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By H. J. Maguire

(Presented by invitation at a meeting of the Spokane Local Section, Feb. 17, 1912.) THOSE familiar with mill-practice understand the work required of an average bucket-elevator, but I wish to call special attention to the wear on the buckets. I have been studying in what manner the life and service of the bucket might be improved, and I feel that an adjustable lip, attachable to each bucket without the aid of rivets, will be of material advantage. For illustration, consider the feed-elevator of a typical mill in the Cur d'Alène district. The ore is carried by water in a launder from the feed-rolls and dumped in the "boot" of the elevator, directly in front of the ascending bucket. Middlings from the return-rolls are similarly handled. Under this condition the bucket not only carries the ore, but also picks it up, and this latter requirement determines the life and service of the bucket. It might be said that it would be better practice to convey the feed to the elevator and dump it directly into the bucket, but at one mill at which this plan was tried the results were disappointing and the rubber belt was badly worn. The wear of the bucket is confined to the lip and the corners which have to pick up the material. When the lip on a corner of a 7- by 12-in. malleable cast-iron bucket is worn down about 3 in., the bucket is of no further value as a carrier and has to be replaced. The worn bucket, containing about three¬quarters by weight of the metal of the original bucket, has a scrap value of about 10 per cent. of that of a new bucket. To the cost of the bucket, however, should be added the time-cost of replacing the old bucket by a new one. This time-cost is considerable when the loss per hour, to cease operating the mill, is about $200. It is out of the question to put lips on a bucket unless the latter was originally fitted with this device. For if it is attempted to fit lips upon buckets not originally provided with

Sep 1, 1912

By Robert T. Walker

Robert T. Walker and Woodville J. Walker (Walker Engineering Corp., Salt Lake City)-Mr. Kinkel's article embodies, in condensed form, the results of the first detailed and complete geological survey that has ever been made of the long neglected but potentially very important West Shasta Copper-Zinc district, in Shasta County, California. In view of the difficulties of the terrain and the complexity of the geological structure, this represents a notable achievement, and it is with regret, therefore, that the writers find it necessary to differ from Mr. Kinkel's conclusions on two important points. The first has to do with the interpretation of two members of the stratigraphic column of formations in the district; for purposes of comparison, the description of these two members according to Mr. Kinkel is shown parallel to the description of these members according to the writers, see Fig. 14, Mr. Kinkel's nomenclature being used

Mar 1, 1956

By R. A. Bergman, C. J. B. Fincham

THERMODYNAMIC properties of many high-temperature systems containing sulfur, such as slags, metal sulfides, and solutions of sulfur in liquid metals, have been studied by means of equilibration with known gas mixtures.'" This method presupposes a complete and accurate knowledge of the thermodynamic data for all possible components of the gas phase at high temperatures. However, a survey of the data available up to 1952 on the thermodynamics of gaseous sulfur species and compounds, by Richardson and Jeffes,' showed that there was considerable uncertainty in the values of the free energies of formation of S, SO, HS, and CS. In many cases, this uncertainty made it impossible to decide whether or not these species would form a significant proportion of the sulfur present in the gas phase in any given system. After the review by Richardson and Jeffes had been published, St. Pierre and Chipman6 measured, by an indirect method, the free energy of formation of SO. This also enabled a clear choice to be made among the three possible spectroscopic values for the dissociation energy of S2 into atoms10 thereby determining the free energy of formation of S from S2, and fixing the free energy of formation of HS more accurately" The main purpose of the present investigation was to measure the free energy of formation of CS, which was still in considerable doubt. For example, at 1600°C, it could be estimated to be +6 +25 kcal per mole,* most of the uncertainty being in the * Based on the dissociation energles of CS6 and S2,5 the heat of sublimation of graphite, and, the assumption that the entropy of formation of CS is the same as that of CO. value of the dissociation energy." A secondary purpose of the investigation was to determine more accurately the equilibrium sulfur pressures over dilute solutions of sulfur in carbon-saturated liquid iron. General Method Dilute solutions of sulfur in liquid iron, saturated with carbon, were brought to equilibrium at 1600" and 1800°C, with known gas mixtures consisting, initially, of A and CS2. After equilibrium had been reached, the melts were quenched and analyzed for sulfur. In the high temperature region of the furnace, an equilibrium was set up between the various possible sulfur species and compounds in the gas phase; namely, CS2, CS, S2, and S. (It can be calculated that the amounts of S6 and S, are negligible at these temperatures:) Morris and Bueh17 and Kitchener, Bockris, and Libermana had previously studied the corresponding

