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Samuel T. Wellman, Cleveland pioneer steel man, who was often referred to as the "father of the open-hearth process of the United States," died suddenly on July 11, 1919, of heart disease, at Stratton, Me. For more than half a century, he was closely identified with the improvement of equipment used in the making of steel and contributed a number of inventions that virtually revolutionized the industry. Mr. Wellman was born Feb. 5, 1847, at Wareham, Mass., his father at the time being superintendent of the Nashua Iron Co., Nashua, N. H. After attending public school and a year at Norwich University, he served in the Civil War as a corporal of the first New Hampshire Heavy Artillery. He went to Pittsburgh in 1867 and assisted in starting the first crucible steel melting furnace built in America at the works of Anderson, Cook & Co. It melted a ton of steel with an average of 1000 Ib. of nut coal, which cost less than $1, while the melting of a ton of steel in crucibles in the old fashioned coke furnace took three tons of the very best coke, costing from $2 to $3 per ton. This furnace was a great success and in a very few years had driven the coke furnace out of use. From Anderson, Cook & Co., Mr. Wellman went to the Singer, Nimick & Co. works, Pittsburgh, where he built two crucible steel melting furnaces of the same type. After that he spent some time in the office of the Siemens agents in Boston and also at steel works in different parts of the country, starting crucible steel furnaces. He then went to the Bay State Iron Works in South Boston, Mass., where he built the first open-hearth furnace that was a commercial success in the United States. It made steel of a much better quality than had previously been made in this country. The principal use to which it was put in those days was the manufacture of locomotive fire-boxes. From South Boston, he went hack to the old works in New Hampshire where his father was still superintendent, and built for it an open-hearth furnace, a plate mill, and a bar mill. In 1873, Mr. Wellman went to Cleveland to design and build the plant of the Otis Steel Co. He remained with this company for 16 years as engineer and superintendent. During this time he developed the open-hearth charging machine and introduced the electromagnet for handling pig iron and scrap steel. The first charging machine was operated by hydraulic power, and although it was not entirely satisfactory it performed the work fairly well and encouraged its inventor to build another one, which was driven by electric motors. This proved

Jan 1, 1920

By John B. Goddard, David R. Brosnahan

Leaching of uranium in situ from sandstone deposits with ammonium carbonate solution containing dissolved oxygen occurs rapidly compared with the leaching of the bulk of the sulfur present as FeS2. However, because of their high reducing capacity and their relative abundance, the FeS2 minerals consume the bulk of the oxidant. A pressure leach apparatus was constructed that permitted measuring oxygen consumption by FeS2, best described by a first-order reaction. The experimental rate constants for various cores are roughly proportional to their FeS2 contents.

Jan 1, 1983

By Ulick Evans

I SHOULD like to commence by saying how much I appreciate the honor which the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers has done me in inviting me to visit your country, and to deliver this lecture before you. In choosing a subject, and in deciding what to include and what to omit, I have endeavored to discuss as far as possible work carried out recently in Europe with which you may not be unduly familiar. It would be poor return for your hospitality, and a mistaken sort of compliment indeed, if I were to load the lecture with accounts of researches carried out in your own country-researches with which you are probably better acquainted than I. Not that I have in any way excluded work done on this side of the Atlantic from my survey; one would indeed find it difficult to write on this, or on any other branch of science, without mentioning American work. But I have endeavored as far as possible to concentrate on aspects of the case which will, I hope, be comparatively fresh to you, and I feel fairly certain that this will be in accordance with your own wishes. If a strip of iron is heated strongly at one end, the other end remaining cold, there is produced over the heated portion a layer of oxide scale, the thickness of which diminishes steadily with the distance from the hot end. Somewhere in the middle of the strip, the thickness of the oxidized layer will become comparable to the wave length of light, and over this region the thin films give rise to a series of beautiful interference tints, commonly known as "temper colors." The colors are caused by the fact that two trains of light waves are reflected respectively from the outer and inner surfaces of the oxide film, and the possibility arises that the "crests" of one series of waves may coincide with the "troughs" of the other, thus diminishing the intensity of the light of some particular wave length. The state of affairs in this part of the strip is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1, in which the film thickness is enormously exaggerated, of course, in comparison with the length of the strip; the

