TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRIAL EFFICIENCY Published by the Me Grow- Hill BooI^L Company \Succe.s.sons to tHeDooU. Departments or tKe McGraw Publishing 1 Company Hill PublLshing" Company Publishers of Books for Electrical World The Engineering and Mining" Journal Engineering Record American Machinist Electric Railway Journal Coal Age Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering Power TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRIAL EFFICIENCY A SERIES OF PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE CONGRESS OF TECHNOLOGY, OPENED IN BOSTON, MASS., APRIL 10, 1911, IN CELEBRATION OF THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GRANTING OF A CHARTER TO THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY 239 WEST 39TH STREET, NEW YORK 6 BOUVERIE STREET, LONDON, E.G. 1911 V COPYRIGHT, 1911 BY McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY PREFACE THE charter of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was signed by Governor Andrew on the 10th of April, 1861. In the half-century that has elapsed since that date, the Institute lias steadily advanced in power and influence. Its educational policy has served as a model for numerous similar institutions in this country and abroad, and its graduates have taken a prominent part in opening up the country, in developing its industries, in conserving the health of its citizens, and generally in adding to the national welfare by the application of scientific methods to the great practical problems of the day. To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its founding, a Congress of Technology was opened in Boston on the 10th of April, 1911, and at this Congress a series of papers was presented by alumni of tli3 Institute and by members of its faculty. These papers are here col- lected and reproduced in such abbreviated form as the exigencies of space demand. The work of abbreviation has been entrusted to a board of editors, and, of course, has necessitated liberties being taken with the original form of presentation. In no case, however, has any substantial change been consciously made. A paper entitled " Thirty Years' Work in Boiler Testing," by George H. Barrus, '74, Consulting Seam Engineer, Boston, has been omitted because it was too long to publish in extenso, and could not be presented satisfac- torily in abstract form. An interesting discussion of " Some Problems of High Masonry Dams," by John R. Freeman, '76, Consulting Engineer, Providence, R. I., has unfortunately not been reduced to writing in time for publication. 242295 CONTENTS PAGE Some Factors in the Institute's Success, President Richard C. Maclaurin ... 1 SECTION A Scientific Investigation and Control of Industrial Processes The Spirit of Alchemy in Modern Industry, W. H. Walker 11 The Conservation of our Metal Resources, A. E. Greene, '07 18 Some Causes of Failures in Metals, Henry Fay 26 Metallography and Its Industrial Importance, Albert Sauveur, '89 35 Coal Combustion Recorders, A. H. Gill, '84 40 An Electric Furnace for Zinc Smelting, F. A. J. Fitzgerald, '95 43 Improvements in Cotton Bleaching, W. S. Williams, '95 49 The Work of Engineers in the Gas Industry, F. P. Royce, '90 56 The Chemist in the Service of the Railroad, H. E. Smith, '87 61 The Control of Thermal Operations and the Bureau of Standards, G. K. . Burgess, '96 64 The Debt of the Manufacturer to the Chemist, H. J. Skinner, '99 70 The Prevention and Control of Fires through Scientific Methods, E. V. French, '89 72 Research as a Financial Asset, W. R. Whitney, '90 80 The Utilization of the Wastes of a Blast Furnace, E. M. Hagar, '93 90 Developments in Paint and Varnish Manufacture, E. C. Holton, '88 97 Reclamation of the Arid West, F. H. Newell, '85 100 Some New Chemical Products of Commercial Importance, S. W. Wilder, '91 103 SECTION B Technological Education in its Relations to Industrial Development Influence of the Institute upon the Development of Modern Education, J. P. Munroe, '82 109 The Engineering' School Graduate : His Strength and His Weakness, H. P. Talbot, '85 114 vii viii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE The Elevation of Applied Science to an Equal Rank with the So-called Learned Professions, E. H. Richards, .'73 124 The General Educational Value of the Study of Applied Science, A. A. Claflin 129 The Development of Mining Schools, R. H. Richards, '68 134 The Public Function of the Laboratories of Schools of Engineering, H. W. Hayward, '96 137 The New Profession of Economic Engineering, R. W. Babson, '98 140 Instruction in Finance, Accounting and Business Administration in Schools of Technology, H. S. Chase, 1 83 145 Technical Education and the Contracting Engineer 1 , S. B. Ely, '92 149 The Responsibility of Manufacturers for the Training of Skilled Mechanics and Shop Foremen, A. L. Williston, '89 152 The Training .of Industrial Foremen, C. F. Park, '92 160 Technical Education: Its Function in Training for the Textile Industry, C. H. Eames, '97 164 The Scientific Development of the Negro, R. R. Taylor, '92 167 SECTION C Administration and Management An Object Lesson in Efficiency, W. Lewis, '75 173 The Scientific Thought Applied to Railroad Problems, B. S. Hinckley, '99.. 181 Reliability of Materials, W. C. Fish, '87 186 A Consideration of Certain Limitations of Scientific Efficiency, H. G. Bradlee, '91 190 Scientific Industrial Operation, Tracy Lyon, '85 200 The Trend of Commercial Development Viewed from the Financial Stand- point, Charles Hayden, '90 204 Profitable Ethics, David Van Alstyne, '86 207 The Natural Increase in the Ratio of Burden to Labor in Modern Manu- facturing Processes, J. B. Stanwood, '75 217 Scientific Management of American Railways, S. M. Felton, '73 221 SECTION D Recent Industrial Development Improvements in Efficiency of Electric Lighting Properties and What the Public Gains Thereby, William H. Blood, Jr., '88 269 Advent of Illuminating Engineering, John S. Codman, '93 277 Development of Gasoline Engines, J. C. Riley, '98 279 The Progress of Electric Propulsion in Great Britain, Henry M. Hobart, '89 284 Mechanical Handling of Materials, Richard Devens, '88 289 TABLE OF CONTENTS ix PAGE The General Solution for Alternating Current Distributions, George A. Campbell, '91 293 Electro-Chemistry and Its Recent Industrial Developments, Harry M. Goodwin, '90 304 Mail-handling Machinery at the Pennsylvania Railroad Terminal and New United States Post Office at New York City, Julian E. Woodwell, '96. 315 The Development of a System of Underground Pneumatic Tubes for the Transportation of United States Mail, B. C. Batcheller, '86. .; 327 The Continuous Cooling of Circulating Water Used for Condensing Steam, Edward F. Miller, '86 352 Power Plant Betterment, H. H. Hunt, '89 360 The Development of Economical Ore-dressing Systems, Frank E. Shepard, '87 367 Recent Developments in Bridge Construction, Frank P. McKibben, '94 372 The Manufacture and Use of Asbestos Wood, Charles L. Norton, '93 375 The Technics of Iron and Steel, Theodore W. Robinson, '84 380 SECTION E Public Health and Sanitation Profitable and Fruitless Lines of Endeavor in Public Health Work, Edwin O. Jordan, '88 389 The Technical School Man in Public Health Work, Harry W. Clark, '88... 394 Present Status of Water Purification in the United States and the Part that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has Played, George C. Whipple, '89 399 The Pollution of Streams by Manufacturing Wastes, William S. Johnson, '89 406 Sewage Disposal with Respect to Offensive Odors, George W. Fuller, '90. .. 413 The Food Inspection Chemist and His Work, Herman C. Lythgoe, '96 439 Factory Sanitation and Efficiency, C.-E. A. Winslow, '98 442 The Work of the Sanitary Research Laboratory and Sewage Experiment Station of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Earle B. Phelps, '99 449 Bacteria and Decomposition, Simeon C. Keith, Jr., '93 459 SECTION F Architecture Landscape Architecture: A Definition and a Brief Re'sume' of its Past and Present, Stephen Child, '88 465 Some Phases of Modern Architectural Practice, Walter H. Kilham, '89 475 The Engineer and Architect Unite, Luzerne S. Cowles, '97 480 Mill Construction with Steel Frame and Tile Walls, John O. DeWolf , 484 SOME FACTOES IN THE INSTITUTE'S SUCCESS By RICHARD C. .MACLAURIN, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. IT is fifty years to-day since Governor Andrew signed the charter of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There are many in the community who have watched the growth of this Institute ever since. The dean of those who have been intimately associated with its government is Mr. William Endicott a tireless worker in its interest. He writes to express regret that he cannot be with us to-day, on account of a recent family bereavement, and adds : " It has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life to watch the Tech's triumphant progress from small beginnings to its present assured position as one of the leading scientific institutions of the world." In spite of (perhaps, because of) its youth, and in spite of (if not because of) its earlier struggles and difficulties, it is now absolutely in the front rank a recognized leader in its chosen field, held in respect and honor everywhere. Why this conspicuous success? It is a question that has often been discussed in the reports of commissioners and other distin- guished visitors from abroad, and in the councils of educators at home. Many are the explanations offered the earnestness and devotion of the faculty, the spirit and energy of the students, the loyalty and organization of the alumni, the completeness of its equipment, the number and distinction of its instructors, the variety of its courses, the thoroughness with which the students' knowledge and ability is tested, the practical character of the instruction, the close touch with the industries, the power of adaptation and resources manifested by its graduates, and so forth. These are doubt- less all contributory causes and are the causes that naturally suggest them- selves to a student not specially versed in the history of the Institute. At this season, when we are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of its chartering, it seems natural to lay somewhat more emphasis on historic causes. The more one looks into the matter, the more is he impressed by the fact that although many enlightened men cooperated in launching the Insti- tute on its course, the enthusiasm and the guiding power were supplied 2 SOME FACTOBS IN THE INSTITUTE 'S SUCCESS by one man Eogers. His choice of Boston as a suitable place for the new venture was made deliberately. Be it remembered that, he was not a New Englander, that he was nearly sixty years of age when the Institute was founded, and that until then he had spent the greater part of his active life in the Southern States. To the serenity of outlook on human affairs that marks the scientist and the philosopher, he added an element of passion, when he touched the realm of education. Nowhere in the world is the supreme worth of children more thoroughly appreciated than in America; nowhere is the preparation for their future regarded more generally as one of the holy offices ; nowhere in America is this sacred duty more clearly recog- nized and more anxiously discussed than in Boston. So Rogers placed the Institute here, not because of the paucity of schools in this neighborhood, but because of their abundance; not because of their weakness, but because of their strength. This, he thought, should be good ground in which to sow some fresh educational seed, and ere long his expectations were fully justified. Men of light and leading in the community gave hearty support to the new venture. Governor Banks favored State aid to the Institute on the ground that such an institution would " keep the name of the Commonwealth for- ever green in the memory of her children." His successor, Governor Andrew, who signed the Institute's charter, was greatly . interested, and did all he. could to help. " We ought/' he said, " to start on a broad gauge and inaugurate a great plan looking to the long future of the Commonwealth." An imposing array of individuals and of societies petitioned the legislature to aid in forwarding the new scheme. Had Eogers chosen his location less wisely, he might easily have failed to enlist such support. The advantages of his chosen ground became still more apparent at the critical time when men had to be found to carry out the new ideas. He realized that this was the point where he was to gain victory or suffer defeat, and in spite of the exceptional difficulties presented, he soon succeeded in surrounding himself with the right men. The original faculty of ten professors formed a vigor- ous group, with great reserve of strength, physical as well as mental. They all lived to a ripe old age, and nearly all earned distinction in their own fields. Four of these men are still happily with us, including the professor of analytical chemistry, Charles W. Eliot, whose vigor is not perceptibly diminished after forty years of exacting toil in the presidency of Harvard. It seems clear, then, that one important factor in the Institute's suc- cess has been the place of its birth. And if the place was propitious, the time was in some respects peculiarly so. It was a period of upheaval, to be followed immediately by one of rapid forward movement. The charter was granted within a few days of the breaking out of hostilities marking the EICHAED C. MACLAUEIN 3 beginning of the great war. The national crisis, of course, turned men's thoughts away from science and from education. About a fortnight after the granting of the charter, Eogers attended a meeting of the Thursday Evening Club, and was called upon to speak on some matter pertaining to science. According to a newspaper report of the time " Professor Eogers very gracefully declined to discuss the topic proposed, but made instead a stirring appeal to the Club in favor of providing a regiment of our brave volunteers with knapsacks." Such a time seemed peculiarly unpropitious for initiating a new educational movement, and no doubt the war checked the early growth of the Institute very seriously. However, after a few years, the nation was ready to turn with undivided mind to the great problems of development, and the seed having been sown earlier in good ground, the Institute sprang up rapidly and reaped the harvest of hope engendered by the settlement of the grave moral and political questions to which the war was due. In the quieter field of human activity, the field of thought, the world was experiencing an equally great upheaval. Dar- win's great book had just been published, with results of the first magnitude in shaping the lines on which the world of intellect was to move forward for the next half century. KirchhoiFs idea of spectrum analysis was just open- ing a new era in physics and in astronomy. Faraday was nearing the end of his great career, but his splendid discoveries had not yet borne fruit in the field of practice. His work, however, was having its influence on the mind of Maxwell, the greatest of whose scientific achievements was announced in 1865, the year in which the Institute actually began to work. The world was just entering on a period of remarkable activity in the practical appli- cations of science. The scientists were still struggling with the difficulties of cabling. The Boston of those days was somewhat proud of its critical spirit and in 1859 a writer in the Boston Courier proved at great length that all the "so-called " messages through the Atlantic cables were fictitious, mere shams to save the stock for a time. Edison, who was living in Boston in 1868, and whose son is an undergraduate at this Institute to-day, was just beginning his wonderful career as an inventor. A few years later, one of the greatest marvels of scientific achievement, the electric transmission of speech, was to be demonstrated in this very city, by Alexander Graham Bell, through his invention of the telephone. At such a time, and in such a place, an institution devoted to science and its application had at least an excellent chance of success. The Institute would, however, never have achieved what it has, if other forces had not con- tributed to its success. Some of these have been mentioned earlier ; but there is one of the very first importance, rarely, I think, appreciated at its real 4 SOME FACTORS IN THE INSTITUTE'S SUCCESS value, to which special reference should be made. There has never been any uncertainty or indefiniteness as to what the Institute is aiming at in its scheme of education. Every serious student of education is struck by the fact that so many schools and colleges drift around, apparently without compass or rudder, with no definite idea as to what port they are trying to reach, or how they should go to reach it. Here, at any rate, is an institu- tion that, from the very outset, has'had very definite ideas on these matters, whether those ideas be right or wrong. Most of these ideas are set forth in Rogers' " Objects and Plan, 7 ' which forms a charter of the Institute not less valuable than that which Governor Andrew signed. At the time of writing it, Rogers was no novice in education. He was not far short of sixty, and had taught and thought on educational problems since very early manhood. He had discussed some such project as that of the Institute for twenty years at least, and his ideas thereon had gradually clarified and crystallized, as can be seen from the record of their development, which is accessible to all. Rogers has sometimes been charged with setting up a school in a spirit of antagonism to existing institutions. There is no ground for such a charge. He was too catholic in his tastes to fail to appreciate the good in others, and in advocating something new, he took the safe ground that there is room for difference in the field of education. He knew, as every educated man must know, that the fear of what is called useful knowledge, is exag- gerated, and for the most part groundless. He knew, as others do to-day, that the oldest universities all began with a clear recognition of the bearing of their studies on definite callings; and he recognized clearly that it was not a merit, but a defect, of these schools that most of them had failed to keep pace with the changes in the character of human occupations that time had brought forth. He saw, as Lowell did, that " new times demand new manners and new men " and that new conditions demand new schools. For the guidance of the new school, he laid down a few simple, but far- reaching, principles, which have governed the Institute ever since. The first of these is the importance of being useful. There is, of course, no nec- essary antithesis between the individual and the social end in education. However, the laying of the emphasis is important, and Rogers laid it unhesi- tatingly on efficiency in the service of society. In his first address to the students at this Institute, he set forth the value and the dignity of the prac- tical professions for which they were to prepare themselves. (Rogers, him- self, be it remembered, was a pure scientist, President of the National Acad- emy of Sciences, the friend of Darwin, Kelvin, Helmholtz, and the like.) In earlier discussions with his brother with reference to the plan of the Institute, emphasis had been laid on "the value of science in its great KICHABD C. MACLAUEIN 5 modern applications to the practical arts of life, to human comfort, and health, and to social wealth and power." And so, when the Institute was actually founded, the importance of science was kept steadily in view. He regarded the scientific habit of thought as specially valuable in practical affairs and consequently in education he laid greater stress on broad prin- ciples and their derivation than on details of fact, and he held that the SPIRIT of science was more to be desired than all the gold of scientific knowledge. These are his words : " In the features of the plan here sketched, it will be apparent that the education we seek to provide, although eminently practical in its aims, has no affinity with that instruction in mere empirical routine which has sometimes been vaunted as the proper education for those who are to engage in industries. We believe, on the contrary, that the most truly practical education, even in an industrial point of view, is one founded on a thorough knowledge of scientific laws and principles, and one which unites with habits of close observation and exact reasoning, a large general cultivation. We believe that the highest grade of scientific culture would not be too high as a preparation for the labors of the manufacturer." It will be seen from this that Eogers made no fetish of science, and that he welcomed every really liberal study. Some of the cham- pions of the new school joined in the attack on the older learning; but Eogers had no sympathy with such views. " The recent discussions here and elsewhere," he said, " on the relative value of scientific and classical culture seem to threaten an antagonism which has no proper foundation in experience or philosophy." And although the study of the classics has never formed part of the Institute's courses, History, Economics, Languages and Literature enter its curricula far more extensively than is generally sup- posed. Apart from his appreciation of the value of all sound learning, Rogers saw clearly that the whole controversy as to the relative merits of science and the classics in the field of education missed the mark by placing the emphasis ir the wrong place. He understood that when one gets to the root of things in education, the method rather than the subject is of supreme importance, and his insistence on the value of method in teaching was the cardinal doc- trine in his creed and the one that has contributed most to the success of the Institute. Doubtless his knowledge of the history of science turned his thoughts in this direction. He must have pondered over the question, as every serious student has done, why throughout the ages the world stood so still in the realm of science. It was not for lack of intellectual power, for no one who has examined the matter can fail to recognize that there really were giants of old. The failure came through attacking the problem 6 SOME FACTOBS IN THE INSTITUTE'S SUCCESS by the wrong method. And Eogers concluded that much of the failure in education was due to similar causes. What method, then,, is the right one ? His fundamental idea here was not original with Rogers. It had been clearly expressed before, but rarely, if ever, adopted definitely as the basis of educa- tional method and applied systematically throughout. The idea is familiar to us all to-day, the idea of learning by doing. " How can a man learn to know himself? " asked Goethe. " Never by thinking, but by doing." Add to this the doctrine of Carlyle that " the end of man is an action and not a thought, though it were the noblest," and you have the whole thing in a nutshell. Carlyle is often quoted as having said that the modern univer- sity is a great library. He would have been truer to his own doctrine if he had said that the modern university is a great laboratory. " The Institute," General Walker was fond of saying, " is a place not for boys to play, but for men to work." Boys and men alike learn most effectively by working for themselves, and the do-it-yourself method has been, I believe, the greatest factor in the success of this Institute of Technology. Whatever be the explanation, there can be no doubt about the fact of its success. It is not merely that the Institute is now the largest institution of its kind in this country, and as regards the extent and variety of its courses and equipment, the most nearly complete in the world. It is not merely that it has grown so that there are a hundred students to-day for every one that took the preliminary course scarcely fifty years ago, and that amongst these students there are men drawn by its reputation from the greatest univer- sities of England, France and Germany, as well as from the leading schools and colleges throughout this Union. It is not merely that its teaching staff has expanded so that it contains to-day more than two hundred and fifty men, and that amongst its hundred professors are to be found many men of prominence, and not a few of national and indeed international reputation. It is not merely that amongst its graduates, there are men of the front rank as pioneers of knowledge in the field of pure science, nor that its ten thousand alumni have played so great a part in the development of the nation's indus- try and commerce, and in the preservation of the public health. The most striking fact, when one considers the Institute's youth, is the fact empha- sized on an earlier anniversary by Mr. Augustus Lowell and expressed by him in the phrase, " The M. I. T. is preeminently a leader in education" Its educational ideals and methods have been studied almost everywhere, and almost everywhere the trend to-day is in the direction in which the Insti- tute has long been moving. To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the granting of the Institute's charter a Congress of Technology has been arranged. At this Congress, RICHAKD C. MACLATJBIN 7 which opens to-day, and will be in full activity to-morrow, prominent alumni and members of the faculty are to deal with problems raised in the field of their own specialty. The guiding idea throughout is the gain in efficiency that comes from the application of scientific methods to the treatment of the great practical problems of the day. The business world must be weary of amateur suggestions for the conduct of its affairs, and there is danger of damage to a great cause by too much talk. The problem of increased efficiency is no new problem to the man of affairs, and there is much that is thrust upon him in these days that he must have known for years. On the other hand, a sane and serious discussion by men who know their subject and speak from experience must always be welcome, and doubtless in the proceedings of this Congress there will be much of interest to the business men who are alive to the necessity of advancement and who are on the alert for suggestions that may be helpful in their own affairs. A glance at the program will give some idea of the variety of the interests represented, but more thorough study is needed to realize in any adequate measure that the work of this Institute touches practical life at a thousand points. What the Institute has achieved in half a century has fully justified Rogers' statement when making his first appeal for public support. " I am sure," he said, " that I speak from no impulse of mere enthusiasm when I say that this new undertaking presents an opportunity of practical beneficence in connection with education which is not only pecu- liar, but without precedent in this country. My experience as a teacher and my reflections on the needs and means of industrial instruction assure me that this enterprise, when fully understood, must command the liberal sym- pathy of those who aim to make their generosity fruitful in substantial and enduring public good." SECTION A. SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION AND CONTROL OF INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES THE SPIEIT OF ALCHEMY IN MODERN INDUSTRY By WM. H. WALKER, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. NEVER in the history of the world has there been such a time of intense human activity as the present : never a time of such gigantic undertakings, such marvelous achievements. Notwithstanding, the curve of progress is still an ascending one ; although for some nations it has run parallel to its axis for many centuries, yet nowhere on the earth is there not at present a marked break in the line which for so long has represented a monotonous level in human affairs. While there has been remarkable progress in ethics, culture and the fine arts, this world movement in human endeavor is epitomized in the expres- sion " modern industry." Of the many factors which have entered into the advance in industry as a whole, possibly the most important is found in the manufacture and use of power. Where once we measured results by what a man could do, or later what a horse could do, now we measure the power at our command by thousands of kilowatts. We have had an age of steam, and we are passing through an age of electricity, and what next? Many think it will be an age of unprecedented chemical development. We have reason to be well satisfied with our present achievements; we do things so much more quickly and on so much larger a scale than our ancestors did. But at this enviable rate we can see the end of our resources coal, timber, iron ore, are already measured in years. We must improve our present methods. We must inaugurate along every line of great endeavor a systematic search for new truths, new light into the secrets of nature in order that we may live and work more efficiently. It may seem a long step from a consideration of human dynamics at the intensity of the present, to the work of the alchemists of centuries ago, with all their magic and mysticism, their solitary lives and cherished secrets. But in reality there is something in common between these ancient investi- gators and the leaders in modern industry ; and in looking ahead as to how we can best utilize the possibilities of the future we may learn something by considering the mistakes of the past. The captains of industry and their army of co-workers are still n 12 THE SPIEIT OF ALCHEMY IN MODEEN INDUSTEY alchemists at heart; they still strive to transmute the base materials of the earth into gold. But where the alchemist was satisfied only with seeing the noble metal glittering in his alembic, the modern business man is content in obtaining from his still a treasury certificate. It requires no magic philosopher's stone to effect a transmutation of paper into gold when once the former bears the proper inscription. Wherein have modern methods of alchemy changed from those of that eminent scholar who bore the name Phillipus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, and who lived and worked in the twelfth century and an account of whose checkered career has been handed down to us ? The spirit of alchemy is well represented in the word itself. It is an Arabic prefix, and the old Latin word for Egypt, meaning the dark, secret or hidden. It was the black art of the ancients. Another name some- times used was "hermetic art," meaning also closed or sealed from view. The goal of those men from the gray of antiquity to the monks of the Middle Ages was the discovery of a way to make gold and silver from the metals already known, such as mercury and copper, tin and iron. We can see as we look back over their labors how now and again they received just the encouragement necessary to keep alive the embers of hope which glowed in each one's primitive laboratory. By melting the base metal copper, with an earth which we know carried arsenic, a silver- white metal was formed ; how easy to believe that this was an impure silver which needed but refining to be the longed-for result. When iron was left in a water solution of blue stone it disappeared and copper was found in its place. Surely this was a transmutation of iron and copper. Why not under proper conditions a further change of copper into gold? But very many patient and able men devoted their lives to this fruitless search without material progress being made. The alchemists of Arabia and early Germany were little wiser than their predecessors of Egypt many centuries before them. The explanation of this lack of progress is to be seen in the profound secrecy which was at all times maintained. When some enterprising worthy did take it upon himself to transcribe for future generations his knowledge of the mystic art, his sentences were so ambigu- ous, and his diction so involved, as to make the whole entirely meaningless. Mysterious symbols were employed to render imitation the more difficult. There was, therefore, no accumulation of knowledge or experience, and each succeeding investigator continued to grope in the darkness which had ever enveloped his calling, without deriving any benefit from the labor of either his predecessors or his contemporaries. The great and insurmount- able obstacle to progress was nothing more than the jealous secrecy engen- WM. H. WALKER 13 dered by selfish competition. Both confidence and cooperation were entirely wanting. Each one feared that his neighbor might profit by his experience were it to become known, never realizing that he must in the end get much more in return than he gave. There was but one of him, while there were many of his neighbors. But in the thirteenth century there came a change. One Eoger Bacon, who from his rare accomplishments and erudition was called Doctor Mirabi- lis, and who firmly believed in the existence of the philosopher's stone, was being tried at Oxford for sorcery. To disprove the charges against himself, he wrote a celebrated treatise with a long Latin name, in which he showed that phenomena which had been attributed to supernatural agencies were in fact due to common and natural causes. He pointed out further in his brief, a possible distinction between what he called theoretical alchemy, or work which could advance the knowledge of natural phenomena, and prac- tical alchemy, or the striving after immediately usable information. He is to be regarded as the intellectual originator of experimental research, and by his generous treatment of the knowledge gained, gave to the movement the impetus for which it had so long waited. The limitations of this paper pre- clude my following in any detail the development of chemistry through the succeeding centuries, but it can be easily shown that just as knowledge was sought after for its own sake, and in proportion as there was free and honest intercourse between the investigators of the time, just so rapidly was real progress made. The course of human events has been compared to a pendulum. We tend to swing to extremes; to go too far in one direction, and then in the other, when real progress lies in the middle. The period of alchemy rep- resents the pursuit of science for selfish and sordid ends ; its sole object was that of making gold. The pendulum was at one extreme of its path. But at that time, as at this, the making of gold by whatever means did not in itself bring happiness or contentment, or even success. With the appearance of men who took an absorbing interest in the study of natural phenomena, for the purpose of gaining a deeper insight into the world around them, when investigations were undertaken from a desire to know, and to acquire knowl- edge which could become the property of the world at large, the pendulum began to move back. For years the efforts of investigating minds were devoted to the explana- tion of the phenomena of nature; to the discovery of new laws and prin- ciples; to the accumulation and organization of facts, into what is called a science to a real search for truth. This resulted in a general uplift of humanity, an advance in civilization, which cannot be described or measured 14 THE SPIRIT OF ALCHEMY IN MODERN INDUSTRY in words. It was a time when the human mind was struggling to determine realities in the midst of tradition and superstition; to realize that nature is always complex but never mysterious; that dependence should be placed in proven facts rather than in the vagaries of priests and philosophers. Man became intellectually free. But for many years after the broad generalizations upon which modern chemistry is founded were well established, industry did not profit much by scientific work. One hundred years ago the men who smelted the iron and copper, the lead and zinc, knew little of the principles underlying their practice. Leather was tanned, woolens and silks were dyed, porcelains and glass were made, without the aid of those who alone knew the chemistry involved. These were times when the advance in chemical knowledge was far ahead of the industries on the success of which our material comforts depend, and which then stood in such need of help. A rational attempt to apply chemical knowledge and methods to the industries commenced about 1850, and is in reality contemporaneous with the founding of the Institute of Technology which we to-day celebrate. It was in 1856 that Perkins made the first synthesis of a coal-tar color, and founded the industry which has become the most remarkable example of applied chemistry that we have. In 1855 Bessemer introduced his revolu- tionary process for making steel, made possible by the clear understanding of the nature of steel through improved analytical processes. With the founding of the Institute of Technology and other similar institutions, which not only did its part in advancing science, but taught its students how to apply this science to the problems of the day, our industrial progress has gone forward with leaps and bounds. I would point out in passing that a great contribution in the aid of civilization is not necessarily made by the simple discovery of a scientific fact. Although, for example, the reactions underlying the ammonia-soda process were well known for many years, this knowledge did not benefit the world until the genius of Solvay made through it pure and cheap soda avail- able. Cavendish long ago discovered that an electric arc produced nitric acid from the air ; the world waited until a few years ago in order to profit by this knowledge, when the researches of Birkeland and Eyde made of the idea an industrial process. It was for this ability to apply scientific facts to the necessities of the times, that the world was looking at the time of the found- ing of the Institute of Technology. Much pure science we had, but it was as yet largely " uncontaminated by the worship of usefulness," if I may quote a contemporary. It was to just the kind of men which the Institute of Technology turned out men who could appreciate the beauties of pure WM. H. WALKEE 15 science, and at the same time had the ability to apply it, that our marvelous advance in material prosperity was due. But to-day there can be seen evidences of a swing of the pendulum past the center and again to approach an undesirable extreme. Eesearch has become a word to conjure with. Private bequests for institutions of research in almost every field of science are made in units of millions of dollars. The most significant movement, however, is the very general establishment of laboratories for research, and especially chemical research, by great industrial organizations. This movement is but in its infancy, and it is here that a return of the old spirit of alchemy is to be feared. It has its foundation in the impatience of the more enterprising firms to wait for scientific facts and principles to be discovered by others; hence their willingness to appropriate often very large sums of money and to actively enter the field of what is called research in applied chemistry. From what has already been said, there may appear to be a paradox in the expression "research in applied chemistry." How can the element of research enter into the work of applying to definite ends the facts already established as true by others? Is there a difference between research in so-called pure chemistry, and research in what, for want of a better name, we will call applied chemistry? Possibly I can make the distinction clear by a rough analogy. The development of research in a science may be compared to the exploration of a new country. New roads are to be laid out, tunnels bored and bridges built; in other words, new problems solved. This may be done in two ways. First, constructive work may be undertaken wherever an interesting problem presents itself, without regard to whether there is a demand for such structure or not. It is built because of the interest of the builder in solving this particular difficulty, and the pleasure he takes in it, knowing also that sometime it will be utilized. As a rule he is under no great pressure to get the structure completed. This may rep- resent the method of pure chemistry, and the great advance in scientific knowledge of the past was made by boring just such tunnels and building just such bridges. The industries have used these structures when they could, or when some second builder could adapt them to use. Eesearch in applied chemistry differs from that just described only in this I should say, it need differ only in this that when a problem is to be solved, a bridge to be built, the work is undertaken at a point where there is a demand for its use ; where people are waiting to cross over so soon as it is finished. The method of building is no different, the difficulties no less. The fact that the bridge is to be used makes the work of building no less dignified, nor is it possessed of less pleasure. In both cases the builder profits by all 16 THE SPIRIT OF ALCHEMY IN MODEBN INDUSTBY that has been done before, and contributes his bridge and the new materials of construction he may have found, to those who may come after him. To cite an example from experience, suppose I determine the electrical con- ductivity of metallic oxides at high temperature with great accuracy, and publish the results without reference to any particular application of the data. This is pure science. But suppose I am trying to perfect an electrical heating unit for high temperatures, and in insulating my resistor I do this identical piece of work, namely, measure with great accuracy the electrical conductivity of metallic oxides at high temperature, and again publish the results. This is applied science. The work need not differ in the least degree. It can be as accurately done and the conclusions as scientifically drawn. The mere fact that the data will be used for some practical end need not make the work any less purely scientific. Why then has research in pure chemistry commanded more respect than research in applied chemistry? Why did an eminent writer a few months ago lament the fact that there is not more research " uncontaminated with the worship of usefulness"? Why does usefulness contaminate? I think it lies in this : the investigator of pure science works in the broad daylight, throws his product open for inspection, and invites all to come and use it when they can. In applied chemical research the spirit of alchemy tends to creep in. The builder keeps his materials of construction, and his designs, a secret, and so boards up his bridge that those who cross over it cannot see how it was built, nor profit by his experience. The moment a thing becomes useful we become jealous of its possession ; we become narrow in our horizon; we sell our scientific birthright for a mess of pottage; we become alchemists. There is a heavy moral obligation on the part of large industrial organi- zations having fully equipped research laboratories to contribute their share to the advance of the world's knowledge. They have well-stocked libraries, and are provided with all the current periodicals; they profit by all the scientific work which has been done and is being done. This is as it should be, and such firms are to be commended for their progressiveness. But is this not a reason why such laboratories should do their part in adding to the sum of available knowledge? There is in every laboratory much work which could be published and yet conserve the interests of the corporation. First, there are the results which may not have proved valuable to the laboratory in which they were obtained, but which would be of immense value to someone else working in an entirely different field. Second, there are those results of value to the laboratory possessing them, but which could be published in an unapplied or " pure " form and which WM. H. WALKER 17 would make an important contribution to science and at the same time the publication would work no injury to the company or corporation most inter- ested. And finally there are those results of operations and processes, machines and apparatus, which, if the truth were known, are possessed by a large number of concerns, but are held as valuable secrets by each. Every one would profit and no one be the loser by so farsighted and generous a policy. Germany is very justly held up before us as a shining example of marvelous industrial progress and prosperity. A very great deal of the credit for her present position is due to her splendid educational system. But no small factor in her national progress is the helpful attitude which her industrial organizations take toward the publication of scientific data. The individual does not suffer, while Germany both from a purely scientific and an industrial standpoint is rapidly advanced. But too often with us the president and his board of directors are alchemists ; they fail to see why, if they pay the salaries of their research men, they should give to the public, or their competitors, any part of their results. They exclaim "what has posterity done for us?" They would have their laboratories remain the secret chambers of the alchemists, and continue to improve their methods of changing baser materials into gold without regard to the obligations which they owe to their fellows. It requires no extensive mathematical calculation to prove that the manufacturers themselves would be the ones to profit by such a liberal treat- ment of the results of scientific work. Of one hundred manufacturing concerns each one would give but one per cent of the whole contribution, while he would receive the remaining ninety-five per cent. He could not in the long run be the loser. But of vastly more importance, he would feel and know that his organization was taking part in a world movement toward that increase of human knowledge upon which all real progress depends. Why become selfish and sordid so soon as one's scientific work becomes of imme- diate value to one's fellows? The greater sense of satisfaction, the greater success of even an industrial organization, lies in a fuller, freer, more gen- erous publicity of the scientific results of their laboratories. Would that each such industry might benefit by the experience of Solomon, King of Israel, who, when asked, " What shall I give unto thee ? " replied, " Give me knowledge and wisdom," and he was answered, " Wisdom and knowledge are granted unto thee ; and I will give thee riches and wealth and honor." THE CONSERVATION OF OUR METAL RESOURCES. By ALBERT E. GREENE, '07, Electro-Metallurgical Engineer, American Electric Smelting and Engineering Co., Chicago, 111. MY theme before this Congress is the conservation of our metal resources. Just as we are conserving the timber in the forests; utilizing the land we have heretofore called desert; using the exhaust steam of steam engines and greatly increasing their power; so also in the metallurgy of our base metals we are beginning to conserve a 1-10 of a per cent of metal here, a 1 per cent of metal there which have hitherto gone to waste. Most of you are aware of the great progress made in recovering copper or silver or gold out of low-grade ores that contain only a small percentage of these metals. Now in another field there is a loss which has been going on before our eyes with apparently no attention, and it is a loss which amounts to millions of dollars per year. It is affecting not only large corporations, but it is affecting small producers even to a greater extent. The loss to which I refer is the loss of metal in the processes of making steel and other metals from ores. In the production of the 20,000,000 of tons of steel per annum in this country there is a loss of metal by oxidation during the conversion process which probably aggregates 1,000,000 tons. Most of this metal is lost in the slag and some of it can be reduced again by smelting the slag in the blast furnace, but in the Bessemer process a large part is blown out of the vessel in fine dust which is difficult to collect. The loss of metal by oxida- tion in the Bessemer process alone probably aggregates over 500,000 tons per year. Another significant fact is that a very considerable part of the metal lost by oxidation consists of elements which are more valuable than iron such as manganese and silicon. These elements are usually required by specification in the finished steel, and although the iron ore usually contains enough of them, and the blast furnace process usually reduces them into the iron in sufficient quantity to meet specifications without any additions, yet in the Bessemer and open hearth processes they are almost invariably oxidized again and practically lost. When one remembers these facts and 18 ALBERT E. GREENE, '07 19 that it costs to reduce these metals into the iron and that after they are oxidized out they have to be replaced by expensive alloy additions to the steel it seems as though this were an excellent opportunity to apply con- servation theories to advantage. My object in this paper is to point out how such losses as these can be and are beginning to be diminished, and another object is to show how the application of physical and chemical principles to these problems is one of the greatest aids we have in acomplishing this end. If I can do this I shall feel that, in some small way at least, I shall have served my alma mater, to whom I feel very greatly indebted. It has been my privilege to have followed one of the newer fields of development influencing the conservation of our metals. This is the field of high temperature chemistry which the advent of the electric furnace has opened up. It has been said by prominent steel men that in the next ten years the greatest developments in that industry will be those effecting increased metallurgical efficiency. I venture to say that in this one industry by the application of electricity, together with improved chemical processes, there will result a saving of metal which will amount to hundreds of thousands of tons per annum. I wish to try to show how the electric furnace can influence conservation in such a way. It is not simply because the electric furnace provides a means of getting extremely high temperature, but rather because by means of electrically developed heat we can simultaneously control the temperature and the chemical reactions wholly independently of one another. This is a most important fact and it opens up a whole new field of chemistry, espe- cially where the gaseous treatment of metal is involved. For the sake of comparison let us consider the methods of heating now in use. Almost invariably heat is obtained by the combustion of fuel. The fuel is usually burned in the same chamber with the material heated so that gaseous products of combustion come in contact with the material. These products of combustion are themselves of an oxidizing nature, since they always contain oxygen, and, furthermore, to obtain high temperatures efficiently it is necessary to burn the fuel with excess of oxygen, which makes the atmosphere still more oxidizing. Thus we see that as a general thing high temperatures are obtained only under more or less oxidizing conditions whether such conditions be desired or not. For example where steel scrap is melted in an open hearth furnace the steel tak^s up more or less oxygen in some form or other and the melted steel must be deoxidized by use of silicon and aluminum or other agents. Here much metal could be saved if the atmosphere could be controlled. In another example, such as the 20 THE CONSERVATION OF OUR METAL RESOURCES open hearth process where pig iron is being converted into steel, the oxidiz- ing atmosphere aids in oxidizing the carbon, but the trouble is that it oxidizes the metal, too, and this is the important cause of the great loss of metal referred to above. Even though the atmosphere may be modified slightly by allowing the gas to enter the furnace chamber next the charge and beneath the air, yet this does not prevent the loss by oxidation. And so we are practically driven to use the electric furnace if we desire to control temperature and atmosphere independently of one another. Let us now see what can be accomplished by means of such independent control of temperature and gases and let us consider in this connection the meaning and use of the term "neutral atmosphere." One often hears of maintaining a neutral or non-oxidizing atmosphere in an electric furnace to prevent oxidation. If we have a bath of steel and an iron oxide and lime slag on top of it, a neutral or non-oxidizing atmos- phere would not necessarily prevent oxidation of elements in the steel. A neutral atmosphere would be in equilibrium with iron and and an oxide of iron. If we are going to make use of the atmosphere to prevent oxidation it must be controlled and not kept simply neutral. It ought to be reducing in certain cases and oxidizing in others. And this leads me to the consideration of an idea whose application in practical processes, I believe, is new. It is this: We can, by controlling the temperature and also the composition of the atmosphere acting on a charge at a given temperature, effect a reduction of one substance and an oxidation of another substance at the same time by the same atmosphere. As far as I am aware, the application of this idea to the oxidation of an impurity out of a metal without oxidation of the metal itself and even with the reduction of the metal oxides, is new. Its application to the conversion of iron into steel makes it possible to oxidize the carbon without the very great loss of metal I have already referred to. Inasmuch as I was led to a clearer conception of such a process as this by a careful study of the chemical principles involved, it may be of interest to apply one or two of these principles to a simple case, for it is the applica- tion of these principles which I believe is of great value in improving the efficiency of such processes. Suppose we are working on pig iron and can react on it in a furnace chamber with an oxidizing or reducing gas or mixtures of these gases and at any temperature and pressure. The physical conditions to be controlled in such a case are the temperature and the pressure of gas in the furnace chamber; the chemical conditions are the reactions between the different elements and compounds present. The two laws particularly applicable in this case are the Mass Action ALBEET E. GEEENE, '07 21 Law and the Phase Eule. Let us choose a simple reaction which might take place in the above example. The C0 2 gas present may act on the iron as follows : C0 2 +Fe=FeO+CO. The law of Mass Action tells us that if such a reaction goes on in a closed vessel at a given elevated temperature and pressure, a condition of equilibrium will be reached and the CO produced will bear a certain relation to the C0 2 present. For the given temperature and pressure the ratio of the amount of CO and C0 2 will have a particular value. The Mass Action Law also tells us that if we force more C0 2 into the closed vessel the oxida- tion will proceed further and if CO is forced into space the oxidized iron will be reduced. Now suppose we replace the equilibrium mixture in the vessel by a mixture of CO and C0 2 in which the CO is in excess of the amount present under the equilibrium conditions just referred to; the result will be that some iron oxide will be reduced and C0 2 formed, and equilibrium will tend to be restored, but the amount of solid or liquid iron oxide remaining will be less than at the start. We can make this replacement continuous so that the gas in the chamber is always reducing toward iron oxide and we therefore have a means of carrying the reduction of iron oxide to completion and preventing the further oxidation of iron, it being remembered that the amount of solid FeO present does not influence the equilibrium. And, fur- thermore, this can be done with a gas containing the oxidizing agent C0 2 . By keeping enough C0 2 present it is possible to oxidize carbon without oxidizing iron, since carbon oxidizes more easily than iron at high tem- peratures. With respect to temperature and what the control of it enables us to do, the Phase Eule tells us, among other things, what the effect of tempera- ture will be on the equilibrium we have just considered. It tells us that the tendency of oxygen to separate from iron oxide has a certain definite value for every temperature. Increasing the temperature increases the tendency to separate or dissociate. This tendency is called the dissociation pressure of oxygen for the particular oxide and it has been measured for a few compounds. For our purposes, at present at least, we can and must get along without knowing what these actual pressures are because they have not, except in a few cases, been determined ; it serves our purpose, however, if we know what ratios of reducing gas to oxidizing gas will prevent the undesired oxidation for given temperatures. Thus we need only to know, first, what ratio of CO is needed with a given percentage of C0 2 in a gas in 22 THE CONSERVATION OF OUR METAL RESOURCES order to prevent oxidation of iron at a given temperature, and, second, how this ratio changes with the temperature. The Phase Eule tells us the same thing about other elements, for example, silicon, manganese, carbon, phosphorus, etc., these being the ones with which we are concerned in steel processes, and we find that at a given temperature these different elements, as a rule, have different tendencies to oxidize. Since the temperature affects different elements differently we find also that at certain temperatures two elements may have the same tendency to oxidize, and the so-called critical temperature of the Bessemer process when both silicon and carbon have an equal tendency to oxidize is one of these temperature points. To sum up a few of these considerations we have seen how by continu- ously controlling the atmosphere acting on a given charge we may carry out any particular reaction to completion or how we may prevent a given reaction for an indefinite time ; how an atmosphere which is reducing to one metal at a given temperature may not be reducing but may even be oxidizing to another element and that the term " Neutral " is indefinite unless some- thing more is specified. And finally I think you will see how the electric furnace, by reason of enabling us to control temperature and, at the same time, oxidize one element while keeping another reduced, makes it possible to do what the present steel-making processes cannot do, that is, oxidize carbon without the tremendous loss of other elements I have already referred to. It enables us to oxidize carbon and not iron or manganese or silicon ; it enables us to oxidize phosphorus without oxidizing iron or manganese; it enables us to separate iron from copper by oxidizing the iron without oxidizing the copper; and these are only a few of the things that the combination makes possible. The important question is : Can such processes be carried out economi- cally, can they compete with present processes ? When we started to develop these processes we had first worked them out theoretically and we, too, won- dered if they would really work in practice. We carried out an extensive series of tests on a small scale, and as these tests proved that it was possible to accomplish the oxidation of one element without oxidizing others, we then designed and built larger furnaces to try this process on a practical scale. Our first practical furnace was about 300 Ibs. capacity for mak- ing steel for castings. I have just presented a paper before the Ameri- can Electrochemical Society at New York, on the 5th of this month, which goes into more detail in regard to this process, but it may be of interest to make a brief comparison with the converter process used by many small steel foundries for making high-grade steel. ALBERT E. GREENE, '07 23 In the converter process, molten low-phosphorus pig iron is poured into the converter and blown with a blast of air usually through tuyeres near the level of the metal, the air burning out the silicon, manganese, carbon and considerable iron. In these small converters, such as is used in steel foundries, the loss is very high ; it is often more than 18 per cent of the weight of the molten pig iron started with. True, about 4% per cent, which goes to make up that 18 per cent., is carbon and silicon which have to come out anyway, but there remains a loss of 13 or more per cent which is so much waste of metal. In a plant making only 20 tons of molten steel per day, the value of this 13 per cent of steel (for it would be steel if saved) would at $30 per ton amount to over $23,000 per year, and in this loss is included manganese and silicon, which have to be put back again by adding alloys, and their addition entails further losses. These alloys, usually ferro- manganese and ferro-silicon, serve two purposes : they partly combine with the oxides in the iron which have come from the air blown through the iron and separate out as slag, and part of them remains in the steel and raises the percentage of these elements enough to meet the specifications. The process we have developed and which we are calling an electric converter process is carried out in an electric furnace instead of a Bessemer converter, and the molten metal is blown with gas of a regulated composition instead of with air. The vessel must be electrically heated because the reac- tions of the gas on the metal do not supply much heat, as the correspond- ing reactions in the Bessemer process do. We use a gas which may be obtained from a cupola, or a gas producer, or from a blast furnace. This gas would contain 6 or 8 per cent, of carbon monoxide, CO, and .12 or 15 per cent, of carbon dioxide, C0 2 . When blown into molten pig iron this gas does not oxidize iron or manganese, and as pig iron usually contains man- ganese in sufficient quantity to meet specifications, this process avoids re- placing that element by expensive alloy additions. The metal is heated to about 1450 degrees Centigrade and blown with this gas and the carbon is taken out by it. The carbon is oxidized, but not the iron nor the manga- nese. There is a small loss of manganese by vaporization, but this is so small that after the carbon is out the percentage of manganese may even be larger than at the start. In the small furnace which we have used to make various grades of steel we have been able to convert pig iron into steel with a total conversion loss of only about 2.5 per cent plus the weight of carbon burned and includ- ing metal spilled in handling and left in the furnace, and this compares with a total loss of 15 per cent plus the carbon burned by the Bessemer process in small converters. This furnace was heated by induced electric currents 24 THE CONSERVATION OF OUR METAL RESOURCES in the metal. The process is now installed and under test in a 2-ton fur- nace and we believe that the developments we have made are a step toward the saving of that immense loss which is going on to-day. One of the most interesting applications of the process has been in the production of manganese steel. As is well known, manganese steel contain- ing about 12 per cent manganese has very valuable properties of strength and resistance to wear, which render it very useful for such articles as rail- way crossings, rails, crusher-jaws, safes, and many similar things. The scrap steel, such as heads and gates, etc., from castings made of manganese steel contains a valuable amount of manganese, but in the melting up of manganese steel scrap in cupolas much of the manganese is lost and when the melted mixture of scrap and iron is blown in the converter all the rest of the manganese not already lost is oxidized. This tendency of manganese to oxidize has made it practically impossible, at least from a commercial standpoint, to make low-carbon manganese steel and the properties of such steel are almost unknown. By applying our process it has proved practicable to melt manganese steel scrap into pig iron and then remove the carbon without practically any loss of manganese and it has further proved prac- ticable to produce very low carbon manganese steel in this way. The com- mercial saving resulting from the utilization of the manganese that has heretofore gone to waste is a most important consideration to the manu- facturer, and this saving can be accomplished at a cost very much less than the value of the metal saved. These examples of losses in steel processes are characteristic of similar losses in the metallurgy of various other metals; in the process of converting copper matte for removing the sulphur and the iron from the copper there is an oxidation of copper which totals up very high. Likewise in the metal- lurgy of lead there is a similar loss, and in the case of many other metals. These losses can be prevented by the use of electric heat for controlling temperature and simultaneously controlling the composition of the gaseous reagents. The commercial practicability of such processes depends on many fac- tors, but we believe that the losses which can be prevented will in a great many cases prove to much more than offset the cost of electric heating. The field of chemistry opened up by the electric furnace is a most fer- ile one from the standpoint of scientific research as well as on the practical side. We need exact knowledge about all the metals and elements concerned in high-temperature metallurgy, such as the dissociation pressures of vari- ous metallic oxides and the variation of these pressures with the temperature. Such data will be of the greatest value to the manufacturer, so that there ALBEET E. GREENE, '07 25 shall be an additional incentive to its collection by scientific workers. By means of such data and by the application of simple physical and chemical principles in practical processes I believe the chemist has in his power one of the greatest means to-day of aiding the cause of conservation of our metals. And to our Institute of Technology, for the things she stands for; for what she has done for us and is doing for many others to-day, in training, in preparing us to put up a good fight for things worth while ; for her inspi- ration and encouragement in helping us to see even in a small way how the tasks she placed before us would help in time to come, for all these gifts I feel that I owe a debt to our Alma Mater that only the greatest effort can pay, even in part. For the honor and privilege of being one of her sons I am profoundly thankful. SOME CAUSES OF FAILURES IN METALS By HENRY FAY, Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. IN the history of the testing of metals there have been developed various methods for ascertaining whether or not the metal in question was suited for some particular purpose. The first of these methods to be developed to any extent was the purely mechanical test, and this, for a considerable period of time, was the only method available. By this method it was possible to determine the tensile strength, the elastic limit, the reduction of area, the elongation, hardness, etc., all of which were important, but in some cases where the amount of material was limited this method was not applicable. Especially was this true in cases where only a fragment of the material was available for experimentation. To supplement this method chemical tests were applied, and much valu- able additional information was obtained. The application of analysis was hailed with delight, and it was predicted that chemical analysis would en- tirely supplant mechanical testing. This claim, however, was extravagant, and it was found that both chemical and physical tests did not furnish all of the data necessary to explain some of the phenomena. This was particularly true in those cases where samples of steel of known composition had been subjected to different heat treatment in the process of manufacture. In such cases chemistry could give little or no additional information as to the causes of variation in the physical properties. In most cases, however, chemistry was able to throw much light upon the properties of materials, and by the studies of many investigators the effect of carbon, manganese, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and other elements was accurately determined. A third method of testing, the metallographic method, was developed, and this not only supplemented the information obtained by the physical and chemical tests, but it was able in many cases to fill in the gaps where the others yielded little or no information. Extravagant claims were also made for metallography as for chemistry, and these claims wore modified as the, 26 HENRY FAY 27 experience of time demanded. At the present time metallography is a valuable asset to the testing engineer and is frequently sufficient in itself, but is more often used in conjunction with 1he other methods of testing. Its particular uses are in experimental work where studies of new alloys are being conducted, in studies involving the heat-treatment of steels, and in the pathological studies of material failing in service. I do not wish to go into the history of metallography and will assume that its principles are known, but I should like to present several cases of its FIG. 1 application to the pathological study of ordnance material. In this field it is highly important to properly diagnose the cause of failure so as to avoid a repetition of the disease. Whenever possible, metallographic tests have been made in conjunction with physical and chemical tests, but it will be seen from some of the results obtained that the diagnosis was really based on metallographical data. The first case which I shall report is that of a very expensive tube forging about 35 ft. in length, with walls 4 in. thick, and the internal diameter 10 in. This tube, after having been in service for some time,, 28 SOME CAUSES OF FAILURES IN METALS developed a crack on the inner side about 2 ft. in from the end, which would correspond to the bottom of the ingot. The crack was irregu- lar, not completely continuous and varied in width throughout its length, as shown by the sketch in Fig. 1. It also varied in, depth, extending much further into the metal in the central portion and at this point branching to some extent. Samples for chemical analysis were taken from (A) three holes drilled in the immediate neighborhood of the crack, and from (5) the other end of the forging. The results obtained are as follows : Carbon 47 per cent. Manganese 72 Silicon 188 " Sulphur 024 Phosphorus 024 B .46 per cent. .70 .195 " .024 " .023 " There is nothing to criticize in this analysis, and it hence gives no clue to the cause of failure. For physical tests, eleven specimens 6 by 1 by 1 were cut from the neighborhood of the crack, some longitudinal or parallel to the direction of forging, others tangential and one in a semi-radial direction. In addition, two specimens were cut from the remote end of the forging, one tangential and the other longitudinal. The results of the physical tests are shown in Table 1. TABLE 1 Specimen. Tensile Strength , Ibs. per sq.in. Elastic Limit, Ibs. per sq.in. Elongation per cent in 2 in. Contraction of Area. 1 91,000 53,500 27 59.8 2 91,000 53,500 27 59.8 3 90,500 51,500 24.5 43.3 4 91,000 51,500 24 43.4 5 88,500 50,000 24.5 49.1 6 89,000 51,500 27.5 59.8 7 89,000 52,500 27 57.2 8 88,000 50,500 23 43.3 9 92,500 54,000 25 57.2 10 92,000 54,000 26.5 57.2 11 92,500 54,500 26 59.8 From Remote End of Forging. Longitudinal ... 88,000 53,000 29 Tangential 83,000 38,500 25 62.2 32, HENEY FAY 29 From an inspection of these results it is evident that the metal is uni- form and of good quality, and that the crack was not induced by the use of poor metal. The chemical and physical tests are confirmatory in every respect and yield no clue to the cause of the failure. The specimens cut out for physical tests, before turning to size, were all rough polished on two sides, and etching experiments were made to see if segregation could be detected. For etching purposes, a freshly prepared 6 per cent alcoholic iodine solution and an 8.5 per cent copper ammonium chloride solution were used. The latter solution is strongly recommended by Heyn, who has used it to detect segregation of phosphorus, carbon, slag, cold-worked spots, etc. He recommends one gram of copper ammonium FIG. 2 / chloride to twelve of water and the time of etching one minute. As a general rule this solution is more reliable tSan the iodine solution, especially if the latter is not freshly prepared, but the iodine solution gives pssults which are better suited for photographic reproduction. .-.if* These two reagents confirmed each other in every respect. The results of these etching tests are shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Characteristic markings are shown in each specimen and the relationship to the position in the origi- nal ingot is well defined. Heyn has shown that in material in which there is some segregated phosphorus the spots where the segregation occurs are marked by a more firm adherence of the deposited copper to these areas than to the non-phosphoric areas, and by their taking on a bronze color. This statement was confirmed by trial of the copper solution on a speci- 30 SOME CAUSES OF FAILURES IN METALS men of cold-rolled shafting known to be segregated. On the same specimen the alcoholic iodine solution left the phosphide areas much brighter than the surrounding material. Parallel lines of segregated phosphide are shown in specimens marked 5 or 8, on Figs. 2 and 3, respectively, and the FIG. 3 cross-section of similar lines is shown in specimens 3 and 9. These parallel lines are extended in the direction of forging and hence define the vertical axis of the ingot. In all sections cut parallel to the vertical axis, the phos- phide lines are parallel or very nearly so except in the region of the crack, FIG. 4 and this is well indicated in Figs. 4 and 5. The significance of this fact will be referred to again. The cross-sections of these parallel lines therefore define the horizontal axis. On all sections etched on faces parallel to the horizontal axis, in addi- HENEY FAY 31 tion to the phosphide marking, there is developed the " fir-tree " structure which is characteristic of the original ingot. This is proof positive, there- fore, that the working and heat treatment of this forging had not been properly done, otherwise the ingot structure would have been eliminated entirely. Notwithstanding this defect, the physical tests are good, but cir- FIG. 5 cumstances might arise where the ingot structure would be decidedly detrimental. That the metal did not receive the best of heat treatment is shown in the coarsely granular structure as indicated in the photo-micrograph, Fig. 6. Since the normally parallel lines of phosphide of iron are considerably distorted near the crack, it is reasonable to suppose that the metal in this region had been much distorted. It is bighty probable that this distortion has been produced by a fold having been made in the metal during the time 32 SOME CAUSES OF FAILURES IN METALS of forging. Evidence in favor of this view is obtained by microscopic exploration of this region. If a fold has taken place, there should be found evidence in the form of slag, particularly of oxide of iron, within the metal. FIG. 6 Figs. 7 and 8 show straight and branching lines of slag with some individual and finely divided particles. This is characteristic of this region. FIG. 7 FIG. 8 Both photographs show the unetched metal. In Fig. 9 is shown a photo- graph of the metal etched with picric acid. At the upper right-hand side is seen a crack and this leads into a globule of slag. Surrounding the crack HENRY FAY 33 and slag there is a decarbonized area. This decarbonized area is distinctly visible in etched specimens taken from the region of the crack. The presence of slag and the decarbonized areas are significant. The FIG. 9 decarbonized area indicates fairly clearly the nature of the slag, for it is easily believable that if a fold in the metal had taken place during the process of forging it would enclose a considerable amount of mill-scale, or FIG. 10 magnetic oxide of iron. Further, decarbonization by this mill-scale would readily take place at the temperature of forging, as is so frequently found in forged bars which show less carbon on the outside than on the interior. 34 SOME CAUSES OF FAILURES IN METALS The presence of slag in a decarbonized area is further shown in Fig. 10, and is especially well shown in Fig. 11, where we have a small island of slag imbedded in its carbonless area, and this in turn surrounded by the normal structure of the metal. In previous papers it has been shown that cracks are induced not only by slag included in the metal, but that when once formed the crack will follow along and through the slag into good metal. It seems, then, that the crack in this tube may be accounted for by the folding in of magnetic FIG. 11. oxide of iron during the process of forging the metal. The fold was appar- ently welded together, and it was not noticeable during the machining process. Later, when the metal was subjected to severe strain, cracks opened up and soon extended deeper into the metal until it was found nec- essary to remove it from service. It has been further demonstrated that the forging and annealing did not remove the original ingot structure, and that the microstructure was not entirely satisfactory. Physical and chemical tests did not offer any explana- tion as to causes of failure, but metallographic methods seem to offer a completely satisfactory one. METALLOGEAPHY AND ITS INDUSTRIAL IMPORTANCE. By ALBERT SAUVEUR, '89, Professor of Metallurgy, Harvard University. TWENTY years ago the science of Metallography was practically unknown and it is only within the last fifteen years that it has been seriously considered by metal manufacturers and consumers as a valuable method of testing and investigating. That so much has been accomplished in so short a time is highly gratifying to the many workers, practical or scientific, who have contributed by their efforts to the progress of Metallography. To realize the practical importance of Metallography it should be borne in mind that the physical properties of metals and alloys, that is, those properties to which these substances owe their exceptional industrial importance, are much more closely related to their proximate composition than to their ultimate composition, and that microscopical examination reveals, in part at least, the proximate composition of metals and alloys, whereas chemical analysis seldom does more than reveal their ultimate composition. It will bear repeating that from the knowledge of the proxi- mate composition of a certain industrial metal or alloy we are able to infer its properties and, therefore, predict its adaptability, with a much greater degree of accuracy than if we knew only its ultimate composition. The analytical chemist may tell us, for instance, that a steel which he has analyzed contains 0.50 per cent of carbon without our being able to form any idea as to its properties, for such steel may have a tenacity of some 75,000 pounds per square inch or of some 200,000 pounds, a ductility rep- resented by an elongation of some 25 per cent or practically no ductility at all; it may be so hard that it cannot be filed or so soft as to be easily machined, etc. The metal microscopist, on the contrary, on examining the same steel will report its structural, i.e., its proximate, composition, informing us that it contains approximately 50 per cent of ferrite and 50 per cent of pearlite and. we know at once that the steel is fairly soft, duc- tile and tenacious, or he may report the presence of 100 per cent of mar- tensite and we know that the steel is extremely hard, very tenacious and deprived of ductility. Which of the two reports is of more immediate 35 36 METALLOGRAPHY AND ITS INDUSTRIAL IMPORTANCE practical value, the chemist's or the nietallographist's ? Surely that of the metallographist. Nor is it only in the domain of metals that we find such close relationship betwen properties and proximate composition, for, on the contrary, it is quite true of all substances. How many organic bodies, for instance, have practically the same ultimate composition and still are totally unlike in properties because of their different proximate composition, i.e., different grouping and association of the ultimate constituents ! If we were better acquainted with the proximate composition of substances many unex- plained facts would become clear to us. Unfortunately the chemist too often is able to give us positive information in regard to the proportion of the ultimate constituents only, his reference to proximate analysis being of the nature of speculation. Ultimate analysis has reached a high degree of perfection in regard to accuracy as well as to speed of methods and analyti- cal chemists have built up a marvelous structure calling for the greatest admiration. Their searching methods never fail to lay bare the ultimate composition of substances. But how much darkness still surrounds the proximate composition of bodies and how great the reward awaiting the lifting of the veil ! The forceful and prophetic writing, in 1890, of Profes- sor Henry M. Howe, M: I. T., '71, naturally comes to mind. Speaking of the properties and constitution of steel, Professor Howe wrote : " If these views be correct, then, no matter how accurate and extended our knowledge of ultimate composition, and how vast the statistics on which our infer- ences are based, if we attempt to predict mechanical properties from them accurately we become metallurgical Wigginses. . . . " . . . ; ultimate analysis never will; proximate analysis may, but by methods which are not yet even guessed at, and in the face of fearful obstacles. " How often do we look for the coming of the master mind which can decipher our undecipherable results and solve our insoluble equations, while if we will but rub our own dull eyes and glance from the petty details of our phenomena to their great outlines their meaning stands forth unmistakably; they tell us that we have followed false clues, and paths which lead but to terminal morasses. In vain do we flounder in the sloughs and quagmires at the foot of the rugged mountain of knowledge, seeking a royal road to its summit. If we are to climb, it must be by the precipitous paths of proximate analysis, and the sooner we are armed and shod for the ascent, the sooner we devise weapons for this arduous task, the better. : ' By what methods ultimate composition is to be determined is for the chemist rather than the metallurgist to discover. But, if we may take a leaf from lithology, if we can sufficiently comminute our metal (ay, there's the rub!), by observing differences in specific gravity (as in ore dressing), in rate of solubility under rigidly fixed conditions, in degree of attraction by the magnet, in cleavage, luster, and crystalline form under the microscope, in readiness of oxidation by mixtures of gases in rigidly fixed proportions and at fixed temperatures, we may learn much. ALBEET SAUVEUR, >89 37 " Will the game be worth the candle? Given the proximate composition, will not the mechanical properties of the metal be so greatly influenced by slight and undeterminable changes in the crystalline form, size and arrangement of the com- ponent minerals, so dependent on trifling variations in manufacture, as to be still only roughly deducible? ;; The above was written before the days of Metallography or at least when Metallography had barely appeared in the metallurgical sky and when no one yet had fancied what would be the brilliant career of the newcomer. Metallography has done much to supply the need so vividly and timely depicted by Professor Howe, precisely because by lifting a corner of the veil hiding from our view the proximate composition of metals and alloys it has thrown a flood of light upon the real constitution of these important products. Has the game been worth the candle? Will anyone hesitate to answer in the affirmative Professor Howe's question? Professor Howe with his usual acumen was conscious of the fact that proximate analysis, while likely to reveal a great deal more of the constitu- tion of metals than ultimate analysis ever could, might still leave us in such ignorance of their physical structure as to throw but little additional light upon the subject. His fear was certainly well founded, and surely if the proximate composition had been obtained by chemical analysis it would indeed have told us little of the structure or anatomy of the metals. In the domain of proximate composition chemistry cannot do more for the metal- lurgist than it does for the physician. Invaluable information chemistry does give, without which both the physician and the metallurgist would be in utter darkness, but it throws little or no light upon the anatomy of living or inanimate matter. Its very methods which call for the destruction of the physical structure of matter show how incapable it is to render assist- ance in this, our great need. The parallel drawn here between metals and living matter is not fantastic. It has been aptly made by Osmond, who said rightly that modern science was treating the industrial metal like a living organism and that we were led to study its anatomy, i.e., its physical and chemical constitution; its biology, i.e., the influence exerted upon its con- stitution by the various treatments, thermal and mechanical, to which the metal is lawfully subjected ; and its pathology, i.e., the action of impurities and defective treatments upon its normal constitution. Fortunately Metallography does more than reveal the proximate com- position of metals. It is a true dissecting method which lays bare their anatomy, that is, the physical grouping of the proximate constituents, their distribution, relative dimensions, etc., all of which necessarily affect the properties, for two pieces of steel, for instance, might have exactly the same 38 METALLOGRAPHY AND ITS INDUSTRIAL IMPORTANCE proximate composition, that is, might contain, let us say, the same pro- portion of pearlite and ferrite and still differ quite a little as to strength, ductility, etc., and that because of a different structural arrangement of the two proximate constituents ; in other words, because of unlike anatomy. It is not to be supposed that the path trodden during the last score of years was at all times smooth and free from obstacles. Indeed, the truth of the proverb that there is no royal road to knowledge was constantly and forcibly impressed on the mind of those engaged in the arduous task of lifting Metallography to a higher level. Its short history resembles the history of the development of all sciences. At the outset a mist so thick surrounds the goal that only the most courageous and better equipped attempt to pierce it, and, perchance, they may be rewarded by a gleam of light. This gives courage to others and the new recruits add strength to the besieging party. Then follow the well-known attacking methods of 'scien- tific tactics and strategy and after many defeats and now and then a victo- rious battle the goal is in sight but only in sight and never to be actually reached, for in our way stands the great universal mystery of nature; what is matter? what is life? Nevertheless there is reward enough for the scientist in the feeling that he has approached the goal, that he has secured a better point of vantage from which to contemplate it. The game was worth the candle. And if the scientific workers must necessarily fail in their efforts to arrive at the true definition of matter, whatever be the field of their labor, they at least learn a great deal concerning the ways of matter, and it is with the ways of matter that the material world is chiefly concerned. Hence, the usefulness of scientific investigation; hence, the usefulness of Metallography. Like any other science with any claim to commercial recognition, Metallography has had first to withstand the attack and later to overcome the ill-will and reluctance of the so-called " practical man " with a decided contempt for anything scientific. He represents the industrial Philistine clumsily standing in the way of scientific application to industrial opera- tions. Fortunately, while his interference may retard progress, it cannot prevent it. Had he had his own way neither the testing machine, nor the chemical laboratory, nor the metallographical laboratory, nor the pyrometer, would ever have been introduced in iron and steel works. In Metallography, as in other fields of research, American workers, with very few exceptions, have been quite willing to let Europeans perform the arduous and generally unrewarded task of the pioneer, being content to wait, before entering the field, until practical results were fairly in sight. Such a course, which is never to be commended, becomes intolerable ALBERT SAUVEUE, '89 39 when accompanied, as it so frequently is, by the boasting attitude of the man believing himself smarter than his neighbor, whom he regards in the light of the cat drawing the chestnuts from the fire. America, barring bril- liant exceptions like Richards, at Harvard, and Noyes, at Tech, does not as yet do her share of the pioneer's work in investigations which do not give evident indications of quick commercial returns. The unselfish, nay, self-sacrificing spirit of the true scientist is of far rarer occurrence in the United States than it is in Europe and especially in France. America has not yet produced a Pasteur nor a Berthelot, intellectual giants, profound scientific thinkers, whose conception of the duty of the scientist as a man is so lofty that they have despised the wealth within their easy reach, to devote themselves unreservedly to the betterment of their country, or rather of the world, for they are morally so great th.at the entire world becomes their fatherland; humanity claims them. Speaking in 1904 of the practical value of Metallography in iron and steel making, I wrote the following, which it may not be out of place to reproduce here : " History, however, must repeat itself, and the evolution of the metallographist bids fair to be an exact duplicate of the evolution of the iron chemist ; the same landmarks indicate his course : distrust, reluc- tant acceptance, unreasonable and foolish expectation from his work, dis- appointment because these expectations were not fulfilled and finally the finding of his proper sphere and recognition of his worth. The met- allographist has passed through the first three stages of this evolution, is emerging from the fourth and entering into the last. For so young a candi- date to recognition in iron and steel making, this record is on the whole very creditable/' We may say to-day that he has definitely entered the last stage and that the adverse criticisms still heard from time to time, generally from the pen or mouth of ignorant persons, are like the desultory firing of a defeated and retreating enemy. In the United States alone the microscope is in daily use for the exami- nation of metals and alloys in more than two hundred laboratories of large industrial firms, while Metallography is taught in practically every scientific or technical school. COAL COMBUSTION RECORDERS. By AUGUSTUS H. GILL, '84, Professor of Technical Analysis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. BY the simple determination of the carbonic acid content and tempera- ture of the gases from a boiler furnace, its efficiency can be closely deter- mined. By the investment of ten dollars in premiums to keep the C0 2 at 12 per cent, an electric company in a Massachusetts city saved 40 tons of coal. This would seem to demand the attention of every manufacturer using coal. The first analyses of chimney gases were made in 1827, by Peclet : they were sampled by emptying a bottle of water in the gases and he found that in ordinary combustion only about half of the air was used. Bunsen, in 1839, analyzed the gases from a blast furnace in Veckershagen and found that over 40 per cent of the fuel was wasted : attempts were made to use this waste heat for raising steam. The analyses in those days were tedious and troublesome, a whole day being employed in taking a sample. Scheurer Kestner used ten gallons of mercury and complicated trains of combustion and absorption apparatus. Now a result is obtained in five minutes and recorded all automatically. The first portable apparatus for gas analysis was devised in 1872 by Clemens Winkler, the discoverer of the rare element, germanium. This, however, is troublesome to manipulate, is not jacketed, and hence ill adapted to the drafty boiler room. It, however, served a useful purpose in preparing the way for a better. This was the Orsat, patented by M. H. Orsat, of Paris, in 1873, and, notwithstanding its price of 15 pounds, in October, 1874, found its way into more than fifty factories in all parts of Europe and even in America. It was used wherever carbon dioxide was generated with all sorts of furnaces puddling, melting, Bessemer, Siemens-Martin, boilers, gas producers, fermentation industries, beet sugar factories, sul- phuric acid and alkali works. The chimney gas is collected and measured over water or brine in a burette and successively forced into various absorbents contained in pipettes : 40 AUGUSTUS H. GILL, >84 41 and the diminution in volume represents the percentage of the different constituents. This is done by hand and requires nearly a half-hour for its completion ; three gases are determined, one of them carbonic oxide, indica- tive of imperfect combustion which is shown by no other apparatus. It, however, has the disadvantage that it tells what is transpiring in the furnace only at the time at which the sample was taken a very brief interval two or three minutes at most. Furthermore, it requires an attendant to operate it. Its indications were so valuable as to create the desire for an automatic device which should indicate the condition of the boiler furnace the same as the steam gage tells the pressure. The first of these automatic devices was patented in England in July, 1892, by Custodis and Duerr, of Munich; this consisted of a balanced glass globe suspended in a case into which the gas to be tested was sucked a modification of the Lux gas balance. This invention was quickly followed by a variation by Arndt in September, 1892 ; Custodis and Duerr, in 1895, then improved their first balance by adding another globe and making it recording. This balance type of apparatus had the disadvantage that it was con- stantly in motion, with the result that the knife edges and planes wore, rendering it less sensitive, requiring frequent repair and adjustment. This type was superseded by the absorption apparatus of Arndt in Aachen, who received a patent in England in December, 1896, for his " Ados " or heating effect meter. Other patentees are Cederborg, of Denver ; Simmance Abady. of London; J. C. Eckhardt, of Stuttgart; Sarco Fuel Saving and Engi- neering Co., of New York; Uhling & Steinhart, of Newark; Salan & Birk- holz, of Essen; G. Van Gildern & Co., of Dusseldorf, and Hugh K. Moore, M. I. T. '97, Berlin, K H. With these automatic devices usually a small stream of water furnishes the power to draw a current of gas from the uptake or chimney into a floating gasometer and force it through potassium hydrate into another gasometer which is connected with a recording device which shows the amount of carbonic acid absorbed. This should be about 13 per cent, as if a greater percentage be obtained, the loss by the formation of carbonic oxide usually more than compensates for the increase due to carbon dioxide. A greater percentage than 13 means that the fires are too thick. A less percentage than 10 means either that the fires are too thin or there is leakage either through the bricks themselves which form the setting or through cracks therein. In many cases this is sufficient to reduce the C0 2 percentage to 5 or 7 which means a total loss of 36 to 26 per cent of the fuel, 22 to 12 per cent more than should be lost, or, otherwise expressed, of nearly 5 to 2 tons of coal every twenty. This table shows the percentage excess of air and percentage loss heat 42 COAL COMBUSTION EECOKDEES with the gases escaping at 518 Fahrenheit for various percentages cf C0 2 in the gases. Percent CO 3 ... 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 . 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Excess air 850 530 370 280 220 170 140 110 90 70 60 50 40 30 20 Loss of heat.... 90 60 45 36 30 26 23 20 18 16 15 14 13 12 10 NOT are these apparatus solely applicable to the regulation of combus- tion; wherever an absorbable gas as sulphurous or hydrochloric acids or chlorine is evolved, they, modified to suit the circumstances, can be installed. This will permit of increased control of chemical operations and conse- quently increased economy. AN ELECTEIC FUENACE FOE ZINC SMELTING. By FRANCIS A. J. FITZGERALD, '95, Consulting Chemical Engineer, Niagara Falls, N. Y. THERE is no branch of metallurgy which is apparently more suited to electric furnace treatment than that of zinc smelting. The regular method of zinc smelting is extraordinary in its crudity, inefficiency and expense, hence the relatively high cost of heat generated electrically is not by any means so serious a consideration as in certain other metallurgical processes. Moreover, the electric furnace possesses certain characteristics which make it specially applicable to the conditions of zinc smelting. In the following paper it is proposed to describe briefly a new form of electric furnace origi- nally designed for zinc smelting, although it has useful applications in other kinds of work. It is not intended to discuss here the metallurgy of zince smelting, but to appreciate properly the electric furnace which will be described, it will be necessary first briefly to consider the particular method of zinc pro- duction for which the furnace was designed. It has long been known that when zinc sulphide and metallic iron are strongly heated the following reaction takes place : ZnS+Fe=Zn+FeS but the reaction does not seem to be complete unless there is a relatively large excess of iron, or unless the temperature of the reaction is very high. Imbert, however, discovered * that by using suitable " dissolvents " this objection to the process is overcome. Imbert, for example, found that ferric oxide and iron sulphide mixed together in the proportion of one part and three parts, respectively, formed a very fluid bath at a temperature between 1000 degrees and 1100 degrees Centigrade, and that this bath would " dis- solve " six parts of blende. Now when the blende is " dissolved " in a bath in this way the reaction with iron mentioned above takes place with the greatest ease, is complete, works at a comparatively low temperature and as a residue produces two distinct substances a slag consisting of the gangue from the ore and a ferrous matte which may be used for the regen- eration of iron, etc. U. S. Patent 875,579 ; Dec. 31, 1907. 43 44 AN ELECTEIC FUENACE FOE ZINC SMELTING A great many experiments were made with this process and the results were highly satisfactory, except that it was very difficult to construct a suit- able furnace for the purpose. Obviously, working the process in the ordinary zinc retort furnace would not be satisfactory, for the process should be car- ried out with a much larger unit than a zinc retort. When it comes to apply- ing fuel heat to such a process numerous difficulties arise which are suffi- ciently plain without mentioning them in detail. This naturally led to the idea of using an electric furnace and many experiments with various kinds were made. Finally Mr. John Thomson and the author designed a furnace which was used on a large scale in the working of the Imbert process. One of these furnaces of 150 kilowatt capacity was constructed and worked under the author's supervision in Hohenlohehiitte, Upper Silesia, with highly satisfactory results. In order to design a satisfactory furnace it was necessary to keep cer- Scale FIG. 1 tain points in view. The furnace must be gas-tight ; the temperature must admit of careful regulation ; the construction must be rugged so as to stand severe usage; the heat losses must be reduced to a minimum since electri- cally generated heat is always expensive. In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are shown, respectively, a longitudinal section, transverse section and plan of the furnace with the cover removed. The walls of the furnace are double with air-spaces I which are designed to pre- vent the loss of heat by conduction through the walls. The furnace is pro- vided with carbons T, T, C and C. The two former serving as terminals which are connected to the source of current by means of cable indicated by P and Q, while the two latter are simply connector terminals which form the other terminals of the two sections of the register E, E, and are con- nected by E. Bearing on the terminals T, T, and the connector terminals C, C, are channels B, B, which are connected with each other by the tension rods S, S. The channels are, of course, insulated from the terminals. The FBANCIS A. J. FITZGERALD, '95 45 furnace is lined with a suitable refractory M and is provided with a tap-hole at H. The resistor of the furnace is built up of a series of corrugated plates, which are illustrated in Fig. 4, the lower drawing showing an end view of the plate, while that above shows the shape in which the plates are cut as viewed from the front. In Fig. 5 is shown a view of the plates set up so as to form a resistor. Considering one of the plates it is to be noted that the thickness is not the same from top to bottom, but increases from the bottom up so that when put in place they form an arch of very long radius, as shown in Fig. 5, because of the interlocking of the plates. This FIG. 2 arch form is not necessary, but seems to be desirable in the preliminary as- semblage and is also utilized to produce a somewhat greater current density along the lower surface of the resistor. The cover of the furnace, which is not shown in the illustration, carries feeding tubes by means of which the ore mixture may be fed into the bath below the resistor. The peculiar construction of the resistor plates has two purposes: to give a sufficiently high resistance to the resistor and at the same time to form an interlocking device so that even if no arch form is given to the resistor yet it will not fall down. A furnace was built with plates having these dimensions : Length at top 405 mm. (16 inches) Length at bottom 255 " (10 " ) Width 165 " ( 6.5 " ) The two sections of the resistor contained 71 plates each. This, when cold, had a resistance of 0.200 ohm, and when running at the full capacity of 150 kilowatts, and with a temperature in the furnace of 1400 degrees Cen- tigrade, the resistance was 0.0375 ohm. This resistance is due almost alto- 46 AN ELECTRIC FURNACE FOB ZINC SMELTING gether to the contact resistance between the plates, for by calculating the resistance of the carbon itself we find that it would not amount to more than 0.00064 ohm. In order to regulate the rate of generation of energy in the resistor there must be some means of varying the voltage at the terminals of the fur- s ;i Kt. On,. nace. At Hohenlohehiitte, as well as in the FitzGerald and .Beimie labora- tories, where these furnaces have been worked, this is done by means of a transformer with several taps brought out from the primary coils which allow the voltage on the secondary circuit to be varied from 50 to 100 volts in 2.5-volt steps, and from 100 to 200 volts in 5-volt steps. Scale FIG. 4 It will be seen that that the weakest part in this furnace is the carbon resistor, due to the fact that if working in an oxidizing atmosphere the resistor will be destroyed. In the particular work for which it was designed, hower, there would be no danger of this, because the furnace is filled with vapor of metallic zinc. During the process of heating the furnace, or at any time when zinc vapors were not generated, there would be danger of burn- FRANCIS A. J. FITZGERALD, '95 47 ing through air leaking in ; but this is easily overcome by keeping a reducing atmosphere in the furnace slightly above external pressure. It has been found by actual experiment that a furnace of this type running continuously for two months showed no appreciable wear of the resistor. The regulation of temperature in this furnace is most satisfactory. In the Hohenlohehiitte experiments thermo couples of pyrometers were placed in several parts of the furnace to study the temperature conditions carefully. FTC. 5 It was found that the most accurate regulation of the temperature in the furnace was possible, the workman in charge adjusting the rate of genera- tion of energy in the resistor so as to keep the needle of the pyrometer stationary. The furnace is a highly efficient one. In one of the earlier models, where the heat insulation was far from satisfactory, careful determina- tions of all heat losses were made. When working at temperatures between 1250 degrees and 1260 degrees Centigrade the total heat losses were 33 kilowatts, and when working at temperatures between 1400 degrees and 1450 degrees Centigrade the heat losses were 42 kilowatts. Conse- quently when the furnace is working at full capacity, 150 kilowatts, the thermal efficiency at 1250 degrees is 78 per cent, and at 1425 degrees Centi- grade is 72 per cent. No exact determinations of the efficiency of later models have been made, but it is known to be much higher than those given above. 