Jan 1, 1958

Meeting, Aug. 20, 1913, B te, Montana, at 12.45 p.m.-On, the written request of 27 members of oft Institute residing in Montana, the Montana Local Section was established, and the following Committee was appointed by the President of the Institute to complete the organization : E. P. Mathewson, Chair pan; Frank M. Smith, Vice-Chairman; D. C. Bard, Secre-tary, Montana State School of Mines, Butte, Mont., Oscar Rohn, James L. Bruce. The President reported the appointment of a Committee on Mining Law, the names of whose officers and members are given on page xxxv of this Bulletin, and these appointments were approved. It was voted: That the Committee on dining Law be requested to establish a Sub-Committee on Censorship, a majority of whom shall be lawyers; and, further, that no paper on mining law be recommended for publication to the Committee on Papers and Publications, unless it is previously approved by the Sub-Committee on Censorship of the Committee on Mining Law. The President reported progress in the matter of co-operation between the Institute and the United States Bureau of Mines, through Committees of the Institute. The President reviewed the history of plans for a union or affiliation with the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America, and the following minute was then adopted : " The Board of Directors of the American Institute of Mining Engineers has carefully considered for several months the question of union or affiliation with the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America ; and, while at an earlier time and under other circumstances, such. a union might have been accomplished, yet under present circumstances the Directors of the Institute deem such union inexpedient. "While thanking the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America for its consideration of the matter, we believe that further discussion of the subject will serve no useful end, and we conclude it best that the Society and the Institute continue their useful functions and friendly relations side by side, as heretofore."

Jan 10, 1913

By William B. Heroy

During 1932 no important changes occurred in the position of Africa as a producer of petroleum. The progress of development and production in each of the areas of interest is described below. Egypt The producing fields of Egypt are Hurghada and Gemsa, located on the west short of the Red Sea, and Abu Durba in the Sinai Peninsula. Most of the production is obtained from the Hurghada field, chiefly from beds of Cretaceous age. To the end of 1930 the Hurghada field had produced 2,831,751 tons of petroleum. The Gemsa field, discovered in 1909, reached its peak of production in 1914, when 88,000 tons were produced. Of late years the production has greatly declined. Total production of the field to the end of 1930 is 182,870 tons. The total production of Abu Durba to the end of 1930 is 7069 tons. The production of Egypt for recent years is as follows: 1928, 269,324 tons; 1929, 271,520; 1930, 281,997 (1,996,000 bbl.); 1931, 288,260 (2,038,000 bbl.); 1932, 253,182 (approximately 1,790,000 bbl.). Mozambique The operations of Inyaminga Petroleum Ltd., which was engaged in drilling in the colony, have been suspended. Angola Drilling operations in this colony, conducted by Companhia de Petroleo de Angola under a concession from the Portuguese Government, were continued. A test well drilled at Cacoba, about 60 miles southeast of Luanda, to a depth of 5651 ft. was not a commercial producer. A second well was being drilled in the vicinity at the end of 1932. Morocco Until last year the search for petroleum in Morocco was in the hands of several private companies but during 1932 the National Office of Liquid Fuels of the French Government took an active interest in the develop-

