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By H. H. Schrenk, W. P. Yant, P. H. Mautz

"In a study of the chemistry and pathology of chronic benzene poisoning, which was conducted cooperatively by the United. States Bureau of Mines, the Barrett Co., and the producers of benzene, it was necessary to make quantitative determinatious of the abzorption, distribution, and: fate of benzene in the organism. Although methods for determining benzene in relatively large amounts were available no satisfactory method was found for removing and determining the small amounts that are present in the tissues or excretions after exposure to conditions which ultimately cause chronic poisoning. This no doubt accounts for the lack of information in the literature on this particular phase of benzene poisoning.The writers have found in work that will be described in a subsequent publication that the amounts of benzene present in the tissues and excretions under conditions of exposure which produce chronic benzene poisoning arc of the order of a fraction to a few milligrams per 100 grams of tissue. This report describes a method developed and found satisfactory for these determina¬tions.RÉSUMÉ OF PERVIOUS METHODSA method for the determination of benzene in tissue was developed by Joachimoglu. 5 In the Joachimoglu procedure the ground organs are mixed with water and acidified with diluted sulphuzic acid, and the benzene is distilled into a receiver containing carbon tetrachloride. The benzene is nitrated in the carbon tetrachloride, the carbon tetrachloride evaporated, the acid mix¬ture neutralized, and the dinitrobenzene extracted with ether. After removal of the ether the dinitrobeuzene is determined gravimetrically. Joachimoglu reports that this method is about 55 to 60 percent quantitative."

Aug 1, 1935

By Selwyn G. Blaylock

There is no more important problem today than industrial relationship, and probably none that is receiving more thought. But in these days of Epie and Utopia, one has to be rather careful in speaking on this subject. Consequently, for fear that my plea for taking the working man into the family might be misconstrued, by some, as a step towards communism or socialism, I would like to say at the outset that I believe that, so long as we have human individualism, human ambitions, human hopes and fears, straight socialism is as far off as the Millennium. The same applies to communism, which only differs from socialism in that the communist realizes that his ideals can only be attained by massacring millions and destroying all that we hold sacred. Each still looks to Russia for inspiration and guidance, totally disregarding the Soviet swing-back to individual contract work and differential wage scales. They seem to be oblivious of the tyranny and repression in the present Russian system, and get very restless when reminded of it. In spite of the fact that the standard of living in civilized countries has improved tremendously and is still improving, we find that, every seven or eight years, production in many lines has outstripped consumption, and we have had panics or depressions of greater or less magnitude, accompanied by extensive unemployment. It is evident to every thinking person that there must be no little inefficiency in the control of industry. For four long years, governments and industrialists have striven to find the key to solve the present problem. Many countries are getting back to a position approaching normal-Canada probably more so than most. None, however, can feel assured that they have actually cured the situation. All kinds of schemes have been developed; tariff barriers have sprung up over-night where none existed before; currencies have been inflated to gain added security in the home markets and to try to gain advantage in export trade; and each country watches the movements of the others with fear and mistrust. I am not prepared to formulate a full solution of our troubles, but I hope to be able to demonstrate the feasibility and wisdom of the type of industrial relationship I advocate, and also that it may be a large, and possibly an essential, step towards the solution of our difficulties.

Jan 1, 1935

By Arthur L. Crawford, R. E. Head, Glen Burgener, F. E. Thackwell

"INTRODUCTION This report embodies the results of a detailed statistical microscopic examination of the ore and the mill products of the Silver King Coalition Mines Co., Park City, Utah.The study was conducted under the joint auspices of the United States Bureau of mines is cooperation with the University of Utah at Salt Lake City, Utah. The work was done in the cooperative Microscopic Service Laboratory, which was equipped by contributions from the following companies: Utah Copper Co., International Smelting & Refining Co., American Smelting & Refining Co., United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co., Tintic Standard Mining Co., Silver King Coalition Mines Co., and Park Utah Consolidated Mines Co. The salaries and the other costs involved in operation of the laboratory were met by contributions from certain supporting companies. In addition to the regular personnel of the laboratory the Bureau of Mines contributed the part-time services of a microscopist-consultant to direct and assist with the technical work.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe authors acknowledge the courtesies extended by the Silver King Coalition Mines Co., through its general manager, M. J. Dailey, in furnishing the various ores and products on which the study was made, together with general information concerning the problems encountered or recognized in connection with the milling of the Silver King ore."