Jan 1, 1929

By W. T. Nightingale

The three gas-producing "pools" discussed in this paper are in Sweet-water County, southwest Wyoming, and Moffat, County, northwest Colorado. Hiawatha, North Baxter Basin and South Baxter Basin gas fields became economically important in 1929 when a 330-mile gas line connected them with Salt Lake City, Ogden and towns en route. This development immediately focussed attention on the gas-producing fields and the efforts of the producing company to develop them in an orderly, economical manner. Several outstanding interests were acquired and working agreements made with others. Thus the interference of natural drainage areas was avoided, the pernicious practice of drilling direct

Jan 1, 1930

By Arthur Dwight

ARTHUR SMITH DWIGHT, president of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, was born in Taunton, Mass., on March 18, 1864. He is descended on both sides from early settlers, one of whom was Richard Warren, of the "Mayflower." His forebears included Col. Benjamin Church, Tim-othy Dwight, and the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, third president of Princeton College. Mr. Dwight was graduated in 1882 from the Poly-technic Institute of Brooklyn, N. Y., and three years later from the Columbia School of Mines, with the degree of Engineer of Mines. In 1914, he received the honorary degree of Master of Science from Columbia. On leaving Columbia in 1885, he went to Pueblo, Col., and for thirteen years was associated with the Colorado Smelting Co. Beginning as assayer he rose to be general superintendent. When he gave up the latter position he became connected with several large companies in the mining and smelting of lead, copper and the precious metals in the Rocky Mountain region. This work occupied him from 1897 to 1906, and six years of that time were spent in Mexico. He was general manager of the Greene Consolidated Copper Company at Cananea, Mexico, in 1906, when trouble first developed against the régime of Diaz. A general uprising was planned to seize the mines, and with money and supplies so obtained, carry the revolt through the interior. Mr. Dwight turned his industrial organiza-tion into a military unit almost over night, stemmed the tide of revolution, and had the situation well in hand before the arrival of troops. In the fall of 1906 he returned to New York and began practice as a consulting mining and metallurgical engineer. He next developed important metallurgical patents for the roasting and agglomeration of fine ores, known as the Dwight and Lloyd sintering process, now extensively used ail over the world.

Jan 3, 1922

By M. S. Rashid, C. J. Altstetter

Allotropic transformations in cerium have been studied by dilatometric, resistometric, X-ray diffraction, and metallographic techniques. The dilatometric study indicated that, on cooling below O°C, the high-temperature fcc phase, y, transforms partly to the hexagonal phase, ß, and, on further cooling, to the collapsed fcc phase, a. The amount of $ phase present at room temperature is increased by repeated cycling through the a-y transformation. It has been shown metallograPhically that the y-ß transformation has many characteristics of a martensitic transformation. In contrast to the y-ß transformation the ?-a transformation does not give the manifestation of a shear transformation. Small cellular ? domains of random shape and size collapse to a in a short time with no apparent coordination with neighboring domains. The considerable confusion in the literature over the existence of more than one high-temperature fcc phase is discussed. Two such phases have been reported in the literature and an attempt is made in this study to clarify the situation. Twelve fcc and two hcp structures have been shown to be easily reproduced or eliminated. It is proposed that the two "additional" allotropes reported in the literature and fourteen of the phases detected here are not allotropes of cerium but are due to contamination. CERIUM exists in several allotropic forms, but there is some disagreement over what the forms are. Furthermore, the conditions favoring the presence of a particular allotrope and the nature of the transformations from one form to another are uncertain. The objectives of this research were 1) to ascertain the allotropic forms of cerium, 2) to establish the conditions under which the allotropes exist, 3) to study the effects of annealing and thermal cycling on the allotropic transformations, and 4) to study the transformation mechanisms. Dilatometric, resistometric, metallographic, and X-ray diffraction techniques were employed. The form of cerium commonly found at room temperature is fcc and is designated ?. A complex hexagonal phase, 8, forms when y is cooled to slightly below room temperature. At still lower temperatures the y fcc structure transforms to an fcc form with a much smaller lattice parameter, termed a cerium. A bcc form, 6, which exists just below the melting point (800°C), will not be considered further in this work. There is a substantial body of experimental evidence (reviewed by Gschneidnerl) which favors the acceptance of these four allotropes, though some investigators have tried unsuccessfully to observe the ß hexagonal form.'-' There is disagreement, however, over the phase-transformation temperatures, due, in part, to broad hysteresis and overlapping of the transformations between the a, ß, and ? forms. The transformations are also sensitive to prior thermal and mechanical treatment. The differing purity of cerium used by different investigators is undoubtedly a factor. Cerium is difficult to separate from other elements and is quite reactive, igniting spontaneously when it is filed in air. The highest purity of cerium to date is reported to contain several hundred parts per million by weight of impurities, and early investigations were carried out on cerium containing several percent of impurities. There have been reports of more than one fcc allotrope at room temperature. Gschneidner, Elliott, and McDonald5 obtained diffraction patterns of an fcc phase with a lattice parameter about 1 pct less than that of the ? phase, instead of the y phase, on slowly cooling cerium filings from 23° to -198°C and warming them back to room temperature. However, when the sample was heated to 447°C and cooled to room temperature it consisted of only the ? phase. They have designated this new fcc phase "a-? intermediate", and say it is quite sensitive to impurities. After prolonged high-temperature treatment of a powder specimen, Weiner and Raynor2 obtained a diffraction pattern of an fcc phase of lattice parameter about 1 pct less than the ? phase. This they called the y' phase. It could not be reconverted to the y phase and is claimed to be different from the a-? intermediate phase.5,6 Dialer and Rothe3 reported two fcc phases* after cycling their powder specimens between room temperature and -192°C. Gschneidner, Elliott, and McDonald5 suggested that one of the fcc structures obtained by Dialer and Rothe was equivalent to their "a-? intermediate" phase. Table I presents some pertinent data on the proposed allotropes. For the ?(fcc)-ß(hexagonal) transformation