Jan 1, 1933

By David R. Mitchell, B. M. Bird

DENSE-MEDIA processes utilize the familiar laboratory float-and-sink procedure on a commercial scale. Just as wood chips float on water and sand sinks, so coal floats and refuse sinks when placed in a medium intermediate in specific gravity between the coal and refuse. Liquids intermediate in specific gravity between coal and refuse used in commercial plants are of four types: (1) organic liquids of high specific gravity-halogenated hydrocarbons; (2) dissolved salts in water; (3) pseudo liquids obtained by suspending solids, such as sand or magnetite, in water, and, (4) fluidizing a mass of sand or other solids by air currents. Those most widely used for cleaning coal are solutions of calcium chloride in water and a suspended sand or magnetite pseudo liquid. Laboratory float-and-sink testing is an intermittent operation during which every opportunity is given for particles lighter than the medium to float and particles heavier to sink. Commercial processes are continuous; vertical and horizontal currents of the separating medium occur as either part of the process or unavoidedly produced by the introduction of feed and withdrawal of products, 'so that the exact separation of the laboratory technique is not duplicated by commercial processes. However, separations close to the theoretical are obtained in commercial machines by careful technical control of the process. Most machines in commercial installations are crowded to get as much out of the equipment as possible, so that careful technical control is necessary is get the recoveries and grade of product desired. Sizes usually cleaned are plus ¼ in. or plus 1/8 -in. in the United States and plus 1/16-in. in Great Britain. Coal as small as 1 mm. has been cleaned in some experimental installations. The separation of coal from refuse in sizes finer than about 1/8-in. is made difficult by viscosity effects and hence at the present time cleaning is confined to the coarser sizes. Technical advances in the art of cleaning coal by dense-media processes is progressing rapidly and it is likely that equipment, media, and procedures will be developed to clean sizes down to 0.5 mm. efficiently and at low cost.

Jan 1, 1950

By Fred L. Morritz, Harold M. Manasevit, Richard Nolder, Arnold Miller

Experimental evidence is presented which confirnis the epitaxial relationship between the deposited silicon and the sapphire substrate. Four distinct modes of orientation relationships have been established. These have been shown to be Single-crystal gvowth retention as a function of surfaces oriented off ideal has been qualitatively indicated. Both full-circle goniometer X-ray techniques and replica electron microscopy have indicated varying amounts of microtwinning in the silicon. film, which may he caused by the mode of silicon formation. Parameters have been found where twin density is less than I pct. The early stages of' epitaxy of silicon m sapphire have been examined by electron-microscope techniques... and mechanisms have been proposed. THE first report of the deposition of single-crystal silicon on sapphire (single-crystal aluminum oxide) was made at the American Physical Society Meeting in Canada' by one of us and was subsequently published in the Journal of Applied physics.* This paper summarizes some of the work carried on in this area since that time, in addition to reviewing some of our earlier observations. The initial single-crystal deposits of silicon on sapphire reported were obtained on sapphire planes produced by cutting a sapphire rod perpendicular to its fastest growth direction, which is approximately 60 deg from the C axis. Direct correlations between the microstructure and X-ray data as to the single crystallinity as shown in Fig. 1 are evident. These deposits were identified as (111) silicon on the substrate oriented near the (1123) of sapphire. (Sapphire notations are designated according to the c over a ratio of 2.73.) It became evident that substrate quality and surface play an important part in successful epitaxy. For example, in Fig. 2 we observe an interesting