48 AN ELECTEIC FURNACE FOR ZINC SMELTING The metallurgical end of the problem has not been completely worked out, but the satisfactory working of the furnace has been clearly demon- strated, and furnaces built on similar principles have been used experi- mentally with great success in the melting of aluminum, copper, brass, etc. This is thought to be of some interest, as a development in the use of electric furnaces using the heat generated by the passage of an elec- tric current through a resistor. There is a tendency in electric furnace work to employ the arc, which is often a mistake, because of the difficulty in regulating the temperature. Finally, the furnace described above, from its construction, lends itself readily to adaptations which permit of using the combined heat effects of fuel and electricity, and it is thought that a great future is in store for furnaces of that type. IMPKOVEMENTS IN COTTON BLEACHING By WALTER S. WILLIAMS, '95, Textile Expert, Arthur D. Little, Inc., Boston, Mass. BLEACHING is the whitening or removing of color from a substance, but in the textile industry the term is broadened to include the removal of all foreign bodies and coloring matter adhering to or included in the original fiber. In the case of fabrics, it also covers the elimination of all material, such as starch, oil, and the like, added either intentionally or accidentally in the process of manufacture. Cotton was used for the production of cloth thousands of years before the Christian era, and bleaching of the fabrics so made must have been more or less crudely performed even at that early age. While inter- esting, the scope of this paper will not permit the tracing of the early history of the art. Ancient processes will therefore be cited only as they may have some bearing on modern practice. An efficient process of bleaching requires a thorough understanding of the nature and chemical composition of the fiber and of the substances to be removed, as well as a knowledge of the effect produced by the different agents to be employed. It is a remarkable fact that very few complete studies of the process as a whole exist, and that the few careful investigations of different steps in the procedure have not received the attention and consideration they deserve at the hands of the practical manufacturers. There is no doubt that great progress will be made in the improvement of both processes and results by careful and scientific research in this field. The first step in the process of bleaching cloth for printing or other purposes requiring a smooth face, is the operation of singeing, which has for its object the removal of all loose hairs from the surface of the cloth. This step is largely mechanical, but requires close attention to produce satisfactory results without damage to fiber or undue cost for gas or fuel. The most approved method, known as gas singeing, passes the fabric at speed several times through the flame of Bunsen burners extending the width of the cloth. Improvements in this step must come 49 50 IMPEOVEMENTS IN COTTON BLEACHING from proper regulation of the gas mixture and mechanical arrangement of rollers and speed of travel to produce the most efficient results. The next operation is known as steeping or grey washing, and consists in passing the goods through a washer or otherwise saturating, preferably with warm water, and allowing it to remain piled in a warm room from 18 to 24 hours. This treatment removes any bodies soluble in water and, as a result of fermentation, the starchy matters added as sizing. Modern practice has made the mistake of considering this operation unnecessary and omitting it entirely even when the caustic boil is used. Lime probably removes the starchy matters completely, but it is extremely doubtful if more than a relatively small portion is extracted in the caustic boil. Steeping may be replaced by a malt treatment, using by preference one of the diastase preparations now on the market. The solution is pre- pared by using 10 to 15 pounds of diastase or similar product to 100 gallons of water and warming to 140 Fahrenheit. The goods are wet out in this solution and the action allowed to continue for 15 to 30 minutes, then washed and passed to the next step in the process. Solubility of the starch may also be produced by wetting out with very dilute hydrochloric or sul- phuric acid and piling for a short time. This process must be carried out with exetreme care, owing to danger of the acid injuring the fiber. Lime Boil. The cloth is saturated with milk of lime of such a strength that it takes up about four per cent of its weight of CaO, run into one of the standard kiers and boiled with constant circulation of the liquor through the goods. This operation decomposes the fats and similar matter contained in the cloths and forms as a result insoluble lime soaps. These latter are broken up by the souring which follows, and completely removed by the subsequent operations. In addition, the other natural impurities of the raw cotton, as well as starch, are so changed that they either become soluble or are more easily acted upon by the chemicals employed in the suc- ceeding processes. The grey sours remove the excess of lime and other metallic oxides, if present, besides breaking up the insoluble soaps formed on the fiber. The lye boils continue the reactions already begun in the lime boil and further saponify and remove any fatty acids resulting from the decom- position of the lime soaps in the previous steps. Eesin soap is employed by some bleachers and is supposed to remove certain indefinite constituents of the fiber which are said to have a delete- rious effect on the whites of prints and are not fully removed by the other agents employed. Bleaching or Chemicing. The destruction of the coloring matter WALTEE S. WILLIAMS, '95 51 now left in the fabric is the object of this final step. Previous to the nineteenth century this was always accomplished by the exposure of the moist cloth to the action of air and sunlight, and extensive bleaching greens formed an important part of every establishment. The use of chlorine for this purpose was first proposed by Berthollet, about 17857 but its use even after the introduction of the hypochlorite of lime was very slow in becoming general. To-day, chlorine, either as calcium or sodium hypochlorite, far exceeds all other agents in importance and in amount used. With proper regulation of strength of solutions and duration of action, this bleaching agent may produce the most satisfactory whites without appreciable injurious action on the strength or other desirable properties of the fiber. The much-claimed superiority of electrolytic sodium hypochlorite seems to have been based on the increased rate at which the chlorine was given off in the presence of the chloride and may be produced, if desired, in bleach from other sources. The use of hypochlorite of soda made from bleaching powder and soda ash is highly to be recommended, and in many cases will more than repay the increased cost. The kiers used in bleaching have had much to do with the progress of the art. Starting from open kettles heated by direct fire, the natural tendency led to a large open kier, but heated by steam. A great improve- ment in this kier was the introduction of a central vomit pipe taking the liquor from the bottom of the kier and throwing it by means of a steam ejector over the goods at the top, thus producing a circulation through the goods. The next improvement was the introduction of the closed kier, by means of which the pressure and consequent temperature of boiling was increased. A great step in advance was the advent of the Mather kier, which was especially constructed by Messrs. Mather & Platt to carry out the process devised by Horace Hoechlin. In this system the lime boil is entirely dis- pensed with, and this, as well as the two lye boils of the old process, are replaced by a single boil in caustic soda and resin soap. The kier used for this boil is a large horizontal cylinder with convex ends, one of which may be removed to allow the entrance of the goods. Suitable means are provided for raising the door and for making the same steam-tight when closed. The pieces to be bleached are piled on wagons made of sheet iron with perforated bottoms and running on tracks leading inside the kiers. When ready the wagons are run into the kier, the door is closed, the air driven out by steam and the circulation started. While the kier is boiling 52 IMPROVEMENTS IN COTTON BLEACHING other wagons may be loaded, and those already boiled unloaded, thus increasing greatly the production of a single kier. The process aims to subject the fabric to the action of caustic liquor and steam at the same time and for this purpose the amount of solution used is small compared with the size of the kier. The circulation is main- tained by means of a centrifugal pump, which takes the liquor from the space under the wagon and showers it over the top of the goods. It then percolates through the pieces and collects in the bottom of the kier, where it is heated by closed steam pipes and is again taken up by the pump, which maintains a continuous circulation. The kier may also be heated by the introduction of live steam, but the resulting dilution of the liquor is more objectionable in this than in other kiers. Several ingenious continuous processes have been proposed for boiling cotton piece goods, but as yet no system of this character has succeeded in prolonging the treatment long enough to produce results comparable with those obtained by the more usual method. The Thies kier and the process of which it forms a part, are the result of long, careful research by Thies and Herzig. By designing the kier in such a manner that no steam comes in direct contact with the liquor and thus avoiding the action due to the oxygen contained in the air always present in steam, it is possible to use strong caustic at a high pressure without fear of tendering the fabric. The latest form of kier consists of three parts the kier proper, the vacuum boiler and the superheater. The vacuum boiler consists of an upright cylindrical vessel similar in size and shape to an ordinary kier, while the superheater is of the same height as the kier, but much smaller in diameter. The latter is provided with closed coils for heating. For the circulation and transfer of liquors use is made of a Grindle pump. The boiling consists of two parts, and the process is described by the authors as follows : The goods saturated with alkali (liquor blown off from the previous boiling) are packed into the kier, and then, by means of the Grindle pump, the old kier liquor is drawn from the vacuum boiler (which is quite full to start with, and closed at the top) and sent in at bottom of the kier until the latter is quite full, the air escaping through a blow-off valve at the top. As soon as the kier is full the air valve is closed. By pumping the liquor from the vacuum boiler into the kier a vacuum equal to about ten pounds is produced in the former vessel. A pipe provided with a throttle valve con- nects the top of the kier with the top of the vacuum boiler. This valve is now slightly opened, so that a circulation of the liquor takes place, while WALTER S. WILLIAMS, '95 53 any air contained in the kier rises with the liquor, passes through the throttle valve into the vacuum boiler, where the liquor falls to the bottom and expands into the vacuum. The pressure in the kier is now gradually increased to three atmospheres by choking the valve, when any air -remain- ing in the goods is mechanically dissolved out of the goods (air being more soluble in water under pressure) and transferred to the vacuum boiler. After the air in the vacuum boiler has been expelled steam is turned on in the superheater and the bowking continued for two hours at 45 Ibs. pressure. The pump is now stopped, the steam turned off and the liquor blown off under its own pressure. Fresh lye, consisting of caustic soda at 6 to 7 1/0 Twaddle and the resin soap, is now run into the kier (which is free from air), the pump set in motion again, steam turned on in the superheater and the bowking proper continued for six hours at 45 Ibs. pressure. As free hypochlorous acid is much more efficient as a bleaching agent than any of its salts, we find many attempts to make use of this property. Mather and Thompson pass the cloth continuously through closed chambers in which the pieces are run through an atmosphere of C0 2 after being saturated with the ordinary bleaching solution. Acetic acid vapors have also been used in the same manner. The addition of small amounts of sulphuric or hydrochloric acid or of acetic or formic acid to the chemic solution, will produce similar results, and the improved action of the liquors will be at once apparent. Chlorine in cotton bleaching may be replaced by other oxidizing agents and will no doubt be superseded at some later date by some agent acting less injuriously on the fiber itself. Such a body is found in sodium or hydrogen peroxide, and it is only the higher cost which prevents their more general use. For cotton and silk goods, laces and other special fab- rics, it finds extensive application. Drawing freely from all published information, especially the results of the researches of Koechlin, Thies and Scheurer, the following process has been evolved as a working compromise of the theoretical and practical. The goods are marked and sewed as usual and piled on trucks. They are then run through the gas singer and directly through a lukewarm solu- tion of diastafor and into a continuous piling chute. This latter is a more or less complicated inclined trough, so arranged that while cloth is entering at the upper end and leaving at the lower, a large amount of slack cloth fills the length of the incline and allows time for the action to take place. To increase the time of action, several of the chutes may be arranged in 54 IMPEOVEMENTS IN COTTON BLEACHING series, the cloth passing over a reel between each. From this step the goods pass directly to a small washer and are then squeezed and piled in a bin. As wanted they are drawn through a saturating machine, where they are impregnated with caustic soda at 3 Twaddle, containing 0.5 per cent sodium bisulphite solutions and packed directly in the boiling kier. This kier should be of the vertical pressure type with outside vomit pipes and pump circulation. The perforated false bottom should be conical in shape and so arranged as to give a much larger space at the bottom than is usually allowed, and should be provided with both closed and open steam pipes. The closed coil should be sufficient to maintain the kier at boiling during circulation after that temperature has been reached, and must be provided with a suitable trap to remove the hot water and return it to the hot well or feed-water heater. The goods are evenly plaited and tramped in the kiers by boys in the usual manner, to within 2% or 3 ft. of the top. The air is next replaced by admitting steam and a charge composed of 3 Twaddle caustic containing 3 per cent of resin soap run in to cover the floods. The kier is brought to a boil, with the open coil at a pressure of .5 Ibs., a small vent pipe being open to allow the escape of air. When the goods are boiling, the open pipe is nearly closed and the boiling is continued for six to eight hours, with the use of the closed coil as far as possible. The charge is washed in the kier, care being taken to prevent access of air to the hot fabric. The pieces are then run out of the kier through a washer, squeezed and returned to another kier where the boil is repeated, but with the omission of the resin soap. Experience seems to indicate that two boils are necessary to produce a thorough bleaching without overtreatment in the subsequent steps. The goods are next run through the chemic and piled in open bins for two to six hours. The best results are produced at the greatest economy by the use of hypochlorite of soda prepared as already described, but with experience and care very satisfactory results are obtained by the use of hypochlorite of lime solution at % to 3 Twaddle. Continuous processes which subject the fabric for a short period to a very strong chlorine solution or which sour the cloth after chemicing with- out previous washing are necessarily injurious to the fiber and unsatisfac- tory in other important respects. The pieces after lying exposed to the air for a suitable length of time are washed, soured through sulphuric at 1 to 2 Twaddle, washed twice and are then ready for opening, drying and finishing as desired. WALTER S. WILLIAMS, >95 55 Bleaching to-day is not an exact science and depends for success upon experience combined with close observation and understanding of the vari- ous processes. If the heads of the industry in this country could be brought together for an interchange of experience and frank discussion of the most promising lines of research, a great advance would be produced in the art, but in any case we may expect sooner or later more economical and efficient processes to replace many of those now in use. THE WORK OF ENGINEERS IN THE GAS INDUSTRY. By FREDERICK P. ROYCE, '90, Vice-President Stone & Webster Management Association, Boston, Mass. THE business of manufacturing and distributing gas is older than that of any other of the public utilities with the exception of that of distribut- ing water. Early in the nineteenth century companies were established and in active operation in England. Many of the companies still doing business in this country were organized and in operation prior to 1850. It was not until a much later date, however, that results due to the efforts of scientifically trained men were generally apparent. The first dry distilla- tion of coal producing gas for commercial purposes was accomplished in retorts made of iron placed in a horizontal position, the heat necessary being directly applied by furnaces placed underneath the retorts. With the exception of the substitution in the retort of firebrick material for cast iron, this type of retort, with slight modification, was used for many years and in some small plants is used to-day. In the early days of the industry it was found that with little effort sufficient gas could be produced and sold at a high price for lighting purposes to furnish a satisfactory return on the capital invested. At the time little or no consideration had been given to the relations of the companies and the public, which are now properly regarded as of great importance. It was not understood that to get the best results for all, these companies should be operated as regulated monopolies and the earnings of the companies were not sufficiently large to invite gen- eral competition. These gas companies then furnished all illumination not produced by lamps or candles. Under such circumstances there was apparently little incentive to the engineer to enter the business and apply a scentific knowledge to the reduc- tion of the cost of the plant or of operating it. As the time went on, these conditions changed and in the early eighties a very strong competition was introduced through the development of the electric lighting companies which for a time threatened to destroy the business of the gas companies, and in some places actually did reduce it materially. It was then absolutely necessary that the owners of these properties should devise means of 56 FEEDEEICK P. EOYCE, '90 57 reducing their operating cost and to do a much larger business at a smaller rate of profit. This could only be done through the employment of trained engineers. At that time coal gas was made almost exclusively, and the largest element of cost in the production of the gas was in the carboniz- ation of the coal. There has always been a saying to the effect that money was made or lost in the retort house, and it has been in the retort house that the greatest improvement has been effected. As has been said, the retorts were then of the direct-fired type, the coal to be carbonized was placed in the retorts by hand and the coke was removed in the same way. It was then considered good practice if 30,000 ft. of gas could be made in a day by each man employed in the retort house. This hand firing was slow, resulting in a serious waste of gas and loss of heat. The first step toward improvement was the introduction of machinery to charge the retorts and remove the coke. Notwithstanding the extremely difficult conditions under which this apparatus must be operated it has been on the whole very successful. Numerous types of machinery have been built applicable to the smallest or the largest works. At about the same time the regenerative setting of retort benches was designed and put in successful use. In this a generator is made a part of the bench setting and used to produce carbon monoxide gas through partial combustion, using a limited amount of primary air. This monoxide gas is distributed as desired through the bench and brought in contact with secondary air which has been preheated by passing through flues adjacent to other flues through which the products of combustion are carried to the chimney. The carbon monoxide being fired as it combines with the secondary air pro- duces a high heat which can be satisfactorily controlled, assuring a uniform temperature throughout the various retorts of the setting. This type of bench was followed by the inclined retort setting. In this bench the retorts are set at an angle of approximately 31 degrees from the horizontal, the charge being introduced from the top and distributed through the retort by gravity, the coke falling from the bottom mouth- piece as desired. The principal advantage of this type of setting is in the avoidance of the use of expensive charging and drawing machinery. The inclined set- ting was followed in a few years by the vertical type. It is interesting to note that although experiments were made with vertical retorts in the very early days of the gas industry, it was not until three or four years ago that engineers in Germany were able to build and operate them successfully on a commercial scale. The first successful installations of this sort were designed for intermittent charging and discharging. Little machinery was 58 THE WORK OF ENGINEERS IN THE GAS INDUSTRY required to operate them and, due to the fact that the retort was completely filled with coal, a marked improvement was noted in the character of the by-products. As the weight of the coal in the vertical retorts is supported principally by the lower mouthpiece rather than the retort itself, the mouthpiece being easily repaired as needed, there should be and appar- ently is an improvement in the life of the setting. A more recent development in the vertical retort setting has been accomplished by the perfecting of charging and discharging apparatus, by means of which a continuous carbonization of the coal is effected. A still further improvement in the carbonization of coal in large plants has been effected by the successful design and operation of the so-called coking chamber. This in reality is a development of the inclined retort, but instead of using a comparatively small retort which would contain a charge probably not to exceed one thousand pounds in weight, a large chamber, designed to contain and carbonize six or seven tons, is used. The bottom of this chamber is built at an angle similar to that of the inclined retort, so that the coke slides freely from it when the mouthpiece, which is really the entire lower end of the chamber, is removed. Through these developments the cost of labor has been greatly reduced, and whereas with the early benches there was a production of 30,000 cu. ft. per man per day, with the coking chambers a production of 150,000 cu. ft. per man has been made possible. At the same time the yield of gas from a pound of coal measured by the product of its volume and candle power has been increased 25 per cent. The amount of fuel required to carbonize the coal, an important item of cost, has been very greatly reduced. The capacity of unit has been increased to such an extent that much less space is required to produce a given amount of gas, which results in a reduction of plant cost. The quantity of certain by-products has been increased and the character of these by-products much improved. This has been particularly noteworthy in connection with the vertical type of setting. The coke made in the vertical retorts and in the coking chambers is much the same in character as that made in the beehive oven. It is stronger and consequently a smaller percentage of it is in the comparatively worthless form of screenings or breeze. A larger percentage of ammonia is recovered. The tar produced is better and comparatively free from lampblack and other impurities. It is regrettable that most of the improvements noted in retort house operation have been due to the efforts of foreign engineers. The charging and drawing machinery was first perfected in England. The inclined and vertical retort benches for intermittent carbonization were developed by FREDERICK P. EOYCE, >90 59 German engineers and the continuous system of carbonization with vertical retorts is due principally to the efforts of Englishmen. To American engineers, however, there may be fairly attributed the development of the water-gas process. The Lowe type of apparatus developed in thisjcountry is now the standard throughout the world where water gas is made. It is estimated that more than one-half of the total production in this country is of water gas. This has been of great importance in connection with the production of coal gas. The cost of the latter is directly dependent on the price received for residuals, and it is probable that if coal gas only were made in this country the increased supply of residuals would be in excess of the demand, so that the average price received for them would be reduced, and consequently the cost of producing the coal gas would be increased. It is now common practice in America to make both water gas and coal gas in the same works. The water gas can be made of any desired candle power and mixed with the coal gas, making it possible to furnish a commercial product of almost any quality desired. The improvements in the art, however, have not been confined to the generating house. The quality of the gas depends in great measure on the method used to clean and purify it. The importance of this may be seen when it is realized that the so-called impurities in the gas, which are harmful as a part of the gas, are themselves valuable by-products when removed. To obtain the best results the temperature of the gas must be made to pass through wide ranges, during the different steps of cleansing and purification. Engineers have determined the correct temperature for each stage and have devised apparatus by which these conditions can be controlled. This work of the engineers has produced a great decrease in the cost of gas. Twenty years ago it was possible to reduce the price of gas to a point where it would be made to compete successfully with coal and other fuels, thus greatly increasing the market for it and definitely establishing the stability of the industry. Some companies which sold gas at as high a rate as $4 per 1000 cu. ft. in 1870 are to-day able to produce and sell it at less than $1 per 1000 cu. ft. and still make a fair return on the necessary investment. This great decrease is the result of the reduced cost of produc- tion and of the largely increased output that followed it. Through the development of the Welsbach mantle it is now possible to get much more light with a given amount of gas than could ever be obtained with the open burner and at the same time to use gas of a low candle power, thus materially reducing its cost. This has helped to place 00 THE WORK OF ENGINEERS IN THE GAS INDUSTRY the gas companies in a position where they can successfully compete with the electric companies for a large portion of the lighting business. The field at the present time is a most excellent one for the engineer. There are still opportunities to improve the methods of carbonization of coal and the generation of water gas. The highest efficiencies in these departments have been by no means reached. The actual chemical reactions in the process of carbonization and the effect on them of various tempera- tures offers a subject for further profitable study. There is opportunity to increase the quantity of residuals recovered and to improve their quality. There is also every reason to believe that the market for these residuals can be substantially increased. A small percentage of saving in the cost of the product is quickly reflected in the year's earnings. A company selling 500,000,000 cu. ft. per annum is one of medium size, and yet a reduc- tion of 1 cent per 1000 cu. ft. in the cost of manufacture or of distributing the gas means a saving to that company of $5000 per annum. It has been demonstrated that gas can be manufactured by a large plant and distributed by means of a high pressure service to smaller communities many miles distant, where it can be sold at a price much less than that at which it could be manufactured and distributed locally. This is a development which is certain to be of future importance, but calls for more engineering skill than it has received. Gas is becoming used more freely for industrial purposes, and this field should have the most careful consideration. The man who is best equipped to improve and develop the gas business should have the knowledge of chemical and mechanical engineering that can be obtained at the Institute, 'and for such a man there should be a .successful future in this industry. THE CHEMIST IN THE SERVICE OF THE RAILROAD. By H. E. SMITH, '87, Chemist and Engineer of Tests, The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, Ohio. AMONG the industries of the country, the railroads are probably the largest, whether they be judged from the standpoint of investment required, territory covered, or men employed. Considered as manufactur- ing establishments, the railroads use as materials, iron and steel of all kinds, brass, bronze and babbitt, wood and timber of all kinds, stone, brick, cement, oils and paints, and a great number of materials of lesser import- ance. The manufacturing process covers various departments of field engineering, power production, shop work and metallurgy. The finished product is the transportation of passengers and freight. The need of the civil, the mechanical and the electrical engineer is obvious. With the increasing development has come the need of the chem- ist, and, beginning nearly thirty years ago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has at various times furnished chemists for this service. As has already been partially indicated, the field for the chemist in rail- road service is very wide. Early in the construction of a first-class road the chemist is in (demand for the testing of cement, to insure sound and durable concrete bridges and other structures; in the selection of ballast stone of such composition and physical properties that it will withstand the weather and the impact and wear of service. Timber for cross ties now commands such a price, that economy necessitates preservative treatment by carefully tested and regulated materials and processes. Rails must be of ; such com- position that they will resist wear in the greatest possible degree, yet be free from brittleness. The problem of boiler- water supply, especially that for locomotives, is of very great importance. An average modern locomotive is a complete power plant of 2000 horse-power, mounted on wheels, and contained within a space only a fraction of that required by a stationary power plant of the same capacity. About one hundred gallons of water are evaporated per mile traveled. In many parts of the country the only water available is of 61 62 THE CHEMIST IN THE SERVICE OF THE RAILROAD such quality that economy in operation requires its chemical purification. This brings to the chemist the problem of carrying out chemical reactions on a large scale, and in extremely dilute solutions, yet with very close adjustment and at low cost. Iron castings are used in such quantities that railroad companies fre- quently make their own. The pig irons and the coke must be tested to ensure proper quality. The mixtures must be adjusted to secure the neces- sary product. Car wheels must be tough and strong, yet very hard on the circumference, to resisit wear. Machinery castings must be strong yet machine easily. Packing rings must be very resilient. Yet in all mixtures economy must be practiced by using up scrap. The proper selection of steel for efficient and economical service is a constant problem. Special alloy steels either with or without special heat treatment or other manipulation are used in increasing quantities. It is necessary to make very frequent and systematic chemical and physical tests to ensure uniform and satisfactory quality. Large quantities of brass or bronze, mostly in the form of bearing metal, also babbitt for the same purpose, are required. The prices of the constitutent metals vary from five to thirty-five cents per pound, which con- stitutes a strong temptation to substitute the cheaper for the more expen- sive, so far as possible. The chemist must be called upon to detect such substitution and to determine whether the constituents have been properly proportioned. Scrap must be utilized, and the chemist is needed to test the remelted metal and adjust its composition to standard figures. Paints are used in large quantities on cars, buildings, bridges, etc. The pigments are frequently adulterated with inferior, inert or injurious miner- als, the linseed oil with petroleum and inferior vegetable oils, and the turpentine with benzine. The proportions of the specified ingredients must also be checked. Lubricating and burning oils constitute another important class of material for study, to secure the proper selection of grades and maintenance of satisfactory standards. The list of articles which come up for occasional attention includes soaps, greases, roofing materials, fireproofing materials, various chemicals, dyestuffs, inks, grinding and polishing materials, disinfectants, rope, cot- ton and woolen waste, fuel, etc., etc. Not only must all these materials be examined after purchase, but many of them must be bought on definite specifications in order to secure the desired quality under competitive bids. The writing of the specifica- tions falls chiefly upon the chemist. To this end he must study carefully the needs of the service, the quality of material best adapted to meet those H. E. SMITH, '87 63 needs, as well as the quality available on the market, and finally the methods of test best adapted to determine the quality. This exhaustive study may also be the means of ultimately developing or improving various industries, so that it is beneficial not only to the consumer, but to the producer. It is natural that the chemist should also be required to study various methods and processes of operation in different parts of the railway ser- vice, with a view to the economy of material or labor or to increasing the efficiency of the service. In all the work above described the investigator must be more than a chemist. He must be something of a geologist, a physicist, a metallurgist, an electrician or a sanitarian as the case requires, and withal must have the ability to predict the effect from the cause, or to trace back from the effect to the cause. It is for these reasons that the broad and comprehensive training offered by the Institute of Technology is especially adapted to fit men to take up scientific work for the modern railway. THE CONTROL OF THERMAL OPERATIONS AND THE BUREAU OF STANDARDS. GEOEGE K. BURGESS, '96, Associate Physicist, Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C. SINCE its creation in 1901, the Bureau of Standards has been actively engaged, in so far as its resources would permit, while developing many other lines of work, in serving the United States in the capacity of an adviser on best values and available methods in the many lines of thermal measurements. This activity has necessitated the undertaking of a consid- erable number of experimental investigations, the carrying on of a very extended correspondence, and the execution of many tests of instruments and materials. The Bureau does not impose its authority in thermal stand- ards on anyone, and any prestige in this field it may possess must rest on the reasonableness of its suggestions. The temperature scale of the International Bureau has been repro- duced here to O.002 C. in the interval to 100 C. or to as close as tempera- tures are known within this interval; and for the remainder of the tem- perature range, for which there is no international authority, a temperature scale has been constructed which, except perhaps for the very highest tem- peratures, is in substantial agreement with those maintained by the German and British laboratories. This temperature scale of the Bureau of Stand- ards is reproducible to about O.03 at 500, 1 at 1000, and 10 at 2000 C., and has required for its' establishment a great deal of experimental work, and advantage has of course been taken also of similar work elsewhere. Questions arising in the Departments of the Government requiring advice or decisions on the physical properties of materials are usually referred for solution to the Bureau, and this demand for its services and advice is growing at a greatly accelerated rate for tests of various kinds of temperature-measuring instruments, for the formulation of specifications, for the purchase of thermal apparatus, and of materials on which thermal tests may be made to control their quality, and for the carrying out of specific experimental investigations on materials, processes, or methods involved in the solution of some problem in which one or another depart- ment of the Government is interested. 64 GEORGE K. BURGESS, ; 96 65 To mention a lew examples among many of the control thus exercised, the purchase of clinical thermometers for two of the departments as well as of the various kinds of thermometers of several of the scientific Bureaus, is based on specifications drawn up by the Bureau and its testing of the instruments before their acceptance; and the knowledge on the ^part of manufacturers that a bid may be rejected due to the findings of a disinter- ested, competent authority is not detrimental to the class of instrument submitted in competition 1'or purchase in this way. The purchase of refractory brick by the Panama Canal Commission is also based on such tests, as well as that of many other materials. The decision as to whether contested materials are innammable and, therefore, to be barred from carriage on passenger steamers, is left to the Bureau, and such decision sometimes entails an unexpected amount of experimentation. Investigations of lubricating and illuminating oils and of the types of apparatus used in the testing of them are being carried out with several objects in view, such as the drawing of better government specifications, the furnishing of data for better and more uniform testing methods, both in this country and by international agreement. The tests of viscosity, for example, are now on a purely empirical basis ; different countries use differ- ent instruments, and in the United States there are several incommensurable instruments in common use. It is hoped to reduce all such measurements to a common basis. The Bureau has been asked to take part in the work of several inter- national or national societies or committees, usually with the object of establishing by experimentation the necessary conditions or specifications for the carrying out of some method of testing or standardizing materials, methods or instruments. We have not been able to meet all the demands of this kind in the field of thermal operations, but have limited ourselves to some of the problems that are in the most unsatisfactory condition. Besides the oil question, which is very troublesome, the subject of combustion and gas calorimetry has been attacked from the foundation, and although less than two years have been spent on this, we not infrequently receive praise- worthy letters of a slightly ironic cast asking for our final results on this or that phase of the problem. Accepting Regnault's standard,, we still have five years to make good on this problem, however. An outsider does not always realize that no one is more impatient to finish his problem than the worker himself, but where fundamental standards are concerned .the worker is bound to be more conservative than his severest critics. In this calorimetric work it has been necessary, for example, to design 66 THEEMAL OPERATIONS AND BUREAU OF STANDARDS and install a complete plant for the production of pure oxygen, new calorim- eters, resistance thermometers and accessory apparatus capable of giving results of the highest accuracy attainable at the present time; and the thermal constants must be determined with different sets of apparatus and checked by several methods. This calorimetric investigation is very far-reaching and involves, for example, the heat values to be accepted as standard in this country for the constituent components of gas burned in every city and town and, therefore, the ultimate basis on which the price of gas as a fuel should be fixed. The heats of combustion which are being determined of those substances suit- able for calibrating bomb calorimeters, in a similar way, will define" the ulti- mate units on the basis of which coal and oil fuels should be bought and sold. .Concrete calorimetric standards are realized in the form of certified samples of pure materials of known heat value, which are distributed to interested parties. The various types of calorimeter are also being com- pared, and incidentally to the whole investigation, improved methods of measurement and new instruments have been developed. To the refrigerating industries we have furnished after elaborate experimentation the correct values of the specific heat of brine at low tem- peratures, a constant of very great importance to them. There is great need for further systematization of units in this field as well as the better deter- mination of other constants fundamental to refrigeration. The question of these units will be gone over very carefully at the next International Con- gress of Refrigeration, which meets in this country next autumn. The relation of the Bureau to the manufacturers of precision instru- ments is very close, manifold and, in general, most cordial. When it is remembered that previous to 1901 there was no generally recognized stand, ardizing authority in this country for thermometers and that each manu- facturer had his own scale tied up in one or more long-cherished instruments, the breakage of which was a real calamity for him and his clients, the necessity for the establishment of a standards bureau is self- evident. Besides the testing of thermometric instruments, and thereby furnish- ing all manufacturers with a single scale, uniform everywhere, the Bureau, in certain cases, loans its own standards. It has also taken a very active part in the improvement of specifications and the methods and materials of manufacture as well as in testing methods. The resulting improvements in American thermometer manufacture have been such that in 1906 Gehr. Wieber, the chief of the thermometer department of the Reichsanstalt,' GEORGE K: BURGESS, '96 67 published the statement that the German thermometer manufacturers were complaining more and more of the loss of the American market. The manufacturers of instruments for the measurement of high tem- peratures have also been aided greatly, and the condition in this field may be described as having been chaotic before the benefits of uniformity of calibration could be realized. Opportunity is also given for trying out and developing new types of instrument,, and a great many suggestions have been given manufacturers which have been incorporated in their instru- ments. The standards of practically every pyrometer and thermometer manufacturer in the country have been tested at the Bureau. The past ten years have witnessed great strides in the development of the manufacture and use of pyrometers. Formerly the question usually asked by an engineer responsible for the control of some process involving change of product or output with varying temperature, was, " Do I need a pyrometer, and is there a reliable one ? " To-day he knows he needs one, and asks which is the best for his purpose. The Bureau carries on a very heavy correspondence with users of such instruments, endeavoring to furnish them with the information best adapted to each case, although no pretense is made of replying to the often asked question, Which is the best pyrometer ? In a similar way, advice has been furnished to universities and techni- cal schools regarding the formation of courses of instruction in heat meas- urements, the installation and design of new apparatus, and the testing with the highest possible accuracy of instruments to be used by them in numerous experimental investigations. To still further aid in the dissemination of a uniform temperature scale, preparations are being made for the distribution of samples of pure metals and salts of certified melting points, thus permitting anyone to check his own thermometric or pyrometric apparatus in place. As a pre- liminary to this, a careful survey of the reproducibility of the thermal behavior of such materials from several sources of supply has been made. Among the other investigations under way or in immediate contem- plation that have a bearing on the control of thermal operations, may be mentioned studies of thermal properties of steels and refractories, including in both instances the purest obtainable materials and the commercial prod- ucts; the properties of steam with respect to turbine design; the melting points of the elements and of some pure salts and alloys ; gas thermometry ; the temperatures of incandescent lamps; the corrections to be applied to optical and radiation pyrometers when sighting on steels, bronzes, clays and so forth, and the comparison of the laws of radiation on which the estima- tion of the highest temperatures is based. 68 THERMAL OPERATIONS AND BUREAU OF STANDARDS Some of these experimental problems have been undertaken at the sug- gestion of one or more interested individuals or corporations who often are in a position to furnish materials that may sometimes be difficult to obtain otherwise. Indeed^ we are at times in the perhaps happy but nevertheless embarrassing position of being offered a great many more opportunities of this kind than we can embrace. Still another function the Bureau has occasionally exercised, and one that will probably develop, is to act as referee or court of appeals in case of disputes involving standards, physical properties of materials and the like, and for the interpretation of contracts involving testing methods. The testing activity of the Heat Division of the Bureau for the past four years ending June 30, 1910, is shown in the following table : 1906-7 1907-8 1908-9 1909-10 Clinical thermometers 8444 8395 10955 13082 Various thermometers 577 798 1791 1508 Pyrometers 46 60 31 39 Calorimetric tests 41 58 Oils; Flash and viscosity 42 17 159 17 Miscellaneous 9 99 6 45 Several of these miscellaneous tests were of the nature of quite elabo- rate investigations and most of the pyrometers were manufacturers' stand- ards. Nominal fees are charged for all. tests except for the United States or State governments. About one-third of this testing is for the United States Government. The Bureau makes known the results of its investigations by means of its Bulletin, and its testing methods and specifications are described in Circulars of Information. With the ever-increasing economic competition and the improvement of scientific methods and instruments as applied to the arts and sciences, the demand for higher accuracy of calibration is also constantly growing. Where, for instance, O.01 C. was considered an ample precision a short while ago in combustion calorimetry, and O.001 C. sufficed yesterday, the demand is now for a certainty of O.0001 C. in temperature differences at 25 C. The meeting of rigid requirements necessitates oftentimes the application of entirely new methods and instruments, and we are witnessing in consequence the passing of some familiar types such as the mercury-in- glass thermometer from the list of instruments of precision. A most important step is yet to be taken in the unifying of the tem- perature scales and the values assigned to the various thermal constants in GEOEGE K. BUBGESS, >96 69 use in the several countries. To-day, a pyrometer manufactured in France, calibrated in England and used in the United States comes in competition with a German-made and certified instrument, and with one of American make and certification. They will each give a different temperature for a furnace at say 1500 C. We have the example of the unification" of the standards of weights and measures as well as those of electricity and pho- tometry, and it is to be hoped that ere long the standards of heat may also be rendered universal. THE DEBT OF THE MANUFACTURES TO THE CHEMIST. By HERVEY J. SKINNER, '99, Vice-President, Arthur D. Little, Inc., Boston. THE enormous progress and changes which have taken place in indus- try and commerce in the course of the past century may to a large extent be justly attributed to the work of chemists. Such a statement will undoubtedly be regarded by many as a most extraordinary one and open to question, since the proper relation of the chemist to industrial welfare is not generally appreciated. But manufacturing deals with the modification of material, and since all material is subject to chemical laws and its properties are governed by these laws, it becomes apparent that the majority of the manufacturer's problems are those in applied chemistry. Unfortunately, the average manufacturer, especially if his process is a mechanical one, regards chemistry as something which has to do with drugs and chemicals and has no direct bearing upon his own problems. That manufacturers fail to appreciate their indebtedness to the chemist and how he can improve the efficiency of their processes by studying the chemical properties of their materials is due largely to the fact that the older gener- ation of manufacturers started as factory hands and have worked themselves up through the various grades to managerships and presidencies. Their methods have been rule-of -thumb methods and science has had no meaning to them. Their aim was to make money, and the efficiency of their processes was a secondary consideration. "With the growth resulting from the combination of capital and the technically trained men which our universities are turning out, conditions are taking on a new aspect. The larger manufacturers, realizing their debt to the chemist and also that there are still unsolved problems in every fac- tory, are securing the benefits of scientific advice. The smaller manufac- turer will soon be forced to the same procedure, or he will lose in the struggle for industrial existence. The rule-of-thumb method is passing. Guesswork is being replaced by scientific knowledge, and more and more 70 HERVEY J. SKINNER, '99 71 consideration is being given to the underlying principles of the manufac- turing processes. Manufacturing operations based upon chemical processes require con- trol at each step to maintain efficiency. Those based upon mechanic_al_proc- esses but still dependent upon "material," demand rigid inspection and control of every material entering into or affecting the cost of the finished product. All this is the work of the chemist or the testing engineer. It should be his duty to see that every material is purchased on a basis of quality and not of brand, that the finished product meets the proper requirements, and that the yields are as near theoretical as possible. A laboratory is just as essential to a factory as is an office, and the chemist is just as necessary as the auditor. The records of manufacturing concerns using scientific knowledge will bear out this statement. One mis- take common to both the manufacturer and the chemist themselves should be pointed out. Many manufacturers, having been converted to the idea that a chemist can be of assistance in the operation of their plants, often- times will employ a recent technical graduate and expect him to solve any question in chemistry. This is an injustice to the young chemist and to the profession itself. Alan A. Claflin in a recent article has said : " The employment of a scientific man does not mean the engaging of a recent technical graduate at a salary of fifteen to twenty dollars a week to test raw materials and report results, which are probably erroneous, to a foreman who does not understand them, but it means having a man of mature experience as a chemical adviser with two or three recent graduates as working assistants." No words could be truer or better expressed. The manufacturer does not hire a bookkeeper without actual experience to keep his accounts, neither does he engage a lawyer just out of a law school to look after his legal affairs. Then why should he expect the young graduate with a large amount of theoretical knowledge and with limited experience to be able to solve effectively the problems which have been troubling him for years ? This condition of affairs is really a serious one and has much to do with the attitude which the average manufacturer takes toward the chemist. It also accounts for the diffidence of the manufacturer in applying chemical science to his problems, and not until the true relation between the chemist and material is more fully realized will the real debt of the manufacturer to the chemist become appreciated. THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF FIRES THROUGH SCIENTIFIC METHODS. By EDWARD V. FRENCH, '89, Vice-President and Engineer, Arkwright Mutual Fire Insurance Co., Boston, Mass. IN recent years much has been said and written in this country regard- ing the conservation of resources, and there is general unanimity of opinion that conservation is vital to the future welfare of the nation. In the United States, property to the value of $250,000,000 is, on the average, annually consumed by fires. This is absolute waste. Nothing is produced. If we cut our woodlands for lumber and paper we at least have something as a product, but the heap of ruins left by a conflagration is waste of the most extravagant and useless sort. About seventy-five years ago Zachariah Allen, a cotton manufacturer of Rhode Island, conceived the idea of materially reducing fire costs, and interested a number of other manufacturers in a plan for mutually sharing losses. Self-interest encouraged care and secured the intelligent coopera- tion of all who joined in the plan. Attention was early given to causes of fires and to means of preventing them, and this was the starting point of what now has become the important specialty of fire protection engineering. The advantage of good construction was apparent from the beginning, and some mills in New England, though built over seventy-five years ago, still stand with floors of heavy plank and timber, and with stairways and elevators in brick towers. This type of construction early became known as slow burning, from the fact that the solid masses of wood in the timbers and plank resisted fire for a long time before being sufficiently burned to be seriously weakened. Contrasted with this construction is the ordinary type, using joists and thin floors, in which the surface exposed to the fire is much greater than when plank and timber are used, and in which the wood is in such small pieces that a little fire quickly destroys all strength, thus result- ing in a quick-burning structure. The need of having floors tight so that no vertical openings would exist through which fire could quickly pass from story to story was early recog- nized. It later became the practice to enclose the main driving belts in 72 EDWAKD V. FKENCH, '89 73 brick towers and in practically all of the older mills where the belts were originally carried from water wheels or engines through the floors, making considerable openings, incombustible partitions have been built around the belts so as to eliminate this danger. One of the first improvements upon the primitive protection afforded by standpipe and fire pail came about 1850 in the development of perforated pipe sprinklers. These consisted of lines of pipe, one carried through each mill bay, drilled with small holes, designed to throw water against the ceiling. As mills became larger and concentrated values greater, better protec- tion was needed. Ingenious minds had been working on the problem and in about 1875 the first automatic sprinkler was developed in shape suitable for general use. This device has revolutionized the whole science of fire protection and is the main instrument which has made it possible to control the fire hazard within the limits which are now possible. In the automatic sprinkler there is an orifice of about % inch diameter normally closed by a valve, which is held to its seat by an arrangement of levers, links or struts which are held together by fusible solder, the ordinary type melting at a temperature of about 160 F. These sprinklers are placed over the ceilings of rooms to be protected, with a head for about every 80 or 100 sq. ft. of area, and water is supplied to them by pipes arranged much as in the old perforated pipe systems. On the occurrence of fire the temperature near the ceiling rises, one or more sprinklers open and deluge that particular section where the fire is. The problem of devising and constructing automatic sprinklers has required much careful scientific work. The conditions are difficult. The device must be simple and rugged, but such that it can remain in repose for years and then respond within 30 to 50 seconds where the temperature around them rises to the melting point of the solder, and yet withstand the ordinary tendencies to corrosion and the usual atmospheric changes. To accomplish this has proved no simple task, and many hundreds of patterns have been offered, though there are to-day but six to ten heads which are commonly used. The first idea was that but a few sprinklers would ever be called upon at a time, and that if these did not control a fire other means must be used. Experience, however, soon showed that sprinklers could do a larger work, and that if supplied with ample water they could protect very large areas. In cases where buildings equipped with sprinklers were attacked by severe fires on the outside, flames were driven back by the water from the sprink- lers and the protected building was saved with practically no damage other SOSSOT EDWAED V. FEENCH, '89 75 than that from water. This at once showed the need of providing pipe sizes which would be ample to bring water to all the sprinklers, which might open in any case. To determine this wisely very elaborate tests were made in which the friction loss in pipes of different sizes used in sprinkler work was determined, as well as the friction loss in various types of fittings. From the first there were careful inspections of the factory properties, associated in this plan of fire study and loss sharing on a mutual basis. These brought to each owner the experience obtained over the whole field. The apparatus provided was tested and, in the absence of any more exact method, it was a common practice in testing a fire pump to throw streams over the mill tower, getting a rough estimate of the capacity and condition of the pump. As more equipment was provided, better methods of testing became necessary. It was found that the ordinary tables for the discharge of water through nozzles were in error and comprehensive tests were arranged under conditions where nozzles of different types could be com- pared, the height of streams noted, and the limits for varying pressures and different sizes of nozzles determined. At the same time the possibility of using better-made nozzles for measuring water was demonstrated. These tests, carried on mainly by Technology men, resulted in the standard fire stream tables now universally used, and this work made a definite and valu- able contribution to general hydraulic knowledge. In these tests the friction loss in hose of different kinds was measured and it was found that the smoothness of the rubber lining exerted a very great influence on the friction. With the ordinary fire stream, which was standardized as a flow of 250 gallons per minute, a smooth rubber lining caused a loss of about 14 Ibs. per 100 ft. of length of hose. Other rubber linings, commonly used, caused a loss of over 25 Ibs. per 100 ft. of length of hose. Thus the desirability of smooth linings was brought to the attention of hose manufacturers, improvements were readily made, and the whole efficiency of fire hose was very greatly increased. The standard tables made up from these data were put in such form that with the pressure at the hydrant, the length of hose and the size of nozzle known, the amount of water discharged was given within the limits of a small percentage. This gave a convenient and accurate means of testing water-works systems and fire pumps, and marked a distinct advance in the whole science of water measurement for such conditions. As steam fire pumps became common tests by inspectors showed many failures. Parts would break; pumps would be found rusted so that they could not be moved; steam ports and water passages were so small that the pumps frequently could not be driven under fire pressure to at all their 76 THE PEEVENTION AND CONTROL OF FIRES rated capacity. The problem was studied and with the cooperation of pump makers a special fire pump was developed, more rugged in design, all moving parts rust proofed, and with water arid steam pipes ample. The result was a thoroughly reliable fire-fighting machine of large capacity. This is now the type of pump universally used in fire protection work, and known as the " Underwriter." It is of the most vital importance that the good construction provided at the start and the strong protective equipment installed should be main- tained at all times in the best condition. The inspection service which began in a small way has been extended with the growth of the protected plants until now every factory is regularly visited four times each year, and a large part of the men engaged in this work have had technical education, or good practical experience giving a parallel knowledge and an acquaint- ance with the technical problems constantly arising in our modern manu- facturing plants. Careful reports are made on each plant as it is inspected, so that conditions throughout the whole field may be watched and the owner of each factory gets an estimate of the condition of his plant by different men looking from different viewpoints and bringing to him the experience from a very wide field. The above points, but briefly touched upon, are simply the main features in a broad development which has made the modern protected fac- tory, with its many hazards, one of the safest fire risks known. The sum- mation of these various lines of activity have made a system and created the specialty of fire protection engineering. A few examples of typical cases may be of interest. In the great fire which destroyed a considerable section of Paterson, N. J., about ten years ago, the conflagration was for hours beyond control of the combined fire departments. The fire finally extended to a group of protected mills. The fire pumps in these mills were early put in operation and the mill fire bri- gade stood ready. As the conflagration approached the mills it was met, driven back and stopped. A map of the city with the burned area indicated in black shows its ragged border line drawn parallel with, and but a short distance from, these mills. The scientific methods of fire fighting which had been developed had triumphed and these protected properties sustained practically no damage, and actually checked the conflagration in this direction. The underlying principle in all of this work, be it an intricate problem or a very simple one, has been to intelligently and carefully ascertain all of the facts, using the best scientific knowledge available, and then with the conditions fully known devise changes in methods or provide precautionary EDWAED V. FEENCH, '89 77 features to take care of the difficulties, and do this without throwing serious obstruction in the way of economical and rapid production. It is a work in which the knowledge and skill of the scientific man must be combined with good judgment and an appreciation of everyday business conditions, and there must be constant willingness to cooperate to the full extent with the practical manufacturer. When the work is conducted in this way the gain to the manufacturer in the prevention of fires, the quick controlling of such fires as occur, and the safeguarding of his business from troublesome and COST PER YEAR FOR FIRES AND FIRE PROTECTION WORK. 1860 1870 180 1880 1900 1910 w 1 w "* 33.7 Cts . 0(\ I 30.0 Cts. . r 21.6 Cts. ~u 15.4 Cts. 2>10 10 8 6.9 Cts. o n o THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPRINKLER PROTECTION 1860-1875 1875 1875-1895 1895-1910 Perforated Pipe First Automatic Sprinklers replacing Perforated Automatic Sprinkler Sprinklers turned Auto. Pipe Sprinklers and being extended to all protection rapidly neariug on by hand in Spriuk- parts of Factories and into Storehouses as 100% for factories and most Cotton lers. experience showed their Value Storehouses Picker Booms & some other Depts. FIG. 2 perhaps fatal interruption by a severe fire is certainly of the very greatest benefit. An excellent example of the spirit of thoroughness was recently shown in the investigation of a fire which destroyed a large city block and threat- ened two protected plants which were adjacent. The exposure fire was of unexpected severity. The nearest protected factory was directly in the path of attack and its destruction seemed inevitable. The wooden frames and sashes on the exposed sides were burned out; the automatic sprinklers on each floor opposite the windows opened; the fire brigade manned the standpipe in a brick tower; a fire pump, of the type already described, fur- nished an ample water supply at good pressure, and though the men were almost forced again and again to flee from the tower, they stood their 78 THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF FIRES ground and the sprinklers, aided by the standpipe streams, kept the fire entirely out of the building, which without such equipment would surely have been quickly destroyed. The loss was moderate and confined almost entirely to the unavoidable wetting down. An adjacent building was similarly protected and all of the windows toward the fire were of wired glass in metal frames. Here also the private fire brigade did good service, helping out with hose streams any especially hard-pressed point. When the fire was over many who examined the pro- tected buildings gave credit to the wired glass and were inclined to attrib- ute the saving of the large building almost entirely to it. Then a careful investigator, with a desire to get at the exact truth, carefully studying the conditions, found that high wooden poles carrying electric wires, running up beside the building, protected with the wired glass, were not charred. This evidence was at once conclusive that the severity of attack on the building with wired glass was much less than that on the other building, and that any attempt to draw from this incident a positive conclusion as to the resisting ability of such protected windows was erroneous. It was undoubtedly true that windows of this kind did not break out or crack as ordinary glass would probably have done, to a greater or less extent. The point, however, is that in all this work the real facts must be absolutely ascertained if true conclusions are to be drawn, and this instance shows the work which the trained observer, taking time to study every con- dition and imbued with the spirit of thoroughness, can do. It shows further the need of such observers if the real facts are to be certainly determined and the true conclusions drawn. A diagram of the fires which have occurred in the association of fac- tories which have carried on this study of protection against fires, where the loss has been over $100,000, shows that such fires came along with con- siderable frequency in the early days, but that later, when automatic sprink- lers were largely in use and other means of prevention and protection developed to a high state of efficiency, there was a marked lessening in the number of severe fires. This plotting, together with figures showing the growth in value of the factories thus cooperating, makes a graphic object lesson of the results accomplished by the application of scientific methods. In another way the cost of fires, including the cost of carrying on this system of studying them and maintaining methods of protection, is shown, covering a period of fifty years by ten-year averages. This, though not made up from the whole field, is typical and fairly represents the result from all the factories cooperating in this study. This shows the constant reduc- tion in cost, with the improvement in methods of handling the fire hazard. EDWAKD V. FBENCH, '83 79 It should be remembered that this has been accomplished despite the enor- mous increase in size of properties and the introduction of many new hazards. i -^ In more recent years the ideas and possibilities developed in this special field of manufacturing plants have spread and have been applied with increasing advantage in the general field, including all sorts of properties throughout the whole country. National organizations for considering these problems are now in flourishing condition and doing a broad and use- ful work. These results have been accomplished through the work of many earnest men. As is always the case, few have led and directed the main movements, but much has been contributed by the painstaking investigation of many different workers. All of the men who have done this work have possessed the scientific spirit, and many of them are alumni of Technology. The terrible loss of life which recently occurred in New York City and the loss of a life and irreplacable papers in the State Capitol at Albany could have been prevented by methods long since adopted in hundreds of manufacturing plants. But slowly does the scientific spirit penetrate the broader field, where so many diverse interests are factors. With gain in the general breadth of view it is certain that these methods and this spirit will in the coming years be more fully recognized and will exert their beneficial influence throughout the whole country. RESEARCH AS A FINANCIAL ASSET. By WILLIS R. WHITNEY, '90, Director, Research Laboratory, General Electric Co., Schenectady, N. Y. IT is only in our century that there could be much significance to such a title as " Research as a Financial Asset." This is an industrial century, and, whether we are proud of it or not, we are an industrial people. For some reasons it may be thought unfortunate that so large a proportion of man's energies should be devoted solely to the industries. In some eras we find that there was a predominance of art over industry ; in o'thers, literature was predominant; in still others, war and conquest. Once territorial dis- covery and acquisition predominated, and now, in our own times, the prin- ciples of community interest have so greatly developed that we are accus- tomed to seeing many people who, instead of directly producing their own necessities of life, are more generally repeatedly producing some one little article which contributes to the lives of others. This we recognize as a nat- ural tendency to higher efficiency. Our intricate and delicately balanced system of work is becoming continually more complex, but is certainly still covered by the elemental laws of demand and of survival. New discoveries in our day are largely mental, instead of geographical, and the old battles of conquest have become wars with ignorance. They are struggles to over- come inefficiencies, attempts to broaden the common mental horizon, as our ancestors broadened their physical horizon. Very few people realize the rapidity with which technical advances are being made. Few realize how the way of this advance has itself advanced. I might make this more clear by an illustration. Consider for a moment the increasing uses of chemical elements and compounds. New combinations in alloys, medicines, dyes, foods, etc., etc., and new uses and new materials are being produced daily. For a more simple comparison, consider only the advances in our technical uses of the metallic chemical elements. Copper, iron and five other metals were known and used at the time of Christ. In the first 1800 or 1900 years of our era, there were added to the list of metals in technical use (pure or alloyed) about eight more, or a rate below three a century. There has been so much industrial advance made 80 WILLIS E. WHITNEY, 7 90 81 within the past twenty to thirty years that fourteen new metals have been brought into commericial use within this period. This is almost as many in our quarter century as in the total preceding age of the world. Of course this rate, as applied to metals, apparently cannot continue, but there is no reason to question the possibility of the general advance it indi- cates. For centuries a single metal was made to serve for all uses which that metal could fill. Then two metals divided the field, each being used where it was preferred for any reason. Alloys began to displace metals to a limited extent. While the engineer still uses iron for his railroad, iron for his buildings and iron for his tools, these irons are different and have been specially developed for those uses. The electrical engineer prefers copper for his conductor, certain irons for the frames of apparatus, other special irons and steels for the shafts, the magnetic fields, etc., etc., and the special- ization to best meet specific wants is still under way. I suppose that this kind of complex development is largely responsible for research laboratories. A research laboratory is a place where men are especially occupied with new problems, presumably not too far in advance of technical application. By this group devoting its entire attention to the difficulties of realizing and abating already well-defined necessities, or of newly defining and abating together, the efficiency of these processes is increased. Men specially trained for this very purpose are employed and they are usually just as unfitted for successfully manufacturing as those who efficiently reproduce are of discovering or inventing. It is merely an extension of the principle of the maximum efficiency. A man with his entire attention devoted for months or years at a time to the difficulties of a single problem should be better able to reach a solution than the man who can devote only irregular intervals to it. He should then also be better prepared for a second problem. A reasearch laboratory is also a place equipped with apparatus especi- ally designed for experimental work. In a busy manufacturing plant, if a foreman has an idea pointing toward an improvement of his product he frequently has great difficulty in finding the time, the necessary idle appa- ratus, the raw materials and the incentive to try it. In the laboratory all of these are combined, and there is added a system of cooperation, of per- manently recording results and an atmosphere of research. The mathematics of cooperation of men and tools is interesting in this connection. Separated men trying their individual experiments contribute in proportion to their numbers, and their work may be called mathematic- ally additive. The effect of a single piece of apparatus given to one man is also additive only, but when a group of men are cooperating, as distinct from merely operating, their work rises with some higher power of the num- 82 RESEARCH AS A FINANCIAL ASSET her than the first power. It approaches the square for two men and the cube for three. Two men cooperating with two different and special pieces of apparatus, say a special furnace and a pyrometer, or an hydraulic press and new chemical substances, are more powerful than their arithmetical sum. These facts doubtless assist as assets of a research laboratory. When a central organization, such as a laboratory, has access to all parts of a large manufacturing plant and is forced sooner or later to come into contact with the various processes and problems, the various possibili- ties and appliances, it can hardly fail to apply, in some degree, the above law of powers. As a possible means of illustrating the almost certain assistance which one part of a manufacturing plant may give another when they are con- nected by experimenting departments or research laboratories, and how one thread of work starts another, I will briefly review part of a single fairly connected line of work in our laboratory. In 1901 the Meter Department wanted electrically conducting rods of a million ohms' resistance. These were to be *4 in. diameter by 1 in. length. In connection with this work we had to become fairly familiar with published attempts at making any type of such high resistances. Some kind of porcelain body containing a very little conducting material seemed a fair starting formula after the resistance of almost all kinds of materials had been considered. Our own porcelain department was a great help in showing us how to get a good start. We learned how and what to mix to get a fair porcelain, and we found that small quantities of carborundum or of graphite would give us the desired resistance about once in a hundred trials. The rods could be made, but the variation of their resistance when taken from the porcelain kiln and when they were made as nearly alike as we could make them, was often so many thousand fold that something new had to be done to make a practical success. A small electric furnace was then devised for baking the rods, and this was so arranged that the rate of rise of temperature, the maximum temperature reached and the duration of heat at any tempera- ture was under control and was also recorded. The desired result was obtained and this work was thus finished. It gave us a certain stock of knowledge and assurance. At that time a very similar problem was bothering one of the engi- neering departments. Lightning arrester rods, part of the apparatus for protecting power lines from lightning, were needed. Their dimensions were %x6 ins., and they needed to have a definite but, in this case, low resist- ance, and could apparently not be baked in a porcelain kiln. The neces- sary variations of temperature in such a kiln are so great that in practice WILLIS B. WHITNEY, '90 Si* many thousand rods were repeatedly fired and afterward tested to yield a few hundred of satisfactory product. All the cost of making an entire batch would have to be charged against the few units which might be found satis- factory, and in many cases there were none good in a thousand tested. It was evident that regulation and control of temperature was necessary. This was found to be impracticable in case any considerable number were to be fired at one time, as the heated mass was so great that the rods near the walls of the retort received a very different heat-treatment from those near the middle and were consequently electrically different. This was still the case even when electrically heated muffles were used. This difficulty led to experi- ments along the line of a heated pipe, through which the rods could be automatically passed. Some time was spent in trying to make a practical furnace out of a length of ordinary iron pipe, which was so arranged as to carry enough electric current to be heated to the proper baking temperature. Troubles here with oxidation of the iron finally led to substitution of carbon pipes. This resulted in a carbon tube furnace, which is merely a collection of 6-ft. carbon pipes, embedded in coke powder to prevent combustion, and held at the ends in water-cooled copper clamps, which introduce the electric current. By control of this current the temperature could be kept constant at any point desired. When this was combined with a constant rate of mechanical feed of the air-dried rods of porcelain mixture, a good product was obtained. For the past seven years this furnace has turned out all the arrester rods, the number produced the last year being over 100,000 units. In this work we were also forced to get into close touch with the electroplating department. The rods had to be copper-plated at the ends, to insure good electrical contact. The simple plating was not enough. This introduced other problems, which I will pass over, as I wish to follow the line of continuous experiment brought about, in part, at least, by a single investigation. The electric furnace consisting of the carbon tube packed in coke was a good tool for other work, and among other things we heated the carbon filaments for incandescent lamps in it. We were actuated by a theory that the high temperature thus obtainable would benefit the filament by removal of ash ingredients, which we knew the ordinary firing methods left there. While these were removed, the results did not prove the correct- ness of the theory, but rather the usefulness of trying experiments. It was found by experiment that the graphite coat on the ordinary lamp filament was so completely changed as to permit of a 100 per cent increase in the lamp life or of a 20 per cent increase in the efficiency of the lamp for the same life, so that for the past four or five years a large part of the 84 EESEABCH AS A FINANCIAL ASSET carbon lamps made in this country have been of this improved type. This is the metallized or Gem lamp. Naturally, this work started a great deal of other work along the lines of incandescent lamp improvement. At no time has such work been stopped, but, in addition to it, the new lines of metallic filament lamps were taken up. In fact, during the past five or six years, a very large proportion of our entire work has been done along the line of metallic tungsten incandescent lamps. In this way we have been able to keep in the van of this line of manufacture. The carbon tube fur- nace has been elaborated for other purposes, so as to cover the action under high pressures and in vacuo. Particularly in the latter case a great deal of experimental work has been carried out, contributing to work such as that connected with rare metals. In such a furnace, materials which would react with gases have been studied to advantage. Our experience with the metallized graphite led to production of a special carbon for contact sur- faces in railway signal devices, where ordinary carbon was inferior, and suggested the possibility of our contributing to improvements in carbon motor generator brushes. On the basis of our previous experience and by using the usual factory methods, we became acquainted with the difficulties in producing carbon and graphite motor brushes with the reliability and regularity demanded by the motor art. Furnace firing was a prime diffi- culty. Here again we resorted to special electrically heated muffles, where the temperatures, even below redness, could be carefully controlled and auto- matically recorded. This care, aided by much experimentation along the line of composition, of proportionality between the several kinds of carbon in the brush, etc., put us into shape to make really superior brushes. The company has now been manufacturing these for a couple of years, with especial reference to particularly severe requirements, such as railway motors. In such cases the question of selling price is so secondary that we can and do charge liberally for delicacy and care of operation in the manufacture. This carbon work naturally led to other applications of the identical processes or materials. Circuit breakers, for example, are now equipped with a specially hard carbon contact, made somewhat as motor brushes are made. It is not my intention to connect all of the laboratory work to the thread which seemed to connect these particular pieces of work, but rather to show the possible effect in accumulating in a laboratory some experiences which should show on an inventory. Among other considerations which appeal to me is one which may be worth pointing out. Probably almost every manufacturing plant develops WILLIS E. WHITNEY, '90 85 among its workmen, from time to time, men who are particularly endowed with aptitude for research in their line. They are usually the inventors of the company. They often develop in spite of opposition. They are always trying new things. They are almost of necessity somewhat inefficient in the routine production. In many plants they are merely endured, in a few they are encouraged. To my mind their proper utilization is a safe investment. A research laboratory assists in such a scheme. Sooner or later such a laboratory becomes acquainted with this type of men in a plant and helps them in the development of their ideas. It is not a perfectly simple matter to measure the value of a research laboratory at any one time. In the minds of some, the proper estimate is based on the money already earned through its work, which otherwise would not have been earned by the company. This is a fair and conservative method which in our generation ought to be satisfactory when applied not too early to the laboratories. It does not take into account what we may call the good-will and inventory value, both of which should be more rapidly augmenting than any other part of a plant. The experience and knowledge accumulated in a general research laboratory is a positive quantity. In our own case we expended in the first year not far from $10,000, and had little more than expectations to show for it. Our expenses rapidly rose and our tangible assets began to accrue. Perhaps I can point to no better criterion of the value of a research laboratory to our company than the fact that its force was rapidly increased by a company which cannot be particularly interested in purely academic work. Our annual expenditures passed the $100,000 mark several years ago. My own estimate of the value would probably be greater than that of others, for I am firmly convinced that proper scientific research is demanded by the existing conditions of our technical age. Without going into exact values, which are always difficult to deter- mine, consider for a moment the changes which incandescent lighting has witnessed in the past ten years. In this field our laboratory has been active, in contributing to both carbon and to metallic filaments. Moreover, all of the improvements in this field have been the product of research laboratories of trained men. In the case of our metallized carbon filament, which has now been in use several years, the efficiency of the light was increased by about 20 per cent. Among the carbon lamps of last year these were sold to the extent of over a million dollars. A broader but perhaps less accurate impression of changes recently produced may be gained by considering the economy now possible on the basis of our present incandescent lamp purchases in this country and that 86 EESEAECH AS A FINANCIAL ASSET which would have resulted if the lamps of only ten years ago were used in their stead. On the assumption that the present rate of lamp consumption is equivalent to about eighty million 25-watt tungsten lamps per year, and on the basis of 1*4 watts per candle power as against 3.1 of the earlier lamps and charging power at 10 cents per kilowatt hour, we get as a result a saving of $240,000,000 per year, or two-thirds million per day. Naturally, this is a saving which is to be distributed among producers, consumers and others, but illustrates very well the possibilities. It is interesting to note that we are still very far removed from a perfect incandescent ilium inant, when considered from the point of view of maximum theoretical light efficiency. I see from advertisements that 65,000 of the magnetite arc lamps, originally a product of the laboratory, are now in use. These must have been sold for something near $2,000,000. The supply of electrodes, which we make and which are consumed in these lamps, should amount to about $60,000 per year. Our study of the properties of the mercury arc produced our rectifier, vvhich has been commercially developed within the past few years. Of these, about 6000 have been sold. As they sell for not far from $200 per set, it is safe to say that this also represents sales of over a million dollars. The advantage of these outfits over other . available apparatus must also be recognized as not far from $200 for each hour through which those already sold are all operating. In such a complex field as insulations and molded materials there have been many changes produced. As far back as 1906 we were using annually in a certain apparatus, 30,000 specially drilled and machined soapstone plates, which cost $1.10 each. As the result of experiments on substitutes for such material, it was found that they could be molded by us .in the proper shape, with holes in place and of a material giving increased toughness, at a greatly reduced cost. As the result of this fact, the price of the purchased material was reduced to us from $1.10 to 60 cents, which in itself would have paid for the work. But further developments proved that the new molded material could be made for 30 cents, which the foreign material could not equal, so we have since produced it ourselves. This caused a saving of approximately $24,000 annually for this one molded piece. I have heard of other cases where prices to us. have gone down, when we have obtained a little promise from our experimental researches. In considering the research laboratory as a financial asset there is another view which might not be visible at first sight. It is the question of the difference between the value of the useful discovery when purchased WILLIS E. WHITNEY, '90 87 from competitors in the business and when made by one's own company. It is not usually pleasant to have to purchase inventions after their value is known, no matter from whom, but to have to pay a competitor for such a discovery is doubly irksome. One is naturally unduly fearful of its value to the competitor, and he, in turn, is overestimating another's power to use it. The purchaser's profit is apparently limited to the differ- ences between his efficiency of operating it and that of the original owner. A business usually comprises processes of making and selling something at a profit, and study of the making of the most modern, most improved, most efficient, is about as essential as the study of the limits of safe business credits. I was recently informed by an officer of another large manufacturing company, where much chemical work is done and which established a research laboratory several years ago, that the most important values they got from their laboratory was the assurance that they were keeping ahead and are at least prepared for the new, if they cannot always invent it themselves. Incidentally, he said that from one part of their research work they had produced processes, etc., which had saved $800,000 a year. They are at present spending in their several research departments a total of about $300,000 a year,- We hear frequent reference to the German research laboratories and a brief discussion may be in place. For the past fifty years that country has been advancing industrially beyond other countries. Not by newly opened territories, new railroads, new farm lands, new water-power sites, but by new technical discoveries. In fact, this advance may be said to be largely traceable to their apparent overproduction of research men by well- fitted universities and technical schools. Every year a few hundred new doctors of science and philosophy were thrown on the market. Most of them had been well trained to think and to experiment ; to work hard, and to expect little. The chemical manufactories began to be filled with this product and it overflowed into every other calling in Germany. These well- educated young men became the docents, the assistants and the professors of all the schools of the country. They worked for $300 to $500 per year. They were satisfied so long as they could experiment and study the laws of nature, because of the interest in these laws instilled into them by splendid teachers. This condition soon began to make itself manifest in the new-making of things all sorts of chemical compounds, all kinds of physical and electrical devices. I might say that pure organic chemistry at this time was academically most interesting. Its laws were entrancing to the enthusiastic chemist, and consequently very many more doctors were 88 EESEAECH AS A FINANCIAL ASSET turned out who wrote organic theses than any other kind. What more natural than that organic chemistry should have been the first to feel the stimulus? Hundreds, and even thousands, of new commercial organic products are to be credited to these men and to that time. All the modern dyestuffs are in this class. Did Germany alone possess the raw material for this line ? No ! England and America had as much of that. But Germany had the prepared men and made the start. It seems to me that America has made a start in preparing men for the research work of its industries. For example, it is no longer necessary to go abroad to get the particular training in physical chemistry and electro- chemistry which a few years ago was considered desirable. Advanced teach- ing of science is little, if any more, advanced in Germany to-day than it is in this country. In my opinion the quality of our research laboratories will improve as the supply of home-trained men increases, and that the labora- tories of this kind will be increasingly valuable when analyzed as financial assets. I am certain, too, that the industries will not be slow in recognizing the growing value of such assets. They merely want to be shown. Probably in most industries there are what I may call spots particu- larly vulnerable to research. For example, the efficiency of steam boilers, based upon the heat energy of the coal used and the efficiency of the engine using the steam, are continually being raised. We may expect, until the maximum calculable efficiency is reached, that this advance will continue. The reason is not far to seek. It is a vulnerable spot. Improve- ment is possible. A small increase in efficiency of a power plant is an ever- continuing profit. Great numbers of steam-power plants exist, and so inventors are influenced by the fact that new improvements may result in enormous total economies. Every rule of the game encourages them. I can make this clearer by illustrations. Artificial light is still produced at frightfully poor efficiency. Electric light from incandescent lamps has been greatly improved in this respect, but there is still room for greater economies. It is still a vulnerable spot. In the case of iron used in transformers, we have another such vulner- able spot. A transformer is practically a mass of sheet iron, wound about with copper wire. The current must be carried around the iron a certain number of times, and the copper is chosen because it does the work most economically. No more suitable material than copper seems immediately probable, nor is there any very promising way of increasing its efficiency, but in the iron about which it is wound there is a vulnerable spot. The size of the iron about which the copper is wound may possibly be still much further reducible by improvements in its quality. In other words, we do WILLIS E. WHITNEY, '90 89 not yet know what determines the magnetic permeability or the hysteresis of the iron, and yet we do know that it has been greatly improved in the past few years, and that it can still be greatly improved. Let us make this vulnerable spot a little clearer by considering the conditions here in Boston. I assume there are approximately 50,000 KW. of alternating current energy used here. Nearly all of this is subject to the losses of transformers. If the transformers used with this system were made more than ten years ago, they probably involve a total loss, due to eddy and hysteresis, of about $1000 per day, at the ten-cent rate. Transformers as they are made to-day, by using improved iron, are saving nearly half of this loss, but there still remains over $500 loss per day, to serve as a subject for interesting research work. It should also be noted that Boston uses only a very small fraction of the alternating current energy of this country. Consider for a moment two references to the sciences and industry in Germany and England. Dr. 0. N. Witt, Professor in the Berlin Eoyal Technical High School, reporting to the German government in 1903, says : " What appears to me to be of far greater importance to the German chemical industry than its predominant appearance at the Columbian World's Fair, is the fact which finds expression in the German exhibits alone, that industry and science stand on the footing of mutual deepest appreciation, one ever influencing the other," etc. As against this, Pro- fessor H. E. Armstrong, of entirely corresponding prominence and position in England, says of England : " Our policy is the precise reverse of that followed in Germany. Our manufacturers generally do not know what the word research means. They place their business under the control of practical men . . . who, as a rule, actually resent the introduction into the work of the scientifically trained assistants." If the English nation is to do even its fair share of the work of the world in the future,, its attitude must be entirely changed. It must realize that steam and electricity have brought about a complete revolution, that the application of scientific principles and methods is becoming so universal elsewhere that all here who wish to succeed must adopt them. So long as motors burn out, so long as subways are tied up by defect- ive apparatus, so long as electric motors can run too hot, so long as street cars can catch fire from so-called explosions of the current, so long as the traffic of a whole city can be stopped by a defective insulation or a ten-cent motor brush, there will probably be the equivalent of research laboratories somewhere connected with the electrical industries, where attempts will be continually made to improve. THE UTILIZATION OF THE WASTES OF A BLAST FUKNACE. By EDWARD M. HAGAR, '93, President, Universal Portland Cement Co., Chicago. UNTIL the last decade, practically the only utilization of the wastes or by-products of a blast furnace was the use of a portion of the waste gases to raise the temperature of the incoming blast through heating the brick- work in so-called hot stoves, and in some cases a small portion of the power value of the gases was obtained by burning them under boilers to generate steam for driving the blowing engines. At the present time the calorific value of the waste gases is being utilized directly in gas engines for blowing purposes and for generation of electric power, a considerable portion of the slag is used in the manufac- ture of Portland cement, and the flue dust, consisting of the finest ore and coke particles, is being collected and converted so as to be rechargeable into the furnaces. The aggregate saving or profits resulting from these three develop- ments is a matter of millions of dollars per annum, and in a modern blast furnace plant, it would almost seem that pig iron was the by-product; and, indeed the investment in the equipment to utilize these former wastes exceeds that of the blast furnace itself. The writer, in his work, has come in contact with these evolutions, having in charge plants with- a capacity to produce 12,000,000 barrels of Portland cement per annum from slag and limestone, using over 1,300,000 tons of slag in a year, these plants being driven entirely by electric current, generated by gas engines directly from the waste blast furnace gases, the power requirements being 40,000 horse-power for twenty-four hours every working day. In one of the cement plants the first commercial method for reclaiming flue dust was discovered. By using the blast furnace gases directly in combustion engines, after suitable washing to remove the grit, the power obtained from a given amount of gas is equal to at least two and one-half times that obtainable by burning the gas under boilers for generating steam for use in steam engines. A modern blast furnace of the usual size, with gas blowing engines, and 90 EDWARD M. HAGAR, '93 91 gas engines driving electric generators, will provide sufficient gas to furnish 7000 KW. electric power, in addition to driving its own blowing engines. This permits the most modern steel works, such as those at Gary, Ind., to practically do away with the use of coal for power purposes, oper- ating the rolling mills by electric power from the surplus gases. The United States Steel Corporation, of which the Universal Port- land Cement Co. is a subsidiary, has already installed 250,000 horse-power of gas blowing and gas electric units, which, it can easily be figured, dis- places or saves the consumption of approximately 1,000,000 tons of coal per annum as compared with the old-fashioned method. "With the modern high-blast pressures, and the use of fine Missabe ore, the finest of the particles, together with the coke dust, are blown out through the top of the furnaces and are caught in the flues, dust catchers and gas washers. The iron ore in this dust amounts to fully 3 per cent of the total ore charged, which aggregates the large amount of approximately 1,250,000 tons per annum in this country. Until within a few years, this dust has been thrown away or used as filling, although containing about 40 per cent metallic iron. For many years efforts were made to use this material by compressing it into briquettes, but the cost of the operation, together with the fact that the briquettes disintegrated and the dust was again blown out, led to an abandonment of the briquetting plants. The first commercially successful method of utilizing the dust was discovered by passing the material through the cement kilns at South Chicago. Experiments showed that with the proper heat treatment, the coke dust could be burned off and the iron ore conglomerated into nodules or nuggets, averaging over 60 per cent iron content. These nodules, when fed to the blast furnace, were easily and completely reduced. The fact that the sinter of the flue dust contains such a high percentage of iron and that all of the sinter is reduced, together with its physical shape assist- ing the steady movement of the charge downward in the blast furnace, thereby preventing so-called slips, makes the sinter more valuable per ton than any ore. It was necessary to devise mechanical means for preventing the accum- ulation of the sinter on the walls of the kiln. Plants have been in operation for some years using this process, with endless chains carrying scrapers constantly passing forward through the kiln, and cooled in water on their return outside of the kiln. Recently other methods of utilizing dust have been devised which may 92 UTILIZATION OF THE WASTES OF A BLAST FUKNACE prove successful commercially, and the indications are that within a short time the greater portion of this former waste will be prevented. The development of the Portland cement industry in this country and the extension of its uses have been marvelous, and the following table shows a remarkable increase in the production of Portland cement in the United States every year since 1895, when this country first reached the production of approximately 1,000,000 barrels : Year. Production of Port land Cement of United Stales. Barrels. Production of Universal Portland Cement. Barrels. Pereeri t atie of Universal to total American Production of Portland Cement. 1895 990,324 1896 1,543,023 1897 2,677,775 1898 3,692,284 1899 5,652,266 1900 8,482,020 32,443 0.39% 1901 10,711,225 164,316 1.29 1902 17,230,644 318,710 1.85 1903 22.342,973 462,930 2.08 1904 26^05,881 473,294 1.78 1905 35,264,812 1,735,343 4.92 1906 46,463,424 . 2,076,000 4.55 1907 48,785,390 2,129,000 4.36 1908 51,072,612 4,535,000 8.89 1909 62,508,461 5,786,000 9.27 1910 73,500,000 Gov. est. 7,001,500 9.52 It may be of interest to note the increasing percentage of the total American production shown by Universal Portland cement, which is the only Portland cement manufactured in this country using slag as one of the raw materials. With the new plant now approaching completion the aggre- gate production of Universal Portland cement in the Chicago and Pittsburg districts will amount to over one-eighth of the country's total. Expressed in weight, the output of the finished product will be over 2,000,000 gross tons per annum. Our plants in the Chicago district will consume all the available slag that is suitable for the purpose from an aggregate of nine- teen blast furnaces in the South Chicago Works of the Illinois Steel Com- pany and in the Gary Works of the Indiana Steel Company. Comparing the pig iron production and Portland cement production of this country in figures of long tons, the percentage of Portland cement to pig iron in 1890 was six-tenths of one per cent, in 1900 ten and three- tenths per cent, and in 1910, forty-seven per cent. The continuation of any such relative growth would mean that before 1920 the tonnage of Portland EBWAED M. HAGAK, >93 93 | cement would considerably exceed that of pig iron. I would hesitate, how- ever, to predict that such would be the case. Portland cement is defined by the United States Government as the product obtained from the heating or calcining up to incipient fusion, of intimate mixtures, either natural or artificial, of argillaceous with calcareous substances, the calcined product to contain at least one and seven-tenths times as much of lime, by weight, as of the materials which give the lime its hydraulic properties, and to be finely pulverized after said calcination, and thereafter additions or substitutions for the purpose only of regulating cer- tain properties of technical importance to be allowable to not exceeding two per cent of the calcined product. From this definition it will be seen that the raw material for Portland Cement is not limited to any particular form of material ; it may be made from any combination of materials that together furnish the proper elements. In this country Portland cement is manufactured from a num- ber of raw materials, which, with a few exceptions, may be classed under four heads : First Argillaceous limestone (cement rock) and pure limestone. Second Clay or shale and limestone. Third Clay or shale and marl. Fourth Slag and limestone. In all cases the raw mixture is a combination of some form of clay and some form of lime, and in the first and fourth classifications the clay mate- rials contain some lime. This simply reduces the proportion of lime material necessary for a proper mixture. In the manufacture of Portland cement from slag and limestone, the molten slag flowing from the furnaces is granulated by a stream of water, loaded into cars and transported to the cement plants, where it is dried in rotary driers, and receives the first grinding ; it is then mixed in automatic weighing machines, with the proper proportion of ground and dried cal- cite limestone. These are then ground together and burnt to a hard clinker at a temperature of nearly 3000 F. in rotary kilns, using pulver- ized coal for fuel. This clinker, after seasoning, is crushed and ground and mixed with a small percentage of gypsum to regulate the setting time. The cement is ground to such fineness that 96 per cent passes through a sieve having 10,000 meshes, and 80 per cent passes a sieve with 40,000 meshes to the square inch. It is then conveyed to the stock house for storage prior to shipment. It is necessary to use as a flux in furnaces supplying slag for cement 94 UTILIZATION OF THE WASTES OF A BLAST FUENACE manufacture a pure calcite limestone. The limestone burnt with the slag must also be a pure calcite stone. It is also essential that the ores used be of a uniform and proper character. Inasmuch as Lake Superior ores are noted for their remarkable uni- formity of anaiysis, the resultant slag obtained from the use of these ores and a pure calcite limestone, is more uniform in its analysis than any form of natural clay deposit used in the manufacture of Portland cement, and the variation in the proportions of the two raw materials used in the manu- facture of Portland cement from slag is less than those of any other materials mentioned above. In addition, the opportunity for analysis and selection of the proper ingredients through the use of an artificial material is a great advantage as compared to the necessitous use of natural materials just as they are found with their variations in analysis at different depths. In the intense heat of the kiln, under the influence of the oxidizing flame, any sulphides in the slag are completely burnt out. The rotary kiln commonly used ten years ago was 60 ft. long and 6 ft. in diameter. This has gradually been increased in length and diameter until the modern kiln is 140 to 150 ft. long and 8 to 10 ft. in diameter, and there are a few even larger kilns in use. Kilns a're usually set at an incline of % in. to the ft. With the lining and contents the modern kiln weighs 150 tons, and in revolving upon two bearings presents interesting con- structional features. In the case of the plant at Bufnngton, Ind., using 26,000 horse- power, situated between South Chicago and Gary, Ind., electric power is supplied at 22,000 volts from the Steel Works at these points. Each piece of machinery is driven by its individual motor, supplied with alternating current at 440 volts. The high tension line is connected through the cement plants, and the gas engines at these two steel works, 14 miles apart, operate continually in parallel. This enables the cement plant to draw its power from either source, or from both sources at the same time, as may be desirable. It has happened that one of these works has supplied power to operate the cement plant and furnished additional power at the same time to the steel works at the other end of the line. The method of manufacture above described is the standard method of manufacturing Portland cement from natural deposits, and the fin- ished product differs in no way from other Portland cements in chemical analysis, fineness, specific gravity, color, nor in the operation in practical work. It has no peculiarities whatever and has no limitations as to its EDWARD M. HAGAB, '93 95 applications. There is no difference, from the chemist's point of view, between the manufacture of Portland cement from natural deposits, such as limestone and clay or shale, and its manufacture from limestone and slag. Slag is really a mixture of clay from the ore with the lime content of the stone used as a flux in the furnace. Our method of manufacture of Universal Portland cement does not embody any real invention, nor is it based on any patents. It is simply an adaptation to an artificial raw material of the regular Portland cement process formerly applied only to natural deposits. True Portland cement in which slag is used as one of the raw materials, should not be confused with Puzzolan, or so-called " Slag Cements/' which are simply mechanical mixtures of slag and slaked lime ground together without burning. Such cements are suitable only for use under ground and in moist locations. The manufacture of Puzzolan cements in this country has practically been abandoned. The remarkable growth of the Portland cement industry is not equalled by any other manufactured article. This is due to the economy, durability and plasticity of cement and concrete work. While large engi- neering work, such as dams, bridges and heavy reinforced concrete build- ings, consume large quantities of cement, the bulk of consumption at the present day is in a multitude of small uses. It takes an average shipment of only five barrels a day to take care of the average customer of a large cement company. For example, there is a steady increase in the application of cement to new uses on the farm, such as silos, fence posts, barn floors, feeding floors, watering troughs, corn cribs, etc. There, as elsewhere, concrete is rapidly displacing all forms of wood construction, this process being has- tened by the continually advancing cost of lumber. Beautiful effects are now being obtained in concrete surface finishes, and its use in decorative work is advancing rapidly. The use of Portland cement will continue to increase until the cam- paign of education of the small user has reached its finality. In this direc- tion a great work is being done to educate the general public in the proper use of cement by individual manufacturers, by the Association of American Portland Cement Manufacturers, and by the Cement Shows which are given in several of the largest cities every year. In conclusion, it will be seen from the foregoing that most of the problems of utilization of wastes or by-products of the blast furnace have 96 UTILIZATION OF THE WASTES OF A BLAST FURNACE been solved, and that these solutions, in addition to being highly profitable, are powerful factors toward the conservation of our natural resources. Portland cement manufactured from slag, to a large extent, replaces wood; the waste gases displace coal, and reclamation of the flue dust con- seives the deposits of iron ore. DEVELOPMENTS IN PAINT AND VAENISH MANUFACTURE. By EDWARD C. HOLTON, '88, Chief Chemist, The Sherwin-Williams Co., Cleveland, Ohio. FIFTY years ago the paint and varnish industry of thjs country was in its infancy and was under no scientific control whatsoever. Even twenty-five years ago the paint and varnish manufacturers who employed technical graduates as engineers or as chemists were the exception rather than the rule. Conditions have greatly changed and to-day some of the larger com- panies have so branched out, in their attempts to provide themselves with raw materials of more uniformly good qualities, that they now have geolo- gists, mining engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, chemi- cal engineers, metallurgists and chemists constantly employed in looking after the various branches of their business. Even the smaller companies must make occasional use of the mechanical engineer and the electrical engineer, and since the recent activity amongst the state and federal law- makers, the chemist has become well-nigh indispensable. The mining, milling and transportation of lead and zinc ores from the mines to the smelter calls for the employment of the various engineers, but the analytical chemist or assayer must always be at hand. At the smelter the metallurgist or chemical engineer assumes charge of operations, but he depends pn his chemist. The mining and milling of iron oxides, ochres, siennas, umbers, graph- ites, barytes, silicates, etc., are mechanical operations and are often carried on in a very crude manner, but somewhere and at some time before the product is sold it is examined and rated by a chemist. In the manufacture of the so-called " chemical " and " lake " pig- ments, chemists and chemical engineers are indispensable. Many of the older and better known pigments have been made for so many years that they could be made without the aid of trained chemists, but the margin of profit is so small and the opportunities for losses and waste so great that no manufacturer can afford to be without a chemist. The development of organic chemistry has been marvelous, and to it the paint manufacturer is greatly indebted. 97 98 DEVELOPMENTS IN PAINT AND VARNISH MANUFACTURE Many of the fast to light aniline, toluidine, anisidine, naphthylamine and other lake pigments which were unknown or, if known, were laboratory curiosities twenty-five years ago, are to-day being made in American color plants to the extent of thousands of tons per annum. The intermediate organic compounds which enter into these lake pigments are still largely imported from Germany. The mineral bases on which they are built are mostly of American manufacture and the diazotizing and combining of the organic compounds with each other and the mineral bases are generally under the direct supervision and control of chemists and chemical engi- neers trained in American schools. Although much progress has been made in the manufacture of pig- ments, still more remains to be done. The field is a broad and interesting one and will offer opportunities for chemists for many years to come. If the paint manufacturer of to-day were merely a mixer and grinder, purchasing from others all pigments and vehicles which he uses, even under such conditions he would be forced to maintain a chemical laboratory at his own plant or be in close touch with a commerical laboratory. If he did not do so he would not know the composition of his own manufactured products and would be liable to fine and imprisonment for unconscious violation of state and federal laws. The preparation and manufacture of paint vehicles is increasing enormously in kinds and in quantities, and presents an ever broadening field for the employment of chemists and chemical engineers. The lum- bering of our Southern forests with attendant decrease of supplies of gum spirits of turpentine and consequent increase in price, has brought about the recovery of wood spirits of turpentine from the waste logs, stumps and sawdust. It has also brought about the use in much larger quantities of coal tar distillates and petroleum distillates as substitutes for spirits of turpentine. Here again chemists and engineers have worked out proc- esses of distilliation which furnish products far superior to any which were on the market some years ago. About fifteen years ago China began supplying us in a small way with tung oil, and to-day its use is enormous, and we would hardly know how to get along without it. Two very poor flax crops have recently brought about a world shortage in linseed oil, and chemists in all countries have been busy in investigating more thoroughly oils hitherto but little known, in order that they may be used as substitutes for linseed oil if of value, and on the other hand may be detected and identified when so used. A few years ago the art of varnish making was clouded in mystery. EDWAED C. HOLTON, '88 99 Varnish makers taught their sons or favorite helpers all they had learned from their predecessors and by their own experience. Little by little they absorbed information given to them directly or indirectly by chemists, and profited by it, but rarely did they give anything in return. To-day the varnish-maker's attitude toward the chemist is rapidly changing. He recognizes the fact, which he is not always ready to admit, that if he would progress in his craft he must seek aid from the chemist. In many plants the chemist and varnish-maker are working harmoniously together, with the result that rapid advance is being made. Of late years a great deal has been written and said about the chemical engineer. This is an engineering age and the chemical engineer is begin- ning to come into his own, and his future is bright. However, it should not be overlooked that if the chemical engineer is not first and foremost a chemist, he might better avoid the use of the term " chemical." A man well trained in general chemistry, with some skill as an analyst and synthesist, and with an active imagination, is fully as well equipped to advance the cause as a chemical engineer who has little knowledge of chemistry. Some chemical engineers are needed, and they are greatly needed, but there is even greater need for many well trained, thorough analytical and synthetical chemists. RECLAMATION OF THE ARID WEST. By FREDERIC H. NEWELL, '85, Director, United States Reclamation Service, Washington, D. C. THE problem of the reclamation of the arid west is being attacked pri- marily for the purpose, not of making men rich, but of strengthening the foundations of the state. It is an attempt being made by the Federal Gov- ernment almost at the eleventh hour of its opportunities to utilize the waste resources still remaining at its command, and to employ these in such a way as to strengthen local communities and states, and to create in the more remote parts of the country many prosperous communities com- posed of independent, landowning citizens, each family being resident upon a farm sufficient for its support, and cultivating the soil intensively, under favorable conditions of sunlight and of water supply, such as to pro- duce the largest crop yield per acre, and to bring about the largest indi- vidual success. The people thus placed upon the farms are not merely producers. They not only raise enough to support themselves, and to sell to their neighbors, but indirectly they stimulate all industries. They are large con- sumers, as well as producers, and it may be said that for every family placed upon an irrigated farm on the desert, there arises the possibility of another family engaged in transportation or in manufacturing in the East or Middle West. All parts of the country are thus linked together. The success of the irrigator in the West means larger cotton production in the South, more boots made in Massachusetts, more freight and passenger cars hauled across the continent. In the matter under consideration Congress in 1888 authorized an investigation of the extent to which the arid lands might be reclaimed. This problem is enormous and its correct solution is fundamental to the future growth and development of the nation, because of the fact that one- third of its area is arid. In that one-third are potentially some of the most valuable lands in the world. The problem is to obtain water for these lands. This in turn rests upon questions of economics and engineering, in storage of flood or other waste water, and in the adjustment of a form of agriculture suited to these 100 FKEDEBIC H. NEWELL, '85 101 conditions. The results already attained show that the lands are not only capable of supporting a large population, but, under Government auspices, many thousands of families have been settled in prosperous homes and a highly desirable class of citizenship has been created in a most sparsely populated part of the country. As a natural outgrowth of the investigation begun in 1888, the so-called Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902, was passed, setting aside the proceeds from the disposal of public lands for the construction of works for the reclamation by irrigation of the arid and semi-arid lands. It has been held that Congress has absolute control over the public lands and of the funds arising from their disposal, and while it might be questionable as to whether the United States could levy taxes, and thus raise money for reclamation, it has been considered that Congress could properly create a trust fund derived from the source named. This fund has amounted to over $60,000,000, and is being added to at the rate of $6,000,000 or $7,000,- 000 a year. It has been invested in the construction of reservoirs, canals and distributing systems, and already 27 projects have been initiated or com- pleted, works having been undertaken in each of the Western states and territories. Over 1,000,000 acres have been reclaimed, and 14,000 families are receiving water from works built or controlled by the Government, under the terms of this Act. Reservoirs have been built having a capacity of nearly 5,000,000 acre-ft; that is to say, the water would cover 5,000,000 acres to a depth of one foot. Canals of large size, carrying over 800 cu.ft. per second, have been built for a total length of 300 miles, and somewhat smaller canals constructed with a length of 1000 miles, including the ditches. There are over 5,000 miles of water courses, also nearly 70 tun- nels with a total length of about 20 miles. The smaller structures number over 20,000, including bridges, culverts, headgates, siphons, etc. Nearly 60,000,000 cu.yds. of earth have been excavated and 10,000,000 of loose and solid rock. The principal results, however, are shown in the crop production, and, although the works are hardly built to a point further than to try out por- tions, it appears that the value of the crops raised in 1910 was nearly $20,000,000, and land values have advanced from practically nothing to $100,000,000. These values will continue to increase as the works near completion. The object, however, as before stated, is not to make men rich, but to make homes for citizens who will preserve the institutions of the country, and to do this without imposing a burden upon the taxpayers. It has been 102 EECLAMATION OF THE AEID WEST shown how this has been accomplished by the use of the Reclamation Fund, which is revolving and growing larger and larger; that is to say, as the money comes back from the works completed, it is used over again and is being increased by additions from the disposal of other public lands. Under wise administration the funds should increase and produce larger and larger results in the conservation of the waste waters and the utilization of these in those parts of the United States where rain is infrequent and where the brilliant sunshine can be depended upon nearly every day in the year. It is really the sunlight which is capitalized and made valuable. The question is frequently asked, Why should not the Government reclaim the worthless lands in the East? The answer lies largely in the fact that no other part of the country than the arid West has such wonderful opportunities for crop production, as it does not have the continuous daily sunshine upon which plant life depends. The advantages of the develop- ment in the arid region also are greater from the political standpoint, as population is better distributed and is brought nearer to important sources of mineral wealth, enabling development of industries in otherwise remote and inaccessible localities. All of those results are successful in proportion as they have been brought about by scientific methods, and by following the principles incul- cated at the schools of which the Institute of Technology is chief. SOME NEW CHEMICAL PRODUCTS OF COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE. By SALMON W. WILDER, '91, President, Merrimac Chemical Co., Boston. IN dealing with new chemical products, the industrial or manufactur- ing chemist must consider the situation from an economic and commercial standpoint, rather than a purely scientific one. To the manufacturer, a new chemical product is not necessarily one of recent discovery, but may be, and often is, one that has hitherto been of no value commercially, by reason of its high cost of production, a lack of knowledge as to its properties, or for various other causes. Commercially and economically speaking, the fundamental questions concerning the proposition are in part as follows : (1) What are the more important properties of the product under consideration ? (2) Is there already an industrial demand for a product with such properties ? (3) Is there reason to believe that new demands may from time to time to be created for the product ? (4) Can it be made commercially and economically? (5) Is the cost of plant installation great, and is it a simple matter for anybody to make the product? (6) Will its use be of benefit to the community and tend to create wealth ? (This last question may seem of minor consequence, but really is of very great importance.) (7) Last of all, does it appear that it will pay to manufacture and exploit the new product? At the present time the necessity of industrial research work is quite generally recognized, and much is being done by various manufacturing establishments to help answer the questions already propounded. I will not dwell upon this phase of the subject, but confine myself to a single product, -which may serve as an illustration of the general principle involved. 