Jan 1, 1967

By Ionel I. Gardescu

During the summer of 1930 the average daily oil production of Rumania registered a new peak at 128,000 bbl. per day. The estimated potential production as of September, 1930, was as high as 235,000 bbl. per day. During the latter part of the year, by mutual agreement, the operators decided to curtail their output to about 100,000 bbl., which brought the average for the year to 116,600 bbl. The total production for 1930 was 41,572,000 bbl. (last month estimated) as compared with 35,757,000 bbl. for 1929, or an increase of 16.3 per cent. over last year's production. The production for the last 10 years is given in Table 1. The curtailment of production was prorated per company, based on its total estimated potential production as of September, 1930, and not per field. As a consequence, at present there is little development of protected or slightly productive areas; viz., Arbanasi, with an average production of 1750 bbl. per day, dropped to less than one-third after curtailment came into effect. Moreni, with an average production of 92,000 bbl. per day, while producing 58 per cent. of the country's total output in 1929, went to 67 per cent. at the beginning of 1930 and to 75.2 per cent, towards the end of the year. The modified Mining Law of 1929 is still in effect. This law withdraws the restrictions set on foreign capital by the law of 1924. As a consequence a large percentage of proven state land was alloted through competitive bidding to foreign companies. The Romano-Americana (Standard of New Jersey) acquired several leases in the Boldesti and

Jan 1, 1931

By H. C. George

At the annual meeting of the Institute in February, 1927, we had a comprehensive discussion of Petroleum Engineering Education. This discussion covered basic training and prerequisites, laboratories and equipment, graduate courses, availability of lecturers, geological engineering, petroleum production engineering, refinery engineering, transportation engineering and economics and management. However, there are several phases of petroleum engineering education, which many members of the Institute felt should be further discussed at this year's meeting. The first was expressed by me in a letter to those participating in the written discussion, from which I quote as follows: "We fell that the question of handling engineering graduates who enter the petroleum industry should be thoroughly discussed. "During the first five years after graduntion from college, how can these young men be best trained to be of the greatest service to the industry and at the same time do work which will be interesting and of a character which will make them feel that they are accomplishing something and making progress leading toward personal advancement?" Both the written and oral discussion would indicate three groups of opinion; first, those who advocate letting the young engineers go into the industry and take care of themselves without any supervision, direction, or guidance; second, those who advocate the taking of young engineers into the industry and letting them go through all the steps that any laborer or any other mian without a technical education would take, but with some supervision, and third, those who advocate that young cngineers should be given special training for several years after entering the industry. Of course all of these different groups are found in rnost of our industries. The Doherty training school of the Empire Gas & Fuel Co., finds its counterpart in the practice of the Gcneral Electric and Westing-house companies in the electrical industry and the Baldwin and Brooks Locomotive works in mechanical engineering.