Jan 1, 1965

The Honor Roll includes the names of all members of the Institute whom we know to be on active military duty at the date of its compilation, February 7, 1918. We are aware that there are many others of whose activities we have not been informed, and we shall be grateful for information as to any such omissions from the Roll. 1. MEMBERS ON ACTIVE MILITARY SERVICE Mail addressed to members on the first division of the Roll and sent to the office of the Institute Will be forwarded according to the best of our knowledge at the time. AARONS, J. BOYD, Capt., 4th Reinforcements, 11th Infantry, Australian Imperial Force. '05 ADAMS, HENRY, Capt Asst. to Dept. Engr., Northeastern Department. '02 AGNEW, FRANK VANS '04 ARBE, FREDERICK R., Capt 33d Engineers. '97 ALDER, ALFRED Engineers' Reserve Corps. '17 ALFORD, NEWELL G., Sgt., Bureau of War Risk Insurance, Headquarters 84th Division. '14 ALLEN, HEMAN H., Private Co. D., 8th Reserve Engineers. '17 AMBLER, HARRY A., Lieut 30th Infantry. '16 ANDERSON, ALEXANDER, Lieut Royal Garrison Artillery. '07 ANDERSON, GEORGE K., JR., See. C, 1st Co., 3d Officers' Training Camp. '17 ANDREWS, CLARENCE W., 1st Infantry Co., Officers' Training Camp, 83d Division. '13

Jan 1, 1923

By H. H. Stoek

A STUDY of American coal mine practice shows two of its distinctive features to be: A greater number of accidents per thousand employees than in any of the other leading coal-producing countries; a much greater percentage of the coal lost than is the case in any of the other leading coal producing countries. Although our subject is mainly concerned with the second feature, any consideration of mining methods should include safety, efficiency, and economy or costs. If in defense of our wasteful mining the argument could be offered that it was necessary on account of safety, and that it is carried out with less loss of life than is the case in other countries the plea for conservation of coal could not be so strongly urged. But when we are wasteful of both life and property, the subject merits more consideration than it has received. Some coal operators will doubtless say that the unit of accidents should be the number per million tons produced rather than per thousand employees, for by adopting this unit America probably stands in the lead rather than the lowest among the countries. However, vital statistics are not usually so expressed by other governments, by life and accident insurance companies, or in other industries, and it is merely begging the question and attempting to bolster up a bad condition to adopt a peculiar unit for the statement of our accidents. For many years the statement was made by various agencies, and was unchallenged, that "For every ton of bituminous coal mined in the United States a ton had been lost in the way of pillars left in the mines." This statement was undoubtedly true for many years, and although some progress has been made in the past decade looking to a higher extraction, and in some districts very decided progress, the loss is still great; and, although no exact data can be given, it is probable that for the United States as a whole at- least one ton is lost for every two mined.

Jan 2, 1922

By S. FROES ABRUE

No new oil fields were discovered in Brazil during 1945. Production for the year reached a total of 79.329 bbl., all coming from the four fields in the Baia basin; the Lobato-Joanes field produced 6728 bbl.; Aratu, 6717 bbl.; Candeias, 36,663 bbl. and Itaparica, 29,211 bbl. The total cumulative production from the Baia basin from 1939 to 1945 inclusive amounts to 210,000 bbl., all of which is utilized locally.

Jan 1, 1946

By B. W. Adams, R. W. Shilling

9.4-1. Basic principles. DESCRIPTION AND BASIC FUNCTIONS. The concept of inclined skip haulage is not new. The basic idea has been in use at least 400 years. The system is essentially a steeply inclined railway utilizing a hoist to pull the skips to the top or intermediate positions. Inclined skip haulage is often justified where high lifts would require long hauls for other haulage systems. The basic system types are as follows: 1. Single skip, single drum. This system is a single car pulled by a simple hoist system. 2. Balanced skip, single drum. A system utilizing two cars (skips on cables)--one overwound, one underwound-on a single drum. The dead weight of one skip and cable balances the dead weight of the other. As one skip ascends the other descends between two fixed points. 3. Balanced skip, double drum. This system is an elaboration of system No. 2, except the drums may be disengaged from one another to permit the skips to service various loading and dumping points. The preceding are major classifications subject to numerous variations. These variations may be in the skipway, skip design, loading methods, or unloading methods. A few examples follow: 1. The skipway may be standard or special railroad, an overhead monorail or cable, or a ramp for rubber tired vehicles. 2. The skip, per se, may be of varying dumping arrangements (side, bottom, etc.) or could be the box of the vehicle hauling to the skip. 3. Loading may be accomplished directly from the service unit to skip, through an intermediate loading device (e.g., a pocket), or into bins which feed the skip. Loading may be at more than one point. 4. Unloading of the skip can be simple or complex as required. Dumping may be to the haulage unit, to bins and feeders, or to a crusher and conveyor system. Dumping may take place at more than one point.

