the relation existing between the United States and its citizens and that Americans so complying will in no way lose the protection of this government."

Jan 11, 1919

By John V. Beall

On weekends things get pretty interesting out our way because the fleet is usually in. Our No. 2 son is now based at New London, which Isn't far from here, and he brings his friends home. No. 1 son is a re- cent Navy veteran, and he lives at home. It is just as well that the Pentagon can't hear what is said. This is all aside from the point except that last Friday evening, Dave Meinhard, a redheaded nukie (nuclear sub crewman) from Indiana, commented on our late arrival home In obvious need of a pick-me-up. "Just like my dad; but he has it rougher than you. We live in La Porte, Ind., and every day he drives 35 minutes to work at Bridgeman, Mich., and loses an hour on the time zone. It's really exhausting. You should see him." We feel very sympathetic. He should receive extra pay. However, extra pay benefits are hard to come by although the reverse comes relatively easy. For example Grass Valley, Calif., was such a nice place to live 25 years ago that they compensated for it by making an appropriate deduction for the s

Jan 1, 1971

Furnace Builder. Engineer with extensive experience in furnace building. Position with well-established firm, branching into new fields. Location Ohio. 11-1343. Erecting and Operating Engineer to take charge of erection of gas-producer equipment and to teach customers how to operate such equipment. Location Ohio. Salary $250 per month. R-1339. Assistant Professor in Mining School, for instruction work; must have had experience in ore dressing and metallurgy. Location Missouri. Salary $1500-$2100 per school year (8 mo.). R-1332. Consulting Engineer, familiar with construction of artesian wells to act in a consulting capacity. Location New York City. R-1324. Mining Engineer and Investigator to do non-metallic mineral investigations in both field and office for United States Government. Position will last at least a year, and may become permanent. Location Washington, D. C. Salary $1800-$2700 depending on qualifications of appointee. R.-1317. Crushing Plant Superintendent, cement mill and construction experience essential. Prefer man who has had limestone crushing experience. Location New York. R-1314. Assistant Professor of Coal Mining, must be a graduate of mining engineering and have had some coal mining experience. Location Philadelphia.. Salary $2200 for school year of 10 months. R-1312.

Jan 9, 1919

By William Braden

This paper is presented in the hope that it will be instructive in view of the future large expansion of the mining industry in the west-coast countries of South America. There is a more or less general impression that the Spanish-American workman is inferior to the American, but after some years of experience and observation I doubt the correctne~s of this view. Taking into consideration all the elements which make for efficiency of labor, it has been found, particularly in Chile, that under proper organization native labor yields as much, man for man, and more, dollar for dollar, than in the Western United States. If a manager is willing to accept unreservedly the costum-bres del pais, without combating intelligently and patiently the ones tending to inefficiency, he should expect no better results than he deserves. He must conscientiously insist that a " square deal" be given and exacted; that liquor be excluded from camp as far as possible; that comfortable quarters and other uplifting elements of life be provided; and that past and existing methods and customs shall not be over-ridden rough-

Jan 1, 1910

By R. V. Whetsel, V. R. Garfias

The production of petroleum in Mexico during 1933 totaled 33,430,-000 bbl., or 625,000 bbl. more than in the previous year. This is the first time since the peak in 1921 that the declining trend of output has been reversed. Drilling activity in the proven areas of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Northern fields increased substantially during the year. The completion of two producers in the Poza Rica area south of Tuxpam and a shallow gas well in the Camargo district near the American border were the outstanding features of development. Late in September the Northern fields and the oil port of Tampico were swept by a hurricane followed by floods which caused loss of life and heavy damage to the City of Tampico and to transportation, tank farms and refineries. For three weeks, owing to the silting of the Tampico Bar and destruction of terminal facilities, no oil could be shipped for export. About half the wells of the Northern fields were closed for a period of 30 days. The prompt and effective steps taken by General Macias, chief of military operations, prevented the spread of epidemics and any serious aftermath of the catastrophe.

Jan 1, 1934

By E. C. Reed

Oil was discovered in Nebraska on Nov. I, 1939, when the Pawnee Royalty Company's Boice No. I well, about 3 miles west of Falls City (NE 1/4 NE 1/4, sec. 18, T.r N., R.16 E., Richardson County) was drilled into the Hunton formation but the develop-ment of the area took place during 1940. After a pumping test lasting 18 days, the Boice well stopped producing and failed to qualify for the State bonus of $ 15,000 offered for the first oil well to produce go bbl. per day for 60 consecutive days. On May 9, 1940, the Pawnee Royalty Company's Bucholz No. I well was completed about M mile southeast of the discovery well and flowed at the rate of about 330 bbl. per day, easily meeting the State bonus requirements. In addition to the discovery well, which later was reconditioned, and the bonus well, 28 producers were drilled in the Falls City field during 1940. Of these wells, 23 are in sec. 20, two are in the northern part 'of sec. 29, two in the southwestern part of sec. 17 and three in the eastern part of sec.