Jan 1, 1928

By Theodore H. Eyde

The porphyry-copper province of southwestern United States and northern Mexico constitutes the largest copper-producing region in the world. More than 20 deposits discovered since World War II are being exploited or in the process of exploration and development. Because of the remarkable success in discovering new deposits, exploration activity continues at a very high rate and deeper targets are explored each year. Exploration programs for deeply buried porphyry-copper deposits require a reevaluation of the conventional exploration techniques. Though surface induced-polarization techniques have about reached their practical detection limit, aeromagnetics will play an increasing role in the exploration activity as will downhole logging tools. In addition to a valid geological concept, any successful exploration program for porphyry-copper deposits in the southwest must have two other essential ingredients: money and guts. Unfortunately many exploration programs in the southwest are underfunded and doomed to failure. Future exploration will demand more joint venturing in which larger and more expensive exploration programs can be successfully funded by groups of companies or syndicates.

Jan 1, 1975

By K. E. Barrett

Exxon owns a uranium mill and holds two mining leases in Live Oak County, Texas, about halfway between San Antonio and Corpus Christi. The properties make up the Felder Uranium Operations which was reopened earlier this year. Exxon held an oil, gas, and other minerals lease on the J. C. Felder tract, which was adjacent to a relatively shallow uranium discovery by Susquehanna-Western, Inc. on the Marrs-McLean lease immediately south of the Felder property. Drilling in 1967 and 1968 confirmed the presence of reduced uranium mineralization in the basal sand unit of the Oakville formation on the Felder tract, which formed the major part of the roll-front deposit. In 1969 Exxon and Susquehanna-Western, Inc. entered into a sale and purchase agreement which provided for Susquehanna to mine and process Felder ore and purchase recovered uranium. Susquehanna moved an alkaline-leach mill from Wyoming, erected it on the Ray Point property, and placed it into operation late in 1970. Susquehanna mined and processed ore from the Felder and McLean properties through March 1973. Susquehanna ceased operations in March 1973. Exxon then acquired the mill and mill property. Exxon also purchased the mineral rights to the McLean lease, re-negotiated a mining lease for that property, and carried out shut-down programs for the mining and mill areas in the fall of 1973. The project was put on a standby basis until late 1973, when Exxon initiated mine feasibility studies for the project. MINE PLANNING EVALUATION The feasibility study for reopening the Felder Project began in late 1975 and was not completed until late 1976. I will discuss several areas of the feasibility study that required additional work prior to making the decision to renew operations. Ore Reserves Preparations for estimating the ore reserves began with the re-evaluation of more than 1500 natural radioactivity logs from exploration and pre-development drilling that had been completed on the property. These gamma ray logs of non-core rotary drill holes were the principal source of data used in making the estimate. Chemical assays of cores from the deposit were also used in the reserve determination. Electric resistivity and self-potential logs were made along with the gamma ray log. In December 1975 an additional core drilling project was undertaken to confirm the in-place density and radiometric equilibrium characteristics of the ore deposits. Comparison of chemical assays of cores with the U308 values calculated from the logs showed that the unoxidized ores were in radiometric equilibrium. In contrast, cores from anomalies occurring in near surface, weathered, and oxidized zones were in radiometric disequilibrium. Several important decisions were made in developing a mine plan or schedule of production from the Felder and McLean ore bodies. Disposal of Produced Mine Water: The ore bodies of the Felder Uranium Project occur at a point below the ground water table. The ore zones to be mined must first be dewatered to allow removal of mineralized material. In the open pit operations, this is accomplished by maintaining a perimeter ditch around the periphery of the open pit, allowing the interior of the pit to drain and collect into a sump and be pumped from the mine. In addition to anticipated water production from future mining operations, approximately 200M gallons of water was contained in three open pits left from prior mining operations. In two of these existing pits, the water was to be removed and disposed to allow for planned backfilling of waste material into these pits. The third pit would also have to be drained to allow continued mining of an area left from the prior operations. Essentially no ground water information was available for this area. The only data available was water production history from Susquehanna's mining operation. Two water wells were drilled early in 1976 on the Felder lease for use in obtaining hydrological data. A long term draw-down test was performed by pumping one water well and measuring water level drawdown in both the pumped well and the observation well. From these data, values for permeability and storage coefficient were calculated. These data were then used in modeling the aquifer to allow calculation of water influx into the mining area versus time. Once a schedule of water production, including the stored volume in the existing pits was calculated, alternate solutions for disposal were evaluated. The first system evaluated was a series of deep injection wells. The wells were designed to inject at a depth of approximately 3500 feet. Again very little information concerning reservoir characteristics of the receiving sand units was known. Using assumed values for reservoir permeability and storage coefficients, an injection well system was designed to allow for disposal of produced mine water. The biggest