Jan 1, 1968

By E. C. Truesdale, W. K. Waring

The Research,Division of The New Jersey Zinc Company (of Pa.) has conducted, over a period of years, numerous tests of the reducibility of various zinc ores and the reactivity of various kids of coal, using a number of different experimental methods. Most of these tests have involved the reduction of mixtures of ore and coal. In such cases the following simultaneous reactions are believed to be mainly responsible for the production of zinc, as was shown by Bodenstein' some years ago: ZnO + CO = Zn + CO2 [i] C + COj = 2CO [2] Each of these reactions is dependent upon the other for the supply of CO and COz, respectively, and the over-all rate of formation of zinc vapor will be determined by the slower of these two reactions. An analogous pair of reactions sometimes of importance is: ZnO + He = Zn + HZO 13] C + Hz0 = CO + He U3 While it is possible to obtain an indication of the relative reducibility of various ores, or of a fine versus a coarse Ore, by testing them with a given coal, and while coal reactivities may be measured in a corresponding manner, a more direct determination of relative reaction rates is possible by carrying out the desired reactions, such as I and 2, separately and under reproducible conditions. It is one purpose of this paper to present some of the results that have been obtained by the latter method. C. G. Maier2 discusses the relative rates of reactions I and 2 and concludes that while at relatively low temperatures reaction I is faster than reaction 2, this difference becomes less with increasing temperatures, although at smelting temperatures reaction is still the faster. He also says (p. 48), "At temperatures . . . be- -tween 1100' and 1300°C., . . . the zinc oxide reduction reaction is intrinsically more rapid than its physical limitations; that is, it is limited by gas diffusion rates.'' In the course of numerous reactivity tests involving the separate use of reactions and I and 2, we have obtained data that show by direct experiment, we believe for the first time, the correctness of Maier's statements concerning these reactions. We also include data on the relative rate of reaction 3, involving reduction by hydrogen. Finally, some interesting results obtained by carrying out the reduction of ' a zinc ore-coal briquet in streaming atmospheres of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and hydrogen, respectively, are presented.*

Jan 1, 1944

By AIME AIME

THIS journal is fully indexed-every issue, as soon as published-in a set of card?, which thus brings ready to your hand any article on any subject in this journal or in any one of 1700 other journals in all languages. This Engineering Index Service, instituted in January, 1928, is to be found in the Public Libraries of Newark, Cleveland, Bridgeport, Baltimore and the John Crerar Library, Chicago. Engineers in any field who live or work in New Jersey will find this mammoth index to the latest engineering literature in the Public Library of Newark, N. J.

Jan 1, 1929

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 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 T. G. Nilan