103 104 SOME NEW CHEMICAL PKODUCTS OF IMPOBTANCE Several years ago, as the result of seemingly a trifling accident, our commonwealth made the acquaintance of the gypsy moth, and in due season learned to know him altogether too well. The few moths that escaped, as the result of the accidental overturning of a box, multiplied so rapidly, and their offspring proved so terribly destructive, that our state realized a seri- ous situation confronted it. Vigorous measures were taken to combat these pests, and in connection with this work arsenate of lead was em- ployed, and this product, while not a new one, chemically speaking, yet was of no commercial importance, and therefore from our viewpoint could be considered as a new product. Its effectiveness, as applied to the gypsy moth, was such that the manufacturers of the material began to consider it very carefully from an economic standpoint, and to apply the questions already cited. Likewise many new questions arose, and these had to be carefully considered : What would be the result of the use of arsenate of lead in the case of insects other than the gypsy moth ? What should be the chemical composition and physical characteristics of the most efficient arsenate of lead ? What kind of packages could be employed in distributing the product ? and so on. The various problems involved led up to a systematic and careful study of the whole situation and resulted in a great number of experiments and trials, carried out under varying conditions, with all kinds of trees, shrubs and plants and many varieties of insects. As is well known, most of our states support agricultural colleges and are provided with well-equipped experiment stations, and these were fur- nished with arsenate of lead for experimental work. Also, many progressive and up-to-date farmers, fruit growers and others, in all parts of the coun- try, made use of the material and the results of their trials became available. The work of the state and government entomologists was likewise very helpful, and gradually so much information was obtained and so many facts demonstrated, it became apparent that a new and important insecticide had appeared. Now that the importance of arsenate of lead to the agriculturist had been established beyond doubt, the problem of educating the farmer and fruit grower and reaching the ultimate consumer, became the all-important one. This, on the whole, I think has been accomplished along fairly scientific lines. I may say in this connection, it has been interesting, even if not edifying, to note how many fake preparations have been foisted upon SALMON W. WILDEK, '91 105 the farmer and gardener. Compounds that would kill hugs, act as fertil- izers, and do all sorts of things, have been on the market. Curiously enough, too, no doubt many a farmer has imagined results as due to some of these nostrums, which really were the outcome of a more vigorous applica- tion of the hoe and cultivator, stimulated perhaps by an increased interest in his crop, due to the application of the wonderful bug-killer. The growth and development of the business in arsenate of lead has been the result of missionary and educational work, as well as chemical and scientific. Owing to the literature sent out by manufacturers, bulletins and information furnished by the government and various experiment sta- tions, the farmer everywhere now knows what may be accomplished by the use of this insecticide. He has seen the practical results in the case of orchards, free from wormy fruit, increased yields in truck gardens, and better conditions generally. In the case of our cities, towns and private estates, thousands of shade trees now owe their existence to the use of arsenate of lead, and this is a matter of no small importance to those of us living near Boston. The use of arsenate of lead has aroused such an interest in the entire subject of insect pests, fungi, spraying, pruning and cultivating, etc., that the indirect benefits are hard to realize. Here in N"ew England, the possi- bilities of our hill farms were never realized as at present, and while it would be absurd to say that same is due to arsenate of lead, yet the intro- duction and development of this product has been no small factor in bring- ing about the situation. Much as it is to be regretted that we are obliged to resort to the use of such products as arsenate of lead, yet at times I ask myself the question if its enforced use may not eventually help to so educate and increase the efficiency of our agriculturist as to add greatly to the wealth and welfare of our community. As already mentioned, I have taken this particular compound as one that may perhaps serve to illustrate the general principles involved in the production and exploitation of new chemical products, and at the same time to indicate how the use of such products may serve to create wealth and be of benefit to the entire community. SECTION B. TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATION IN ITS RELA- TIONS TO INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT INFLUENCE OF THE INSTITUTE UPON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN EDUCATION. By JAMES P. MUNROE, '82, President of the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education. IN the nearly fifty years since the close of the Civil War, the United States has become a nation far more changed from that of 1870 than the people of the Civil War differed from those of 1670. The developments of the earlier, long period were those due to the evolution of an essentially homogeneous, agricultural and stable-minded population. Those of the later and far shorter period have been those of revolution brought about by the discoveries and applications of science, by the influx of enormous num- bers of widely-differing aliens, and by the change of the predominant states of the Union from communities chiefly agricultural and rural into those markedly industrial and urban. The life of the. Institute of Technology has been coincident, therefore, with the most epoch-making period in American history. Moreover, it has not simply been an incident, it has been an important factor in this notable advance. For upon this era of remarkable development it has had a direct and far-reaching influence, both as a center of scientific investigation and teaching, and through its graduates and other students sent to every corner of America and of the world. In the half -century since the granting of the Institute's charter, the higher, secondary and elementary schools have been transformed in their methods, in their aims, and above all, in their grasp of the real meaning of education. In revolutionizing methods of teaching, in changing the aim of instruction from the giving of information to the stimulating of efficiency, and in emphasizing the fact that education is primarily not for the indi- vidual but for society, the Institute of Technology has taken a leading and in some directions a pioneering part. As to methods, the most conspicuous contribution of the Institute has been the establishing of the laboratory as a chief tool in teaching. The first building of the Institute was opened in 1865. In it was provision for an ample chemical laboratory wherein students of that science might per- form with their own hands experiments demonstrating the various chemi- 109 110 INFLUENCE OF INSTITUTE UPON MODERN EDUCATION cal phenomena. Up to that time such teaching of science as had been pro- vided at all had been limited to the text-book or, under the most favorable conditions, to a few supplementary experiments performed in class by the instructor. The opening of a laboratory in which the student should him- self not only prove the text-book statements by actual repetition of the necessary experiments, but also reach out into new fields of analysis and synthesis, meant much more than a strengthening of chemical instruction at the Institute of Technology it meant the placing of an added resource in the hands of education, more powerful for the real training of youth than any which had been evolved for centuries. " To learn by doing" had been the thesis of many educational leaders for many a century ; but not till the Institute provided a chemical laboratory had there been an application of this sound principle to students, as such, in connection with, and as a part of, their regular class work. Before that time professional men had, of course, " learned by doing " ; but they had done so as individuals, in more or less haphazard fashion, in the office of some lawyer, physician, clergyman or engineer. For the initial application of this principle, theretofore confined to the individual learner, to classes of mature students, the world is indebted to William Barton Eogers who, in its pioneering educational work, was substantially the Institute of Tech- nology and to those of its early professors, Charles "W. Eliot, P. H. Storer and William Eipley Nichols, who marked out the path in which so great a number of others have since eagerly gone on. So fruitful was laboratory teaching in the case of chemistry, that the Institute almost immediately set about applying the same principle to the teaching of physics. This was a far more difficult problem ; but it was suc- cessfully solved, again by the enlightened plans of President Eogers, worked out by Professors Edward C. Pickering, Charles E. Cross, and the late Silas W. Holman. This pioneer work in establishing chemical and physical laboratories not only led to the opening of similar facilities in all those colleges which included the sciences in their curriculum, but also forced the secondary schools to revise their methods and to provide for the teaching of chemistry and physics by means of some form of laboratory. More important than this material effect, however, was the resulting psychological change in the attitude of the educator towards all types of subjects to be taught. To-day not simply those who are pursuing what used to be called the " natural sciences " have the advantage of the labora- tory method; the students of mathematics, literature, history, language and, indeed, of every branch of human knowledge where the teaching is JAMES P. MUNROE, '82 111 modern and good pursue their work through a more or less extended application of the laboratory idea. The development of the laboratory, moreover,, has not simply contrib- uted a new aid to the instructor in the work of training youthful minds and powers; it has radically altered the outlook of the teacher upon the whole work of the profession. Never has education been in such a ferment as dur- ing the last ten or fifteen years. This agitation has had its rise mainly in the fact that the methods of teaching have been undergoing, during that time, a revolution, involving great additions to the cost of plants and of instruction, new types of teachers, and a wholesale revision of the time- honored curriculum. These fundamental changes have been the logical outcome of the widespread introduction, in substantially every branch of learning, of the laboratory method; and, while it would be absurd to say that the laboratory principle would not have been introduced save for the creation of the Institute of Technology, it is nevertheless indisputable that the founders of this Institution first had the foresight, and the courage, not only to provide class laboratories, but also to make the laboratory method the backbone of its whole scheme of teaching. So extensive a revision in school and college methods would not have supervened, however, had there not been a reason for such change deeper than the acquiring of a new resource in education. The laboratory principle in teaching was inaugurated by the Institute and has since been adopted by practically all other educational agencies, because, during the nineteenth century, there had come about a fundamental change in the whole aim of education. For a century or more, up to about 1850, the purpose of formal education, whether in school or in college, had been to give the pupil infor- mation. Since that time there has been a shifting at first gradual, but then more and more rapid towards the sounder aim, that of making the pupil, be he an infant in the kindergarten or a graduate student in the uni- versity, into an efficient man. The idea of efficiency was uppermost in the thought of those merchants and manufacturers who projected the Institute. Efficiency translated into terms of sound education was the basis of what may well be called the writ- ten constitution of the Institute : the document prepared in 1860 by Profes- sor Rogers, entitled " Objects and Plans of an Institute of Technology." Efficiency has been the dominant idea in every step of the school's develop- ment. Therefore the men and women whom it has educated have been successful; and because of their success the Institute has a high rank in this country and abroad. It would have failed to stand high, however, had its founders and its successors not insisted upon those genuine standards 112 INFLUENCE OF INSTITUTE UPON MODERN EDUCATION of efficiency which require a man to know more than the technical details of his profession, and which demand that his point of view shall be broad, his interests catholic and his professional knowledge firmly established upon a basis of what is well called humanism. The success of the Institute is mainly due to the fact that from the beginning it has required every one of its professional courses to include a substantial measure of so-called liberal studies such as language, literature and economics and every one of its regular students to pursue, in full measure, these more general exercises. In making professional efficiency its goal and in founding true effi- ciency upon real breadth of training, the Institute of Technology made a lasting contribution, not simply to professional, but to all education. It is becoming more and more the usage to examine every type of training from the standpoint of efficiency; but it is becoming still more the custom to insist that this efficiency shall be not merely that of the skilled worker but also that of the active citizen and the well-rounded man. The fact that since its formation the Institute, often against serious pressure, has main- tained this broad, sane attitude towards efficiency cannot but have had a marked effect. Those who have guided the policy of the institution have not been satisfied, however, with making its students efficient merely as individuals. What is now called the social viewpoint in education was conspicuous in the earliest plans of President Eogers and his associates and has remained a guiding principle ever since. The fact that in its conception the Institute of Technology was to include a Society of Arts, to bring discoveries and inventions before the people; a Museum of Technology, to present graphi- cally the development of science and the arts ; and evening classes in which the facilities of the school should be placed at the service of those unable to attend its classes during the day, shows that its projectors were thinking more of the effect of its work upon society than upon the individual. And the really extraordinary record of its teaching staff in utilizing their special learning, as well as their laboratory facilities, for the promoting of the public welfare, is matched only by the service of their students, who, in going out, to the number of nearly 9000, into professional, industrial and commercial life, have most of them worked in that large and self -forgetting spirit which thinks quite as much of the public good as of personal success in whatever paid or unpaid activity may be taken up. It would be easy to fill many pages with specific contributions which the Institute of Technology, directly through its own endeavor or indirectly through the men and women it has trained, has made to education, to pure JAMES P. MUNROE, J 82 113 and applied science, and to the public weal. Every one of these specific instances would be, however, only a concrete illustration of those more gen- eral contributions which have already been emphasized contributions that have been large factors in revolutionizing methods of teaching in all sub- jects of human study, in setting up efficiency as the chief goal of education, in giving to efficiency its true interpretation, and in bringing about the present attitude of the public mind so changed from that of preceding generations under which the real success of a man is measured, not by what he has acquired in money or reputation for himself, but by what he has contributed, in proportion to his ability and education, to the common work of making mankind more efficient, more comfortable, better and there- fore happier. THE ENGINEEEIHG SCHOOL GEADUATE : HIS STEENGTH AND HIS WEAKNESS. By HENRY P. TALBOT, '85, Professor of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. So much has been written and spoken of late concerning the success or failure of the various engineering courses in our schools of technology that a reason should be offered for the introduction of this topic at this time. It is to be found, I think, in the general and increasing interest in these matters which is leading the practicing engineers, the manufacturers, the men of affairs in short, the consumers of the product of the engineering schools to examine and evaluate the work of these schools. This interest has voice.d itself more and more freely in the daily press, the engineering journals and the occasional address. Some of the comments thus made are harshly critical, some are based upon sadly insufficient knowledge of exist- ing conditions, but many are sane and helpful. It is the duty of those of us who are charged with the conduct of these courses to give heed to these utterances and avail ourselves of the helpful counsel which many afford; but it is also a privilege which we may sometimes allow ourselves to present the case as it appears to us, and this anniversary occasion seems to suggest both retrospection and introspection. The complexity of the educational problem is nowhere greater to-day than in the training of the engineer, using that term in a broad sense to include the man who applies his science to concrete ends, whether he be, for example, civil engineer, research chemist or field geologist. The bound- aries of all the sciences have been extended at a rate which has far out- stripped any reasonable alteration of educational methods to meet these changing conditions ; for, over against the charge of undue conservatism which is commonly made with respect to educational practices, should be placed the fact that seven years is the minimum period which must elapse before the ultimate success or failure of an educational experiment can be determined, and since the remodeling of a course or system of instruction to utilize successfully such of the newly acquired knowledge as it is possible to include must often be the result of gradually accumulated experience, it 114 HENEY P. TALBOT, '85 115 is plain that rapid and frequent alterations are both unwise and unprofit- able. Such advances in scientific knowledge as, for example, those relating to wireless telegraphy, the turbine engine, or aeroplanes, which are of such immediate significance as to seem to imperatively demand a place in our courses of instruction, cannot be allowed to displace other older topics of permanent importance, and in many cases these later developments of science are based upon abstruse principles, the proper teaching of which, in turn, demands much time. The educational problem has, moreover, been rendered more difficult of solution by the concomitant increase in the number of men to be edu- cated. It is no longer possible to give to the undergraduate that measure of personal attention from a mature teacher, of strong personality, which characterized successful teaching in the young manhood of our fathers, and resulted in the production of what may be termed " hand-made engineers." And, again, the increased ease with which our young men can now obtain educational advantages is sending to our schools a much larger proportion of students who, while they are earnest to a high degree and constitute a most desirable class of pupils, have not descended through generations of ancestors with scholarly or scientific instincts, and have not been sur- rounded by an atmosphere which is at all closely in harmony with that of the lecture room or laboratory. That most of these young men meet with success is the more to their credit; that some others meet with only measurable success in the scientific professions, and that distinct limita- tions, both professional and social, manifest themselves in the post-gradu- ate development of some, is not surprising; but the cause is often mistak- enly ascribed to faulty educational method when in truth it is far more a question of raw material than of manufacturing process. The product of the engineering schools has not escaped the universal demand that all products should advance in quality without increase in cost which, in this instance, means with little or no increase in time expendi- ture. One needs only to review the conditions of the last quarter-century to realize that an extraordinary change has taken place in the position of the engineer in the community. None of the older professions have been called upon to face such kaleidoscopic conditions, and it is not strange that there should be a dearth of men immediately adapted to meet the altered situation, or that many should be found to be partially lacking in the extremely composite training which would lead to complete command of the field. It may not be irrelevant to ask whether the so-called learned professions, so long regarded as superior to the engineering professions, would have fared distinctly better under a like extreme test. 116 THE ENGINEERING SCHOOL GRADUATE The wholly successful engineer of the day (I, do not speak now of the recent graduate) must be a man possessing a capacity for logical, quick, and exact thought; a detailed knowledge of some portion and a broad knowledge of the whole of his professional field ; and be master of a certain amount of the technique of his profession. He must have the ability to select and guide competent and trustworthy associates and to obtain from them loyal and willing service. He must be strong in his sympathies and generous in his public services; and, while quick to enlist desired interest in his enterprises, he must be shrewd in detecting avarice or perfidy. He should be a loyal husband and father, and should find opportunity for that enjoyment of art and literature which will afford him present pleasure and ensure the happiness of advanced years. It is a matter for sincere rejoicing that the engineering profession has reached such a commanding position in our national life that only a man of this type can completely fill it ; but the imperfect portrait just drawn is evidently that of a man for whom Nature must have done much at the start, and toward whose efficiency many ele- ments must have contributed. Of the need of such men there is no doubt, and it becomes a question of paramount importance to ask how far the engi- neering schools, as such, or, indeed, how far our entire educational machin- ery can contribute to the desired end. The most obvious function of the engineering school is to afford a fundamental knowledge and understand- ing of the principles of the sciences underlying engineering operations. Failure to do this seems to be without excuse, yet it is almost inseparable from another important function, namely, the development of the power to think ; for there can be no adequate understanding of principles unless one can think logically in terms of them when considering concrete problems. It is just at this point that much of the current criticism is aimed. The candid teacher must admit that there is truth in the charge that the graduates are too often lacking both in a capacity for logical thought and in an ability to command the knowledge which they actually possess to the degree needful for immediate or perhaps ulti- mate success in their vocation. But it should not be supposed that he is indifferent to this state of affairs. It is within bounds to say that it is the supreme desire of every worthy teacher to encourage power of thought rather than mere acquisition of knowledge on the part of his pupils, and that he is constantly devising and testing new means to that end ; but a moment's consideration will show you how much this depends upon per- sonal contact now so difficult in even the smallest practicable subdivisions of large classes and will convince you that there must also be constant conflict of judgment as between the extent of the field to be covered in a HENRY P. TALBOT, '85 117 given subject (rarely more than the minimum quantity now-a-days) and the time which can properly be spent in that drill which is necessary to develop the powers of the average student; for it is against the average student that the criticism is most valid. I do not make these statements to condone the conditions, but rather to show you that the teachers recog- nize them, deplore them, and are striving against them; but the contest is an unequal one, at best. Let it be remembered, moreover, that some responsibility for these conditions rests upon our public school system, and also that the sort of thinking which the engineering professions demand is of a kind which is more exacting than is essential in the more common vocations, and that no system of education has yet succeeded in training, a large proportion of exact thinkers, however much such a result is to be striven for. Let us also admit for our encouragement that, after all, there is a considerable propor- tion of our engineering graduates who can use their brains effectively and do have their knowledge in available form, and my observation leads me to believe that there is a much larger proportion who appear deficient in these respects at graduation but develop unexpected power when they have oppor- tunity to concentrate their efforts in a more limited field. Remember that many of these youths have been in some sort of educational training for a continuous period of fifteen to seventeen years, during which there has been a constant, but sometimes unwise, increase in the pressure put upon them to cover more ground. Is it strange that they have lacked an oppor- tunity to sort their immense stock, or to become familiar with it? They are, I think, entitled to charitable consideration for a time after entering their vocation; but if, as a class, they are deficient after three years, the criticism of them or of their training certainly becomes valid. The public has a right to look to the engineering schools for sound instruction in fundamentals, including, of course, physics and chemistry, as well as the mathematics and drawing which must form a part of the equipment of every competent engineer. In addition, they may demand that the fundamental principles and something of the technique of those subjects which are of general application within a given profession shall be thoroughly taught, and that this shall be done with reference to develop- ment of power and the inculcation of useful habits, rather than the mere acquisition of information. While this is a demand which no engineering school would desire to evade, let us recognize that it is, of itself, no light task to accomplish. But in our epitome of the distinctly successful engineer of maturer years was included breadth of knowledge within and without his profession, 118 THE ENGINEERING SCHOOL GRADUATE the quality of leadership, which means power of initiation and a knowledge of men, and the ability and inclination to fulfil the requirements of good citizenship. Are the graduates from the engineering schools, as a class, in line to develop thus symetrically ? Let us admit again that many are not, and that this is the occasion of the general charge of " narrowness " and inadequacy which is directed against our courses. But here again I venture to assert not, however, in a spirit of complacency that the situation is more complex than is generally admitted, and that there is a good deal that is encouraging in the situation. Eecall once more how short a time it is since the engineer has occupied a position in the community which is recognized to be of equal dignity with that of the so-called learned professions, and recall how recent is that evolution of our industrial system, which has as its most important feature the recognition of the fact that the engineer and the financier, if not combined in the same individual, must be on a parity with respect to influence and authority, if efficiency the watchword of the hour is to result. Is there not cause for congratulation that some have been found in the engineering ranks capable of meeting this surprising increase of responsibility rather than ground on which to pronounce the general result of engineering education a failure, as some seem inclined to do? It is well known that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology endeavors to stand to-day, as it has from its beginning, for the largest measure of breadth of training and education which is compatible with thoroughness of fundamental scientific instruction. An inspection of its courses as prescribed for the various professions shows that, notwithstanding the pressure resulting from the growth of science and technology, about one- eighth of the total hours which a student spends at the Institute is devoted to subjects which are cultural studies, using that term to distinguish them from those scientific subjects which may be regarded as tools of trade, although many of these, notably such as physics, chemistry, biology, or modern languages, if properly taught, will contribute much to the cultural development of the well-rounded engineer and the useful citizen outside of his strictly professional field. In this respect the Institute has been a pioneer in engineering education, and its founders took a position far in advance of the times. Nevertheless the Institute has not escaped the charge of narrowness and this has sometimes come, alas, from some of her own sons who were not overzealous in availing themselves of the opportuni- ties offered during their student days. More specifically, as has already been implied, it is charged that the graduates from engineering schools are not as a class showing themselves capable of development into men who can occupy succesfully the commanding positions already described; and again HENRY P. TALBOT, >85 119 the Institute is not exempted. So far as this charge relates to breadth of view within the professions it is the immediate and vital concern of these schools. So far as it relates to those traits which go to make up the accom- plished man of affairs it is serious, and demands earnest attention, but the remedies are less obvious ; for these remedies must mean the superimposing upon an already heavy burden a task which should be begun in the home and largely completed there; a task, indeed, which no college has satisfac- torily met with respect to all of its professional or non-professional gradu- ates. So far as books can help, an added year of student life would seem to afford a remedy, and there has been much discussion of the desirability of extending the undergraduate course to five years, and of making the engi- neering schools into graduate schools. The arguments cannot be reproduced here, but it seems clear that the added expense incurred and the increased age at which the young man enters his life work militate seriously against the adoption of either of these as a universal procedure. For those to whom such opportunities are open they are likely to prove, of great value, and it is interesting to note that each year seems to bring to the engineering schools a larger number of young men who have already graduated from some college, and encouragement is also to be found in the fact that more and more of these men have planned their courses during their college years with reference to later work in the technical school, a procedure which is much more to their advantage than what Professor Jackson refers to as a "butt-joint" between a general college course and a later engineering course. It should also be remembered that this is a recent educational development and that these men have not yet been tried out. One serious difficulty which technical schools are encountering has been frequently referred to by recent writers but deserves mention here, namely, that of securing and holding broad, cultured teachers. Specializa- tion has invaded the teaching profession, especially in scientific lines where the mastery of any large field of knowledge to a degree correspond- ing to the needs of the expert is rarely possible. The specialist is apt to use the microscope far oftener than the field glass, and this habit is par- tially reproduced in his students. It is encouraging to note that certain schools are now recognizing the need of men who are efficient teachers with a broader outlook, to deal especially with the younger men. They are recognizing that not every eminent successful investigator is a successful teacher, more particularly in this very matter of breadth of view, and are leaving the specialists greater opportunity for the presentation of their specialties to the older classes, while improving the instruction in the more general courses. It is obvious that these difficulties are enhanced by the 120 THE ENGINEERING SCHOOL GRADUATE larger financial rewards which tempt the broad-minded engineer away from the schools a serious matter which cannot further be discussed here but lies close to the root of much of the cause for criticism. It is interesting to note how even a single instructor, of some engineering experience, who keeps himself and his pupils closely in touch with current events, and leads them to understand that no single human attainment necessarily repre- sents the best that can be done, and that it may well be the privilege and the duty of any one of his hearers to extend the boundaries of such attain- ment, will give an impetus to successful effort that will be felt in the entire lives of his pupils. It is to be hoped that no one of us is unable to recall with gratitude some such instructor. We need more of them. A single instructor, again, who exemplifies the cultured scholar and gentleman in ease of manner and grace of diction does more for the cause of scholarship and culture than any quantity of sound advice can do; for, I fear that it is Utopian to hope that a majority of the students with whom the study of engineering is their main purpose will ever believe that any man is disin- terestedly sincere in his advice regarding such subjects as literature, lan- guage, art or economics, unless he makes it quite clear to them that these subjects have a distinct significance to him and are a part of his life. Just here lies one of the great obstacles to the elimination of " narrowness." If the inculcation of breadth of view and love of the refined in life is difficult, the development of qualities of leadership is even more so. That these qualities are largely conferred at birth will, I suppose, be generally admitted, but I take it that the criticism of lack of leadership is really direct- ed toward an alleged culpable lack of facility in getting the best from others, of appreciating the point of view of others, or of presenting our own views to others. If this indicates a failure on our part to stir the ambi- tions of our students to avail themselves of opportunities which come to them, or to plan for themselves a really worthy career, then we are at fault; but if it means that the faculties of engineering schools should further encourage those forms of activity commonly designated as "college life," then I believe that we are on debatable ground. Of the importance of those traits which enable a man to win the confidence and respect of his fellow men, to " succeed " among men, no one could be more conscious than I. In individual cases these may indeed be more potent factors than accuracy of scientific knowledge in securing preferment, and any man is fortunate who combines engineering skill with ease of manner and per- suasive speech. But the real function of these schools is, after all, the training of capable engineers, and it is very easy to pass the line beyond which there is grave danger that both the quantity and quality of indi- HENRY P. TALBOT, '85 121 vidual attainment will be lowered because of time and energies devoted to social affairs. Let the schools realize by all means their responsibilities for the development of men as well as engineers, and encourage by precept, and especially by example, an interest in all that tends toward a better under- standing on the part of our students of their human relations, including prudent encouragement of the so-called " student activities." But let those who lack a realization of the great changes which the student life at our technical schools has already undergone in the last few years, and who therefore constantly clamor for more of what is called " college life/ 7 reflect that one of the greatest assets which a graduate from one of these schools can take with him when he leaves it' is the well-established habit of "doing a day's work in a day," of meeting his obligations on time, and let him realize that this cannot be reasonably demanded if the instructors must in fairness accept excuses because of an undue diversion of time and energy to other things. Although the sciences actually owe many of their advances to " grinds," it is probably fortunate that few of our engineering graduates of to-day belong to that class ; but there is little likelihood of an undue increase in the proportion of such over-developed scholars under existing conditions. An impartial survey will, I believe, show that our recent graduates are, as a body, less open to the charge of lack of adapt- ability and want of social resources than formerly, and that they are improving in this respect as the need of such improvement is more gener- ally realized, and also that there is ground for the belief that this has so far been accomplished without serious sacrifice of professional efficiency. In what I have just said I have had in mind particularly the business and social relations of the young engineer with his colleagues and superior officers. It is often stated that some or many of the graduates also lack an appreciation of the proper way to deal with those whose labors they must direct. This, again, is doubtless in some considerable measure true, and in fact it can hardly be otherwise when nearly all of these young men pass directly from the public schools to the higher educational institutions. It is not, however, true that no effort is made to bring this phase of their future responsibilities to their notice ; for not only is the subject discussed in its general aspects from the lecture platform, but the young men are advised to secure summer employment as far as possible to the end that they may learn to know industrial conditions. In this connection I should like to point out to those in control of our industrial establishments that there is a large store of energy, combined with a desire for opportunity to work and ability to render intelligent and willing service, which goes to waste in the summer because our students are, 122 THE ENGINEERING SCHOOL GRADUATE unable to secure temporary positions. This is particularly true in the industries into which the men in whom I am especially interested, the chemical engineers and chemists, will go. I am of course aware that the net return in value to a concern from this temporary service is not relatively large, especially during the first summer, and that in certain industries there is a risk in trusting to the integrity of these men with respect to information acquired regarding operating methods. But I cannot avoid the conviction that if the industrial managers would cooperate with the engineering schools in the consummation of an arrangement whereby young men whose ability and character could be vouched for could be given summer employment for two or three of the sucessive summers intervening during the four years of study, the concerns thus cooperating would actually find that they would derive appreciable benefit from the plan. That it would enable the schools to add at least 50 per cent to their efficiency, so far as these students are concerned, I have no question whatever, and surely no better means could be afforded for the acqusition of a knowledge of the problem of the laborer in the works. Let me add that I do not urge the placing of these young men at once in positions of resposibility, but rather in such positions as will afford them working experience under industrial conditions. It seems to me, however, that it is not improbable that, say, in a third summer the majority of such men might be utilized to much advantage in the immediate direction of specific processes or opera- tions, they themselves acting under general or specific direction. Some of us are just now concerned to know how, with respect to chem- ical engineering, we can give the young men an opportunity to come into contact with the actual practices of their profession before they leave the school, and the advisability of the equipment of laboratories of chemical engineering is under careful consideration. While it is no doubt true that, from its nature, chemical engineering offers less abundant opportuni- ties for industrial work during the vacation interval in a student's career than many other professions, notably less than civil engineering, and at the same time is a profession the actual practice of which it is exceedingly difficult to reproduce in an educational plant, I suspect that similar gen- eral conditions exist in other lines. Here, again, is a problem of no small dimensions or importance with which we are wrestling, and one step toward its solution may be made through the greater cooperation on the side of the industrial managers for which I have just appealed. If I have dwelt more upon the alleged weaknesses of the engineering school graduates than upon their strength, it is because the latter is attested by the engineering advance of the recent past to which they have contributed HENEY P. TALBOT, '85 123 to an extent which would not have been possible had not the majority of them received from the schools an education and training which has proved useful, dependable and stimulating. I believe that the large majority of the engineering school graduates are virile, intelligent, industrious fellows, with sound habits of thought and great capacity for work, ambitious to make the best of themselves, possess- ing a sincere desire to acquit themselves honorably both in private and public life, and with an increasing ability to do so. As such, we, their instructors, honor them, and ask your cooperation, advice and encouragement in our efforts to give to them what they deserve, at our hands. We ask you also to recognize that while for the moment the rapidly changing social and indus- trial conditions may have outrun our ability to adapt our educational practice to them, we are not lacking in an appreciation of the significance of these changes or of our obligations for the future. THE ELEVATION OF APPLIED SCIENCE TO AN EQUAL RANK WITH THE SO-CALLED LEARNED PROFESSIONS. ELLEN H. RICHARDS, '73. Instructor in Sanitary Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. THE world has always prized the artist, the delineator of the ideal, the creator who puts into visible form the aspirations of the human race; but it has contemned the artisan, the mere worker in wood and stone, whose hands fashioned the thoughts of others. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, fifteenth-century ideals prevailed; and these ideals, which sought visible expression through the artist and the poet, were saturated with mysticism. The unknown was to be reached for in the heavens the idealist's feet spurned the earth. Knowledge was hardly to be desired lest the charm of mystery should be lost, and science was not welcome since it laid bare many fallacies. Thus it had already dispossessed man of his place as the center of the universe, about whom all things revolved and for whom all things were created. When science had won a reluctant hearing, the temples of medieval learn- ing were protected from the defilement by the mere artisan through rigid rules as to the uselessness of the knowledge permitted and by requirements as to the purity of results from earthward tendencies. The learned pro- fessions of law and theology did not deal with materials, and even medi- cine was unpractical. Toward the middle of the nineteenth century, how- ever, the earth's crust lifted; and the four and twenty lines of scientific endeavor, now known as the various branches of engineering, chemistry, physics, electricity, sanitation, etc., began to call loudly, if not in musical form, for recognition and for aid in perfecting their power. The devotees of traditional culture viewed with abhorrence this level- ing demand: they refused to soil their hands with artisan's tools, even to gain the artist's creative power, and they scorned this new creative force because it was to be used to advance the material welfare of men. Such was the atmosphere, laden with the blinding dust which the culturists had raised, in which a few prophetic souls started a fan to clear 124 ELLEN H. RICHARDS, '73 125 away the obscuring smoke of anathema and objurgation. In such an atmosphere, in 1861, the Institute was founded to give instruction in useful knowledge, " to teach the application of science to the practical arts of life to human comfort and health, and to social wealth and power." It required twenty years of discussion, persuasion, explanation to develop this thought of the worth of the study of man in his earthly environ- ment and of the nobility of the professions which gave to man control of the earth through knowledge of its forces. The breaking up of traditions, and the bringing forward of new leaders, were necessary accompaniments of the development of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose busi- ness it was to be to train the scientific leaders of national progress. For the aristocracy of learning still held out against the useful dollar and retarded the progress of civilization by a veritable ostracism of the devotees of applied science. To ally oneself with the Institute of Technol- ogy, for at least ten years after its organization, was to cut oneself off from much that college professors considered desirable. The smells and stains of the chemical laboratory were as plebeian as the callouses on the hands of the road-side stone-breaker. One instance of this is the sacrifice made by William P. Atkinson, the first professor of history and English at the Institute, who, in the words of another, "allied himself with an institu- tion unpopular among his associates " because of " his belief in the impor- tance of the radical educational idea " of the new school. To him is due the early development of liberal studies, which is a unique feature of the Institute work. Why was all useful work tabooed? Was it a relic of Eoman slavery, of feudal and priestly tyranny? The common people were shut out from participation in the rites of learning. One of the early fruits of true democracy in education was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the people's university of science, where the work done was for the benefit of the people and not for a class. So strong was this feeling on the part of many of the early workers that the taking out of patents for new and possibly money-making processes was refused as not a suitable profes- sional attitude for the scientific worker. The Institute of Technology boldly cut out a new path and a new profession as truly for the benefit of man as the old "humanities." It was a long, hard struggle, as only those who felt the sting of actual con- tempt can realize. So rapid has been the recent development of the sci- ences, as applied to useful ends, and the consequent honor accruing to the worker, that it seems almost incredible that as late as 1894, sanitary chem- istry was refused a place in the curriculum of a new university because its 126 APPLIED SCIENCE AND THE LEAENED PROFESSIONS aim, the practical one of securing better health, for the race, was not " pure science, which could be of no use to any one." By what means, then, did the object of the Institute "the advance- ment, development and practical application of science in connection with arts, agriculture, manufacture and commerce" become accepted as socially respectable? How did the scientist and artist come to be dis- tinguished from the artisan? It was by the differentiation of the technological from the technical, by the combination of the activity of the brain with the work of the hands. That Technology graduate is recreant to his Alma Mater who allows the term technical school to be applied to it without protest. Technical means pertaining to the arts, technological to the science of the arts. Technology is the incorporation of higher scientific knowledge into the arts, a process that is now taking place to such an extent that one may almost say the " science of yesterday is the technology of to-day." And a characteristic distinction between a technological and a technical school is that the one gives laboratory instruction, the other shop practice. It is the laboratory method which has made Technology a scientific university and its graduates professional engineers, chemists, architects, etc. In the words of General Walker, " it led the world in the introduction of laboratory practice," and in an address commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary, Mr. Augustus Lowell said : "The Institute of Technology has been preeminently a leader in a new method of education." Almost at the very outset a long step forward was taken in the establishment of a laboratory of general chemistry. Up to that time general chemistry had been taught wholly by means of text-books, or by lectures with experiments by the lecturer. The student's part was only to look on and to listen. It was not until the student was put into the laboratory that he did or discovered anything for himself. Under the inspiration of Professor Eogers and the direction of Professors Charles W. Eliot and Frank H. Storer, a laboratory of general chemistry was established and the pupil from the first day of his chemical studies was set to teach himself. He was thrown upon his own faculties of observation and reflection. He learned to measure his own power, and he acquired ease and accuracy of manipulation by practice. So far as is known, this was the first laboratory of such a character set up in the world. Certainly it was the first one instituted in the United States for the instruction of considerable classes of pupils. The publication of Eliot and Storer's Manual of Chemistry, designed for students taking this course, marked an epoch in the history of chemical education. ELLEN H. EICHAEDS, '73 127 Another equally important step in the scientific education, and one of which the originality is beyond doubt, was taken at about the same time by the establishment of the laboratory now known as the Eogers Laboratory of Physics. Under the inspiration of President Eogers, the scheme of a laboratory where the student of physics should be set to make observations and conduct measurements for himself, in demonstration and illustration of the physical laws taught in the lecture room, was carried out with remarkable ability by Professor Edward C. Pickering, now Director of the Harvard Astronomical Observatory. Tradition did not hamper here; for there was none. There was a virgin field to be surveyed, plotted, built upon ; and the development of this new idea in education fell to the lot of that remarkable group of men constituting the first Faculty of the Institute, led by the true artist Eogers, who could see the statue in the uncarved marble, the painting on the untouched canvas. The brunt of developing the laboratory method, from the first so suc- cessful with a few students, to meet the requirements of large classes of 100 to 200 in chemistry and physics was borne by two young men, gradu- ates of the Institute and ardent disciples of the founder, who literally gave their lives to the work William Eipley Nichols and Silas W. Holman. To-day when laboratory methods are universal, one can hardly appreciate their labors. Of the ideal which .inspired them, Professor Holman writes : " In education for the technological professions, the inculcation of the scientific method of inquiry into new problems is of even greater impor- tance than the accumulation of facts; for the application of this method with practical sagacity is the one highroad to succesful encounter with every problem of nature, whether of the most practical or of the most abstract character. Precisely here lies the great strength of the laboratory; for although the scientific method enters into all branches of scientific work, nowhere else does everything combine to its enforcement as here. Eye, ear and hand are brought into action to deepen and vivify the mental impression. Material things, energy and force, with their immutable laws, confront the student, inspire his imagination, excite interest and impress the memory; while the sense of gaining mastery over the implements, machines and materials of his profession will give earnestness to purpose and permanence to impressions. "Moreover, this special body of work stands forth above all others in adaptability to that sort of rigorous training in scientific observation, manipulation and method which should characterize a technical course, 128 APPLIED SCIENCE AND THE LEARNED PROFESSIONS serving at once as a challenge and a test. The directness with which the false result can be confronted with the true and stubborn fact are among man)'' reasons for its adoption. " Its importance lies not only in the intrinsic merit of the lines of work which it suggests, but also in the opportunity it affords of employing instead of antagonizing one of the greatest educational forces, the enthusi- asm of the student." He says, moreover, " Breadth of mind and grasp of the scientific method can be as effectually cultivated by research, rightly conducted, in applied science as in pure science." Bearing in mind the difference between the technical and the techno- logical, it will be seen that a mere practice laboratory is not sufficient. There must be the stimulus to new applications of the already acquired knowledge, and this stimulus comes quickest and most forcibly from the outside world which feels a need and demands a remedy. The pure sci- entist used to claim that this was commercialism, and he refused his brother investigator recognition; but this spirit has never prevailed within the Institute of Technology. From its earliest years, its laboratories have contributed to the development of industry, the maintenance of the public health, and the promotion in other ways of human welfare. It'is now recognized by students of educational tendencies that prac- tical problems offer the greatest stimulus to research in pure science that some of the most brilliant work of the past century has been done because of this stimulus. The person applying the result is usually a different individual from the one who makes the discovery, but if he benefits his race and advances civilization, is the former any less deserving of a good name ? So solidly was this foundation of service to the community laid in the early years of the Institute that its professors have come to be the referees in disputes, and its laboratories the resort of the manufacturer who has problems to solve and difficulties to overcome. All that is needed for greater productiveness is that the business man and manufacturer shall more fully appreciate the opportunities which the Institute offers him for the solution of his difficulties, and that he be ready to lend his financial support for the carrying on of important investigations upon the applications of science to his industrial and sanitary problems. THE GENERAL EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE STUDY OF APPLIED SCIENCE. By ALAN A. CLAFLIN, '94, President of the Avery Chemical Co., Boston, Mass. THE one great reproach made to modern material philosophy is that, while so many physical problems have been conquered, there has been slight progress intellectually or morally. We have seen the physical laws not only of our own planet, but of the universe computed. Indeed, by the aid of the spectroscope we have accomplished the almost unimaginable feat of determining the chemical constituents of some celestial bodies. Space has been annihilated by the wonders of applied electricity, all methods of locomotion revolutionized, and even the question of mechanical flight is in a fair way of solution. In the short period of less than one hundred years the industrial developments made possible by applied science have changed in all civilized communities the immemorial struggle for existence into a struggle for comfort and luxury. Despite all this, it is claimed with much justice that, so far as pure reason is concerned, we to-day have certainly not advanced, and probably have retrograded since that climax of ancient erudi- tion, the Golden Age of Greece. When we see the selfishness of our present- day commercialism, the prodigal waste of private and public wealth, the ludicrous, were it not so sad, extravagance of expenditure for military and naval preparations, to say nothing of crimes of violence, lust and avarice, we realize how little we have progressed from that ancient and heathen world that listened to the greatest moral force the world has ever known, Jesus of Nazareth. Before, however, we accept this reproach as an essential limitation of positive philosophy, is it not permissible for us to inquire whether this lack of intellectual and moral progress is really a failure of the new learning or a consequence of the persistence of the old metaphysical and scholastic ideal? In other words, before we admit that human nature is essentially fixed and the same, whether it travels in the scythe-wheeled chariot of the ancient Persian or in the modern rubber-tired automobile, whether it flies in imagination with the waxen wings of Daedelus or on the back of a Belle- 129 130 EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF STtDY OF APPLIED SCIENCE rophon, or flies in actuality in the motor-driven aeroplane, may we not ask for a suspense of judgment until time shall actually determine what are the intellectual and moral influences of this philosophy which has wrought so tremendous material changes. Indeed it seems permissible that we put forward the hypothesis that the scientific method, which has revolutionized the world in a physical sense, may have as profound influence on its intel- lectual and moral -development. This hypothesis brings us directly to the subject of our paper the general educational value of the study of applied science. While modern positive philosophy dates from Sir Francis Bacon in the sixteenth century, and the inspiration of Bacon can be traced back to the Greek philosophers, particularly to Aristotle, less than fifty years have seen the theory of evolution firmly established. Lamarck in thought, in a large measure, anticipated Darwin, but Darwin supplied the proof. Proof is generally admitted to be the essence of the modern philosophic method ; it 33 that which distinguishes the modern positive philosophy from the phi- losophy of the Greeks. All the great leaders in modern scientific thought from Bacon down through Newton, Kant, Hegel, Darwin, and Spencer have enunciated this. But what these writers, thinkers and workers have done for the scholars of the world, the teachers of applied science to-day are doing for the masses. They are doing it by the material successes accom- plished by the students of their sciences. The most ignorant can appreciate the proof that electrical power is a form of energy when he is conveyed to his work by a trolley car, and the proof that this energy can be changed into heat when he compares the modern electrical car heater with the straw which was supposed to keep his feet warm in the old horse cars. In ancient Greece the aim of education was to supply good citizens. In Sparta, where the military ideal was the only ideal, education meant preparation for the army, and how well the Spartans succeeded in their purpose is known to every student of Greek history. In Athens, however, where Greek civilization blossomed in that wonderful period, the fifth century B. C., education was threefold. Students were instructed in gym- nastics; in grammar, which included literature; and in art. Each of these branches was taught interdependent on the others, thus instruction in art included music, and this in turn included dancing, which pertained to gymnastics. The instruction included particularly the study of Homer, whose poetry on the other hand wandered into the province of music. This education was, however, for the few; all the drudgery in Athens was per- formed by slaves. The artisan class was made up of resident aliens ; it was the citizen few who received the education. Under such conditions educa- ALAN A. CLAFLIN, '94 131 tion and intellectual cultivation resemble the propagation of plants in a hothouse; and as in the hot house by removing many buds a few splendid flowers may be obtained, so a few splendid intellects were developed in Athens. The education of the citizen class as a whole was superficial. Xone appreciated this better than Socrates, who went to the artisans to find real knowledge. The Greek philosophy began in abstract speculation, but under the hothouse system of cultivation the best intellects appreciated the limits of a system which did not include observation and experiment. Socrates, as we have seen, went outside to the artisans to find real knowl- edge, but was troubled by their colossal ignorance of everything but their particular handicraft. Aristotle came to his love of natural sciences from his father, who was a physician. Unfortunately before the influences of the few great minds who had gone outside the narrow educational limits of the time could make headway in the direction of material progress, the glass of the hothouse was destroyed, to continue our simile, by the rigor of the elements outside. In this case, of course, the elements represent the Spar- tans, the Macedonians and finally the Romans. These conquering people were softened and cultivated, it is true, by the influences of Athenian education ; but as the mass of the Athenians were not sufficiently advanced to appreciate Socrates and Aristotle, so these new peoples did not rise to the intellectual level of the earlier Greeks. There- fore we find for a very long period an intellectual degeneration, not so much due to lack of capacity as to lack of opportunity; for in every case when the people acquired the arts of peace they lost the art of war, and Mere overcome by a more hardy but vastly more ignorant people. Thus we find the explanation why it took two thousand years of time for the world to advance beyond the philosophy of Aristotle. In Eoman civilization the mechanical arts reached a high state of development. Yet, despite the ability of the Romans as civil engineers and architects, they did not have the scientific method of thought. Their roads and bridges, temples and monu- ments were rather triumphs of empiricism than the accomplishments of applied science. While advanced mathematics had been worked out by Pythagoras and many physical laws established by Archimedes, who, though Greek, belongs to the Roman era, the limitations of these sciences were not appreciated and the scientific method of thought, the method which Lewes defines as systematic verification, was not understood. Pliny does not approach Aristotle as an accurate zoologist, nor Livy, Thucydides, as an accurate historian. To trace the development of that philosophy which has for its funda- mental tenet this principle of systematic verification from the period of 132 EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF STUDY OF APPLIED SCIENCE Home's greatness to the Kenaissance, and from the Eenaissance to the time of Bacon, its great expositor, lies hardly within the scope of this paper. With the seventeenth century this principle began gradually to be appreciated, primarily because of the writings of Bacon. The study of material phenomena supported by reasoning on this principle is admittedly the cause of the splendid material development of the past century. Dur- ing this period many writers, notably Comte and Mill, have urged the importance of considering sociological problems by the same method, and, as is well known, our modern method of history study is founded on Nie- buhr's appreciation of this principle. But great as the influence of these leaders of thought may be allowed to be, the masses are unaffected by it. The average student to-day absorbs the critical method of history study on faith in his instructor, just as the student eight hundred years ago absorbed the philosophy of Abelard. It is this tendency of the human mind that leads us to emphasize the value of the study of applied science as opposed to pure science. In the study of pure science there is the danger -of the abstract, and the study of the abstract is the path that leads to acceptance on faith rather than by proof. Applied science, because it is to be applied, essen- tially must be concrete, and, as is everywhere now agreed, must be taught by the experimental method. By this experimental method the student acquires unconsciously the scientific method of thought. He learns the value of truth as established by himself, which must be ever greater than that taken on faith from someone else, for skepticism is ever the progeny of credulity. With a general appreciation of what is truth, may we not look for a greater intellectual and moral progress? Every system of phi- losophy, every religion has been founded primarily on a desire for truth, yet the means for providing this truth have been lacking. In applied science the innate human desire for truth begins to be satisfied. The science is the thought, the application is the verification. How rapidly the world will improve morally (and morally here is used in the sense of including sociological welfare) by the spread of the scientific method of thought, it is of course as impossible as it is unscientific to pre- dict. What has been accomplished is ever our most illuminating guide, and the conquest of disease by science is as great a moral gain as it is a material one. Three hundred years ago the average duration of human life was (according to the best obtainable data) under seventeen years, forty years ago it was by statistics under thirty, to-day it is over forty-five. The men whose work has made possible this extension of human life are not likely willfully to work out the means to take it. The very improvement noted in our introduction by which the struggle for existence has become a ALAN A. CLAFLIN, >94 133 struggle for comfort is really a great moral gain. As we saw how in Athens the presence of great numbers of slaves to do the drudgery assisted in the splendid development of the few, so may it not be that the luxury obtained to-day from the harnessing of great natural forces may make possible a further and more general intellectual development? When education con- sisted primarily of the study of history and that history which was studied comprised merely a catalogue of wars and conquests, it certainly was to be expected that the martial spirit, rather than the humanitarian, would be created in the students. Applied science, from its definition, is in its broad- est sense useful and therefore beneficial to mankind. This of course does not preclude our present-day proneness to apply modern scientific achievements to our means of destroying our fellow-men for example, the modern high- power gun, high explosives, and military aeroplanes. However, this relapse into barbarism is simply an anachronism, which we excuse on the ground of police duty and protection, or upon the plea that we are making war such a terrible weapon that no one will dare to use it. What we are really doing with war is making it into a kind of game, serious, it is true, but neverthe- less a game with well-defined rules. If we were really anxious to take life by scientific means, we would go to the bacteriologists and have them study the propagation of epidemics instead of the prevention of them, but this is barred by the rules of the game, and so we go to the explosive works and the steel mill, spend much money and make war about one-eighth as dan- gerous as it was five hundred years ago. From this it is evident that we really are not using our best scientific effort, as often alleged, to destroy men, but only wasting a part of it in an absurd sort of game. In Sparta would a means of destroying an enemy have been overlooked? This con- sideration of the subject of war makes obvious that the true endeavor of sci- ence is aimed at the conservation of human life rather than its destruction. Thus we realize that we are beginning to recognize the purpose of human life, which recognition is the highest intellectual accomplishment. What we try to save we learn to love. By teaching us to save our fellow-man sci- ence teaches us to love him, which was The Message to mankind nearly two thousand years ago. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MINING SCHOOLS. By ROBERT H. RICHARDS, '68, Professor of Mining Engineering and Metallurgy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MOST of the American mining schools are located near mines and smelters, and their students may ask and obtain the privilege of visits which illustrate, explain and give life to instruction. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was located at a point distant from mines and smelters, and was therefore obliged to find some substitute method of securing the practical side of the training. In consequence, this Institute was the first to devise, develop, and make use of the modern laboratory of mining engineering and metallurgy. Some of the other factors that have made the development of the mining course at the Institute difficult may be mentioned. In the first place, most American mining schools devote the whole four years to pro- fessional work. The Institute of Technology, true to its traditions, gives an all-round education, including history, literature, language, political economy, etc. This greatly limits the time available for the professional instruction. Secondly : In the Institute there have been organized and car- ried on fourteen professional courses of study leading to the Bachelor's degree, each course having one or two professional ends in view which are not very far apart from each other. The mining engineer, being more or less of a pioneer, requires the fundamental knowledge involved in nearly all these professional courses. This proposition sounds preposterous and absurd ; but it is none the less true and must be met by special adaptation of the instruction. Finally, the mining engineer is excessively exposed to insidious temptations to get rich quickly through wild-cat mines and the like. This demand in the case of the young mining engineer needs an extra livet to strengthen his character, which, like that of all engineers, must be irreproachable. There are, then, four threads to follow in this discussion : practical experience, general education, the great diversity of professional demand, and the development of integrity. I. Practical Experience. When the value of experience was under discussion many years ago before the American Institute of Mining Engi- neers, Alexander L. Holley (of Bessemer fame) put forward the question, 134 ROBERT H. RICHARDS, '68 135 " Should practical experience precede, accompany or follow the school training of the mining engineer ? " In the years that have followed we have had this question constantly in mind, and with us the answer to it has worked out in this way : If a student goes to work in a mine before coming to the school, there are many things that may happen to prevent his ever coming to the school. He may get injured, he may get married, he may get monotonized, etc. Again, if he stays at work too long, his mind may become too rigid to do good work at school. Therefore, only the most per- sistently methodical person can carry out such a program. If, on the other hand, the student postpones the getting of experience till after his school training is completed, he fails to get the best results from that training. All consideration and experience therefore point to the importance of having the practical work go along with the school training. This we have attained in the Mining Department of Technology in three ways:. 1. In the laboratories of mining engineering and metallurgy, machines and furnaces are chosen to give the most perfect extraction that can be obtained on the small scale, even to the extent of departing somewhat from large scale designs. It is easy and simple to explain in the lecture the reason for the variations. The arguments for small size are that they save expense in bringing ores, and they save time and labor for the student in doing the work. We have always put the laboratory before the lecture work if possible (giving only a brief talk to introduce the class to the laboratory work) ; for a lecture given to explain experience is worth two 'ectures given to describe the unknown. 2. Summer visits have been made to mines, concentrators and smelters; systematic writing up of notes being required. Through the great kindness and helpfulness of the managers of mines and smelters, stu- dents have been given opportunities to work during the summer, and thus gain a practical knowledge and experience in mining and smelting. When they come back to school, the lecture then becomes an explanation of their experience rather than an abstract treatment, and as such has far greater effect. The work of the department becomes real, and all things have a meaning which were previously more or less misty. 3. The second term of the fourth year is devoted to a thesis in mining, metallurgy or geology. Here the student makes an investigation into methods of ore treatment by concentrating or smelting, studies metals, slags, mattes, etc., writes up some geological field, or makes an exact, careful study of rocks to find out their geological history. II. Professional Diversity. In order to secure the time which is needed for work in other professional courses, the following plan is fol- 136 THE DEVELOPMENT OF MINING SCHOOLS lowed. Certain courses are taught with all the completeness possible, these being used to give the kind of mental training which the student must have. In certain other subjects, descriptive lectures are substituted for the analytical, mathematical study required in other professional subjects. The idea in these lectures is to bring out the fundamental principles, without which success would not be attained. The effort is to train him to be an all- round engineer who is ready to tackle any problem that may come to him. In teaching subjects requiring mathematical treatment, it is sought to make the subject as simple as possible : there is plenty of mental gymnastics involved without making the subject especially difficult for that purpose. III. General Education. The importance of a liberal education to a mining engineer is so well recognized as to need no discussion here. The methods of making good in spite of the loss of time involved is indi- cated under the last heading. IV. Integrity. The only way to develop character in students is for the teachers to live it themselves, and to strive against all unfairness and all injustice to the utmost degree. The student is treated uniformly as if the school were carried on for his special benefit. Kindness, sympathy and helpfulness are striven for to the greatest possible extent. In addition to its educational work, a mining school of high grade is under obligation to contribute, through the investigations of its staif and its students, to the development of the science and industry of mining, metal- lurgy and mining geology. This the Mining Department of the Institute has done in many ways. Perhaps the most pronounced improvements of industrial value have been in the direction of classifiers for concentrating ores. New principles have been discovered and applications of them devel? oped, which, when they are completely understood and applied, will save millions of dollars every year in recovering metals which are now wasted. These new devices will go a long way in helping the future development of the enormous deposits of low-grade ores which will surely be worked some day, although they are of too low grade to be worked at present. THE PUBLIC FUNCTION OF THE LABORATORIES OF SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING. By H. W. HAYWARD, '96, Assistant Professor of Applied Mechanics, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. THE keynotes in the history of all successful industrial enterprises of recent years have been standardization and efficiency. The profits returned in many cases have been about in proportion to the completeness with which these features of the organization have been worked out with regard to raw material,, process of manufacture, and finished product. In order that any industrial operation may be carried out economically,, it is necessary that the different departments be supplied with material of a suitable and uniform quality. On this account the success of any manufac- turer depends largely upon his ability to control his raw material, or what is better, to adapt material from a great many sources to his needs. In large plants complete laboratories for testing materials, chemically and physically, are usually maintained, where the treatment required for any raw material may be determined and its course from department to department through the works be closely watched, in order that the product shall be of standard quality. Smaller plants cannot afford the complete laboratory and get along with very meager equipment ; others make no laboratory tests at all, and depend entirely upon the judgment of their superintendents and foremen, or upon experiments made in the works. In order that a steady advance may be made along all lines it is neces- sary that study and research be constantly carried on to improve the proc- esses of manufacture in use, to develop new and more economical methods, and to find uses for by-products that may be useless at present. Only the very large companies, with their complete laboratories, can give much time to research, and only a comparatively small number of them care to employ competent men for this purpose; for the special apparatus required is costly, and often very little immediate return is realized from considerable outlay. The smaller plants cannot afford to go into the question to any very great extent, as their equipment is inadequate, and experiments carried 137 138 FUNCTION OF LABORATORIES OF SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING on in the works are usually expensive and interfere with the routine of the plant. Large private laboratories are conducted in different cities and they do splendid work for their clients. Although a great deal of their work is of a confidential nature, and on this account not available to the public, some of these laboratories devote a considerable amount of time to general ques- tions of importance and contribute valuable data for publication in various journals. Many consulting engineers maintain laboratories, but they are usually for special purposes and not very completely equipped. In many of these laboratories, however, very valuable data have been obtained which have been published for general use. The consulting engineers are very active in the engineering societies, and their work in this line has been of great ser- vice to their profession. There are two other classes of laboratories to be considered: those conducted by the Government, and those in the various scientific schools. .The Government laboratories do very efficient work along very broad lines, but it is rather difficult for other interests than the Government to get work done in them. The laboratories of a school of applied science are particularly adapted for work that cannot be carried on efficiently in other places. The com- plete equipment of such laboratories allows the undertaking of almost any problem, and among its instructing staff some man can usually be found who is specially fitted to attack it. The large number of students who, every year, are required to carry out some special work as a graduation thesis, furnish the means whereby problems of considerable magnitude may be thrashed out under competent supervision and at very little expense to the outside interest. Special men can almost always be put to work in the laboratory on any problem, if the interested party will pay a reasonable sum for the man's time, it being of course understood that the work shall not in any way interfere with the educational requirements of the laboratory. Cooperation of this kind makes possible research along industrial lines which cannot be carried on in any other way. The instruct- ing staff in many technological schools are encouraged to work upon prob- lems of general interest, and the results of their labors are many times of great value. The work that has been accomplished by the laboratories of the Insti- tute of Technology, in the engineering field, needs no praise. It speaks for itself. Almost every line of industry has been benefited by the data result- ing from work accomplished by members of the instructing staff or by stu- H. W. HAYWA&D, >96 139 dents in their thesis work. The efficiency of the graduates of the Institute shows just as well that the educational side of the problem has been well handled, and it would seem that the proposed new Institute, with its better facilities, closer cooperation with State, city and industrial interests, should stand at the head in everything pertaining to standardization and efficiency in both the industrial and educational world. THE NEW PKOFESSION OF ECONOMIC ENGINEEKING. By ROGER W. BAB SON, '98, President, Babson's Statistical Organization, Wellesley Hills, Mass. THE president of one of the largest of our country's great industrial organizations once asked me as to the best college to which to send his son, who was about to graduate from a preparatory school. The father said that he desired to fit his boy to become vice-president of his great corporation and eventually to take his position as president and have entire charge of its investments, its property and its employes. Knowing that the head of &uch a corporation should have some knowledge of machinery and engi- neering, I immediately suggested the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- ogy. This captain of industry, however, replied, " No : I have carefully considered its engineering courses, and have concluded that the Institute would not give my son an adequate education. I do not wish him to become an engineer, so interested in the details of his work as to lose sight of the great commercial questions, especially as I can always obtain experts who have far greater knowledge in their own lines than my son could ever acquire. I wish him to have a thorough training in general economics, banking, transportation problems, and especially a well-grounded knowledge of fundamental business conditions, in order always correctly to diagnose present conditions and to be forewarned as to what the future is to bring forth." / Thereupon I recommended that he send his son to a certain great university which gives a most thorough course in economics; but to this the father strenuously objected, because the university in question did not have a sufficiently practical engineering department, and because he did not approve of the doctrines taught in its economic courses. I then sug- gested that his son take a general four-year course at some other university and then two additional years of engineering work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; or, as an alternative, I suggested that his son spend four years at the Institute and then two years at the Harvard School of Business Administration. To this, however, he also objected, saying that his son, who is not much of a student, wished to enter business without much further education; and although he agreed that the six years, 140 EOGEB W. BABSON, >98 141 divided in either of the two above-mentioned ways, would be an ideal com- bination, yet he believed six years was too long in this instance. In con- clusion, he stated that the period of study must be limited to frmr years, and that the course must be such as might be called Economic Engi- neering." The above well illustrates the position which many men of affairs take relative to higher education for administrative positions ; and whether or not we fully agree with it, we should adapt ourselves to conditions and not to theories ; and I hope to see the Institute be the first to make definite provision for meeting this well justified demand. The kind of course which I have in mind may be outlined as follows : The first year might be identical with the other courses at the Institute, while in the second year the student might take up, with the general work common to the engineering courses, the study of bookkeeping and business mathematics, and begin the study of applied economics. The third year, the student might specialize along the lines of options, and begin the prac- tical engineering work most applicable to the special option chosen. These options might well include a Manufacturing Option, a Transportation Option and a Banking Option. For instance, beginning with the second } r ear, a young man would decide whether he desires to enter manufacturing, railroading or banking and general business. If he decides to enter manu- facturing, he will, before graduating, take some fairly advanced studies in mechanical engineering. If he decides to enter the transportation business, he will take strong courses in railroad engineering and electrical engineer- ing. If, on the other hand, he intends to go into banking or general busi- ness, he will study the financial side of railroad and industrial enterprises as well as the further advanced features connected with general banking. The main reason why I am anxious to have the Institute establish such a course of " Economic Engineering " is because there probably is no other institution in our land so well fitted to perform this service. There are institutions which can give a good course in economics, and there are those which can provide a good course in industrial, railroad and general engineering; but there are very few which, like the Institute, are in a position to operate a strong combined course such as this new course should be. In fact, this combination feature that of uniting the strong, broad business training with the highest class of practical engineering, will make the course especially valuable. Moreover, I know of no other school or uni- versity which could successfully operate such a course without incurring tremendous additional expense^ in order to provide attractive and suitable 142 THE NEW PROFESSION OF ECONOMIC ENGINEERING laboratories for the practical application of great industrial and transporta- tion problems. Not only is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology best fitted to inaugurate such a course, but its establishment would greatly help the Institute on the public and financial sides, especially by causing the leaders of industry to interest themselves more directly in its work, by attracting young men of wealth who seek to prepare themselves for administrative rather than engineering positions, and thus creating a body of alumni of greater financial power. Irrespective, however, of the general demand for such a course tb-day and of the Institute's need of such -students as this course will attract, there is a far greater reason why all of us should aid in the establishment of a course in Economic Engineering. I refer to our nation's need for men trained along these lines. The need of a scientific education, such as the institute provides, and its value to the community have been so well expressed by President Maclaurin and others in their recent appeal to the Massachusetts legislature, that it is unnecessary for me to dwell on this point. As to whether engineering training or economic training produces more for a community, I will not discuss. The engineering courses are here to stay, and we must do everything possible to advance their growth and efficiency; but I feel nevertheless that future efforts along educational lines should be directed to turning to practical use the teachings and conclusions of our foremost economists. Our nation has grown industrially with great rapidity. We have the largest manufactories, the greatest railroad systems and the most powerful industrial organizations in the world. We unfortunately have also the greatest panics and the most reckless "booms," whch are very largely due to the lack of economic training in our colleges. Every feature of mechani- cal, electrical and chemical engineering has been taught in its minutest details ; but to the great fundamental factors of trade, upon which the ulti- mate progress of all our industrial, electrical and transportation enter- prises rests, we have given only the briefest consideration. For this reason, probably more than any other, although America leads in. many industrial, transportation and allied industries, yet we have one of the poorest monetary and credit systems on the face of the globe. Young men are graduated from our universities capable of solving problems involving descriptive geometry, least squares and the calculus; but are utterly unable intelli- gently to discuss the fundamental principles of credit, trade and con- servation. Our country has magnificent natural resources, great tracts of iron, ROGER W. BABSON, '98 143 copper and other ore, millions of square miles of most fertile fields, great forests of splendid timber, abundance of water power, coal deposits and hundreds of other blessings. On the other hand, our people are wasting these resources, misdirecting their efforts and playing at politics because the graduates of our colleges are not thoroughly grounded in applied eco- nomics. Our nation is like a big, healthy boy, endowed with wealth and surrounded with luxury, blessed with a robust constitution, but utterly untrained. We waste our wealth, we misdirect our efforts, we become recklessly crazy during a period of prosperity and shamefully distressed during a period of depression, simply because the men at the head of our industries lack sufficient knowledge of applied economics and are utterly untrained in the study of fundamental business conditions. Therefore, I appeal to every man before me to use his efforts to provide a course whereby the young man must not simply choose between becoming a mechanical engineer or a bachelor of arts, but rather may graduate as an " Economic Engineer " and thus become a member of a new profession. All of us have been intensely interested in what Mr. Brandeis and other leaders have recently been preaching relative to intensified labor; but this work of Mr. Brandeis and that of some of our own men who speak at this Congress is simply one feature of the work of the new profession. While Mr. J. J. Hill, Mr. Pinchot and others have been preaching the conservation of our natural resources, Mr. Brandeis and his colleagues have been preaching the conservation of labor and time. Now, why not go a step further and teach the conservation of wealth and the great funda- mental principles of applied economics, upon which the success of all so greatly depends? When I say this, I speak most seriously ; for our nation's progress dur- ing the next twenty years must be due to something else than our natural resources. Up to the present time, our country has grown in spite of itself, because of what its great mines, forests and fertile fields have produced. Moreover, our products have had little competition and our country has ihus far been the only "land of the free and the home of the brave" the only land to which the enterprising and industrious European could go to win his way. Now, times are changed ; Argentine and the South American countries are becoming great competitors of ours; Japan, with the great Chinese empire, is bound to cause us much thought, while Russia, Siberia, Africa and other countries are beginning to present great opportunities. This is likely to result in the reduction of immigration, foreign trade, and many other factors upon which the success of our country has been so dependent. 144 THE NEW PROFESSION OF ECONOMIC ENGINEERING Therefore, more than ever before this country will need, during the next decade, men thoroughly trained in the fundamental principles of economics ; men who will not permit this country to be handicapped either by reckless periods of prosperity or by distressing periods of depression; men who will eliminate unhealthy booms and ruinous panics; men who, graduating as economic engineers in this new profession, will understand the scientific management, direction and development of our great indus- trial, transportation and banking enterprises. INSTRUCTION IN FINANCE, ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION IN SCHOOLS OF TECHNOLOGY. HARVEY S. CHASE, '83, Certified Public Accountant, Boston, Mass. FEELING, as I do, that instruction in accountancy and finance should be considered an exceedingly important part of the technical education of every engineer, I am glad of the opportunity, which you have extended to me, to emphasize this view in a brief address before this Congress. In order that the views of others may be added to my own, I quote from letters received recently from the presidents of various technical insti- tutions, as follows : One president writes: "It is my opinion that 'business' ought to enter very largely into the education of the young engineer. In this coun- try it is of more importance to him than the modern languages. In fact, I should put it on a par with English. Assuming that the young man devotes four years to his technical course, I would have at least two hours of each week devoted to business subjects. He should begin with account- ing. By that I mean plain, every-day, horse-sense bookkeeping. That is certainly something he ought to know. In the second year he should take up what we call corporation finance. In the third year he should study the science of business, ordinarily called political economy. Very little time should be given to fine-spun theories, but he should know the facts and some of the law with regard to trade unions, strikes, lockouts, railroad rates, so-called trusts, and the tariff. In the fourth year he should take up the subject of business organization and management. He will then be old enough to understand and be interested in what we now call industrial efficiency. This is a very hard subject to teach, for nobody knows very much about it. The young engineer certainly ought to know all that any- body can tell him. One of my reasons for thinking that engineers ought to have this instruction in business is the fact that all successful engineers of the day are good business men as well as good engineers. In fact, I am not sure that most of them do not owe their success more to their business ability than to their engineering ability ." Another president says: "With many of us who are engineers this 145 146 INSTRUCTION IN FINANCE, ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS question hardly admits of discussion. Our professional and business lives have demonstrated to us practically and completely that the engineer who aims to be more than a mere subordinate should be at least acquainted with the methods ordinarily pursued in business life, and that even to the sub- ordinate such a knowledge is of importance. "But on the other hand, there are many who will tell you that the engineer is above the necessity for such an addition to his curriculum; that he can, if necessary, hire his bookkeeper and his business manager for a moderate compensation, and much to the same effect. My experience goes to show that the men who thus argue are very apt to wind up by being hired at a moderate salary by the business manager." A third president, after referring to the courses in applied economics, financial administration, and elements of business law, states : " We think so well of these courses that we would gladly add others similar to them and devote more time to the work of each if it were possible to obtain the time for them from an already overcrowded curriculum." A fourth quotation is the following : " We give no regular course here of instruction in commerce, accounts and finance. We have lectures on the law of contracts, and in their theses the students have to consider carefully all questions of cost. At times during the courses various professors have to take up questions of costs and accounts to a limited extent, but we give no such regular course. I appreciate the value of such a course. The main reason why it is not given is because our students are overcrowded with \vork. The limit of work is given them for a four years' course, and it seems to us at times almost as if we would have to make it a five years' course." A fifth says: "The Department of Business Administration offers three special courses to the engineers in economic subjects, two in economics and one in accountancy. These courses are open only to engineers, and every engineer is required to take the economic courses, while that in accountancy was opened to them as an elective for the first time last year. This course is increasing rapidly. All the other courses in the Business Administration School are open to the engineers if they fulfil the neces- sary prerequisites." The head of the economics department of one of the large universities writes: "Civil engineering students here are required to take elementary economics three hours a week throughout the junior year; mechanical engineering students are required to take it two hours a week throughout the senior year. In, addition, certain students are required to take a course in industrial organization two hours a week' in the senior year. A diligent engineering student is enabled to elect in the Arts College one or two more HAEVEY S. CHASE, '83 147 advanced courses in economics, finance, commerce, etc., if he wishes to, and engineering students appear to be doing this in increasing numbers. Stu- dents planning to take electives in economics frequently are permitted to take their elementary course earlier than the year in which it is regularly scheduled." Instruction in ' these subjects is not universal, however, as is shown by the following quotation : " I am sending you under separate cover our bulletin of courses in business administration and in social service. However, this work is offered as a part of the work of the Arts College and not in the Engineering College or other college of the university. As a mat- ter of fact, no work is offered in the College of Engineering here in com- merce, .accounts and in finance." Narrowing the question to institutes of technology and to the gradu- ates of engineering courses, I desire to reach some reasonable conclusion, if possible, which would bear practically upon the quantity and quality of the instruction in such subjects which is fundamentally necessary for an engineer to receive. If I may draw from my own experience I should say that, as a rule, graduates of engineering courses at the Institute of Technology and else- \vhere have been in the past wofully lacking in a working comprehension of the fundamental principles of accounts, business practice, commercial law find business administration. I have been surprised frequently to find how simple a proposition in accounts in ordinary bookkeeping, even has proved to be an unanswerable problem to an engineering graduate whose grasp of the principles of higher mathematics may have been above tho average. Doubtless much of the failure in the past to teach these important branches of knowledge has been due to a certain scorn of "bookkeeping" and "mere bookkeepers," which unfortunately prevailed in many quarters up to quite recent times, and may still prevail in schools whose inertia has yet to be overcome. I remember one of the rude, awakening shocks received after I gradu- ated and had begun real work in a big cotton mill with my overalls and jumpers on, with an eleven-hour schedule and a pay of sixty cents per day. The agent, a bluff and gruff practical man, announced at our first interview that he thought little of technology men because they " knew so much that wasn't so ! " He preferred a Harvard graduate " because such a man didn't know anything, and he knew he didn't know anything." We must acknowledge, doubtless, that family influence has played a great part in the more rapid advancement to managing positions of the men "who knew they didn't know anything." But, starting from that 148 INSTRUCTION IN FINANCE, ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS platform, they have had an equally clear field with the Tech. graduate along the line of gaining a practical education in finance, commerce and accounts ; and in general they have shown an aptitude and an appreciation of the importance of such training which has been lacking in the Tech. man. All this must be changed is being changed under our eyes now. ISTo engineer should be given a diploma, in my opinion, until he has demon- strated his knowledge of the ordinary rules and laws of business and until he has mastered, to some extent at least, the principles of business adminis- tration, scientific management, cost accounting, and other elements which are " bookkeeping " requirements principally, it is true, but which are inter- locked with nearly all engineering problems in these days. The engineer who cannot analyze a financial statement, cannot interpret a balance sheet, cannot distinguish at first glance between an asset and a receipt, or between an income account and a liability account, ought not to be allowed to risk the disgrace to himself and to his Alma Mater which is bound to come whenever such ignorance is discovered by his employers or his clients. TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND THE CONTRACTING ENGINEER. By SUMNER B. ELY, '92, Vice-President, Chester B. Albree Iron Works Co., Allegheny, Pa. WE understand by the so-called contracting engineer the man who closes a contract in other words, a salesman of an engineering or manu- facturing firm. He is sometimes called a commercial engineer, but the term " contracting engineer " seems to be the better and more common one. "We all appreciate the importance and great value of a contracting engineer ; for he can often make or break a company. We also appreciate how diffi- cult it is to find a competent man of this kind. The larger companies understand these facts; for most of them are now training up their own contracting engineers, choosing men who have a technical education and a special aptitude for this class of work. The question then is, What is the advantage of a technical education to the contracting engineer? If we were to say absolutely that the con- tracting engineer must have a technical education, we should be going against the facts. We all of us know technical salesmen who are anything but technical, and yet are often of great value to their firms. It goes with- out saying that a certain amount of technical knowledge is necessary, and that it is becoming more and more so as the business world develops and has in it an increased number of technically-trained purchasers . The popular idea is that there exist two extreme types of contracting engineers. One type goes to the purchaser with a remark somewhat of this nature: " Here are the specifications of the engine you want; you know the company is all right, and so are the specifications. Now, come out and have lunch with me." The other type is a man who has little address and man- ners, but who really knows the article he is trying to sell, and also its general engineering field of application. Both of these men do good work; but it seems clear that the ideal contracting engineer would be the man who combined the quality of a pleasing personality with technical knowledge. This question of personality seems to be largely one of understanding temperament and adapting oneself to the temperament of the purchaser. Consider a purchaser of slight build, with tapering face and hands, quick 149 150 TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND CONTRACTING ENGINEEB in all his movements and alert in whatever he does. He has a nervous tem- perament, and his mental characteristics are much like his physical. He is quick to grasp ideas, reaching his decisions at once, impatient of details, and essentially a rapid thinker. The contracting engineer before a man of this type cannot enter on long explanations and petty details. He must adapt himself to this kind of mind, expect to be interrupted before he has fnished his sentences, and have his own ideas explained for him. The nervous temperament feels itself flattered if it sees a.head of the explana- tion and jumps at the conclusion. Then consider the man with the square face, and the thickset body, slow and deliberate in action and thought. He will listen and follow through the details of an extended argument and his conclusions are slowly drawn, often more correctly than those of the jerky thinker of the nervous type. There are other temperaments, such as the sanguine man, ruled by his emotions and feelings, and the man controlled by his fancy and imagination. The better these temperaments are under- stood, the better for the contracting engineer. This understanding is gen- erally intuitive; for the average salesman would be unable to analyze the different conditions that make up men. But, however they know it, whether by reason or so-called intuition, they know what will please or offend and how far and when to urge their claims. They seem uncon- sciously to understand the type and style of man before them. We may call this personality or what we will; after all, it is merely knowledge of human nature, and however necessary technical information is in the contracting engineer, at least 50 per cent of his knowledge will always have to be a knowledge of human nature. So, aside from technical knowledge, the original question might have been, " What is the effect of a scientific training on the personality of the contracting engineer ? " All men are not born equal; but if two men were equal, the one with the education would be the better. And not from what he knows so much as from its cultural effect upon his personality. Why should not the cul- tural effect of the scientific training be equal or better than a classical ? It emphasizes accuracy and care, and develops a tendency to make one deal honestly with whatever presents itself. We do not have in this country schools of the English type, where " manners maketh the man," and where boys are trained in this sense. But even to one so trained and educated, a scientific or technical training afterwards cannot but be of great benefit. There is no question but that the student needs the lessons on human nature which literature, biology, history contain, and which our technical schools are appreciating more and more by introducing a larger number of so-called general subjects among their technical studies. SUMNEE B. ELY, '92 151 It has been the writer's experience in dealing with men during the last ten or twelve years that the technical graduate was generally the most satisfactory. He seems to feel himself merely a small part of the world's make-up, and looks at life from a " nature " point of view ; in other words, he does not expect as much as the classical graduate, nor hope to reach a more responsible position without work and time. The conclusion seems to be borne out by general experience all over the country that a scientifically trained mind in connection with a good knowledge of human nature pro- duces the best contracting engineer. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MANUFACTURERS FOR THE TRAINING OF SKILLED MECHANICS AND SHOP-FOREMEN. By ARTHUR L. WILLISTON, '89, Principal of the Wentworth Institute, Boston, Mass. THE need for an efficient way of obtaining more skilled mechanics and competent shop-foremen is everywhere apparent. For a long time, in America, we have taken pride in the idea that we were a practical people, but we have recently been brought to realize that in several most important particulars we have been surprisingly short-sighted; we have been wasteful of forests, have exhausted the natural fertility of the soil, and have drawn upon the mineral resources of the country with little heed for the future; and now we are beginning to understand that we have been more wasteful of the undeveloped power in human beings .even, than in the use of any other natural resource. The National Importance of the Efficient Use of People. Professor T. N. Carver, of Harvard University, is authority for the statement that "' Communities have grown rich in the midst of poor geographical surround- ings by reason of the fact that they have developed the latent energy of their people and applied this energy intelligently. . . . Other nations have grown poor in the midst of rich geographical resources by reason of the simple fact that they have wasted their people, not simply in war, but by allowing their latent energy to remain undeveloped or to be unintelli- gently utilized," and " Speaking generally, one is safe in saying that no nation ever did prosper as compared with other nations except by reason of the superior, conservation of the human factor in production." In order to fully appreciate the meaning of this statement, one has only to consider the number of persons in industry that are doing things badly who might have been trained to do them well ; the number of persons that are doing things reluctantly and under compulsion who might have been trained to do them with interest and ambition; and the number of persons that are doing low-grade work who might have been taught to do other things that are more worth while. That tremendous improvement is possible in all of these directions has been abundantly shown by the results of all the experiments that have been made in the endeavor to find out 152 ARTHUR L. WILLISTON, '89 153 accurately what kind of work persons could do best, and then to teach them how to do it in the best way. The Effects of the Growth of Distant. Competition. Manufacturers have directed attention too exclusively to the solution of mechanical prob- lems. They are forced to adopt improvements in processes and in machin- ery by the rivalry of their neighbors ; but in the past, when competition was largely local, they have been able to regard the relative degree of efficiency of workmen in their factories as a matter of small concern, because each factory has been drawing its men from a common market, and no firm could grow into a position of advantage over the others. During the last ten or fifteen years, however, there has been a sur- prising change in the relative importance of local and distant competition. To-day, the competition that endangers the greatest proportion of manu- facturing business is no longer local, but comes from widely separated sec- tions of the United States, or from foreign countries. For example, in the cotton industry the competition most feared by a mill in Fall River or New Bedford is not from the mills near home, but from those in the Southern states; similarly, that most dangerous to the machine-tool industries of New England is likely to come from the states in the Middle West, and that most seriously affecting the lithographic trades from Germany. Efficient Skilled Workmen More Needed than Industrial Leaders. As a consequence, we now find that the standard of average intelligence and efficiency of the rank and file of skilled workers has grown to be the most important factor in the struggle for the survival of the fittest in most manu- facturing industries. Leaders of marked ability or genius, of course, are essential for industrial development, but no one community or nation can hope to monop- olize the services of such men. They are readily attracted to the place where they are most wanted, and the community which produces them has no very great advantage over others that need them equally. This institution whose foundation we are gathered here to commemorate, has been develop- ing men of this type for nearly half a century, but Massachusetts has not been able to retain more than a fair proportion of them; they have been called to all parts of the civilized world, wherever there has been work for them to do. Ideas, too, travel with great facility; new designs, new methods and new processes are promptly copied by distant competitors; improved machinery is readily purchased and imported; unskilled labor is always available in abundance. Of all the factors controlling success in modern industry, the only one which is not readily transplanted and adopted the 154 TRAINING OF SKILLED MECHANICS AND SHOP-FOREMEN one which is a permanent asset of the locality that produces it is the intelligence and ability of the skilled workers. A short time ago I was visiting a new and very large manufacturing plant in company with one of the distinguished ex-presidents of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. We had been through the works and had noted the great intelligence used in planning the buildings, the skill in designing and arranging the equipment, and the labor-saving processes employed. As we were leaving, he remarked to me, " Money will purchase a magnificent equipment, but time only can create an efficient organization." The idea that I think he wished to convey was, that capital, industrial leadership, the best methods of manufacture, the latest improve- ments in equipment, and an abundance of manual labor are all free and ready to go into any locality where they are required, but that competent mechanics, foremen and superintendents can be attracted only very slowly, and, for the most part, must be home-grown and home-trained. The Old Apprentice System has Become Ineffective. How can such men be home-grown and trained in sufficient numbers? This question is becoming of vital moment to many manufacturers. As a matter of business policy they have commenced to seriously consider what they could do to help toward its rapid solution. The old plan of apprenticeship on which they had formerly relied answered its purpose fairly well when conscientiously and consistently carried out. Under present-day conditions of industry, however, it has altogether ceased to produce all-round mechanics, and as a system of training has either disappeared or become ineffective. Increased specialization in factories has made it impossible for a boy to get the variety of work from day to day and week to week that is necessary for his develop- ment. Increased size of manufacturing plants has made impossible the per- sonal relationship between boy and master-mechanic which is essential for teaching ; but more than this, the introduction of applied science into indus- try and the application of new inventions have increased the requirements so greatly that the old shop methods of teaching are no longer applicable. To-day, a young man should be taught the principles on which his work depends, as well as mechanical operations : he should be made to understand the why as well as the how of practical work, or he cannot perform new proc- esses when they are required, nor adapt himself to new methods as they are introduced. The situation has grown so complicated that the more system- atic methods of true education are required. As a consequence, a consider- able number of large employers have already begun to turn to the trade school in one or more of its various forms for aid, where their own systems have broken down. Some have established trade schools in their own facto- AKTHUR L. WILLISTON, '89 155 ries. Others have urged the cities in which they are located to start such schools in cooperation with them. Types of Trade Schools. The most important kinds of trade schools that have so far been developed may be denned as the corporation school, the half-time school, the day continuation school, the evening continuation school, and the full-time day trade school. Each of these different types has its advantages and appropriate places of application; and each has certain necessary limitations which make it impossible of universal usefulness. Briefly, they may be described as follows : Corporation Schools or apprenticeship schools as they are sometimes called have been established by a number of large manufacturing and transportation companies in their own works. As examples, the schools of the General Electric Company at Lynn and Schenectady, and of the New York Central Eailroad Company, the American Locomotive Company, and the Solvay Process Company, may be cited. These schools are supported and operated by the companies, and the boys of the proper ages are required to attend, receiving as a rule, full pay while they are doing so. The obvious advantages of schools of this type are : the persons who attend them are only the boys in the industry; the work is done at a time of day when the boys are fresh; the atmosphere of the schools is certain to be always practical; and the instruction may be adapted with great nicety to the work of the pro- ductive departments. The limitations of this plan are : that, of course, only very large corporations employ boys enough of a given age in a particular line of work to make it worth while to establish a special school and pay for the high-priced teachers that are needed to plan and carry out good educa- tional work ; second, the time that can be spared from productive work is apt to be too short for the accomplishment of the best results; and third, the expense of the plan, even though experience shows that results fully justify it, is great enough to deter many companies from undertaking it. Half-time Schools, similar to those in Beverly, Fitchburg and Cincin- nati, have been tried with excellent results. In these, two groups of boys alternate, each group spending one week in school and the next week in productive work in the shop. This plan has the advantage of allowing a gen- erous proportion of time for educational work. It can attract boys employed in small shops and factories as well as by large corporations. The expense of the teaching is as a rule borne by the public-school system or the private institution giving the instruction, and the boys do not receive pay for the time that -they, are in school. The possible objections to this plan are the difficulty of always securing and maintaining the effective cooperation between the employers and the teachers; the fact that many boys will be 156 TRAINING OF SKILLED MECHANICS AND SHOP-FOKEMEN debarred from attending on account of the loss in wages while in school; and, also, the great expense to communities if the plan were to be carried out effectively on any very large scale. Day Continuation Schools are beginning to be tried in a number of cities. Employers excuse their boys for a limited number of hours per week, with full pay, in order that they may attend special classes arranged for them in connection with their occupations. This plan has greater possi- bility of universal application than any other that has been thus far devised, as the burden of expense upon the employer, the boy, and the community are all comparatively slight. The small number of hours per week that can be devoted to the school work, the difficulty of getting the needed cooperation with a very large number of employers, and the problem of keeping the school work sufficiently closely related to the productive work of the boys in their several callings, are the objections to this plan. Evening Continuation Schools have been in operation longer and are more numerous than any of the types that have been referred to previously, and, for a long time, they will probably continue to be the best way of help- ing a very large number of persons; but obviously only the young men of exceptional perseverance and physical stamina can regularly attend evening sessions after having done an arduous day's labor and still profit by the instruction that he receives. Experience has shown that the evening schools, probably on this account, fail to reach the average boy between fourteen and eighteen years of age. For young men having the necessary ambition and bodily vigor, however, they offer, at very little expense and at a time not otherwise occupied, an opportunity for education and an aid to advancement which has proven of inestimable value to thousands. Full-time Day Trade /Schools equipped with all the necessary tools and appliances for thoroughly practical work and manned by efficient teachers, offer an ideal opportunity for teaching a trade and cultivating skill, intelli- gence and the spirit of devotion to work. The boy's full time can be devoted to studying principles and conditions and to applying in practical ways all that he has learned. He is not at any time serving two masters, and his whole interest and energy may be concentrated in the most effective way on those things that most help toward his greatest possible development. On the other hand, the possibility of getting any large proportion of the boys who are to enter any given trade or calling to make the necessary sacrifice of earning power in order to attend a day school, presents a serious problem. No boy of the type of those who enter mechanical trades for a livelihood can attend a long course, no matter how great he may consider the advantages ; and only those who are more persevering than the average, ARTHUR L. WILLISTON, '89 or who are especially favored, can attend a short course. The day trade school, therefore, can best reach those of exceptional ambition who desire to become superior workmen, foremen, etc. The Results of Trade School Instruction. Eeliable statistics showing the exact value of the training received in a given time in each of the types of schools described are very difficult to secure and necessarily quite incom- plete, but enough facts are available to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that efficient trade school instruction will give an increase in earning power, both to the individual and for the employer, that could not possibly be obtained through practical experience alone. In support of this statement I will cite but two instances, though many others could be mentioned. Both of these have come under my own personal observation and experience. First. Inquiry was made regarding all the members of an evening trade class who were enrolled in a given year. The course had been in operation for a number of years and there was no reason to believe that the class chosen for investigation was not typical of all the other classes that had preceded or followed it, both in the same trade and other trades. The instruction included practical shop-work, and related training in the theory of the trade. It covered two years of twenty-four weeks, and six hours per week. The total enrolment of the class was forty-nine young men, all of whom, at the time they entered were working at theii trade during the day as so-called apprentices or helpers, and receiving as wages between $6.00 per week as a minimum, and $9.00 per week as a maximum. Information was secured regarding forty of these young men five years after they entered the evening trade school. One had died ; one had gone to the Philippine Islands, and one other had left the trade. Of the thirty- seven remaining, twenty-two were rated as journeymen mechanics, the smallest wages received by any of whom being $21.00 per week, fifteen others had been regular journeymen but had been promoted out of the ranks into positions of foremen, master-mechanics, superintendents, and the like, and were in every instance receiving wages in excess in most cases considerably in excess of $21.00 per week. Thus in five years from the date that they entered, thirty-seven per cent of those heard from had stepped up at least two rounds on the industrial ladder. Second. A similar investigation of the progress of nearly a thousand graduates from day courses, two years in length, intended to train young men for positions of foremanship grade, showed that 67 per cent of all who had been at work after graduation for five years or more were actually hold- ing such positions, being foremen or superintendents, or in charge of con- 158 TRAINING OF SKILLED MECHANICS AND SHOP-FOREMEN struction departments, or having corresponding positions in manufacturing plants where they were directing the work of a considerable number of other men. Of the remaining 33 per cent, too, many were in places directly in line for promotion to positions of the type just described, and doubtless would secure them in a short time. One year after graduation the average wages received by all were $15.00 per week; over 20 per cent of the men, however, were getting $22.00 per week; while eight years after graduation the average wages were $36.50 per week, and 20 per cent were being paid $40.00 per week or over. This shows an increase of 243 per cent in seven years. The gain in efficiency in earning power is too striking, in both of the cases that I have described, to be attributed to accident, or to leave a reasonable doubt regarding the very great value of the sort of instruction given ; and yet there was nothing in any way remarkable about it. It could easily be duplicated in any place where the right type of boys could be per- suaded to sacrifice present wages for future advantage. The Economic Side of the Problem is Paramount. The young man who receives the instruction, however, is not the only one who is benefited. The gain to employers and to the community at large, from having persons who would otherwise be likely to remain unintelligent and low-grade work- men transformed into highly efficient units in manufacturing industries, who can not only perform their work well, but who can help in the direc- tion of others, is too apparent to need demonstration. Yet, in spite of these facts, and in spite of the excellence of the instruction, in many, if not all, of the schools of the various types described, the growth in their enrollment has in the great majority of instances been disappointingly small. At first sight this appears like an educational paradox difficult to explain, but on closer examination it appears that the problem is an economic one to a far greater degree than it is an educational one. Manufacturers Should Tell Boys Seeking Employment First to Become Competent. The type of boys who enter skilled trades and mechanical oper- ations, by the time they arrive at an age where they can be taught trades ef- fectively, already have an earning power which they and their familes are loath to give up. As a rule it would be possible for them to do this for a year or for two years if they were absolutely convinced that the return in future advancement would be sufficient, but the evidence naturally has to be plain and convincing. The essential thing, therefore, for the more rapid growth of the movement for the extension of industrial education is more effective methods for bringing before the boys who are about to enter indus- try sufficiently convincing testimony of the value of making themselves AETHUE L. WILLISTON, '89 159 competent in their calling in order to overcome their natural desire for an immediate change. There is but one group of persons in the community who can effectively do this. They are the employers. I am convinced that they are responsible for a great deal of the misinformation and many of the wrong ideas that cause boys at the present time to decide questions of this kind unwisely. Their methods of rejecting applicants or of giving employment have a more far-reaching influence than many realize. I recall that, in one investigation that I made, I found that 96 per cent of all the pupils enrolled in a very large evening class in mechanical drawing were there because a compara- tively few employers had adopted the plan of advising all young applicants for positions in their works to make them more competent before they ap- plied again, and had suggested an evening course in mechanical drawing as a means of doing so if they could not already read blue prints easily. If all employers were to carry out this policy as effectively as the small group that I have referred to, the difficulties would be largely overcome. The Manufacturer's Responsibility. Colleges have had a tremendous influence on preparatory schools, both by the character of their entrance re- quirements and by the way in which they have given emphasis to them. Manufacturers have the same possibility to-day of exerting an influence of tremendous significance not only to the communities in which they are located, and to the young people from whom they will draw their own work- men, but also to themselves and to the possibilities of their own future suc- cess, if they will frame and make known the requiremnts for entrance to their employ with the care and skill that they use in selecting their machin- ery and marketing their products. For a long time they have been crying : " Give us men who can think as well as work ; " " Give us men intelligent enough to cooperate with us, in- stead of seeming to work against us." In answer to them, my plea is: if they cannot afford to establish in their own works schools to develop these men for themselves, let them, at least, urge others to start such schools, and then cooperate in loyal fashion with all who are willing to train men for industry, by insisting, just as far as possible, on the possession by every applicant of the desired qualities as a condition of employment. This problem is a large one. It requires the cooperation of all con- cerned. The manufacturer shares directly in the benefits that may result, and in addition, best knows the needs. He also controls the standards of efficiency and the conditions of employment. For these reasons, his responsi- bility for taking the initiative is great. THE TRAINING OF INDUSTRIAL FOREMEN. By CHARLES F. PARK, '92, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology; Director of Lowell Institute School for Industrial Foremen, Boston. WE are beginning to feel that with, all our efficient machinery and modern methods of manufacture the absence of systematic training is plac- ing our industries in a serious situation, and it has been stated that " to-day we are reaping the sorry harvest of neglect." This condition is not only most unfortunate for the industries, but it is also deplorably unfortunate for the workmen. What reason is there to expect these untrained workmen will ever exer- cise any initiative or that they can ever become leaders, even in a small way? How can they ever progress even from the smaller things to the larger ones, or how can they ever become qualified for positions of responsi- bility, such as foremen, superintendents or shop managers. To be sure, many men have developed under these conditions ; but this was not because their work gave them proper training, but because they were naturally superior men. My appeal in this paper is for training that will develop the superior man ; but I appreciate that there is also urgent need of industrial training for the great mass of ordinary workmen. The superior man cannot get the desired training in the shop; and the lack of men able to carry small responsibilities or to fill the positions of great responsibility comes from the lack of training of the workmen them- selves, from whom we must select the leaders. Sound industrial education has seemed to several philanthropists to be the remedy. A number of years ago Dr. A. Lawrence Lowell, trustee of the Lowell Institute, foresaw the value of such training, and in 1903 he made a change in the work done by the Lowell Institute in connection with the Institute of Technology. The purpose underlying this change, as stated in an early announcement, is as follows : We have heard a great deal of late years of captains of industry ; but the efficiency of the industrial art depends, in a very large measure, and probably to a constantly increasing extent, upon the capacity of its non- commissioned officers, in other words, upon the foremen. These men 160 CHAELES F. PAEK, >92 161 receive the same education to-day as the ordinary mechanic, and it has been thought that it would be a great benefit to the community at large if they could have some instruction in the principles of applied science, so that they might understand more thoroughly the work they are superintending, and be ready to apply improvements. It is felt, also, that a better educated class of foremen would be a benefit to the community socially, as an intermediary class between the employer or engineer on the one hand, and the workmen on the other. To attempt, however, to train young men separately for the position of foremen would be under the existing organization of labor an impossibility. The formen must continue, for the present at least, to be promoted from among the workmen. In giving them such an education as is desired, therefore, it is necessary to take men who are already working at their trade ; and hence instruction can be given to them only in the evening. With this object it was decided to substitute for the advanced courses hitherto given by the Lowell Institute under the auspices of the Institute of Technology, an evening " School for Industrial Foremen," open, free of charge, to young men who are ambitious and well-fitted to profit by the instruction; the term foremen being used in its broad meaning. The school comprises two courses, one mechanical and the other elec- trical, each extending over two years. The work of the school at the outset was practically the same as it is to-day. The courses are intended to bring the systematic study of applied science within the reach of young men who are following industrial pursuits and desire to fit themselves for higher positions, but are unable to attend courses during the day. The schedule for the first year is the same for both the mechanical and the electrical courses. It includes: Mathematics, 56 hours; Physics, 33 hours; Electricity, 28 hours; Mechanism, 34 hours; Drawing, 40 hours; Total, 192 hours. The schedules for the second year are as follow : MECHANICAL COTJBSE. Elements of Thermodynamics, the Steam Engine and Boilers 38 hours Valve Gears 10 " Applied Mechanics 38 Elementary Hydraulics 10 Testing Laboratory (Resistance of Materials) 12 Steam and Hydraulic Laboratory 24 Mechanism Design 12 Elementary Machine Design 60 Total 204 hours 162 THE TEAINING OF INDUSTEIAL FOEEMEN ELECTRICAL COTJKSE. Elements of Thermodynamics, the Steam Engine and Boilers 38 hours Valve Gears 10 Steam Laboratory 16 Direct Current Machinery 12 Alternating Currents 22 Electric Distribution 30 Electrical Testing (Laboratory) 24 Laboratory of Dynamo Electric Machinery 48 Total 200 hours It may be supposed that men who are following industrial pursuits dur- ing the day are not in a condition to receive instruction after their day's labor, and that the instruction under such conditions can be of but little profit; but it can be safely stated that such is not the case. It has been also thought by some persons that the amount of work at- tempted in the two years was too large. To be sure, the courses are severe, and there are at present not a large number of men who are capable of fol- lowing them ; but the courses are not planned to reach the greatest number of men. They are designed to give training to that group of picked men who are able to profit by the instruction and who will be able through it to ad- vance to higher positons. For the eight years of the school's history about as many men have been able to keep up with the work as the capacity of the school would admit. It is believed that with the facilities at hand it is of greater value both to the men themselves and to the industrial community to give this higher standard of training to a comparatively small number of men, training that will fit them for positions of foremen and superin- tendents, rather than to give training of a lesser degree to a larger number of students. The average yearly attendance has been about 200 students, 125 in the first-year class, and 75 in the second-year class. 189 men have been grad- uated, and 30 of this number have attended the school a third year, graduat- ing from both the mechanical and the electrical courses. The men have come from about 75 different towns within a radius of 20 miles, and a few men from distant cities have taken up work in Boston in order to attend the school. A great variety of occupations have been represented, but about half the number of students are draftsmen or machinists. The oldest man to at- tend was 54 years of age, and the youngest man 17 years. The average age of the students at the end of the first year course varied from 28 to 24. The average age of the graduates varied from 29 to 25 years. A few men grad- uated who were older than 40 years, and a number have graduated at the age of 19. CHARLES F. PARK, '92 163 The earlier schooling of the men who have completed the first year course has averaged as follows : College Graduates 4% Attending College 9% High School Graduates 46% Attending High School 25% Grammar School Graduates 13% Attending Grammar School 3% It will be noticed that, although a few more than one-half the students have been High School graduates, or better, a considerable number of the men have entered the. school with but very little earlier schooling. That the school is making the men more efficient in their regular occu- pations, and qualifying them for advancement along the lines in which they are working, has been demonstrated by the graduates. Nearly all of these men have changed their occupations or have advanced to a higher grade in the same line of work. There are but few exceptions to the rule that a good workman gets bet- ter pay than a poor one. The following facts have been compiled from answers to a circular letter received from about three-fourths of all the AVERAGE INCREASE OF SALARIES. Two years after graduation, more than 70% Class graduated in May, 1910 72% From three to six years after graduation 107% A considerable number of graduates have received increase of salaries greater than 200 per cent, several men have received more than 300 per cent, and one man had an increase of 450 per cent. The valuable results obtained in this school are due in some measure to the fact that the students have had considerable practical experience before taking up the work of the school, but still more to the fact that they are a group of picked men, who are considerably above the average, not only in natural alertness and intelligence but in earnestness of purpose. They rep- resent a great variety of occupations, different stations in life and consider- able differences of age ; but this variety, although it adds to the difficulty of their instruction, also adds to its interest, in the mind of an instructor of the right kind. Experience has proved that the personality of the instructor is the most important element in his success, and that only those instructors who bring to their work a sympathetic spirit, enthusiasm and keen devotion should ever be selected to teach in such schools. TECHNICAL EDUCATION ITS FUNCTION IN TRAINING FOR THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY. By CHARLES H. EAMES, '97, Principal of the Lowell Textile School, Lowell, Mass. WITHIN the last fifteen years the branches of industrial and techno- logical education have received more attention from the educator, the manu- facturer, and the engineer than have any of the older departments in our educational system. The practical man and the theorist, the philanthro- pist and the reformer, men of wisdom as well as men with fads, have seen in the development of technical education either unlimited possibilities in the uplift of their brother man, or a necessary means of solving some real and complicated problem in the work-a-day world. The technological schools were first organized to train men for civil engineering, but soon it became apparent that the manufacturing industries would also profit by employing scientifically trained men ; so to-day we find the largest part of the alumni of the technological school engaged in some branch of manufacturing. Many of the industries owe their origin to the product of such schools; and there are many cases where an industry or con- cern has been rescued from the class of industrial derelicts by a manager who has had scientific training. While the success of the iron, steel, electrical and chemical industries were soon seen to be directly dependent upon scientifically trained mana- gers, the older and more conservative textile industry long failed to realize this, but is fast coming to feel the same need. Some years ago a treasurer of a successful mill was heard to remark with a sneer, " I don't want any technology graduate coming down here in his patent leather shoes and tell- ing me how to run a mill." The silent reply to this man's belittling estima- tion of technological education may be found by comparing the change in market values of his mill stock and that of a mill which has made a prac- tice of employing an increasing number of such graduates. The stock of the former has constantly fallen, until it is nearly one-half its original value, while the latter has constantly advanced until a share is now worth more than three times its par value. We hesitate to resort to statistics; for they do not always tell the 164 CHAELES H. EAMES, >97 165 whole story. They are, nevertheless, some measure to use in estimating the results. According to the catalogue of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology, there are considerably more than a hundred of the graduates engaged in the textile industry or in a business directly dependent upon the textile industry. This does, not include those who are mill engineers, or those engaged in the design or construction, of steam, hydraulic or elec- trical machinery, whose products enter to a great extent in the success of textile manufacturing. Neither does this figure, of course, include those who are not graduates, but who have found profitable positions in the textile field and are surely exerting their influence and helping to make technical training felt in the industry. Further than this, in making up our account, we should not forget to give due credit to the fact that the industry has deemed technical education of sufficient importance to establish special schools that its particular requirements may be better met. In one of these schools four Massachusetts Institute of Technology men are on the instruct- ing staff, and there have been connected with the school during its brief existence nine instructors who received their training at that Institute, as well as many graduates from at least ten other technical institutions a fact which serves as another example of the extended influence of scientific education in the textile industry. One could hardly conceive of the increase in active cotton spindles in the United States of from 2,500,000 in 1860 to over 29,000,000 in 1910, accompanied by an increase in the consumption of cotton from 840,000 bales to 4,500,000 during approximately the same period without realizing that engineering in the designing, constructing and operating of the cotton mill must play an ever-increasing part. In comparing the size of the woolen mill of 1860 with the magnitude of the present-day worsted mill plant of the type of the Arlington, the Ayer or the Wood, one has some appreciation of the engineering problems involved and the training which has made the successful solution possible. The increase in production with demand for improved efficiency natur- ally places problems of improvements in machinery upon the builders, and they too have found the need for technically trained men. Hardly a machine shop building textile machinery can afford to be without its corps of expert engineers. The decrease in pounds of cotton consumed per active spindle may be taken as an indicator that finer grades of material are being manu- factured in this country, and this, too, will bring its more complex problems for the manufacturer and designer of machines. Within the past few years we have learned of a new kind of engineer, or rather of an engineer with a new title, indicating again the further sub- 166 TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND TEXTILE INDUSTRY divison of the field of industrial training. While it was undoubtedly one of the recognized tenets in the establishment of the technical school that increased efficiency of operation would accrue, yet the field of the economic or efficiency engineer was not conceived; but to-day manufacturers are realizing more and more that dividends can be made or lost in the waste, not only of materials but by the improper direction of labor. The time element in production demands in many cases more consideration than the material, and the efficiency of a human being or process must be, and is, determined with almost as great an accuracy as any mechanical or electrical device. The industries working upon the smallest margin of profit find the greatest need for this engineer. One of the most lucrative fields for him is the textile ; and if careful examination were made, one would find many of the successful mills quietly employing engineers with broad technical training to study their plant, methods and employes that the efficiency of all of these elements may be made the highest. The technically trained chemist is more and more in demand by the textile industry. His chief work is to increase efficiency by insuring the quality of the raw material, by reducing the cost of manufacture, and by reducing waste or redeeming valuable by-products from this waste. The chemist's work has prevented the increasing amount of refuse from the tex- tile mills from polluting the water supplies of nearby communities. Thus, while he may not in such cases be engaged to directly improve the industry, he has made it possible for business to expand without being a menace to any particular locality. The increasing quantity of colored goods produced yearly in the United States, with the range of dystuffs made possible by the development of coal-tar products, coupled with the impure water supply, shows another pressing need for the technically-trained chemist. The day of the " rule- of -thumb " dyer, with his stereotyped receipts applied with little regard for varying conditions, is fast receding. The dyer finds a knowledge of the fundamental laws of chemistry an absolute necessity in coping with the perplexing problems of more intricate dyestuffs, complexity of material, and contaminated water supply. THE SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEGRO. By ROBERT R. TAYLOR, '92, Director of Industrial Training, Tuskegee Institute. IT is about forty-five years since the negro was emancipated and, therefore, about forty-five years in which he has had an opportunity to think for himself. Prior to that time he was subject to the master class, who were responsible for providing work for him and seeing that he performed this work according to plans and methods definitely laid out. He engaged in the mechanical trades : there were the colored contractors in carpentry, in brickmasonry and in other mechanical lines, and the actual work of construction was done by colored mechanics. He built the houses, boats and bridges, made the wagons and buggies, did ordinary machine work. In some of the trades he developed a certain degree of skill, showing a large native capacity, but these were few and isolated cases. Where fine work was to be done, demanding a high degree of skill, men were brought from other parts of the country, or even European countries, to do the work. Whatever skill of hand may have been developed, the negroes were an unlettered people, and therefore lacked the mental training to back up the skill of hand. The negro was the farmer of the South : he raised millions of dollars' worth of cotton, the crop which has been the basis of the wealth of the South. The fruits and vegetables, the grains, were almost entirely the results of his labor. He did the domestic and personal service work, the work of the barbers, the waiters, the laundresses, the cooks. The col- ored man was, therefore, almost entirely a laborer, doing the unskilled work ; in few, if any, cases did he engage in the higher forms of industrial or tech- nical work. The years following the war were different in many ways, but the results of the training of years could not be changed overnight, and with them, as a whole, there was still the same feeling of dependence for the guiding, directing spirit of those who had done this so long. There was another element which now entered into the negro's life. The relation which had existed prior to the war had been one of laborer and director. The director in the eyes of the laborer was a man of leisure, one who had led a life of ease and plenty and happiness. It is not strange that, with, changed conditions, with a chance to choose a career, he should turn to the 167 168 THE SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEGRO life which he had seen lived by the ruling class, which, however full it really was of resposibilities and complex situations necessitating high administrative ability, appealed to him as a life of idleness and of pleasure. This was his idea of a freeman, and as a freeman he aspired to a life of this kind. He began to think of leaving his old way of living and to hope for a new order. The ability to reach out and develop new lines of work, to study the things by which he was surrounded and to make the most of them, to go down into the earth and find the coal and the iron, the gold and the silver concealed there, to find out what the land would produce and how it would produce more in quantity and in variety by proper addi- tions to the soil (in other words, the secrets of chemistry, of physics, of mathematics, of the principles of mechanics), all this was to him a closed book. And a people so environed could not get the most from their sur- roundings, nor themselves reach any higher development. "Without the necessity of meeting emergencies which are constantly arising in every-day business life, there was no need to develop resourcefulness, quick expedients to overcome the unlooked-for occurrence, or the accident which happens, perhaps, the next minute. Constantly under the will of another and sub- jected to his personal oversight, there was no place for that highest of opportunities in the business, commercial and technical world, the chance to organize, to direct, to administer. Executive ability or the chance to develop it by taking charge of work, of a business, laying out the plans, gathering the workmen and material, keeping everybody busy, looking ahead to avoid delays, these things which seem so natural to those with different surroundings and which are a part of their inheritance, had no part in the colored man's life. In fact, the opposite condition seemed the perfectly natural one. Instead of keeping material on hand to avoid delays, by not having them on hand, a few idle days might result, and where bread and clothes and shelter come whether one works or not, and no more and no less whether he works or not, the chances are that with most of us under such circumstances we would welcome the idle days, especially if the weather were warm and the fishing good. Technical training has been the last of the educational methods to be accepted by the negro. As has been pointed out, the powerful and all- dominating influence of the master class in slavery days held up to him the constant example of what appeared to him as the power of a liberal educa- tion to secure comfort without effort. Hence as a freeman he aspired to the same life, and thought that the means of attaining to such a life was to be " liberally" educated. Book learning, as such, was therefore the panacea for all his ills. No sacrifice was too great, by parent and none by child, to EGBERT E. TAYLOE, '92 169 attend school and get pure book learning, and as much of it as possible. Experience soon demonstrated that to the great number there must be added to the " liberal " education the ability to do a particular thing well. One or two pioneer young men more venturesome than others con- ceived the idea of becoming doctors. Some of their friends treated it as a joke. In spite of this they persisted, became regularly graduated physi- cians, and afterwards successful practitioners. This opened a new field and now there are about 3500 colored physicians in successful practice. From the doctor it was but a natural step to the dentist, the pharmacist and the trained nurse. The engineer, the architect, the chemist were persons met with occa- sionally in the South, but rarely by the negro, and their impress on him was slight. The industrial conditions under which he had worked were not such as to lead him- to seek any special industrial equipment. He was seek- ing to get away from it as far as possible. If not for himself, certainly he had other ambitions for his children. With deeper insight and a clearer vision, some of the white friends of the negro and some of the colored men themselves, studying the situation and noting the drift away from the industrial pursuits as applied to the skilled trades, and that great human industry, agriculture, began a crusade for the, revival of an interest in them. With some personal degree of satisfaction I feel that I have taken some small part in this renaissance, and it is alluded to here because it has been through the influence of our Alma Mater in the results of the training received in this institution that such has been possible. Years ago, when it was known that I was to leave my home to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, many of the home people asked, What is the use? And a question of similar nature was asked by many in other places. After graduation, what? Where is the field? Leaving the Institute immediately after graduation I took up the practice of architecture and designed several private and public buildings. Five schools offered to me the direction or organization of the industrial work, and after some hesitancy I responded to the call to go to the Tuskc- gee Normal and Industrial Institute, at Tuskegee, Ala., to serve as its architect and instructor in architectural and mechanical drawing. There was no drawing attempted at the Tuskegee Institute at that time, and the mechanical work was largely in the hands of men trained in the old way, who did their work usually without definite plans or drawings. Introduc- ing plans, blue-prints and specifications as a part of every mechanical job, however small, and instructing the students in making and using drawings, Jed to changes which inevitably follow newer and better ways of doing 170 THE SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEGRO things. Unable to respond to the new methods, the older men gradually gave way to younger and better trained men. After experience elsewhere, T later returned to Tuskegee to occupy a new position as Director of Mechanical Industries, including the direction and supervision of twenty- five trades, embracing among others architectural drawing, steam engineer- ing, electrical engineering and the building trades. The work at Tuskegee Institute has offered the opportunity to come in contact with thousands of young men. These young men as graduates or undergraduates from the Tuskegee Institute have gone over large parts of this country. Some of the methods and plans of the Institute of Tech- nology have been transplanted to the Tuskegee Institute and have flour- ished and grown there ; if not the plans in full, certainly the spirit, in the love of doing things correctly, of putting logical ways of thinking into the humblest task, of studying surrounding conditions, of soil, of climate, of material and of using them to the best advantage in contributing to build up the immediate community in which the persons live, and in this way increasing the power and the grandeur of the nation. And there has been an ever- widening influence : one graduate of the Tuskegee Institute has done satisfactory architectural work for the United States Government, another is an architect in New York City, another is in successful practice in the State of Missouri, another is an installing and operating electrical engineer for a Southern town, another is a mechanical and operating engineer for an ice plant and water system for another Southern town. This list might be continued at considerable length and should serve as a witness of the part which the Institute of Technology is contributing to the scientific awakening of the negro. SECTION C. ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT AN OBJECT LESSON IN EFFICIENCY. By WILFRED LEWIS, '75, President, The Tabor Mfg. Co., Philadelphia, Pa. PUBLIC attention has recently been drawn very pointedly to the sub- ject of scientific management, and the Tabor Manufacturing Company, of which the writer is president, has frequently been cited as an illustration of what has already been accomplished along the lines laid down by Frederick W. Taylor. Prior to my connection with the Tabor Manufacturing Company, in 1900, the whole of my active business life had been devoted to the cause of efficiency in machines, and I believe with some measure of success, but I had yet to learn the value of good management in the development of men, and the greater importance in business life of efficiency in men as against efficiency in machines. As then organized and conducted in 1900, the business was rather com- mercial in character. The machines were built on contract to our designs and the activity of the company was directed chiefly toward their sale and demonstration. I soon found a number of details in which the designs could be improved, but as a promoter of sales, I was entirely out of my element. I proposed, therefore, that we should have a shop of our own, and begin to realize whatever profit there might be in manufacturing. At this time I was advised by my well-wishers to maintain an open shop and keep down the number of clerks or non-producers. Success, I was told, depended upon the ratio of producers to non-producers in any well managed concern. Draftsmen were recognized as a necessary evil, the fewer of whom the better, and one good superintendent to lay out the work and keep it mov- ing through the shop was considered quite enough. In fact, to the casual observer, we had hardly enough work to keep a good man busy and we did not appreciate the need of better shop management until our growing busi- ness began to show increasing losses. Before we were aware of any dis- satisfaction, also, and within a year of the opening of our shop, we were surprised by a general strike for higher wages and shorter hours. Our un- guardedness or lack of management had encouraged our men to combine against us and make unreasonable demands. We were then paying them 173 174 AN OBJECT LESSON IN EFFICIENCY more than they earned and they insisted upon having still more, which sim- ply meant ruin to the company in a shorter time. Our strike was com- promised by the concession of shorter hours at the same pay, the men agree- ing to turn out the same amount of work per day. There was no difficulty about their doing this, and for a time, I believe they kept their promise, but a day's work was then with us, as it is now with nearly the whole world of industry, a very variable and indefinite result for a given expenditure of time or money. We had no standard by which a proper day's work could be fixed except the very shaky and misleading one of the best that had been done be- fore, and having, as we were now well aware, an organized resistance against any increase in output or efficiency to meet, the outlook for the company was not encouraging. At the same time we knew that machines had been built by others for less than they were costing us, and we felt confident that a way could be found out of our difficulties. But we were obliged to sell stock and borrow money for several years, until it seemed unreasonable to expect any further financial aid. Fortunately my good friend, Taylor, who was then writing his remarkable essay on " Shop Management," came again to our assistance and offered to loan us more money if we would agree to put in his system of management. We were only too glad to do this, without having any concep- tion of what it really was or would finally mean to us. Accordingly, the money was advanced and in due time the installation of the Taylor system was begun. Advance sheets from " Shop Management," which was read before the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1903, were sent to me as they were written and Mr. Taylor himself gave some personal attention to the introduction of his system. The enormous amount of detail involved re- quired, however, the constant attention of a trained expert and we were fortunate at the outset in securing the services of Mr. Barth, one of Mr. Taylor's assistants in the reorganization of the Bethlehem Steel Company. We had nothing in the nature of system that fitted in or was worth preserv- ing, and Mr. Barth was obliged in the first place to lay the foundation for the structure he proposed to rear. This meant a lot of preparatory work for which there was no immediate use and from which no return could be ex- pected until other features were introduced. In the meantime, the business had to go on, while those engaged in running it were subjected to more or less inconvenience by the changes pro- posed, and these led to a good deal of irritation and dissatisfaction in cer- tain quarters. In fact, it was not long before a revolt began to be felt which was not confined entirely to the shop. At this crisis Mr. Taylor recognized WILFRED LEWIS, '75 175 the futility of attempting to reorganize a house divided against itself and insisted upon his right to direct the introduction of his system according to agreement without obstruction or interference in the shape of adverse criticism,, and for a time the good work went on without active opposition, perhaps, but certainly without the hearty good will most needed from with- in. Mr. Barth was obliged, as he proceeded in his work, to call for more and more assistance, and as new men were added to our planning depart- ment, the cost of the new system began to draw so heavily upon our re- sources that for a year or two we seemed to be actually losing ground, and we certainly would have been obliged to suspend but for the grit and deter- mination of Mr. Taylor, who had the courage of his* convictions and carried us through the storm which culminated in the resignation and withdrawal of the opposing forces. From this time forward conditions began to improve, and the work be- gan to bear fruit. It was not long before we ceased to lose money, broke even and began to gain. A better spirit prevailed, better wages were earned, and production increased so rapidly that I was lost in astonishment at the potency of the engine gratuitously placed in our hands. We had in effect been installing at great expense a new and wonderful means for increasing the efficiency of labor, in the benefits of which the workman himself shared, and we have to-day an organization second I believe to none in its loyalty, efficiency and steadfastness of purpose. Its loyalty was tested a year ago at the time of the general strike when the streets of Philadelphia were filled with thousands of idle men bent upon inducing others to join them. Out of the 150 then employed, but one man failed to resist the pressure, and he was paid off without regret as one of our least efficient workers. I have given the above brief history of my experience to emphasize the adverse conditions under which the Taylor system was installed and carried on to a successful conclusion. I do not believe so much opposition will ever be encountered by others, because carping criticism has been subdued, if not yet silenced, and successful methods are sure to be emulated; but more or less resistance is always to be anticipated, because any change, however slight in management, may be taken as a reflection upon previous methods of reaching the desired end, and therefore as personal to the advocate of dis- carded ways and means. The suppression of personal pride and prejudice, with the disposition to seize and adopt the best ideas to be found anywhere, has been a great help to the scientific habit of thought under which the Taylor system of scientific management has been built up and will continue to grow. Differences of opinion may arise and different conclusions may be drawn from the same 176 AN OBJECT LESSON IN EFFICIENCY evidence, but a body of fundamental principles has already been established by Mr. Taylor which may safely be taken as the nucleus for a new science of management. As in any other science these fundamental principles must be subjected to rigid analysis and demonstrated in a practical way by suc- cessful performances, seeking always " truth for authority and not authority for truth." The advice given me eleven years ago about keeping an open shop and weeding out the non-producers was good orthodox business gospel at that time, and it would no doubt still be endorsed to-day by 95 per cent of the manufacturers in this country, who would also subscribe to the principle of one supreme authority delegated and subdivided among subordinates on the military plan, as the only practical type of management for any business. But who knows, when he has an open shop, to what extent it may be filled by conspirators ready to take advantage of the first opportunity to make unreasonable demands, and how can loyalty be fostered and encouraged throughout all departments of a diversified business? How comes it also that a large increase in the force of non-producers can be made to effect such an enormous increase in output ? In 1910 the Tabor Manufacturing Company turned out two and one- half times as much value in finished product as it ever did under the old regime with the same force. Formerly for every ten men engaged as producers, or " chip-makers," as Mr. J. M. Dodge defines them, we had not more than one man connected with the shop as a non-producer. Now we have fewer men at machines with three times as many non-producers turn- ing out practically three times as much work, because prices are lower to-day than they were five or six years ago and two and one-half times the value means about three times the product. To explain in detail these anomalous results would carry me far beyond the limits of this paper and call for the elucidation of a system which had better be studied at first hand in the admirable series of articles by Mr. Taylor now appearing in the American Magazine and the " Principles of Scientific Management" just published by Harper & Brothers. At the same time the type of management under which we are working should be seen in operation to be fully appreciated, and I must confess that in the begin- ning, eight years ago, I gathered very little about it from my perusal of the advance sheets on " Shop Management." The fact is that the system is so engrossing and calls for so much undivided attention that it is almost futile for any one actively engaged in meeting customers, providing for their wants and collecting accounts, to undertake its installation single-handed. WILFRED LEWIS, '75 177 The reorganization should therefore be left to an expert who is not hampered by the necessity of running the business. It is not an easy matter to start any innovation in an open shop full of union men, and, as might be anticipated, the appearance of a man with a stop watch and tally sheet was at first very irritating and strenuously op- posed by the workmen. So also was the suggestion of a bonus for the suc- cessful performance of an alloted task. But the kickers were gradually con- verted or discouraged, better disciplne was established and a few of the men were soon earning 30 per cent more wages than they could command else- where. In the beginning the men were suspicious and disinclined to believe that a good performance was not to be the signal for a cut in price, but they have since learned by experience that prices are fixed by the management upon definite knowledge of all the time elements involved in any piece of work and that the time allowed will nbt be changed so long as the method employed remains the same. In this way the management demonstrates its loyalty to the workmen and they in turn are glad of an opportunity to demonstrate their loyalty to the management, as they did last year. We pay better wages for fuller and better results performed in a definite way, and yet there is no driving in the ordinary sense of the word. The tasks assigned to the workmen are easily within their ability to perform and when new work is given out, as occasionally happens, at day rates, before the time on the job has been set, nobody wants to take it because there is no bonus attached for its quick and accurate performance. But our wonderful increase in production is not due entirely to rapidity of performance, for in some instances very little gain in that direction has been made. A great deal is due to the functional foreman whose duty it is to prepare and guide the way of every piece of work going through the shop. The old notion that a man cannot serve two masters or take orders from more than one superior is denied by the new philosophy which makes it pos- sible for the workman to have as many bosses as there are functions to be performed. There is no conflict of authority unless the functions overlap, and even there such conflict as may arise is salutary and to the interest of the company. A gang boss, for instance, covers one class of machines or work, and it's his business to see that every man is provided with at least one new job with all the tools and fixtures ready for its immediate perform- ance as soon as the job upon which he is engaged has been completed. He also .gives the necessary instructions about setting the work, explains the draw- ings and teaches the workman how to set his work when necessary. This man has nothing to do with the running of machines and does not interfere 178 AN OBJECT LESSON IN EFFICIENCY at all with the speed boss who also has supervision in his function over the same men as the gang boss and sees that each machine is run at its proper speed with feed and cut as per written instructions. He also teaches the workman and gives him such practical assistance as may be needed. An in- spector also helps the same set of men and sees that the work done is of the right quality and that the first piece made is up to the standard in all dimen- sions, fit and finish. He also makes further inspection from time to time to see that the standard is maintained. An over-zealous speed boss in his desire for a large output may impair the quality of the work done by exceeding the speed limit, and there is therefore the possibilty of a conflict between the speed boss and the inspector, but the inspector's requirements must be ful- filled and such a conflict cannot fail to be salutary, because rapidity of pro- duction when accompanied by inferior results is never to be desired, and in almost all cases some method is found by which high speed can be main- tained and the best quality preserved. It rarely happens that the superin- tendent or manager is called upon to adjust a difficulty between the two functional foremen. In assembling the various parts required to make a complete machine the stock keeper sees that all the parts for a group of machines are in hand ready to go together before work is begun upon any one of them and the whole group is finished at the same time. To avoid delays incident to materials which should be ordered in ad- vance, the storeroom must carry a sufficient amount of stock to cover the time required for replacements, and this is cared for by a storekeeper and his clerical assistants in an automatic way. Formerly it was necessary for the superintendent to bear in mind or to look ahead to see what was wanted in advance, but with many thousand parts going through the shop at once, important details, sometimes few and sometimes many, were invariably over- looked, which meant delay and disappointment to the customer and very often the cancellation of orders. Now a balance of stores is kept in the plan- ning department by which new orders are placed as soon as the stock on hand falls below a certain established minimum kept plainly in view against every detail. This minmimum may vary as conditions change and it is fixed by the discretion of the manager of the planning department in consultation with the sales department. In the planning department, which is to the shop what the drawing room has been for many years to the superintendent, every new machine is charted to show the progress of the work through the shop and every piece is provided with an instruction card for its proper manipulation, showing the machine upon which it is to be made, the tools and fixtures required, the WILFEED LEWIS, 75 179 feeds and speeds to be used, the sequence of operations and the time allowed in detail for each and every elementary movement. As these operations are performed they are checked off in a route file from which can be seen at any time the exact condition of the work and the time remaining for its com- pletion. An order-of- work-clerk directs the progress of the orders to be filled in accordance with a schedule prepared by the manager in consultation with the sales department and he has before him in miniature a view of the whole shop, showing every machine or vise, the work being done on each, the work ready to be done and the work ahead in the shop, but which has not yet arrived at the machine. This is a large board or wall plate, which shows also what machines are manned and where a man can be conveniently shifted when there is no work ahead at his particular machine. By this means all of the work in the shop is kept moving in proper balance at a normal rate of speed, men are taken on or laid off as the exigencies of business may require, and no loss is sustained by the usual tendency of workmen to relax when orders are falling off and work ahead is hard to find. At such times we are, of course, obliged to curtail production, and the situation being ap- parent to all, no complaint is made against a reduction in time, which we always prefer to a loss of well-trained men. A well-equipped tool room in charge of a competent man is a sine qua non in any machine shop, and here also one of our greatest improvements has been made. Formerly each workman was inclined to accumulate his own assortment of tools and fixtures which were stowed away in dark corners and kept in disorder and confusion. Now everything comes in perfect order (and the best of its kind) from the tool room as required and goes back again when the job for which it was taken out is finished. Tools are ground to standard forms and not to suit the whims of individual workmen and the tool room is responsible for the condition of all tools sent out. The drawing room is perhaps of all departments less affected by the new order of things than any other, and yet there is an indirect effect due to the atmosphere of activity which pervades the whole plant. Here the work is by its very nature more or less original and, of course, no time can be set for the completion of that which is not definitely known, and which grows into shape by a process of trial and error, until something satisfactory is attained. Designing is not therefore amenable to time study, and, depending largely as it does upon inspiration, there is no superior intelligence to direct its progress. It is in the nature of original research which flourishes and bears its best fruit under adverse criticism. A good designer is like a good com- poser, his work is creative and full of harmonies, and being an artist in his 180 AN OBJECT LESSON IN EFFICIENCY line he cannot be held to a time schedule. In original work., the incentive,, therefore, must come from within rather than from without, and this is gen- erally inborn with the ability to create. Copyists, on the other hand, who always need direction, might be brought under the domination of time study and in many clerical operations this has been done, but we have not yet attempted to fix tasks in tracing or bookkeeping, and we do not pretend to say that our development is by any means complete. We have progressed, however, to a point which makes further progress comparatively easy, and in the face of stubborn opposition we have firmly established a successful busi- ness upon the principles of scientific management as laid down by Mr. Taylor. This means increased production and higher wages at a lower cost, and contains the key to the solution of the labor problem. Labor is made to share in the increased production realized, and the reward of labor is made to depend upon the individual effort put forth in production. The Taylor system makes more room on top and gives a better chance to rise. Men thus schooled in efficiency are qualified for better service and learn to measure more accurately the value of time. The scientific habit of thought as applied by Mr. Taylor to the pro- duction of high-speed steel, has resulted in speeding up machine shops about three to one, and I think it is not unreasonable to expect that the same habit of thought as applied by him to the every-day hand work of men will even- tually result in doubling the average output of labor with comparatively little increase in the physical effort required. The margin for improvement varies, however, so greatly in different trades arid countries that an accurate .estimate cannot well be made. THE SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT APPLIED TO RAILROAD PROBLEMS BENJAMIN S. HINCKLEY, '99, Engineer of Tests, N. Y. 5 N. H. & H. R. R. Co. ASSUMING that a technical graduate's period of commercial or profes- sional activity commences when he is twenty-two years of age and that he has probably attained the highest position in his special line of activity when he has reached the age of sixty-two, we can say that, whatever the graduate accomplishes within these forty years will demonstrate the value to him of his scientific training. To one who has only recently passed the first quarter in this period of productive work, it appears that the habit of scientific thought, of viewing the various problems from a mathematical standpoint so to speak is not only of great value, but is in fact the necessary qualifica- tion for carrying on the special line of work in which he finds himself at the present time. Pausing for a moment to take a few levels and angles in order to locate the relative positions of the scientific man and those of the same age who have battled with life without the technical or scientific training, he finds that there are many conditions surrounding his present position that give him great satisfaction, and many that arouse a voice within him saying "Did it really pay?" On a second reflection, however, this doubt disappears entirely and cer- tainty of the strength of his position in life comes back to him and he realizes that money is not all. A few of his bright fellowmen who possibly were obliged to start out in life at an early age with practically no education be- yond that of the grammar grade are perhaps to-day in positions of trust and responsibility, drawing salaries much larger than his, but these are few, and as he looks back and sees the much larger number who were far ahead in the race only a few years ago and whom he has gradually passed one by one, he remembers that he is charged with a powerful ammunition and need not waiver in the strife which has but just begun. This feeling of self-confidence, of knowing that one possesses a knowl- edge of applied science which no one can take away is the greatest asset a man can possess. Perhaps the greatest advantage that he possesses over his uneducated fellowman is the ability to concentrate his mind on the subject at hand with a logical and consecutive train of thought ; the ability to picture 181 182 SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT APPLIED TO EAILEOAD PEOBLEMS in his mind the relative bearing of one portion of a thought structure to the other parts. The course in descriptive geometry at the Institute gives the student this peculiar characteristic of mental activity perhaps more than any other course in the student's training. Accuracy is another of the ad- mirable qualifications naturally possessed by the technical graduate; for without it he would not be the graduate that he is. This most important qualification is required of men in railroad service., and the career would be short indeed for the man handling matters pertaining to scientific or en- gineering problems for the railroads of to-day, were he inaccurate. The scientific man in railroad work finds himself in need of these consoling truths as he pauses now and then for reflection; for it is a fact that the technical graduate is only just beginning to receive proper recognition in the railroad world. He has brought himself into favor only by demonstrat- ing the value of his trained mind when applied to the solution of problems daily arising in the management of a progressive railroad company. Scientific management is being discussed extensively by those interested in the economical operation of railroad companies. This discussion is in- spired from the desire on the part of those interested, to secure the highest possible efficiency under prevailing conditions of material values and rates of pay to employees. Any insinuation, however, that the value of scientific knowledge or the use of such knowledge has not been appreciated by the rail- road companies during the past decade, or that this subject of scientific man- agement is a new one, is resented by the army of technical men who have been giving their best attention to this work and who have received their sustenance from the railroad companies from the time they began to play their part in the world's work. There have been some new adaptations of scientific thought presented by the efficiency engineers which have appealed to some people strongly and to them involve the sum and substance of scientific management. The pub- licity given to these later developments, in shop management principally, have overshadowed the more substantial and certain applications of scientific knowledge which have existed for many years in other branches of railroad work. The recent innovation in the management of railroad shops, the organ- ization of schools for apprentices where the young men may receive instr ac- tion on the theoretical side of their work and in mechanical drawing, show recognition on the part of railroads of the great necessity for the education of their men along scientific and perhaps theoretical lines. The rapid development of this country and the congestion of the people in and about our larger cities has brought upon the railroads many serious BENJAMIN S. HINCKLEY, '99 183 problems requiring for their solution men trained in all branches of science and engineering. The heavy burdens placed upon the railroads by the legisla- tive bodies, both national and state, as well as by the governing bodies of the cities and towns, require extended study and research along scientific lines. When one reads in his daily paper that the State of Massachusetts or the City of Boston has arranged for the appointment of a smoke inspector in order to insure the proper observance of the smoke ordinances and secure the proper abatement of smoke from the stacks of locomotives and power houses, one little realizes the great expense to which the railroad companies have gone to eliminate this smoke nuisance years before it ever occurred to the state or town to appoint a smoke inspector. The coal has been examined chemically and physically; the locomotive has been designed carefully with the idea of securing as nearly perfect combustion as possible; many patent devices both foreign and domestic for elimination of smoke have been tried ; and to the solution of this problem the chemist and mechanical engineer have given their best efforts. The recent adoption of additional safety appliance laws and regulations by the Interstate Commerce Commission has made necessary many expen- sive alterations in the design of equipment on both locomotives and cars, passenger and freight. In order to properly protect the public who travel in this equipment as well as the employees who operate the trains the railroad company employs a corps of men equipped both technically and practically who analyze, test and inspect all the material entering into the construction of this rolling stock. Specifications are prepared which are rigidly enforced, and the funda- mental basis of all specificatons is scientific law. A purely practical man would not be competent to formulate these specifications, neither would a purely scientific man succeed in this; theory and practice must never be separated and this fact is made plain to the technical man very early in his course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where a generous amount of time is devoted to practical shop work. The higher development of civilization as it exists to-day and is being urged on by our legislative acts, demands the application of scientific thought and action. The devo- tion of many to the conservation of the country's natural resources is fol- lowed closely by the railroad companies' interest from a financial stand- point. What will the coal bill be in years to come? What will the expense for cross ties be ? These are already problems of great importance to some of the railroads and there is no doubt regarding the serious problem of cross tie supply to nearly every road to-day. To anyone who has given any 184 SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT APPLIED TO EAILEOAD PEOBLEMS attention to this subject the situation is somewhat appalling. Some substi- tute not yet devised will be produced to replace the wooden cross tie; this will be necessary. "Will it be a steel tie or one of concrete or will it be made of some as yet unknown compound? The scientific man must be consulted and to him the railroads will look for a solution of this very im- portant problem. Already the antiseptic treatment of ties and timber is resorted to by a great many roads. For this work to be done successfully it must be handled in a most scientific and intelligent manner. t The more extended use of concrete in the construction of bridges and buildings has required close attention on the part of men of science in order to prevent the use of cement not properly aerated the so-called green cement. The treatment of water used in the boilers of the power-houses and locomotives to insure a minimum of deposit on the boiler shells and flues is a scientific problem, but it is not necessary to enter into these matters so well understood. While reference has been made to a few of the well known problems which the railroad companies have met and are to meet, do not overlook the difficult and intricate problems with which the public are not so well acquainted, problems which if not solved would mean heavy expense and perhaps serious interference with the operation of the railroads. The disintegration of iron piping and structural material through electrolysis must be prevented. The interference in the operation of electric circuits conducted through wires installed for one class of service by the higher powered lines nearby and required for another class of service, must be avoided. The heavier weight carried in a single freight car and the heavier weight of the modern locomotive have so greatly increased the pressure per square inch of bearing surface on the journal, that much study has been given to determine the alloy best adapted for bearing metal. For the same reason it has been necessary to investigate the relative merits of cast iron, steel or nickelized steel for use in making the wheels. The composi- tion and design of the rail section must be changed to meet the new condi- tions. Many designs of ventilating equipment have been tested, the air has been analyzed carefully, samples of the air being taken at intervals throughout long trips in crowded cars. The necessary volume of fresh air taken into a car to insure proper supply to the passengers has been figured out carefully and the ventilator openings have been designed along purely scientific lines. The same may be said of heating passenger cars. A system of heating must be adopted which will be controlled automatically to insure an even temperature. This is secured through the action of regulators which are BENJAMIN S. HINCKLEY, '99 185 designed on scientific principles and depend upon the accurate expansion and contraction of metals and liquids with the variation in the amount of heat. The scientific man must be employed in this work. The social and economic problems of a railroad manager to-day are not fully appreciated. He is much more efficient 'when equipped with a broad education in political economy which forms an important part of the technical man's course of study. A hundred other problems might readily be mentioned, but those re- ferred to will demonstrate the necessity for the application of scientific thought in order to properly solve the problems which the railroads are facing to-day and will have to face in the future. In order that the true value of the scientific man may be fully appreciated, however, let us not be led into exaggerated statements regarding the net results to be secured through scientific management. The intrinsic value is great enough and is well understood by the railroad companies. Exaggerations will only detract from the dignity of the technical graduate and lead to sarcasm on the part of the few who may still be in doubt as to the value of a technical education. EELIABILITY OF MATERIALS. WALTER C. FISH, '87, Manager, Lynn Works, General Electric Co. THE selection of this subject, which is overwhelmingly broad, is a re- flection of admiration for the progress which increased reliability has afforded the industrial arts in their attempts to 'supply more efficiently the general needs of the community. A precise treatment should prominently deal, among other things, with statistics contrasting the variations in per- formance of industrial materials, but as such treatment, except narrowly, is impossible within the scope of this paper, I shall proceed in a much more general fashion and with particular reference to some of the princi- pal factors on which reliability depends. This unscientific treatment is less justifiable on this fiftieth anniversary of the Technology we honor if it fail in suggesting the debt we owe our technical institutions and their product. In ordinary discussion, some such practical question as this might be asked: Do we, in the common affairs of life, individually and as a com- munity, suffer marked delay, loss, -or discomfort, because of failures of materials when rationally handled, or, more simply, do our materials render the service we have the right to expect from them ? It seems to me a fair answer to this question and one arising from common experience is that such discomforts and losses are relatively trivial if we omit those due to the deliberate and usually unwise use of materials for which reliability should not be claimed and from which it should not be expected, a social and economic question which is not herein considered, and if we omit the occasional faults of material in initial commercial development. We travel at increasing speeds in heavier trains, wide rivers are spanned and harbors tunneled, high buildings are erected, intricate mechan- isms serve us, and all such common things of to-day are done with a high degree of reliabilty from the view-point of the public. Correct design re- quires and concerns the interpretation of our natural laws and their expres- sions, and among these are the characteristics of our materials; and that the skilled engineer is enabled to surround us with the facilites we enjoy is general proof of the enormous fund of exact knowledge which science has already given for our safety and .comfort. 186 WALTEE C. FISH, '87 187 If it be admitted that the public can view with some complacency the service it obtains from the materials more commonly employed, at least, it is none the less true that such results are far from easy and automatic in accomplishment, so to speak. When we enter behind the scenes and into our industries, we shall find that even those materials which by every good reason should be dependable become the source of loss, and that constant vigilance is necessary to insure the reliability we seek. While such losses may not be commonly large in percentage, it is certain that in the aggre- gate the economic waste is huge, and the elimination of the causes of such losses directly concerns not only the pocketbook, but also the safety, of the public, since undetected error becomes a cause of danger. What then are some of the principal causes of these losses, and how can they be lessened ? When our scientific facts in any case are sufficiently well established, it is axiomatic that the. common cause of loss is that which comes from imperfect skill in manipulation and direction. This statement is made with full appreciation of the splendid work of our skilled American artisan, so far as he is concerned, but it is none the less true that there is general failure to realize the opportunities for more precise and intelligent effort on the part of the individual. If we are to generally increase the uniformity of production, our industries must, in one way or another, pro- vide themselves with more operations and methods which are beyond the likelihood of harm from human agency; or the standard of skill through- out our industries must be raised. Some operations may exist which may well be performed by so-called unskilled labor, but all manual operations permit some degree of dexterity, and most can be greatly enhanced in value by increased skill. This is a portion of the doctrine of the exponents of "efficiency" and "scientific management," who are stimulating admir- able thought, but as we are occasionally a volatile people and easily pass from the threatened industrial invasion of Europe of a few years ago to a hysterical cry for increased efficiency, over night, so to speak, there is clanger that the public will overlook the time required for any real national change in mental attitude and disposition. A fundamental difficulty to-day is that too large a proportion of those annually entering the industrial army are quite prepared and content to undertake and continuously per- form minor operations. This is a serious problem which society is not adequately solving. In such matters our progress will bear a distinct rela- tion to the sane forces increasing the .opportunities and intelligence of our present and, particularly, of our rising generation. The importance of skill and the good which may come from it are not sufficiently emphasized at any sta:e of life. 188 EELIABILITY OF MATERIALS A further opportunity to lessen unreliability is opened by a better ap- preciation and use of existing knowledge and experience. Such impetus has been given scientific research by reason of the practical value of its own productions and so many facts of recent acquisition result therefrom, that the producer, unorganized to ascertain and use such facts, will continue to repeat the errors of the past, from which often all mysteries of cause might be lifted. The skilful framing of specifications for the control of methods and the selection of materials are by no means new, but they are functions of increasing difficulty and importance if the community is to be better served. The evolution of new materials is constantly proceeding and surrounds us. There are perhaps one hundred so-called elements of nature with which to deal, and under the pressure of the chemist and metallurgist new com- binations of these elements are offered as new materials, for public service, with such frequency that few, outside of the particular field of their own activity and save in exceptional cases, realize the progress. It is often true that these new combinations are replacing in character, and, with slight changes, in composition, omit or counteract the causes for unreliability in their predecessors. Others appear with totally new characteristics and per- mit new arts. Even the pure elements of nature under the touch of our re- search laboratories continue to unexpectedly pass into the ranks of useful and reliable materials. Very recently the element tungsten, as a pro- nounced example, had no value when used alone. It was a worthless and unworkable metal unless alloyed. The proposition to produce from it a ductile and tenacious wire might naturally have excited ridicule, but to-day such fabrication has been accomplished, and tungsten wires for incandescent lamps are used with great economic advantage and increased satisfaction, and such results, of course, are practical measures of reliability. The ele- ment boron has recently been separated and found to possess characteristics of such possible value that in due time it may find important uses. If we consider uniformity of performance to be the criterion of reliability, this mere evolution of new materials might appear to have no direct bearing on the subject, but as no such work can be intelligently undertaken and accom- plished without adding to our existing knowledge of materials and their characteristics, there is, after all, a close relationship. Furthermore, the unwise and premature exploitation of these new materials from time to time is a cause of loss which is seldom excusable. Some materials, like mankind, unexpectedly take on infirmities with age and service and from causes which are not yet understood, but it is a func- tion of the manufacturer to determine all practical characteristics of his WALTER C. FISH, '87 189 new materials before public service is undertaken, and this he can generally do. The public itself, by its premature desires, is at times at fault. To obtain some new facility or pastime it pernlits itself to be transformed into a great' testing laboratory, and attempts the use of undeveloped mechanisms and materials. Such public demand, however, stands for speed in accom- plishments. The automobile of a few years ago was a pronounced illustra- tion of premature exploitation, but, to its credit, it forced the development, not only of principles of design, but of the production of more reliable materials without which the art could not safely proceed. The same public desire has existed for increased speed of transportation, and the sanity with which this desire has been met, though involving problems of great difficulty, is shown by the relative absence of accidents of transportation due to failure of material. If I have not attempted to recite specific measurements of reliability and unreliability, it is rather to suggest the good which may be derived by the collection, diffusion, increase and use of scientific facts. It was for such purposes, among other things, that the wonderful so-called Alexandrian Museum was founded some 2200 years ago. Few deliberately concern themselves nowadays with schools of philosophy and thought, but it is interesting to quote the scientific methods as they then and there existed, and to suggest that the partial hiatus in those methods over a period of centuries was responsible for a halt in the benefits coming from applied science : " The essential principle of the Aristotelian philosophy was, to rise from the study of particulars to a knowledge of general principles or universals, advancing to them by induction. The induction is the more certain as the facts on which it is based are more numerous ; its correctness is established if it should enable us to predict other facts until then unknown. This system implies endless toil in the collection of facts, both by experiment and observation ; it implies also a close meditation on them." We should be a nation of blood and brain, and such organisms may resist suddenly applied pressure and demand the exercise of patience. Molecules and atoms are pliable in the hands of the scientist and can con- tinue to be forced to enhance the conditions of life rapidly. A CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN LIMITATIONS OF SCIENTIFIC EFFICIENCY. HENRY G. BBADLEE, '91, Stone & Webster, Boston. DURING the past year we have become quite familiar with the word " efficiency." It has appeared prominently in the public press, in popular magazines and in many more serious publications. Recently we have been startled by the statement that our steam railroad systems are wasting a mil- lion dollars a day, three hundred and sixty-five million dollars a year, which might be saved through the adoption of so-called scientific methods of management. We not infrequently see statements like the following, which I quote from a volume recently published by a prominent industrial engineer : "Inefficiency is not a local evil. It extends through the whole of American life extends through the whole industrial life of the world." " The American railroad, by the most advanced engineering and indus- trial methods, carries an absurdly small net load for an absurdly small distance at an unnecessarily high cost." "Railroad repair shops throughout the country do not show 50 per cent efficiency, on an average, as regards either materials or labor." " Coal wastes on railroads are almost as bad as labor and material wastes." "This inefficiency of effort pervades to a greater or less degree all American activities." " Inefficiency similar to that in the manufacturing shops exists in all building operations to the same or even greater extent." "The United States and State agricultural bureaus have determined like inefficiencies in farming operations." " In our whole educational system there is the same inefficiency. Years are given to study, yet better results have been attained in months." "Why should we be treated to such wholesale condemnation as this? In all modern nations industrial development has claimed the services of the very highest order of intellect and ability. Can it be that the great in- dustrial leaders and workers of the past have all been wrong? Can it 190 HENRY G. BBADLEE, '91 191 be that they have been directing and executing the work of the world with great inefficiency, and is it possible that this inefficiency may be removed by some comparatively simple process? This whole question has recently jumped into prominence because a group of men, who have been doing some very excellent and successful work, have been tempted into the realm of prophecy, and have possibly allowed their enthusiasm to outstrip their judgment. It would, no doubt, be presumptuous for one to attempt at this time to place a limit on what may be accomplished in the future through scien- tific efficiency methods, and certainly no one would wish to criticise or sug- gest weak points in these methods, were it not for the fact that the public may be misled by exaggerated statements and may unreasonably condemn those who are doing most to develop and direct our industries. In view of the statements which have been made it certainly seems reasonable and proper for us to consider whether there are not some prac- tical limitations which have prevented a general adoption of these methods in the past, and which may prevent the wholesale overturning of our present industrial system prophesied by certain efficiency engineers. Stripped of technicalities the method of the modern efficiency engineer is simply this : first, to analyze and study each piece of work before it is performed ; second, to decide how it can be done with a minimum of wasted motion and energy; third, to instruct the workman so that he may do the work in the manner selected as most efficient. There is nothing fundamentally new in this method. The underlying principle is being used to-day to a greater or less extent in all industries, and has, no doubt, been used at all times in the past. Let us keep this fact just as clear in our minds as possible. The method as employed by the modern efficiency engi- neer is distinctive, not because it is new, but because it is carried to much greater detail. The modern efficiency engineer is not content to plan out work along broad general lines. He proposes to go at it in a more scientific spirit. He plans to make a systematic study of every detail and obtain maximum effi- ciency through preventing waste and loss at each and every point. With this in view he watches every motion of the workman's hands and body. If any unnecessary movement is made he tries to change the conditions under which the work is carried on or gives instructions to the workman so that the wasteful act may be avoided in the future. Every motion made and every bit of energy expended must be made to yield useful results in ao far as this is possible. The form of organization adopted naturally has the same end in view. 192 LIMITATIONS OF SCIENTIFIC EFFICIENCY The number of overseers, supervisors, experts and specialists, in propor- tion to the number of workmen, is materially increased. Special account- ing systems are adopted to show at a glance what proportion of the cost of a piece of work is necessary and what proportion is caused by wasted energy. The information so obtained is used as a guide to prevent waste in the future. The workman is encouraged to cooperate through the use of a bonus system which aims to give the highest pay to the most efficient worker. These methods applied in certain cases have produced some very sur- prising and satisfactory results, but it is by no means a necessary conclu- sion that they can be universally applied with equal success. As I have already indicated, we are all of us familiar with the general principles underlying the methods of the efficiency engineer ; many of us make fre- quent use of these principles in the conduct of our business. I think I am correct in saying that in the business with which I am connected every general principle and every detail method which has been suggested by the efficiency engineer has been used at one time or another, and many are in use to-day. The subject is then a familiar one to all of us; the problem presented is not the adoption of something entirely new ; but rather the extension to every detail of our work of something which we have already tried. When we look at the matter in this light we naturally ask ourselves, is it in all cases practical and desirable to extend these methods to all parts of our work, if not, under what circumstances may it be done to best advantage ? It would be impractical to fully answer these questions within the limits of a short paper, but we may suggest very briefly a few factors which seem likely to limit the practical working field of the efficiency engineer. When we consider these methods of careful study and analysis, and of detail instructions to workmen, we are first impressed by the fact that such study and instruction must be expensive. It must be performed by men of considerable ability, and consequently, high pay, or it will not be effective. These men moreover must have assistants, accountants and others, to help them in their work. Such methods, therefore, can only be used to advantage where a material saving can be made. If a piece of work is to be performed but once we may plan, in a general way, the manner in which it is to be done, but should we attempt to decide before starting the work the exact manner in which every detail is to be handled; should we attempt to teach each workman exactly how each motion of the hand and body may best be made, surely the cost HENKY G. BKADLEE, "Jl 193 of planning and instruction will far exceed any possible saving in the cost of labor. If the work is to be repeated several times, but each time is to be per- formed under new conditions, the same difficulty will be found. Each new condition will require new thought, new planning and new instructions to the workmen. If the work is to be repeated a dozen times, under uni- form conditions, instead of only once, we may profitably carry our pre- liminary planning into greater detail, but not until the work is to be re- peated over and over again can we begin to consider the adoption of the full program of the efficiency engineer. Here, then, we have one of the first conditions of success. Scientific management will clearly yield its best results when the labor performed con- sists of a continuous repetition of some definite act or series of acts, and when the work is carried on under conditions which remain practically uniform. For a similar reason we may expect to have greatest success when we have a large number of workmen doing similar work. For example, consider two factories, each employing one hundred men. Let us assume that in the first each man is doing exactly the same work as his neighbor. In the second the work of no two men is exactly alike. In the first case, any planning of work applied immediately to all workmen. We can afford to give much time and thought to each detail of the work because the slightest saving in the work of one man may be applied to all and multi- plied by a hundred may become of material importance. In the second case each man must receive special study and instruction. The cost and difficulty of efficiency methods under such circumstances may easily be prohibitive. Our second important factor, then, is that the work of the different em- ployees shall be reasonably uniform in character and not extremely diver- sified. Next we may consider the territory covered by the work of any in- dustrial organization. Imagine a factory employing a thousand men under a single roof. Then imagine an industry employing an equal number of men distributed through forty different cities, an average of twenty-five men in each city. Can there be any doubt that the introduction of the methods of scientific efficiency would be fraught with a hundred difficulties in the second case for every one in the first? This is by no means an imaginary condition. In these days of rapid communication and travel many industries are forced to extend their activites over very great areas. The steam, railroads are a typical example of such an industry. The 194 LIMITATIONS OF SCIENTIFIC EFFICIENCY largest system in the country, that of the Union & Southern Pacific 'Kail- roads, has 80,000 employees spread over 18,000 miles of track and located in branch offices in most of the principal cities of the country. The effect of extended area on management methods may be clearly traced in the types of railroad organization in England and in the United States. In England distances are comparatively short, and a departmental or functional type of organization is in common use. In the United States a divisional type of organization is almost universal. Under the English type of organization division of duties and responsibilities is based on the character of the work to be performed. Under the United States type the organization is separated into divisions, each division having charge of a sec- tion of the road, averaging perhaps 350 miles in length. In each division the division superintendent has charge of all work carried on. The English type follows more nearly the methods of the efficiency engineer, and, applied to a small system, is probably productive of greater detailed opera- ting economy. The United States type gives the executive officers of the company a stronger and more direct control over their employees. It also results in prompter action in regular operation and in emergencies, and these advantages, in a country of long distances, are thought to much more than outweigh any slight losses in economy. Here, then, we have a third limitation. The extent of territory which a business covers may make it difficult, or entirely impracticable, to use the methods which give greatest success when applied to a group of men working in a single building. Where, then, shall we look for work to which efficiency methods may be successfully applied? Where can we find a considerable number of men, located near together, preferably in a single building, all doing the same kind of work under conditions which remain practically uniform, and the work consisting of a continued repetition of some definite act or series of acts? Work of this character will presumably be found in certain mills, factories and shops and in some special departments of other industries. These are the places where we may expect the efficiency engineer to meet with the greatest success, and if we may judge from the examples quoted by the efficiency engineers it is in just such places and under such conditions that the best results have so far been secured. But this is only one side of our problem. As we study it further we discover that even where conditions are favorable to efficiency methods we still find limitations which will prevent their adoption. Low cost of operation or of manufacture, is, after all, only one factor out of many to be considered in measuring industrial efficiency. It fre- HENKY G. BKADLEE, '91 195 quently happens that the lowest cost can be secured only through sacrificing other and more important factors. This we have already mentioned in con- nection with steam railroad organization. Let us consider some other examples. A majority of our countrymen believe in a tariff to protect home indus- tries when the cost of manufacture at home is greater than that abroad. They approve the tariff because they believe that there are advantages from diversified business which more than offset any increased price of manufactured goods. We pass building and factory laws which continually increase the cost of construction and manufacture. We do this because we believe that cost should be subordinated to public welfare, health and safety. We use a special delivery stamp, send a telegram in place of a letter, or ship merchandise by express instead of freight because saving in time is more important than saving in expense, or because there are advantages in extending our business over a considerable area and this can only be done by using these methods. The steam railroads increase their operating costs per ton mile by operating express service. By doing this they have helped to build up industries which could not otherwise exist. We are glad to pay this extra cost so that we may no longer be dependent on a local supply of fruits and other perishable goods. In construction work we frequently adopt methods which might be considered extravagant if we overlooked the advantages which come from completion of the work by a certain date. Delay in completion is often far more serious than quite a considerable increase in cost of the work. The spirit which runs through an organization its esprit de corps is an important factor in its success or failure. A superintendent or foreman who has the faculty of keeping his men always happy and con- tented, even though he is, at times, somewhat extravagant, may be more valuable and more truly efficient than another who is able to get a little more work out of his men but who keeps them continually growling and grumbling against the business and their employer. An electric light company will spend a large amount of money to purchase and maintain a storage battery solely to prevent momentary inter- ruptions to service. Continuity of service, even at increased cost, is necessary to retain public good-will and patronage. It is often more economical for a street railway to attach trailers to its regular cars to handle rush hour business than to operate additional motor cars. The public unfortunately do not like trailers and, here again the 196 LIMITATIONS OF SCIENTIFIC EFFICIENCY railway decides that public good- will is more important than a slight saving in expense. In these few examples we see that diversified industries, public health, safety and welfare, speed of action, time of completion, esprit de corps, quality and quantity of service, public good-will and patronage ; all these and many others enter into the measurement of success and efficiency. Then, again, we very often find that when we attempt to increase economy in one detail of operation we decrease it in another. When a man has only one simple duty to perform, and is able to perform this with- out reference to the acts of any of his fellow workmen, no chance for con- flict occurs. But this condition very seldom exists. Under ordinary circum- stances, a man has more than one thing to do, and his work is dependent, to some extent, at least, on the work of others. It is, therefore, impracti- cable to consider the work of any one man or department by itself. Each must be considered in its mutual relations to the others. We must balance the gain in one direction against the loss in another, and the maximum efficiency of the organization, as a whole, will very often be obtained when some details of operation, considered simply by themselves, are not being carried on with greatest possible economy. Let us consider one or two cases which will illustrate what I have in mind. We may take one qf these from the very methods advocated by the efficiency engineer. One of the first steps taken by such an engineer is to establish an elaborate system of cost accounting ; a second step is to increase the number of supervisors and specialists employed to oversee and direct the work of the laborers. This increased cost is deliberately and intentionally incurred for the purpose of saving *& greater amount in other items of expense. If we should consider the accounting department by itself with- out reference to the rest of the business, or if we should simply compare the number of supervisors and specialists with those employed by some other concern doing a similar business, we might establish a very good case to prove that the efficiency engineer is most extravagant and uneconomical. If we are to be fair and just to the engineer we must consider the results of his work as a whole and not condemn him because he has increased expenses in certain departments. A second very simple case will illustrate how efficiency in one direction may conflict with efficiency in another. The crew on a locomotive have three duties, first, safety of the train and its contents, second, the main- tenance of schedules, and third, operation of the locomotive at the lowest possible cost. Let us suppose the railroad is making a special effort to HENBY G. BKADLEE, '91 197 improve fuel economy. The locomotive crew become very much inter- ested in the matter and the first year they succeed in saving several hundred dollars worth of coal. The second year they decide to do even better, but one day when they are trying to make a particularly good coal record they run by a signal, wreck the train and kill a dozen passengers. How shall we measure efficiency in this case? Coal efficiency is high, accident effici- ency is low ; the two are always somewhat in conflict. It would have been much better for this road to have burned a little more coal and avoided the accident. It has, I think, always been recognized that there is an element of danger in fixing one's attention too closely on detail economies. We have all heard of the man who was penny wise and pound foolish. We are also familiar with the man who saved at the spigot while he lost at the bung- ho]e. I once knew very well the manager of an electric lighting company who directed his buisiness with the greatest economy. I have frequently heard him say that he would much rather save a dollar in operating expenses than secure a dollar of new business, because when he saved a dollar in expenses he saved the whole dollar, but, when he obtained a dollar from new business he had to spend half of it in serving the customer. In due course of time this manager resigned and a new man was appointed in his place. The new manager was not very economical, but he was a hustler for new business and he kept in very close touch with his customers. It is interesting to see what happened. The business immediately began to grow and increased very rapidly. The public received more and better service at slightly lower rates. The dividends of the company increased, but the cost of operation per kilowatt hour increased also. Measured by operating costs only, the efficiency was less than under the old manager, but, the efficiency of the business, as a whole, was wonderfully increased. It may naturally be asked, why not get a manager who will push the development of the business, keep the public satisfied, maintain a high quality of service, and, at the same time, direct his organization and busi- ness along the lines of maximum economy? There is no doubt that we would like to obtain men of this kind. But, unfortunately, they are few and far between. The perfect man has not yet been born. This brings us to another very important limitation in the introduc- tion of efficiency methods. Human nature must surely be taken into account. No two men are exactly alike. One man is naturally system- atic, he plans out all his work with great care, decides exactly what he wishes to accomplish, and then works steadily along the lines which he has laid down toward the objective point. Another man is a pure opportunist. 