Jan 1, 1941

By Charles A. Ashburner

A very limited development has been made of the coal-fields of this Territory. This is to be accounted for by the fact that a number of the coal-fields lack railroad transportation, by the distance of other fields from the consumers (due to restricted settlements), and finally by the poorer quality of a number of coals which have been mined as compared to others which can be economically imported into the Territory. The consumption of coal in Utah during 1886, outside of that used by the railway companies, was: Tons. Utah coal,..........110,000 Wyoming coal,. .....19,000 Colorado coal,........* 4,945 Total,........... 133,945 It is estimated that there are 1100 miles of railroads in the Territory which use coal for fuel. The consumption of these roads for the year is estimated at 100,000 tons, making an aggregate consumption in the Territory of 223,945 tons. The consumption of coal in Salt Lake City duriug the year was as follows: Tone. From Grass Creek mines,.......21,000 " Pleasant Valley Company's mines,.. 12,700 " Utah Central Company's mines,.9,000 " Bock Spring mines,.6,500 " Almy mines .. ., .. .. . 6,000 " Miscellaneous sources,..5,800 Total ,.........60,000

Jan 1, 1888

By C. M. Schwerin

It is often necessary to calculate the size of a hoisting-plant required to raise a given quantity of material, either as a preliminary to the detail design of the machinery, or to decide whether machinery on hand or offered by a manufacturer is adapted to the work to be done. The first element of the problem to be determined is the load to be raised. In a mine that is already developed, this is limited by the size of car that can be hoisted out of the mine and that will pass through the underground gangways. If these place no limits on the design, the size of the load will depend on the output desired per day, and on the number of hoists that call be made per day. The latter are fixed by the time required per hoist and the number of hours available for hoisting, after deducting from the working-day the time required for raising and lowering men, sending down supplies, and for the many small delays in handling cars. It must also be decided whether the hoisting is to be done in one shift or in all of them.

Jan 1, 1903

By Raymond Dugdale, Fathi Habashi

There has been a recent interest in studying the action of anhydrous sulfur trioxide on ores to convert the metal values into a water-soluble form as a substitute for leaching by sulfuric acid. For example, Svenke1 converted the small amounts of uranium in slate ash into a water-soluble form by treating the material with SO, at about 600°C. Chao and Sun found that a variety of aluminum-bearing minerals could be sulfatized by SO, in the temperature range 400° to 600°C usually in the presence of a catalyst such as sodium sulfate. Kruse3 patented a process for beryllium recovery from the low grade ore in Utah by first reacting it with SO, at 560° to 750°C then leaching the product with water. In the present report, the action of SO, was examined in the temperature region 100°-300°C which was not investigated by those workers. Experimental Tests were conducted on a beryllium ore sample from Utah, the analysis of which is given in Table 1. It corresponds closely to a saponite ore type as given by Crocker et al. It was in powder form 45% passing a 400

Jan 1, 1973

Steel Tape The new Lufkin Royal Ni-Clad steel tape, made in 25, 50, 75, and 100-ft sizes, is stated to cost less than any other steel tape on the market. Figures and graduations are an integral part of the steel and the nickel plated surface is rust and corrosion resistant. Circle No. 1 Lift A manually operated and propelled hydraulic lift marketed by Century Products Co. weighs only [ ] 150 lb, but the 23x24 in. platform will raise 1000 lb from floor level to 4 ft height. Circle No. 2 Scintillation Counter The Scintillator from Precision Radiation Instruments, stated to have 100 times the sensitivity of the Geiger counter, is suitable for prospecting and may be operated from plane or moving vehicle. The instrument is contained in a 2-lb probe and the belt mounted battery box weighs less than 4 lb. Circle No. 3 Generators Wincharger Corp. announces development of a Speedy-Shift wheel-barrow base type attachment for model 700, 1800 and 5000 engine-generator sets. Portability of the engine-generator sets themselves has been improved by belted construction for higher operating speed and maximum weight reduction. Circle No. 4

Jan 1, 1952