Steels containing 0.4 and 0.8 pet C have been transformed isothermally at pressures up to 34 kbuv. Decomposilion mechanisms are so intimately related to phase equilibvia that, as the equilibria shift under high pressure, the microstruclures of the decomposition producls change, maintaining at pressure the same correspondence between a given phase equilibrium and a given microstructure as a1 1 atm. A bainitic unicvo-structure occurs in these steels at high pressure that IS observed only at 1 aim abole 1.4 pct C. This strrrcl111,e 1s ruliorzalized in terms of the effect of pressure on the transformation to lower bainite. The pressuve depetlderlce of the kinetics of pearlile formation is descrihed by an absolute rule theory amalysis. The activation volume for the transformation is 7 cu cm per mlole, which is indicative of a phase-interface transformation-rate cotntrol mechanism. This fortmulation, when expressed in terms of known solule effects on the energelics of tvansformation, gives promise of explaining the effects of alloying elemenls on hnrden-abilily, particularly that of 'coball. KINETIC processes in solids are functions of the primary thermodynamic variables of state: composition, temperature, and pressure. Until the development of high-pressure techniques' that permitted the generation of sustained high pressure at high temperatures, metallurgical studies of such reactions were largely limited to isobaric conditions at atmospheric pressure. The data so obtained, and theoretical deductions based on these data, were necessarily incomplete For the particular case of austenite decomposition, a knowledge of the phenomenology of the reaction in terms of all the state variables should lead to a clarification of the process. This deeper understanding should facilitate a decision between conflicting theories that have been proposed to rationalize these phe- nomena. An analysis, derived from an understanding of the transformation mechanisms, may aid in the optimization of alloy steel development. The first studies of the effect of pressure on transformations in steel were made by Kulin et al. in 1952.' In a study of the influence of applied stress on mar-tensite formation in a 30 pct Ni steel, they found that the martensite start (M,) was depressed 8°C per kbar* by hydrostatic pressure. Jellinghaus and Friedewold3 were apparently the first to investigate the effect of pressure on isothermal transformations above the Ms. They found that the bainite transformation rate in a 1.2 pct C, 3.8 pct Mn steel was reduced by a factor of 3 by a hydrostatic pressure of 4 kbar. In both of these investigations,2,3 the M, of the steels studied was below room temperature. Austenitizing and quenching were done at atmospheric pressure, followed by the decomposition of the metastable austenite under pressure. The maximum temperature at pressure in the bainite study3 was 350°C. Until the advent of the present high-pressure devices, it was not possible to conduct isobaric high-pressure heat treatments from austenitizing through isothermal decomposition and quenching. The exploitation of high pressure as a variable in metallurgical studies was greatly advanced by the apparatus and techniques developed by Hall4 and co-workers. Utilizing these techniques, Radcliffe et a1.5 and Hilliard6 etermined the pressure dependence of phase equilibria in the Fe-C system. Hilliard and cahn7 examined the pearlite transformation rate in an AISI 1080 steel and also in a high-purity 0.92 C Fe-C alloy at 1 atm and at 34 kbar and found a 700-fold reduction in rate at pressure in the 1080 steel but only a fivefold reduction in the high-purity alloy. In agreement with the shift of phase equilibria under pressure, the microstructures were hypereutectoid at 34 kbar pressure, whereas they are eutectoid at 1 atm. Determination of the effect of pressure on carbon diffu-

Jan 1, 1968

By Sylvain J. Pirson

The number of seismograph field crews employed in the active survey of potential oil territories is still on the increase, owing to the ever pending threat of a shortage in the supply of crude oil. It is to be expected that for years to come the seismograph will be responsible for discovering many new oil fields, both in wildcat territories and in deeper formations, and that the seismographic campaign will go on unabated. Yet improvements in instrumental design, in the field and interpretative techniques, are brought about year after year, and lead to the reshooting of areas many times surveyed previously. Notwithstanding the experience gained by the past eight years of active work in reflection seismographic surveys, the results given by this method of mapping deep formations have in many instances been at variance with the information subsequently obtained by the drill. To overcome this shortcoming, geophysicists have used closer spacing of the shot points and closer control of the depth points. The method discussed here is being used actively in the Mid-Continent region and endeavors to reduce the interpretation work to a mere mechanical technique, leaving as little as possible to the opinion of the interpreter. The New Method Field Technique.—In sectionized territory where country roads are available every mile, shot points are preferably located every 1/4 mile when six detectors are available or every % mile when eight detectors are at hand. The disposition of individual spreads is represented on Fig. I; in each case a shot point is located at the section corners. Fig. 2a represents the layout of a spread between shot points, the vibration detectors being preferably equidistantly located. Normally in the 1/4-mile control, the distance between shot points is 1320 ft. and the distance between detectors 220 ft. When shooting from shot point S.P. I, detectors 1 to 6 are connected to the recording galvanometers and detector 0 (which indicates the vertical travel time of the wave corre-