198 LIMITATIONS OF SCIENTIFIC EFFICIENCY He, too, has a definite object in view, but lie continually varies his plans and methods to meet new or changed conditions as these arise. The ten- dency of the first man will be to go through or over any obstacle he meets. The second man will follow the path of least resistance and if he finds an obstacle in his way will be more likely to go around than attempt to over- come it. The first man will reach his decisions slowly and after giving careful consideration to all sides of the question. The second man will decide quickly, often apparently by intuition rather than by any definite process of reasoning. In our modern business world we find many men of each of these types with others graded all the way between. The careful, methodical man will usually conduct his business more economically than the oppor- tunist, and we will probably find him much more ready to welcome the methods of the efficiency engineer. The opportunist may be somewhat less economical, but it by no means follows that he will be less efficient if the results which he accom- plishes are considered as a whole. On the contrary the leaders of industry, the men who do most to develop natural resources and industrial prosperity, are very frequently of this type. They are likely to reject the methods of the efficiency engineer not from any prejudice or animosity but because such methods do not come natural to them. They believe that they can secure the best results in other ways. Anyone who has been familiar with the work of a large organization of men can hardly fail to have seen the un- fortunate results which come from attempting to force men to work in ways which are to them artificial and unnatural. Personality is a factor which cannot safely be neglected. It has never been possible in the past, and probably never will be possible in the future, to lay down one rule or method by which all men shall work. I have mentioned only a few of the limitations of scientific efficiency, and have considered these very briefly, but I have perhaps said enough to show that the problem of scientific management has many sides, all of which are worthy of careful consideration. When we have given these limitations the consideration which they deserve I think we shall reasonably conclude that we are not likely to see any sudden and remarkable increase in indus- trial efficiency. Permanent progress in this world is, after all, a process of evolution, not of revolution. Steadily from generation to generation, we have in- creased our efficiency in manufacture, in agriculture, in transportation, and in all the many other activities which form a part of our complex civilization. We are still far from perfect and we are looking forward hope- HENRY G. BRADLEE, >9l 199 fully to a similar or even greater progress in the future. In this progress the principles underlying scientific efficiency will perform a part, as they have in all that has been accomplished in the past, but they will constitute only one factor among many others, a factor which will frequently be of comparatively small importance. The efficiency engineer may easily prejudice his own cause by making exaggerated claims and statements of what he can accomplish. He may discredit his own profession by criticising too freely the work and methods of others or by rashly condemning the efficiency of our present industrial organization. In spite of criticism, even the railroads work some marvels, as may be illustrated by quoting from a recent address by Mr. Frank Trumbull, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Chesapeake & Ohio Eailway Company: If you should write a letter to an American railroad official, his cor- poration will have to haul a ton of freight 2,000 pounds of average freight, coal, ore, silks, ostrich feathers and everything for more than two and a half miles to get money enough to buy a postage stamp to send you an answer. SCIENTIFIC INDUSTRIAL OPERATION TRACY LYON, '85, Assistant to First Vice-President, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co. A great deal has been said recently, in the public prints and otherwise, of scientific management, and the railway companies of this country have been particularly and more or less unjustly criticised for the lack of it. I believe that the public at large has rather a vague idea as to what this " scientific management " or operation consists of from a practical point of view, and while its principles have been very thoroughly defined by various eminent authorities, an effort to indicate very briefly what some of the accomplishment in this direction has been, may be cf some service to those who have not given the matter any particular study. There is a new schoolmaster abroad, or perhaps he might better be called a doctor, the " efficiency engineer," who stands ready to apply his medicine in the most scientific though sometimes unpractical manner. On the other hand some successful manufacturers state that they do not want college men in their service, and disdain anything that smacks of being scientific ; much as a " born " salesman might smile at the suggestion of the study of logic and psychology as an aid to salesmanship, even though he was unconsciously somewhat of an adept in their laws him- self, and might profit greatly if he knew more about them. It is hardly necessary to say that scientific management is not a new thing in itself, although its application in a thorough manner has been thus far limited to a comparatively small field. There seems to be little doubt, however, but that it can be applied with advantage to any business, large or small, the only difference being that, in the case of very large in- dustries, years may be required to accomplish the task without an undue upsetting of conditions. Scientific methods involve a casting aside of precedent and estab- lished usage, the determination by systematic observation and analysis of conditions as they are, not as they seem to be, and the application of the information so obtained to the betterment of conditions and methods. It is natural to assume that when a man has worked at one task for years, whether 200 TKACY LYON, >85 201 on a machine tool or at manual labor under ordinarily competent super- vision, and with the advantage of his own experience and trade traditions, he would have reached a degree of skill and speed which could be increased by expert instruction in only a small degree. It has been demonstrated, however, that a man can be taught to double his output, with no greater or even less physical exertion, by means of a use of tools and a distribution of effort which he unaided would be incapable of evolving. What the labor cost of an individual operation should be, can only be determined by analytical time studies in which personal equation and past performances are disregarded and every move is considered. The simple application of a graphic ammeter to a motor-driven machine tool may tell a surprising story of repeated delays and undeveloped capacity. It may be said on behalf of employers that such studies are sometimes discouraged, to say the least, by the workman themselves. In order to bring out. the best and most intelligent effort on the part of most men it is necessary to establish and recognize a reasonable measure of their efficiency, and to develop this efficiency to its highest degree, there must exist methods of compensation which will offer a comparatively large return for increased individual effort ; an organization which will effect- ively plan in advance to bring together at the right time all informa- tion, tools and materials required, and which will furnish adequate instruc- tion and supervision and a carefully considered arrangement of well equipped appliances and machinery which will bring about an economical movement of the work. A very essential function of such an organization is to create a feeling of copartnership between employer and workmen and an understanding that the employer is not trying to get the most for the least wage, but is willing to pay liberally for increased output and efficiency. Many manufacturers do not know what the real and actual cost of their product is, particularly if it is diversified, because of a lack of adequate cost accounting and because the overhead or general charges are not properly distributed, to their own detriment as well as to that of the public. This is not an easy question to solve, but there are scientific methods of accom- plishing it. I believe that railroads would purchase many articles they now manufacture if they had a truer knowledge of their shop costs; railroad shops have no balance sheets to face and do not necessarily go out of busi- ness if they are not making money. On one railroad with whose operations I was familiar some years ago, allowances were established for the cost of repairs to equipment per ton mile, or mile run, for the cost of coal used by locomotives per ton mile, for roundhouse expenses per locomotive handled, for terminal expenses per car 202 SCIENTIFIC INDUSTRIAL OPERATION switched, for freight house expenses per ton of freight handled, as well as for many other expenses. These allowances were based upon a more or less scientific study of what the cost should be and each foreman and station master knew every day whether he was ahead or behind the game. In the same way, allowances for expenses of all kinds may be established in any business, using as a basis percentages of direct or productive labor, of cost of product, of sales, a certain amount per unit produced or order handled, or whatever other basis may be devised to appeal to the man who is directly responsible for the expense and thus place before him a constant record of the amount by which the allowances are exceeded. Such records and comparisons may perhaps be shown most clearly if plotted as curves. In fact I do not believe that the financial and operating details of any large and complex business can be properly appreciated and studied without the use of graphical records. By their means a field can be covered and comparisons made which would be impossible with the use of figures alone. Rather an interesting development has taken place during the last few years in the organization of several of the largest manufacturing plants in this country. These plants have a highly diversified product and were originally laid out to centralize the manufacture of many parts in highly specialized " feeder " sections, such parts being delivered as required to the various assembling departments. As these plants grew in size it became increasingly difficult to bring about a uniformly prompt delivery of parts by the feeder sections, and it was finally determined that the most economical results could be obtained by breaking up the greater number of these sections and distributing their tools among the assembling depart- ments, even though this entailed some duplication of equipment and an abandonment of the benefit of centralized specialization. This step toward the departmentalization of very large shops has brought out the advan- tages to be obtained in broadening the responsibility of the heads of depart- ments and in holding them accountable for results. A further step has been to give each department its own cost accounting, to establish a system of inter-departmental accounts, making each department pay for all labor, power, heat, light, supplies and material it receives, and to give it its own engineering staff. This industrial development is parallel to the division organization of some railroads and to the organization of the great depart- ment stores. Scientific methods involve the use of the most expert advice obtain- able as to the selection and handling of material, the choice and maintenance of tools and equipment, the processes of manufacture, and the elimina- TRACY LYOtt, '85 203 tion of wastes. The possibilities of industrial chemistry are unlimited. I believe that many manufacturers fail to expend as much as they should for such services, or for an efficient staff, for lack of appreciation of the very large returns which may be obtained thereby, at an expense which is very small compared with the amounts involved. The success of a manufacturing business may depend upon the amount of money tied up in stocks of raw and finished materials, and the regulation of these stocks in a more or less automatic manner is one of the large prob- lems which requires scientific treatment. Scientific management would not permit factories to be as poorly lighted as many are. It can be demonstrated that the cost of furnishing the very best light obtainable is inconsiderable in comparison with the benefits to be derived in an improvement in the quality of work and increased production. The same thing may be said of the cost of improving sanitary and other conditions which affect the comfort and health of the workman and of maintaining orderliness and cleanliness. Of the greatest importance to the industries of to-day is the scientific training and education of young men to fill their ranks, not only in the schools but also within the manufactories and railways themselves. Much has been attempted in this direction during recent years and it remains to be seen what the results will be. THE TREND OF COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT VIEWED FROM THE FINANCIAL STANDPOINT. CHARLES HAYDEN, '90, Hayden, Stone & Co., Boston. IN the effort to achieve a higher efficiency, in the direction of lower costs, greater profits, and the elimination of waste, the corporate form of organization is being employed to an ever increasing extent. Besides the great increase in the number of corporations, two very significant develop- ments may be mentioned : (1) The huge size of many industrial corpora- tions, and (2) the tendency to the formation of holding corporations. The problem of financing these great organizations has been satisfac- torily met and the stocks and bonds of the best of them find a ready market. Financiers, however, recognize that these huge combinations of capital have powerfully affected the public and created an apprehension of many evils to follow in their wake. Monopoly is abhorent to the public and will not be tolerated. In many instances these huge corporations are the result of a desire to monopolize some commodity or public function. All such tendencies have, however, been promptly met by drastic legislation, and as a rule the courts seem to uphold such legislation when it is called into question on the score of constitutionality. The financier is in a position to study this question of regulation and control of monopolistic tendencies on the part of corporations quite as much from the standpoint of the citizen as from that of the participant. He is keenly interested to know whether, after all, these huge organizations can possibly attain monoply, or, if such be attained, if they can maintain it. He is keenly interested also to know if the advantages, as respects savings from various causes, which are claimed on behalf of these organizations, have actually been achieved. It is to my mind very doubtful if monoply of manufacturing and commercial industry, even if attained in this country, could have been main- tained for any considerable time, except on a basis of minimum profits and consequently great service to the public. And with the restraints of legislation it now seems as though all dreams of organization must be CHARLES HAYDEN, '90 205 abandoned, and the object sought along the old-fashioned lines of increased efficiency and minimum profits. I doubt if any financier will say, without reservation, that these huge organizations have been, on the whole, as efficient as expected. In mining and in manufacturing, and to some extent in transportation, and certainly in commerce, there has often-times been, on the part of the large concerns, a lack of the flexibility which is displayed by the small and compactly organ- ized undertaking. It has always been difficult to find men whose minds have developed as fast as the vastness of the problems confronting them. Many instances may be cited of large combinations that have been gradually losing their control of the business which they at one time had almost succeeded in completely monopolizing. Of course, history in this respect is still in the making, and perhaps no facts of a conclusive nature can be cited. There is the greatest satisfaction to be found in this ability of a competitor to come into a field elaborately and powerfully organized, and establish himself anew in the business on a profitable basis. That there have been decided advantages in the large organization of industry cannot be denied. Principally among these I may note the advantage of locality. That expenses of administration have been ma- terially lowered may be questioned; that the incentive which goes with individual ownership and control is lacking in many of the larger organiza- tions is painfully evident from time to time ; that the expected advantages of purchasing and selling have materialized to any great extent may be questioned because of the rapid evolution in size of the individual competitor of these organizations. That these great corporations are here to stay for a long time, may not be questioned. Some will undoubtedly disintegrate under the stress of severe competition. It may be confidently believed that only those will permanently endure which have the guidance and direction of the largest minds, who will perceive that the only foundation for such permanence and ability is to be found in the highest efficiency and in a service to the public through reduced costs and a minimum margin of profit. A corporation operated on such lines, regardless of its size, is not apt to be feared by the public, especially when our laws contain suita- ble and sane provision for the restraint of any tendency to utilize its strength unduly. Eeverting to the second development to which I first called attention, namely, the early disappearance of the trust form of organization and the indications that the holding companies are to follow its steps, it is not difficult to see why the public has taken such a hostile attitude to this form 206 TREND OF COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT of organization. The corporation is created under laws established by the public, and for certain well defined purposes and with restricted rights. It is comparatively easy to hold to strict account the corporation which is operating in accordance with the laws of its being, and one not compli- cated by association with numerous other corporations organized for totally different purposes. The public has felt, and perhaps rightly, that it could much more satisfactorily deal with the shareholder of a corporation organized for specific purposes and with well defined rights and privi- leges, than it could with the shareholder of a corporation removed by one stage through the interposition of a holding company. Moreover, it has been generally felt that in no way could monoply be so quickly and easily achieved as through the development of the trust and holding corporation. The financial machinery of such organizations is comparatively simple. But as we have seen the trust disappear in many cases, so now we find that the holding corporation, which attempted to weld together two of our great systems of railroads, has been found obnoxious to the public, and has been liquidated ; we find that, without litigation, some far-sighted financiers and captains of industry have already gone far in the liquidation of the hold- ing company principle in a great mining business,' and we see in many directions a recognition of the principle that the holding corporation is not necessary for any proper business development. And it may, therefore, well be that within a few years, as I have already indicated, this particular feature of our business life will have passed into history. The financial and business man, in almost every case, takes a national rather than a local view of his business problem, no matter what its specific nature. He will not be confined or restricted in any respect by state laws. To-day he is handicapped and harrassed at almost every turn by lack of uniformity of state law. Therefore, as time goes by, the financier believes that problems of legislation governing the aquisition and use of property in all its various forms, must be solved to an ever greater extent by our national legislative bodies. And who can doubt that in the national legislature these problems will receive the attention of our broadest minded men, with the result that both the stockholding ownership of industry and the consuming public will alike be benefited. PROFITABLE ETHICS DAVID VAN ALSTYNE, '86 Vice-President, Allis-Chalmers Co., Milwaukee, Wis. IN the present organization of society it is inevitable that money-getting shall be primarily our inspiration, and indeed it is doubtful if any other motive will ever be practicable, despite the Utopian program of the socialists who are looking forward to the time when the love of achievement will be our inspiration and the getting of money unnecessary. On the other hand, unrestricted money-making, like any other dis- sipation overdone, is not good for the health of the body politic. The chief manifestation of the disease is in the extremes of wealth and poverty, the former of which is unnecessary and the latter ethically and therefore morally wrong. Because poverty is wrong it will not be permitted to con- tinue always. However impracticable the program of Socialism may be, it seems to me that we are drifting toward community interest and government control and ownership with all its inefficiency and awkwardness, and will continue to, unless the employing class, which is the money-making class, can be made to realize that to whatever extent its money-making is detrimental to the community as a whole, it is simply encouraging the spread of socialistic tendencies. Sooner or later organized labor will find politics its most effective weapon and its tendency will be socialistic. Present management of " big business " is probably not much more efficient or freer from evils than government management, but the possibili- ties of individual control are far greater than those of community control and must be realized if we are to escape the latter. Among the potent factors for progress in our social organization per- haps the most potent are the employers of labor, the managers of men. The power of the church, of sociologists and philanthropists to bring about needed reform is insignificant in comparison with that of employers. Competition forbids employers doing more for their employees than their competitors; rather inclines them to do less, so that if reforms are to be accomplished, they must be accompanied by greater profits. The chief interest the employer should have in the welfare of his employees fe to enable 207 208 PEOFITABLE ETHICS them to earn more than his competitors' employees are able to earn. All other interests are incidental and will be largely taken care of by the em- ployees themselves if they have the money with which to do it. The social reformer, therefore, who would effect his reforms through the employer is confronted with the task of increasing the employees' wages and at the same time increasing the employer's profits. It is the instinctive desire of every employer to promote the welfare of his employees to the fullest possible extent as long as it does not interfere with his profits. His philanthrophy and good will do not extend much beyond this. Maximum output, lowest cost of production and highest wages can be accomplished through the accurate knowledge of what every detail of the business actually is, the determination of what it should be and the bringing of the actual to the standard and keeping it there. Every man is capable of a reasonable maximum output, every dollar spent is capable of a maximum return, and when the maximum results are reached the efficiency is one hundred per cent. The higher the efficiency, the lower the unit cost and the higher wages the employer can afford to pay as compared with com- petitors. A small concern managed by a man of ability is likely to be fairly efficient because most of the details can be kept under his personal observa- tion. As the business grows it becomes necessary for him to leave it more or less to his subordinates. That part of the business which he is most in- terested in or best acquainted with, will continue fairly efficient; the rest dropping to an efficiency commensurate with the ability of those immediately in charge. When it reaches the magnitude of our large railroads and in- dustrials, the chief executives are almost wholly out of touch with the details of the business and with the individuals of the rank and file. In proportion as the magnitude of the business increases, the im- portance of the personality of the leader decreases and that of the system and organization through which he exercises his personality increases. It is through a systematic control of employees of the rank and file that he reduces waste of time and material, rather than through his personal in- fluence over his immediate subordinates. The measure of the efficiency of an organization is the extent to which the enthusiasm of the individuals in it is maintained through the organization and not through the personality of the man at the head of it. Few men in positions of great executive re- sponsibility realize how little influence they exert on the business under them. It is not a serious exaggeration to say that the difference between the results obtained by an average manager and one who is known as an ex- ceptionally able man is not material, and whether the result be good or bad DAVID VAN ALSTYNE, '86 209 is largely accidental in so far as the man in charge is concerned, and chiefly due to conditions surrounding the business. The conventional manager depends upon cut and dried expedients rather than scientific standards or ideals. His methods are based more on superficial observation and haphazard opinion than on the fundamental laws governing his business. Failure to accomplish the results he hopes for is not, in his opinion, a criticism of his methods but rather calls forth his regret at the passing of the good old times when men were less independent and indifferent or conditions otherwise more favorable. There is as much organizing ability now as there ever was, perhaps more ; but through the consolidation of many small concerns into a few large ones, great responsibility is being put upon a few men who are not trained to it. Of promoters or " captains of industry," whose farsightedness indicates where development is needed and where money can be made, there is no lack; but managers who will patiently standardize each detail in the opera- tion of their business and get the maximum out of it, are exceedingly scarce. The jobs have grown faster than the men. Under detail-control management as little as possible is left to in- dividual judgment, but the movements of every man, every piece of material and the expenditure of every dollar are guided according to a prearranged schedule. If the objection is made that guiding every move men make, makes machines of them, destroys their initiative, the answer is that there is not much initiative to destroy and that the best results are obtained for both employer and employee when men are worked like machines and treated like men. In large organizations they are more likely to be treated like machines and allowed to work as their own individual fancy dictates. Most men are actuated by the fear of losing the job they have and by the hope for a better job or better pay. It is a much more comfortable feeling to a man to know that when he has accomplished definitely prescribed re- sults his work is entirely satisfactory, rather than that, no matter what he accomplishes, his employer, in his ignorance, may feel that he ought to have done more. It is also a satisfaction to him to know that his employer knows beyond question he is as good as or better than his fellow workman. Moreover, his employer has a feeling of security in that he is able to deal justly with each individual through his records rather than through the more or less prejudiced opinions of subordinate officials. Not the least asset created by the management which has accurate record of the individual, is the impression made upon the employee that the highest officials know of him personally; that he is less subject to the 210 PEOFITABLE ETHICS whims and prejudices of his immediate superior and that he is recognized as an essential part of the organization, which arouses an enthusiasm that cannot be too highly valued. The treatment of men as machines by dealing with them as a class and treating good and bad more or less alike, creates indifference and antagonism, and is the necessary result with conventional management. The organization created by this control of details is of vastly greater importance than the facilities or equipment. The good or- ganization will obtain good results with poor equipment, but the poor or- ganization will obtain poor results no matter how good the equipment may be. Management through control of details takes advantage of the fact that few men know how to work efficiently and few employers know definite- ly what they should expect of their employees or of their money otherwise expended. Some employees take advantage of the ignorance of their em- ployers by doing even less than they know they could do. Time and material are wasted in an infinite number of ways and the efficiency is lim- ited by the personal attention those who are in charge are able to give to the comparatively few details coming under their notice. Under conven- tional management the foreman, or man immediately in charge, has a fair technical knowledge but usually little organizing ability. The multitude of details under his jurisdiction receive his attention a few at a time, the others drifting along, according to the fancy of the individuals handling them. The few details receiving the attention of the foreman are brought up to a standard proportionate to his skill and knowledge, and begin to drop again as soon as he turns his attention to some of the other details. The result is to confine attention chiefly to those details which seem of most importance and to let the rest drift along as they will. Hence, average output per dollar expended for labor and material is small and must con- tinue so as long as so much depends upon the efforts of one man. Under detail management an investigation of the possibilities of each operation and each pound or foot of material is made and a standard set per unit of output. These investigations are made and the standards set by experts, each in his own line. The value of establishing a standard or measuring stick for every detail cannot be overestimated. It not only gives the manager a feeling of security in his knowledge as to exactly how his affairs stand and as to what needs his concentrated attention, but also gives his subordinates something definite to work for and arouses their enthusiasm, especially when extra pay is given for reaching the standard. Men do not object to hard work if they are well paid and contented, and the harder they work within reasonable limits, the more contented they are. DAVID VAN ALSTYNE, '86 211 It is not sufficient to know that high speed steel can cut four times as fast as carbon steel or that one make of file is seven times as good as an- other. It is of much greater importance to know that high speed steel does cut four times as fast as carbon steel and that the good file does all that it is capable of, and that they continue to do so as long as they are used. It may seem that the expense of such details will not be justified by the results, but this argument is not used very long after the effort is made. The results are usually beyond expectation and the returns frequently as high as one thousand per cent on the investment necessary to obtain them. It is indeed probable that the profits of the average railroad or manufacturing concern can be increased from twenty-five to one hundred per cent. Fundamental principles in reaching high efficiency are : 1. Records. An accurate record of each detail, or group of details, of labor and material. A record should be looked upon as a working tool and its value measured by its capacity for producing lower cost and greater out- put. 2. Standardized conditions. This involves putting the equipment into such condition as will make maximum output and most economical operation possible. 3. Standardized quality. The determination of a standard of quality of output or efficiency of service below which it is not permissible to go, is necessary because efforts to reduce cost and increase output may result in lowering the quality unless systematically prevented. 4. To find out what is to be done and how to do it. This involves strip- ping the work of all unnecessary refinement, finish, material and opera- tions, bearing in mind that what is worth doing at all is worth doing well enough for its purpose and not a bit better, and then determining the simplest and quickest method of doing it with the facilities at hand and establishing a time or cost limit. 5. Written instructions as to the standard method of reaching the required time or cost. Such instructions constitute a text book of the busi- ness and are not to be deviated from. Employees should be constantly checked on their knowledge and close observance of instructions; otherwise the instructions are rarely fully understood and are quickly forgotten or ignored. 6. Constant comparison of actual performance with standard to see that the actual reaches the standard and continues there. It is not essential that allowances, standards or ideals should be ultimate or represent the highest state of the art; in fact such standards may appear to be so hope- lessly impossible of attainment as to be undesirable for present purposes, 212 rJiOriTABLE ETHICS The standard should be set as far ahead of present practice as is practicable. The essential thing is to see that whatever ideals are set, are reached, and that, as long as they are not changed, there shall be no falling away from them. This is the principle which is most neglected by managers and at which usual management fails. It is easy to establish rules and standards, but it is not easy to have them lived up to continuously. Unless the organ- ization provides for comparing in detail what is done with what should, be done, with mathematical accuracy, a high efficiency cannot be maintained. It is a common experience for a concern to reach a good efficiency during dull business and to drop to a low efficiency during heavy business because the management has so little control over details. These principles are a decided recognition of the capacity of the in- dividual and may be considered antagonistic to some of the expressed prin- ciples of organized labor. Restriction of output (which is not the policy of organized labor but is its tendency), opposition to piece-work and premium or bonus systems of paying for labor, limitations of the number of apprentices, are not economic- ally correct, and nobody realizes it more than the more intelligent union men; but they constitute correct policy from the union point of view be- cause they are among the few weapons labor has with which to fight and defend itself against aggressive employers. Under usual conditions they are necessary to the existence of organized labor. So long as employers consider it necessary to oppose organized labor, just so long these weapons will be used, to the detriment of the employer. If, on the other hand, it should be considered safe to work with or- ganized labor, they soon get the employer's point of view and he theirs. Each sees that the other is right and they adjust their differences by making an agreement. Mr. Gompers rightly says that it is necessary for labor to deal collectively with employers on account of the great difficulty the in- dividual has in getting the attention of those highest in authority in large concerns. The usual form of trade agreement which binds the employer to pay fixed rates per hour, day or week and the employee to put in his time and produce whatever the employer is able to get out of him is economically wrong, because one-sided and indefinite. Each has his opinion as to what constitutes a fair day's work, which the employer will constantly try to in- crease and the employee tend to decrease. What one employer may con- sider a fair output may be too little for another employer and more than required by a third. It is to the interest of both employer and employee to DAVID VAN ALSTYNE, '86 213 agree upon a reasonable time for each operation, so that each may know definitely what he is to expect from the other. To whatever extent the employer is liberal in his treatment of men, they will usually meet him half way. The agreement is a protection-to the employer, in that it reduces petty injustices on the part of minor officials and also prevents local troubles from men widely distributed but bound by the same agreement, as in the case of railroads. A large percentage of the restrictions which unions try to add to their agreements from time to time are efforts to check abuses by minor officials, who are too narrow to see any but their own side, and are over-zealous in the interest of their em- ployers. Labor has learned many of its bad tricks from employers and in using them, has been a great educator of employers in making them see that there are two sides to even the labor question. There is much to be said, however, in justification of those employers who refuse to deal with or- ganized labor because of the unscrupulous methods of some labor leaders. Laboring men are by inheritance and training, suspicious of employers and inclined to take a sentimental view, to brood over their down-trodden condition. Whenever they can be persuaded to take a business-like view of affairs, to determine what is to their interest and whether it is to their ultimate interest to consider the interest of the employer, they at once be- come rational and there is no difficulty in coming to terms with them. Whenever the employer can create the feeling that the sole object of his official existence is to get the most out of his employees for the money invested in them, and that he realizes this can be done only with the best paid, most thoroughly contented employees, he has won his point and need waste no further effort to destroy unionism. He will find that he has accom- plished all that is necessary or desirable in modifying radical unionism and that it is as much appreciated by employees as employers. During the recent period of great commercial activity many complaints were heard of the difficulty in getting skilled men; many employers claim- ing that the unions were making men indifferent and independent and through various restrictions, preventing the development of a sufficient number of skilled men to supply the demand. I am inclined to think that to a certain extent this may have been true and that it was largely the fault of the employer for permitting it. The influence of the unions, how- ever, in this direction is limited and only indirectly the result of their efforts to better their conditions. The chief cause of the scarcity of skilled labor is the extreme fluctua- tions in business, creating at one time an abnormal demand and at another throwing both skilled and unskilled labor out of work. There are more 214 PBOFITABLE ETHICS skilled men and there is skill of a higher order than ever before ; but by the nature of things their number is more or less adjusted to the average de- mand. There is always available a nucleus of these good men who have comparatively steady work and during times of extreme activity, the only men available are those who spend a considerable portion of their time in idleness. In times of great activity there is no good opportunity to train this generally unemployed increment and in dull times idleness encourages laziness, indifference and a loss of the little skill men acquire while at work. We are inconsistent in throwing as many men as possible out of work as soon as business begins to decline and then complaining that they are not capable of the highest efficiency when they are employed. In my opinion this is the greatest evil for which our present social system is responsible and it is also the most difficult to regulate. Appren- ticeship, trade schools and like efforts to train skilled workmen, are all good to a certain degree, but their influence is insignificent as compared with the influence of long periods of enforced idleness to which the laboring class is subjected. It is important to develop skilled workmen, but it is of much greater importance to develop loyal American citizens who are interested in promoting the welfare of the State and consequently that of the employer. It is out of such employees that the employer makes the greatest profits in the end. There is not much encouragement for a man who spends a considerable portion of his time in idleness to become either the right kind of citizen or employee. This ever-present fear of being thrown out of work makes men hold back their output in order to make the work last as long as possible. Aside from the inhumanity of periodically depriving a considerable percentage of our citizens of the means of earning a living, it would seem good business policy in the long run for employers to find some way to keep a large per- centage of their employees on the pay roll at least at living wages during periods of dull business, whether there is work for them or not; and it is probable that a great deal more could be done in this direction than is done. It is to be hoped that some day it may be found practicable for the law to require employers to take care of a certain portion of their idle employees during periods of depression, and the government to give employment to the rest on public improvements. It is encouraging to note the number of concerns which are introducing old age pensions, profit-sharing, etc. It is to the pecuniary interest of the employers to do these things themselves rather than to wait for them to be done by the government with its inevitable inefficiency. Every large employer of labor can afford to have what might be called a DAVID VAN ALSTYNE, '86 215 " sociological department," whose duty it would be to look to the welfare of its employees,, so long as it is not done in a patronizing manner. . Such a department should keep a personal record of each employee, consisting of whatever information of value -is obtainable ; to be used in deciding as to desirability as an employee, eligibility for promotion, instead of depending on haphazard opinions which are usually superficial and biased. It would also keep as closely in touch as possible with employees to find out what secret grievances they are brooding over, due to brutal, prejudiced and partial treatment by superiors ; and be ready to lend a helping hand in case of misfortune, sickness or death. Apprenticeship, pensions, profit-sharing, prevention of accidents and hospital service might also properly come within the jurisdiction of this department. The speculative financial influence is a serious obstacle to the progress of better management, and, in consequence, to its own interests. Not only does it not understand the human element in its business, which is the im- portant element with a large employer of labor; but being in control, it usually dictates a narrow, opportunist sort of policy based on superficial opinion rather than scientific investigation. It cannot see that a moderate investment in better organization and management will, in nine cases out of ten, save a large investment in equipment, besides reducing the cost of the operation. As a result, executives, no matter how well intentioned, are afraid to depart from the narrow conventional limits prescribed; so that " big men" are not developed for the " big " positions. Little improvement can be expected until the average board of directors takes more interest in the business it directs and becomes more intimately acquainted with the details. It would seem that one way to accomplish this would be to have each department head report direct to the board instead of through the president, who as a rule is a specialist in only one department. It would also seem advisable for the board to have specialists report on the efficient operation of all departments in a similar manner as chartered accountants report on the accounting department. For those who have the courage to break away from some of the old traditions and conventional methods, there is an unlimited field. The difficulties are great, but the pos- sibilities are greater. The results are conspicuously good. Assuming that detail-control will produce and maintain maximum output, better quality, lowest cost, higher wages and contented employees, and that, as a consequence, it meets with the approval and support of em- ployers, what results may we be justified in looking for toward an ameliora- tion of some of the social evils which exist to-day, chief of which are the extremes of wealth and poverty? It is true that when all concerns in the 216 PROFITABLE ETHICS same business are equally well managed, no one of them will have any advantage and the same competitive conditions will exist as before ; but the next step forward will be from a higher plane. Is it not safe to conclude that those employers who have had the experi- ence and the profit will be convinced that the most ethically conducted busi- ness is the most profitable ; that business ideals must be ethical ideals ? Will it not be a definite and concrete way of getting into practical use those theo- retical ideals so attentively listened to on Sundays but so regularly forgotten on weeks days ? Would it not hasten the Utopian condition which all right- minded men believe in and hope for ; namely, that every man who is willing to work is entitled to a living and that no man is entitled to so much that somebody else must go hungry ? THE NATUEAL INCEEASE IN THE EATIO OF BUEDEN TO LABOE IN MODEEN MANUFACTUEING PEOCESSES. JAMES B. STAN WOOD, '75, Vice-President and Engineer, The Houston, Stanwood & Gamble Co., Cincinnati. IN all manufacturing processes in the determination of the cost of the finished article, it is usual to divide it into three elements, the cost of the material used, the cost of the labor that can be charged to the conversion of this material into the finished product, and the amount of the burden, or overhead expense. This burden includes the cost of all other expenditures of labor and material necessary for carrying on the processes of production, which are general in their character, and which cannot be charged directly to any portion of the actual labor or material. In this connection the cost of selling, the product should not be neglected, but should be considered a part of the burden. The ratio then of the burden to the direct labor or burden-labor ratio may be expressed by a fraction B/L in which B represents the total cost of the burden of a department or factory for a unit period of time, and L the total direct labor cost of the same, for the same factory or department, for the same unit of time. As a result of the constant improvement in machinery and processes, or to use a popular phrase, because of the increase in " labor-saving devices," it can be stated as a law that the ratio of burden to labor naturally tends to increase from year to year or period to period as industry progresses. This can be shown by an illustration: Let the material, labor and burden in a given process be equally divided so that each has a unit value of 2, then the total cost is 2+2+2=6, the burden labor ratio being 2/2=1. If now by an improved machine, or by an improved process the labor is cut in half, then the total cost becomes 2+1+2=5, and the burden-labor ratio will be 2/1=2. This is on the assumption that no other change has been made than that of cutting the labor in two. Let us consider a different set of values, in which the material is assumed to be 2, labor 12 and burden 6. The total cost then becomes 2+12+6=20, and the burden-labor ratio is 6/12=1/2. Suppose that an improved process or machine now reduces the labor from 12 to 3, a rather uncommon experience; now the total cost 217 218 NATUEAL INCEEASE IN RATIO OF BUEDEN TO LABOB becomes 2+3+611, and the burden-labor ratio is 6/3=2. The saving in total cost is 45 per cent, but the burden-labor ratio is increased four-fold. In many cases in practice the saving in labor as outlined in these examples is brought about by the introduction of some new device or machine which is sold generally to the trade so that it is open to all manu- facturers to secure the benefit of this improvement, but it also usually hap- pens that the competition among manufacturers gives most of this benefit to the consumer, and after a short period all the manufacturers are practically on the same basis, using the same grade of materials, the same type of tools and employing labor at about the same cost. If this law of the natural in- crease of burden-labor ratio is not recognized, it follows that manufacturers who base their cost estimates on previously ascertained burden-labor ratios find themselves in the position of selling their goods at a low margin of profit, or no profit, or even at a loss. The two examples here given assume that the total burden itself does not in any way increase or decrease absolutely ; on the other hand in many instances where improved machines or appliances are employed the total burden itself actually does increase. More elaborate machinery calls for greater care for up-keep and for a greater depreciation. It frequently fol- lows that although the net cost of the product is greatly reduced by a saving in labor, yet this entire saving of labor is not realized on account of an actual increase in burden. A prominent manufacturer recently stated to the writer that the use of " high speed " steel greatly increased his burden-labor ratio over the use of the older steels. This of course is due to the reduction in labor cost which the "high speed" steel effected, but in addition the increased cost of this steel and the increased cost in the up-keep and the depreciation of machines required to use this steel, also increase the actual burden; the net manu- facturing cost, however, has been greatly reduced by the use of these im- proved cutting metals. The reduction in the labor cost of an article as shown above cheapens it to the manufacturer, and ultimately with free competition among the manu- facturers, cheapens it to the consumer. The usual advantage claimed for labor saving machines to the manu- facturer lies in the fact that they increase the capacity of his plant. If as in the last rather extreme example the labor cost is reduced one-fourth of what it originally was, it means that one man or one machine will produce four times more than before the improvement was adopted. The result of this is a large increase in plant capacity with the attending necessity of find- JAMES B. STAN WOOD, "15 219 ing a correspondingly large market for the output. When the reduced cost of production gives one manufacturer an advantage over another, he secures his market by taking the trade away from the other who may be less favor- ably equipped. When on the other hand all manufacturers in the -same line install the same machinery at about the same time, and by competition the price is reduced, then the only increase in market can come about by reason of the reduced cost to the consumer. In some cases a greater demand due to the decrease in the cost of the goods tremendously increases the volume of business; in others where a decrease in cost does not easily produce an in- crease in demand, the burden is increased in the effort to make a market. Man has been called the "tool-using animal." This is not entirely true. A spider spins a web which is his tool for trapping his food, the bee makes a cell in which to store his honey, and the beaver builds for himself a dam and waterproof hut. To-day the spider spins his web after the same patterns he used thousands of years ago, the bee has not altered the construc- tion of the honeycomb, the beaver uses the same devices for cutting down trees, digging up earth and stones and plastering his masonry the burden- labor ratio has remained the same. But man who, in the beginning had but few implements, and these of the crudest form, has during the process of his marvelous development made his tools more and more efficient and elaborate, and thereby has greatly increased the burden-labor ratio. A striking example of this extensive and elaborate use of tools is found in the appliances used in the numerous processes of the entire plant which the United States Steel Corporation has in operation for digging the iron-ore from the ground in Minnesota, conveying it to Gary, Indiana, and making it into manufactured steel products, such as rails, structural steel, etc. In this continued process from mother earth to the finished product very little direct labor is placed on the material in the entire course of its conversion. Everything is done by a machine, from the digging of the ore, its trans- portation by steam through the lakes, the unloading, and the feeding of the ore to the furnace, the conversion of the melted metal into steel, the forma- tion of a billet, and the rolling of the billet into a finished product. In this case the actual labor falls on those who attend the machines. This includes of course the sailors and crews on the lakes, operators on the railroad in Minnesota, as well as the men at the mines, and in the steel plant at Gary. This extensive operation possesses a tremendous burden in relation to the direct labor expended, and yet as is well known the entire process is one embodying the highest economy of production. 220 NATURAL INCREASE IN RATIO OF BURDEN TO LABOR In conclusion it may properly be suggested that a scientific study of the cost of burden is an undertaking that promises the attainment of new economics; for great reductions are possible in the cost of administration, and operation of buying and selling,, and in the maintenance and deprecia- tion of plant. Thus in striving for more efficient production, burden saving methods are fully as valuable as labor saving devices. THE SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS. By S. M. FELTON, '73 President, Chicago Great Western R. R., Chicago, 111. THE evolution of the American railway during the past sixty years would seem to best illustrate the subject of this paper. The first and most important part in the construction of the railway, and the one which fixes its physical character as relating to alignment and grades, is the accurate determination of the center line. Upon its location may depend the success or failure of its future operations. With the light volume of traffic offering and the primitive methods employed in early railway construction, the lines were built with heavy grades and sharp curvature. As the business of the roads increased and the rates decreased, a reduction in the cost of operation became necessary. Lines which had been constructed with grades of fifty-three feet and over per mile were practically rebuilt, the grades in many cases being reduced to a maximum of sixteen feet per mile. Originally the width of the roadbed was but fourteen feet and little or no ballast was used. In modern construction the width of the roadbed on single-track lines is twenty feet, and ballast of from twelve to twenty-four inches under ties is necessary to properly maintain the track under heavy traffic. For many years it was possible to secure ties from the forests along the lines of most railways, but with their rapid depletion and the heavy demand for timber in all classes of industry it has become necessary to subject that used for ties and railway structures to chemical treatment to prolong its life. First-class hardwood ties, which in former years could be secured at from 25 to 30 cents each, are no longer procurable and it is neccessary to use timber of grades heretofore rejected and treat it, which makes their present cost from 75 cents to $1.00 each. With this treatment ties last from fifteen to twenty years, or from two to three times the life of untreated timber. The ballast, where used at all in former years, was principally material that could be secured at convenient points on the railway, and its character was often inferior. In modern practice ballast is selected as to quality, is carefully crushed or screened, removing all dirt and dust, and placed under 22X 222 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS ties in such manner and quantities as is necessary to provide proper drainage and sustain and properly distribute to the roadbed, loads imposed by the traffic. In the early construction of railways, a common type of track struc- ture consisted of timbers laid longitudinally on cross ties. On the timbers was placed a narrow iron strap rail % by 2% inches in size, which weighed about 18.75 pounds per yard or 29.46 tons per mile. In modern track con- struction cross ties are laid from twenty to twenty-two inches center to center, with " T " rail weighing from 85 to 100 pounds per yard, or from 133 to 157 tons per mile. Some lines with especially heavy traffic use rails weighing 135 pounds per yard or 212.14 tons per mile. 85 Lb. to 135 Lb. Rail Cxeosoted Tires "x 8"x 8'0"to 7"x 9"x 8'6" Ballast - Broke a Stone or Gravel STANDARD SINGLE TRACK 1910 FIG. 1 The development of the rail illustrates the extent to which scientific principles have been followed in the management and operation of our rail- ways. For many years the ablest scientists and metallurgical engineers have studied the subject of steel rails, both as to physical characteristics and chemical composition. Originally the maximum wheel loads were from four to five tons, but they have steadily increased under modern traffic to fifteen tons. The tremendous stresses imposed by such heavy unit loads require rails of large section and of the best design and character. The appliances used to join rails together has developed from the or- dinary chairs and fish plates to a rail joint of strength equal to the body of the rail, thus preserving the unbroken continuity in the surface of the track. The joint which was formerly the weakest part of track construction has become as strong as the rail itself, SAMUEL M. FELTON, >73 223 The original strap rail was secured to the timbers supporting it by small spikes not much larger than the ordinary wire nail. The modern track spike is a screw spike, carefully adjusted after the tie has been pre- viously bored, which securely holds the rail in place on the tie. SECTION OF STRAP RAIL 1848 Pounds per Yard 18.75 Tons per Mile_ _ _ 29.46 HEAVIEST SECTION OF RAIL 1910 Pounds per Yard 135 Tons per Mile 212.14 FIG. 2 STRAP RAILRAILROAD TRACK- 1S50 Iron Plate %"x2H- Oak Ribbon 6x6" Triangular Blocks or Knees Spiked to; Ties. 140- Ballast - Earth Ties6"x6"x9'0" Section FIG. 3 The construction of special track work, such as frogs, switches and crossings, is the subject of careful attention as to design and efficiency in service. The use of manganese steel has resulted in increasing the life of such appliances from four to five fold. Early railway construction made use of timber almost exclusively in 224 {SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMEBICAN KAILWAYS building bridges, trestles and culverts. The rapid depreciation and the ever increasing weights of locomotives and cars made necessary frequent renewals, with heavy costs for maintenance. The cost of the early timber structures was from $5.00 to $10.00 per lineal foot. In modern construc- tion, stone, concrete masonry and steel have replaced the wooden structures and the cost ranges from $150 to $300 per lineal foot in the larger bridges. Where masonry and steel structures are prohibitive and wooden structures are still used, the timber is often treated to preserve and prolong its life, thereby conserving the timber supply and decreasing the cost of maintenance. Many bridges are now used with solid floors, which with the use of ballast, provide a continuous and solid roadbed over such structures, where the track surface is maintained by the ordinary track force with great saving. The building structures of railways have been developed with other elements of the property. Originally all or nearly all railway buildings were constructed of wood. Now timber is rarely used, excepting in small isolated buildings. Passenger and freight stations, which in the early days were built of wood at a cost of from $1,000 to $2,500, are now built of brick and stone, costing from $10,000 to $100,000. At large terminals, the costs run into the millions. Engine houses, formerly built of wood about forty feet in length, that could comfortably house the small engines, cost from $500 to $800 per engine stall. They are now built of brick or concrete, one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five feet in length, and cost from $2,500 to $3,000 per stall. Coaling stations which formerly consisted of small platforms, equipped with hand derricks and buckets of a capacity of one ton, where coal was shoveled and elevated by hand on to engine tenders at accost of from fifteen to twenty cents per ton, are now built of concrete with automatic machinery for elevating, storing and weighing coal and delivering on tenders at a cost of from one to two cents per ton. Water stations which in early days consisted of small wooden tanks on timber foundations, with capacities of from twenty to thirty thousand gallons, from which water was taken directly into engine tanks, have been replaced with steel tanks elevated from thirty to fifty feet, with capacities of one hundred thousand gallons, from which water is delivered rapidly through water columns located alongside of tracks; and on lines of dense traffic and high speedy water is taken into engine tenders through track SAMUEL M. FELTON, '73 225 tanks from scoops lowered from tenders while trains are in motion. The treatment of water by removing the scale-forming matter has been highly developed and has reduced the consumption of fuel and the cost of repairs to engines. The original machine shop plant for the repair and renewal of locomo- tives and cars usually consisted of a group of small wooden buildings with an investment of a few thousand dollars. These facilities have grown to such an extent that every system of any size has from one to four plants, consisting of locomotive erecting, boiler, blacksmith, car erecting and paint shops, foundries and storehouses, all equipped with the most modern appliances. As the density of traffic increased, the necessity for the protection of life and property and the prompt movement of trains became essential. A scientific study of the question resulted in perfecting a standard system of automatic block signals. Thousands of miles of line have thus been protected and millions of dollars expended within the past few years, result- ing in greater safety of operation, increased track capacity for train move- ment and economy in operation. The standard electric automatic block signals installed on railways to- day cost about $850 per mile for single track and about $1,250 per mile for double track. These signals are operated by means of track circuits. The road protected is divided into sections called " blocks " which are usually from one-half to two miles in length. Each end of the block is protected by a signal which governs the section of road to which it relates. As soon as a block or section is occupied or cleared, the indication is reflected by the position of the signal which during the day time is represented by the position of an arm and at night by the color of a light. Any obstruction which affects the track circuit will immediately operate the signal govern- ing the block section. Not only is the presence of a train within a block detected, but if there should be a broken rail, a misplaced switch or a slide, the signal will immediately go to danger. The system of block signalling has become so reliable that the chance for the failure of a signal has been reduced to as low as one movement in one million. The introduction of interlocking protection at railroad crossings has increased the efficiency of train movement and eliminated the possibility of accidents. The ingenuity and scientific skill exhibited in the development of automatic signals and interlocking is one of the advances made in rail- road engineering. The introduction of labor saving devices in maintenance of way work, such as power propelled cars, the use of power drills, ditching machines, 226 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMEEICAN RAILWAYS modern derricks, pile drivers, track laying 'machines and the superior quality of tools has resulted in increased efficiency in the output of labor. The use of power section hand cars has made possible the lengthening of sections which were formerly five miles long, to ten miles in length, thus eliminating about half the section foremen and by reason of the increased speed of these cars going to and from work and conserving the energy of the men, further increased efficiency in track labor of about 25 per cent is secured. In a specific case, sections were lengthened from six miles to ten and twelve miles, and a saving effected in labor of 42 per cent in winter and 23 per cent in' summer. These power operated section cars also make possible the use of power operated tools, such as track drills, saws, spike drivers and tool grinders, and it is not difficult to extend their operation to other classes of work which is now done by hand, with a large saving in cost and an increased efficiency in output and character of work performed. The methods of planning track work systematically and intelligently in place of the former methods, have produced economical results. This applies to the work of laying rail, placing ties, ballasting, installing frogs and. switches, cleaning right of way, construction of bridges, trestles and culverts and general maintenance of line, surfacing track and other opera- tions. In all the advance that has been made in the scientific management of railways, no one thing probably has contributed more to the general development of a railway system and the facility for handling the business, than the adoption of a standard gauge in this country. Gauges of 3 feet, 5 feet and 6 feet have been changed to the standard gauge of 4 feet 8% inches, which made the interchangeability of freight equipment possible. ! ! ! i ; H THE BEHABILITATION OP AMERICAN EAILWAYS The rehabilitation of American railways in recent years, owing to the heavy decrease of revenue per unit of traffic moved has become general. Lines originally constructed in the most economical manner possible, with maximum grades of fifty-three feet or more per mile, that were able to make a fair return on their cost, with rates of between one and two cents per ton mile, when confronted with the problem of handling traffic at rates of between one-half cent and three-quarters of a cent per ton per mile, found it necessary to take radical steps to meet this condition. These conditions were overcome by general rehabilitation. A typical case of a SAMUEL M. FELTON, 73 227 western railway which was so treated is herewith cited. On this road, grades formerly fifty-three feet or more per mile were reduced to from six- teen to twenty-six feet per mile; locomotives with cylinders 17" by 24" in size, weighing 54,600 pounds on drivers and with a tractive effort of 13,820 pounds capable of hauling on a fifty-three foot grade about 500 gross tons, were replaced by Consolidation engines weighing 190,500 pounds on drivers with cylinders 22" by 28" in size, with a -tractive effort of 40,409 pounds, and, therefore, capable of hauling on a 3/10 grade 3,500 gross tons; rail of sixty to seventy pounds per REHABILITATION OF A WESTERN RAILROAD Showing- Increases and Decreases by Percentages in Results of Operation before and after Rehabilitation Item Decrease Increase Miles of Eoa.i ^H 15.032 Freight Earnings $$$$$$$$$$$$$^$$$$$$$$$3 66.94$ Coal Earnings : $$i>i ; $$$$$$$^ Passenger Earnings ^^^^^^$^ 69.772 Gross Earnings ^$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$^^ 89.995? Operating Expenses and TaxfiS $$$$^^^$^$$^^^$$$$^^ 94.82 Net Earnings ^^^^^ 81.43 ?J Passenger Train Mileage ^^^^^ 88.26 % Freight Train Mileage $^^j 22.63 Tonnage $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$^^ Tons per Train Mile $$^$$^$$^$$^1 116.01 # Ton Mileage Passenger Mileage ^^^^^^^^^^^ 70.74 Average Eate per Passenger per Mile 1.48;^ Earnings per Passenger Train Mile ^$$$$$$1 22.02^ Average Eate per Ton Mile E250^ Train Mile ^ 64.9U^ FIG. 4 yard in weight was replaced with rail of eighty pounds per yard; bridges of light construction sufficient to carry the original locomotives were replaced with modern structures capable of carrying the heaviest type of locomotives; track originally unballasted, or provided with a light bed of ballast, was thoroughly ballasted with broken stone ; side-tracks originally long enough to accommodate short trains only were extended to handle the increased length of trains ; complete signal systems were installed and train movements thereby facilitated and made safer \ mo^e.rn coaling stations and 228 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMEEICAN KAILWAYS water stations handling coal and water at the lowest possible cost were erected; shops with modern tools replacing those of former years were provided and almost the entire railway in many instances was rebuilt. As an illustration, a diagram is presented showing the results of the rehabilitation of this railroad covering a period of seven years giving the increases and decreases by percentages during the rehabilitation period. This railroad was able to increase its gross earnings 90 per cent and its net earnings '81% per cent, although the average rate per ton mile for freight transportation decreased 24% per cent and the average rate per passenger per mile decreased 1% per cent. Particular attention is called to the large increase in the earnings of coal traffic. Previous to the re- habilitation of the road, owing to the heavy grades and light power, coal could not be carried profitably at the existing freight rates. With a reduc- tion of grades and increase in power which caused an increase in train load of 116 per cent, it was possible to carry coal at a profit, and the earnings from coal traffic alone increased nearly 4% times. The expenditures per mile of road necessary to accomplish these re- sults were equal to the original cost of the railroad. This illustration is typical of similar results which have been secured on many American rail- ways and emphasizes the fact that by these means, the public has been benefitted to an enormous degree in the reduced cost of transportation. MOTIVE POWER AND EQUIPMENT The development of the equipment of our railways has kept pace with the progress made in roadbed, tracks and structures. It is interesting to trace the growth of the transportation industry through the development made in locomotives and cars, and for this pur- pose a graphic comparison is given, showing the types of locomotives and passenger and freight cars used during the period from 1850 to 1910 by decades. (See Figs, at end of article.) The passenger locomotive of 1850 was equipped with cylinders 14" by 20" in size and weight on drivers of 15,000 pounds. The typical passenger locomotive of 1910 has cylinders 24" by 26" in size and weight on drivers of 178,500 pounds, or nearly twelve times the weight of the passenger loco- motive of 1850. The freight locomotive of 1850 was equipped with cylinders 14%" by 20" in size and weight on drivers of 26,000 pounds, with a tractive effort of 6,500 pounds. The typical freight locomotive of 1910 has cylinders 24" by 28" in size, weight on drivers of 216,450 pounds, with a tractive SAMUEL M. FELTON, 73 229 effort of 54,110 pounds, or about eight and one-half times the, power of the locomotive of the earlier period. In addition to the typical passenger and freight locomotives in use at the present time, there are special types of passenger locomotives with cylinders 26" by 30" in size and weight on drivers of 210,000 pounds, and special Mallet type freight locomotives with cylinders 28" and 38" in size and weight on drivers of 550,000 pounds with a tractive effort of 137,500 pounds. (Figs. 23 and 24.) An interesting comparison is also shown in the diagrams illustrating Engine No. 1 (Fig. 25), which is the first locomotive purchased by the Southern Pacific road, and Mallet type engine No. 4004 (Fig. 26), which is the most recently designed freight locomotive on that road. Engine No. 1 was placed in service in 1868. It had cylinders 11" by 15" in size, weight on drivers of 18,500 pounds, with a boiler pressure of 125 pounds. Engine No. 4004 has compound cylinders 26" and 40" by 30" and weight on drivers 394,700 pounds, with a boiler pressure of 200 pounds and tractive effort of 94,880 pounds. The total length of engine and tender of Engine No. 1 was 21' 2"; the total length of Engine 4004, including tender, 95' 9%". In addition to the growth in the capacity of modern locomotives, their efficiency has been greatly increased by appliances which simplify and economize the operation, such as electric headlights, automatic stokers, automatic fire door openers, power reversing gears, driver brakes, improved air brake equipment and boiler construction, the use of super- heaters and re-heaters, compound cylinders and the articulated features in extremely large types of locomotives. The economy in locomotive performance is carefully watched by a compilation of statistics showing miles run between light, general and thorough repairs; pounds of coal, pounds of waste, pints of oil per 100 ton miles, cost per mile run of wages of enginemen, for fuel, waste, oil and talJow; repairs, replacement, cleaning and the total cost of maintenance per locomotive per mile. The cost of locomotive fuel on railways in the United States is ap- proximately two hundred million dollars per annum, or nearly one-ninth the total cost of railway operation. Careful attention is given to the economic use of fuel by purchasing coal of superior quality under rigid specifications, the weighing and recording of coal delivered to locomotives and by offering premiums for its economical use. The car equipment used in passenger service originally consisted of wooden cars with open platforms. The growth and development of pas- senger train' cars is illustrated by a series of diagrams (Figs. 29-35), showing 230 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS the typical passenger coaches in use on railways from 1850 to 1910 by decades. By referring to the diagrams, it will be noted that the early coaches were constructed without due regard to safety, comfort or convenience and proper ventilation or facilities for lighting and heating. The progress in the art of passenger car construction shows that wooden cars were used up to the year 1895, when the wooden platforms were replaced by steel platforms. About the year 1897, the cars were further strengthened by the applica- tion of steel ends and reinforced trucks. The use of vestibules was first made about the year 1887, when the narrow vestibules were adopted and wide vestibules were first used in 1895. The use of all-steel trucks was firFt made in the year 1906. The modern passenger car of the year 1910 consists of an all-steel car which is built with due consideration to safety, comfort and convenience of passengers. Careful attention has been given to the matter of ventilat- ing, lighting and heating, and the danger to passengers in case of accident is practically eliminated. In 1850 the average cost of a passenger coach was about $2,500, while in 1910 the cost of an all-steel passenger car is about $16^000. The first sleeping car used on American railways was built by George M. Pullman at the Bloomington, Illinois, shops of the Chicago and Alton railroad in the year 1858, when passenger cars Nos. 9 and 19 were con- verted into sleeping cars; the work being done under the personal super- vision of Mr. Pullman. These cars were forty-four feet long, had flat roofs like box cars and single sash windows about twelve inches square. The height of the car inside was about 6 feet. Into this space, ten sleeping car sections were built with a washroom at each end. These two cars went into service in 1858, and the changes necessary cost $1,000 each. They were upholstered in plush, lighted with oil lamps and equipped with box stoves burning wood. There were no porters in charge of the cars, the brakemen making up the beds. As early as 1862, a restaurant car was operated over the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore railroad, consisting of a car fitted with a counter extending lengthwise of the car, where meals were served to passengers the same as at an ordinary lunch counter. The use of regular dining cars on American railways commenced in the year 1868. They have greatly contributed to the comfort and con- venience of the traveling public. A modern dining car, which is used prac- tically only a few hours per day, costs approximately from $18,000 to $25,000. The progress and development made in the construction of freight cars SAMUEL M. FBLTON, '73 ^231 from 1850 to 1910 are illustrated by a series of diagrams (Figs. 36-42) showing the typical freight cars in use during that period by decades. The freight car of 1850 was a wooden box car, twenty-four feet in length, with a capacity of eight tons, and weighed approximately 13,000 pounds. The modern box car of 1910 consists of a car forty feet in length, weighing 45,000 pounds, with a capacity of 100,000 pounds. It is constructed with steel trucks and steel underframes. The average cost of a box car in 1850 was approximately $400. The cost of a modern box car is $1,200. Early freight cars were equipped with link and pin couplers and hand brakes. Now all freight cars are equipped with air brakes and automatic couplers. The scientific design and construction of freight cars has produced a car of greater strength and less weight per ton of capacity, and by reason of the use of steel under frames and steel trucks, the life of the car is greatly increased and the cost of maintenance decreased. Special types of freight car equip- ment demanded by various classes of commodities are provided for the con- venience of the public. These embrace such cars as refrigerators, automo- bile and furniture cars, cars for the shipment of live stock and poultry, tank and coal cars. The development of the gondola or coal car is illustrated by the dia- grams (Figs. 43 and 44), one of which shows a coal car built for the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Compan}^, which consisted of a wooden car with four wheels, total length ten feet two inches, width five feet eleven inches, wheel base five feet four inches, capacity eight tons, and weight 7,392 pounds; total weight of car and contents eleven one-half tons. The steel coal car illus- trated in the diagram has a length over all of forty feet two inches, width nine feet six inches, capacity seventy tons; weight of car twenty-five tons, or a total weight of car and contents of ninety-five tons. The modern car has a total weight of car and contents of over eight times the smaller car. The frictional resistance in pounds per ton is very much greater in the use of light capacity cars. The resistance in pounds per ton on a car weighing ten tons is thirteen pounds, while the resistance per ton on cars weighing ninety-five tons is less than three pounds. In other words, with the use of the modern steel coal car, the resistance on level straight track is less than one-fourth as much per ton as compared with the light capacity car. This fact has largely contributed to the increase in train loads under modern operation. 232 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS MODERN MACHINE SHOP PRACTICE The modern railway machine shop is equipped with shop machinery and tools designed to promote the highest omciency and economy in produc- tion. A partial list of the modern appliances and devices introduced in shop practice and some specific instances of economy of operation may be given as illustrating the results aready secured. Car-axle Lathes: The axle lathe with end drive, in which only one end of the axle can be finished at one time, has now disappeared and the center- driven lathe, allowing both ends to be finished at one time, is universal. Since 1900 car axles have increased in size, and while before that date a daily output of from ten to twelve axles was considered excellent, to-day a good axle turner on the modern heavy lathe will finish eighteen axles of the heaviest type from the rough forging in ten hours. A month's record on a modern lathe showed an output of twenty-three axles per day. Cutting speeds have increased 125 per cent. Locomotive-axle Lathe: This lathe is driven from one end on account of finishing the axle all over. Locomotive axles, the same as car axles, have increased in diameter within recent years, and lathes have been pro- vided in some cases with two carriages and, in others, with front and back tool rests on one carriage to remove the metal more rapidly. The axles are frequently finished in two stages, one being to turn the axle from the rough forging to nearly finished size in one lathe, then transferring it to the finishing lathe. A modern lathe of this type is equipped with thirty to thirty-five horse-power motor, and a cutting speed up to sixty feet per minute. One roughing lathe will readily turn out twelve to fourteen loco- motive axles every ten hours, as compared with three axles per day on the old lathes. Car-wheel Borers: The recent introduction of all-steel car wheels has made it necessary to introduce a heavier patter n of car- wheel borer. Com- parison with ten years ago cannot be made except on cast iron wheels. At that time boring seventy-five wheels per day was regarded as the limit. To-day cast iron wheels are chucked and bored in something less than five minutes, or at the rate of one hundred and twenty wheels per day of ten hours. Boring Mills for Tire Boring: In no one instance has the combination of a powerful machine with high speed steel and a well devised plan shown more marked results than the boring mill built especially for tire work. The use of high speed steel has allowed the doubling of speed, and with the increased strength and power in the machine makes it possible to more than SAMUEL, M. FELTON, '73 233 double the section of cut. The number of tires that can be bored and turned to-day is at least three times that possible ten years ago. On a 100- inch boring mill, fifty-four locomotive tires of average diameter were bored in nine hours. Car-wheel Lathes: The earliest type of lathe for turning car wheels on their axles was of the same design as the driving wheel lathe supporting the axle on centers and driving by whatever form of driver could be brought to bear on the wheels. The possibility of increasing the output came with the introduction of high-duty steel and the use of the sure-grip drivers. The result has been a great increase in the number of wheels turned, and twenty pairs is not above the average in the heavy lathe in use to-day. Eecent tests made resulted in an output of twenty-five to thirty pairs of wheels in ten hours, as compared with four pairs on the old machines. Motors of fifty horse-power capacity are used on the heavier machines. Pneumatic tool clamps for clamping the tool have made a large saving in time. Driving-wheel Lathe: Before the introduction of high-duty steel, the average pairs of wheels turned per day was not over two. This has been increased to an average of six to seven in the standard lathe, and on a test run of a heavy 90 -inch lathe, ten pairs of wheels, averaging 69 inches in diameter, were turned in less than ten hours. The capacity of the modern wheel lathe is so much greater than the old lathes that in mam r shops four of the old lathes have been thrown out and replaced by a single modern lathe. Arch-bar Drill: The introduction of high-duty drills has increased the output of these machines from fifty, under former methods, to one hundred and fifty arch bars per day under modern practice. Improvements in these machines have been made to keep pace with the increased requirements. The greatest advance in machine tool construction has been made since the advent of high-speed steel in the period beginning with the year 1900. The general introduction of electric motors has assisted in the new develop- ment of machine tools. The result has been an increase in section of cut or material removed, and in cutting speed of from 200 to 300 per cent. These changed conditions have of necessity resulted in the use of more high grade material and a great increase in weight and strength of the parts of the tools. In no one line of machine tools can the recent improvements be more accurately traced than in those used in the construction of cars and locomo- tives, for here work of a specific character is done and comparisons of out- put with that of earlier years can be more readily made. The great increase of production, as shown by the above list of 234 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMEEICAN EAILWAYS machines, is only an example of the changes in machine tools generally, and could be extended to machines of all descriptions, such as lathes, planers, drills, milling machines and the various other machines used about railroad shops. The use of pneumatic tools was first introduced in machine shop prac- tice in 1894. About 1896, the pneumatic drills were introduced and a short time later the riveting hammer, and many other tools were developed. The introduction of these tools has practically increased the effective out- put in work three fold. One man, by hand, will expand and bead one hundred and thirty 2-inch flues in a locomotive boiler in ten hours, while one man with a pneumatic hammer will do the same work in five hours. One man, by hand, will ream about forty holes per hour, while one man with a pneumatic drill will ream on an average of one hundred and fifty holes per hour. With the use of the pneumatic drill a hole four and one-half inches in diameter and three inches deep was drilled in soft steel in one minute and thirty-five seconds, while a man with a hand drill required two hours and ten minutes to drill the same size hole. A comparative test made of the cost of boiler work with the use of the pneumatic hammer as against the old method, resulted as follows: two hundred and fifty-three rivets were driven by a pneumatic hammer in nine hours at an average cost per rivet of two cents; the same number of rivets were driven by hand in fifteen hours at an average cost of six cents per rivet, or just three times the cost of the pneumatic hammer-driven rivets. During the period 1880-1890, rope drives were used extensively v in shop practice, and while this method of operation effected some saving over what had previously been accomplished, the friction losses still remained abnormal and the entire shop was dependent upon any one unit. A belt accidentally coming off a line shaft pulley would probably necessitate shutting down the main driving unit. All work would be at a standstill temporarily, and, in some shops, this was repeated many times daily. It is not difficult to realize the large losses, not only in labor, but those due to delay in making repairs to equipment, which resulted. Naturally, under these conditions, the introduction of motors for the operation of sections of line shafting in the different shops was looked upon with great favor. It has been common practice since about the year 1900 to install in modern railroad repair shops a combination of group and individual drives, and, in fact, where traveling cranes are used to serve the heavier machines, the use of individual motors for operating the various machines located beneath the cranes becomes imperative. With independent motor drive, a SAMUEL M. FELTON, >73 235 fine regulation of speed can be obtained which enables the operator to in- crease the output of a given machine from 10 to 30 per cent over belt drive. The rapid increase in capacity and weight of rolling stock that the re- pair plants are now being required to maintain makes it practically im- possible to obtain an accurate comparison of the cost to repair locomotives and cars to-day with the cost prior to the introduction of electricity in the shop. From actual experience, however, the reduction in cost of power and labor by the introduction of electrically driven machine tools, appliances and central power plants, has made a reduction in the cost of power of 50 per cent and in labor of 25 per cent. The discovery of the ox-hydric and oxo-acetylene processes of cutting and welding metals has made possible repairs to locomotives, machinery and equipment without removal of the parts, thus saving immensely in dis- mantling and utilizing material which was formerly consigned to the scrap pile. In blacksmith shops, large bull-dozers, steam hammers, forging ma- chines, hydraulic presses and improved furnaces are in common use. In the paint shop, the use of pneumatic devices for painting and cleaning cars effect large economies. In the general shop practice, detailed records of costs and time schedules increase the efficiency of operations. The scientific and economical use of material is carefully studied. Notwithstanding the large increase in the cost of labor during the past thirty years, the introduction of labor saving devices and improved machinery has reduced the unit cost of work, neutralizing the increased wage paid. TRANSPORTATION Transportation covers train movement, terminal work and the general handling of traffic, outside of its solicitation. It is in this direction that many great economies have been effected, as set forth in the table on page 236. The table and diagram on pages 236 and 237 illustrate the railway progress made in the United States during the past two decades. The year 1890 represents the first year when full statistics were gath- ered for all railways in the United States, and it is therefore impossible to show complete results for earlier years. An examination of the diagram will show some interesting results. The tremendous increase in public service rendered by railways is readily apparent, and while there has been an increase in the cost of performing the service by the railroads, it shows a decrease in the cost to the public. 236 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS RAILWAY RESULTS IN THE UNITED STATES FOR THE FISCAL YEARS 1890-1900 AND 1910 M equals 1000. 1890. 1900. 1910. Per cent of increase 1910 over 1890. Population . . . 62,947,714 76,085,794 91,972,266 46.2 Miles of road operated Net capitalization (M) Net capitalization per mile. . Total operating revenue. (M) Operating expenses (M) Net revenue from oper'n.(M) Total revenue per mile . . 156,404 $7,577,327 49,476 1,051,877 692,093 359,783 6,725 192,556 9,547,984 51,094 1,487,044 961,428 525,616 7,722 239,652 13,872,380 58,316 2,787,266 1,847,189 940,076 11,633 53.2 85.1 17.9 164.9 165.4 161.3 72.9 Operating expenses per mile . Net operating rev. per mile . . Taxes . 4,425 2,300 31 207 469 4,993 2,729 48 332 273 7,710 3.923 104 144 076 74.2 70.6 233 7 Taxes per mile Ratio expenses to earnings . . Receipts, passenger .... (M) Receipts, mail .... (M) 199 65.80% 260,786 23,367 254 64.65% 323,715 37,752 435 66.27% 631,772 49,323 118.5 0.7 142.2 111 1 Receipts, express Receipts per pass'g'r per mi . . Passengers carried (M) Passengers carried 1 mile. (M) Average pass'g'r per car mile . Receipts, freight .... (M) 20,277 2.167 c 492,430 11,847,785 41 714,464 28,416 2.003 c. 576,865 16,039,007 41 1 049,256 69,253 1.871 c. 952,325 33,949,936 58 1 935,882 241.5 D13.6 93.4 186.5 41.4 170 9 Receipts per ton per mi. mills. Freight carried, tons ... (M) Freight carried, tons 1 mi (M) Average tons per train Locomotives, number Locomotives, weight, tons . . . Passenger cars, number Freight cars, number . . . 9.41 636,541 76,207,047 175 30,140 1,265,880 26,820 918 491 7.29 1,101,680 141,599,159 271 37,663 2,023^02 34,713 1 365 531 7.58 1,760,103 255,528,643 382 59,133 4,271,000 | 46,890 ij 2 134 000 D19.4 176.5 235.5 118.3 96.1 237.2 74.8 132 3 Freight cars, capacity, tons . . Employees, number Employees per 100 mi. of line . Employees compensation . . . Per cent of total revenue .... Per cent of operating expenses 19,288,301 749,301 479 $418,716,265 39.80 60.50 37,210,720 1,017,653 529 577,264,841 38.82 60.04 ;;. 74,043,000 J 1,754,400 733 1,172,181,000 42.00 63.41 283.8 134.1 53.0 179.9 5.5 : [4.81 It is clearly shown that the increase in the capacity of locomotives and cars has more than kept pace with the growth of the traffic. There is only one item of cost of operation of railways which shows an abnormal increase, and that is the matter of taxes. The taxation of railways increased from 1890 to 1910, 233.7 per cent, while the net capitalization of railways increased only 85.1 per cent. It is, therefore, evident from these figures that there is an inequality of taxes levied upon railroad property as compared with other corporate and private property. A just basis of taxation is one where every dollar of property value is taxed alike, whether it be railroad, other corporate or private property. la d o V .a a . I! o I 2 H a w - la & a= d - -, 11' 2&3 I! fl I 238 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS An investigation made in one of the largest States in the Union re- cently showed that corporations in that State owning less than one-sixth of the property paid over one-half the taxes, while private owners, with over five-sixths of the total property, paid less than one-half the taxes. It is likely that a comparatively similiar situation prevails in many other States of the Union and that railways are generally over-taxed and are bear- ing the burden of taxation of private owners, whose very property has been enhanced in value by the construction of the railroads. The growth in population in twenty years has been 46.2 per cent, while the growth in traffic on railroads has increased 186.5 per cent in passenger and 235.5 per cent in freight, or an increase in all traffic of over 200 per cent in the same period, while the receipts per unit of ser- vice have decreased nearly 20 per cent. To move promptly, safely and economically the tremendous business of this country requires the applica- tion of scientific and systematic methods of the highest order. There is no finer illustration of systematic operation than the dis- patching of trains on our railways. Every American railway of any con- sequence is governed in the operation of its trains by tho Code of Train Eules of the American Railway Association. This set of rules has no equal in the operation of any industry, and if literally observed by the human agents to whom it must be intrusted, accidents on railways due to train movement would be unknown. The physical and mental examination of employees has been generally introduced on railways. The selection of young men for the service living along the lines of road insures a better class of employees, makes the en- forcement of discipline more effective and improves the esprit de corps. The movement of our passenger trains, such as the operation of the fast passenger schedules between New York and Chicago, a distance of nearly one thousand miles, in eighteen hours, or at the rate of over fifty miles per hour 'sustained speed, is one of the outgrowths of scientific operation. One of the most important elements of modern transportation is the adequate provision for terminal facilities to handle expeditiously the large and rapidly growing traffic of our country. So large has been the increase of traffic that terminal facilities are outgrown in capacity in from ten to twenty years. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company during the past five years has expended over one hundred million dollars to provide passenger terminals in New York City alone, and the Xew York Central road is engaged in a similiar enterprise at the present time. The vast expenditures add ^but little to the return for the service SAMUEL M. FELTON, '73 239 rendered, which is based on the distance hauled between terminals, but it adds greatly to the cost of transportation and much to the convenience of the public. The introduction of labor saving devices in the handling of freight in large freight stations and on export and import docks by means of me- chanical devices has greatly reduced the .unit cost of this class of service Within the past year a large freight station has been erected in St. Louis for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway, in which all freight will be handled by means of an electric telpherage system, the use of hand trucks being entirely abolished. The use of- electric trucks for handling baggage and freight has been put in use on a number of railroads. On the Erie Railroad twenty of these trucks have been put in use on the piers of that company in Jersey City. Their use has already shown a saving of 30 per cent of the cost of handling freight over the previous method of handling by hand trucks. The success of the iron and steel industry in this country is largely due to the progress made in the transportation, loading and unloading of ore. The development of ore traffic has been greatly enhanced by the con- struction of loading docks. The first dock was built in 1860 at Marquette, Michigan, and was the model from which all the great ore docks of the northwest have since been built. The ore was brought down from the mines on sledges in the winter and transported by lake as soon as naviga- tion opened. The docks are now arranged so that boats are loaded along- side. The ore is brought from the mines in railway cars and dumped into chutes. From the chutes it flows by gravity into the vessels. By this principle, it is now possible to load boats of 10,000 tons capacity in one hour. At the present time there are fifty-eight docks with a total com- bined capacity of over one million gross tons of ore, located at the head of Lake Superior. The loading of boats from the docks at the head of the lakes was a com- paratively simple matter, but the unloading of the vessels at destination was a tedious and expensive process. For years, the material was unloaded from the hold of the vessels entirely by hand. Later it was hoisted to the deck by horse power and dumped into barrows and wheeled to shore. In 1867, horse power was abandoned and small hoisting engines were used, but it was still necessary to wheel the material from the deck of vessels to shore. In 1880, the first successful unloading device by mechanical means was developed at Cleveland, Ohio, by which the construction of a cable-way on which trolleys carrying a ton ore bucket traveled, the bucket 240 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS being raised and lowered into the hold of the vessel by a single drum steam-engine. The buckets were filled by hand in the hold of the vessel. This type of machine was a great improvement over the old methods, but could only cover a limited storage pile. The next machine used was a 180 foot structure bridge span, with both its supporting piers mounted on wheels so that the machine could be moved along the length of the dock. These machines were later improved upon by increasing the length by a rear cantilever so that ore could be stored in two parallel piles, one under the main span with a capacity of about two hundred and twenty tons per lineal foot and one under which the cantilever projection, with about the same capacity, making about four hundred and fifty tons capacity per lineal foot of dock. Even with these improved means, it was still necessary to fill the buckets in the hold of the vessel by hand, which co>st about thirteen cents per ton, and the cost of handling ore from the vessels on to the stor- age piles ranged fron cne to two cents per ton. The problem of reducing hand labor in the unloading of boats be- came such an important factor that mechanical means for loading the buckets resulted in the invention of the grab bucket in 1900, the first successful grab bucket equipment being erected in Chicago in that year. This introduced a radical change in the design of the plants, and also in the design of the boats. Up to this time the material had been handled in tubs of about one ton capacity. The grab bucket has been increased in size until now grab buckets from five to fifteen tons capacity are in suc- cessful use. With the grab bucket no men were needed in the vessel for successful operation; hand filling tubs were dispensed with, and from the old tedious process of unloading vessels by hand at a cost of from fifteen to twenty-five cents per ton, with the use of modern unloading machinery a cargo of 9,306 gross tons has been unloaded in fifteen hours and thirty minutes at a cost of 1.11 cents per ton. The use of the gravity yard for assorting cars has become recognized on American railways as a rapid, economical and efficient method of switching cars as compared with the old system, or what is known as "flat" switching. The capacity of a single classification yard of this type is from 3,000 to 4,000 cars in twenty-four hours by the use of one engine and switching crew as compared with five engines and crews in flat switching. A plan showing a typical gravity yard will be found in the illustration on page 241. SAMUEL M. FELTON, '73 241 TRAFFIC The classifying and prescribing of rates for the transportation of freight and passengers, and the development of the business of the railway, comprise the principal functions of the traffic department. Recent years have brought about radical changes in the conditions under which this branch of the service must work. Formerly, the rail- ways were permitted tc make rates which would secure for them the Plan Bast Bound Solid Train 5fara FIG. 6 maximum amount of traffic, and the wholesale and retail principle which applies to every other line of business was followed to a greater or less extent by the railways in their rate making. Under existing State and Federal laws, undue discrimination is not only prohibited hetween indi- viduals, but between localities as well. These same laws and the rulings of the various Commissions in the matter of publication of tariffs and notices to the public covering freight and passenger rates have largely increased not only the burden but the expenses of the traffic department. 242 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS At the same time the efficiency of the Department has very much in- creased. With the abolition of rebates and special concessions, it is placed upon a firm basis and given an opportunity to promote the betterment of the service. The location of industries which will contribute to the upbuilding of the tonnage of carriers, is an important part of the work to which much time and attention is given. The organization of industrial and immigration bureaus has been pro- ductive of much good to both the country and the railways, and has been the means of building up large industrial centers and increasing the pros- perity of communities. The introduction of interline tickets for the transportation of pas- sengers, and through routes and joint rates for freight shipments, has proven of great benefit to the general public. The establishment of fast freight lines between large shipping cen- ters has brought about a system of freight transportation which is un- equaled in any other country in the world. GROWTH OF TRAFFIC ON PENNSYLVANIA KAILROAD The progress and development of American railways and the applica- tion of scientific practice in their management is well illustrated on the Pennsylvania Eailroad. From the very beginning its policy has been to intrust its management to men of scientific training. A diagram is herewith presented showing the tonnage and revenue per ton mile for freight traffic and the number of passengers handled and the revenue per passenger mile, for the period 1865 to 1910. 1865. 1910. Tons of freight moved 1 mile ... 452,183,478 20,297,992,333 Average gross receipts per ton mile ... 2.715c. 0.583c. Average expenses per ton mile 2 347 c 412 c. Net receipts per ton mile 368 c 171 c. 4 The average expenses per ton mile in 1910 were only one-sixth the cost in 1865, and the net receipts about one-half. The decrease in freight rates from 1865 to 1910 on the Pennsylvania Railroad indicates that if the average gross revenue per ton mile of 1865 had remained the same from that year to 1910, the increase in freight revenue alone on that road would have been $6,778,793,587.61. This amount is equal to about ten times the present capitalization of the Penn- sylvania Eailroad Company. SAMUEL M. FELTON, >?3 243 EAILWAY ASSOCIATIONS In the early days of railway operation each independent road con- ducted its affairs according to rules and regulations peculiarly 4ts- own. PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD - PASSENGER BUSINESS 33,075,856,013 @ .03748 = $881,444,533.21 666,565,889.38 314,878,633.83 Passengers One Mile 1865 to 1910 Total Revenue 18C5 to 1910 Difference Year Ave. Revenue and Expenses per Passenger per Mile in Cents Millions of Passengers One Mile FIG. 7 As railway mileage and traffic increased and the interchange of traffic be- came necessary, associations were formed for the purpose of developing uniform rules and regulations for the purpose of promoting the efficiency and safety of operation. 244 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS The results secured through the action of these associations have es- tablished a uniform and scientific basis for conducting the vast transporta- tion business of this country. PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD. FREIGHT BUSINESS Tons One Mile 18tJ5to MO 339,361,569,671 @ .02715 =$8,943,166,616.57 Total Revenue 1865 to 1910 2,163,373,028.96 Difference.. _ 6,778,793,587.61 Years. Average Revenue and Expenses per Ton per Mile in uents 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0,8 0.9 1.0 1.11.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.02.12.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2. Years. Millions of Tons One Mile. 2000 4000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 180CO 20000 1865 1870 1875 1880 1890 1895 1900 1905 1910 FIG. 8 There are at present over twenty railway associations, national in their character, devoted to subjects connected with the operation of our rail- ways. Among the most important of these are The American Railway SAMUEL M. FELTON, '73 245 Association, The Master Car Builders' Association, The American Eailway Master Mechanics' Association, the American Eailway Engineering Associ- ation, The Association of Transportation and Car Accounting Officers and The Association of American Eailway Accounting Officers. A brief ac- count of the purpose of each of the above organizations is given to indicate their character and scope and the extent to which they have contributed toward placing the transportation business upon a sound basis. THE AMERICAN EAILWAY ASSOCIATION This association had its origin in 1872 and was known as " The General Time Convention," the object of which was semi-annual meetings for the arangement of schedules of through passenger trains between the east and west and intermediate connections. The first important co- operative work of this body was the detailed system of Standard Time adopted November 18, 1883, in the United States and Canada. Previous to that date, every railway ran its trains by the local time of the city where its headquarters were located or some other arbitrary standard. There were over fifty standards of time in use, each differing from the others. On the above date, these were resolved into four standards, based upon Greenwich meridian time, with a difference of one hour between them. Cities and towns throughout the country generally conformed to the new standard until now it is almost universal throughout this country. Prior to 1883, the hand, lamp, whistle, color and bell cord signalling in use on railways varied greatly. In some instances, the signals in use on one road would convey exactly the opposite meaning on adjoining roads. A code of uniform train signals was adopted November 16, 1884. Many other subjects of railway operation were harmonized and made uni- form, and in April, 1891, the name of the Time Convention was changed to The American Eailway Association, and its object extended to include "the discussion and recommendation of methods for the management and operation of American railways." Its action is recommendatory and not binding on its members. Meetings are held semi-annually. The work of the association is mainly accomplished through committees. The standing committees of the association embrace the following: Transportation; Maintenance; Electrical Working; Belations between Eailroads; Car Service; Safe Transportation of Explosives; Interchange of Freight Cars. The important work performed by the association includes a Standard Code of Train Eules, governing the movement of trains; Block Signals 246 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMEEICAN BAILWAYS and Interlocking Eules; Per Diem Kule, providing for the use of cars by shippers delayed in loading or unloading; Physical Examination of Em- ployees, and many other matters concerned with the operation of railways, which have been adopted by over ninety- five per cent of the mileage of American railways. This association cooperates with other railway associations in its work. THE MASTER CAR BUILDERS' ASSOCIATION This association was organized in 1867 and has for its object " the advancement of knowledge concerning the construction, repair and ser- vice of railroad cars, to bring about uniformity and interchangeability in their parts and to adjust the mutual interests growing out of their inter- change and repair." Its action is recommendatory and not binding upon its members. Meetings are held annually. A code of rules has been es- tablished and uniformly adopted by its members, governing the condition of and repairs to freight cars. Each company is required to give the same care to foreign cars in its possession as to its own cars. Cars offered in interchange must be accepted unless defective, as specified in the rules. The methods of making repairs and billing against owners of cars, with schedules of charges for labor and materials, are prescribed. A Com- mittee on Arbitration settles disputes arising under the rules. This association established the standards for automatic couplers now in universal use. It has prescribed standards for construction and use of cars which are invaluable. THE AMERICAN EAILWAY MASTER MECHANICS' ASSOCIATION This association was organized in 1868. Its objects are the advance- ment of knowledge concerning the principles of construction, repair and service of the rolling stock of railways. Its work is done through com- mittees which take up such questions as coal consumption of locomotives, standards of locomotive construction, specification and tests for boiler tubes, air brake and signal construction, equipment and appliances for shops and power houses and safety appliances for locomotives. Through the work of this association the efficiency of American locomotives, their construction, repair and maintenance, has been perfected. SAMUEL M. FELTON, '73 L 247 AMERICAN RAILWAY ENGINEERING ASSOCIATION This association was organized in 1899. Its object is the economical location, construction, operation and maintenance of railways. The work is accomplished through nineteen standing committees covering the follow- ing subjects: Roadway, Ballast, Ties, Rail, Track, Buildings, Wooden Bridges and Trestles, Masonry, Signs, Fences and Crossings, Signals and Interlocking, Records and Accounts, Rules and Organization, Water Ser- vice, Yards and Terminals, Iron and Steel Structures, Economics of Rail- way Location, Wood Preservation, Electricity, Conservation of Natural Resources. This association has performed a large amount of work in the estab- lishing of standards for maintenance of way and track structures and prin- ciples of practice covering the maintenance of way department. THE ASSOCIATION OF TRANSPORTATION AND CAR ACCOUNTING OFFICERS. This association was formed in May, 1904, by the consolidation of the International Association of Car Accountants and Car Service Officers, organized in 1876, and the Railway Transportation Association, organ- ized in 1899. Its object is to promote improvements in methods of car ser- vice, car accounting and transportation. It provides a system of compila- tion of statistics of car movements and records of interchange of cars between railways. Since the value of a freight car is based upon its average earnings of from $2.00 to $3.00 per day, the importance of this regulation and accounting system is evident. THE ASSOCIATION OF RAILWAY ACCOUNTING OFFICERS This association was organized in 1888. Its objects are to better generally the conducting of the accounts of transportation lines; to aid and secure a more perfect means of determining balances between the com- panies and a prompt settlement therefor ; uniformity in the adjustment of joint acounts; systematic settlement of claims between carriers; system* atizing collection of freight charges at competing points; uniformity in governmental reports required of railroads, and a general systematization of railway accounts. This association has cooperated with the Interstate Commerce Com- mission in formulating a classification of accounts for railways and is largely responsible for the classification now in effect. In addition to the above associations, there are many others dealing 248 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMEEICAN RAILWAYS with special subjects of railway work, such as the Association of Eailway Telegraph Superintendents, having to do with the improvement to tele- graph service; the Train Dispatchers' Association of America, which pre- scribes the best methods of moving trains by telegraph; The Association of Railway Surgeons, which has for its object the development and im- provement of railway surgery; The National Association of Car Service Managers, which has for its object the promotion of methods for the prompt movement of freight cars in interchange with railways, and in loading and unloading by shippers; The Eailway Signal Association, which has for its object the advancement of knowledge concerning the design, construc- tion, maintenance and operation of railway signal appliances; The Associ- ation of General Passenger and Ticket Agents, which has provided a system of interline coupon tickets; The American Association of General Bag- gage Agents, which has devised a system of transportation of baggage with a view to securing greater efficiency and uniformity in practice and facili- tating the prompt handling of baggage ; The Association of Railway Claim Agents, which has prescribed means for the investigation of claims and their prompt adjustment; and many other minor railway organizations, all of which have promoted the general efficiency of railway service. The progress made in the period referred to shows how carefully and sytematically the development of the railway business of this country has been conducted. No other industry of such magnitude can show as great advancement during the past sixty years. It is hoped this paper may be filed in the archives of the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology and that at the centenary celebration of the Institute, some graduate then engaged in railway management, may be persuaded to write the history of railway development up to that time, when some interest in a comparative way may attach to this document. SAMUEL M. FELTON, '73 249 1850 PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 15000 Lbs. Weight on Trucks (Approx.) 30000 Lbs . Weight, Total (Approx.) 45000 Lbs . Tractive Effort (Approx.) 3750 Lbs. Boiler Pressure(Approx.) 100 Lbs. FIG. 9 1850 FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 28000 Lbs. Weight on Trucks (Approx.)- -19000 Lbs. Weight, Total ( Approx.) 45000 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 6500 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) 100 Lbs. FIG. 10 250 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS 1860 PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 40675 Lbs. Weight on Trucks (Approx.) 20125 Lbs. Weight, Total (Approx.). 63800 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 10170 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) 120 Lbs. FIG. 11 1860 FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE I* 23V H Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 49000 Lbs. Weight on Trucks ( Approx.). _ .18000 Lbs. Weight, Total (Approx,) 67000 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 12250 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) 120 Lbs. FIG. 12 SAMUEL M. FELTON, '73 251 1870 PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE a Weight on Drivers (Approx.). _. __.49000 Lbs. Weight on Trucks (Approx.) 26000 Lbs. Weight, Total (Approx.) 75000 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 12350 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) ^125 Lbs. FIG. 13 1870 - FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 79000 Lbs. Weight on Trucks (Approx.). . . . 9000 Lbs. Weight. Total (Approx .).... 88000 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 19750 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.).... 125 Lbs. FIG. 14 252 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS T <> 1880 PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE Weight oa Drivers (Approx.) 55585 Lbs. Weight oa Trucks (Approx.) 34175 Lbs. Weight, Total (Approx.) 79760 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 13896 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) 140 Lbs. Fro. 15 T -^^ 1880 FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE i f i ^ 138 Tu 138 Tubes 2HDia. Weight oa Drivers (Approx.) 82700 Lbs. Weight oa Trucks (Approx.). -.13000 Lbs. Weight, Total (Approx.) 95700 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 20675 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) 125 Lbs. FIG. 16 SAMUEL M. FELTON, '73 253 1890 PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 77200 Lbs. Weight on Trucks (Approx.) 35000 Lbs. Weight, Total (Approx.) 112200 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 19300 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) 160 Lbs. FIG. 17 1890 FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE -1 ^-LsP u ^ ^ ^6^-40^55* ' >H 55* 4*- ~ -56- - -^f- - -55- 4 s 90" *\ Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 113000 Lbs. Weight on Trucks ( Approx. )__. 15600 Lbs. Weight, Total (Approx.) 128600 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 28250 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) 140 Lbs. FIG. 18 254 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMEEICAN EAILWAYS 1900- PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE Lp 315_Tubes_2J}ia.- K~44~ / o "-"T^ ' lu~i J Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 109000 Lbs. Weight on Trucks (Approx.) 67600 Lbs. Weight, Total (Approx.) Tractive Effort (Approx.) 27250 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) FIG. 19 176600 Lbs. 205 Lbs. 1900-FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 160000 Lbs. Weight on Trucks (Approx.) 20000 Lbs. Weight, Total (Approx.) 180000 Lbs. 3tive Effort (Approx.) 40000 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) 305 L bs. FIG. 20 SAMUEL M. FELTON, '73 255 1910 -PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 178500 Lbs. Weight on Trucks (Approx.)___93500 Lbs. Weight, Total ( Approx. ).__ 272000 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 44625 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.).__ 205 Lbs. FIG. 21 1910 FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE T Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 216450 Lbs. Weight on Trucks ( Approx. )__ 24495 Lbs. Weight, Total (Approx.).. .240945 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 54110 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) 205 Lbs. FIG. 22 256 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS 1910 SPECIAL PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 210000 Lbs. Weight on Trucks (Approx.). ,.75000 Lbs. Weight, Total (Approx.)- -.285000 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 51720 Lbs. Boiler Pressure ( Approx. )._. 300 Lbs. FIG. 23 SANTA-FE SPECIAL MALLET LOCOMOTIVE Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 550000 LTos. Weight on Trucks (Approx.)___66000 Lbs. Weight, Total ( Approx. )__ 616000 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 137500 LIDS. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) 225 Lbs. FIG. 24 SAMUEL M. FELTOtt, '73 257 Cylinders li'Dia. x 15"Stroke SOUTHERN PACIFIC LOCOMOTIVE NO. 1 , Boiler 34"Dia. 88 Tubes 2"Dia. Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 18500 Lba. Weight on Trucks (Approx.) 30500 Lbs. Weight, Total (Approx.) 39000 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) 4035 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) 135 Lbs. FIG. 25 r SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPOUND MALLET CONSOLIDATED LOCOMOTIVE 95.9H J^olaLLength of Engine and Tender Weight on Drivers (Approx.) 394700 Lbs. Weight on Trucks (Approx.). .43300 Lbs. Weight, Total (Approx.) 430000 Lbs. Tractive Effort (Approx.) ___ 94880 Lbs. Boiler Pressure (Approx.) 300 Lbs. FIG. 26 258 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS TYPICAL PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVES 1850 TO 1910 Weights and Tractive Effort in Thousands of Pounds Steam Pressure in Pounds. 50 100 150 300 Weight of Engine Weight on Drivers FIG. 27 SAMUEL M. FELTON, '73 259 TYPICAL FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVES 1850TO 1910. Weights and Tractive Effort in Thousands of Pounds Steam Pressure in Pounds. 50 100 150 300 FIG. 28 200 SCIENTIFIC MANAOKMKNT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS 1850 -PASSENGER COACH cn n cu CD a m o en en n en n en n a o n a a n n CD n en n o a CD Length 32 '0" Width 8' 6" Seating Capacity Wood Construction Throughout FIG. 20 1860 PASSENGER COACH E 3* HHH H h FEE h Hh i__ h : 13 0) ^uu uu nn uuuu nnnn n n U n 1 ILX x_ m nnnT-Li Length 43V Width 9':" Seating Capacitj 58 Wood Construction Throughout FIG. 30 SAMUEL M. FELTON, 73 1870 PASSENGER COACH uuuuuuuuuuuu ,n n n n n n n n n n n Length 43'4" Width 9 3 Seating Capacity Wood Construction Throughout FIG. 31 1880 -PASSENGER COACH iiaiaaiaiaaa BBQBBBBBBBBBBBBB UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Length iG'8" Widtn 9'tt" FIG. 32 Seating Capacity. 64 2()2 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN KAILWAYS 1890 PASSENGER COACH 1 is U UUUUUUUUUULJL|^ n nn nnnnnnnnnrrb Length. t>3'0' 'Width. . 9 '8" Seating Capacity 62 Narrow Vestibule FIG. 33 1900 PASSENGER COACH D A JUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn I, Length auside) 78' 0" Width (Inside) lO'o" Seating Capacity ! Full Vestibule FIG. 34 SAMUEL M. FELTON, '73 263 1910 PASSENGER COACH ' Ljuuuuuuu uuuuuuLJUUu nnnnnnnn nmnrmnnnrm Length (Inside) 81 4 Width (Inside) 10 Seating Capacity. Full Vestibule Stool Construction Throughout FIG. 35- \ 1850 BOX CAR .\\ !' >'/ ^^ // Length (Inside) 2/6 ^ // // \\ / ' / v <\ //' Weight 13000 \^ Capacity ..16000 (3 I ^^^ J ( ^^^__^pp] ) \__ 2 \^ ^/ xr5 v_^y cs= i FIG. 36 F \ ^ \ \\ \ \ \v \\ // /' '' '/ '/ 1 1 Y> // 1 860 BOX CAR \\ X \\ ,'; Length (Inside) 26'o" \\ \\ // Weight 16000 \\ '\^ J! Capacity. 20000 _ _ s '-l y -- - - =q rS =L s - ^-^H \\^^-^^^/^ ~^3^F\) ( ^^-^^51 ) v ^/ ^ y V ^/ V / FIG. 37 264 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS u^ X / /j 1 ^ \ v \\ // j V- v //: ' / 1 v \ \ \\ ft I 1 f f ' '/ \ \\ \\ ,'/ N // / ' ' ^ \ ^. v 1 f ( /'' 1 V A _ x ^ <---.^^---l. "1 s^j* itf^ ^^^ j^^- ^^^ ^4=,^ k 1870 BOX CAR Length (Inside) 28'd' Weight , 19000 Capacity 24000 FIG. 38 1880 BOX CAR Length (Inside)._.. 30'0" Weight 35000 Lbs. Capacity 30000 Lbs. FIG. 39 1890 BOX CAR Length (inside )....34'0 tt Weight___. 31100 Lbs. Capacity.___. 50000 Lbs. FIG. 40 SAMUEL M. FELTON, '73 2(>r> 1 900 BOX CAR 9TiT Length (Inside) .__.36'0' Weii?M.__ 32300 Lbs. FIG. 41 Capacity (JOGOOLbs. 1910 BOX CAR Length (Inside).. ..40'Q" Weight -..45300 Lbs. Steel Underfrarae FIG. 42 Capacity..-lOOOOO Lbs. 26(5 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS OLD TYPE COAL CAR Length (Inside) .10 '2" Width (Inside) S'll" Weight. 7393 Lbs. Capacity. leooo Lbs. Timber Construction Throughout. FIG. 43 70 TON COAL CAR Length (Inside). ..to'3" Width (Inside )._ ,9 ( 6" Weight _50TOO Lbs. Capacity. .140000 Lbs. Steel Construction Throughout FIG. 44 SECTION D. RECENT INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IMPROVEMENTS IN EFFICIENCY OF ELECTRIC LIGHTING PROPERTIES AND WHAT THE PUBLIC GAINS THEREBY. By WILLIAM H. BLOOD, Jr., '88, Technical Expert, Stone & Webster, Boston, Mass. THE expression that " we make our profits from what our fathers wasted," is not a platitude. It is a scientific statement capable of demon- stration. It is particularly applicable to the electric lighting industry and we are not obliged to go back even to the days of our fathers, for all of the important improvements have been made in the past twenty years. These improvements have not been brought about by accidents or by revolutionary inventions or by chance discoveries, but have been secured through careful study by educated men applying scientific methods to the working out of definite problems. That some of the results accomplished are almost miraculous, we are forced to admit; but that they are hap- hazard we emphatically deny. At the present time, when so much is being said about " efficiency" and "scientific management," and when the public service corporation is accused of being "greedy" and "unscrupulous," it may be well to spend a few moments in considering what the application of science to the electric light- ing industry has accomplished and to what extent the public has been benefited thereby. In 1888, two of us, for our thesis work, tested the largest dynamo that the Institute of Technology possessed, and found the highest ratio of elec- trical output to mechanical input to be about 70 per cent. To-day, machines of this size operate at about 85 per cent, while larger units give efficiencies of 95 or even as high as 97 per cent. Assuming that this improvement in efficiency amounts to 25 per cent on the average (which is a low estimate), it would mean that we are to-day saving 25 per cent of the fuel that we should have burned had there been no improvement in electrical efficiency since the year 1888. Applying this figure to the industry as a whole and basing our estimate upon figures given in the census on the cost of fuel used by the electric light and electric railway plants in the United States, we prove, without fear 269 270 IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTEIC LIGHTING PEOPEETIES of contradiction, that our electrical engineers have brought about the con- servation, for future generations, of some $12,000,000 worth of coal per year, and this solely on account of a single item, improvement in the efficiency of electric generating machines. This improvement has been accomplished partly through the increase in the size of the units. The first commercial electric light plant in Boston, built in 1886, contained six machines having an aggregate capacity of about 230 horse-power. Two of them were of 15 horse-power and four of them about 50 horse-power. In 1888 the largest electric generators were of 100 horse-power, and they were regarded as monsters. In fact, one machine of approximately this size was universally called a " Jumbo." It was thought that the limit in size had been reached when we built machines of 100 horse- power ; in fact the writer of this article, when it was planned to build a 200 horse-power machine, protested, on the ground that if anyone required such a large amount of power he could readily use two 100 horse-power machines. To-day, 15,000 horse-power machines are common and we are beginning to instal units of 25,000 horse-power. This simply represents the evolution which the trained engineer has brought about. The new 25,000 horse-power generators, besides being more efficient, are much more reliable and are little if any more complicated than the older and smaller machines. Only a few days ago, it was my privilege to examine a plant built in 1893, in which the original installation consisted of several 3,500 KW engine driven units. A year or two later the plant was enlarged by adding 5,000 KW turbines. To-day, the 5,000 KW machines are being replaced and upon the same floor space are being installed 15,000 KW units. These 15,000 KW units occupy less than one-half the room occupied by the original 3,500 KW units, which means that the operating company is get- ting eight times the capacity on the same floor space. One of the early electric power plants with which I had some connec- tion contained 20 dynamos of 100 horse-power capacity each, which gave a total capacity of 2,000 horse-power, and the floor space required for the entire plant, including boilers and engines, as well as dynamos, was 9,000 square feet, which is equivalent to 4.5 square feet per horse-power of capacity. This same company is to-day building, under the supervision of some of Tech's illustrious alumni, a new station which is to have an ultimate capacity of 140,000 horse-power and which will require but slightly in excess of one-half a square foot per horse-power of capacity. The first plant represented an investment of approximately $225 per horse-power, while in the latter case it will be about $45 per horse-power. Had there been no improvement made along this line, and had the company WILLIAM H. BLOOD, JR., '88 271 been obliged to increase its capital account on the basis of $225 per horse- power up to its present total capacity, it would have required an additional investment of some $12,500,000, which would entail additional annual in- terest charges of $750,000. But, as a matter of fact, this additional charge is obviated because the electrical and steam machinery has been improved and the costs of the plant have been reduced. In the early days dynamos were of the belt driven type, which means that the power was transmitted from the engines to the dynamos by heavy leather belts. In many cases the engines were belted to long shafts and the power again transmitted by other belts from these shafts to the dynamos. All this entailed not only large losses of power but heavy maintenance charges. This, in recent years, is eliminated by having the dynamos directly connected to the engines which drive them. Nor is this all. Instead of the simple, high speed engines which generally racked themselves to pieces, we now have compound condensing engines running at low speed with better than clocklike regularity. A still further improvement in power plant design requires the in- stallation of steam turbines of either the horizontal or vertical type. These are self-contained rotating units which utilize the expansion of the steam to convert potential into kinetic energy, thus obtaining much higher efficiencies than is possible with prime movers of reciprocating types. The steam tur- bine, besides requiring much less room, as has been shown, uses higher steam pressure and higher vacuum in its condensers, and is, consequently, more efficient, and because of its uniform rotating motion is better adapted to the generation of electricity than the old reciprocating engines. There has been a great development in the boilers used in power sta- tions. Instead of units of 100 to 125 horse-power, to-day 600 horse-power is in general use and boilers up to 2,000 horse-power have been made. In the old tubular boilers, 80 to 100 Ibs. was the common pressure used. This was increased to 125, then 150, and in the water tube boilers to-day 200 is generally used. Improvements in superheaters, combustion chambers, auto- matic stoking devices, condensers, ash and coal handling machinery, ap- paratus for analyzing flue gases, besides other miscellaneous devices, have all had their effect in cheapening the process of converting the heat units of coal into steam. Turning again to the electrical end of the power station, the switch- board of to-day, though a much more elaborate affair, is, when once installed with its remote control switches and automatic regulating and protecting devices, simple of manipulation and arranged to give the plant the greatest flexibility of operation. 