Jun 1, 1934

By Paul M. Tyler

The enormous deposits of greensand in New Jersey and elsewhere in the United States, many of them close to important octant industrial centers, constitute a perpetual challenge for research chemists to convert them into a commercial asset of national importance. Following the introduction of more concentrated fertilizers, comprising synthetic mixtures of more soluble salts, the quantity of greensand used directly upon the soil has diminished, but deposits of such material still have at least potential value locally for use not only as fertilizer but also as a water softener. An annotated bibliography of the already extensive Literature on greensand, virtually complete to about the end of 1929, has been issued by the Bureau of Mines3/, and the commercial aspects as well as the technology of greensand utilization are discussed in available publications, The purpose of the present circular, therefore, is merely to provide a brief outline of certain general essential considerations for use in appraising the potential value of a greensand deposit in any given locality.

Jan 1, 1934

By D. Harrington

During the 5-year period 1906-10 inclusive, 84 major disasters (a major disaster being one in which 5 or more lives are lost) occurred in the coal mines of the United States, or an average of 17 per year, and the total number of fatalities from coal-mine gas and dust explosions (major plus minor) for the 5 years aggregated 2,338 or 477.6 per year. The monotonous continuance of coal-mine disasters month by month aroused the people of the United States to such an extent that it was felt necessary for the Federal Government to try to do something looking to the avoidance of the admittedly excessive loss of life in our coal mines, and this was one of the deciding factors in the establishment of the United States Bureau of Mires in 1910. That results have been obtained in this particular cause of coal-mine accidents may be seen from the fact that for the year 1933 but one major explosion disaster occurred in the coal mines of then united States and the total number killed in that disaster was 7. Unquestionably the coal-mining industry through use of oaf or mining practices and aided by the various kinds of work of the Bureau of Mines looking to the prevention of mine fires and explosions is in large part responsible for this very creditable change. If the gas and dust explosion fatality rate of 1.059 per million tons of coal produced during the period 1906-10 inclusive had continued to the first of January 1934, instead of the 6,373 deaths which actually occurred due to gas and dust explosions, there would have been 13,480. Hence, during the 23 years existence of the Bureau of Mines there has apparently been a saving of about 7,102 probable deaths, or an average of more than 300 per year, from gas and dust explosions as against the number which would have occurred had the 1.059 gas and dust explosion fatality rate for the period 1906-10 continued. Thirty-nine persons were killed in all kinds of explosions (both major and minor) in the coal mines of the United States in 1933; if the 1.059 gas and dust fatality rate of the 1900-10 period had been in effect in 1933, about 400 persons world have been killed. Unquestionably, the various teachings of the U.S. Bureau of Mines looking to the avoidance of explosions and fires in mines have had a vital influence in reducing the number of explosions and fires and also in decreasing their destruction in case they occur.

Jan 1, 1934

By A. B. Parsons

LECTURE, it appears, is a discourse that is supposed to be instructive. I am quite sure that you will derive no instruction from what I have to say. I will be satisfied if my remarks provoke thought along one or two mental paths that have not been traveled so fre¬quently as to be devoid of interest. I have no particular message apropos of professional engineers or professional engineering, and any conclusions that I may seem to reach will be purely tentative and incidental. Probably at times you have wondered, in a casual way at least, why so many people who are not, never have been, and never will be engineers, want to use the title. For example, I recently received a communication from a life insurance broker or salesman, whose chaste letterhead bore the legend "Estate Engineer." He was perfectly serious about it, as is also the expert accountant who assumes the imposing name of cost-analysis engineer. Dozens of equally amazing titles might be cited. Then there is that class of individuals who have been engineers, in the true sense of the word; who have gone into some other kind of occupation; but who cling tenaciously to the name engineer, usually prefixing some word or other which at once gives them away by telling what their work really is. For example, we have such pseudomorphs as the management engineer, and the sales engineer. It is quite evident that engineer is a word to conjure with. Evidently both the man who appro¬priates the designation without any justification and the ex-engineer who persists in calling himself an engineer even after he has abandoned engineer-