Jan 1, 1979

FRANCIS B. SILSBE,* Washington, D. C. (written discussion?). ?This paper is an interesting example of the -solution by the methods of metallography of what seemed at first a purely chemical problem. The authors have shown: in detail, how the well-known corrosion of spark-plug terminals is due to the dropping out of the individual crystals of the metal as it becomes surrounded by an oxide film. This corrosion is usually quite slow but in special cases may become a serious factor in limiting the life of spark plugs. There still remains the problem for the metallurgist to produce a material that will be entirely free from, this trouble. One of the most startling results of the work is. the demonstration that it affords of the deleterious effect of a mechanical stress continuously applied to material that is at the same time subject to adverse chemical or thermal conditions. The particular style of spark plug shown in the illustration, and in which serious trouble was caused by this corrosion, has the side terminals fastened at both ends and the method of assem-bling is such that a considerable initial tension is applied to the wire. It is without doubt this superimposed tension that causes the inter-crystal-line network to line up, as it were, into a few continuous and deeply penetrating transverse fissures instead of forming a great number of shallow surface cracks. This result is clearly shown both in the case of

Jan 11, 1919

By William Campbell

FiRst I must express my deep appreciation for the honor of being privileged to give the Howe Memorial Lecture this year and at the same time my feeling of inadequacy to do justice to the subject. The first Howe lecturer was most fittingly, Professor Sauveur, his contemporary and friend, and the subject was beta iron. Last year the second Howe lecture was delivered by Dr. Mathews, one of his most distinguished pupils, who spoke on austenite. This year, the Howe Professor of Metallurgy was chosen to deliver the third annual lecture, and the subject ought to be martensite. No one but Professor Sauveur could have brought to life what was considered by many to have been dead and buried, and he so persuasively and convincingly proved to us by his experiments the existence of something that the followers of that new cult "X-Ray and Crystal Structure " would have us believe is simply alpha iron. And Dr. Mathews from his wide practical experience was so easily able to convince us that austenite was not only the most wonderful of the iron-carbon series, but that it was the wonder alloy of the future. If I were to follow in the footsteps of my distinguished predecessors, I would talk to you about martensite. But when I had planned this lecture, I found that I was writing about Professor Howe and his work and his influence on the science of metals of today, and that martensite had become the secondary theme. And when finally I was obliged to choose a title, I remembered that it was in 1901 I came from Roberts-Austen with a letter of introduction to his very dear friend, Henry Marion Howe, at the Columbia School of Mines, to continue my work at the next bench to Dr. Mathews. Since then a quarter of a century has gone by, and during that time all branches of science seem to have been remade, so great has been our advancement in knowledge and discovery. And now that Metallography has finally established its place as an important branch of science, with its own textbooks and literature, I would like to review what seem to me to be the most important advances we have made in the last 25 years. To do this, I would start with Howe's "Iron, Steel and Other Alloys," and end with Jeffries and Archer's " Science of Metals." In the preface of the former, Professor Howe wrote: My warmest thanks are due to the friends who have aided me with their counsel and knowledge. In particular, let me thank most sincerely Prof. Margaret E. Maltby

Jan 1, 1926

By Richard M. Foose

WOULD you like to find a large new ore deposit next year? The answer is as obvious as the question is foolish. But perhaps the question does have some merit if we alter it slightly and ask: What are you doing about finding new ore? This one is more difficult to answer. Possibly you are doing nothing about finding new ore because you have proved reserves for many future years of production. Others may be investing some small percentage of time, effort, and money in mineral exploration, and reserves may be currently adequate, or inadequate, in terms of many future productive years. Still others may be engaged in large-scale mineral exploration programs involving large expenditures of time, personnel effort, and money. In whatever category you may be, a final question might well be asked. Is your current mineral exploration program, or lack of program, consistent with the long-range needs and objectives of your organization and of the mining industry as a whole, and is it designed to stimulate the growth of the industry in future years, or is it only a short-range program in response to some current situation?