272 IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC LIGHTING PROPERTIES With the increase in size of the units and with the development of the modern switchboard, has come a decrease in the number of operators needed, so that in the dynamo room in a plant of 5,000 horse-power capacity to-day there would be required but two or three men on a shift, while two decades ago eight to ten men at least would have been required. Now let us see how all these improvements affect the operation of a power station. We find, in looking up the back records, that in the early days it took, as a rule, ten or more pounds of coal to produce one kilowatt hour. In many modern stations it requires only three pounds of coal per kilowatt hour, and in some cases even less than this. This means that only 30 per cent as much coal as was demanded twenty years ago is now needed to produce a unit of electricity. What effect does this have on the cost of electricity? Take for a con- crete example an electric light plant of 5000 KW capacity. Its first cost, including distributing lines, would be approximately $1,250,000, and under ordinary conditions it would have an earning power of about $312,000. The operating expenses, including taxes and depreciation, would be, say 65 per cent of this, or $202,800, which would leave for interest on investment and reserves $109,200. Now suppose that instead of having a power station which runs on three pounds of coal per kilowatt hour, it was like those in operation in 1888 and consumed ten pounds of coal per kilowatt hour. With the same output over 300 per cent more coal would be required; or, without boring you with the details of calculation, instead of producing a return of 8% per cent on the investment (which we assume is the same in both cases) there would a deficit of about 6 per cent ; or, if you please, stating the results in another way, while the company has been making systematic reductions in the rates from 16 cents per kilowatt hour down to 10 cents per kilowatt hour, its stockholders have had to be content with a constant and low rate of return upon their investments. If you will study the records of the electric lighting companies given in the reports of the Massachusetts Gas and Elec- tric Light Commissioners, you will find that this is exactly what has taken place in this State at least. During the last twenty years the rate of return on the money actually invested has not changed appreciably. As a matter of fact, it has decreased rather than increased, for electrical properties are fast getting out of the speculative class and are therefore satisfying their owners with a slightly lower rate of return. A specific instance of this in the history of one of the larger Massa- chusetts companies may be of interest. In the first ten years of the com- pany's existence, it paid dividends netting between 5 and 6 per cent and the WILLIAM H. BLOOD, JR., >88 273 rate for electricity was then 25 cents per kilowatt hour. During the past few years the return has been about 4^ P er cent, whereas the rates have been cut more than 50 per cent and now the maximum charge is only 11 cents per kilowatt hour. The effect, therefore, of all these improvements which have been brought about by careful scientific study and development, has been, by increasing the efficiency of the power stations, to reduce the cost of electricity to the public. But we have not told the whole story yet. The development of alter- nating current apparatus has enabled the electric lighting companies to dis- tribute their product from the power station to the consumers at a much less cost and has made it possible to transmit it for distances which were not dreamed of in the early days. Twenty years ago what little electricity was used was distributed by direct current and the radius of activity was seldom more than half a mile, or a mile at the most. This. forced the generating stations to be placed upon expensive land near the heart of the city, and since the voltage on a direct current system is limited it meant a large loss of power in transmission and required a large investment in copper. However, this has all been changed by the development of alternating current ap- paratus, and we now have high voltage transmission and distribution at a greatly reduced cost. The introduction of this system has also made it pos- sible to locate factories, mills and shops anywhere, instead as in the old days at or near the source of power. This one fact alone has had a wonder- fully beneficial effect upon the entire industrial problem of the country. High voltage transmission has further enabled us to utilize what were heretofore useless and almost inaccessible waterfalls. Without this develop- ment, Los Angeles would be forced to burn thousands of barrels of oil each day instead of using the mountain streams two hundred miles away for mak- ing her streets at night almost as brilliant as in the day. But for this development Seattle would not be able to utilize the melting snow and ice from the glaciers of Mt. Rainier to operate all her street cars and other public utilities. Without high-tension alternating current apparatus, Niagara power could not be transmitted and used in the Lake cities of Canada, or in Buffalo, Syracuse or Rochester. The utilization of Niagara power alone means a yearly saving of at least 2,500,000 tons of coal, or the conservation of $6,000,000 to $7,000,000 of fuel annually. The development of the high tension alternating current system has, therefore, not only been the means of reducing the cost of distributing electric power and of prevent- ing the congestion of manufactories, but has also been a great factor in con- serving our natural resources. Turn now to the apparatus by which the consumer transforms the elec- 274 IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC LIGHTING PROPERTIES tricity delivered to him into light, heat and power. Here again scientific study and research have done much to increase the efficiency of the apparatus used. The reduced price of electricity by itself, therefore, does not indicate the total saving to the consumer. We have to-day arc lamps of more than 100 per cent greater efficiency than those of a few years ago. Incandescent lamps in the early days consumed six watts of energy per candle power. This consumption was soon reduced to three watts per candle, where it remained for many years and seemed to baffle further reduction, but after years of scientific experimentation this has been reduced to one and one-half watts per candle, and to-day we have the Tungsten lamp which consumes only one watt per candle, and a still further improvement is promised in a lamp which is to consume not over one-half a watt per candle. To-day we have in common use electric heaters, stoves, irons and other special heating devices, which a few years ago were commercially impossible. The general adoption of these household conveniences has been brought about, not altogether by the reduction in the cost of electricity but to a large extent by the development of efficient and durable heating elements, which, thanks to our heating engineers, are now sold at reasonable prices. Motors for transforming electricity into mechanical power have been perfected and their efficiency is now from 20 to 50 per cent better than in the early days, and they are so designed and constructed that they may be applied directly to the machinery which they are to drive, thus obviating the expense of shafting, pulleys and belting. While all of the matters thus far discussed relate to improvements which have taken place in the physical apparatus of the property, we must not fail to give due credit for the development of the electric lighting indus- try, and for the reduction in the cost of light, heat and power, to the scien- tific management of electric lighting properties, which have been specialized to a remarkable degree and carried on with most satisfactory results for many years, in spite of the fact that the term " efficiency engineer " is just becoming known to the public. The improvements in electric lighting prop- erties have been due fully as much to the trained engineer who operates the property as to the engineer who plans it or who designs the appartus used in it. It is the operating engineer who in many cases has pointed out oppor- tunities for betterments and has suggested to the designing engineer where economies and improvements could be made in the physical apparatus. It is the operating engineer who by careful study of men, machinery and methods has brought about economies in the production of electricity which have re- sulted in reduced costs. He has scoured the country over for keen, careful men and has enrolled upon his staff the pick of the country. He has in- WILLIAM H. BLOOD, JK., >88 275 structed them in their particular duties and has educated them so that they have become experts in their lines. He has selected the best machinery and apparatus that could be designed, and when changes in the art have dictated he has been quick to reconstruct his plant so as to produce maximum results at minimum cost. He has tested and continues to test the coal which he uses to make sure that it contains the number of heat units which he pays for. He weighs every pound of coal which is put under the boilers and he watches like a cat the electric meters in his power station, in order that he may know at all times the exact output of the station. If the coal consumption is too high, he investigates and determines where the waste occurs. He an- alyzes all his costs and compares them with the results of previous years and with the records of other companies. Through a study of his costs, he is able to determine a system of rates based upon costs which is equitable and non-discriminatory. He has, in establishing these rates, automatically im- proved his load factor, or, in non-technical language, has increased the aver- age use of his plant and this has necessarily brought about lower unit costs of the article produced. He has classified his costs as fixed and variable, the fixed including interest, taxes, insurance, depreciation and the like, the variable including fuel, labor, maintenance, etc., and by this means has been able to differentiate his customers, basing rates not only on the actual amount of current used but upon the cost of the plant which is to be re- served for the special service. By the use of proper meters, he has made it possible for his customer to buy a measured service and so get away from the unjust and unscientific flat rate system of charging. He has established a nomenclature of his own, and methods of analysis peculiar to the industry. Whoever heard of a load curve, load factor, maxi- mum demand or diversity factor until the trained engineer showed that, in studying the costs of the various kinds of service and establishing equitable rates, these were necessary. The operating engineer has not only brought about a great reduction in the cost of electrical energy itself, but as a result of a scientific investigation of the customer's needs he has effected, through the use of suitable electrical apparatus, what is in reality a still further reduction in the cost of light and power to the consumer. With his knowledge of the underlying principles of illumination he has been able to advise his customers as to the best arrangement of lights, so that besides producing artistic and pleasing effects he lias obtained the re- sults sought at minimum cost. By a study of the application of power in industrial plants, he has made further reductions in the cost of power by the use of the "direct drive." 276 IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC LIGHTING PEOPERTIES This means that the motors which transform the electrical energy into me- chanical power are of exactly the right size and speed and are connected directly to the machine which requires the power, thus eliminating all belt and other transmission losses. In many other ways he has applied his knowledge of scientific principles to the direct benefit of his customers. The wonderful advance which has taken place in the last twenty years in the electric lighting industry has been due to the combined efforts of the operating engineer and the designing engineer. It has been a gradual and a steady evolution and is still going on. The industry itself has not reaped all the benefits, for while the returns on electric light investments have been sure they have not been as large as the dividends which the public has re- ceived in the reduced cost of electric light and power. Twenty years ago electric lights were high priced luxuries, to-day they are inexpensive necessities. In this wonderful transformation Technology men have played no small part. The success of many electrical undertak- ings may be credited to them, for they have entered every field of the indus- try and have done much to improve the efficiency of the apparatus, to broaden the use of electricity, to reduce the cost of production, and to make what were formerly hazardous undertakings safe and sure investments. ADVENT OF ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING. By JOHN S. CODMAN, '93, Consulting Illuminating Engineer to the Holophaue Company and the National Electric Lamp Association. AT the beginning of this century illuminating engineering, practically speaking, did not exist, since methods of obtaining results in illumination were almost altogether empirical, and the question of control of light was little understood and pretty generally ignored. As a result, however, of the pioneer work of a few technically trained men, in the first years of the century, the way was paved for the establishment of the science of illumina- tion and the practice of illuminating engineering. On January 10, 1906, the Illuminating Engineering Society was or- ganized in New York City and from that date the progress of illuminating engineering has been wonderfully rapid. This society, which was originally confined to New York and started with a membership of about one hundred, has now a membership of fifteen hundred and is organized into four sections in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago. Among its members may be counted architects, oculists, consulting engineers, fixture dealers, manu- facturers of lighting appliances and individuals connected with the gas and electric companies. It is to-day practically the only society in which the competing gas and electric interests can exchange ideas on the subject of illumination to their mutual advantage. Following the organization of the Illuminating Engineering Society there appeared, two months later, in March, 1906, the first technical maga- zine devoted exclusively to illumination. In January, 1908, appeared the first number of a similar magazine in England, and in Feburary, 1909, an illuminating engineering society was organized in London. The movement, therefore, toward establishing the science of illumination on a practical basis has been a broad one and it is a matter of congratulation to the engineers of this country that its inception was in the United States. At the beginning of this movement, methods of obtaining results in illumination were most unscientific, but through the efforts of many men, illuminating engineering is now being placed on a basis almost as exact 277 278 ADVENT OF ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING (except on the aesthetic side in which exactness is neither expected nor desired) as are other branches of engineering. Five or six years ago photometric tests of light sources to ascertain the amount of light furnished and the manner in which it was distributed, were not often made and, except in a few cases, were of interest only to the scientist. At the present time such tests of their product are considered by all prominent manufacturers of lighting appliances as essential to commercial success and, in conse- quence, the results of such tests, in the form usually of photometric curves, are readily obtainable and from this and from much other data now within reach of the engineer, accurate calculations can be -made in advance as in other branches of engineering. To a considerable extent, a new terminology has been evolved and tech- nical names used only by the scientists five or six years ago, may now be seen in common use in the magazines devoted to gas, electricity and illumi- nation and may be heard in the mouths of commercial men. The term " foot-candle " for the unit of illumination is now extensively used in commercial language and the term " lumen " for the unit of light flux is rapidly coming into general use and, in all probability, will eventually be the unit in which all sources of light will be rated. At the present time illuminating engineers are concerning themselves more and more with the artistic and physiological sides of the question. The hygienic aspects of illuminating engineering in particular are at the present time obtaining steadily increasing attention, and the work along these lines in regard to schoolhouses and industrial plants is conspicuous. Here in Boston the school house commission has done excellent pioneer work toward supplying proper illumination in school houses, and in the industrial field the interest manifested is made very evident by the rapidly increasing frequency with which papers on subjects of illumination are being given before the in- dustrial associations, and by the fact that the National Manufacturers Asso- ciation has recently appointed a committee on heating, lighting and ven- tilation. An Association for the Conservation of Vision, which will enlist among its members, not only the physicians and oculists, but also the engineers and physicists, has just been formed and its organization is still another notable step in the progress of the movement. DEVELOPMENT OF GASOLINE ENGINES. By JOSEPH C. RILEY, '98, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. THE development of the gasoline engine has been more rapid than that of any other form of motor, not even excepting the steam turbine. We all recollect, not many years ago, with what curiosity we regarded the new horseless carriages upon our streets, and how we wondered whether the noisy little engines which left a smell of half -burned gasoline behind them, would ever become really desirable motors. As late as 1896, a prominent engineer wrote, in his work on the gas engine, that he had recently examined one of the strangely designed vehicles then attracting attention in France, and that in his opinion, ingenious as the carriage was, it would not come into general use unless the gasoline engine with which it was equipped were replaced by a heavy-oil engine. That was only fifteen years ago. The first part of this period of development saw radical changes in the design of these motors, but the use of light-oil had come to stay. Al- though dangerously inflammable and five times as dear as the heavier grades of petroleum burned in larger oil engines, the cleanliness of gasoline and the ease with which it can be prepared for combustion, are alone sufficient to dictate its use. The original methods of mixing, introducing and firing the explosive charge were soon changed in order to secure more reliable opera- tion throughout a greater range in speed and load. Cylinders and valves were designed to give more power. Ball-bearings and gears of a degree of perfection previously unknown were introduced, to minimize friction. But the most noticeable changes in the last few years have been largely in the nature of improvements in material and processes of manufacture, tending toward a general improvement of the engine as a machine and a simplifica- tion of its construction. New alloys of aluminum and methods of cooling them locally in the mould have brought about light, yet rigid and durable castings for frames. New steels have provided stronger shafts and connect- ing rods. Machine moulding from wax or metal patterns has produced bet- 279 280 DEVELOPMENT OF GASOLINE ENGINES ter castings of more uniform thickness and yet at lower cost than could have been produced by hand. The art of moulding the thin walls and coring the irregular jackets of cylinders,, and then casting them in iron, has indeed been revolutionized. -Castings which a few years ago would have attracted general attention as remarkable specimens of good workmanship are now so common that we pass them by without notice. The use of special jigs for holding work during cutting operations and the application of semi-auto- matic tools for machining or grinding to precise dimensions have not only produced better fitted surfaces and fully interchangeable parts, but have also reduced the time and cost of production. The gasoline engine has profited by the general rapid advance in all branches of mechanical work. Its own special improvements have been, for the most part, such as would naturally come from the thousands of ingenious designers, skilful mechanics and experienced drivers, who have tested and tried it under all possible conditions of service, on the road, on the water, and in the air. As a result, advancing by process of trial and error, the engine has reached a fair degree of perfection in two points at least. It has been made to develop greater power per unit weight than any other form of prime mover; and in reliability it has been advanced to the stage which warrants its use even for such exacting service as propelling a life-boat or driving a fire-engine. Aside from differences in general excellence of mechanical construction caused by variation in design, unquestionably there are inherent differ- ences in the power developed and in the economy of fuel consumption. A study of the results of test of automobile engines shows a wide variation in power of motors having similar dimensions and running at the same piston speed. When operated at the piston speed corresponding to maximum power (a speed usually between 1100 and 1500 feet per minute) the best engines give results nearly 50 per cent better than the poor ones. Knowing that the engines referred to are developing all that can be got out of them, we may well inquire the cause of this difference in output. But little of it can be charged to imperfection of the mechanism causing surface friction, for even the cheaper motors are well built in this respect. It is influenced by the quality and quantity of explosive mixture, the amount of compression, the time and rapidity of ignition and the timing and size of the valves. In the early days of steam engineering, information of the rate of pres- sure change in the cylinder was considered so necessary that Watt invented an instrument for recording it. A modified form of this steam engine in- dicator has played an important part in the study and improvement of steam engines ever since. With it, the cause of deficient power may readily be JOSEPH C. RILEY, '98 281 traced to its origin in faulty steam distribution, in wire drawing through too small a port, or in condensation ; without it the very fact that the power is deficient may remain unsuspected. Any attempt to secure the last refine- ment in steam engine performance without using the indicator would be like deliberately working in the dark. For internal combustion engines of mod- erate speed the indicator has been of service, though it was not needed as much as for steam engines. But the full speed of gasoline engines of the classes here considered, namely, the lightweight motors adapted to auto- mobiles, aeroplanes and small boats, is much too high for any of the ordinary commercial forms of indicators. In Germany and England, half- size indicators of the standard patterns are manufactured and sold for this work. It is said that they can^be used up to 1500 and 2000 revolutions per minute, which should be understood to mean little more than that they can be operated at such speeds without actually breaking. The natural cadence of vibration of their springs and moving parts is altogether too slow for anything like such high speeds ; the waves introduced into the dia- gram by violent explosions would be too long and might be misleading. However, at speeds from 400 to perhaps 800 R.P.M they, are very useful. What is needed is a recording mechanism with a period of vibration of high frequency, more like that of the electrical oscillograph, say between 500 and 1000 per second ; and if incorrect deductions are to be avoided, great care should be taken to insure that the indicator diagram starts from its dead points exactly in phase with the engine piston. Within the past three or four years special indicators capable of produc- ing satisfactory results at 1000 revolutions per minute and upwards have been used in research work in a few technical schools and private testing laboratories. The instruments of Nagel, Watson, and Clerk and the Hopkinson indicator, are all of the optical type. They cannot be handled successfully except by skilled observers ; in general they could not be used at all with the engine in actual service. The cylinder must be mounted on a rigid testing block and studied under artificial, ideal condi- tions. The data thus far available from such tests are merely fragmentary, but they are promising, and in time will surely be valuable. Conclusions drawn from a few isolated tests are not of much assistance. A series of tests is required, systematically conducted, with gradual changes in the one condition whose effect is to be studied and practical constancy of all other conditions affecting the result. Such investigations require a labora- tory equipped with a good dynamometer and the best apparatus that can be devised for indicating and controlling the operation of the motor. Satisfactory dynamometers of the electric cradle type and also the hydraulic 282 DEVELOPMENT OF GASOLINE ENGINES type are used by many engine builders as well as by the technical schools and automobile club laboratories, and much has been learned about the brake output of engines throughout the entire range of speed. What happens inside the engine cylinders, however, is not so well known. Between the better and the poorer designs of gasoline engines there are wide margins in power, to say nothing of fuel economy. The dynamometer tells us that they exist and that the better results are well worth striving for, but it does not show whether deficiency in power is due to constricted passages, defective ingition and combustion, or any other definite fault. Now, the scientific way to remedy a defect of any kind is to begin by in- vestigating first its magnitude and then its cause ; and the instrument adapted to such a study in the case of the gasoline engine is the indicator, in the half-size pattern, within limits, and then in the optical type. With all fast running reciprocating engines the necessity for arrang- ing the cylinders to secure regularity of driving effort and for balancing the moving parts to prevent excessive vibration is apparent. Good me- chanical balance is particularly desirable for the class of engines discussed in this paper, because the total masses corresponding to a foundation are very light, and the services in which the motors are employed are such that vibration cannot be tolerated. The best engines for automobiles, boats and aeroplanes give evidence of having been planned by men trained in the principles of dynamics, as well as in all other elements of mechani- cal design. Some builders, however, have but hazy notions on methods of balancing. In fact, they seem to associate vibration with the sudden rise in pressure due to explosion within the cylinder, as if the shaking of the frame were due to the shock of explosion. That vibration results from motion of the masses, and that it would be practically the same even if the cylinder heads were removed and the engine were motored around by power supplied at its shaft is a new idea to them. Examples are common of this lack of appreciation of physical principles among men whose knowl- edge and experience in all other branches of design and operation of small engines is very broad. There are many problems which arise in the design of machinery which cannot be solved even approximately until after the machine is built and tested. The experience gained by operation of the first few im- perfect machines then furnishes the information required for modifying and improving existing forms, in varying sizes and powers, and thus the machine is gradually perfected without the application of purely theoreti- cal reasoning. This was the case with the steam engine. Nearly all the JOSEPH C. KILEY, '98 283 radical improvements were invented and used long before they were sys- tematically tested to find out just how efficient they were or how they could be made to give better results. This history is being repeated in the de- velopment of gasoline engines. The application of scientific methods of investigating them is only just beginning. THE PROGRESS OP ELECTRIC PROPULSION IN GREAT BRITAIN By HENRY M. HOBART, '89, Consulting Engineer, London, England. I CAN" best deal with my subject by treating consecutively of the chief departments of electric propulsion. These may be broadly designated as: I. Electric Propulsion on Land. II. Electric Propulsion at Sea. I. Electric Propulsion on Land. Fifteen years ago but very few elec- tric street railways were in operation in Great Britain. The electric street railway business was, however, rapidly gathering impetus and it is now several years since the practical exhaustion of the field so far as relates to new undertakings. But little now remains to be done in this direction beyond routine extension work, and such work is altogether insufficient to be much of a consideration to electrical manufacturers. The electrical equip- ments employed for British street railways have, to a preponderating extent, been supplied by companies closely affiliated with American manufacturers and the apparatus is almost exclusively of American design. This has been a consequence of the circumstance that the work of electrifying street railways was only taken up extensively in England several years later than was the case in America. At that time (fifteen years ago), the German elec- trical industry, which has more recently had a large share of electrical work in England, had not arrived at a stage of development such that it could participate in this tramway business to any appreciable extent. At no time have any of the strictly British manufacturers of electrical machinery (with a single notable exception), ever done any large amount of work in the manufacture of electrical equipments for surface street railways. As regards underground electric railways, however, England has done valuable pioneer work. The City and South London Railway (installed some twenty-one years ago), was the earliest of London's deep-level railways, and it constituted the first link in what has now become a vast system for the underground transportation of passengers by electrically propelled trains. 284 HENRY M. HOBART, '89 285 The s} r stem has gradually been extended, during the last twelve years, until now the various underground electric railways in London constitute an eminently useful and inter-connected network reaching out to many of the remotest sections of London. Unfortunately the enormous capital cost together with the low fares necessitated by the competition of the tram- cars and motor 'buses on the surface and the still discouragingly slow growth of the traveling habit, are rendering it very difficult to so operate the tube railways as to yield any approach to an attractive return on the investment. Consequently all further developments of any importance on these lines are at present at a standstill as there is no sufficient incen- tive for embarking further capital in such undertakings. At first sight it would appear that so thickly settled a country as Eng- land, with many large cities situated close to one another, should afford an excellent field for inter-urban electric railways such as have been so ex- tensively built in America. The obstacles, however, relate largely to the excellent facilities already provided by the numerous steam-railways and the great difficulties, delays and expenses involved in dealing with the many long-established authorities, not only in obtaining the rights in the first instance but also afterwards in conforming to the many vexatious (and wanton) restrictions almost invariably imposed in England upon am- bitious innovations. The great railways of England are now keenly alive to the necessity of considering the electrification of their suburban lines and I have little doubt but that there will soon be important developments in this direction. Up to very recently the railways have been going through a discouraging period, but owing, amongst other reasons, to the beneficial effects of working agreements with one another, and the consequent elimination of a considerable amount of wasteful competition, the steam railways are, in general, now in a much more promising condition. Their suburban busi- ness has suffered badly from the competition of the 'buses and the mu- nicipally operated tramways and they have the choice either of electrifying their terminii or of practically abandoning their suburban traffic and bending their energies to the development of the longer distance traffic. Those railways which elect to follow the latter plan are ill-advised, pending further progress in electrical engineer- ing, to take electrification into account, for the steam locomo- tive is, at present, much the more appropriate agent. But in the case of railways which determine to strive to retain and extend their sub- urban traffic, the only means by which they can make it sufficiently attrac- tive is to adopt electric working of their trains. This view is coming to be 286 PROGRESS OF ELECTRIC PROPULSION IN GREAT BRITAIN widely accepted. But steam-railway engineers and officials are naturally very much perplexed when it comes to determining upon the most appro- priate amongst the two leading systems of railway electrification. While, on the one hand, they see the single-phase system widely employed in Germany, on the other hand they learn that it has not, in America, proved by any means an unqualified success, and that the continuous electricity system is now the more generally approved by the best informed Ameri- can engineers whenever it is a question of electrifying the suburban sec- tions of main-line railways. The present policy of the German financiers interested in electrical manufacturing, is to take advantage of any entering wedge offered them in the British railway situation and they are disposed to mitigate in all practical ways the heavy capital burden inevitably asso- ciated with railway electrification undertakings, and this circumstance weighs very appreciably in favor of the use of the single-phase system. But a dispassionate comparison shows that the single-phase system is, for a dense and severe suburban service, by no means so economical as the continuous electricity system, either as regards capital or working costs. For long-distance runs with trains operated at rare intervals and with infrequent stops, as also for freight service, the single-phase system would be at least as economical in most instances as the system employing con- tinuous electricity train equipments, but at the present stage of progress in the development of electrical methods, no system of electric propulsion can compete with steam-locomotive methods for services of such a char- acter. Electrification is exceedingly appropriate for suburban sections where, notwithstanding frequent stops, the trains must maintain a high schedule speed, and where the interval between the passage of successive trains is only a few minutes. For such conditions, steam-locomotive opera- tion is inherently very much inferior. But for long-distance runs with trains passing at rare intervals, steam-locomotive operation is, except in special cases, such as for lines having tunnels or heavy grades, just as un- questionably superior. Two main-line railways, the North-Eastern Railway and the Lanca- shire and Yorkshire Eailway, already have extensive sections of electrified suburban lines. For these roads the continuous electricit^y system has been adopted. On the other hand the London, Brighton and South Coast Rail- way is electrifying its suburban lines on the single-phase system and appears to have in view the complete electrification of its entire system. As there are no long runs on this system and as it has a very dense service of passen- ger trains and covers a fairly compact area, the project of complete electri- fication is eminently sound, but it would appear that the continuous HENRY M. HOBART, *89 287 electricity system would have been more appropriate, as in the case of the North-Eastern Eailway and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. The subject of the electrification of British main-line railways has re- cently been very thoroughly discussed at various meetings of British en- gineering socities. II. Electric Propulsion at Sea. Naval architects and marine en- gineers in Great Britain are quietly giving a large amount of attention to the proposition of embodying electrical apparatus in the propulsive machin- ery of ships. In view of the leading position of Great Britain as regards ship-building, the importance of this subject can, as regards its potential influence upon the progress of electrical engineering developments in Great Britain, scarcely be over-estimated. When the steam turbine first came to be widely applied for ship pro- pulsion, it was recognized that it would be impossible to reconcile the high speed of revolution essential to obtaining good efficiency in the steam tur- bine and driving a low speed (and consequently efficient) propeller from tial to obtaining good efficiency in the screw propeller. In turbine-driven ships, undesirably low speed steam turbines drive undesirably high speed propellers. It has been claimed that by interposing electric transmission, i.e., by driving an electric generator from an economically high speed tur- bine and driving a low speed (and consequently efficient) propeller from an electric motor, supplied by the generator, better economy would be ob- tained than by the direct drive. Under certain circumstances, this might prove to be the case, but usually the losses in the electrical apparatus would be so great as to offset the improved economy in the turbine (due to its higher speed) and in the screw propeller (due to its lower speed). Moreover, the electrical apparatus represents a heavy initial outlay. Thus although there is the additional advantage of dispensing with astern turbines, this first electrical proposition has naturally been the subject of vigorous adverse criticism. But the matter has now assumed a phase where the advantages of the electrical method are much more obvious. If each of the screw propellers is driven direct from an engine or turbine, then it is impracticable, at low speed of the ship (when the power required is very small as compared with the power required at full speed), to shut down any of the engines with a view to operating the running plant at high load and consequently at good economy. At cruising speed a warship only requires a very small part of the power necessary at its highest speed, and its propulsive machin- ery is operating under conditions which electrical engineers describe as a low load-factor, and hence at poor economy. The interposition of electric 288 PROGRESS OF ELECTRIC PROPULSION IN GREAT BRITAIN transmission machinery permits of having a number of independent gen- erating sets in the engine room and of driving just so many of them as shall correspond to a high load-factor and consequently good economy. Also at the propellers the load factor principle is applied. Thus each propeller shaft may be coupled to more than one motor and the number of motors in circuit may always correspond to practically the most efficient load. The more closely the proposal of employing electrical machinery for ship propulsion is investigated, the more apparent become the prin- cipal and the incidental advantages attained by the electric drive. Thus without the intermediation of the electric drive, it is not apparent that Diesel engines or any other internal-combustion engine would be sufficiently reliable for propelling large ships. But if a ship's engine-room contains a reasonable number of generating sets, each driven by an internal-combustion engine, the proposition becomes eminently conservative. Furthermore it admittedly permits of an economy of fuel far exceeding that attainable with steam prime-movers. The difficulty of astern-running, which is no less present with the internal-combustion engine than with the steam-turbine, is completely overcome by the use of electric motors. In the case of the steam turbine the increased speed of revolution and the consequently decreased diameter enable superheated steam to be employed, and a very considerable further improvement in economy is thereby secured. MECHANICAL HANDLING OF MATERIALS By RICHARD DEVENS, '88, Manager Eastern Office, The Brown Hoisting Machinery Co., New York City. WITHIN" the last few years, some of our railroad, industrial and steam- ship companies have begun to realize the important part mechanical trans- ference plays in the quick and economical handling of material. The most efficient advances have been made in the handling of bulk ma- terial, such as ore, coal and grain, while package freight, comprising boxes, barrels, bags and other packages, which make up the load of a freight car, or the cargo of a steamship, has just begun to receive serious consideration. It is no doubt a fact that the proficiency in handling bulk material was due to the difficulties to be overcome in the transportation and hand- ling of Lake Superior iron ore to the center of the iron industry. The first vessels to carry iron ore were not constructed for the purpose, and while they carried some ore in the hold, most of it was carried on deck. When it was carried in the hold, it was hoisted to the deck by horse-power, and dumped into barrows; and then, like the deck cargo, wheeled ashore. The next step was the substitution of a small hoisting engine for the horse-power. This early method was in operation many years, and it was not until the dock managers were forced into it, by the great expense in carrying large storage on the dock, that any mechanical devices were attempted. A cableway machine, built and erected at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1880, under Mr. Alex. E. Brown's design and supervision, was the first me- chanical plant. The next machines were of the bridge type! The method of handling the iron ore, over either the cableway or bridge, was to fill iron buckets by hand in the hold of the vessel and then hoist them by the ma- chine and dump them automatically into railway cars or storage. In the hold there were from twelve to fifteen shovellers to each machine, and there were two men on the machine, one an operator and the other a fireman. Both of the above equipments were a great improvement over the early methods, and handled the iron ore in a satisfactory manner ; yet they 289 290 MECHANICAL HANDLING OF MATEEIALS did not cut down the cost of the hand labor in filling the buckets in the hold. This was a very large part of the cost of unloading. An automatic filling bucket had been worked successfully for a num- ber of years in coal and similiar soft material, but on account of the hard and lumpy nature of the early iron-ores, it could not be operated in them. With the use of the soft Messaba ores, interest in the automatic filling or grab bucket was renewed, and about ten years ago the first successful grab bucket machines were erected and operated at the Illinois Steel Company's plant at Chicago by the Hoover & Mason Company. This plant was designed to unload from the vessel direct into railway cars. The success of this plant was the beginning of the present methods of un- loading iron ore. There have developed two types of grab bucket machines; one with the grab bucket suspended from wire ropes and the other with the grab bucket carried on a rigid arm. The cost of filling the buckets by hand was about 13 to 15 cents per gross ton, and the cost of hoisting and dumping into railway cars or storage from 1% to 2 cents per gross ton, making the total cost of unloading from 14% to 17 cents. With the grab bucket ma- chines, this total cost has been reduced to from 1 to 2 cents per gross ton, de- pending on the distance the ore is carried from the vessel. The hand filled buckets were of about 1 ton capacity, as this size had been found to be the most practical for filling and handling in the hold. With the grab bucket the size is only limited by the dimensions of the hatch and the shape of the vessel. The first grab buckets for iron ore were of 5- tons capacity, but since then machines have been built to handle 7%, 10 and 15 tons. Besides reducing the cost of unloading, the ability to handle in larger units has reduced the time ; whereas with the hand filled buckets, to unload a 6,000-ton vessel was a question of days, it is now only a ques- tion of hours. The steamer " Morgan ", of the Pittsburg Steamship Com- pany, with a cargo of 11,319 tons of ore, was recently unloaded at Fairport in five hours and fifty-eight minutes. The work was done with six Brown Electric Unloaders. These improvements have also increased the earning capacity of the vessel by making possible a greater number of trips during the season. This is shown by the following comparative statement for the years 1906 and 1910 showing the average stay at upper and lower ports of the vessels of the Pittsburg Steamship Company: EICHAED DEVENS, '88 291 Year 1906 Year 1910 hr. min. hr. min. Average stay in lower lake ports 36 15 22 22 Average stay in tipper lake ports 22 25 12 22 Average time spent in port receiving and dis- charging cargoes 58 38 34 44 Gross Tons Gross Tons. Average cargo carried 5,954 6,634 Largest cargo carried 13,333 13,296 In 70 min. In 45 min. Fastest loading record 9,277 9,788 Tons Tons per hour per hour Eate of fastest loading record 7,288 13,051 In the foregoing I have outlined the development of handling bulk material, using iron ore as an example. The handling of package freight has not been brought to the same degree of perfection. Perhaps the most complex movements in the handling of package freight are at the large steamship piers, due to the great carrying capacity of the large vessels, the many consignees, each having his allotted space, and the limited floor area that has to be cleared quickly to make room for the next vessel. The larger railroad terminals also have their many consignees, but the floor area is not so restricted. The placing of the packages in the proper space is done by the hand-truck. A sling load from the vessel, or a railway car may contain packages for several consignees. The truck man cannot wait to sort as he receives them, so must load his truck with them as they come. This means a long travel to get the packages to their allotted space. In order to tier them, several more handlings are necessary. All this leads to congestion and increasing cost per ton. This is further affected by the rise in the cost of labor, materials, rent and larger terminals. At a terminal there are two kinds of freight, outbound and inbound. The outbound is transferred from wagons into the outbound freight house and thence to the railway cars or directly from the wagons to the cars. The inbound is vice versa. All the above movements, except between wagons and cars, involve the sorting and distributing of each package to its designated space. It is also necessary to transfer cars from one freight house to the other, as the use of the hand truck necessitates bringing the cars to the freight. A mechanical equipment to be satisfactory must be able to distribute the outbound and inbound freight simultaneously; there should be no re- handling, and every square foot of floor space should be served with a single 292 MECHANICAL HANDLING OF MATERIALS handling. All motions of lifting and conveying should be done by power. The machinery should be designed to give the greatest lift required and to transfer to any reasonable distance, and then tier or lower into cars. Con- tinuous operation should be sought for to avoid delay. No part of the trans- ference should be along the floor and the equipment should not take up any floor space that can be used for other purpose. All movements of the me- chanical equipment should allow of the assorting and distributing according to classification and allotted space readily and quickly. There must be re- serve capacity to prevent congestion, in case of extra demands. The justification for the investment of the mechanical installation lies in the reduction of cost and the saving of time in handling. The expense should be in proportion to the size of the terminal. Fully to cover the floor space and obtain all the different requirements for the satisfactory handling of the package freight, three units or different types of conveying machinery are necessary. These are the single rail elec- tric trolley, the bridge traveler and the cross traveler. The electric trolley is the actual load carrying part of the equipment, the single rail, bridge traveler and cross traveler furnishing a combination of loop track system on which the trolley can reach any part of the area to be covered. All move- ments should be so regulated that there will be no interference, and many trolleys can be in operation following one another. Each trolley can draw a number of trailer trolleys, so that many packages can be hoisted and trans- ported under the control of one man. This arrangement allows many loads to be transported in close sequence simultaneously, and with maximum hoist- ing and traversing speeds, gives the greatest range and capacity at a min- imum of labor and maintenance. At some freight terminals it may be neces- sary to have, in combination with the above mechanical conveyors, motor trucks on the surface; in others, belt conveyors. There is no doubt that some such scheme as outlined above, when prop- erly carried out to meet the special requirements at any terminal, would materially reduce the time and cost involved in the present method. This has already been exemplified in the handling of bulk material. Considering the special attention now being given this question by several engineers and the interest shown by many steamship and railroad managers, it can be safely stated that within the next few years great changes and developments will be accomplished. THE GENERAL SOLUTION FOR ALTERNATING CURRENT DISTRIBUTIONS. By GEORGE A. CAMPBELL, '91, Research Engineer, American Telephone and Telegraph Co., New York, N. Y. IT is the object of this paper to present the concepts and methods by means of which the practical determination of the distribution of alternat- ing currents in any particular finite network may be obtained with the minimum difficulty. The use of complex quantities in alternating current theory will be placed in a new light and the complex exponential function will be shown to possess power and energy properties which are of funda- mental importance. Maxwell's theorem of the minimum heat generated will be generalized so as to include all electrical phenomena, both real and imaginary, in any invariable network. The general solution for oscillations, either forced or free, in a network will be presented in various forms and the advantage of employing these solutions instead of going back to the fundamental differential equations or to KirchhofFs laws, will be explained. I have given a mathematical treatment of these matters elsewhere x and shall confine myself in this paper to a less technical discussion of the points involved. This will prevent going into details as much as might be desir- able, but the real difficulty in a matter of this complexity is that the utility and defects of the method can be appreciated only after familiarity with the mathematical expressions involved has been acquired by actual experience. This discussion will be confined to the electrical problem, but its applica- tion is to mechanics generally. COMPLEX QUANTITIES AND POWER. Although complex quantities have been employed in the mathematical discussion of forced and free oscillations for over thirty years, the funda- mentally important character of exponential oscillations has not received due recognition. Their use has been regarded more as an accidental or artificial 1 Proceedings American Institute of Electrical Engineers, April, 1911, pp. 789-824. 293 294 SOLUTION FOR ALTERNATING CURRENT DISTRIBUTIONS device for facilitating the discussion of sinusoidal oscillations; the method has been referred to as giving a symbolical solution, the imaginary part of which is finally to be thrown away ; or it has been looked upon as a vectorial representation of the polar coordinate diagram of the sinusoidal oscillation. To illustrate, the following is the entire explanation of the symbolical method contained in Lord Rayleigh's Theory of Sound (Vol. I, section 104, 1877 and 1894) : " We might therefore assume as expressions for W^, &c., circular func- tions of the time ; but, as we shall have frequent occasion to recognize in the course of this work, it is usually more convenient to employ an imaginary exponential function, such as Ee ipt f where E is a constant which may be complex. When the corresponding symbolical solution is obtained, its real and imaginary parts may be separated, and belong respectively to the real and imaginary parts of the data. In this way the analysis gains considerably in brevity, inasmuch as differentiations and alterations of phase are ex- pressed by merely modifying the complex coefficient without changing the form of the function/' As a consequence the imaginary exponential function has not been in- vestigated as an independent entity and its properties have been ignored except in so far as they could be considered as representing the real sinusoid- al oscillation. The attempts which have been made on this basis to extend the correspondence between the two to include power and energy have failed. The fact is that to make complex quantities as useful as possible we must cease to regard the imaginary exponential function as in any way represent- ing the real sinusoidal function. When the exponential function is granted an independent existence, all difficulties vanish. The energy associated with any complex current distribution is then to be found by the same algebraical rules as apply to real instantaneous elec- tromotive forces and currents: that is, the power dissipated equals the re- sistance into the square of the current ; the energy of a magnetic field equals the product of one-half the inductance into the square of the current ; and the energy of an electrostatic field equals the product of one-half the capacity into the square of the difference of potential. These generalizations are not properly matters of definition ; they are necessary consequences of the prin- ciples of algebra, and follow immediately just as do the rules for the squares and logarithms of complex quantities. An important result is that when non-real electrical phenomena are included, the physical limitation of energy to essentially positive values no longer holds. Therefore, in the general algebraical treatment, energy may be negative, pure imaginary or complex equally as well as positive. For example, if the current flowing in an ordi- GEOEGE A. CAMPBELL, '91 295 nary inductive coil is pure imaginary the power dissipated in the resistance of the coil and the energy stored in the magnetic field will each be negative ; that is, the current will tend to cool the conductor, which will tend to absorb heat from its surroundings, and the magnetic field must have abstracted energy from the ether which originally contained no magnetic energy. Algebraically, no difficulty is raised by these physical impossibilities. A special terminology for the complex exponential function may be expected to aid in emphasizing its fundamental importance and usefulness. For this reason I suggest that the term " cisoidal oscillation " be used to designate the function of the time defined by the exponential raised to the ipt power; this oscillation may be sustained, damped or aperiodic, which correspond to real, complex or pure imaginary values of the time coefficient p. The use of the particular term " cisoidal oscillation " will emphasize the distinctive character of the subject, while tending to keep in mind the close connection between these oscillations and sinusoidal oscillations. For cisoidal oscillations, the instantaneous activity, being always the product of the instantaneous electromotive force and current, is a cisoidal function of doubled time coefficient : the power agrees with the electromo- tive force and current as to whether it is sustained, logarithmically damped or aperiodic. Therefore, the power has in general a uniformly increasing argument so that in each cycle it assumes positive and negative real values and postive and negative pure imaginary values as well as intermediate com- plex values. With sustained oscillations the power is of constant absolute value or modulus; its argument varies with the time, but in this particular case its modulus is invariable. With cisoidal oscillations either the electromotive force or the current may be eliminated from the expression for the power by introducing the im- pedance which is defined as the ratio of the instantaneous electromotive force to current, the power being thereby expressed at pleasure either as the product of the impedance and the square of the current, or as the quotient of the square of the electromotive force and the impedance. The total power in any network carrying cisoidal oscillations is equal to the algebraical sum of the powers associated with each impedance in the network. The distinction between the scalar cisoidal function and a true vector function is well illustrated by the Poynting electromagnetic flux of energy in the case of a cisoidal oscillation, which happens to be the application for which I first employed cisoidal power. The actual energy flux is a true vector which may or may not vary in direction and magnitude from point to point in the field and from moment to moment. The imaginary cisoidal energy flux has, in addition to these possible vectorial variations, its char- 296 SOLUTION FOR ALTERNATING CURRENT DISTRIBUTIONS acteristic variation with respect to the time which is resolvable into a uni- formly increasing argument and an exponentially decreasing (becoming constant in the steady state) modulus. Not only do the vectors and com- plex quantities exist side by side independently of each other, but they differ radically in the properties which they exhibit as is shown by the fact that the square of a vector is independent of the direction of the vector while the square of a complex quantity varies as its argument is varied. In the treatment of cisoidal oscillations it is advantageous to adhere closely to the notation and terminology of the theory of functions, as the results presented by this branch of mathematics are of the greatest value in the more complicated electrical problems. CORRELATED OSCILLATIONS. The complete solution of a sustained or damped alternating current problem by the aid of complex quantities involves the following distinct steps : 1. Resolution of the periodic data into the sum of cisoidal oscillations having the time factors cis (+pt) and cis ( pt). 2. Solution of the problem for the cis (+pt) component taken alone; the solution of the cis ( pt) component being obtained by merely changing all complex quantities to their conjugates. . 3. Superposition of these two cisoidal solutions to obtain the real physical oscillation. It is, however, not necessary to carry through the formal proof in in- dividual cases, this being replaced by the following rule for the correlation between the real and the complex oscillations. If any particuar cisoidal or cosinusoidal oscillation is possible the correlated oscillation is also possible; correlated cisoidal and cosinusoidal oscillations being such as have electromotive forces and currents of the same effective values and angles. The oscillatory powers associated with the correlated oscillations are of the same amplitudes and angles, but the cosinusoidal oscillation has also a non-oscillatory power component which has the same amplitude and phase angle as the power which would be in- volved in the correlated cisoidal oscillation after changing the current to its conjugate. For the sake of brevity in this correlation, the modulus of a cisoidal function is referred to indifferently as its effective value or am- plitude, while its argument is referred to as its angle. The correlation between sinusoidal oscillations and cisoidal oscillations is so simple that it is not ordinarily necessary to indicate the step from one GEOBGE A. CAMPBELL, '91 297 to the other in individual applications. But this omission has led to the cisoidal solution being in some way regarded as representing the actual sinusoidal oscillation, which is not the case, as is most emphatically shown by the power relations. It is therefore necessary to lay emphasisjippn the fact that the use of complex quantities affords an indirect method, and not a symbolic method of solving the problem of real oscillations, and that the complete formal application of the method involves always .an in- itial algebraical resolution of the real data and a final algebraical sum- mation of the complex results as an essential and integral part of the problem. The above rule has merely formulated the final result of taking these successive steps in the correlation of the analytical cisoidal oscilla- tion and the physical sinusoidal oscillation. Whenever it becomes necessary to consider any property of the oscillation not covered by the rule, we must revert to the formal resolution and subsequent superposition. In applying this method, we shall have to include not only the electromotive force, current, impedance, and power of the cisoidal oscillation, but also (when- ever the total or the average real powers are required) the mutual power associated with the cisoidal electromotive force and the conjugate of its corresponding current. In the actual discussion of alternating current problems by complex quantities, the terminology and symbols employed should refer throughout specificially to the cisoidal oscillation. Agreement on this point will pro- mote precision of statement and avoid fostering the idea that the complex solution in some way represents the real case. Of course, I am not to be understood as stating that it is never advantageous to discuss the real oscillation per se, I am merely advocating that when complex quantities are employed, the entire discussion be made to refer consistently to the cisoidal oscillation. Having explained how the method of complex quantities may be pushed further than it has been in the past, we will now consider the distribution! of complex or cisoidal alternating currents. It will, if possible, be advan- tageous to reduce the electrical conditions to a single statement of a mini- mum or maximum property, and now that we have extended the idea of energy, power and activity so as to include complex as well as real quantities, it can be shown that there is no difficulty in doing this. The theorem expressed in the most general form in which we shall have occasion to consider it at this time is as follows: 298 SOLUTION FOB ALTERNATING CURRENT DISTRIBUTIONS The Theorem of Stationary Dissipation In any invariable network the actual distribution of current due to any impressed electromotive forces is such as to make the power dissipated assume the stationary value which is consistent with the conditions imposed by current continuity and the conservation of energy. The theorem assumes that each branch or circuit contains resistance, a condition which corresponds to the physical fact and involves no theoret- ical limitation as the resistances may be made as small as desired, or any number of resistances may be allowed to vanish completely after playing their part in the formation of the general solution. Forced and free oscil- lations and transient states are included. The network may contain re- sistances, inductances, mutual inductances and capacity; it is merely stip- ulated that these shall all be invariable in magnitude. As formulated, the theorem specifies that the dissipated power shall be stationary. This is done so as to include complex quantities as well as real quantities. Where real quantities only are concerned, the dissipated energy is a mini- mum for constant current supply and a maximum for constant voltage supply. This theorem is a generalization of Maxwell's theorem that " in any system of conductors in which there are no internal electromotive forces the heat generated " by steady currents under given " conditions of supply and outflow of the current " is a minimum. 1 Internal electromotive forces were included by J. J. Thomson, but the theorem as enunciated by him 2 applies not directly to the heat generated but to a mathematical function to which he attached no specific physical significance. It is readily seen that the theorems of Maxwell and of J. J. Thomson are complemen- tary, the first referring to constant current supply, the second referring to constant voltage supply, the dissipation being a minimum in the first case and a maximum in the second case. The two theorems are contained in the single statement that the equivalent resistance of any network to steady currents is a minimum. In discussing periodic currents, J. J. Thomson states that when the fre- quency increases indefinitely " the distribution of currents is independent of the resistances, and is determined by the condition that the Kinetic Energy and not the Dissipation Function is a minimum." 3 This state- 1 Maxwell, Electricity and Magnetism, Vol. I, p. 408 2 Ibid, foot note. 3 J. J. Thomson, Recent Researches in Electricity and Magnetism, p. 511. GEOKGE A. CAMPBELL, '91 299 ment seems to have been tacitly accepted by every one because of the rela- tive prominence of the kinetic energy and the relative insignificance of the dissipation. But the statement is incorrect since it is the dissipation which always assumes an exact stationary value. For stationary-kinetic energy the resistances must actually vanish, but in this case the dis- sipation still retains its stationary property since it vanishes regardless of the current distribution. Moreover, J. J. Thomson's statement is not sufficiently explicit as to the assumed conditions of current supply. The kinetic energy would be a maximum and not a minimum provided the electrical distribution were due to sources of constant electromotive force. It is the equivalent self-induction which becomes ultimately a minimum when a system of electrical conductors is subject to rapid periodic electro- motive forces. Eeference to Professor Jeans 7 treatise * shows that the most recent writers do not go beyond Maxwell and J. J. Thomson in this direction, but merely repeat these theorems of minimum heat and minimum kinetic energy. The distinction between constant current supply and constant voltage supply is not pointed out. For rapidly alternating currents this failure is a result of neglecting the impressed forces E s (in comparison with the first term of equation 520, p. 489) which is not permissible, as is readily seen by reducing the system to a single circuit containing an alternating impressed force and a pure inductance; the impressed force is then equal to the first term (reactance X current) and in consequence can not be neglected in comparison with the first term. For cisoidal oscillations our theorem assumes the following still simpler form: The activity of the external sources of power which produce a steady cisoidal oscillation in any invariable network assumes the stationary value which is consistent with the conditions imposed by current continuity and the conservation of energy. As the activity is stationary, the driving point impedance of the network will also be stationary and this condition is an equivalent form of the theorem. This theorem is of trie greatest usefulness in the discussion of alternat- ing current networks since a large number of fundamental properties follow immediately from it, and any network may be solved by the application of this theorem without introducing any other conditions, such as the ques- tion as to how the individual impedances may be made up, into the discussion. J J. H. Jeans, The Mathematical Theory of Electricity and Magnetism, pp. 310-313, 489-490. 300 SOLUTION FOR ALTERNATING CURRENT DISTRIBUTIONS General Solution for Cisoidal Oscillations The general solution for any cisoidal oscillation is contained in a single algebraical function of the self and mutual impedances occurring in the network. This function, which will here be denoted by the letter A, may be written down by the following rule: The expression, A is the sum of all possible products in which each circuit is represented either by its self-impedance or by its mutual imped- ance to another circuit, the mutual impedances occurring in closed cycles, each cycle introducing the sign factor + (or ) if it contains an odd (or even) number of elements, each cycle of three or more elements also intro- ducing the factor, 2, to care for the alternative way of associating the mutual impedances and circuits. This statement assumes that the system consists entirely of simple circuits connected by mutual impedances only. Any network may be re- duced to an equivalent network of this description by closing each branch on itself and replacing each branch point (in excess of one in each con- nected part of the system) by a fictitious circuit of zero self -impedance connected by mutual impedances, -\-i (or i} to the several branches which have their positive (or negative) ends at this branch point. In the most general case each circuit will have self -impedance and also mutual impedance to every other circuit. In special cases any of these impedances may vanish, but they will always be assumed to exist potentially in the expression A so that we may speak of differentiating the expression A with respect to any self or mutual impedance. To illustrate the use of function A suppose that a cisoidal electro- motive force is applied at any point of the network and the resulting cur^ rent at any other point of the network is required. This current will be found by dividing the electromotive force by what may be called the cross impedance between the two points. This cross impedance is equal to the func- tion A, divided by one-half of the differential coefficient of A with respect to the mutual impedance between the circuits containing the two points. If the current at the electromotive force is required, the cross impe- dance becomes the driving point impedance, which is equal to the alge- braical function A, divided by the differential coefficient of A with respect to the self-impedance of the circuit containing the electromotive force. If the free oscillations of the system are required, they are found by solving the equation obtained by equating the expression A to zero. This solution is applicable to any network containing resistance, in- ductance, mutual inductance, capacity, and conductance, and it may be GEORGE A. CAMPBELL, '91 301 written down mechanically. The expression A is symmetrical in terms of all the branches and of all the branch points, in that it makes no differ- ence in the final result what choice is made for the excluded branch point in each connected part of the system. In general work this symmetry pre- sents distinct advantages, but in special applications it is ordinarily better to reduce the number of simple circuits as far as possible. This may be done by basing the equivalent set of simple circuits upon any system of circuital currents which correspond with the 'degrees of freedom of the network. The self and mutual impedances corresponding to these cir- cuital currents may be directly determined in any case, and then the ex- pression A is found exactly as explained above. The immediate form assumed by the expression will depend upon the particular system of cir- cuital currents chosen, and a variety of mutually equivalent expressions may be obtained in this way for a network of any complexity. The case of three resistances, a, ~b, and c in parallel, may serve as an illustration of the two methods of resolving a network into simple circuits. Take as positive directions the direction in each branch towards the same branch point. On adding a fictitious circuit to replace one of the branch points, we have a system of four simple circuits of self-impedances, a,, b, c, and 0, with no mutual impedances, except +i, +i, -f-i, between the fic- titious circuit and the circuits corresponding to the three resistance branches. Resolving the same network by means of circuital currents, we may ob- tain a system of two simple circuits having the self -impedances (a-\-c) and (&+c), with the mutual impedance, -\-c. The expression A, upon which the entire solution for the network is thus made to depend, may also be stated in determinantal form. This determinant has for its elements the impedances of the system, the qfh term in the main diagonal being the self -impedance of the qth circuit, and the rth term in the qfh row being the mutual impedance between circuits q and r. The determinant can, therefore, be written down with the great- est facility. Whether it will be more convenient than the expanded expres- sion, depends upon the particular use which is to be made of it. Famil- iarity with both forms of the function A, is desirable, so as to be prepared to employ the more convenient form in each particular case. Determinantal solutions have been employed to a certain extent in the discussion of the general properties of networks, but they have not been pre- sented as practical working solutions, the writers themselves reverting to the differential equations or to KirchhofFs laws in the discussion of special applications. Heaviside expresses this point of view when he says 1 : . 1 Heaviside, Electrical Papers, I, p. 412, 302 SOLUTION FOR ALTERNATING CURRENT DISTRIBUTIONS " Owing to the difficulties of interpretation, the general solution has very limited utility, except in showing how we might, if we gave the time to it, completely solve the problem numerically. But there are, on the journey to the general solution, some views by the way which make it more interesting and instructive than it would otherwise be, and it is to exhibit them, rather than a mere mathematical complication, that the present section is written." I am ready to admit that the particular presentation given by Heavi- side comes very near being " a mere mathematical complication," but the general solution may be put in such shape as to admit of interpretation and give the numerical solution more readily than it can be obtained in any other way. It is to be observed that the solution of even apparently simple network problems is inherently complex. For example, the Wheatstone bridge circuit with its full complement of fifteen mutual impedances con- tains several hundred distinct terms in the expression A, provided this ex- pression is written in terms of the self and mutual impedances of the indi- vidual branches. Now, this is a case of only three degrees of freedom, so that the complexity of the solution mounts very rapidly with the number of branches involved. Solutions of practical utility must retain only that which is essential and ignore that which is non-essential. The discovery of the dividing line between the essential and the non-essential is, I believe, facilitated by the use of the general solution. Properly presented, I believe that the general solution is of the great- est utility, that it is the simplest expression of which the problem admits, and that it is in such form as to be most easily remembered and applied. After becoming familiar with its use, it seems most roundabout to start each time with the differential equations. A determinant is to be regarded as a kind of generalized multiplication table. To go back to the differential equations instead of employing the determinantal solution, is something like disregarding the ordinary multiplication table and working out required products each time by successive additions. Summary To emphasize the broad applicability of the general solution, I may repeat that it includes forced and free vibrations, and the entire domain of transient phenomena ; it is applicable to infinite systems of circuits, thereby including such phenomena as eddy currents and skin effects, which involve transcendental functions and are ordinarily solved by means of partial differential equations. While it is important that fundamental principles GEOKGE A. CAMPBELL, '91 303 should be understood, it is also true that without a working knowledge of the general solution,, a great deal of time and energy will be wasted in going back to fundamental principles in the case of each particular application. For the details which are so essential in this subject, I must refer- to the paper cited above 1 ; this brief discussion has been restricted to presenting : (1) the working conception of cisoidal oscillations and cisoidal power; (2) the comprehensive theorem of stationary dissipation or of stationary im- pedance, as it becomes in the case of cisoidal oscillations, arid (3) the practical utility of the general solution expressed either in determinantal or in expanded form. 1 Page 293. ELECTEOCHEMISTEY AND ITS EECENT INDUSTEIAL DEVELOPMENT. By HARRY M. GOODWIN, '90, Professor of Physics and Electrochemistry, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. IT has seemed appropriate to include among the papers presented be- fore this section of the Congress of Technology, one, giving an outline of the remarkable industrial development of electrochemistry in recent years, and pointing out some of the directions in which further progress may be expected in the future. It may not be generally known that the subject has assumed such importance that the last course leading to a bachelor's degree to be established at the Institute, has been primarily laid out to prepare students to enter this particular field of applied science. This course, established by the Department of Physics in 1901, was the first of its kind to be offered in this country. Twenty-eight men have already graduated who are filling responsible positions throughout the United States as well as in Canada and England, and the increasing demand for men with a combined training in electrical engineering and chemistry idicates that the profession of electrochemist is one of increasing importance and opportunity. Strictly speaking, electrochemistry embraces those phenomena and processes which are the result either of the direct transformation of elec- trical into chemical eneregy, or of the converse transformation of chemical into electrical energy. The former includes all electrolytic processes, whether taking place in liquids, solids or gases ; the latter includes all types of primary and secondary batteries, i.e., generators of electricity by chemical means. As thus defined, however, electrochemistry excludes many processes which at the present time are almost universally classed as elctrochemical, namely, those which utilize electrical energy primarily as a means of gener- ating heat at exceedingly high temperatures, temperatures so high that chemical reactions may occur which are impossible at the lower temper- atures developed by ordinary means of combustion. Such processes are electrochemical only in a secondary sense, since electrical energy plays no 304 HARRY M. GOODWIN, '90 305 other role than that of a heat producing agent. It is, therefore, appropriate to class these processes as electrothermic or electrothermal; strictly, they are simply thermochemical but carried out in electric furnaces. Finally, there are certain important processes which require a combination of both the electrolytic and the heating effect of a current for their successful opera- tion, and thus fall into both classes. The term electrochemistry, especially as applied to the industrial arts, has by general usage now come to connote electrothermic as well as electrolytic processes. Various causes have contributed to the rapid rise of applied electro- chemistry during the last two decades. The electrolytic industries which are of special interest fall into two distinct groups according as they are carried out in aqueous solutions, or in fusions. The former group embraces the plating, refining and galvanoplastic industries as well as those depending on the decomposition, oxidation and reduction of substances by the electric cur- rent ; chief among these are the alkali industries. Under the latter group of fusion processes fall the electrometallurgical winning of the alkali and alkali earth metals and of aluminum. The phenomena accompanying electrolysis when carried out in aqueous solutions at ordinary temperatures have been extensively studied and a very satisfactory working theory of electrolysis under these conditions has been developed. On the other hand the electro- chemistry of substances dissolved in organic solvents and of salts in the fused and solid state is still incompletely understood. More accurate data are necessary before a satisfactory theory can be formulated regarding the mech- anism of conduction in these cases. Some of the most reliable data which we possess at present on the conductivity and related properties of fused electrolytes have been obtained by investigations carried out in the Institute laboratories under a grant from William E. Hale Eesearch Fund. Of the industries mentioned above, electroplating, galvanoplasty and electrolytic refining represent the older phase of applied electrochemistry, these processes having been developed and practiced on a smaller or larger scale for over fifty years. The reason for their early origin is that they require relatively little electrical energy. The processes consist essentially in a simple electrolytic transfer of metal from anode through the solu- tion to the cathode, a transfer involving the expenditure of only so much energy as is required to overcome heat losses in leads, connections, and in the electrolyte, and the effects of polarization. They were, therefore, com- mercially possible in the early days of the dynamo and even while primary batteries and thermo-piles were the only available sources of electrical energy. With the development of the dynamo, these industries have, of course, greatly expanded. As the cost of electrical energy consumed is but 306 ELECTROCHEMISTRY AND ITS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT a minor factor in the final value of the product, they are not dependent for their successful operation upon excessively cheap power, and we find them, therefore, widely distributed. Considering next the refining industries, copper refining leads in technical importance. This may be better realized when it is stated that over one hundred million dollars' worth of copper is ^electrically refined in the United States alone annually, this representing 85 per cent of the world's output of electrolytic copper. Not only is the purest grade of copper for electrical work thus obtained, but there are also worked up from the anode mud millions of dollars worth of gold and silver. Methods similar in principle to those employed in copper refining are used for refining gold and silver, while on a smaller scale, antimony, bis- muth, zinc, tin, platinum and recently iron may likewise be refined. The electrolytic refining of lead is now competing with the older methods, thanks to a process worked out by Mr. A. G. Betts in 1902. The unique feature of this invention is the use of an acid solution of lead fluorsilicate as an elec- trolyte. Excellent deposits are said to be obtained from this solution if a little gelatine or glue is added to the bath. The process is in successful operation on a large scale at Trail, Canada ; Grasselli, Indiana, and New- castle on Tyne. Of the remaining industrial processes based upon the electrolysis of aqueous solutions the electrolytic alkali industry should be especially men- tioned as upon this an enormous amount of scientific and technical research has been expended. Chemical processes for making caustic soda, soda- ash, hypochlorites, as well as other sodium salts from common salt have been long established on a large scale. In Great Britain alone it is esti- mated that $50,000,000 are invested in this one industry. The older chem- ical methods are, however, being slowly but surely replaced by electrolytic methods. The most recent advances to be recorded in the alkali industry are the invention of the Townsend cell in 1907 and the Whiting cell in 1910. The former is a diaphragm cell, the distinctive feature of which is the introduction of kerosene in the cathode compartment, which causes the caustic formed there to separate out as the liquid percolates through the cell. This cell has been operated at Niagara Falls by the Development Funding Company since 1906 and the current efficiency under ordinary conditions is said to be as high as 97 per cent. The Whiting cell is a modi- fied Castner mercury cathode cell, in which the sodium amalgam formed at the cathode is intermittently drawn off and treated with water, pure caustic being thus obtained, and the mercury returned to the cell. This cell is now in operation at Rumford Falls, Maine. HABEY M. GOODWIN, '90 307 In contrast to electrolysis in aqueous solutions at ordinary temperatures is the electrolysis of molten salts, at temperatures ranging from a few hun- dred to a thousand degrees centigrade, the object being to effect a separa- tion of the metal in the pure state. Two distinctly different processes have been developed. In the first, the electrolyte is a pure molten compound such as sodium hydrate, which is itself a good conductor; in the second the substance to be electrolyzed is dissolved in a molten solvent. The first type of electrolysis is in principle the famous experiment of Sir Humphrey Davy which, carried out on a commercial scale, forms the basis of the industries for making metallic sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Of these metals, sodium is at present the most extensively produced, some 2000 tons being made in the United States annually. In the Castner process used by the Electrochemical Company at Niagara Falls the elec- trolyte is fused sodium hydrate. Other processes have been invented (notably that of Ashcroft making use of fused sodium chloride) but few data are available regarding their commercial efficiency. Sodium is exten- sively used in the manufacture of sodium cyanide and peroxide and as a drying agent for transformer oil. It has also been suggested to use it in iron pipes for electrical transmission lines, since on account of its very low specific gravity (1/9 that of copper) its conductivity, weight for weight, between two points, is three times as great as that of copper. The second type of fusion electrolysis forms the basis of the aluminum industry. This metal of all others owes its commercial importance to electrochemistry. Although one of the commonest and most widely distrib- uted of the elements, it remained a costly and little used metal until 1886 when C. M. Hall invented a process by which it could be readily and cheaply electrolyzed from its oxide when dissolved in a double fluoride of aluminum and the fluoride of some other metal such as sodium or potassium. As at present carried out on a collossal scale, fused cryolite is used as the solvent (itself a poor conductor) and aluminum oxide obtained from bauxite the dissolved electrolyte. The commercial success of the process was as- sured by incorporating the brilliant idea of Bradley of maintaining the electrolyte in the molten state at about 900 degrees C. by the heating effect of the electrolyzing current. Although both of the basic patents have now expired practically all of the aluminum in this country is produced by the Aluminum Company of America, which operates plants at Niagara Falls, Massena, N". Y., and Schawinegan Falls, Canada. These three plants utilize together 75,000 H.P., while the total power consumed by the six companies producing aluminum in Europe is about 97,500 H.P. In 1907, a banner year in the production of aluminum, the total production was estimated at 308 ELECTBOCHEMISTEY AND ITS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 71,600,000 pounds, of which 26,000,000 were produced in the United States and Canada. The uses to which the metal is put are continually increasing. It is used as a substitute for copper in transmission lines, the three longest transmission lines in the United States being constructed of aluminum; in the manufacture of thermite, in the steel industry, and for numerous utensils, while its use as a constituent of alloys has probably only just begun. The second group of electrochemical industries is classed as electro- thermal. It may properly be asked how it is possible for electricity to com- pete with coal, coke, oil or gas if the electrical energy plays no other part in the process than that of producing heat. The answer is to be found in the facts, first, that a number of the desired reactions can take place only at tem- peratures attainable by electrical means, and second, that heat generated electrically can be localized at the exact point where it is to be most effective, that is, within the electric furnace and in immediate contact with the react- ing substances. A large percentage of the total heat developed is thus effective in producing high temperatures, whereas in most fuel furnaces the greater part is dissipated by conduction and radiation and in heating super- fluous gases as nitrogen. A third advantage peculiar to electric heating is that no foreign substances (products of combustion) are brought into con- tact with the heated charge ; this is of great importance in certain refining processes. These advantages, coupled with the further fact that the current can be regulated at will by the opening or closing of a switch, make it possible for electric heating not only to compete with, but in some cases to entirely supersede the older methods of heating by combustion. As heat may be generated equally well by direct or alternating current, the advantages peculiar to the latter in regard to transmission, and voltage reg- ulation, have caused it to be largely used for electric furnace work. The various types of electric furnace now in operation may be classified accord- ing to the method by which heat is generated in them. First, resistance furnaces in which (a), the charge itself is more or less conducting and is heated to the desired temperature by the passage of the current through it, or (b) the charge is non-conducting and is heated by proximity to a conducting core or resistor through which the current passes. Second, arc furnaces in which the heat is developed by a powerful electric arc around which the charge to be heated is placed, or in the case of gaseous reactions, into which the gases themselves are forced. Third, induction furnaces in which the heat is produced by a current induced in the charge itself which must be a conductor of low resistance. HABBY M. GOODWIN, '90 309 The first and second and first and third methods are also used in com- bination. The principal electrothermal products representing industries which have sprung into existence since the advent of electric furnaces may be sum- marized as follows : Carbides: calcium carbide, titanium carbide, silicon carbide (carbo- rundum) ; artificial abrasives: carborundum, alundum; silicon and boron; artificial graphite; carbon bisulphide and phosphorus; calcium acetamide and its derivatives; artificial nitrates; ferro alloys; metals reduced from ores; refined iron and steel. The majority of these industries are concerned with the manufacture of substances formerly unknown or produced with such difficulty and at such cost as to render them chemical curiosities. Others, notably those for the reduction of ores and refining of steel, and for the manufacture of car- bon bisulphide and phosphorus, illustrate the manner in which electro- chemical methods are encroaching on long and well established chemical and metallurgical processes. [The essential features of the above processes were then outlined by the speaker and the role which each is playing in modern industry pointed out.] Regarding calcium carbide it may be stated that since its discovery in 1891, the industry has developed very rapidly, not only in this country but throughout Europe, for whenever fresh lime and carbon are available, together with a supply of reasonably cheap electrical energy, carbide may be easily produced. The Union Carbide Company practically controls the output of carbide in America. Its plant at Niagara Falls utilizes 15,000 H.P.; at Sault Ste. Marie 10,000 H.P., while a third factory at Duluth will take 10,000 H.P. The first use made of calcium carbide as the source of acetylene is well known to everyone. The over-production of carbide about ten years ago led to an endeavor to create a wider market for the product which has resulted in important discoveries in so many direc- tions that it would be rash to predict the sequel. Thus the carbide itself is now used as the basis of the manufacture of calcium cyanimide, a valuable artificial fertilizer, and cyanides, while acetylene is destined to form the starting point for the manufacture of other important organic compounds. Acetylene has also recently found a new use in the acetylene blowpipe by means of which temperatures are produced sufficient to weld the hardest steel. Of the other possible carbides or compounds formed in the electric furnace by the union of a metal with carbon, many have now been made and their properties investigated. Several have been found to possess proper- 310 ELECTROCHEMISTRY AND ITS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ties so remarkable as to at once create an active demand for them. Thus of great technical importance is the carbide formed by the union of silicon and carbon to which the commercial name carborundum has been given, as it was originally thought to be a compound of carbon and corundum. It is one of the most effective abrasives known. If finely powdered it will polish diamond. Although the compound was undoubtedly made by Depretz as early as 1849 and later by Marsden in 1880, and Carlos in 1886, the present industry is due entirely to the work of Acheson who in 1890 discovered the crystallized carbide of silicon while engaged in an attempt to crystallize carbon. The manner of the discovery of this important substance is typical of what may be expected at any time in chemical research at high temper- tures. Our present knowledge of the way in which substances react in the electric furnace is so meagre that experimental investigation alone can determine the outcome in any given case. Thus Professor Tucker finds that carborundum forms at about 1950 and decomposes again into silicon and graphite at 2220, which illustrates the limited range of temperature between which certain electric furnace products can be isolated. The total output of carborundum in this country is controlled by the Carborundum Company at Niagara Falls, which has a plant utilizing 5000 H.P. The furnaces are of 1000 and 2000 H.P. capacity. It is also made in France, Germany and Austria. In addition to its use as an abrasive, carborundum may be used as a substitute for ferro-silicon in steel refining and as a detector in wireless telegraphy. There is also a field for it in the form of brick and other refractory articles. Closely related to carborundum is another substance which is formed in carborundum furnaces just outside the layer of carborundum itself and called by Acheson siloxicon. Analysis shows it to contain silicon, carbon and oxygen in varying amounts. It has properties which make it valuable for furnace linings, crucibles, etc., as it is not acted upon by slags or molten metals. This too is one of the Niagara products. One other valuable carbide should be mentioned, namely, that of titanium. This has been found to possess the unique property of doubling the efficiency of the light given out by an electric arc, if used as the material between which the arc is struck. Its importance in artificial illumination may easily be realized. Another electric furnace product used as an abrasive is alundum or fused aluminum oxide. This oxide occurs in nature as corundum, which is extensively mined on account of its hardness. The artificial product is less brittle, but not quite as hard as corundum. As compared with car- borundum, the latter is said to be superior for use on cast iron, brass, marble, HAEEY M. GOODWIN, '90 311 etc., where sharpness rather than hardness are the qualities desired. For hardened steel and for final polishing, alundum is superior, as, being less brittle, a greater pressure may be employed. Alundum is manufactured at Niagara Falls by the Norton Emery Wheel Company of Worcester, Mass. Between 600 and 700 H.P. are used in the furnaces and in 1908 the pro- duction already exceeded 3,000,000 pounds. Metallic silicon itself is also produced on a large scale by the Carbo- rundum Company operating under T. J. Tone's patents. Boron, too, has succumbed to the electric arc, thanks to the work of Dr. Weintraub of the General Electric Co. at Lynn. In regard to Mr. Acheson's artificial graphite, it was stated that this is formed by subjecting coke or anthracite coal to an exceedingly high temperature produced by passing an electric current through the charge itself. It was formerly believed from the work of Depretz that pure carbon could be converted into graphite by heating in an electric furnace, but the experiments of Acheson have shown that graphite is probably formed only after the carbon has passed through the intermediate state of a carbide, which, in the case of calcium carbide, is decomposed into graphite and metallic vapor if heated much over about 2200 C. The carbide may result from the presence of impurities, such as silica or metallic oxides, present in the carbon. For this reason in building up a furnace, the specimens of carbon to be graphitized are imbedded in powdered carbon, and a small quantity of iron oxide is added, which acts as a catalyzer for the whole mass, i.e., it first forms iron carbide as the temperature at the center is raised, and this in turn breaks down at higher temperatures into graphite and iron vapor. The latter diffuses outward through the mass, converting it in turn first into carbide and then graphite. The graphite products now on the market consist of electrodes of all shapes and sizes, crucibles, blocks, etc., all of which have been a boon to the electrolytic industries. A colloidal form of graphite valuable for lubricating purposes has also been discovered by Acheson. These products are made at the International Acheson Graphite Company at Niagara Falls, where 4000 H.P. are required to run the twenty- two furnaces installed. In 1909 nearly 35,000 tons of graphite were produced, representing a value of about half a million dollars. Among the various conservation problems so much discussed during the last few years has been that of conserving the productive efficiency of the soil. It is now well recognized that intensive cultivation depends upon returning to the soil nitrogen in some form in which it may be assimilated by plant life. That an unlimited supply of the raw material is everywhere available is evident, for it is estimated that the amount of nitrogen in the 312 ELECTROCHEMISTRY AND ITS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT atmosphere over one square mile of the earth's surface is more than equiva- lent to all of the combined nitrogen in the Chili deposits. This problem has already been solved by electrochemistry in two different ways, and mil- lions qf dollars are now invested in "nitrogen fixation" propositions. [TJie author here entered into a somewhat detailed discussion of this very important and promising field of electrochemical development.] It is clear that the one essential condition for the success of this industry is cheap electrical power ; given this no country need hereafter be in fear of a nitrate famine. As to the relative efficiency of the cyanimide and arc fixation processes, the only figures which are available at present indicate that the former process yields 51.6 grams of nitrogen, while the latter produces only 12.7 grams per kilowatt-hour. The cyanimide process, therefore, " fixes " four times as much nitrogen as the arc process for the same expenditure of power. A resume of the progress in applied electrochemistry would not be complete were not special mention made of the very recent triumphant en- trance of electrothermal methods into the iron and steel industry. In this highly developed art it was supposed by many that electric heating could have no place on account of its high cost, but the last few years has witnessed a complete reversal of this opinion. There are two quite distinct problems arising in the electrometallurgy of iron and steel to the solution of which electrometallugists are directing their energies; the first is the electro- thermic reduction of ores, and the second the refining of iron already reduced by other means, and its conversion into high grade steel. Re- garding the first of these problems it may be said at once that, although the electrothermic reduction of ores has been demonstrated to be not only a possible but a commercially practicable proposition, it is not as yet prac- ticed on any great scale. It seems probable that this method of reduction must be restricted to localities remote from cheap fuel and near very cheap electric power. These, however, are exactly the conditions which obtain in certain parts of California, Canada and Sweden. The Canadian gov- ernment, recognizing the possibilities in the development of the many nat- ural resources of the country, appointed in 1903 a commission in charge of Dr. Haanel to make a careful study of this subject. The reports of this commission contain the most valuable and interesting information regarding the present status of the electrothermic reduction of iron ores which we pos- sess. That important developments are to be expected in the near future may be inferred from the fact that as a result of Dr. HaanePs report three large furnaces are being erected in Canada, at Welland and Sault Ste. Marie. The Noble Electric Steel Company, of Shasta County, California, HAKftY M. GOODWIN, '90 313 has also operated a commercial furnace with such success that the company expects to install four or five others in the near future. In southern France and Italy the reduction of iron ore has also been effected in furnaces of the Keller and Stassano designs. Thus the corner stone of this industry has already been laid, and we await further developments with confidence. The electrothermic refining of iron and production of high grade steel has already passed the experimental stage and obtained a firm footing in the steel industry. In fact the days of crucible steel are numbered, as electric steel is driving it out of the market, being not only cheaper, but also of better quality. Numerous furnaces have been invented for carrying out the process of refining pig iron, all of which consists in raising the molten metal to any desired temperature in contact with whatever slag is figured to give the desired product. Heating is produced by an arc, by induction, or in certain special cases by a combination of these methods with resistance heat- ing. The complete removal of phosphorus and sulphur as well as the introduction of any desired ingredient, such as silicon, manganese, tungsten, molybdenum, nickel and vanadium, are effected with perfect ease and cer- tainty in these furnaces. The superior qualities of special steels resulting from the introduction of small percentages of these metals has created such a demand for ferro-alloys that the production of these in itself constitutes a new electrothermic industry. Ferro-alloys rich in the above named metals are now produced in large quantities by the Goldschmidt thermite process and in various electric furnaces, the latter methods being used particularly in France. Some idea may be obtained of the extraordinary rapidity with which electrothermic methods have been perfected and applied in the steel industry from the fact that when the first report of the Canadian commission was published in 1904, only four small electric furnaces were in operation in Europe. Last year, 1910, only six years later, there were sixty-seven in operation, eleven not working, and thirty-six in course of construction. In this country two fifteen-ton Heroult steel furnaces are already in opera- tion, one at South Chicago (Illinois Steel Company), and one at Worcester, Mass. (American Steel and Wire Company). If the next six years wit- ness a corresponding development, and there is no reason to anticipate otherwise, the electrometallurgy of steel will have become an industry of tremendous magnitude. The problem of converting directly into electrical energy the energy set free by chemical reactions has been completely solved in a number of cases. The practical solution of the problem for the most important technical reac- tion which arises, namely, that of the combustion of carbon to carbon 314 ELECTROCHEMISTRY AND ITS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT dioxide, still remains, however, an achievement of the future. When it is remembered that our chief source of electrical energy, hydro-electric power excepted, comes from the combustion of fuel under the boiler of an engine coupled to a dynamo and that about 90 per cent of this energy is lost so far as electrical energy is concerned, the significance of the discovery of a primary carbon generator by which electrical energy and not heat would result directly from the consumption of carbon, may be realized. The solution of this problem would mean an industrial revolution. Many scien- tists and inventors have put forth their best efforts in the .attempt to solve this problem, but up to the present time it must be frankly admitted their endeavors have met with little or no practical success. From a theoretical point of view, however, there seems to be no intrinsic reason why a solution should not be found. The problem remains to-day one of the most impor- tant in the whole field of electrochemistry. MAIL HANDLING MACHINEKY AT THE PENNSYLVANIA EAILEOAD TEEMINAL AND NEW UNITED STATES POST OFFICE AT NEW YOEK CITY. By JULIAN E. WOODWELL, '96, Consulting Engineer, New York. LOCATION AND GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF NEW TERMINAL POSTAL FACILITIES. The Pennsylvania railroad terminal is located between Seventh and Eighth Avenues and occupies an area between Thirty-first and Thirty-third Streets, 434 feet wide (north and south), and 800 feet long (east and west). Fig 1. 1 W i I W W. 33rd St. St. . 33rd St. Open Space K.fi. Tracks Below g 4 | 1 Open Space E.K. Tracks Below 1 1 1 Post Office 5 nurture . . j > 5 M Pennsylvania Railroad Station 32nd St. ~ W. 3lst St. St. 31st St. ' ' FIG. 1. Site of the new Post Office, west of the Pennsylvania Railroad Station. The new post office building being erected by the government will be completed in 1913 and occupies a site west of the Pennsylvania station fronting about 375 feet on Eighth Avenue and extending from Thirty- first to Thirty-third Streets, and having a depth of about 335 feet or nearly half way from Eighth to Ninth Avenues. Both the Pennsylvania station and the new government post office building span the tracks of the Pennsylvania railroad fifty feet below the 315 316 MAIL HANDLING MACHINERY IN NEW YOEK CITY street level, and the principal facilities for handling the mails are located on the westerly side of the post office building at the most distant point from the railroad station. Entering from a private street that runs along the west side of the building, connecting Thirty-first and Thirty-third Streets, we come to an inner covered driveway 300 feet long and 32 feet wide fronting a mailing platform 312 feet long and 35 feet wide for loading and unloading mail wagons. This mailing platform is located about four feet above the street level and is at the first floor level of the post office. The basement of the post office underlies the mailing platform and the private street, and affords facilities for rehandling mail at this lower level. The working zone for handling mail in the post office building there- fore comprises two narrow spaces at the first floor and basement levels ex- tending north and south, and spanning the railroad tracks below reserved for the postal cars. It was in this limited space that the mail handling equipment had to be installed. The railway mail service, coincident with the operation of the Penn- sylvania railroad and train service, began at the new terminal on Nov. 27, 1910. To provide for this service, the westerly end of the post office building had been finished in a temporary manner, housing the mailing platform and covered driveway and enclosing a space on the basement level, providing for a trucking plaza, offices for officials and clerks, and ample space for a complete railway mail post office equipment and a large force of postal employees. Four train platforms and six tracks, under the westerly end of the post office building, providing for a maximum of 26 mail cars at one time, were set apart wholly or partly for the railway mail service. AH four train platforms will handle mail departing from the station, and the southerly platform was specially arranged for receiving the incoming mail from the south and west. The two middle platforms, having no con- nection with the passenger platforms of the terminal, are called island platforms, and are devoted exclusively to the postal service. These plat- forms extend to the west beyond the limits of the post office building. The north and south platforms extend to the east under the post office building and are a continuation of the passenger platforms of the terminal. Aside from the heavy incoming and outgoing mails handled on these six tracks, there are other mails, light but frequent, for despatch by trains on other tracks. Certain facilities of a character customary in large modern railroad stations, had been provided. These mails arc sent down to the trucking subway, twelve feet wide, running underneath the tracks and extending JULIAN E. WOODWELL, '96 317 eastward under the tracks nearly 1,000 feet and provided with transverse branches extending north and south and connected with the various plat- forms by means of elevators. To facilitate the rapid transfer of mail from point to point on the various levels and from one level to another and through the elaborate system of subways, four plunger elevators have been provided, one for each of the four train platforms, and a large number of electric motor trucks furnished, each having a carrying capacity of 4,000 pounds. These elevators are designed with sufficient size and capacity to raise and lower the loaded trucks to and from the different levels. These facilities, however, involving manual handling for the most part, were wholly inadequate to provide for % the prompt handling and despatch of the enormous quantities of mail which arrive and depart from this station daily, on trains which move quickly in and out of a restricted and congested underground trackage network. The task of designing special machinery for mail handling, departing from the conventional construction of conveying machinery, was rendered the more difficult by reason of the fixed conditions applying to the layout of tracks, track platforms and structural supports of the post office and also to the fixed locations of the mailing platform, trucking space and plunger elevators, all of which had been established prior to consideration of the introduction of special machinery for handling the mails. Further- more, as the original scheme was planned to secure the utmost economy of space in the arrangement for elevator and trucking facilities only, it became necessary to plan and dispose the mail handling machinery so that it would occupy otherwise unused or waste space without encroachment upon or interference with any or all of the facilities previously provided. The location of the machinery and position of loading and unloading stations was therefore limited to areas already congested by motor trucks and elevator entrances, and to narrow train platforms with restricted side and overhead train, clearances and also to spaces free from interference with lines of sight of train signals. Notwithstanding the physical limitations of the building and struc- tural work, which cramped the mail handling proposition at the outset and absolutely prevented the installation of duplicate or reserve apparatus, the mail handling machinery had to be made capable of constant service, free from breakdown or interruption which would delay the movements of the mails or trains, and also made free from liability to damage the contents of the mail pouches and sacks. The cost of the entire installation was assumed by the railroad com- pany, and will total nearly $300,000. 