Jan 1, 1933

By R. R. Sayers

The hazards connected with work under abnormal air conditions are becoming of increasing importance from a financial as well as a physiological stand- point, due to the extension of compensation laws to include diseases caused by dusts, toxic gases, and abnormal temperatures and humidities. The United States, with the excention of California, North Dakota, Wiscon- sin, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, is the only English-speaking country to-day where silicosis is not compensated.3 Cases of permenent total disability or death due to silicosis mar aprear in common-law courts, particularly in the States that have not recognized silicosis as an occupational disease for which compensation should be provided. Such cases have recently been tried in one State, according to a magazine editorial, not providing scheduled commensation for employees affected by silicosis, with results favorable to the claimant. Clearly established cases definitely linked with occupation as the cause may be expected to be recognized as deserving by juries and courts, and awards will be made. In one Atlantic Coast State, according to this editorial, 108 claims for silicosis, including 21 deaths therefrom, are said to have been filed against two small plants engaged in finely pulverizing quartz sand.

Sep 1, 1932

By W. P. Yant

A previous report of the Bureau of Mines dealt with the toxicity of dichlorodifluoromethane, a new refrigerant that has a remarkably low toxicity. Continued research by the Frigidaire Corporation and toxicological experiments performed in the Laboratory of Applied Physiology of the University of Cincinnati revealed another organic fluoride, dichlorotetrafluoroethane, whose toxicity also appeared to be of a very low order and whose physical and chemical properties make it suitable for refrigeration purposes. In addition to low toxicity, safety in its use is further enhanced by its physical properties, which permit the design of equipment that operates at comparatively low pressures and hence mitigates the dangers and problems of leakage. The investigation described in this report was performed by the Bureau of Mines at the request and with the cooperation of the Frigidaire Corporation.

Jan 1, 1932

By W. G. McBride

The mining industry has already become highly technical in all its branches and this has brought about specialization in mining engineering. Increasing demand for mineral products, exhaustion of high-grade or easily worked deposits, and narrowing of the fields for exploration and development, are forcing mines to greater depth and to working material of lower grade and more complex composition. The Robinson Deep at its Turf shaft has reached a depth of 7,640 feet and expects to go to 8,500 feet; Miami Copper, under normal market conditions, profitably mines ore running only 16 pounds of copper to the ton; Alaska Juneau is making a profit on ore running about $1.15 per ton in gold; and many mines are handling ores of an extremely complex nature. In each case, the success of these operations has depended upon the application of sound scientific principles and good business methods to the problems involved. It may be safely assumed that mining at great depth and the exploitation of low-grade, or complex, ores will become more and more important as time goes on, and this means that greater and greater demands will be made upon the technical skill and business ability of the mining engineer. To meet this condition, the more or less haphazard methods of training the young engineer that have prevailed in the past will have to be replaced by a careful and well-ordered system of engineer-training. Upon the industry and the older mining engineer falls the duty of providing means to assist the deserving student to prepare himself properly to meet the increased demands that are falling upon his profession. Consideration of the training of the mining engineer involves a decision as to what constitutes his field of usefulness. Technical control of methods and processes obviously falls upon the engineer, but there are still many who doubt his usefulness in the executive field, particularly in positions involving close contact with the men and work. Many engineers have failed as shift-boss or foreman, but this has been generally due to fault in the management in using men who were temperamentally unfit to lead others or who lacked the necessary preliminary training.