Jan 3, 1958

The following discussion was held on August 2.2, 1927, during the meeting of the Institute at Salt Lake City. It. IIIatch, Garfield, Utah.—The object of the meeting, I belicve, is to determine the proper chemical composition to insure long wear of a ball in a mill. This might also apply to rods. I feel that there is only one way of determining accurately the wearing qualitites of balls in mills, and that is by actually wearing out 400 or 500 tolls of different kinds of balls. Two things add to the wearing qualities of a ball: (1) the tenacity, with which the particular particles of iron or steel are cemented together; (2) the individual hardness of each partiele. My cxperience is that a ball that has a Brincll of 550 to 650 will give comparatively long life. There is considerable difference of opinion as to the best steel and iron alloys neressary to produce a satisfactory grinding ball. Some favor chrome, somr manganese and some nickel. Personally, I believe cast iron alloyed with chrome makes the best ball for small sizes; for large sizes (31/2 in. arid up) steel alloyed with mangancse is best. L. O. Howard, Pullman, Wash.—How would this method apply to hning? A. Kissock, New York, N. Y.—I do not subcrribe to that exactly. As I am connected with the Climax Molybdenum Co. you would hardly expeet me to. We have been much interested in trying to work out this grinding-ball problem and have spent a, great deal of thought and effort on it. As we are associated with the American Metal Co. and have a number of Proprrties of our own, we are in poaition to try our ideas on ourselves first. We have tried different compositions, but, have not done anything very remarkable with them yet,, except that we have been able to say that the combination of chrome and molybdenum has given the best, wearing ball. Mr. Hatch feels that iron is the best. medium for grinding, hut since toughtiess as well as hardness is a factor in wearability we feel that a well made steel is better for this purpose. Another difficulty with cast, or chilled, iron is lack of uniformity front day to day or from heat to heat, and the impossibility of protlucing balls free from blow or shrinkage holes which matcrially affect their life. If cast iron is made hard it becomes brittle and lacks strctc11 or toughness. This prevents its use in the larger sizes, aS break:lgc, is a sorious hantlic:~p to efficiency. We have trirtl hard and brittle balls and softer but very tough balls and have proved that maximum hardness, with sufficient toughuess to prevent hrcakagv, is the most important factor. in resistarnce of a steel to abrasion. It is well known that. chromium is one of the best hardening agencies for cither iron or. steel; and molybdenum is recognized as an clerment capable of introducing tonghness. In other words, the proper combination of chromium and molybdenum permits unusual hadness with still sufficient touglmess to stand up under severest impact. It is yet too early to give any actual mill results of this new Combination and though we are proving our ideas at our own properties we have to depend on others to help us make the data more general and more worth while and would like to get some testa 206

Jan 1, 1928

By E. A. Holbrook

AT the meeting of the Committee on Engineering A Education of the Institute at the New York meeting last February, it was brought out that the number of men graduating in mining engineering from our colleges at the present time is not sufficient to meet the ordinary needs of the mineral industries. Following the meeting, Samuel S. Wyer, consulting engineer of the Fuel-Power Transportation Educational Foundation of Columbus, Ohio, prepared a pamphlet called "Mining Engineering's Appeal to High School Seniors." Under the auspices of this Foundation the pamphlet is being sent to every high school in the United States. The pamphlet does not in any way paint glowing word pictures of the profession; rather it is a statement of the importance of mining engineering in our present-day civilization, together with the requirements in young men who are looking forward to an engineering career.