Jan 1, 1940

By Sylvain J. Pirson

The number of seismograph field crews employed in the active survey of potential oil territories is still on the increase, owing to the ever pending threat of a shortage in the supply of crude oil. It is to be expected that for years to come the seismograph will be responsible for discovering many new oil fields, both in wildcat territories and in deeper formations, and that the seismographic campaign will go on unabated. Yet improvements in instrumental design, in the field and interpretative techniques, are brought about year after year, and lead to the reshooting of areas many times surveyed previously. Notwithstanding the experience gained by the past eight years of active work in reflection seismographic surveys, the results given by this method of mapping deep formations have in many instances been at variance with the information subsequently obtained by the drill. To overcome this shortcoming, geophysicists have used closer spacing of the shot points and closer control of the depth points. The method discussed here is being used actively in the Mid-Continent region and endeavors to reduce the interpretation work to a mere mechanical technique, leaving as little as possible to the opinion of the interpreter. The New Method Field Technique.—In sectionized territory where country roads are available every mile, shot points are preferably located every 1/4 mile when six detectors are available or every % mile when eight detectors are at hand. The disposition of individual spreads is represented on Fig. I; in each case a shot point is located at the section corners. Fig. 2a represents the layout of a spread between shot points, the vibration detectors being preferably equidistantly located. Normally in the 1/4-mile control, the distance between shot points is 1320 ft. and the distance between detectors 220 ft. When shooting from shot point S.P. I, detectors 1 to 6 are connected to the recording galvanometers and detector 0 (which indicates the vertical travel time of the wave corre-

Jan 1, 1940

By AIME

A NATIVE son of Salt Lake City. David Douglas Moffat has contributed greatly to both the mineral industries and civic progress in the State of Utah. He was born in 1880 and his whole life bas been intimately associated with mining and milling. His father, one of Utah's pioneer mining men, was superintendent of a mill at Park City. When Moffat was only 18 years of age he went to Philipsburg Mont., where he spent several years as a machinist, and later as master mechanic for the Granite Bi-Metallic Mining Co. He returned to Park City in 1903 as master mechanic and night mill foreman for the Ontario Silver Mining Co. After a few years of varied experience he became, in 1910. general foreman of the Boston Consolidated Will at Garfield, Utah.

Jan 1, 1947

By H. P. Greenwald

THIs paper brings forward a discussion that was prepared for the meeting of the Coal Division in Chicago in 1938.1 War in Europe less than a year after that meeting, followed by our defense preparations and entry into the conflict, caused general cessation of large-scale experimentation on the subject, and it is best to confine this paper to events in the United States during the five-year period since the preceding paper was written. The views of members of the Coal Division's Committee2 on Rock-dust-ing for 1943 were obtained before this paper was written and the manuscript was reviewed by them. Extent of Rock-dusting Statistics on the use of rock dust in the United States during the years 1930-1933, appearing on page 97 of Volume 139 of the Transactions are extended in Table I herein through the year 1941. The results through 1933 did not appear encouraging, but there has been improve-ment since that date. It has always been true that the larger operations were the ones that used rock dust. In 1941 only 10 per cent of the mines in the country used rock dust, but they produced 57 per cent of the coal, employed just under 50 per cent of the miners, and accounted for 52 per cent of the man-hours. Unfortunately, collection and compilation of these statistics are slow procedures, and figures dealing with the tremendous war expansion of the industry are not likely to be available for a year or more. In 1941 the five leading states in regard to percentage of man-hours worked in mines using rock dust were: Utah, 92.1; Wyoming, 79.3; Alabama, 77.4; New Mexico, 72.5; West Virginia, 65.3. The first four states were the same as in 1933, but West Virginia displaced Washington in fifth place. On the basis of pounds of rock dust used per ton of coal, the five leading states in

Jan 1, 1944