Jan 1, 1932

By Eugene McAuliffe

In the year 1581, the counselors of King Philip of Spain suggested to that monarch that a canal across the Isthmus of Darien would open the west coast of the South American continent to Spanish miners and explorers, enlarging and expanding the flow of precious metals then just beginning to trickle across the path cut by Spanish Conquistadors, from old Panama to Puerto Bello on the east coast. The King sent out a party of surveyors and explorers under the command of a young engineer, Savadaerro, who returned after two years, reporting upon a location for a canal which was virtually adopted by the French engineers employed by De Lesseps, who in 1877 commenced the work of constructing the Panama Canal-296 years after Sava- daerro's first survey was begun. The suggestion for an Isthmian canal, made to the king at a time when Spain was a proud, virile nation and when that country was contending with England in the fields of discovery and conquest, represents a measure of vision that has never failed to intrigue the imagination. That the young Spanish engineer recommended an undertaking so gigantic in conception that it took three and one-third centuries for its completion from the time it was first visioned matters little. In the day of Philip of Spain,

Jan 1, 1932

By F. S. Crawford

Safety devices and guards are often looked upon as the last word in safety by the men around the shop or large industrial plant . However , thorough knowledge of the details of their jobs and of the dangers attending them are even more important . It should be unnecessary for all men to go through the experience of the first man to meet an unknown danger , but that appears to be about the only way by which many learn . Practically every danger connected with the job around a mine , blast furnace , steel mill , foundry , coke oven , cement mill , or other operation , was encountered for the first time by someone , and if he was fairly fortunate he either got hurt or just missed being injured and lived to tell his " budaies " how it happened; he spread the knowledge of that particular danger . Sometimes , but not often , a man can foresee a danger . If he could always be on guard and remember everything he had ever learned and also know everything that had happened to the other fellow , and then let that knowledge keep him aware of the dangers in his own immediate " job , " so that he would work the safe way for both himself and the other fellow , he would have what safety engineers call " safety consciousness . " Being safety conscious is a fine attribute , as it really means knowing all about one's job . A man who is really safety conscious is one of the best and most efficient workmen in the whole plant . The boss wants men of that kindmen who want to learn and who try to learn every little detail about their jobwhere there is danger of spoiling the heat or getting burned by hot metal in a steel plant or of loading rock instead of coal or ore in a mine . Such men know how to do whatever job they are on easily and with the least amount of hard work and at the same time get it done as quickly as possible with safety . A man who is safety conscious has to nearly all intents and purposes developed eyes in the back of his head , if he is in a big mill where there if something going on all around him . These eyes are not real eyes , but they are what might be termed a sixth sense which he has developed by his experience in the mill as well as in other dangerous work which he may have done before in other plants . There may be occasions when a man's safety consciousness will leave him for just a short time ; this is likely to happen when he is thinking about a quarrel he had with his wife which has not been cleared up happily , or perhaps when he has bought too many things on installment and with sickness at home

Apr 1, 1931

By R. R. Sayers

That the maintenance of proper air conditions is a most important factor in the control of occupational hazards is shown by the large amount of material presented each year through the technical journal's on the effects on workers of injurious dusts, gases, and variations in temperature and humidity.. SUMMARY OF RECENT LITERATURE ON EFFECTS ON WORKERS OF EXPOSURE TO DUSTS The subject of the control of dust and dust diseases continues to be a matter of serious concern in most of the industrial countries of the world, as indicated by the following summary of reports published in a number of foreign countries as well as in the United States. Australia. The Workmen's Compensation Act of 1920 for New South Wales3 provided for the promulgation of schemes for the compensation of workers dis- abled by silica or other dust. In 1924 the prevalence of silicosis and tuberculosis among Sydney stonemasons, quarrymen, sewer miners and rockchoppers was investigated by a Technical Committee of Inquiry, appointed upon the recommendation of the New South Wales Board of Trade. The findings of this committee were published by the Government in 1925. No scheme was promulgated by the Government and in 1926 the Act was amended limiting its scope to workmen disabled by disease caused by silica-dust. This was promulgated and gazetted on September 16, 1927, and applies to men working in sandstone as stonemasons, quarrymen, rockchoppers, and sewer miners in the County of Cumberland.