Jan 1, 1930

By Ernest N. Patty

WHEN an Alaskan prospector makes a new mineral discovery he stakes out his claims and then starts prospecting for a near-by landing field. This may be a convenient lake but more often it is a gravel bar along a river, where, by cutting off some brush and throwing the larger rocks to one side and then tying a flour sack to a pole, he may decoy some intrepid aviator into testing it gingerly with the wheels of his plane. It was only a few years ago that .the fence around the baseball park at Fairbanks, Alaska, was taken down so that planes could get in and out of the ball park without ripping off boards. Today the grandstand is lost among the modern hangars which line one side of a modern and busy airport. Planes come and go all during the day, and in summer, when there is no darkness, the night stillness is frequently broken by the hum of a motor overhead. Fairbanks is the hub of interior Alaska and from that hub airplanes radiate in all directions to mining camps large and small. An air industry of comparable size is based at the town of Anchorage, and in fact there are but few towns of more than 200 population in the Territory that do not have one or more planes based there.

Jan 1, 1937

By F. O. Willhofft

The symposium on mine safety held in connection with the annual meeting of the Institute three years ago, it. was pointed out that "at present no convenient, reliable, accurate means for determining the gas content of mine air is available, for use by the ordinary mine man." In a letter addressed to Coal Age and published on Feb. 25, 1925, Thomas T. Read, then Director of the Safety Service of the Bureau of Mines, stated: "It is to be hoped that sometime in the near future some-one will invent a reliable methane indicator that is con-venient to, use and will permit the keeping of all flames of every character out of bituminous mines, through doing away with the safety lamp." The Martienssen methane detector, which has re-cently received the official approval of the Bureau of Mines, is intended to. meet the demand for such an in-strument as expressed at that meeting and on many other occasions. The characteristics which qualify it for the task are the following: (1) simplicity; (2) small bulk and light weight; (3) ruggedness; (4) accuracy sufficient for the requirements; (5) safety; and (6) dependability. The principle on which the working of the instrument is based may best be explained by giving a brief out-line of the various stages of development through which the inventor, Professor Martienssen of the University of Kiel, Germany, advanced to the final solution of the problem which he had undertaken to solve.

Jan 2, 1928

By John Birkinbine

THE favor with which the members of the Institute received Mr. Fernow's paper upon the use of charbon roux in the manufacture of iron has encouraged me to present this paper, in the hope of having the discussion upon the manufacture and use of the oldest and undoubtedly the best fuel for producing pig iron continued. Owing to the advances made in employing anthracite coal, bituminous coal, or coke, or mixtures of them, we are apt to forget how much of our present development is due to the pioneers in iron manufacture and the fuel which they employed in the production of pig iron. In Mr. Swank's last compilation of the iron and steel works of the United States, the furnace capacity of the country is given as 5,868,000 tons, of which 1,000,000 tons can be made in the 264 charcoal furnaces. In other words, over one-third of the furnaces now in existence use charcoal for fuel, and produce more than one-sixth of the iron made. If to this is added the 130,000 tons of blooms and billets turned out by the 122 forges and bloomaries, the importance of the charcoal industries will be appreciated.

Jan 1, 1879

By O. C. Wheeler

Peru, if it is judged on a basis of its annual production rate, can be ranked seventh among the oil-producing countries of the Western Hemisphere. In 1945, as in each of the three previous years, the country again produced about 14 million barrels of crude petroleum.

Jan 1, 1946

By H. N. Lawrie

Introduction. THIS study was undertaken on account of the lack of definite knowledge concerning the influence of bismuth on wire-bar copper, and the small elimination of bismuth from copper-matte during the smelting-operations. The early workers who studied the influence of bismuth on copper confined their investigations to malleability and ductility-two physical properties which are related to the others so intimately that their determination is of primary importance. Karsten ' and Levol,2 using bending- and mealleability-tests, seem to have been the first to take up the subject, and while their results are incomplete, they agree in the main with the later work of Hampe.3 The bending-tests used by the first investigators consisted in bending the specimen until it failed. The malleabilitytests were made by beating the material to a knife-edge with a hammer. Hampe not only determined the percentage of bismuth which would cause red-shortness and cold-shortness of the alloy, together with other influences of bismuth on the malleability and ductility of copper, but also took up the influence of the bismuth protoxide, BiO, on copper, and of bismuth sesquioxide, Bi2O3, on the copper protoxide, CuO. Hampe's conclusions of the influences of these two latter compounds of bismuth on copper are as follows "If the protoxide of bismuth be alloyed with metallic copper, it is not changed to metallic bismuth, but remains mechanically distributed throughout the copper.

Sep 1, 1909