Feb 1, 1931

By T. A. Rickard

A knowledge of the principles of punctuation is essential to effective and intelligible writing, for the ease and pleasure of the reader, and even his understanding, may depend upon the choice and the placing of punctuation marks. To 'punctuate' is to mark with stops or points; the word comes from the medieval Latin punctuare (punctuatus), which in turn is derived from the Latin punctum, a point. The purpose of punctuation is to show the manner in which the writing is to be understood; to indicate the relations between parts of a sentence and between successive sentences. To some extent "it does for the eye what vocal stress does for the ear", but especially it marks logical relations. Some punctuation marks, such as those indicating admiration, exclamation, and interrogation, are rhetorical as well as grammatical, but most of the common ones are logical, or grammatical. My discussion will be confined to grammatical punctuation in ordinary writing. .'The problem of punctuation in text matter", as George Summey * says, "is to employ words, points, and paragraph breaks in such a way as to achieve at the same time clearness; proper distribution of emphasis, and the desired kind of movement." The criticism of the punctuation of a sentence or of a group of sentences is not final until the context, within the paragraph, is read. A paragraph is a sentence or a group of sentences forming an independent unit of the composition; it represents a unit of thought. A multiplicity of paragraphs produces a choppy effect; 'on the other hand, paragraphs of. excessive length are tiresome, because the belaboring of one unit of thought wearies the reader. The aim should be to

Jan 1, 1931

By T. A. Rickard

Do not write until you have something to say. Think first; then write. In order to be understood, you must know what you wish to say. Clear writing is the consequence of clear thinking. Therefore consider your subject well before you begin to write; ruminate on it; marshal the salient facts in your mind; saturate yourself with the ideas you wish to express and with cognate ideas; then express yourself deliberately. If you are bubbling over with your subject the words will come, but you might as well expect to sail without a breeze as hope to give life to words without the living thought. Here I may advert to the fact that among the uneducated it is a common expectation to acquire the knack of writing without taking the trouble to study the art of literature. I overheard a woman in a suburban train remark to her neighbor: "I'd like to be able to write well without stopping to think about it". She was one of many that would like to do a thing well without the trouble of thinking; but it cannot be done in respect of anything to which thought is essential. The possession of a good voice does not justify a person in expecting to sing successfully to a large audience; before singing in public one has to master the technique of singing; one has to learn first how to breathe properly, how to enunciate, and many other things. The successful singer is an artist, not a megaphone. Most of us would regard a man or a woman without any training in the art of singing as a fool or an impostor if he or she were to give a public concert, yet we do not recognize the equal foolishness and imposture of persons that write books before they have studied the technique of writing. That is why so many books are unreadable, and why many books by clever men are difficult to read. They start to write books before

Jan 1, 1931

By T. A. Rickard

It has been stated, by Sir James M. Barrie, that "the man of science appears to be the only man who has something to say, just now-and the only man who does not know how to say it". The friendly jibe of the novelist contains enough exaggeration to make it humorous to the followers of Huxley and Spencer; but could any litterateur poke similar fun at the exponents of the avowedly utilitarian branches of science-the men of technology-without suggesting an unpleasant truth? Indeed the engineer does bungle language deplorably. He makes a fetish of efficiency, yet he shows no regard for the effective use of one of his most important tools-the pen; he believes devoutly in accuracy, yet he employs an instrument of precision as carelessly as a small boy handles a gun. This inconsistency may be due to causes such as were indicated by the Academic Senate when it undertook to explain the defective writing of the; students in this university.* The Senate suggested that the student is "constantly subjected by his environment to the unedifying influence of myriad examples of poor English", and that he is also affected by "a certain public prejudice against correctness of expression ". With these statements most of us will agree. Our local newspapers, for instance, tend to spoil the student's taste for good English; later in life, as an engineer, his daily contact with illiterate men inclines him to careless speech and slovenly writing. As

Jan 1, 1931

By R. I. C. Manning

The Old Dominion Co, at Globe, Ariz., like the: Phelps Dodge Corporation with which it is closely allied, considers safety a major operating problem. Safety is fostered by this company in consideration of both the humanitarian and economic aspects; the officials, take pride in promoting the welfare of employees, and the management has found that the safest way is the most eco¬nomical and that unless an organization is operated economically it can not continue to exist successfully. In planning and operating any safety, organization, terry things must be taken into consideration because an Enterprise can not be operated solely for safety any more than it can for any other single part of the operations. All work must be planned and executed for the common interest.

Jan 1, 1931

By T. A. Rickard

An educated man is distinguished neither by his clothes nor by his knowledge; he is replarkable not for the things he says, but for the way he says them. You cannot even stand with him under an archway in the rain without finding him out. He may talk only of the weather. His words and his phrases alike may be simple. -at distinguishes him is the arrange- ment of his words; however desultory his talk, it will be method- ical; he has habituated himself to foreseeing the part to be played by each word he uses and the place to be taken by each sentence he utters. On the other hand, the uneducated man, though shrewd and well-informed, will relate facts and events as they recur to him, generally in disorder; in his effort to recollect and in his attempt to rectify forgetfulness he will pause irregularly, filling the intervals with meaningless phrases, such as "and then ", "and: so ", or 'said he to me", "said I to him"; and even the contipuous parts of his story will be told confusedly-because he has not learned the proper use of words.* My own experience as an editor of technical manuscripts has taught me that the misuse of 'that' and 'which' is a fruitful cause of obscurity and confusion. The relative pronouns have distinct functions, and no writer can express himself clearly until he has learned to discriminate between these I functions. For example:

Jan 1, 1931

By T. A. Rickard

The writing that is effective is woven with a fine texture into an agreeable pattern; it is free from knots, loose threads, and stray fluff. The instrument that weaves this literary fabric, whether it produce a homely sock or a lordly tapestry, a simple story or a learned 'Itreatise, is a disciplined intelligence, as sure as a steel needle, as precise as a swift loom. The simile breaks down at this point, for the product of the pen is instinct with the human spirit and therefore transcends in beauty anything made by a mere machine. If words are to be woven into eloquent meaning, they must be well knit. Upon the relation of words to each other and of groups of words to other groups, known as phrases, clauses, and sentences, depends the success of writing as a means of trans¬mitting thought from man' to man. To be understood beyond question, you should know not only what your words denote but how to build your sentences; you must not only choose your words aright but construct your sentences properly. A sentence is a combination of words that makes complete sense; it says something about something. ' A clause is a subordinate sentence or a sentence within a sentence. A phrase is a group of words without a predicate; it makes sense, but not complete sense. For example: I shall wait for a few minutes before I go home: The whole statement is a sentence; "I shall wait" and "before I go home" are clauses; "for a few minutes" is an adverbial phrase. The orderly arranging of words and of combinations of words is called `syntax'; and from the original Greek form, ouvaeis (suntaxis), is derived the Greek name for an editor,

Jan 1, 1931

By Charles G. Maier

SCIENCE beginning in rational observation came of age, when its devotees first began to measure and count. It has been said that the most striking aspect, of science today is its growing abstraction, and its preoccupation with mathematical symbolism. Technology with specific and concrete objectives in the satisfaction of human wants, cannot conceivably achieve the abstract unification that science seeks, but .the utility of the' scientist's method has been too well proved to require bolstering. Metallurgy is in its scientific infancy.

Jan 1, 1931

By R. G. Hall

WHEN we want to interpret some problem which faces us at the present, if that problem be a social or political movement, we turn to the pages of history for 'information. If the problem be one of science or of industry we turn to the library of the subject and endeavor to translate the present from the experience of the past. I wonder if you would bear with me for a few minutes as I look back to the time when I was going through mining school and looking forward with hope, it is true and with confidence also, but still with some trepidation and an occasional qualm, to the month of June when the class of 1897 would be hunting jobs. Those were the years 1893 to 1897. Those years saw the Treasury of the United States so empty of gold that the President had to appeal to financiers to accept the country's promises to pay in return for $100,000,000 in gold. And the invectives that were hurled at both their heads for such a betrayal of the people sound strangely similar to those you read today being daily written and screamed at another President for taking us into the League of Nations or for not issuing bonds in huge amounts for unemployment relief, or for not adopting somebody else's particular specific for the relief of hard times.

Jan 1, 1931