318 MAIL HANDLING MACHINERY IN NEW YORK CITY Two classes of machinery are provided, one for handling the outgoing and one for handling the incoming mail. MACHINERY FOR HANDLING OUTGOING MAIL. The mail to be despatched on departing mail trains arrives at the station in wagons, which are unloaded at the mailing platform. Here the mail pouches are sorted, some of them being sent to the basement level through spiral chutes, where they are opened and the contents redistributed and finally repouched; the reassembled pouches, together with the un- opened pouches, are then fed into spiral chutes which deliver them to con- veyor belts located over the track platforms and above the mail cars, and also to the trucking subways. The belts are provided with automatic trip- pers or unloading mechanisms, which may be set opposite the door of any of the cars of the mail train, thus automatically unloading and transferring the mail through parabolic slides directly into any one of the mail cars for which the apparatus has been set. Two belt conveyors are provided over each of the four mail track platforms, one belt extending east and one west of the connecting spiral chutes which are constructed with separate compartments, one for each belt. By this means two mail cars at each of the four track platforms may be loaded simultaneously by machinery. Structural Features: The supports for overhead belt conveyors, driving motors, etc., are hung on the overhead framing of the post office building above the limits of train clearances and so disposed as to avoid interference with lines of sight of train signals. Where the two island mail train platforms extended to the west beyond the limits of the post office building, it was necessary to build sheds to house and protect the overhead conveyors. These sheds are of copper kalameined construction with glass roofs and are supported on irregularly spaced single lines of eccentrically loaded columns, using can- tilever construction to permit the longitudinal travel of belt trippers or unloading devices. Spiral Chutes Figs. 2 and 3 : One of the salient features of the work was a fourfold system of spiral chutes. As will be made clear by the following description, this system was grouped into double, triple and quadruple chutes, with single chute com- partments designed for simultaneous loading at the different levels with- out interference. As the result of the space limitations and the prearranged structural JULIAN E. WOOD WELL, '96 319 conditions already referred to, and the necessary inter-relation of the work- ing areas assigned for the receipt and handling of the mails, a complexity of requirements arose in the design of the spiral chutes. For example, it was impracticable to make the spiral chutes vertical for the entire length, and numerous deviations and offsets of straight and curved slides were re- quired. The vertical length of the chutes was also limited by lack of head room, and the inlets and delivery points of the chutes were restricted not only in height but in arrangement and precise location. In meeting the complex conditions, it was necessary to depart widely from conventional design and to resort to an unsymmetrical arrangement of Bucket Lift Loading 8 1 a. 33rd St. , Tunnel* 4 Section at Sta. 177. Lboking East N Section at Sta. 178. Looking East ! i FIG. 2 the entrances to the triple and quadruple chutes, all three entrances of the triple chute being placed on one side and all four entrances of the quadruple chute being placed on two sides of the chute housing. The fixed conditions made it necessary to vary the pitch of the spiral slides at different points in the same chute and to depend in some cases for positive action upon acquired momentum of the mail pouches developed in parts of the chute in which it was possible to use a more favorable pitch. In other cases the latitude in design was so small that the critical angle at which a mail bag will slide on a polished metal plate is exceeded by only two or three degrees. It was also necessary to resort to reverse curves and to change the direction of motion of the bag by baffle plates. The solution of this problem was rendered still more difficult by reason of the wide variation of loads, ranging from that of the small and practical- 320 MAIL HANDLING MACHINERY IN NEW YOEK CITY ly empty canvas bag to a full bag of periodicals weighing as much as 300 Ibs. The spiral curves are so designed that the speed and certainty of delivery of bags of the two extremes in weight and size is regulated or con- trolled by the action of centrifugal force. In addition to the spiral chutes a number of other direct chutes were installed, and these were constructed with curves of parabolic form, secur- ing a maximum speed of descent, yet bringing the bags to rest at the bottom without shock. Belt Conveyors Fig. 3 : As already outlined, the spiral chutes feed all four of the postal track platforms and deliver the mail bags as they emerge from the slides at their lower end, directly to motor operated horizontal belt conveyors located above and parallel with the four track platforms, thus serving all FIG. 3 postal cars located on the six tracks reserved for the postal service. More- over, as the spiral chutes are located at intermediate points over the train platforms, the belt conveyors are divided into two sections, one belt run- ning east and one belt west from the chutes, which are divided into two separate compartments, one serving each section of the conveyor. The motors for the eight overhead belt conveyors for outgoing mail are of the semi-enclosed type, designed for 650 volts direct current and arranged to secure a speed control of 20 per cent above normal speed by shunt field control and a decrease of 20 per cent below normal by armature resistance. The motors are capable of developing the following rated horse- powers when operating at a maximum speed of 20 per cent above normal : JULIAN E. WOODWELL, '96 321 Track platform No. 4 : West belt, 73 feet long, 5 horse-power motor ; east belt, 185 feet long, 7% horse-power motor. Track platform No. 8 : West belt, 65 feet long, 5 horse-power motor ; east belt, 195 feet long, 7% horse-power motor. Track platform No. 13 : West belt, 192 feet long (two belts in series) 10 horse-power motor; east belt, 60 feet long, 5 horse-power motor. Track platform No. 14: West belt, 192 feet long (two belts in series) 10 horse power motor; east belt, 60 feet long, 5 horse power motor. The motors are equipped with drum type non-reversible compound controllers having no-voltage, overload and push button release features. The individual motor drive for each of the eight belts consists of two reductions between the motor and the conveyor belt driving pulley. The first reduction between the motor and the countershaft consists of a Reynolds silent chain, and the second reduction between countershaft and driving pulley is made with spur gears. The entire drive is rigidly mounted upon the structural members supporting the conveyors. The bearings of the countershafts and the driving pulleys are of the self -aligning, ring-oiling type with renewable bronze shells and cast iron pedestals. The spur gears are of cast steel with cut teeth of extra wide face, and the pinions are forged steel cut from the solid. Beneath each motor is placed an oil tight galvanized iron drip pan extending under the entire motor and bearings. A hand lever operates the controller for bringing each motor to the desired speed. In case of abnormal load on the motor due to too rapid starting, or to the clogging of the driving mechanism, the overload release coil will cause a solenoid switch to be opened, and this switch will not close again until the controller lever has been returned to the "off" position. Push-button release stations are located along the gangway of the conveyor structure for the respective belts at intervals of approximately forty feet. By pressing a button at any one of those stations, the release coil becomes energized and causes the main-line solenoid switch to be opened in the same manner as for the overload device. In event of failure of current supply, the no- voltage release feature is brought into action, opening the main-line solenoid switch, which protects the motor from inrush of current should the current supply be restored before the controller handle is moved to the " off " position. The supports for the belt conveyors consist of stringers of heavy chan- nel and I-beam sections forming supports for the rollers and idlers which are of special design, employing hollow steel tubing and the highest grade of radial ball bearings with stationary shafts. Ball bearings were selected not only to reduce the friction, but to prevent the possibility of dripping of 322 MAIL HANDLING MACHINERY IN NEW YOBK CITY oil or grease upon the train platforms. The rollers with ball bearings are readily demountable and interchangeable and adjustable, to secure the proper alignment of the belts. The belts are constructed of five-ply heavy canvas of long fiber Sea Island cotton impregnated and covered with rubber on both sides, and have half-round molded edges. The clogging of the bags by the catching of mail pouch strings in the mechanism was guarded against by aprons, skirt boards and other special detail devices. Two of the train platforms are curved and necessitated the installa- tion of two conveyor belts in series, with a special transferring device which was developed as an adjunct to two of the trippers. In order to transfer the mail from the overhead belts to the deflecting spouts employed to deposit the mail directly into the cars, belt trippers or unloaders were employed, traveling on three rails, and having a three-point mounting to compensate for inequalities in track alignment. The space limitations necessitated an entirely new design of the conventional type of belt tripper, with self-propelling gearing, clutches, and control levers and pedals, including a rail clamping device to insure stability during the opera- tion of the tripper. ' The only manual operation required is the setting of the motor operated tripper and the insertion of its spout into the door of the car. The stream of pouches then pours in at the door of the car, there to be stored away by employees in the cars. MACHINERY FOR HANDLING INCOMING MAIL. For handling the incoming mail, the southerly track platform has an underground belt conveyor similar in type to the overhead belt conveyors, consisting of two belts leading from the east and west delivering to a bucket elevator installed at an intermediate point. The design of the co- ordinated conveyor and elevator equipment was one of the most difficult special problems of the mail handling system. "Loading stations" spaced a short distance apart in the train platform are provided, having hopper openings in the floor through which the pouches are thrown from the arriving mail cars to be received on a moving belt. To insure safe handling without injury to the pouches or derangement of the apparatus, each pouch must be transferred from the belt to the bucket elevator at the proper instant when the buckets of the elevator are in position to receive the load. This receiving position has been made pos- sible, first by driving the whole conveyor and bucket elevator system by a JULIAN E. WOODWELL, '96 323 single electric motor installed at the top of the elevator shaft, and second by applying a time-interval operation to the intermediate pouch loading mechanism placed at the loading stations and coordinated with the inter- mediate transferring mechanism placed between the delivery point of the belt conveyors and the bucket elevator. In the operation of this equipment, when a pouch is thrown into the opening of a loading station, it is not re- ceived directly on the belt, but on a shelf above and at one side of the belt. From this intermediate receptacle the pouch is automatically pushed, at the right instant, onto the moving belt by a specially designed mechanism operated by compressed air. The time of the deposit on the belt carrier is controlled by a bank of compressed afr valves operated directly by the bucket lift and in synchronism with same. These valves regulate the supply and exhaust pressure of the compressed air in the piping connected with air cylinders having differential pistons which move the bag pushers to and fro at the right time. Each pusher includes a pair of pistons of different diameters fastened to one piston rod working tandem in two cylinders. The engines have no valves or stuffing boxes, their reciprocating action be- ing secured by different pressures obtained through the valves already men- tioned, one pipe supplying and maintaining a constant pressure between the two pistons, and another pipe connected with the supply and exhaust valves, supplying a variable pressure applied at the outer end of the larger piston. The pouches are thus loaded on the moving belt at fixed time intervals and spaced a definite distance apart. The transfer of the bags from the belt to the bucket elevator, through the medium of the second intermediate receptacle, is made at the common point of delivery of the buckets. The bags are loaded into the ascending buckets from a tilting tray, which is stationary at the time the bag is received and which auto- matically dumps its load into a bucket of the elevator at the instant when the tray and the ascending bucket occupy the proper relative positions. The necessary coordination is secured by a mechanical movement derived from the bucket elevator. To prevent conflict of delivery of pouches from the east and west belts, the driving mechanism of the two belts is made interlocking, so that when one belt is working the other is out of commission. The bucket ele- vator can handle 1,200 bags an hour. Bucket Lift: The bucket lift is essentially of special design throughout. The driv- ing chains are of short pitch, reducing the angular variations in velocity which obtain in the operation of the more conventional forms of bucket 324 MAIL HANDLING MACHINERY IN NEW YORK CITY lift driving chains, and secure a uniformity of motion approaching that of a belt drive. This end is also furthered by the design of special sprockets with double staggered teeth. The chains have multiple drop forged nickel steel links with solid bronze bushings, giving unusually large bearing surfaces on pins of large diameter constructed of hollow nickel steel and equipped with an internal system of lubrication, so designed that lubrication may be regulated and maintained during continuous operation. The buckets are of pressed steel made of thin high grade steel to re- duce weight and fitted with reinforcing and castings of steel, to which the chain pins are firmly secured. The buckets are so shaped that the bottom surface will form a slide of proper curvature to insure the positive delivery of the bags at the top of the lift. Eestrictions of space at the foot of the bucket lift necessitated the placing of the entire driving mechanism and slack chain take-up at the top of the lift in the mezzanine story of the post office building. To reduce vibration and to secure proper alignment of parts, the en- tire overhead support, motor and driving mechanism is supported on a mas- sive base casting weighing several tons and filled with concrete, the whole resting on a sound deadening pad of block cork. To provide for the eleva- tion and adjustment of the main bucket lift driving shaft and sprockets necessitated a special design of driving mechanism, employing a propeller shaft with bevel gears mounted on a radical yoke to secure permanent align- ment between the stationary and the adjustable shafts, somewhat similar to the rear axle propeller shaft drive of an automobile. The bearings of the head shaft slide in curved guides and are raised or lowered in parallelism by jack screws geared for joint operation. The total weight of the bed plate, sprockets, driving shafts and chains is over 20 tons. The lubrication of shafts of low speed is secured by compression grease cups, and of shafts and bearings of higher speed, by a complete system of forced feed lubrication piped separately to each bearing. The motor drive of the bucket lift in- cludes a combination of spur and bevel gears, reducing the speed of the 650- volt 50 horse-power motor from 150 to 4 revolutions per minute for the head shaft and main driving sprockets. The bucket lift motor is equipped with a magnetic self-starting con- troller fitted with "no voltage," "overload" and "push-button release," one at the train platform level and the other located near the motor. In addition to the two operating stations mentioned, release push but- tons are located at the train platform convenient to the automatic loading stations for shutting down the machinery in case of emergency. Immediate- ly above each of the manual loading stations and the loading stations of the JULIAN E. WOODWELL, '96 325 bucket lift, are installed U shaped pivoted bars extending around the front and sides of the path of the buckets, so that any mail pouches pro- truding beyond the front edge or sides of the bucket will raise the bars, which in turn will close a switch connected with the push button release circuit, thus shutting down the machinery and preventing damage to the mail sacks or machinery. Electric Service: There are two sources of current supply for operating the mail hand- ling motors, one consisting of separate feeders from the main switchboard in the power plant, terminating in a distributing tablet located in the transverse tunnel below the track level. This distributing panel is fitted with switches and separate feeders to each of the four groups of conveyor motors. The other source of supply consists of a connection taken from the third rail operating the train service, the feeder connecting to distributing panel, on which is mounted a double throw switch. This insures uninter- rupted service for the conveyor motors. Operating Results : Some idea of the speed of the apparatus may be gained from watch- ing the loading of one of the heavy western mail trains which carries the early morning newspapers and steamer mail, together with an enormous quantity of first-class matter to western points, amounting in all to fifty or sixty tons, comprising from 1,500 to 1,800 mail pouches. The mail for this train is unloaded from the wagons, much of it resorted and segregated for the different cars and despatched from the station in less than three hours, over twenty-five tons being handled during the last hour, the bags being frequently unloaded into the cars at as high a rate as sixty a minute. From the entrances in the spiral chutes the bags descend through the wind- ing convolutions of the chutes, continuing their journey along the rapidly moving belts and finally emerge at the door of the car, almost noiselessly, the entire journey occupying about thirty seconds. The average daily weight of mail loaded on the regular outgoing postal trains of the Pennsylvania railroad and the duration of the loading periods is shown on the accompanying chart, Fig. 4, each train being desig- nated by its regular number. By reference to the chart it will be seen that about fifty tons of mail are loaded on train No. 11 and during this period over sixteen tons are loaded on train No. 53. Simultaneous loading of mail aggregating over sixty tons also occurs on trains Nos. 19, 55 and 1019. (Fig. 4.) 326 MAIL HANDLING MACHINERY IN NEW YOEK CITY In addition to the regular postal trains indicated on the chart, fifty- four outgoing and sixty-seven incoming Pennsylvania railroad trains as well as approximately the same number of trains on the Long Island rail- uo 10 -No. 11 1019 35 10 11 13 1234 56 7 8 9 10 11 13 13 ferJfcH* A-M-. * TiinA o. U Time FIG. 4 road, carry mail in small lots which must be transported to and from the trains at frequent intervals. The intermittent nature and frequency of the traffic and the peak load demands upon the mail handling machinery are thus made evident. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SYSTEM OP UNDERGROUND PNEUMATIC TUBES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF UNITED STATES MAIL. By B. C. BATCHELLER, '86, Chief Engineer, American Pneumatic Service Co., New York City. BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE SYSTEMS. PRIOR to the year 1892, the only extensive systems of underground pneumatic tubes were the 2y^ and 3-inch tubes in London, used in connec- tion with the telegraph for forwarding messages from sub-stations to the central office ; similar small tubes in Paris, Berlin and Vienna, used by the government for sending messages; one or two lines in New York City, used by the Western Union Telegraph Company in connection with its telegraph systems; and a few other short, isolated tubes, none of which was more than three inches in diameter. Besides these, several experi- mental undergound railways were constructed and operated by pneumatic propulsion, some of them large enough to carry passengers, but they never went beyond the experimental stage. While these small tubes fulfilled their purpose admirably, there seemed to be a field for tubes of a size suitable for the transportation of let- ters, parcels, etc., within the limits of large cities, where traffic was becom- ing more congested each year. It was believed that if a system could be constructed and operated at a reasonable cost, to give uninterrupted service at high speed, it would find a broad field and an ever-increasing demand. Pneumatic tubes seemed to be especially well adapted to the transportation of letters between central post offices, railway stations and the numerous branch post offices. Here were large quantities of mail, that could be made up in parcels of a size adapted to a tube of six or eight inches diameter, being forwarded at every hour of the day and night. To transport them by tube would not only give more rapid transit, along an unobstructed route, but would give a continuous service, reducing the congestion in the post offices that results from holding mail for wagons that leave on scheduled times. Furthermore, it was thought that the tubes would give a more even distribution of work for postal clerks than obtains when the 327 328 PNEUMATIC TUBES FOE TEANSPOETATION OF MAIL mails arrive in large bulk at irregular intervals. The removal of some of the wagons from the crowded streets was also a strong argument in favor of the proposed new system. Thus it came about that the new system was first to be applied to the transportation of the mails. A beginning was made in Philadelphia by the construction of a double line of 6-inch tubes, about five-eighths of a mile long, between the central post office and one of the branch stations. It was an innovation, and five years elapsed before its possibilities were sufficiently appreciated to secure the necessary appropriation for an extension, but in 1897 the enterprise went rapidly forward. During that and the succeeding year, fifteen miles of 8-inch tubes were laid in the city of New York, about four miles in Philadelphia, and a small amount in Boston. The present mileage in five cities is approximately as follows : New York 57% Philadelphia 20 Boston 14 Chicago 18% St. Louis 4 Total, 113i/ 2 The tubes are always laid in pairs for sending in opposite directions; therefore, the length of the lines between stations is one-half that given in the above table. The New York system consists of five lines radiating from the central post office, viz: a line to Brooklyn, via the Brooklyn Bridge; a line to branch stations " Wall Street " and " P ", the latter located in the Cus- tom House; a line to the "Hudson Terminal"; a line extending north- ward on the east side of the city, as far as One Hundred Twenty-fifth Street, connecting with eight branch stations, including one in the Grand Central Depot; and a line extending northward on the west side of the city, connecting with the east side line at One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street, and tapping ten branch statione en route. The east and west side lines are cross-connected at the Grand Central Depot. In Brooklyn there is a line from the central post office to the Long Island Eailway Station/ on Flat- bush Avenue. There are altogether twenty-five tube stations, ten of which are equipped with power plants for compressing the air, using either steam or electric power. The air compressors take the expanded air from the in- coming tubes, and after compressing it, discharge it directly into the out- going tubes, thereby maintaining constant circulation with the pressure in B. C. BATCHELLER, '86 329 the tubes always above that of the atmosphere. The tubes terminate at all the stations on the ground floor, in the heart of the mailing division, so that letters have to be carried only a few feet from the sorting cases to the tube, and vice versa, saving all possible time and labor. The mail is sent through the tubes at an average speed of thirty miles per hour, in steel carriers, which are inside about 7 inches diameter, by 21 inches long. They carry from 200 to 600 ordinary letters, and weigh, when filled, about 30 pounds. During the past year a double line of 8-inch tube has been constructed for the United States Treasury Department, between the Custom House and the Appraisers' Warehouse, in New York City. This line is about two miles in length, and is owned and operated by the Government. It is used for the transmission of letters, documents, etc. The mail tube systems in the other cities are similiar in all important respects to the New York* system, and, therefore, call for no further description. DEVELOPMENT or MATHEMATICAL FORMULAE. Before beginning to construct, or even to plan the details of the first line of tubes, it was realized that much time and effort could be saved by acquiring a thorough knowledge of the theory of the flow of air through long tubes, a subject not generally well understood. The laws govern- ing the compression of air under various conditions are stated, extensively discussed, and illustrated by numerous examples, in the many text books used in technical schools and by the engineering profession generally. The text books also devote considerable space to the flow of air through ori- fices, but they usually treat the subject of the flow of air in long tubes briefly and imperfectly, giving a few simple formulae, which may be sufficiently accurate for ordinary purposes, for example, to ascertain the loss of pressure between an air reservoir and a rock drill, but almost useless in determining the loss of pressure in a pneumatic tube line, where more than 90 per cent of the work of compression is expended in overcoming the resistance to flow through the tube. At the outset a search was made for all available formulas and ex- perimental data bearing upon the subject. The ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica contains an article by Professor William Caw- thorne Unwin on the subject of hydro-mechanics, and this article in- cludes formulae expressing the laws governing the flow of compressible fluids in pipes, with coefficient based on a number of experiments. Pro- 330 PNEUMATIC TUBES FOE TEANSPOETATION OF MAIL fessor Unwin has since treated the subject in a book entitled, " Develop- ment and Transmission of Power ". In its last analysis the subject has to deal with extremely intricate phenomena, and we can never hope to express them completely by mathematical symbols; but the formulae we have are rational and sufficiently accurate for engineering purposes. The well-known formulae for the flow of water through long pipes is known, from wide experience with pipes of varying diameters and lengths, to give the velocity of flow with a high degree of precision. Pro- fessor Unwin reasoned that a formula of similiar form, which embodied also the well-known laws of expansion of gases, and which thereby takes into consideration the varying density of the fluid, should express with equal precision the velocity of flow of air or other gas, provided correct values are used for the experimental coefficients. Proceeding upon this theory, he derived a formula by equating the change in kinetic energy to the work of overcoming friction, expressed as in the case of the flow of water, and the work of expansion of the fluid. He assumes that the expansion takes place at constant temperature, and in practice it is found that that assumption is practically true. Most of the work of expansion is expended in friction of the air, which reappears in the form of heat; thus the temperature of the air remains unchanged. In flowing through long metal tubes the air is most effectively stirred and quickly gives up its heat to, or receives heat from, the tube. The surface of the tube is very large compared with the quantity of heat transferred; therefore, the tem- perature of the air in the tube and the air or earth surrounding the tube, do not differ much after the air has flowed a short distance. Experiments with the underground postal tubes in Philadelphia showed that the tem- perature of the air in the tubes was practically the same as the tempera- ture of the ground in which the tubes were laid. Experiments at St. Gothard's tunnel showed that the temperature of air flowing in a pipe 6,000 meters long, was at every point about 3 degrees C. below that of the air surrounding the pipe. Professor Unwin pointed out that the experimental coefficient, which enters into this formula, varies somewhat with the diameter of the tube, and he has given a simple, empirical formula to express this variation, which is almost exact within the limits of our experience. This was dem- onstrated by the experiments of Culley and Sabine on the small telegraph tubes in London; Stockalper's experiment at St. Gothard's tunnel; Eied- ler & Cuthermuth's experiments on the Paris air mains, and experiments of the writer on the 6-inch and 8-inch postal tubes in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia experiments seemed to indicate that the coefficient B. C. BATCHELLEB, '86 331 ill the Unwin formula varied slightly with the velocity of the air, or with some other function which varied with the velocity; but to what extent this enters as a disturbing element, only future experiments can demon- strate. The Unwin formulae show the limitations of pneumatic propulsion the absolute impossibility of operating a tube more than a few miles in length at a high rate of speed. This was well worth knowing, for many people have dreamed of pneumatic tubes connecting remote cities, for the purpose of transmitting messages and parcels at great speed. The for- mulae shows that it is physically impossible to obtain a mean speed of more than 30 miles per hour in an 8-inch tube more than 8.35 miles long, even though the initial pressure were infinite. This is an application of the formulae beyond the limits of experiment, but it serves as a warning against useless expenditure of money. By means of the formulae it is possible to compute the air pressure and velocity at any point in a tube, the volume of air to be supplied, the power that must be expended, and other information important to know before beginning the construction of a physical system. Professor Unwin did not consider the case in which the flow of air is modified by the presence of carriers in transit in the tube. The carriers com- plicate the problem somewhat by introducing additional resistance, but a satisfactory solution of this case has been found. Carrier friction is a constantly varying quantity, depending upon the weight of the carrier and the amount of lubricant in the tube. When the tube is dry the friction is about 0.4, but when there is moisture present, the friction is less than half this amount. The formulae show that the work expended in moving the carriers is small compared with the work expended in moving the air, and the difference decreases as the velocity increases. PRESSURE OR VACUUM. Tubes can be operated either by compressed or rarefied air, but the former has been exclusively used in the underground systems that are the subject of this paper. If the air is exhausted instead of compressed, closed receivers must be used at all stations. This type of receiver is more expensive to manufacture and maintain than open receivers, and being more intricate, gives more trouble in operation: Furthermore, some supplementary force must be provided to remove the carriers from the receiver, since the atmospheric pressure is higher than the pressure in the tube. In small tubes gravity can be used to do this, but with 8-inch 332 PNEUMATIC TUBES FOR TRANSPORTATION OF MAIL tubes there is usually insufficient room in the stations to allow the termi- nals to be so placed that the carriers will slide out of the receiver under the force of gravity. Long lines of underground tubes will eventually leak more or less, and through these leaks, dirt, sand, water, etc., would be drawn in if the pressure inside were less than the atmospheric pressure outside. This, however, is not the case if the pressure in the tube is above that of the atmosphere, which is a strong argument in favor of com- pressed air. The method of operating by exhausting the air is more economical, so far as the expenditure of power is concerned, and the dispatching mech- anism at the initial end of the tube is simpler; but the working pres- sure is limited to something less than fourteen pounds per square inch, and there might be conditions making that insufficient. MATERIAL AND MANUFACTURE OF THE TUBES. The selection of suitable material for the tubes and the process of their manufacture were subjects that called for serious consideration. Brass, lead, wrought iron and steel had been used for small tubes, but the precedents were of little importance. The first attempt was to obtain 6-inch lapwelded iron or steel tubes, expanded and made smooth on the interior by drawing a mandrel through them. They were smooth enough, but varied so much in diameter at the ends of the lengths, where they join, that they were rejected. This was probably fortunate, for had they been otherwise satisfactory, their rigidity, unless made very thick, would have been insufficient under the severe strains to which they are sometimes subjected when laid underground. The next material selected proved to be the material that has stood the test of time and has become the standard for all large tube construc- tion, viz., cast iron. The first tube line was made of lengths of bored cast iron water pipe, machined at the ends to allow them to fit one into the other, and so insure smooth joints on the interior. The pipe was a little too thin, resulting in an occasional break, but otherwise was entirely satisfactory, and is in use to-day. Since this first experiment the pipe has been cast of proper thickness and of a good mixture to give sound castings that can be readily bored. A "bell and spigot" joint calked with yarn and lead, so common in gas and water pipes, has been the standard joint for pneumatic tubes from the beginning, excepting special lengths, which have flanged and bolted joints. To bore accurately and economically large quantities of tubing neces- B. C. BATCHELLEE, '86 333 sitated specially designed boring machines and elaborately equipped plants, several of which have been constructed. The first permanent plant was equipped with vertical boring machines made vertical in order to keep the cutters clear of chips by gravity provided with special adjustments for quickly bringing the axis of the tube to coincide with the axis of the boring tool. The tube was held stationary while the boring bar and cutters revolved and fed downward into the tube. An overhead track and trolley were designed to transport the tubes to and from the boring machines, and small cranes at each machine facilitated the transfer of tubes from the trolley to the boring position. Two other plants were equipped with horizontal boring machines, in which the tube was made to revolve while a non-revolving cutter head on the end of a square boring bar was slowly fed through the tube. These machines required fans to keep the cutters clear of chips. The horizontal machines had one advantage over the vertical, in that they had means for finishing the ends of the tubes, by the use of special cutters attached to the boring bar. In the first plant equipped with vertical machines, the ends of the tubes were finished in separate machines de- signed for the purpose, which necessitated two settings of each length of tube. It was found possible to bore about six feet of 8-inch tube per hour, and the tube was finished at one passage of the boring cutters. All that has thus far been said regarding tubes and their manufacture refers to straight tubing. In order to make short bends in a tube line, it is necessary to have specially bent or curved lengths. At first these were made of seamless brass drawn and bent to the desired radius. To bend them they were first filled with rosin, then passed back and forth through rolls until the desired curvature was obtained. The next pro- cess was to remove the rosin, a slow and tedius process at best; then a series of mandrels were driven through the bent tube, one after the other, each mandrel being slightly larger than its predecessor; the purpose of the mandrel being to give the tube a uniform, circular cross-section of correct diameter. The last process was to cut off the ends of the bent tube and attach flanges by soldering. These brass bends were expensive and difficult to manufacture. "When laid in the ground they required a covering of concrete or brickwork to protect them from external injury, and, on account of the softness of the material, the carriers wore holes through them in three or four years. When the brass bends began to wear out, it was evident that some other material must be found. A few steel bends were used in New York, 334 PNEUMATIC TUBES FOR TRANSPORTATION OF MAIL but they did not wear much, if any, longer than the brass. Much study was given to the subject, which resulted in devising a process of casting , iron bends with an inner surface so smooth and accurate to dimensions that they only required a little grinding with an emery wheel to finish the interior. The only machine work on them consists of counter-boring the ends, and facing and drilling the flanges. These curved sections of tube are made 22y 2 degrees, 11% degrees, 7 10' and 5 degrees in length of arc, and by combining them a bend of almost any desired angle can be secured. They are much less expensive to manufacture than the brass bends ; they are more accurate in curvature,, and they are as durable as the straight cast iron tubing. The production of these curved cast-iron tubes is one of the important achievements in the development of the system. AIR COMPRESSORS. To operate the first line of tubes in Philadelphia, a duplex steam- driven air compressor was selected. It was thought that a duplex com- pressor, which gives four discharges per revolution, was necessary to secure a uniform flow of air in the tube, and this opinion was borne out by ex- perience. This machine, and all subsequent machines that have been installed, run at constant speed, delivering a constant volume of air per minute, which maintains a nearly constant average carrier speed in the tube. When no carriers are in transit, the air pressure is determined by the length and diameter of the tube, since it is due entirely to friction of the air flowing through the tube. Roughly speaking, about three pounds pressure per square inch per mile of tube is necessary to give a mean velocity of thirty miles per hour in an 8-inch tube ; but the initial pressure per mile of tube increases as the length of the tube increases, so three pounds is only correct for the first one or two miles. When carriers are in transit, the initial pressure fluctuates, depend- ing upon the number of carriers in the tube, the weight of the carriers and the amount of moisture present, which acts as a lubricant, By main- taining a constant compressor speed, the quantity of air flowing through the tube is constant and the pressure automatically adjusts itself to the load. None of the mail tubes requires an initial pressure in excess of twelve pounds, and many of them not more than six or eight pounds. The compressors are, therefore, low-pressure machines. At all the power stations, excepting those located in the central post offices and at Madison Square branch in New York, electric motors are used to drive the air compressors. Two types of compressor are used : B. C. BATCHELLER, >86 335 one having two double-acting air cylinders with reciprocating pistons, driven by cranks on the ends of a common crank shank; the other, a ro- tary machine consisting of two 2-toothed gears, called impellers, revolving together within a close-fitting iron case, commonly known as a ~ Boot " blower. The reciprocating piston compressors all have mechanically-moved " Corliss " intake valves in the heads- of the cylinders, which receive their motion from eccentrics on the crank shaft. Both poppet and " Corliss " outlet valves have been used, but the latter are more satisfactory. The usual objection to mechanically moved outlet valves, that their point of opening in the stroke does not change to suit varying pressures, is not. an important objection in this case, for the reason that the pressure varies within such narrow limits. With such low pressures the mechanically moved valve opens more promptly and is much quieter than a poppet valve. The rotary compressors have given most satisfactory results up to about eight pounds air pressure, and a large number of them are used in the Xew York system. Their efficiency is equal to that of the piston com- pressor at six pounds pressure, and exceeds it at lower pressures. Their first cost is only one-half that of the piston compresor, and they require far less attention in operation. They have the further advantage of oc- cupying much less floor space. When electric-driven, the motor is mounted on the bedplate and directly connected to the compressor shaft. There are five bearings, all provided with oil reservoirs and oiling rings, which give automatic lubrication. These rotary compressors differ from the ordinary " Eoot " blowers used for blowing cupola furnaces, only in having the impellers much shorter, relative to their diameter; in more accurate workmanship, which makes it possible to have less clearance between the impellers and the casing ; and in greater weight and strength. The discharge from the rotary compressors is more pulsating than from a duplex piston compressor, necessitating the use of a small tank with each machine to reduce the pulsations before the air enters the tube. Both types of compressor have been developed by the requirements of the pneumatic tube service, and both will probably continue to be used. It is the custom to install at least one piston compressor in each power station, provided with an extra-powerful motor, in order to obtain a. pressure of 25 or 30 pounds, if required to remove blocks in the tube lines. 336 PNEUMATIC TUBES FOB TRANSPORTATION OF MAIL TERMINAL MACHINERY. The records of the Patent Office show that the terminal machinery has been the subject of most pneumatic tube inventions. As small tube terminals were not generally applicable to large tubes, this field had scarcely been touched when the development of the underground system began. There are two distinct machines on every tube line. One is used in dispatching, to insert the carrier into the tube without allowing the com- pressed air to escape, and is called the transmitter; the other is used to stop the carrier when it arrives at a station, and automatically discharge it from the tube. It is called a receiver. There are two types of receiver one, called an open receiver, is used at the open end of the tube; the other, called a closed receiver, is used at intermediate stations where the pressure in the tube is considerably higher than atmospheric, necessi- tating an air-lock to prevent a violent escape of air when the carrier is discharged. In addition to these, there is a modified form of closed receiver that automatically selects and discharges from the tube the car- rier intended for its station, allowing other carriers to pass on in the tube to a succeeding station. Transmitter. Several types of transmitter have been devised. The earliest form used is the simplest, consisting of a cylindrical chamber just large enough to receive a carrier, mounted on trunnions and enclosed in a circular box which has three openings, one, through which the carrier is inserted, the second, through which the air enters, and the third, through which the air and the carrier pass out into the tube. The receiving chamber is rotated on its trunnions, by means of a hand lever, from the position oppo- site the opening through which the carrier is inserted, to the position in line with the tube that allows the carrier to be driven forward by the air current. In the latter position the opening through which the carrier is inserted is closed by a circular plate that prevents the escape of air. The device is nothing more than a large two-way cock. It was never extensively used because of the labor of turning it by hand, as originally designed. The next type of transmitter consisted of two sections of tube a little longer than a carrier, so mounted in a swinging frame that either section could be swung into line with the tube, their motion being transverse to the axis of the tube. In dispatching, the carrier is placed in one of the tube sections and swung into line with the tube to be driven forward by the air current; then the tube section returns to its original position to B. C. BATCHELLER, '86 337 receive the next carrier. When one of the tube sections is swung to one side, the other is in line with and maintains the continuity of the tube. The two movable tube sections and their supporting frame are swung for- ward and back by an air operated cylinder and piston, having ;a slide valve controlled by .a hand lever, and an automatic device that returns the tube sections to their first position immediately after a carrier is dis- patched. This type of transmitter was extensively used, but finally gave way to a more compact and less expensive type known as the gravity transmitter. The gravity transmitter is an air-lock with two counter-weighted swinging doors that are open successively by the weight of the entering carrier. The chamber between the doors is of the same diameter as the tube, and just long enough to receive one carrier. It is a prolongation of the tube inclined at an angle of 45 degrees. The air current enters the tube through a lantern casting just below the lower door. A carrier is dispatched by placing it on the upper door, which imme- diately swings downward and to one side, allowing the carrier to enter the chamber between the doors. The first door then closes, under the force of a counter-weight, and in so doing moves a valve that admits com- pressed air from the tube to the chamber, thus establishing an equal pres- sure on the upper and lower sides of the second door; then the weight of the carrier opens the second door and the carrier slides down into the tube, to be driven forward by the air current. When the second door closes, after the carrier has passed, it moves the valve that admitted com- pressed air to the chamber, back to its original position, thereby emptying the chamber in readiness to receive the next carrier. The gravity trans- mitter has become the standard type used in all the cities where tubes have been laid. It has been made in several forms, all essentially the same in principle, differing only in details of construction. All transmitters are provided with a timing device to limit the fre- quency with which carriers can be dispatched. This is necessary to insure a sufficient time for the receiver to discharge one carrier before the next arrives. The timing device locks the transmitter as each carrier is dis- patched and keeps it locked for a predetermined time, usually between ten and fifteen seconds. Two forms of timing device are used, one measuring time by the displacement of oil, the other by the displacement of air. The essential principle of both forms is a loaded piston moving up and down in a cylinder as each carrier passes through the transmitter, forcing a definite quantity of oil or air through an orifice that can be adjusted in size to give the required time interval. Clocks with an electrical attachment have also 338 PNEUMATIC TUBES FOE TEANSPOETATION OF MAIL been used for timing devices, with the advantage of greater uniformity in time interval, but with the disadvantage of more delicate mechanism. Open Receiver. Open receivers have been made of two radically dif- ferent types. One arrests the carrier by means of an air-cushion, the other by friction of a curved chute and an elastic buffer at the end. In the former, the end of the tube is normally closed by a sliding or revolving gate. The air current leaves the tube through a lantern casting, located about twice the length of a carrier from the gate, and flows through a branch pipe to the atmosphere. The space between the lantern casting and the gate forms a dead end into which the carrier runs, compressing the air in front of it and bringing it to rest without shock. The compression of the air in the dead-end moves a valve that causes the gate to open, then the carrier passes out on to a receiving table and the gate automatically closes behind it. In the second type of open receiver the end of the tube is always open, terminating in a semi-circular table having a chute along the outer cir- cumference. The by-pass, through which the air current leaves the tube, is located beneath the floor on which the receiver stands, about 12 or 15 feet from the open end, and the tube from the by-pass up to the receiving table is formed in a reverse curve. The carrier, after passing the by-pass, being no longer propelled by the air current, is gradually brought to rest by the friction of the curved tube and the circular chute of the table. The air current is deflected through the by-pass by having the latter con- nected to the suction side of an air compressor that is supplying compressed air to another tube leading out of the station. Closed Receiver. The closed receiver is necessarily a more elaborate piece of mechanism. The earliest type has a receiving chamber which forms a prolongation of the tube with its outer end closed. The air cur- rent leaves the tube through a lantern casting located close to the receiv- ing chamber, so that the later forms a dead end, into which the carrier runs and cushions against the air compressed in front of it, as in the first type of open receiver. The receiving chamber is mounted on trunnions and arranged to be tipped up to allow the carrier to slide out backward. When -the chamber is in an inclined position, that allows the carrier to slide out, the end of the tube is covered by a curved plate attached to* the chamber. The receiving chamber is moved from the horizontal to the inclined position and reverse by an air controlled piston and cylinder, set into operation by the arriving carrier, the entire movement being automatic. The latest type of closed receiver consists of a receiving chamber be- B. C. BATCHELLEE, '86 339 tween two gates, the first normally open and the second closed. The re- ceiving chamber is a prolongation of the tube, forming an air cushion to stop the carriers, as is the first type. The air current leaves the tube through a by-pass located close to the first gate. When a carrier arrives in the receiving chamber, it moves a valve that admits air pressure to a cylinder and piston, which in turn closes the first gate and then opens the second. When the. second gate is wide open, another valve is moved that admits sufficient compressed air into the receiving chamber behind the car- rier to push the latter out on to a table; then the second gate closes, the first gate opens and the apparatus is ready to receive the next carrier. The air pressure available to operate the closed receiver is sometimes less than two pounds per square inch, which necessitates making the operating cylinder large in diameter. Several forms of the double gate closed receiver have been used. One was made with sliding gates, two others with revolving gates, and each with different mechanism to operate the gates. The aim of all de- signers has been to make a closed receiver that is certain in the delivery of arriving carriers ; quick in its movements, to insure the delivery of each carrier before the next arrives; quiet in its operation; and mechanically strong to withstand the severe shocks to which it is sometimes subjected. AUTOMATIC SWITCHING. There is one great problem that arises in the mind of almost every person who gives the subject of pneumatic tube transmission any thought. It is the problem of automatic switching. Broadly, it may be defined as the problem of sending a carrier automatically from any station on a net- work of tubes to any other station; or, in a more restricted sense, it is the problem of automatically sending a carrier from a main tube into a branch, and vice versa. The problem has been solved, to some extent, in several ways, of which there are practical wording examples, but as broadly defined, its solution is impossible. Some of the conditions that make it impossible may be cited. The air current in a tube cannot be divided between two tubes and maintain the same velocity in each. A branch tube must be operated as a separate air circuit, and since the pressure of the air is usually different in the branch and main line* at the point of junction, the carrier must pass through some form of lock or gate in going from one to the other. Automatic gates or locks are hardly practicable, especially when placed underground. Inside buildings the space for tubes and 340 PNEUMATIC TUBES FOE TRANSPORTATION OF MAIL machinery is usually limited, making many devices which are theoreti- cally possible, practically impossible. A carrier, in order to select its own route, must be provided with some route selecting form or device, such as a recess or projection of a given size at the front end, and there must be as many combinations as there are different routes, but a practical limit to the possible number is soon reached. Carriers must be dispatched under short headway to give the tube large carrying capacity, and all au- tomatic devices are subject to the liability of two or more carriers arriving together instead of separately, thereby causing complications. When a carrier enters a main line from a branch, there is the risk of a collision with a carrier running in the main line. If it is necessary to stop a carrier in transit, it must be done gradually to avoid destructive shocks. These are a few of the requirements and limitations that must be recognized in attempting to solve the problem, and many more might be mentioned. The 'first line of mail tubes constructed in New York City extended from the central post office to the Grand Central Depot, with postal sta- tion " D ", " Madison Square " and " F " connected as intermediate sta- tions. An air compressor at the central post office operated the north- bound tube, and an air compressor at Grand Central Depot the southbound tube. The three intermediate stations were equipped with automatic se- lective receivers and with transmitters so interlocked with the receivers that a carrier could not be dispatched for an interval of ten or fifteen sec- onds after a carrier had gone out of a station. In this way a sufficient time interval between the departure of carriers from each station was main- tained, and this applied to through as well as dispatched carriers. In case a carrier, due to a lighter load or larger bearing rings, or any other cause, gained upon one ahead of it until the time interval between them was less than the allowable amount, then upon arrival at the first inter- mediate station the second carrier was thrown out, to be redispatched by hand, if it was destined for a station further along the line. The destination of a carrier was determined by a circular metal disc attached to the front end, the diameter of the disc determining the stations at which it would stop. Since there were three intermediate stations, the discs were of three sizes and the absence of a disc caused the carrier to go through to the last station. The discs made electric contact in the receiver at the station at which it was to stop, thereby determining its selection. The intermediate station receivers arrested the carriers by an air cushion in a receiving chamber. The arrival of a carrier in the chamber moved a valve that admitted air to a cylinder and piston, which revolved B. 0. BATCHELLER, >S6 341 the chamber either into coincidence with an opening through which the carrier passed down a chute to a table, or into coincidence with an open- ing leading through the transmitter to the outgoing tube. If the carrier, by a metal disc on the front end, made electrical contact when it entered 1 the receiving chamber of the receiver, then the chamber moved into posi- tion in line with the chute and the carrier passed out onto the receiving table. If, however, no electrical contact was made, then the chamber moved into position in line with the transmitter, and the carrier passed out into the outgoing tube. If a carrier arrived during an interval of ten or fifteen seconds after the departure of a carrier from the station, the receiving chamber moved in line with the chute, whether or not elec- tric contact had been made by the arriving carrier, thereby insuring a suffi- cient interval between all out-going carriers. CAHRIERS. Briefly described, the carrier for an 8-inch tube has a cylindrical body of sheet steel, 7 inches diameter and 23 inches long. The forward end is closed by a stamped steel cap secured to the body by soldering. At- tached to this cap on the outside is a circular buffer of felt, which absorbs the energy of impact when the carrier runs against another object. The carrier is filled and emptied through the rear end, which is provided with a tightly-fitting, circular, dished lid of the full diameter of the body. The lid is attached to the body by a three-leaf hinge and carries a simple lock- ing device. The cylindrical body is surrounded by two bearing rings, placed at such distance from the ends as will allow the carrier to pass through bends in the tube. The bearing rings, on which the carrier runs, are made of cotton duck and rubber compressed under heavy pres- sure and vulcanized. They are held in place by steel rings, which are soldered to the body. The body, front cap, lid and most of the metal parts are coated with tin, to facilitate soldering and to prevent oxidation. The weight of the carrier is about 20 pounds. The requirements of a satisfactory carrier are numerous and exact- ing. To mention some of them: It must be strong, to withstand the rough usage that it constantly receives ; it must be light, for the power to propel it, the labor of handling it and the energy stored in it, all increase di- rectly with its weight ; when closed it must be water-tight to protect the contents from injury; there must be no rivets, nuts or other small parts that can become detached, to remain in the tube and obstruct a follow- ing carrier; the lock that secures the lid in the closed position must be 342 PNEUMATIC TUBES FOB TEANSPOETATION OF MAIL so secure that the carrier cannot open in transit and spill its contents; the locking mechanism must be so designed that the carrier cannot be put into the tube when it is unlocked; the manipulation of the locking mechanism must be simple, to facilitate handling; the opening through which the carrier is filled and emptied must be large and unobstructed, otherwise there is loss in time and labor; and the bearing rings must have a low coefficient of friction, great wearing qualities, be noiseless in the tube, and be unaffected by water, oil or a moderate degree of heat. In an endeavor to meet these requirements, many carriers have been designed during the past eighteen years, and those most promising have been made and tested. To have a carrier open during transit and lose its contents in the tube is of all accidents most serious; therefore, most thought has been given to designing mechanism for securing the lid in its closed position. The present lock is simple, altogether the best that has been devised. It is manipulated by a lever which turns on a pivot located eccentrically on the lid. Due to this eccentricity the lever in the unlocked position projects beyond the circumference of the lid, and pre- vents the carrier from being inserted into the tube. The lever cannot be swung to the locked position across the lid unless the carrier is closed, which prevents locking the carrier open. The lid is secured to the body on one side by a lug that projects into a slot milled on the inside of the body, and on the other side by a cam that engages. a projection on the leaf of the hinge that is riveted to the body. Thus the lid is secured at two opposite points. There is a further safety device in a spring catch, which locks the cam and lever in the locked position. This catch is re- leased by pressing a button on the lid. The cam is turned, in locking and unlocking the carrier, by the lever on the outside. There is necessarily more or less moisture in the tube; a little oil finds its way in from the air compressors and from the terminal machinery ; sometimes oil or water is put into the tube to lubricate the carriers ; dust is drawn in with the air; and the carrier-bearing rings wear off in an im- palpable powder. The presence of these substances in the tube make it necessary to have the carriers close tightly in order to protect the con- tents; therefore, much study has been given to -designing a tight-fitting lid. This has been a difficult problem, for a projecting shoulder, against which a lid might seal, obstructs the opening and interferes with the quick and easy removal of the contents of the carrier. A lid with a rubber gasket was used for. a long time, but it finally gave way to a metal joint. The bearing rings were first made of felt, but it was deficient in wearing qualities and was displaced by. rings cut from cotton belting. These B. C. BATCHELLEE, '86 343 in turn were superseded by rings of cotton and rubber vulcanized. Numer- ous methods of attaching the rings to the carrier body have been tried, resulting in the present simple method. Several forms of buffer have been used, made of various materials and attached in different ways to the front end of the carrier, security being the first requirement. The quality of steel used in the carrier bodies has been the subject of considerable experiment. The advantages of a high carbon steel were recognized from the beginning, and recently some of the new special steels have been tested. All purchases are now made to specifications, the quality being determined by chemical analysis. TUBE LINE CONSTRUCTION. Any person can imagine the difficulties encountered in laying pipes of any kind in the streets of large cities at the present day. These diffi- culties are increasing in the case of pneumatic tubes, by the necessity of laying them nearer to a straight line than other pipes, all changes in direc- tion being limited to slight deflections at the joints, and to standard bends of eight feet radius. These limitations give the engineer in the field per- plexing problems to solve at almost every block. In only one city Phil- adelphia has any effort been made to keep complete records of all under- ground construction; therefore, in all other cities in selecting a loca- tion for a projected line of tubes, information concerning space available beneath the surface must be obtained by an examination of the street and from companies that have underground conduits in those streets. It is customary to gather all possible information from these sources and compile it by making sectional elevations at frequent intervals along the route, and plans of important street intersections. The greatest difficulties are usually met at intersections of the streets, for there the conduits of two streets are interlaced and a large amount of space is occupied by vaults that give access to the electrical conduits. It is these vaults or man- holes that present the greatest obstruction. During the past thirty years many conduits for electric wires have been put down, until now they occupy more space than the gas and water pipes. In order to draw the cables into these conduits, it has been necessary -to construct manholes at every street corner, and many of them are of large dimensions. They are constructed by the Street Eailway Companies, the Electric Light and Power Companies and the Telephone Companies. Besides these there are sewer manholes and vaults for water gates. 344 PNEUMATIC TUBES FOE TBANSPOBTATION OF MAIL The .preliminary information that can be gathered from all sources is usually sufficient to determine the practicability of the route selected, and which side of the street offers the most space, but the exact location in the street can only be determined by digging test holes, usually one or two in each block. After all this has been done and the work is under way, it not infrequently happens that the location has to be changed. A trench is always opened across the , intersecting streets, several hundred feet in advance of the point at which the tubes are being laid, for the depth at which they can be laid in the crossing determines their depth in the adjoining blocks. Advantage is sometimes taken of large gas or water mains to get through the intersections, by laying the tubes at the same, elevation as the main. By going deep enough, there is always space to be found under other structures, unless tidewater is encountered, but such locations are difficult to lay in and inaccessible for repairs. Most of the conduits are placed at a depth of four or five feet, and on many streets in New York City these are so close together that it was necessary; to take up a gas main in order to excavate a trench beneath it in which to lay the tubes ; then, after the tubes were laid, the gas main was replaced. The major portion of the time of the engineer in charge of laying the tubes is taken up in determining the depth and position of the tubes. He is permitted to make deflections in the line not exceeding 1% inches in twelve feet, and he becomes very skilful in computing the deflections that will enable him to avoid obstructions; for it is a rule in laying pneumatic tubes that bends are only to be used where it is impossible to lay straight lengths. Every length of tube is laid with a surveyor's level and rod. A re- cord is kept of the elevations, the elevation of the street, and the distance of the center of the tubes from the curb, which information is afterwards used in making record plans. The care and accuracy with which these plans have been made makes them invaluable for future reference. It is customary to show on the plans not only the tubes, but all other sub-surface structures that have been uncovered in proximity to them. About every six blocks a manhole is constructed, which gives access to the tubes. Not all of the tubes are laid beneath the ground. A double line ex- tends from the central post office in New York City to the central post office in the borough of Brooklyn, across the Brooklyn Bridge. The tubes on the bridge are supported in saddles, which rest on the cross beams. The bridge structure is very flexible and is deflected several inches by the passage of each train or trolley car, and since there is a continuous B. C. BATCHELLER, '86 345 procession of them,, it is in constant motion. As a result of the move- ments of the bridge, considerable difficulty has been found in keeping the joints of the tubes tight. They are calked with lead, which gradually works loose, necessitating frequent recalking. Ten years after the line was put down, it became necessary to relay the entire part on the bridge. Usually it is thought necessary to lay the tubes with a cover of two or three feet of earth to prevent the moisture that condenses in them from freezing, but here are two tubes nearly a mile in length, suspended high up in the air, exposed to the elements without covering, and only once or twice in cold weather has there been any trouble from ice forming inside them, and then the trouble was of short duration. To prevent leaky joints, it is necessary to have a good foundation to support the tubes. If they settle unequally, as they frequently do when laid in soft ground, leaks result, and they increase in number as time goes on. The greatest source of trouble of this kind is the digging up of the streets by owners of other conduits. They undermine the tubes, and, although they support them temporarily, they do not ram the earth back as solidly as it was originally. MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION. In the development of the pneumatic tube system, besides the prob- lems of design and construction, there have been many problems of organi- zation and operation. These latter problems have presented themselves, one after the other, as the systems have been extended. Details that are of relatively small importance in the smaller systems of Chicago and Boston require special consideration in the larger system of New York. The great problem of the operating staff is to maintain continuous service in a network of tubes, spread as in New York, over an area of fifteen square miles. With employes scattered in twenty- five separate stations, the telephone plays such an important part that it is difficult to imagine how the system could be operated without it. Each station is connected to a central switchboard, located at Station " G ", Fifty-first Street, near Broadway. The switchboard operator is the chief operator of the entire system, from whom all the other operators at the stations receive their orders. Before the service begins at four o'clock in the morning, it is the first duty of every operator to report by telephone to the Chief. In case an operator does not report, the Chief knows that he is not at his post, and orders a substitute to take his place. 1 '346 PNEUMATIC TUBES FOE TEANSPOETATION OF MAIL Before receiving orders to shut down at night, each operator is required to report by telephone to the Chief the receipt and dispatch of his last carriers. In this way the Chief knows when the last dispatch of mail has reached its destination, and he can then order the system shut down with reasonable certainty that no carriers are left in the tubes. In case of trouble at any station, the fact is at once reported by tele- phone to the Chief. If it is some slight irregularity in the "operation of the terminal apparatus, the Chief, by questioning the operator, may be able to tell him how to correct it ; or, if the case demands assistance, an inspector can be instantly ordered to the station. Should it prove to be a serious block, then the necessary orders, such as " stop sending," " shut down"," " reverse pressure/' " increase pressure," " put on vacuum," " re- move a bend," and other similar orders, are quickly given by telephone, making it possible to clear a blocked line in five or ten minutes, that without the telephone could not be cleared in several hours. Frequently when a line is blocked, orders are Issued by telephone to dispatch mail by another tube route, thereby avoiding delays to the mail that would other- wise occur. Ordinarily the dispatch of mail is not subject to the orders of the Chief Operator. It is his duty to keep the system running, to keep a sufficient number of operators at their posts, and to maintain a proper distribution of carriers, all of which he does by telephone. The distribution of carriers is a most important duty of the Chief Operator. About 1,900 carriers are used in New York. The amount of mail dispatched and received at some stations is much more than at others, and the times of sending and receiving are irregular. If no effort were made to keep the carriers distributed, there would soon be an accumu- lation at some stations and a scarcity at others. This trouble would be augmented by the propensity of operators to hold carriers against theii needs for heavy dispatches. The Chief at the switchboard keeps constantly informed by inquiry of the number of carriers at the different stations, and where there is a scarcity he has it supplied by ordering empty carriers; sent from stations that are over-stocked; but empty carriers occupy space in the tube and reduce its mail carrying capacity; therefore, the aim of the Chief Operator must be to so distribute the carriers that the least pos- sible number of empties will be sent through the tubes during busy hours. This is accomplished by storing carriers at stations where they will be required for heavy dispatches, and having empties sent only during hours when little mail is being transported. Tube capacity is the quantity of letters that can be " transported per unit of time, and tube efficiency may be defined as the percentage of total B. C. BATCHELLER, '86 347 capacity that is utilized. High efficiency is as important in pneumatic tube management as in other business enterprises. The majority of business letters are dictated in the morning, written during the day, signed in the latter part of the afternoon, posted when the office closes, and collected from the boxes between five and six-thirty. Thus the bulk of the outgoing mail is handled by the post office in the after- noon and evening. On the other hand, the bulk of the incoming mail ar- rives in the morning. A large number of trains from remote cities arrive about daybreak, bringing heavy mails, and there is an accumulation of local mail over night to go out in the first dispatch in the morning. These are fixed conditions that cannot be changed; therefore, the tubes should have capacity to meet these conditions, i.e., to carry the heavy mails of the morning and evening hours. When these conditions have been satisfied the tubes will be used far below their capacity during other hours of the day, and the total efficiency will be low. Tube capacity is affected by the distribution of carriers, the total number used on the system, and by the density of loading. If it is neces- sary to send empty carriers through a busy line, to supply some station, those carriers cut down the efficiency of that line. Had the needs of that station been anticipated in a preceding dull period, good management would have increased the efficiency of the system and that line in particular. A shortage of carriers on the entire system necessitates the more frequent dispatching of empty carriers, and, therefore, reduces the efficiency. The number of letters placed in the carriers, or density of loading, directly affects the efficiency of the system. It is always possible to get more letters into a carrier than are put in in the ordinary course of operation, but the carriers are loaded by the postal clerks, who are not employes of the tube company, giving the company no control over this important factor. It takes more time and labor to pack carriers tightly, so there is a tendency on the part of the clerks to fill them loosely. There are, of course, times when the quantity of mail to be sent is insufficient to fill the carriers and the mail cannot be delayed to secure a load, for that would defeat the purpose of the tube. As a result, it is found that the density of loading varies during the hours of the day somewhat in proportion to the quantity of mail handled, being greatest in the afternoon and evening, and least in the forenoon. Tube capacity is affected by the geographical location of the stations and the manner in which they are connected by tube lines. When a num- ber of intermediate stations are connected to a line through which there is heavy traffic between the terminal stations, the frequency of dispatch is 348 PNEUMATIC TUBES FOE TKANSPOBTATION OF MAIL less than it would be on a trunk line between the terminal stations. Take, for example, the southbound tube from the Grand Central station to the central post office in New York. There are three intermediate stations, " F," " Madison Square " and " D." Probably 87 per cent of the mail dispatched at the Grand Central goes to the central post office. Assume that the interval of dispatch at the Grand Central is sixteen seconds, at Station " F " it should be fourteen seconds, to allow that station to send carriers without delaying those coming from Grand Central ; at " Madison Square " station it should be twelve seconds, and at Station " D " ten seconds. If there were no intermediate stations, carriers could be dis- patched on 10-second intervals from Grand Central, or 31 per cent more carriers could be sent. Thus 87 per cent of all the mail sent through this tube is being delayed more or less to permit the intermediate stations to send their 13 per cent. This, of course, does not hold true where the bulk of the mail is taken up and distributed at intermediate stations. If, instead of connecting sub-stations to trunk lines, they are con- nected by independent lines to more important central stations, and the central stations are connected by trunk lines without intermediate stations; in other words, if stations are connected by a radial system, greater tube capacity is secured. The geographical configuration of New York City, the concentration of business in the southern end of the island, and the location of the principal railway stations in the center, are condi- tions that have produced long tube circuits with numerous intermediate stations, instead of a radiating system such as developed in Philadelphia and Boston on a smaller scale. The interval of dispatch, or time-lock interval, having a direct effect upon the tube capacity, becomes an important detail in tube management. It is determined by many conditions. On a short line equipped with semi- circular open receivers, such as are used in some of the Philadelphia sta- tions, and with no intermediate station, carriers can be sent at six seconds, or about as fast as they can be handled. Where gate receivers are used, the interval should be longer, say eight or ten seconds, to insure against one carrier overtaking another in the tube. If a line is very long, the time of transit is correspondingly long, and the time-lock interval should be adjusted accordingly. It has already been explained how the intervals must be graduated at intermediate stations, but allowance has to be made for the manner in which the mail is distributed among the stations. Gen- erally speaking, the interval varies between six and sixteen seconds. The large number of carriers used, and the hard service to which they are subjected, makes the carrier maintenance account an important one in B. C. BATCHELLEB, '86 349 the total expense of operating the tubes. Carriers are sent to the repair shop daily for minor repairs, and then put back into service; but when the bearing rings are worn down to a diameter of about one-quarter of an inch smaller than the tube, all the carriers are removed from-~ser.vi.ee and an entire new set with full size rings is put on. In New York, where 1,900 carriers constitute a set, this change takes place once in about nine months. Carriers will travel from 12,000 to 15,000 miles on one pair of bearing rings, and they wear out, on an average, two pairs of rings before being condemned to the scrap heap. ACCOMPLISHMENTS. The purpose of the tubes is to save time in the transmission of the mails between the central post office, branch stations and railway depots; also to give a more uniform and reliable service than can be secured by vehicles running on the surface of the street. This they accomplish in sev- eral ways. First of all, the speed of transit is higher than any other means used. The speed of the carriers between stations is thirty miles per hour, but the average speed between remote stations necessarily falls considerably below this, due to the delays of redispatching at intermediate stations. The committee appointed by the Postmaster General in 1908, to investigate the system, states in its report : " A number of tests were made in the sev- eral cities to ascertain the actual speed by tube in miles per hour in trans- mission between the central post office and the several other stations in each city, with the following results : City Minimum Maximum Boston ; 14.7 25.1 New York 17.5 30.7 Brooklyn 28.2 30.0 Philadelphia 25.3 29.5 Chicago 24.S 30.0 St. Louis 25.5 30.0 The contract speed for transportation of mails by wagons ranges from three to five miles per hour, for street car service not more than eight or ten miles per hour, and the maximum permissible speed for automobiles in cities is from six to twelve miles per hour. The actual average speed of surface traffic in congested streets is far below these figures, so that it is safe to say that the speed of pneumatic tube transmission is several times greater than any other means thus far used. It is by no means limited to thirty miles per hour, but the expenditure of power is out of all propor- tion to the increase in speed when much higher rates are secured, particu- larly when the distance between power stations is great. In comparing the 350 PNEUMATIC TUBES FOE TEANSPOETATION OF MAIL speed of carriers by tube with the speed of wagons or trolley cars, it mast be remembered that the former is computed between the terminals, which are located in the post offices, while the latter is computed between the plat- forms outside the post offices, or, in the case of trolley cars, between the points at which they stop nearest the post office buildings. Considerable time is consumed after the mails are pouched, in carrying or trucking the pouches to the wagons outside the buildings, and at the other end of the route in carrying or trucking them into the buildings. The same is true in a greater degree of the street car service. This should be added to the time of transit between post offices. The frequency of tube service between postal stations results in the saving of much time. Carriers go and come at intervals of ten to fifteen seconds, whereas the most frequent wagon service is, as a rule, half hourly. This is as a hundred and fifty to one; but in making such a comparison, the difference in capacity of the tube carrier and the wagon should be given some consideration; also the fact that ordinary letters are not forwarded singly. It is difficult to say just how much advantage the tube has over the wagon on account of greater frequency of dispatch, but we know it is considerable, and undoubtedly results in a large percentage of the incoming mail being distributed one delivery earlier. There is also a decided gain for outgoing mail, since it can leave the office as soon as it is made up with- out waiting for a wagon. Frequency of dispatch by tube is of greatest value in hastening the delivery of special letters, which are forwarded immediately, without wait- ing for the closing of regular mails. Within the tube area " special de- livery" letters can be transmitted as quickly as telegrams, and the knowl- edge of this fact by the public generally should result in an increased use of these letters. It is difficult to obtain statistics that show to what extent the sending of " special delivery " letters has increased since the advent of the tubes, but not so much as it would if the general public knew that their letters are sent by tube. There seems to be no desire on the part of the post office to advertise its facilities. If a "special delivery" letter for local delivery is mailed in a tube station, it is forwarded at once by tube to. the station nearest to the address, and is then delivered by a messenger. The average time of delivering such letters within the tube area should not exceed thirty minutes. The "special delivery" service is not limited to letters, but extends also to parcels. Frequency of dispatch has the advantage of giving more uniform em- ployment to the postal clerks. Under the old system, when a wagon arrived at an office, there was a rush on the part of the clerks to distribute the mail, B. C. BATCHELLER, '86 351 followed by a lull until the arrival of the next wagon. Under the tube system the mail is received in an almost continuous stream, and is dis- tributed much quicker. The tube service expedites a considerable portion of the railway mail, both incoming and outgoing, particularly the latter, by rapid and frequent service between post offices and railway stations. The conditions here are somewhat different than in the service between post office stations, for the reason that the mails arrive and leave at infrequent intervals in large bulk. The outgoing mail accumulates at the central and other post offices until, say, three-quarters of an hour before the time of departure of the train, when the regular mail closes. It is then sent by tube to the railway depot. Fifteen or twenty minutes or half an hour, depending upon cir- cumstances, after closing the regular mail, a supplementary mail is made up and sent by tube to the depot, arriving there just before the departure of the train. The high speed of the tube service and its freedom from de- lays make it possible to close the regular mails from fifteen minutes to an hour later, depending upon the distance from the post office to the railway depot, than would be possible if the mail were transported by wagons, and it gives a supplementary service that brings the final closing within a few minutes of the departure of the train. It is not possible to state what percentage of the mail is thus expedited by the tube, but from the habit many people have of mailing their letters at the last moment, it must be considerable. The failure of a letter to make connection with a train, in many cases results in a delay of a day in reaching its destination, and in any case a delay until the departure of the next mail train. In the case of trains that connect with ocean steamers, failure to reach the train may result in several days' delay. Incoming mails arrive by train at the depot, where they are unpouchcd and sent by tube to the post offices. At first thought it may seem to be a disadvantage to open the pouches at the depot in order to transport the mail by tube when it could be transported in bulk by wagon. If the ultimate object were to get the mail to the post office, rather than get the individual letters to the persons to whom they are addressed, this would be true, but the pouches have to be opened somewhere in order to distribute the mail, and it can be done as well at the railway depot as at the post office. If the mail were sent by wagon to the post office, distribution could not begin until the entire bulk arrived, whereas in sending it by tube it begins to arrive, and consequently distribution begins much earlier. As a result, a considerable portion of the mail is sent out one delivery earlier than would be possible with wagon transportation. THE CONTINUOUS COOLING OF CIRCULATING WATER USED FOR CONDENSING STEAM. By EDWARD F. MILLER, '86, Professor of Steam Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. WHENEVER possible large power plants are located near a river or near tide water, in order to obtain an abundant supply of condensing water; in many cases, however, plants have to be located where there is either no supply or but a limited supply of water which could be used for condens- ing purposes. In such cases if the plant is to be run condensing, it be- comes necessary to cool the condensing water which has been used in the condensers so that it may be used over and over again. Some of the various devices for cooling the water are 1. Cooling towers. 2. Spray nozzles. 3. Cooling ponds. 4. Spray Nozzles combined with cooling ponds. In every case with the exception of the "cooling ponds " the greater part of the cooling is done through the evaporation of a small part of the water circulated, each pound of water evaporated taking approximately 1,000 heat units from the water left. The weight of moisture which will be required to saturate a cubic foot of dry air or which will occupy one cubic foot, can be calculate^ accurately from any reliable tables giving the properties of saturated steam. (Peabody, published by Wiley, or Marks and Davis, published by Longmans.) The curved line (Fig. 1) was computed by taking from the "steam table " values representing the reciprocal of the volume of one pound of steam at the different temperatures. Reading from the plot it is evident that at 66, .0010 Ibs. is required to saturate a cubic foot of dry air and at 130, .0063 Ibs. If air at 66 was 70 per cent saturated, or had a. relative humidity of 70, then the amount of moisture in a cubic foot of such air would bo 352 EDWARD F. MILLER, '86 353 .7 X -001 = .0007, and if the air was saturated at 130 the additional amount taken up would be .0063 .0007 = .0056. COOLING TOWERS. Probably cooling towers are used to a greater extent for cooling water than spray nozzles or cooling ponds, although spray nozzles are coming into frequent use now that engineers know more about this method of 1 1070 1060 1 1050(2 1040.2 1030 & 1020 1 1010 .0070 .0060 .OOoO .0040 .0030 .0020 .0010 4 s^ / ^ s^ / / ^ s^ / \ ^ / \ ^ / ^s ^ / 7 N \ / ^ X > / ' X x x X \ X ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ *^ ^ * _ i * " ^ 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 14 Temperature of Air FIG. 1 cooling. Many articles have been written on cooling tower construction, while but few have been written on the method of calculating the cool- ing produced by a tower. The amount of water surface in a cooling tower varies from 23 to 27 sq. ft. per I.H.P. More surface is needed in a natural draft tower than in a fan tower. The amount of air needed depends to a large extent upon the humidity of the air entering the tower and upon the temperature of the water entering the tower. The air leaving the tower is generally saturated. It is not advisable to send an abnormal amount of air through a tower as the cost of the increased power needed to run the fan and the greater 354 THE CONTINUOUS COOLING OF CIRCULATING WATER shrinkage due to evaporation may amount to more than the gain made by the increased vacuum on the engine. The materials used inside of the cooling tower for exposing as large a surface of cooling water as possible to contact with the air, without at the same time obstructing the free flow of air, are tiers of tile pipes, galvanized iron wire screens set nearly vertical, galvanized iron troughs set horizontally, and arranged so that the water flows from trough to trough as it descends, boards, brush or other material. The amount of air to be supplied to a tower and the shrinkage of water from evaporation may be calculated with sufficient accuracy from the following equations: W = weight of cooling water entering condenser per Ib. of steam. E = weight evaporated from tower per pound of steam condensed. V e = cu.ft. of cold air entering tower per Ib. of steam condensed. This air may enter by natural draft, or as is most often the case, it may be sent in by a fan. V h = cu.ft. of hot air leaving tower per Ib. of steam condensed. T c The weight of air entering the tower may be figured thus: Vc_ Vc 29.93X12.39 T c T c 491.5" P. P~ C T = absolute temperature of air entering. P c = absolute pressure of air entering tower in ins. of mercury. If the excess pressure of the air entering the tower is measured by the difference of water level in U-tube, P c equals the sum of the bar- ometric reading and ^-^- times the difference of water level. In nearly every case P c varies so little from the reading of the bar- ometer that the barometic height in inches of mercury may be substituted for it. Q h and Q c are the heats of the liquid coresponding to the tempera- ture of the hot and the cold condensing water. EDWAED F. MILLEE, '86 355 T h = the absolute temperature of the air leaving the tower, 12.39 = specific volume of air. v c .75 PC v. ~ i -: X relative humidity. \ Sp. vol. steam at Sp. vol. steam at temp. air at top. temp, air at bottom. t h and t c are temperatures of air at top of tower and at entrance to tower. r is the heat of evaporation corresponding to the temperature at top of tower. V V E = a- Q y -X relative humidity. op. vol. steam, at op. vol. steam at temp, air at top. temp, air at bottom. In the case of a jet condenser the steam condensed adds one pound to each W pounds of cooling water entering the condenser. If E is greater than one pound then the excess must be supplied as make-up water. For a surface condenser E represents the make-up water. The results of calculations for two surface condensers, one with 28" vacuum and the other with 26" vacuum are shown graphically by Fig. 2. It is to be noted that for the 28" vacuum two and one-half times as much air and twice as much water as were needed for the 26" vacuum are now required. It is evident from the plot that the amount of heat taken up in the heating of the air was about the same for any one case, no matter what the humidity may have been. PER CENT OF ENGINE POWER EEQUIRED BY COOLING TOWER FAN AND BY THE EXTRA DISCHARGE HEAD ON THE CIRCULATING WATER DUE TO THE TOWER. Eef erring to a case with relative humidity of 80, 455 cu.ft. of air were found to be needed. Suppose a disc fan is to be used and a dynamic* head of .3" of water maintained at the fan. As the static head is zero the velocity head will be .3". This corresponds at 70 to a velocity of 2 3 200 ft. per min. Suppose that the main engine uses 14 Ibs. of steam per 356 THE CONTINUOUS COOLING OF CIRCULATING WATEB ing Air L 70to 95 Temperature of | Air 70 rap. iHot Condensing Water i95 Temp. Cold Condensing Water! 70 B.T.U. to be take'n from 1 lb. 40 IDS. Water per 1 lb of Exhaust. 440 Cubic_Eeet-Of_Ai 983 B.T U. to be 20.7 Ibs. Water to 1 EDWA&D F. MILLEB, '86 357 H.P. per hour, then the steam per minute is 14/60 and the cu. ft. of air sent through the tower per Ib. steam is 14/60 X 455. The H.P. input to the fan is, for this case, if 30 per cent is assumed as fan efficiency: of the engine power. To this should be added the power due to pumping 14/60 X 40 Ibs. of cooling water per minute through an additional head of about 30 ft. This amounts to .00848 H.P. If the fan were driven by a small engine using 35 Ibs. of steam per H.P. hour and the circulating apparatus were also steam driven using 40 Ibs. per H.P. hour, then the extra steam required by the cooling tower QOQ outfit would be .0167 X 35 + .00848 X 40 = .923 and ^=.066 or 6.6 , 14 per cent additional. A similar calculation for a case with 26" vacuum, 80 per cent humidity, with engine using 15 Ibs. of steam per H.P. hour, gives : Air per minute =-X 184 bU 0.3X5.2X^X184 H.P. tofan= 33,000X0.30 ~ 20.6X^X30 Extra H.P. on circulating pump= -- ^-TTT^ -- =0.00468 00,000 If fan engine and calculating apparatus were steam driven, then using the same rate as before: 0.0072 X 35 + 0.00468 X40= 0.44 0.44 15 =0.0295 or about 3% additional. If the cooling surface used in the tower offers much resistance to the free discharge of air from the fan through the tower, it may be necessary to run the fan at a higher velocity which increases the work of driving. 358 THE CONTINUOUS COOLING OF CIRCULATING WATER SPRAY NOZZLES. By spraying water into the air a cooling may be effected through the evaporation of a part of the water just as was the case in the cooling tower. The total exposed surface of the sprayed jet meets less air per pound than in the cooling tower, and on this account it is often advisable to spray 30 to 50 per cent of the water a second time before sending it through the condenser. Generally, spray nozzles of the size known as 2" are the most eco- nomical. The 2" size screws onto a 2" outlet; the opening in the nozzle tip being about .8". As many nozzles should be provided as are needed to discharge the entire weight of condensing water under a pressure of not over 15 Ibs. gage at the nozzle. The nozzles should be set from 8 to 10 feet apart if 2"; a greater distance if over 2". Where a considerable number of nozzles are used it is customary to have the water which is sprayed into the air fall back into an artificial pond one or two feet deep. When a number of nozzles are in use the aspirator action exerted by the jets causes a current of air to flow along the surface of the pond from the edge towards the center. This current of air assists to some extent in the cooling. In some few instances spray nozzles have been put along the edge of a narrow brook and the falling spray caught on board fences inclined 30 with the ground and draining into the brook. There are one or two small plants where the cooling nozzles discharge onto the roof of the building. The extra head of water on the circulating pump makes this inadvisable, however. Experiments on Schutte & Koerting nozzles of sizes known as 3" - 2" I" have been carried on at the Institute since 1908; at the present time two other types of nozzle are being tested. From the tests on the Schutte-Koertting nozzles it seems that : 1. The temperature of the water after spraying is more dependent upon the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere and upon the fine- ness of the spray than upon the initial temperature of the water. There- fore it is advisable to spray the water as hot as may be without excessive . steaming. 2. At high humidity, 80 per cent or 90 per cent, the temperature of the water may be lowered to within 12 F. or 13 F. of the temperature of the air, with a total drop in temperature of 35 F. to 40 F. EDWAED F. MILLEE, '86 359 3. At low humidity, 20 per cent to 30 per cent, the temperature of the water after spraying may be as much as 8F. below the temperature of the air and the total drop in temperature 40 F. to 45 F. 4. The loss of water by evaporation is approximately .15 pounds per degree lowering of temperature per 100 pounds of water discharged, or a gross loss of about 6 per cent for 40 F. lowering of temperature. In no case was the loss found to exceed 7 per cent. The discharge from these nozzles was found to be as follows: Head in Feet at Base of , Nozzle. Cu. Ft. per Min.'for 1" Pipe. Diam. Nozzle at Tip, .406". Cu. Ft. per M in for~2" Pipe. Tip -0.800" Diam. Cu. Ft. per Min. for 3" Pipe. Tip = 1.181" Diam. 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 > 60 65 1.782 1.952 2.109 2.254 2.391 2.520 2.643 2.761 2.873 6.736 7.379 7.971 8.521 9.036 9.526 9.991 10.44 10.86 14.83 16.24 17.54 18.75 19.89 20.97 21.99 22.97 23.91 COOLING PONDS AND SPRAY NOZZLES. When there is a natural pond of moderate size adjacent to a power plant, sufficient cooling may be obtained by spraying all or a part of the condenser discharge; the cooling from the surface of the pond being of considerable assistance. COOLING PONDS. Unless the pond is of considerable area the cooling from mere air contact with the surface is not in general sufficient to keep the temperature from rising, especially on hot damp days. POWER PLANT BETTERMENT. By H. H. HUNT, '89. Stone and Webster Management Association, Boston. IN this paper is undertaken a brief discussion of some of the prob- lems which arise in the work of power plant betterment, by which term is meant improvement in economy of operation and maintenance. While the discussion will, in the main, be of a general nature, and therefore ap- plicable to power plants in general, it is particularly applicable to the steam-driven electric power plant of the public service company of moderate size. The general tendency toward consolidation has extended to power plants, and many of the smaller ones have been replaced by large central stations of modern design, operated by high-priced men and with great refinement. There are, however, many of the smaller plants which for good and sufficient reasons are still in operation and which must be oper- ated in the future. In the face of the upward tendency of wages, cost of apparatus and materials and the downward tendency of rates and increas- ing demands for improved service, the public service company of to-day is in a position where the question of economy all along the line, and partic- ularly in that most important part of the property the power plant is one of vital importance. A casual inspection of one of these small power plants will usually reveal a more or less heterogeneous collection of apparatus and machinery, some of which dates back to the early days of the business. In other words, the plant is by no means modern and up to date. This, together with the fact that such a plant is usually operated by a force of engineers and fire- men of only ordinary intelligence and ability, might naturally lead to the conclusion that, even under most favorable conditions, high power costs are to be expected. On the other hand, a careful and detailed examination by an expert in power station operation will almost invariably reveal many features which are capable of marked improvement, enabling the expert to report recommendations which, if properly carried into effect, will result in ma- 360 H. H. HUNT, >89 361 terial reductions, in costs of manufacture and maintenance, and all this to be accomplished without the expenditure of a large amount of money for revamping the plant. It has just been said, that the improvements will follow if the recom- mendations are "properly carried into effect." This is a most important point to be borne in mind in any attempt to increase the economy of a power plant. It is a simple matter to employ a competent expert, allow him to make such examination and tests as will enable him to calculate possible savings, and make detailed recommendations and give instruc- tion as to how the possible savings may be secured. If the betterment work stops here, little will be acomplished, for the simple reason that the man who must carry out the work the chief engineer of the plant unless he be an extraordinary man for the position he occupies, will not have sufficient capacity and initiative to enable him to get the desired results. It will be necessary to retain the expert for a sufficient length of time to en- able him, by detailed attention to the actual operation of the plant, under regular working conditions, to not only demonstrate the correctness of his recommendations but also to instruct the power plant organization, to such an extent as will enable them to continue the work after the expert leaves. As above stated, this is a point of great importance. It has not been sufficiently appreciated in many instances, with the result that much money has been wasted on engineering work and a feeling of distrust has been created in the minds of the owners in regard to expert work, because the desired results did not automatically follow the expert's examination and report. In other words, power plant betterment, like everything else, if undertaken along proper lines, will produce satisfactory results, but not otherwise. In undertaking the betterment of operating conditions in a power plant attention should be first given to the personnel of the operating force. Desired results cannot be obtained by incompetent men. It goes without saying that the chief engineer, who must be primarily responsible for what takes place in the plant, should be a man of both operating and executive ability, capable of enforcing strict discipline. He must be capable of re- ceiving instruction, as must also the other members of the force. Each man who does not possess the possibility of becoming a thoroughly efficient and alert member of the force should be replaced as soon as possible. Most careful study will be required in arriving at correct conclusions in refer- ence to each individual of the operating force in order that justice may be done. It not infrequently happens that certain men develop unexpected ability as they gradually become familiar with the methods by which actual 362 POWER PLANT BETTERMENT improvements are brought about. Furthermore, every reasonable oppor- tunity should be given the existing employees to measure up to the new requirements in order to avoid the demoralization to the organization which would be caused by the needless discharge of men. Under the improved conditions the general tone of the power station force should improve in a marked degree, and in place of indifference and lack of ambition should be found alertness, efficiency and a greatly increased interest in the work, all of which are necessary to success. A thorough physical examination of the plant should be made and im- mediate steps taken to correct such defects as can be remedied without excessive cost. Starting in the fire room, for instance, boiler will be thoroughly overhauled and cleaned, leaky tubes replaced, blow-off cocks and valves made tight, gage glasses and dampers put in order, air leaks in boiler settings removed, furnace linings, bridge walls and grate bars put in order, safety valves adjusted and steam gages calibrated, etc. The work will continue in like manner to the engines, paying partic- ular attention to valve setting, steam piping, pumps, condensers, heaters, oiling system and electrical machinery, apparatus and wiring and all other parts of the plant. In connection with this general overhaul of the machinery, all gages, meters and measuring instruments should be calibrated and tested, so as to give accurate information regarding the operation of the plant. Attention should also be given to the matter of tools, and it should be seen that suitable assortment is provided, both for the engine room and the fire room. Finally, the station should be thoroughly cleaned and all housekeeping matters given proper attention, for while, theoretically, there may be no connection between cleanliness and economy, a dirty, ill-kept plant indi- cates inefficiency. With the physical plant in good working condition and the power plant crew in an alert and receptive mood, the details of operation may now be taken up. All firemen will be individually instructed in the handling of the particular coal in use; the use of properly designed fire tools, the proper operation of the dampers and proper control of the draft. A thorough course of training along these lines will usually be found necessary, and it will be further necessary to instruct the chief and watch engineers in every detail of the proper handling of the fires in order that they may be able to maintain intelligent oversight of the fire room. Special attention will be given to the maintenance of boiler pressure H. H. HUNT, '89 363 and temperature of feed water, in order to avoid the usual fluctuations which so largely affect station economy. Eecording pressure gages and feed water thermometer and a bulletin board in the fire room, on which are posted the coal consumption and pressure records of each watch, will serve a useful purpose in exciting rivalry among the men. It is in the fire room that money, in the shape of fuel, is actually burned. At this point the fuel, which is the source of power, is consumed. It is essential that no detail which will affect fire room economy should be overlooked. An operating engineer can profitably spend a good portion of his time in in- telligent personal supervision of the fire room operations. Presumably the engineers will understand such matters as the start- ing and stopping of their engines and generators; nevertheless, the atten- tion of the expert should be carefully directed to the engine room. It is of importance to provide operating schedules so that the vary- ing conditions of load may be met by the economical use of apparatus; in other words, so as to avoid the use of three boilers when two are sufficient, and so on. A most careful study of the load conditions will be made and charts prepared which will show clearly just what combinations of appara- tus and machinery should be used to meet the various conditions of load, the idea being to so arrange the schedules that each piece of apparatus, when in use, will be operated as nearly as possible at its point of maximum efficiency. A carefully designed station log will also be provided which will con- tain the daily operating data of the plant recorded in a systematic manner. In such a station log it is very desirable that the main facts, such as coal consumed per kilowatt hour, water evaporated per pound of coal, etc., be shown so clearly that the manager of the company, by spending a few minutes daily in the study of the station log, may fully acquaint himself with the daily operations of his plant and be in position to intelligently dis- cuss matters with his chief engineer. The coal question is one of the most important, and one of the most troublesome, which is encountered in power plant operation. The quality of coal must necessarily depend, to a certain extent, upon the location of the power plant as related to the sources of coal supply. It will be found profitable to have a careful investigation made of the possible sources from which coal may be secured at reasonable prices. Full data should be gath- ered regarding the analysis of the various coals available and that coal selected which will meet local conditions with best results. While not always practicable, it is none the less desirable to purclxase coal on the analysis basis under carefully drawn specifications which provide for for- 364 POWER PLANT BETTERMENT feiture and bonus according to whether the coal falls short of or exceeds the requirements of the contract. Under such a contract an analysis of each shipment of coal is necessary. Where the annual consumption is com- paratively small, it is not practicable to purchase coal on the analysis basis ; in that event the best that can be done is to buy it of responsible dealers who handle the best coal to be had under the circumstances. The accounting for coal purchased, while seemingly simple, proves in practice more or less troublesome. Coal is frequently purchased and paid for according to bill of lading weights. The consumer is liable to suffer shortage under this method of purchase and to start out with substantially less coal in his coal pile than is called for by his books. It is obvious that ultimately the cost of the coal consumed must check with the cost of coal purchased, and in order to bring about this agreement, frequent checks between station records, coal on hand and fuel accounts are necessary. It will be found desirable to arrange proper scales for weighing in bulk the coal which comes into the yard, and if a contract for purchase can be so arranged as to make payments on basis of company's weights, one question of coal shortage will be removed. Bins should be provided which will enable the coal supply to be accurately measured at any time. Then the coal passing into the fire room must be carefully weighed and weights recorded. With these data at hand and this system carefully fol- lowed, there is no excuse for coal shortage. Proper and systematic maintenance is an important part of power plant betterment work. It is not infrequently the case that the mainte- nance of a plant is handled in a haphazard fashion and that full value is not received for the money expended. It is not sufficient to wait until some- thing breaks before giving it attention, for the breakdown may occur at a time when the machine is needed to maintain continuous service, to say nothing of the excess cost of repairs over what would probably have been the case had the condition been anticipated and the break avoided. Low cost of maintenance does not always indicate thorough or economical main- tenance, for while it may be possible to run for months on abnormally low maintenance costs, the time will come when the accumulation of deferred maintenance will produce a condition of affairs which will require excessive expenditures, if not for new apparatus, certainly for the overhaul and re- pair of the old. It is therefore desirable to prepare a proper mainte- nance shedule which shall be carefully and conscientiously followed by the operating force. Such a schedule will set forth definite dates for the inspection of all apparatus; the schedule to be so arranged that each and every part will receive periodical attention as often as is necessary to keep H. H. HUNT, '89 365 it in good operating condition. The history of such systematic mainte- nance is of value to those in charge, as it will enable them to pursue the work with greater intelligence and expedition. A log book should, there- fore, be used in connection wr$i the maintenance schedules, and in this log book should be carefully recorded, in detail, the results of all inspections, repairs, adjustments, etc. By the aid of this maintenance log and a care- ful adherence to the maintenance schedule, proper maintenance of every part of the plant will be assured and unexpected breakdowns practically avoided. In the ordinary plant, with its usual lack of reserve apparatus, continuous service, which is so necessary to success, cannot be expected if proper and systematic maintenance is neglected. What may be expected as the result of this power plant betterment work? First: accurate knowledge of the maximum efficiency of which the particular plant under consideration is capable ; second : the securing of this efficiency through the efforts of a well trained efficient operating force ; third : systematic and economical maintenance producing maximum life of apparatus and continuity of service; fourth: in case of failure to continue to produce results, a knowledge of the reason why. Experience has shown that the saving in power costs, resulting from power station betterment work, will cover the cost of the necessary expert services in connection with the same in a comparatively short time, de- pending, of course, on the amount of saving effected. The continued operation of a power plant under the conditions estab- lished by succesful betterment work, by which maximum economy in oper- ation and maintenance are secured, calls for most active and energetic work on the part of the operating force. In fact, from the manager of the company all along the line down to the coal passers in the power plant, every man must work under high pressure. After the novelty of the improved condition wears off, the operation of the plant becomes not only monotonous but exceedingly strenuous. It is so much easier to slip back a little than to maintain the required pace that frequent checking of the plant operation is necessary. The manager must give his personal attention to this matter, and he will doubtless be surprised to note the effect of his failure to carefully follow up the matter of daily checking of the plant, if for any reason it becomes necessary for him to temporarily discontinue his critical study of the daily station log. It will require his constant study, criticism and encouragement to keep the operating force in the power plant keyed up to the work required of them. In spite of all reasonable efforts, it is quite likely that the economy of the plant may gradually decrease because of a combination of little 366 POWER PLANT BETTERMENT things which creep into the operation of the plant unnoticed by the en- gineers. This has been noted in actual experience and has led to the be- lief that a periodical power plant audit by a competent expert is necessary just as it is found necessary to periodically audit the accounting depart- ment. Such an audit will require much less time than for the original examination, especially if both examinations and audit are made by the same man, and should not, therefore, be very expensive. It should not be inferred from what has just been said regarding the daily check and periodical audit that the economical operation of a power plant is impractical because of the detailed attention required on the part of the management and operating force. Not only has experience proved the contrary to be true, but results have clearly justified the trouble and expense. Power plant betterment work has come to stay. THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMICAL OEE DRESSING SYSTEMS By FRANK E. SHEPABD, '87, President, Denver Engineering Works, Denver, TJolo. IN the quest for mineral values there appear to be. several phases of development, one leading in to the other. The discoveries of many of our large mining sections have resulted from the placer workings in which the values are found in gravels on or near the surface of the ground. The primitive methods with pick, shovel and hand rocker often served to develop rich deposits, then followed the more highly developed hydraulic mining systems involving greater expenditure of capital but bringing greatly increased returns. This trail of values leads to some source and so the patient prospector finally reaches an outcrop or vein which requires deeper workings with a more elaborate plant. The search is first for high grade ores, for the difficulties of mine de- velopment, transportation and treatment are great and expenses in pro- portion. Bonanzas, however, are rare, and then must come the patient search for ways and means of developing better methods of mining, mill- ing and smelting for the recovery of values from lower grade ores. Re- fractory ores are found which call for more advanced methods of smelting or the grade of ore is such that milling systems must be devised for con- centrating into values sufficient for commercial delivery to smelting or refining points. While the general trend of ore values has been from high to lower grade there has also been a somber accompaniment of decreasing market prices for the metals calling for serious study in all metallurgical systems. Ten years ago, manufacturers of machinery for ore reduction processes, in the Rocky Mountain section, were devoting much attention to the de- tails in smelting machinery for the treatment of high grade ores. To- day there is less call for smelting systems and the demand appears for improved ore dressing machinery for the recovery of values from lower and lower grade ores. This change from higher to lower grade ore conditions 367 368 DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMICAL ORE DRESSING SYSTEMS has taken place generally throughout the fields of gold, silver, lead, zinc and copper ores. The stamp mill, with its amalgamating plates and bumping tables for the recovery of 50 to 70 per cent of gold and silver values in the earlier period, is being succeeded by the concentration and cyanide plants pro- ducing recoveries of 90 per cent and over. Lead-iron-zinc ores are presenting more and more difficult problems, and with the mining of lower grade ores of these metals comes the demand for better methods of crushing, screening, hydraulic classification and con- centration, and in this particular line of ore treatment appears the great development in electrical processes of mineral separation. The successful mining and milling of the great porphyry copper ore deposits of a grade as low as two per cent and under has brought about radical changes in milling methods and concentrating mills of 10,000 tons daily capacity have been successfully developed. The tremendous pace in modern steel production has produced such demands on the iron ore supply that commercial possibilities have been found in the lower grade iron ore deposits of Michigan and concentration plants have been installed for the treatment of 20,000 tons of ore daily. The call for economy and reclamation of values in the Cripple Creek district has resulted in treating the dumps formed by the discarded ores of a former period by means of modern concentration and the cyanide systems at the remarkably low cost of $1.50 per ton. In extensive mining operations the plan is followed of erecting mills to test the practical application of the mill system determined upon and this proves of great value in solving difficult problems of ore treatment. In the smaller mining companies, often composed of business men without any experience in mining or milling methods, it is seldom found that sufficient funds have been devoted to these important preliminary tests and instead of employing competent technical advice some one of the directors of the company who "has a liking for machinery" assumes charge of affairs and the resulting mining and milling composition ends in minor chords. However small the proposed mining or milling instal- lation, it is always advisable to secure the advice of the mining or metal- lurgical engineer who studies the entire field of operation and the economic conditions relating to mine and mill, makes suitable examination of mine, takes sufficient samples of the ore, and after preliminary test is prepared to submit general plans and specifications for a suitable mill system. While the manufacturers of mining and milling machinery are by custom expected to prepare plans for milling systems, on account of the stress FEANK E. SHEPABD, >87 369 in business competition, such is not an economic condition and it is better practice to have one engineer thoroughly advised on all technical matters from inception to the complete milling plant. The manufacturer has the very important part to perform of attend- ing to the many details of mill installation and it is his affair to keep up to the minute in all the improvements which aid in reducing costs and in- creasing recovery of values from the ores. Mill design is a profession in itself. It is not necessary for the con- sulting, mining or metallurgical engineer of the mining company to be an expert in the details of mill construction as the machinery manufac- turers make a study of these problems. The detail drawings of the mill should be entrusted to an engineer who has not only a very thorough knowledge of mill machinery details but an intimate knowledge of mill men and practice. In the selection of mill machinery the new, inexperienced mining company usually buys the cheapest grade, while the mill superintendent of long experience buys the best machinery that can be built. In a small mill treating 50 tons in 24 hours of an ore having a value of $15 per ton and assuming the mill recovers 80 per cent of the value, a delay in opera- tion of but one hour means a loss of $25. It is manifestly poor economy to save a few hundred dollars in the original investment at the exponse of several thousand dollars in delays and repairs. Ore crushers were formerly equipped with bard cast iron jaw plates which were required to be removed every few weeks, whereas now these crashers are provided with the best crucible steel jaw plates which last for several months. Crushing rolls were formerly equipped with cast iron shells which gave short service and soon became grooved; now the best forged steel, machine finished shells are used with the result of longer ser- vice and better product. Elevating and conveying apparatus has reached a high state of development, all tending to greatly reduce costs of handling materials. By means of these excellent modern devices the entire mill sys- tem is automatic from beginning to end, save for the adjustments of machinery. One of the greatest if not the greatest improvement in the wet con- centration of ores has been the important development in the preparation of ore pulps previous to jigging and table work as a result of the investi- gation of Dr. Eobert H. Eichards, our honored graduate and Professor in Mining Engineering. Dr. Richards' devices for hydraulic classification of ore pulps, previous 370 DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMICAL OEE DRESSING SYSTEMS to table concentration, have produced savings in ore values over former methods amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually* If we refer to our small mill before mentioned having 50 tons capacity daily and recovering 80 per cent of values in $15 ore, an improvement in recovery of only five per cent will mean an additional annual saving of! over $12,000. Such improvements have actually been accomplished in prac- tical mill systems using Dr. Bichards 7 systems of hydraulic classification. The tube mill is an important element in modern mill systems and was adapted from cement mill practice. It takes the place of the more com- plicated crushing machines involving the frequent renewal of shoes, dies, screens and various parts in roller or Chilian mills and presents a simpler and more economical means for the fine crushing of ores. The develop- ment of the tube mill in connection with the stamp mill in South African practice is extraordinary; the combination effecting an increase in tons crushed per stamp from five tons, before the tube mill was introduced, to twenty tons per stamp when assisted by the tube mill. The better understanding of the preparation of pulps previous to table treatment as well as the better understanding of the concentrating tables themselves has brought about great impfovement in mill recoveries. The development of magnetic and static concentrating machinery has established practical separation of iron and zinc minerals which before was most difficult or impossible. Most interesting use has been made of the property of film tension in liquids for the purpose of separating mineral values from the attending gangue. In general the sulphides of the metals may be floated on the liquid while the gangue sinks. While the system is limited to certain conditions it opens a fascinating field and one which may develop into great possibilities. Even greater progress could be accomplished were it possible to ob- tain the earnest cooperation of mill operators. In some cases splendid triumphs have been accomplished because new devices have been given the "square deal" by intelligent and progressive mill operators. On the other hand many a mill system is undeveloped on account of persona^ prejudice and lack of initiative. Failures in mill systems are often due to neglect in making tests to determine the points where losses occur or the costs of various operations. Changes suddenly occur in the ore and if not promptly followed up with required changes in the mill system will result in serious losses. One of the modern requirements is thorough sampling and the best mills make use of automatic sampling throughout the system. FEANK E. SHEPAKD, '87 371 It is most important to have the right spirit prevail among the mem- bers of the mill crew. Good team work tells here as well as in the game and a fair attitude and attention to improve methods of milling means also thousands of dollars to the mining company. We often see machinery advertised as "fool proof/ 5 If the mill system is to be run by fools then we need the fool proof machinery, but if we cannot advance beyond the stage of fool proof machinery then we might as well give up our cherished ideas of additional recoveries in ore values. For the economical recovery of values in low grade ores we must expect greater complication in mill systems, but if we can save $25,000 by the addition of some machine, even though not classified as " fool proof," is not the expenditure warranted of $2,500 in wages to some millman who will be a friend to the machine? The man who stands by the machine has the opportunity of discover- ing many points, possibly improvements regarding the operation or re- sults of that machine. If the personal equation of that man is plus and he receives proper recognition by the management, the result is a substan- tial increment to favorable mill development. Mills are usually located in remote sites, difficult of access and in many cases at altitudes of 10,000 and 12,000 feet above sea level. It requires some financial incentive to induce good men to work constantly under these conditions and liberal wages must be offered to establish a good order of intelligence in the mill crew. The study of mill systems has in some cases shown a high order of 5 inventive ability among mill superintendents in the development of devices for increasing the recovery of ore values, or reducing the expense of oper- ation. There is however a great amount of blind prejudice to overcome when an attempt is made to introduce improved methods in the milling systems. This is a strange condition, for one would think that any mill- man would be favorable to any device which would show improved results even at the expense of some extra attention, but the fact remains that it requires a bitter fight to establish new systems. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION By FRANK P. McKIBBEN, '94, Professor of Civil Engineering, Lehigh University, S. Bethlehem, Pa. THE most remarkable development in bridge construction during the past quarter of a century has been the progress made in the use of con- crete, either alone or reinforced with steel. When it is considered that only twenty-two years ago the first reinforced concrete arch bridge was built in Golden Gate Park at San Francisco, and that from this small span of only thirty-five feet to the recently constructed arch span of three hundred twenty feet in New Zealand is a tremendous step, it is evident that progress has been truly wonderful. Concrete, like stone, is best suited to resist compressive stresses, and it can be readily molded into any desired form or size and it is therefore not surprising that when con- crete came into use as a bridge material it should have been used in the arch form. It was comparatively an easy change from the stone arch that had been the standard arch form for many centuries to the concrete mono- lithic or voussoir arch of similar outline. But it was soon realized that concrete in combination with steel has a distinct individuality of its own and hence important changes were made in the form of construction re- sulting in the use of lighter structures of more pleasing design and appear- ance. The constant tendency has been towards the elimination of re- abundant material. The use of arch ribs, with the variation in size and shape thereof to conform to different classes of loads, or the use of solid arch rings upon which rest columns or cross walls to support the roadway above, approaches the design so commonly adopted for arches with steel ribs and in this respect represents a decided departure from, and im- provement upon, the solid arch ring with its superimposed earth fill, which was until recently the standard form of masonry arch construction. The most recent type in reinforced concrete highway bridge con- struction consists of a flat deck on which the roadway is placed, the deck in turn being supported by columns or cross-walls resting on a solid arch ring or upon ribs. These ribs are usually rectangular in cross section, although those of circular form would give a more pleasing appearance but 372 , >94 373 would be more costly and more difficult to build. Unless the ribs are very wide they should be braced to prevent lateral displacement under stress. Much can be said in favor of this open spandrel construction except for very short spans or for spans of small rise where the old method of placing the roadway on earth filling retained between longitudinal side walls is better. In the absence of such limitations, however, the open spandrel construction results in a great saving of weight of superstructure, with consequent diminution in size of foundations and often also in a more pleasing design. For railroad bridges the column-and-rib type has not been adopted, but open spandrels with cross-walls on solid arch rings are of frequent occurrence. Arch analysis, that is, the determination of forces and stresses acting upon and within the arch is an interesting and beautiful application oif mathematics and mechanics and it is doubtful if in the whole category of engineering design, a more enticing field for study can be found. The insertion of three hinges in the arch makes the solution more nearly de- terminate, and in case of slight settlement of foundations the stresses within the arch ring remain unchanged. In addition to this advantage, hinges relieve the ring from temperature stresses, since as temperature of the arch changes the crown rises or falls with almost perfect freedom. For arches of small rise the advantages of hinges are so notable that their use will undoubtedly become more common, especially if some form be devised which can be economically constructed. For analysis of hingeless arches the elastic theory should be employed because of temperature stresses which are usually large and which can be computed only by this method. Little progress can be reported in short span steel bridges, in fact, con- crete beams or arches are so admirably adapted to short span construction that steel is hardly holding its own in this field. But for long spans, steel easily leads. Great progress is now being made in the manufacture of alloy steels and the time is not far distant when record breaking spans of steel; will be built. As a result of the increased strength of nickel steel, the new municipal bridge spanning the Mississippi Eiver at St. Louis has a span of six hundred sixty-eight feet which far surpasses any simple truss length previously attempted. The manufacture of vanadium steel, nickel steel and other alloy steels for structural purposes is only in its infancy and seems to be a most promising field of investigation and progress for the immediate future. No notable advances have been made recently in the type employed for long steel spans, but many wonderful structures similar to those tried and not found wanting are now being erected. The cantilever and the suspen- 374 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION sion forms are the two kinds commonly used, although there is also an in- creasing tendency to employ steel arches of considerable length. The Que- bec bridge failure has had the effect of temporarily throwing the cantilever type of truss into some disrepute but engineers must not let the pendulum swing too far because the cantilever has certain well denned advantages which should not be completely ignored simply on account of one failure of its truss members. Lamentable as was this failure, it has been the cause of inaugurating a searching investigation into methods of design that are founded upon empirical knowledge and much good is being derived therefrom. Resulting from the influence which the Quebec bridge failure had upon the engineering world there is a tremedous desire on the part of experimenters to discover new laws underlying the action of structural materials and to verify experimentally methods of design which until re- cently were accepted as being sufficient for all cases that might arise in practice. THE MANUFACTUBE AND USE OF ASBESTOS WOOD By CHARLES L. NORTON, '93, Professor of Heat Measurements, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. IT may be of interest, and it is perhaps in order here, to describe the results of an experiment made some sixteen years ago in the Laboratory of Heat Measurements. At this time, acting very largely under the inspira- tion of the late Edward Atkinson, I began to search for possible refractory substitutes for wood. Provided with a small screw press, such as is used for extracting juices from fruit, I began compacting various refractory sub- stances to see if any of them could be made to resemble in their physical properties ordinary wood. It had been frequently observed by Mr. Atkin- son that the convenience attending the use of wood in our structures was the principal cause of our annual fire loss, amounting in this country to two hundred millions of dollars a year at that time. The annual fire loss now is more nearly three hundred millions. All of the materials made during the early experiments proved to be too expensive. In 1902, through association with Mr. Henry M. Whitney in his as- bestos enterprises, the possibility of adapting and using the various short waste asbestos fibre presented itself and from this point the experiments developed into a commercial enterprise of considerable magnitude. It may be interesting to outline the development of this novel industry, whicih would probably not have grown up in this way had it not been for the pe- culiar advantages afforded by the Institute laboratories for investigation and research in this direction. It was hoped at first to develop a material which should have the prin- cipal physical properties of wood, which could be worked with wood-work- ing tools, which should be absolutely non-combustible, unaffected by water and not affected mechanically by exposure to moderately high tempera- tures. To be a reasonable and convenient substitute for wood, the new material should approximate to our common woods in strength, elasticity, toughness, weight and porosity. It should be hard enough to wear well, and soft enough to be readily cut. It must not be too hard to saw nor too fibrous to permit of finishing to a good surface. Even after long hunting, 375 376 THE MANTJFACTUBE AND USE OF ASBESTOS WOOD there seemed to be available no homogeneous material which possessed such characteristics, and it became more and more evident that the proper toughness and durability could only be had by the use of a fibrous substance bonded with a suitable cementing medium. The one requirement of in- combustibility rules out practically all fibres but two : asbestos and mineral wool. For many reasons, both chemical and mechanical, asbestos was found more promising and all later experimenting was done with this fibre. Asbestos is found nearly everywhere in larger or smaller quantities, and there is scarcely a State in the Union without some deposits of asbestos. The only large deposits which have proved to be fit for commercial work- ing are in Canada, Eussia and Italy. While the Russian and Italian fibres are really true asbestos according to the geologists, they are not so strong, tough and fine us the so-called asbestos of Canada, which is really a chrysotile. There are two districts in the Province of Quebec from which most of the fibre is drawn: one in Danville and the other near Thetford. The rock is a serpentine and carries fibre running through it in seams with no systematic location, the majority of the seams being from one-quarter of an inch to an inch and one-half in width, and the fibres run crosswise of the seams. The total amount of fibre contained in the rock of the best mines runs between five and ten per cent of the total. After blasting, the lumps of long fibre are picked out by hand. The remainder of the fibre, known as mill stock, is dried, ground, sifted and winnowed by a series of very ingenious devices and graded according to length. Fibre about one and one-half inches long is known as crude, and the price of such fibre will range in the neighborhood of $300 a ton. From this figure the shorter fibres diminish in price down to about ten dollars. There is, of course, some variation in price according to fineness of texture, toughness, freedom from grit, and color. The long fibres are used for making cloth, twine, gaskets, packings, wicks, and so on. The shorter fibres are used very largely for the man- ufacture of asbestos paper and pasteboard. Until recently, the very short fibres have had no extensive market except for occasional use in plaster. It proved experimentally difficult to separate the very short fibres from the fine grit of the ground matrix and the development of the pro- cesses and machines for this purpose was necessary before asbestos wood could become a commercial possibility. However, being given a clean and uniform fibre at a practicable price, it was necessary to investigate the available cementing materials. Naturally the silicate cements, like the common hydraulic cements, silicate of soda, lime, plaster of Paris, oxy- chloride of magnesium, were tried. There had been other experimenters in the field, and most of the CHA&LE& L. ttOKTOtt, d3 377 promising materials had been experimented with more or less. Imschen- etzsky in Bussia and England had constructed boards of long asbestos fibres and silicate of soda, which he built up like cardboard upon a cylinder ( machine, the silicate of soda being subsequently precipitated as silica by means of bicarbonate of soda. The finished boards were heated for a long time and the finished product was known as Uralite. The tops of the laboratory tables in Eoom 4, Walker, were coated with the Uralite about the year 1898 and it is still in place. Brigham, Nagel and others have made boards of long asbestos fibre with silicate of soda, oxychloride of zinc or of magnesium, and many similar substances had been used, as shown by the Patent Office records. The silicate of soda boards were not very strong, even when made of expensive fibre, and were for the most part quite un- stable. Boards made of oxychloride of magnesium with long asbestos fibre were hard, strong and wonderfully attractive in appearance, but the lapse of time has shown that they slowly disintegrate. Of the other ce- menting materials, none which were of a refactory nature gave any especial promise. After much experimenting, two sorts of cements were selected, one based upon the hydraulic action of calcined magnesia, the other a mod- ified Portland cement. Some of the original pieces made in 1903 of these two sorts of cement with very short fibre are still as serviceable as when originally made, showing merely an increased hardness. In 1904 patents were granted to Ludwig Hatschek of Austria for a process for making artificial stone plates. His method was to make ur> a sort of paper of cement and asbestos fibre. The process necessitates the use of long fibre and seems to be confined to the manufacture of thin sheets. An extensive industry has been built up in this country and abroad in making these thin cement plates. It was found by the writer that magnesium oxide which was strongly compressed with an intimate mixture of fibrous asbestos gave the most satisfactory woody texture of any of the otherwise suitable cements. If properly hydrated, it gave a product which was strong, fairly light and could be worked with wood-working tools, though not so readily as even such hard woods as oak. The magnesium hydroxide combines in part at least with the magnesium silicate of the fibre, and a portion of the re- mainder assumes a form not unlike the mineral brucite. Even after the lapse of five years the absorption of carbon dioxide has been very slight in specimens which have been exposed to the water. Deville reported many years ago a somewhat similiar experience with paste of magnesium hy- droxide and sand which he analyzed after a six-year exposure. The 378 THE MANUFACTURE AND USE OF ASBESTOS WOOD strength and hardness of magnesium hydroxide compare favorably with the more common hydraulic cements, and since its volume is considerably greater, it is more effective as a binder for the bulky fibrous materials. The process of making the magnesia or hydraulic cement boards into sheets with the short asbestos waste involves the use of a special type of filter press, which has been slowly and laboriously developed. The first sheets were made in the Laboratory of Heat Measurements in a press cap- able of exerting a total pressure of about 300 pounds. As the process has developed, the presses have been increased until now the largest has a capacity of thousands of tons, capable of making sheets forty-two inches by ninety-six inches by four and one-half inches, or of any lesser thick- ness down to one-eighth of an inch. The speed of operation is such that' the sheet is pressed and in position on the drying trucks before even the! most agile Portland cement can have acquired its initial set. This insures the cement setting in proper contact with the fibres in its final position in the mixture. If the sheets are to be moulded into curved shapes, this necessitates special treatment immediately after pressing. The following enumeration of physical properties of the material will indicate to a certain extent how fully our hope of making a substi- tute for wood has been realized: By varying the proportions of our mix- tures, the separate physical properties can be varied somewhat. In the matter of weight the various grades of asbestos wood vary between the limits of eight and thirteen pounds per square foot, one inch thick board measure. This is somewhat heavier than the heaviest of wood. In the matter of strength the material in the shape of boards has been broken under a transverse load and considerable data collected. The maximum fibre stress at the time of fracture in the specimens varies between 5000f pounds and 10,000 pounds, the more dense materials with the least percen- tage of fibre being in general the stronger. The tendency of the material to absorb water also varies somewhat with its composition, the limits being two per cent for the most dense specimens and eighteen per cent for the softer specimens, which are to be bored, turned and sawed. The coefficient of thermal conducitivity of a number of specimens has been determined in the Laboratory of Heat Measurements and lies between the limits of fifty and thirty B.T.U. per square foot per one inch thick- ness per one degree difference in twenty-four hours. In C.G.S. units the value is .0006 to .0004 calories per centimeter thickness per square centi- meter per one degree C. per second. No very extensive measurements of the coefficients of expansion have yet been made, but such experiments as we have indicate that its coefficient of expansion increases as the tern- CHAELES L. NORTON, >93 379 perature rises, reaches a maximum at about 800 degrees C. and then di- minishes. The strength of asbestos wood is materially weakened at red heat, though it retains a portion of its strength and holds shape well for 1 exposures at 650 to 700 degrees C. At 1200 degrees C. or thereabouts it melts. For some uses, particularly where high voltages are used, the absorp- tion of water by the ordinary asbestos wood is too great to enable it to give satisfactory service. It has been found possible to saturate the asbestos wood with certain insulating materials, which greatly increase its value as an electrical insulator. Its water absorption then becomes negligi- ble, amounting to only two or three-tenths of one per cent even on pro- longed immersion. Professor Laws has made some extensive studies of this insulating material, which we call ebony asbestos wood, and he finds that its insulation resistance in thicknesses from one-quarter of an inch up to two inches is in all cases greater than 150,000 megohms. This of course means little more than that its insulation is very high, sufficiently high for all commercial work and above the limit at which the laboratory appa- ratus gives precise measurements. The puncturing voltage of the ebony asbestos wood is high, sheets of a thickness of one-quarter inch breaking down at about 20,000 volts, while sheets one and one-half inches thick withstand successfully a pressure of 100,000 volts. The material has found a very considerable use as a substitute for slate and marble, even for very; large switchboards. Its greater toughness and the ease with which it can be worked, its freedom from any tendency to crack on unequal heating, have made it more available than either slate or marble for many electrical uses. Its toughness has made it available where there is considerable shock or tremor, as, for instance, as a base for circuit breakers and for the switch- boards in electric locomotives. Among the articles of wood which are most to be condemned because of their tendency to cause and spread fire is the common wooden shingle. In this connection shingles made of asbestos and cement mixtures afford very many advantages. They are much less absorbent of water than is wood ; they are of course fireproof ; they are not brittle like slate, and they do not rust or require paint like tin. One of the latest developments of our asbestos wood industry has been the extensive manufacture of shingles which, I believe, are going to save the community by diminishing the fire loss, very many times what this somewhat lengthy experimentation has cost. THE TECHNICS OF IKON AND STEEL By THEODORE W. ROBINSON, '84, First Vice-President, Illinois Steel Co., Chicago, 111. THE basis of modern civilization is the increased productiveness of labor and the accumulated wealth that has resulted from the universal use .of iron and steel. The manufacture of iron and steel represents a comprehensive application of scientific research and discovery, and the indebtedness of society to our institutions of technical learning is exem- plified in no more forceful way than by their influence upon our most im- portant industry. Human progress since medieval times has been closely allied with iron progress. The essential elements of existence have ever been food, raiment, habitation and transportation, and the difference be- tween our modern conditions and the conditions of the past is fundamen- tally the difference of the labor efficiency with which these necessities are produced. Closely analyze all the fields of human endeavor, and, whether it be in the essentials of existence or the luxuries of life, somewhere the world's greatest metal will be found playing a vital part. The political demarcation of nations has been wrought and maintained by the war pro- ducts of the foundry and the forge, but it is in the realm of industry that there has been found that potency of iron which has caused the progress of the last century to surpass the accomplishments of twenty centuries. Let him who questions this statement compare the average conditions of living within these periods, and let him recall that the revolutionary in- ventions of modern civilization are directly due to or have been permitted by the use of our most precious metal. It is manifestly impossible in a brief address to trace the evolution of the iron and steel industry, much less to attempt a detailed description of the manufacture of iron and steel. We may, however, briefly discuss some of the salient changes and economies that have taken place within the past fifty years. The underlying principles of the manufacture of iron and steel are the same to-day as they were half a century ago. The mining of ore, of coal, and of limestone ; the manufacture of coke ; the smelting of these raw 380 THEODOKE W. EOBINSON, '84 381 materials into pig iron; the refining of pig iron into wrought iron or steel, and its rolling or forging into the finished product; all these steps are essentially the same as they were before; and the blast furnace, con- verter, open hearth furnace and rolling mill are still the agents of reduction and conversion. No industry has been more ready to recognize the merits of discovery and invention, or quicker to reap the benefits; and a well equipped iron and steel plant is to-day the very embodiment of applied science. To this is due the fact that as measured by quality, quantity, cost and diversity of product, the efficiency of former operations has been revolutionized. It is of interest to briefly record the progress made in this country in the manufacture of iron prior to 1860, partially that we may have a better conception of the remarkable development that has followed. The first pig iron made in America was manufactured in 1644 at Lynn, about ten miles from Boston, and there, too, was refined the first bar iron made in this country. The capitalization of this pioneer enterprise was $5,000, and a skilled workman commanded a wage of about fifty-five cents a day. Re- ferring to this industry, Governor Winthrop said that " the iron work goes on with more hope, it yields now about seven tons per week." Such was the inception of the American iron and steel industry; and with the little plant at Lynn as a nucleus Massachusetts for a hundred years after the settlement at Plymouth was the chief seat of this country's activity. To the Boston Iron Works the credit is due of rolling in 1846 some of the first iron T rails ever produced in America, and fifty years ago Mass- achusetts was still one of the most important centers of our nail industry. Even at this later period our iron plants consisted of small units of mine and mill located throughout the country with special reference to the prox- imity of local ores, fuel and water power facilities. But the industry was expanding, and the year before the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology was founded America produced a little over 900,000 tons of pig iron. An index of the accomplishment of fifty years prior and subsequent to 1860 is had in the 1810 production of 54,000 tons of pig iron, as against over 27,000,000 tons of pig iron produced in 1910. Such a phenomenal growth has, of course, been made possible by our wealth of natural resource; but raw material is of but potential value until won by the arts of industry, and even when converted is largely valueless until transported to its point of consumption. Cheap conveyance is a vital factor, and the beneficent influence of iron and steel upon the progress of prosperity of this nation and of the world finds no more striking exempli- fication than in its use in the art of transportation. "Without the steel rail 382 THE TECHNICS OF IKON AND STEEL our prairies, forests and mines would still largely lie in their pristine glory and the interior fastnesses of the continents would be inviolate. Fifty years ago this country had but thirty thousand miles of railroad. Trans- portation was expensive, slow and served little more than the important centers. The Pacific coast was many weeks distant from the Atlantic seaboard and the stage-coach and the pony express were essential elements of communication. The maximum capacity of the freight cars on the Penns.ylvania Railroad was nine tons, and our waterways largely dominated our commerce and industry. To-day our country is served by 240,000 miles of railroad; our freight cars are of fifty and even 100 tons capacity and the cost of transportation has been so lowered that the average remunera- tion of at least one of our large systems is less than five mills per ton mile. The effect of these changes is partially indicated by the 23,000,000 immi- grants who have come to this country since 1860, by the increase of 60,- 000,000 in our inhabitants, and by the rapid movement westward of the center of our population. But how comes it that in the short span of less than a generation such strides could be made in an industry which has basicly changed but little? The npplication of scientific research is alone responsible and it is primarily responsible because it made possible the economic develop- ment of the Bessemer and open hearth processes, which were given to the world a few years prior to 1860. The Bessemer process was a metallur- gical failure until Mushet's discovery of the efficacy of carbon and man- ganese addition, and it could not have been a commercial success with- out the mechanical improvements of many later workers in the field. The success of the open hearth was even slower. The development of the steel industry accentuated the necessity of exact methods. The comparatively rough and ready way of producing wrought iron would not answer for the more difficult accomplishment of high grade steel. As it became recognized that the price of success was the scientific vigilance of technical men, the chemist, the metallurgist, the mechanical engineer, the steam engineer and the electrical engineer, all became essential factors. In the early stages, tonnage, as an essential element of cost, was a main consideration. Now quality stands first, and while tonnage has gone on apace, the strict in- spection that commands production to-day subordinates volume to character. Under our superlative wealth of natural resource and under the insistent demand for maximum output, the questions of waste and conservation were secondary questions, and the returns from the utilization of by-produtcs were not thought commensurate with the time and money involved. But scientific management has brought about a new order of things ; the selec- THEODOKE W. EOBINSON; '84 383 tion and use of the raw materials entering into the manufacture are all sub- ject to the analysis and control of the chemical laboratory. Chemistry is the monitor of the various steps in the transformation of ore to the finished product, and with the physical laboratory stands sponsor for both the twelve-inch gun and the almost invisible wire that is drawn through the diamond die. Nearly every domain of science is called upon. The knowl- edge and control of heat are fundamental in the development of power and in the reduction and fabrication of steel. The essence of economic production lies in an intelligent application of the laws of hydraulics, hydrostatics, thermo-dynamics, and strength of materials. Electricity and magnetism play a prominent part in the transmission of power and illu- mination, and the refining of steel by electric energy is a departure destined to have an important future. A modern steel plant is indeed a complex but wonderfully efficient machine. The remarkable influence that steel has exerted in the last cen- tury has been made possible by the radical reduction in its cost of manu- facture. The price of steel rails affords a measure of what has been ac- complished in this regard. Less than fifty years ago steel rails made their advent in this country at an equivalent of approximately eight cents per pound. To-day rails sell for one and one-fourth cents per pound, or less than one-sixth of their former cost. While the reduction in cost during the last decade is naturally proportionately less than in the few decades that preceded, it is significant that in spite of the general increase in the prices of commodities the relative price of steel in this country, as shown by the commodity index, has continued to decrease in recent years. It is an eloquent testimonial to the efficiency of modern methods and to the conservatism of our iron masters that this has been accomplished in spite of the decreasing richness of our ores and a substantial increase in the cost of both labor and material. In studying the causes of our cost reductions, two prominent factors appear. First, the fuel required to convert ore into finished product has been largely reduced; second, the intensity of production, which roughly measures the increased efficiency of labor, has been enormously increased. At the mine, in transportation, at the furnace and in the mill, machinery has taken the place of men, and a man in the steel industry to-day accom- plishes from ten to fifty times as much work as did his predecessor fifty years ago. In 1860 a thousand tons of pig iron per month was an extraordinary production for a blast furnace, and one and a half gross tons of coke was required for each gross ton of pig iron produced. To-day an output of 384 THE TECHNICS OF IKON AND STEEL 18,000 tons per month from a single furnace excites little comment, and the average coke consumption of the modern American furnace is a gross ton of coke for each ton of pig iron. This increase in tonnage and decrease in fuel is the result of the uniformity and enlargement that has fol- lowed scientific management and not because of any radical departure in blast furnace practice. In the refining of pig iron the gas producer, the re- generative furnace, the hot metal mixer, and the improvement in our prime movers have been important elements in the reduction of fuel; but it is mainly due to the substitution of the open hearth and the Bessemer con- verter for the puddle furnace that we are able to produce steel with nearly one-fourth less coal than was formerly required to produce iron. Our prime movers fifty years ago consisted essentially of slide valve steam en- gines in conjunction with low pressure flue boilers, having an over-all efficiency of but four to five per cent of the total heat in the fuel realized as work in the engine. To-day high pressure water tube boilers and com- pound condensing engines with efficient valve gear have more than doubled the thermal efficiency, and the combination low pressure steam turbine and non-condensing compound steam engine gives us a thermal efficiency of even sixteen per cent. In other words, with such an installation, one ton of fuel can do the work formerly accomplished by four tons of fuel. The introduction of the gas engine marks another epoch in power production. With a thermal efficiency of twenty-five per cent, a given quan- tity of blast furnace gas produces in the gas engine at least twice the amount of power obtainable with the modern boiler and steam engine. The gas engine when combined with the electric generator permits the highest devel- opment in plant concentration and in the production and transmission of power. With modern equipment the blast furnace produces a surplus amount of gas over and above its own heat and power requirements equiva- lent to at least 500 pounds of coal for each ton of iron produced. A notable example of the efficient use of blast furnace gas as a by-product is presented in the new Gary, Indiana, plant of the United States Steel Corporation. There has been erected or is in process of installation over 100,000 horse- power in gas engine units varying from 2500 horse-power to 4000 horse- power each, and the contemplated plant when finished will have more than 200,000 horse-power in gas engines using blast furnace gas. These, when aided by the surplus gas from the connected by-product coke ovens, will not only furnish all the heat, light and power required for all the mill depart- ments, practically without the aid of coal, but will afford, as well, a sub- stantial surplus available for neighboring industries. It can be readily appreciated, therefore, that the aggregate saving of THEODORE W. ROBINSON, '84 385 fuel in the iron and steel industry must be enormous, and one whose effect upon the conservation of the nation's coal supply must be important. The following figures based upon actual practice give an approximation of what this annual saving amounts to. Last year the United States pro- duced 27,298,545 tons of pig iron and 25,917,281 tons of Bessemer and open hearth steel. Had the same coke ratio been required to smelt this pig iron as that required in 1860 we should have used 23,000,000 net tons of coal more than we actually did use. Moreover, had the pig iron which was converted into steel last year been converted into wrought iron, we should have consumed 33,000,000 tons more coal than that which was actually burned. The measure, then, of last year's fuel economy in our iron and steel industry was approximately 56,000,000 tons of coal. But this is not all. The production of coke in the United States last year was about 41,000,000 net tons, made mostly in the bee-hive oven. Had this same ton- nage of coke been produced in by-product coke ovens, ten million tons less coal would have been required and there would have been an additional saving of by-products in surplus gas, tar and ammonia of a value of $39,000,000. Basing our calculation on 1910 production and giving coal an arbitrary value of a dollar a ton, these savings in the iron. and steel and coke industries amount to $107,000,000 per year, as the sum of what we have done and what we will shortly do toward the conservation of our coal supply. Such are some of the savings that have permitted our manufactured products to successfully enter the markets of the world. The United States has been one of the world's great granaries. The United States is now one of the world's great workshops. Fifty years ago our exported foodstuffs surpassed in value the exports of all our manufactured products. To-day the value of our manufactured products sold abroad largely exceeds the value of the shipments from our farms. In 1860 we exported iron and steel to the value of $6,000,000. Last year we contributed $179,000,000 in iron and steel to the markets of the world. While we are largely indebted to the development of the natural sciences for such results, the technics of iron and steel embrace a wider field. The science of modern organization and the ethics of management represent in themselves as marked a departure as we find in the actual operations of our works. Half a century ago the ownership and control of our iron works lay in partnerships or in small corporations. Plants were small and compara- tively numerous. There was close contact between employer and employee and the workmen were few and their duties correspondingly varied. The 386 THE TECHNICS OF IEON AND STEEL economies of specialization, intensity and concentration were largely unknown or impractical. To-day our mines and mills are principally controlled by large cor- porations. Ownership stands in thousands of small and widely scattered stockholders and policy and operation are guided by their representatives. Plants are large and intensified production is commanded by armies of skilled men working with specialized machinery. In achieving high efficiency and resultant low costs, the large corpora- tion is an economic necessity. Its effectiveness in the elimination of waste is the power of large financial resource and concentrated direction. There is no better exemplification of the composite force of many owners than the plant and town of Gary. This, our latest- and most extensive plant, has arisen in four years from the unbroken sand dunes of lower Lake Michigan, and is a striking illustration of the possibility of $55,000,000 expended by a highly developed organization. But the change that has come with our modern system is more than in the material improvement of plant and machinery. There has followed a clearer conception of the relationship of the public, the wage earner and the investor. Industrial success means loyalty and team work, and intelli- gent management appreciates that profits, if they are to be sustained, must not be preferential to justice and humane treatment. Cooperation with one's competitors, pension funds for the superannuated, systematic en- deavor for the prevention of accidents, voluntary compensation for the injured, recognition of faithful service, elimination of Sunday work, profit- sharing, sanitary surroundings, the club, the hospital all these are man- ifestations of a humane and efficient policy. Business administration in our complex industrial life embodies many elements beside the natural sciences. There is the science of men as well as the science of machines, and both are necessary for the broadest type of industrial efficiency. A training that is either too cultural or too specialized does not har- monize with present requirements and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in recognizing the commercial as well as the technical needs of the times, is but maintaining her tradition for progressive thought and leadership in method. SECTION E PUBLIC HEALTH AND SANITATION PROFITABLE AND FRUITLESS LINES OF ENDEAVOR IN PUBLIC HEALTH WORK By EDWIN O. JORDAN, '88, Professor of Bacteriology, University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. IT is well recognized to-day by many experts that while some of the ordinary activities of municipal health departments are of unquestionable value in conserving the health of a community, others are relatively in- effective or possibly worthless. This condition, as a rule, is not due to ignorance on the part of health officials, but to the pressure of public, opinion'. Such pressure is often exerted directly through legal ordinances passed by uninformed legislative bodies, but sometimes also through agitation by mistaken enthusiasts or through other channels of public opinion. Back of the A* 7 hole situation is the existence in the public mind of wrong or antiquated conceptions of disease and the causes of disease. Sanitarians do not admit that even. a grossly improper method of garbage disposal can have much to do with the spread of disease in a; sewered city or that diphtheria or typhoid fever or any other disease is properly attributable to the entrance of sewer air into dwelling houses. So firmly embedded in public belief, however, is the connection of piles of decaying garbage with outbreaks of infectious disease, and of " defective plumbing " with all sorts of maladies that to the average citizen " garbage disposal" and "plumbing inspection" bulk large as the chief if not the only activities of a municipal health department. In the light of our present knowledge we may well ask what are the actual dangers to health from these two sources? It is now well known to bacteriologists that disease germs do not "breed" in garbage heaps, but that on the contrary if added from outside they speedily die off. The offensive odors of decomposition may be unpleasant and undesirable ; there is no evidence that they produce disease or dispose to disease. On the other hand, it may be argued that the existence of heaps of decomposing organic matter tends to maintain or create general habits of uncleanliriess. which themselves are detrimental in a roundabout way to the health of a com- munity. And again it is known that the house-fly may breed in garbage 389 390 PKOFITABLE AND FKUITLESS LINUS OF ENDEAVOE piles, particularly if horse manure is present, and that under certain con- ditions this noxious insect may become the bearer of disease germs to food. But when the worst is said it must be admitted that the known danger to health from garbage piles and "dumps" is relatively insignificant com- pared with the danger from other well-known but less popularly feared sources. The truth is that garbage disposal in large cities is more a matter of municipal housekeeping than of public health; proper methods of gar- bage collection and destruction must be urged rather from economic and esthetic considerations than on hygienic grounds. One thing should be clearly understood by municipal authorities and by the general public, that regular collection and cleanly handling of ashes and table scraps is not one of the surest and most profitable ways of pro- tecting health and preventing disease. Efficient administration of this branch of public work should not be allowed to take the place of measures that directly affect the public health. Few dangers to health have loomed larger in the public eye than that, from " sewer gas." Elaborate and amazingly expensive systems of plumb- ing are required by law to be installed in every newly erected dwelling house in our large American cities. Plumbing inspection to-day occupies a large part of the working force of many municipal health departments. In Baltimore in 1908, to cite a single instance, this work was carried out by one inspector of plumbing, seven assistant inspectors of plumbing and one drain inspector, at a total salary cost of $8,250, or about one-tenth of the total salary appropriation for all public health work. And yet, if all the most recent and searching investigations, such as those of Winslow and others are to be believed, the actual peril to health involved in the en- trance of small quantities of sewer air into houses is so small as to be practically negligible. A revision and simplification of municipal plumb- ing regulations, a minimizing of official inspection and especially an educa- tion of the public to the fact that diphtheria, typhoid fever and scarlet fever have never been definitely traced to sewer air or bad plumbing are reform measures that might release a considerable sum of public money for use in really profitable lines of sanitary endeavor. In the matter of heating and ventilation enormous sums have been spent and are being spent to " renew " the air in rooms and public assembly halls and to introduce " pure air " in what has been assumed to be necessary amounts. And yet if the work of Beu, 1 Heymann, Paul, Erclentz, Fliigge, 2 1 Zeitschr. f. Hyg., 1893, 14, p. 64. 2 Zcitsc1ir. /. Hyg. t 1905, 49, p. 363. EDWIN O. JOKDAN, '88 391 Leonard Hill and others means anything it demonstrates that the whole effect from "bad air" and crowded rooms is due to heat and moisture and not to carbon dioxide or to any poisonous excretions in expired air It may well be asked whether the elaborate legal regulations governing the " supply " of air and the cubic feet of bedroom space have a real basis in scientific knowledge. If over-heating, moisture-content and stagnation of the air are the chief things to be avoided, may this end not be reached more effectively and less expensively than by present methods? One conspicuous function at present required of or voluntarily exer- cised by health departments is the practice of terminal disinfection after cases of infectious disease. This has come to play a large part in municipal health activities and is responsible for an important share of the expense. In Boston, for example, in 1909, about one-tenth of the annual appropria- tion was expended for disinfection. One of the most experienced New England city health officers has recently seriously questioned the value of such an expenditure. 1 After a study of the ratio of recurrences in certain diseases he concludes that, " Both theory and facts, so far as any data are available, indicate that terminal disinfection after diphtheria and scarlet fever is of no appreciable value." This view has met with strong support from the experience of a number of English health officials, even if it cannot be regarded as conclusively proved. Other instances of the application of energy and money to measures apparently of slight or doubtful value might be cited, but those already given are fairly typical. The question that should be asked in every case is not whether a particular measure is entirely devoid of value, but whether it is the most effective way of utilizing available resources. As matters now stand there are a number of unquestionably valuable measures that can not be prosecuted with sufficient vigor because of the enforced diversion of funds into other and less profitable channels. The importance of control and supervision of the sources of public W3,ter supply has long been recognized, but the importance of controlling the quality of the public milk supply, although frequently urged by sani- tarians, is not always appreciated. At the present time in the great ma- jority of American cities it is safe to say that for every case of infectious! disease due to drinking water ten cases are caused by infected milk. It is difficult to secure adequate funds for the sanitary control of the milk supply. Whatever method of control be adopted, it is certain that any genuine improvement in the character of a milk supply will be followed in the long run by a lessening in the amount of typhoid fever, diphtheria, 1 Chapin, Jour. Amer. Public Health Assoc., 1911, 1, p. 32. . 392 PEOFITABLE AND FRUITLESS LINES OF ENDEAVOR scarlet fever and to some extent tuberculosis. In other words, the connec- tion between an expenditure of public money and a direct return in preven- tion of disease can be more clearly demonstrated in the case of milk-supply control than in some other of the usual municipal health department activities. One of the important bacteriological advances of the last few years has been the discovery that a considerable number of healthy persons, conva- lescents or others, harbor disease germs and that these persons are important agents in spreading disease. The detention and proper treatment of disease-germ carriers, particularly in the more serious diseases and before or in the early stages of an epidemic, is now recognized as an important although difficult task. The whole question of the control of germ-carriers is one that needs more careful study with a view to determining the actual results of the methods adopted. From this point of view, inspection of school children, especially at the beginning of the school year, is probably to be classed as a highly profitable activity, although it is to be wished that fuller and better-studied statistics were available. Inspection of school children is highly valuable, also, in detecting various common congenital or acquired defects. If the defects are remedi- able, their early discovery may avoid development into permanently crip- pling disorders. In other cases, the application of simple corrective or palliative measures may greatly increase the industrial efficiency of the individual. If the defects are not remediable, their detection will at all events prevent the choice of unsuitable occupations, and will indicate desirable lines of education. In rural communities, undoubtedly one of the simplest, as well as most important, health protective measures is the adoption under compulsion if need be, of a safeguarded and standardized form of barrel privy. 1 A corollary hardly necesary to mention is the total abolition of the privy in all thickly settled towns. For lack of such regulations soil pollution occurs, the house-fly finds an opportunity to transfer disease germs from excreta to food, and typhoid fever and hookworm disease become constant plagues ever wide regions. In the campaign against tuberculosis it is perhaps too early to evaluate the numerous methods that have been proposed for lessening or eradicating this disease, but is is already evident that some are more directly repaying than others in proportion to the effort involved. Among the methods for 1 See Public Health Reports for 1910, published by the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service, articles by Stiles and Gardner, and Lumsden, Roberts and Stiles. EDWIN O. JOEDAN, '88 393 which public funds are legitimately available none is more promising than the provision of sanatoria for advanced cases of consumption. ISTewsholme and Koch have shown that the general diminution in the death rate from tuberculosis observed in most countries can be more reasonably attributed to the establishment of sanatoria than to any other factor, and that in addition to its humanitarian advantages, the segregation and proper con- trol of the advanced and dangerously infective cases is one of the most useful methods that can be employed by the community to protect itself against the spread of tuberculosis infection. Another field in which practical workers are convinced that certain measures have direct efficacy in saving life is that of infant mortality. It has even been said that for the expenditure of a certain sum the saving of a life can be guaranteed. It may confidently be asserted that the degree of success achieved in this field will be limited only by the amount of en- deavor the community is willing to put forth. It is impossible at present to apply direct tests of efficiency to some measures that undoubtedly promote health. The influence of playgrounds, public baths, regulation of the hours of labor in extra-arduous industries and the like is real if it cannot be accurately determined or estimated. Certain activities of a health department may be worth continuing for their educational value, although their direct utility may be questioned. Many topics need investigation in order to discover their real bearing upon the public health. Among these are such matters as the effect of a smoky atmosphere, the alleged nervous strain due to city' noise and numerous important questions in the domain of food adulteration and contamination. Premature and drastic action by health authorities in matters concerning which there is profound disagreement among experts may cast discredit on other lines of activity in which there is and can be no difference of opinion. For the present it seems worth while to emphasize more sharply than heretofore the distinction between public health measures of proved value and those that owe their existence to tradition or to misdirected and un- informed enthusiasm. Further study of the results obtained by certain of the usual and conventional health department activities is also much needed, and as a preliminary to such study the proper collection and hand- ling of vital statistics is essential. It is poor management and unscientific procedure to continue to work blindly in matters pertaining to the public health, to employ measures of whose; real efficiency we are ignorant and even to refrain from collecting facts that might throw light upon their efficiency. THE TECHNICAL SCHOOL MAN IN PUBLIC HEALTH WOKK By H. W. CLARK, '87, Chief Chemist, State Board of Health, Boston, Mass. PUBLIC health in this as in all countries has been a subject of slow and comparatively recent growth. Beyond a few laws relating to smallpox and drainage, little that could be called " health legislation " was enacted in America until well into the nineteenth century. In Massachusetts as early as 1799, local boards of health were established at Salem and Boston by legislative enactment, but not until seventy years later did Massachusetts, one of the oldest and most progressive of states in the enactment of wise legislation, organize or establish a State Board of Health. As early as 1849, however, the deplorable condition of the State in health matters, together with the fear of a cholera epidemic, caused the legisla- ture to enact a law for the appointment of a commission to make what was designated " a sanitary survey of the State, and to report upon the same." The report made by this commission was called " A General Plan for the Promotion of Public Health and Personal Health, devised, prepared and recommended by the Commissioners." " The condition of perfect health/' states this report, " requires such laws and regulations as will secure to man associated in society, the same sanitary enjoyments that he would have as an isolated individual and as will protect him from injury from any influences connected with his locality, his dwelling-house, his occupation or those of his associates or neighbors, or from other social causes. It is under the control of public authority and public administration that life and health may be saved or lost, and they are actually saved or lost as this authority is wisely or unwisely exercised." In the very complete and remarkable document containing the results of the labors of this commission, many branches of knowledge then little known but now of well-recognized importance in sanitary science, are in- vestigated and discussed, and in the commissioners' plea for the formation of a State Board of Health, they fully described the varied duties of such a board and recommended that "the board as far as practicable be composed of two physicians, one counsellor-at-law, one chemist or natural philoso- 394 H. W. CLARK, '87 395 pher, one civil engineer and two persons of other professions or occupations, all properly qualified for the office by their talents, their education, their experience and their wisdom." That the functions of a sanitary board or commission charged with the many varied duties necessary for the proper study and guardianship of public health required the work and the investigations of engineers and chemists as well as of medical men, was here clearly recognized and stated, and while the able report of this commission was pigeon-holed for twenty years and a State health board was not established in Massachusetts until 1869 and not separated from the Board of Charities until 1886, yet when fully established upon its present basis., it conformed in many im- portant particulars with the plans of the Sanitary Commission of 1849. The work of this commission and its voluminous and able report can be justly considered as the beginning of sanitary science in Massachusetts. Following the organization of the board in 1869, chemists were em- ployed to make various investigations concerning matters affecting the public health. Work upon food adulteration and food impurities was reported upon in 1872, and this work was continued with a certain degree of intermittency for several years. A report upon the food of the people of Massachusetts was given in 1873, a report upon the adulteration of milk in 1875, and an article upon the adulteration of some staple groceries in the report of the Board for 1879, this latter investigation and report being made by the late Ellen H. Richards. Following this work, a law was enacted by the Legislature in 1882, calling for the systematic examination by the State Board of Health of foods and drugs offered for sale in the State. Laboratories for the regular prosecution of such work were established in that year, and the work carried on there largely by technical school men is too well known to need recapitulation here. Other States, and finally the national government also established such departments, and the work of chemists and biologists in these numerous food and drug laboratories has made the pure food slogan familiar and of practical interest throughout the country. In 1885 the Massachusetts Drainage Commission, so-called, made a report that has been of much moment and influence upon sanitary science and public health in Massachusetts, and by force of example throughout the rest of the country. This commission, after due investigation and careful consideration of the report of its engineer, made certain recommendations, the principal one of which was for the establishment of a board to have a " watchful care over the interior waters of the State." " Let these guardians of inland waters," so they stated, " be charged to acquaint themselves with 396 TECHNICAL SCHOOL MAN IN PUBLIC HEALTH WORK the actual condition of all waters within the state as respects their pollution or purity and to inform themselves particularly as to the relation which that condition bears to the health and well-being of any part of the people of the Commonwealth. . . . Let them use every means in their power to prevent pollution. . . . Let them make it their business to advise and assist cities and towns desiring a supply of water or a system of sewerage. . . . They shall put themselves at the disposal of manufacturers and others using rivers, etc., or misusing them, to suggest the best means of minimizing the amount of dirt in their effluents and to experiment upon methods of reducing or avoiding pollution. ... It shall be their especial function to guard the public interest and the public health in its relation with water." Surely this was a large field of work for any board however well equipped and organized, yet these recommendations were enacted into laws and the powers and duties suggested by the commission were given to the State Board of Health. This was the beginning of that long and notable series of investigations and experiments carried out largely by technical school men that have placed Massachusetts in a foremost position in the world in the department of sanitary science dealing with all questions of water supply and sewage disposal or purification. In order to intelligently carry out the duties assigned them, laboratories and an experiment station were established in connection with a sanitary engineering department. At the experiment station of the board, which has now been in operation nearly twenty-three years, investigations have been carried on that have not only laid the foundations for the scientific treatment of sewage and given the initiative for similar investigations in this and other countries, but experiments have been carried on through many years in order to develop an accurate science of sewage purification with an accumulation of data concerning practical arid theoretical methods that will suffice to answer most questions arising in the engineering problems of this subject. Further than this, engineering, chemical and biological studies concerning the effi- ciency of the many varied methods of water purification, have been made, and many papers dealing with original investigations of the subjects studied have been published. The technical men working at the station have devel- oped during the past twenty years new and more accurate chemical, biolog- ical and physical methods for the study of waters, sewages, sands, soils, etc., and besides experimental investigations tending to the development of scientific methods of sewage purification and water filtration, have made many special investigations in other related branches of sanitary science. They have made studies of shellfish and shellfish pollution; the action of waters upon metals with especial reference to lead poisoning, the bacterial H. W. CLARK, '87 397 purification of water by freezing, the classification and identification of bacteria, and other subjects too numerous to mention here. The chemists in cooperation with the engineers have made probably the most complete investigations of factory wastes and methods for their disposal as- yet made in this or any country. These board of health laboratories in conjunction with the engineering department have really been a graduate school for the higher education of technical men engaged in public health work, and from this school many men well trained in this particular branch of sanitary work have gone to other states, and willingly acknowledge that a liberal part of their education and basis for usefulness and success in other fields was obtained in the laboratories and engineering department of the Massa- chusetts Board of Health. To two technical school men a large part of the planning of this epoch-making work was due: one of them, Hiiram F. Mills, a graduate of the Eensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a member of the Corporation of the Institute of Technology, and the other, Thomas M. Drown, a physician by education but a chemist, investigator and teacher of chemistry throughout his life. With these two should also be mentioned Allen Hazen and William T. Sedgwick. Year by year other states have adopted and installed such public health departments as require the work and investigations of chemists, bacteriolo- gists and engineers, until at the present time nearly all of the northern and one or two of the southern states are carrying on this line of public health work. I have spoken principally of Massachusetts work and am justified, I believe, in so doing, as Massachusetts was certainly the pioneer State in the new science of prevention of disease and the abatement of nuisances and proper guardianship of the public health by methods of municipal sani- tation. The story of the technical school man in public health work here has now been repeated many times in other States. Courses in sanitary engineering and sanitary chemistry in technical schools and universities were not known twenty-five years ago with the exception of some instruc- tion in sanitary chemistry at the Institute of Technology. To-day, how- ever, all this is changed and the comparatively new science of bacteriology lends its important assistance to sanitary work. What, may be asked, have the labors of these technical school men accomplished? What influence have they had upon public health? In the first place, they have by their investigations of foods and drugs awakened in our people an intelligent interest and a realizing sense of honesty and dishonesty in trade in household essentials. They have taught needed lessons in regard to the meaning of adulteration and the effect of pre- 398 TECHNICAL SCHOOL MAN IN PUBLIC HEALTH WORK servatives upon food and health. They have lessened adulteration. They have raised the standard of cleanliness in production, and while certain individuals and organizations of whom better things might be expected, oppose these advances, yet constant headway is being made. This, briefly, is the work accomplished as the result of food and drug investigations. The far-reaching improvements in sanitary science and sanitary . conditions accomplished by the bacteriologists, sanitary engi- neers and chemists working along the lines laid down by the Massachusetts Drainage Commission of twenty-five years ago, are not so easily or briefly summarized. Throughout the length and breadth of the country, a new and better understanding of the relation between water supply and health has been established, and by reason of this and the improvement of munici- pal water supplies, the lives of thousands of people are saved each year and numberless cases of disease prevented. The records of health and disease in certain cities before and after the construction of municipal filters are striking object lessons of the value of proper municipal hygiene brought to the present standard by technical men. PRESENT STATUS OF WATER PURIFICATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE PART THAT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY HAS PLAYED. By GEORGE C. WHIPPLE, '89, Professor of Sanitary Engineering at Harvard University, and Consulting Engineer, New York Oil y. THE years when the United States census is taken are appropriate times to examine municipal statistics with reference to the progress that is being made in the arts of sanitation during successive decades. It is pecu- liarly fortunate that, just as the results of the 1910 census are becoming available, the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology should afford an opportune occasion for reviewing the progress that has been made, not only during the last ten years but dur- ing the last fifty years. Fifty years ago our American cities were fewer and much smaller than they are now. New York, the largest city, then had a population of only 813,669; now, with all its boroughs, the population of the city is 4,766,883. Boston in 1860 had 177,840 persons, now it has 670,585; Chicago had 109,260, now it has 2,185,283i Fifty years ago only eight cities had populations of more than 100,000. Now fifty cities are larger than this. Then only thirty-two cities were larger than 25,000, now there are 228 cities. The total population of the United States in 1860 was 31,- 443,321; now it is 91,972,266. Growth and concentration of population have marked this entire period, the cities growing not only by immigra- tion from abroad but by transmigration from the rural districts. With the growth of the cities the water supply problems have increased in magnitude and complexity. In 1860 the water consumption in Boston was about seventeen million gallons daily. The Cochituate works were then twelve years old. The introduction of this supply was regarded as a great municipal event. To-day the water consumption is upwards of 120 million. During the interval the Mystic works have been constructed and abandoned. New sources of supply, involving the construction of great reservoirs and conduits, have been found in the Sudbury and Nashua Rivers, while the distribution system has been expanded into a metropolitan 399 400 STATUS OP WATER PURIFICATION IN UNITED STATES district. New York City now uses more than 400 million gallons of water a day, and the new works that are being constructed will provide an addi- tional capacity of 250 million, and still further extensions are planned. It would be difficult to estimate the total amount of water now being supplied to the cities and towns of the United States, but it certainly ex- ceeds five billion gallons a day. The water consumption is increasing even more rapidly than the population. The higher standards of living,, especial- ly among the lower and middle classes, the multiplication of fixtures that incite a lavish use of water, the increased uses of water for manufacturing purposes, etc., are constantly tending to increase the per capita consump- tion in the large cities. Even the use of meters does not seem to permanent- ly check this increase. The problem, therefore, is a growing one. The quality of our public water supplies in 1860 was low, judged by modern requirements. Clearness and freedom from color, taste and odor were the ruling standards, and even these were very often not complied with. Water analysis was confined chiefly to the mineral constituents. The germ theory of the transmission of disease through the agency of sewage polluted water had not arisen. Water purification in this country was an unknown art and even in Europe, where it had recently come into vogue, it was regarded as a means of clarification only. A few early attempts to obtain clean water supplies from muddy sources by means of filtration were made about this time. Filters were built at Poughkeepsie, K Y. v in 1872, and at Hudson in 1874, for clarifying the water of the Hudson Eiver. In 1869 Kirkwood made his report, now a classic, on the purification of the Mississippi Kiver water supply at St. Louis, but his project was not carried out. After this, public interest lagged until the epoch-making bacteriological discoveries of Pasteur, Koch and others demonstrated beyond question that the pollu- tion of water was not alone a matter of sentiment, it was a question of sickness and death, a matter of vital importance to millions of people. It was not until well into the eighties that the idea began to bear practical results in this country. From this early work let us turn to present conditions and examine the statistics as to the extent to which the purification of water is now being practiced. At the time of the International Engineering Congress held at St. Louis in 1905, a resume of the progress of the art was made by Hazen, based upon data obtained from the most reliable sources. For the purposes of this paper the tables there presented have been brought up to date and the comparison made by decades. (As the complete census is not available at this writing the figures given for 1910 are subject to slight correction.) GEOEGE C. WHIPPLE, '89 401 TABLE No. 1. POPULATIONS SUPPLIED WITH FILTERED WATER AT DIFFERENT DATES. TotalUrban Population Supplied with Filtered Water. Population in Percent of Year. U.S. Places of more than 2500 Sand Filters. Mechanical Total. Urban Population Supplied. Inhabitants. Filters. 1870 . None None None 1880 13,300,000 30,000 30,000 0.23 1890 21,400,000 35,000 275,000 310,000 1.45 1900 29,500,000 360,000 1,500,000 1,860,000 6.30 1910 38,350,000 3,883,221 6,922,361 10,805,582 28.20 In 1870 practically no filtered water Avas in use in this country. In 1880, 30,000 people' were using filtered water; in 1890, 310,000; in 1900, 1,860,000; and in 1910, 10,805,000. At the present time twenty-eight per cent of all the people living in places that contain 2,500 or more inhabitants are using water that has been artificially purified. If the cities of more than 25,000 inhabitants are considered alone it will be found that our 228 cities have a total population of 28,508,000. Of these, about 8,098,000 are supplied with water that does not need filtra- tion or at least will not for a long time. This leaves about 20,311,000 people that are using water from sources subject to contamination. 8,402,000 of these, or 42 per cent, are adequately protected by the nitration of the water. Filters are under construction, or have been authorized, for 648,000 more, thus raising the percentage to 45 per cent. Filters have been officially recommended for 3,541,000. 7,720,000 people are still using water of questionable quality, although in some of these cases filtration has been seriously considered by sanitarians. Besides the supplies protected by filtration, many supplies are being disinfected, constantly or intermit- tently, a partial remedy, but one often extremely effective. TABLE No. 2. " FILTERS IN SERVICE, UNDER CONSTRUCTION, AND AUTHORIZED. Cities with Populations of Sand. Mechanical. Total. Percent of total of this Class Over 1 000 000 1,601,088 104,000 1,705,088 20 200,000 to 1,000,000 100,000 to 200,000 50,000 to 100,000 2,010,816 125,253 398,103 1,654,495 893,036 885,600 3,665,311 1,018,289 1,283,703 41 36 31 25,000 to 50,000 176,911 1,300,411 1,477,322 37 4,312,171 4,837,542 9,149,713 32 402 STATUS OF WATEE PUBLICATION IN UNITED STATES Speaking in general terms, it may be said that half of the problem has been solved in a single generation. Ten million people of this country are now drinking pure water as a result of the practical application of scientific principles. The next generation should see this problem solved for all cities. It is interesting to compare the figures for sand and mechanical filtra- tion for the different decades. Although the early filters were of the slow sand type, mechanical filtration was really the first to be developed, for the reason that the need of clarification was greatest in the South and Middle West where the waters were muddy and where sand filtration could not be applied. In 1890, 275,000 people were supplied with water filtered through mechanical filters and only 35,000 had sand-filtered water. These early filters were crude in design and intended rather for clarification than for bacterial efficiency. In 1900 the figures were 1,500,000 for mechanical filters and 360,000 for sand filters. In 1910 they were 6,922,000 for mechanical filters and 3,883*,000 for sand filters. The population supplied with sand filtered water has increased tenfold in each decade. Mechanical filters, measured by population supplied, have increased less rapidly. If the two types of filtration are compared it is seen that sand filters are most used in the large cities and mechanical filters in the small cities. In the cities of more than 200,000 inhabitants the ratio of population sup- plied from sand filters to the population supplied from mechanical filters is as 2 to 1; in the cities with populations between 100,000 and 50,000, the ratio is as 1 to 3% ; in the cities and towns with populations less than 25,000, as 1 to 16. The sharp dividing line between sand filters and mechanical filters that was conspicuous ten or fifteen years ago is gradually becoming less marked. Filters are being designed to fit particular conditions and the best features of both systems are being used and often combined- Now that the prin- ciples of sedimentation, filtration, coagulation, and disinfection of water have become established it is possible to purify almost any water and render it fit for domestic use. The problems of the engineer are now those of efficiency and economy and the selection of the best devices to fit particular needs. Our country is a large one and the most diverse conditions exist. Consequently, our water purification plants are likely to become more and more varied instead of becoming relatively uniform in character, las in Europe. What has water filtration accomplished? A general answer would be that it has provided more than ten million people with a clean and safe water supply and has thereby increased their comfort and health. It has saved thousands of lives by preventing the spread of infectious diseases. GEORGE C. WHIFFLE, '89 403 I o PH i I I S S Wjf PL, o Q gStJ III = -2' .& 3 i "i ^ i> ^ co t^ co ^^ CO CO O 00 CO O1 l> t> O^ CO^ iq^ "^ f^ ^^ rH GO *O "^ t^- CO 00 O oo i> ^ s e f s rH 1C t>. O1 o co o^ oo t^ S rH OS rH Ol *O 00 CO Q tO 01 OS t^ I . I of o 1 ~O rH~ CO Ol rH CO 10 OS O r-T of oT oo" co" ^^ 00 rH t^* OQ O OS 00 rH O oo" oo" of TT rjT rH^ Ol rH 3 3 3 S S . o 01 I IS 3 o -^* t +-* ' Joi r H 404 STATUS OF WATER PURIFICATION IN UNITED STATES It is difficult to express these results in figures. A common, and per- haps the best, index of the effect of filtration on the public health is found in the death-rate from typhoid fever, a well established water-borne disease. but even this falls far short of telling the whole story. Fifty years ago, the vital statistics of our cities were not as accurate as they are to-day and were far less complete. At that time the annual death- rates from typhoid fever were well above 50 per 100,000 in nearly all of our large cities. In Boston the typhoid fever death-rate was over 60; in New York and Chicago it was over 40 ; in many cities it was much higher, and not infrequently over 100. In 1880 the average typhoid fever death- rate in twelve of the United States, including all the New England States and New York, New Jersey, Maryland, California, Maine and Michigan, was 55 per 100,000. In 1890 it had decreased to 36 ; in 1900, to 23 ; and at the present time it is probably not far from 20 per 100,000. Various causes have contributed to this decrease, but one of the most important ones has been that of the purification of the public water supplies. It would be easy to pick out particular cities and show the definite reduction of typhoid fever after the introduction of filtered water. It is well known that the Lawrence filter caused the typhoid fever death-rate to decrease from more than 100 to about 20 per 100,000, and that at Albany the rate decreased by an equal amount. The fact is less well 'known that in Philadelphia the typhoid fever death-rate which frequently exceeded 70 before the introduction of filtered water, was down to about 17 per 100,000 in 1910; that at Pittsburgh the rate has dropped from considerably more than 100 to less than 30 per 100,000; and that at Cincinnati the typhoid fever death-rate in 1910 reached the phenomenally low figure of 5.7 per 100,000, where before the construction of the filter it often exceeded 50. Dozens of such instances might be cited. Looking at the figures in a broad way, it may be seen that in most of the cities where modern water filters have been introduced the typhoid fever death-rates now run well below 20 per 100,000. Between the time when the Institute received its charter and the present year the average death-rate in such cities has fallen by at least 30 per 100,000. If the typhoid fever death-rates that prevailed in 1860 existed to-day, the number of deaths from typhoid fever in our cities would be at least 10,000 per year more than it actually is. Furthermore, typhoid fever is not the only water- borne disease. 'Statistics show that in many places where the typhoid fever death-rate has been reduced by the introduction of filtered water the general If; i ill-rate has been decreased to an even greater extent. It is thus seen that the filtration of water and the methods adopted GEORGE C. WHIPPLE, '89 405 to prevent its pollution are among the most important elements in the con- servation of life. Looking at the matter from the financial standpoint, and assuming that every death from typhoid fever represents a- loss to the community of $10,000, the improvements that have been made in the quality of our public water supplies during the last fifty years represent a saving of vital capital amounting to over $100,000,000 per year, based on present population. Figures of this magnitude, based on inadequate data as they necessarily must be, mean little statistically, but to one with a scientific imagination they are an eloquent commentary on the value of technical science applied to sanitation; But there is much work left to be done. The problems of filter design and construction are being fast solved, but the problems of efficient opera- tion are just beginning. Standards of filter efficiency are sure to increase in the future and better means of reaching them will be necessary. But even the constant maintenance of a high bacterial efficiency is not all there is to the problem. A filter plant must be operated not only efficiently but economically. Important advances are being made in this direction and between the high cost of filtration at the old Lawrence filter and the low cost at Washington there is a very wide difference. Supplemental to the filtration of water must be mentioned the purifica- tion of sewage or, to be more exact, the treatment of sewage to render it less offensive, for unfortunately, the purification of sewage in the strict sense of the term is to-day impracticable. As our populations become dense the excessive pollution of our streams must be prevented, not only to eliminate nuisances along the shores but to lessen the burden on filters used for purifying water. This additional factor of safety will become more and more necessary as time goes on- THE POLLUTION OF STREAMS BY MANUFACTURING WASTES By .WILLIAM S. JOHNSON, '89, Consulting Sanitary Engineer, Boston, Mass. ; Formerly Chief Assistant Engineer, State Board of Health of Massachusetts. RECENT decisions of the courts in relation to the pollution of. streams, and laws enacted by the -legislatures of 'many States, indicating, as they do, a decided change in the point of view, make the subject of stream pollution of the greatest importance to manufacturers producing liquid wastes arid to those requiring clean water for manufacturing purposes. The discharge of manufacturing wastes directly into streams not used for water supply purposes has generally been permitted, in this country without restraint and, in fact, has been permitted even in streams from which domestic water supplies have been taken. The importance of the manufacturing interests to the welfare of the country has been recognized by both legislatures and courts, -and the plea .that the factories would be driven out of the community has been sufficient until recent times to pre- vent any action which would necessitate the purification of manufacturing wastes. Now, however, the old principle that, because of the importance of the factories to the welfare of the community, the; public should endure with patience any inconveniences or even damage to property caused by ; the factories no longer obtains, and public: comfort and convenience are coming to be recognized more and more both in the legislatures and in the courts. This is clearly indicated by recent legislation and court decisions all over the country. This demand for clean streams is in line with the modern demand* for cleaner food and cleaner drinking water. We are no longer satisfied to know that the water supplied to us will not cause a specific disease and that foods we eat do not contain substances injurious to the system. We demand water which is free from filth of all kinds and foods which are clean and free from foreign substances, even though they may be harmless. So it is in the case of streams ; the public is beginning to demand something more than protection to health. It requires that the streams shall become, as they will if kept clean, the most attractive features of the neighborhood. 406 WILLIAM S. JOHNSON, '89 407 It is certain that this public demand, enforced as it has already been by the legislatures and the courts, and the demand of the manufacturers themselves who require clean water in the manufacturing processes, will result in the necessity of keeping out of many of our streams th$ most objectionable of the manufacturing wastes, and this has become one qf the serious problems to be met by the manufacturer. The simplest solution of the problem, so far as the manufacturer }s concerned, is to make where possible a connection with the public sewers, transferring the problem of the disposal of the wastes to the public authori- ties, but this method of disposal is, in many cases, impossible and its feasibility in other cases questionable. The quantity of liquid wastes produced at a single factory is fre- quently greater than the total quantity of domestic sewage flowing in the sewers of the town in which the factory is located and the character of the wastes may be such that they cannot be purified in connection with the sewage, except at a very great increase in the cost. TJje cost of the sewers and of sewage disposal is largely assessed upon those benefiting by the sewers and in proportion to the benefits received. If a proper por- tion of the cost should be assessed on the manufacturers, tfte assessment would be in many cases enormous and enough to make such disposal prac- tically prohibitive. It is difficult, moreover, to determine in advance what the added cost of removing and purifying the manufacturing wastes in connection with the town sewage is likely to be, for it is uncertain how much added care the sewers will require and how much added expense there will be in purifying the sewage. Some wastes can undoubtedly be discharged into the sewers without causing trouble, depending on the character of the wastes and their volume as compared with the volume of domestic sewage flowing in the sewers. Other wastes can be discharged into the sewers after some simple prelim- inary treatment without causing trouble, but in perhaps the majority of cases, where wastes cause trouble in the stream, they are likely to cause trouble in the sewerage system, especially if the sewage is purified. Another reason why in some cases it is not feasible to discharge the manufacturing wastes into the sewers is that the diversion of so large a quantity of water from the stream would bring suits for damage from those on the stream below, and in many cases where the entire dry weather flow of the stream is used in the manufacturing processes at each of the factories on the stream, the discharge of the wastes into the sewers would be im- possible. For such cases the only possible way of disposing of the liquid wastes is by discharging them into the streams. 408 POLLUTION OF STREAMS BY MANUFACTURING WASTES Manufacturing wastes in general differ 'greatly from sewage in their effect on the water of a stream, and the study of pollution of streams by domestic sewage is of little assistance in determining what the effect of a given waste will be. The nature of domestic sewage is such that, if it is dis- charged into a stream containing at all times a sufficient quantity of oxygen, so that putrefaction will not take place and so that it is quickly mixed with the water, it undergoes chemical changes and quickly becomes innocuous. Many of the wastes from manufacturing processes, on the other hand, are quite stable and may be carried for long distances before becoming changed to such an extent as to be unobjectionable. Manufacturing wastes vary very greatly in their composition, . and gen- erally have quite different characteristics from domestic sewage. In some cases the wastes are much more readily disposed of by dilution than is domestic sewage, while in other cases the effect of dilution is very much less. The following table gives analyses of characteristic samples of sewage and of manufacturing wastes : (Parts in 100,000.) Residue on Evaporation. Ammonia. Albuminoid. Oxygen Consumed. Total. Loss on Igni- tion. Free. Total. Dissolved. Sus- pended. Washer in paper mill . Paper machine Wool scouring bowls . . Cloth washer 322 57 1696 2621 129 29 1103 1899 0.0500 0.0496 6.1000 1.82 1.82 1.70 2.77 0.4200 0.0680 12.0700 14.80 5.70 1.24 0.48 0.3900 0.0264 5.8800 8.40 2.52 0.61 0.29 .0300 .0146 6.1900 6.40 3.18 0.63 .19 35.00 7.32 136.20 760 73.37 77.50 3.63 Tannery Dye house . 268 38 114 {17 Sewage. . . No fixed rule can be applied to the amount of manufacturing wastes of any given kind which can be discharged into a stream of a given volume, for the seriousness of the pollution depends on the use to which the water is put even more in the case of manufacturing wastes than in the case of domestic sewage. In fact, the increasing fastidiousness of the public and of the users of the water makes any fixed standard out of the question, and each case must be settled independently. Generally, too, the problem is complicated by wastes from other factories, and the responsibility of each manufacturer is difficult to determine. It must be accepted as a fact that the time is coming when no manu- facturing wastes containing any considerable amounts of polluting matters WILLIAM S. JOHNSON, '89 409 will be permitted to be discharged into the streams of the eastern section of this country, at least, without purification, and the purification must he siidi as to make the water of the stream unobjectionable to those living near it or resorting to it. Furthermore, the water must be fit to use for manu- facturing purposes or for any other reasonable purposes by the riparian owners on the stream below. While this may at first be a hardship to the manufacturer, it will soon work out so that the hardship will in most cases not be noticed, and of course, if such a rule is universally applied, the cost will eventually be borne by the public which is responsible for the change. If the wastes are to be purified, it is obviously desirable to reduce as far as possible the volume of the wastes, or the quantity of objectionable material to be removed, by separation of those wastes which require purifi- cation from those which can safely be discharged into the stream. Many times this can be done without difficulty, and there are cases where it would be economy to make expensive changes in the plant to accomplish the separation of the most polluted water. For example, the quantity of water used for rinsing in cloth washers is many times as great as the quantity of soapy water used for washing, but it is practically clean water and can be discharged into almost any stream without objection. There are cases, too, where valuable stock may be recovered from the wastes before Lhey are purified at a small net cost or even at a profit, preventing to this extent the pollution of the stream or reducing the difficulty of treating the wastes if their purification is necessary. An example of this is found in the save-alls used in paper mills. The subject of the purification of manufacturing wastes has received comparatively little attention in this country, and the work which has been done in other countries has comparatively little practical value here on account of the great difference in the conditions. The United States Gov- ernment has carried on investigations and experiments on different classes of wastes, and the Massachusetts State Board of Health has made very valuable experiments with the wastes from certain mills, but the conditions are so different at different factories and the character of the wastes varies so greatly in different mills, even in those producing the same kind of goods, that, while the investigations already made are of value, it is impos- sible to solve any particular problem by direct application of the results obtained in the comparatively few cases which have been studied. There is for every liquid waste some means of purification by which it can be improved to such an extent as to make it permissible to discharge H into a stream. In some cases this method of purification is simple and inexpensive ; in other cases it is complex and costly, but "with our advancing 410 POLLUTION OF STREAMS BY MANUFACTURING WASTES knowledge of the subject of purification the processes are becoming much less expensive. In almost all forms of purification the settling tank will have an important place. In some cases sedimentation in a properly designed tank will provide sufficient purification so that the effluent from the tank may safely be discharged into the stream, the solid matter being dried out in sludge beds or pressed into cakes. In other cases sedimentation will be only one step in the process of purification. In some cases it will be found of advantage to use chemicals in con- nection with the settling tank, whether the tank is used alone or in con- nection with some other process. In fact, there are some wastes which can- not be purified except by the addition of chemicals. Occasionally it will be found that a proper mixture of the different wastes from 1 a factory will bring about a chemical action which will assist the process of purification very materially. Next in importance to the settling tank as a means of purification ?s the strainer, used either alone or in connection with the tank. The strainer ordinarily consists of a comparatively thin layer of some porous material such as sand, gravel, coke or cinders, and its object is to remove mechanically the solid matter in suspension in the wastes. If such material as coke or cinders is used in the strainers, it can be burned beneath the boilers when the strainers become clogged, and there are certain obvious advantages in this method. Filters of various kinds may be used to advantage with certain classes of wastes where a more perfectly purified effluent is desired. In nearly all cases it will be found desirable to use settling tanks with filters, and in some cases both sedimentation and straining should be used as preliminary processes. These are the simplest forms of purification of manufacturing wastes now in use. With certain wastes more complex and expensive systems must be used, and the wastes treated either by chemicals, or in the worst cases they may have to be evaporated. The expense of such treatment is obviously very great unless some value can be recovered. Fortunately those wastes which are most expensive to treat are likely to contain substances of enouglj value so that their recovery will reduce the cost of purification. Every manufacturer has some idea of the great value of the material escaping with his wastes, but he is also probably aware that the cost of recovering this material, at least by the present methods, is likely to be -greater than the value of tlie recovered product. Even if it could be recovered 'at a small profit, the 'trouble and annoyance of carrying on such WILLIAM S. JOHNSON, '89 411 an industry outside of the regular business of the factory would more than offset any profit. Starting with the proposition, however,, that the wastes must he purified whatever the expense, the importance of recovering the by-product, and thus reducing the necessary expense of purification, is evident, for the recovery of the wastes is then undertaken not as a profitable enterprj.se fait as : a' means of reducing the expense of the necessary purification .of the wastes. Developments along the line of the recovery of the wastes will be very rapid, for little work has as yet been done in this direction in America. Certain of the most valuable portions of wastes, like the fats from the wool scouring processes, have been recovered with more or less success where it has been necessary to purify the wastes before they are discharged into the streams, and the results have shown that, while the cost of purifying the wastes is not met by the sale of the product, still the net cost of purification is much less than it would be were these products not recovered- The experience of the wool scouring mills, however, indicates one great difficulty which is to be met. Several factories having put in wool scouring plants recently, the market has become overstocked with degras and the price has consequently been reduced to a very low figure. It is probable that a market can be made for this material, but it cannot well be done by the individual manufacturer. In some parts of the world, where factories are close together, com- panies have been formed which make a business of treating the wastes from the factories. In some cases the company pays the manufacturer a small amount for the privilege of treating his wastes, and recovers whatever is worth recovery from them. In other cases, where the wastes are of less value, or the expense of treating them is greater, the company receives a certain compensation. This company naturally conducts the business of the recovery of the wastes much more profitably than would be possible in the case of a single manufacturer, and is better able to find or make a market for its product. Furthermore, the manufacturer is relieved of the trouble of maintaining the plant. There seems to be no reason why this cannot be successfully done in many parts of this country and the manu- facturer's wastes handled in much the same way as the wastes from meat markets are now handled, relieving the manufacturer of the troublesome problem of handling his wastes and at the same time producing a revenue from material which has hitherto gone to waste. In the foregoing discussion the importance of the recent trend of public opinion and of court and legislative action has been considered from 412 POLLUTION OF STREAMS BY MANUFACTURING WASTES the point of view of the manufacturer producing liquid wastes, but they are perhaps of equal importance to the manufacturer requiring clean water in the manufacturing processes. The fact has been established that both riparian owners and the public are entitled to clean water in the streams, and, white to secure this certain manufacturers may in the beginning be put to a considerable expense, the advantages of clean streams to the community and the advantages of clean water to the manufacturers will, on the whole, make the balance on tha right side. SEWAGE DISPOSAL WITH EESPECT TO OFFENSIVE ODORS By GEORGE W. FULLER, '90, Consulting Engineer, New York City. IT is scarcely possible to install sewage disposal plants to serve .large towns and cities without there being some noticeable odors .and. smells immediately at the plant. These odors, however, at some plants are not, and indeed if the works are properly built and operated, should not be offensive. Even at the works themselves the odors never should be as noticeable as the odors emanating from some fertilized lawns or industrial establishments. On the other hand, it is unfortunately true that some sewage disposal plants have been illy arranged as regards location and design and that some of them have been poorly operated. The result has been that in some places objectionable odors undoubtedly have arisen and in consequence the offensive smells from such plants have been used with much force as argu- ments by land owners who for sentimental reasons protest vigorously against disposal works being built within several miles of properties in which they are interested. The question of offensive odors is but one feature, but it has been a bothersome one, in some instances where persons have persistently exag- gerated the shortcomings of some plants and converted the exceptions into the rule as regards sewage disposal experiences. Regardless of the unreasonableness and selfishnesss with which the opponents to sewage disposal sites in their neighborhood may . present their cases in some instances, it seems to be clear that those having to dp with sewage disposal works must increase their efforts towards building plants free of nuisance as to offensive odor when operated properly, and furthermore to see to it that plants are operated in such manner that there is no just ground for complaint from residents in the neighborhood of such works which at best are open to sentimental prejudice. The importance of disposing of sewage in a sanitary manner is so great in the interests of the public health that it is scarcely necessary for the writer to dwell further upon this introduction before proceeding to outline some of the principal features of our present understanding as to 413 414 SEWAGE DISPOSAL WITH EESPECT TO OFFENSIVE ODORS the processes by which sewage may be disposed of in satisfactory manner, and the means by which such processes may be utilized to best advantage. COMPOSITION AND DECOMPOSITION OF SEWAGE As the nature and origin of sewage implies, it is a product that varies tremendously in its composition. In a rough way it is about 99 to 99.5 per cent pure water, but the fraction of one per cent of impurities varies within very wide limits at different hours of the day and as between the sewages of different communities, due to the influence of the habits of the people and also to the amount of industrial wastes, street wash, etc., that enter the sewers. Some measures as to the quantity of the organic matter in sewage were applied with considerable accuracy years ago by those interested in ascer- taining the fertilizing properties of sewage. As that aspect of the case did not yield practical results on a commercial basis, the sewage chemists of different countries have been content to follow the practice of using a series of arbitrary methods which give widely divergent results. The results have value, however, for comparative purposes if applied to samples which have been collected in a manner to make them representative of the sewage before and after treatment. Recently knowledge as to the composition of sewage in more practical terms has received some impetus by studying the putrescibility of sewage and sewage effluents through bacterial agencies and in securing a measure of the amount of oxygen required for bacteria to oxidize the more unstable portions of the organic matter in sewage. To appreciate the composition of sewage from the standpoint of the prevention of odors, it is necessary to bear in mind that the organic matter of sewage comprises both living and dead matter. The living matter will thrive so long as the food conditions and other environment are favorable thereto. The dead organic matter, in the language of the chemist, is sub- ject to reduction and oxidation according to the conditions surrounding it. In fact, the organic matter of sewage is made up of such complex molecules that it has a well-defined tendency to decompose, that is to say, to separate into molecules of simpler form. Organic matter, as a general proposition, if resolved into simpler and more stable compounds through oxidizing agencies, will produce no offen- sive odors that are noticeable. On the other hand, if sewage decomposes in the absence of oxygen, the well-known reduction processes spoken of as " putrefaction " will set in with their attendant malodorous by-products. The measure of success, therefore, attending the operation of sewage GEORGE W. FULLER, '90 415 disposal plants, relates essentially to guarding against the putrefaction of sewage. This means that there should be obtained not only a stable, non- putrescent effluent, but also that the steps in the process of sewage treat- ment should be free of putrefaction or, if putrefaction is used for special purposes, it should be under such circumstances that the surrounding atmos- phere will be substantially free from objectionable decomposition odors. OXIDATION OF SEWAGE Organic matter, theoretically speaking, may be oxidized, as regards sewage disposal methods, in one of several ways, as follows : 1. By direct chemical means. 2. By indirect chemical means, such as through the aid of absorption. 3. By direct biological means. 4. By indirect biological means, such as through the aid of enzymes. There are, of course, other means of freeing sewages from part of their organic matter, such as sedimentation with or without the aid of coagulants, and also such as serving as food for worms and other higher forms of life than the bacteria. It is not the scope of this brief paper, however, to enter into those subjects directly, but rather to confine the discussions to a brief statement of our present understanding of the chemistry and biology of the principal sewage processes. The several means of oxidizing the organic matter of sewage, so as to guard against putrefaction and to obtain a stable product, are as follows: DIRECT CHEMICAL OXIDATION Dozens of investigators in the field of sewage purification have made tests in various parts of the world with regard to the effect upon the organic matter in sewage of a liberal application of atmospheric oxygen, such as secured by forcing air through the liquid. Usually there is a small quantity of organic substances of an unstable nature, in a gaseous or soluble form, which is removed by the application of air. How far this is direct oxidation, as distinguished from a physical re- moval of gases, is not definitely known. Some readily oxidized gases may quite likely come from intestinal discharges and disappear on the applica- tion of air. As a general proposition, however, it may be stated without qualification that the organic matter in sewage is not capable of direct oxidation by atmospheric oxygen. This statement must not be confused, however, with the question as to 416 SEWAGE DISPOSAL WITH BESPECT TO OFFENSIVE OBOES whether or not sewage is rendered more stable by saturating it with atmos- pheric oxygen. Unquestionably, the more oxygen a sewage contains, whether it comes from the atmosphere or from oxidized salts such as the nitrates, the more stable it is and the longer the period of time that is required for the sewage to reach a putrefying condition- Thus, if a given sewage should contain 100 parts per million of " oxygen consumed," expressed in units of oxygen which the bacteria would require to convert all of the organic matter to a stable form, then it is seen that if ten parts or twenty parts of oxygen were to be introduced into the sewage, decomposition could proceed for some little time without putrefying conditions arising and, in absolute terms, the sewage treated in this manner would contain less " oxygen consumed " than would the same sewage without such treatment. We may perhaps facilitate the present understanding of this sub- ject by saying that even hypochlorite of lime and some other chemicals which are capable of releasing oxygen in a nascent or atomic form arc scarcely capable of instantaneously oxidizing a substantial portion of the organic matter in sewage. This is substantiated by the ease -with 'which the most powerful oxidizing chemicals may be detected in sewages when slight quantities of the chemical are added in excess of that needed to combine with small amounts of unstable substances. Even -prolonged boiling with powerful chemicals does not oxidize the main bulk of the organic matter. INDIRECT CHEMICAL OXIDATION When sewage passes quickly over the surfaces of filters containing gravel or stone of considerable size, it is found that when the filters have become "ripened" the organic matter is directly oxidized to a considerable extent in an almost instantaneous fashion. Our knowledge of this phase of filtration is largely due to the efforts of Dunbar, who has shown that when sprinkling filters or contact filters are in good working condition, the gelatinous coatings seem to absorb atmospheric oxygen within their pores so that the organic matters passing over the surfaces are oxidized to a considerable degree. It is unnecessary to enter into the technical detail of this feature other than to show the importance of atmospheric oxygen and of using it to advantage by keeping the pores of a filter charged with it at air times rather than endeavoring to accomplish oxidation directly through aeration with atmospheric oxygen. GEOKGE W. FULLEB, '90 417 DIRECT BIOLOGICAL OXIDATION Certain species of bacteria unquestionably allow certain kinds of organic matter to become oxidized as the result of the direct action of the protoplasmic activity of the biological cell. For instance, sewage obtained fresh from the household and containing the oxygen of the water supply (of which it is largely composed) will show tremendous growths of the bacteria naturally present in the sewage. Among the results of this bac- terial activity will be the oxidation of the carbonaceous matter to carbon dioxide. Some of the hydrogen also seems to oxidize to water. Other con- stituents of the organic matter seem to be released by cleavage or otherwise. Mtrogen, for instance, seems to be released in such a way that it combines with some of the hydrogen to form free ammonia. Sulphur apparently is released in the presence of oxygen as a cleavage product, although our knowledge of this element is not nearly so clear in connection with oxida- tion as it is with reduction. While it is probably released by cleavage in an oxidizing fermentation, it is also likely that the sulphur is oxidized to sul- phate so that sulphuretted hydrogen does not appear as a conspicuous feature of fairly fresh sewage. The main point that we do know thoroughly well, both from laboratory experience and from a study of sewage purification plants on a large scale, is that organic matter, in the presence of oxygen and of the right kinds of bacteria that seem to establish themselves, undergoes a substantial oxida- tion. This is true particularly of the nitrogenous organic matter which passes through the well-known cycle of organic nitrogen, nitrogen as free ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. In the last form it is in the state of highest oxidation and this is the measure used for recording the degree of oxidation which has taken place in many styles of filters. So long as bacterial oxidation takes place with the sufficient formation of nitrates, there is no fear as regards putrefactive odors from the effluent of a well-managed sewage disposal works. INDIRECT BIOLOGICAL OXIDATION Some bacteria of an oxidizing nature accomplish the result, as above stated, through the direct protoplasmic action of the bacterial cells. Other bacteria do their work indirectly by excreting certain soluble chemical products known as enzymes and which, under conditions not known in all of their details, will produce a variety of chemical changes, among which may be mentioned oxidation. 418 SEWAGE DISPOSAL WITH EESPECT TO OFFENSIVE ODORS FACTORS CONTROLLING BACTERIAL GROWTHS It is well to look somewhat into the conditions that affect the growth of bacteria since it is known that directly or indirectly bacterial growths have so much influence in the purification of sewage either for good or bad. In the first place, it is to be borne in mind that the amounts of organic matter in all sewages and many sewage effluents, are very great, in fact, many times greater than is necessary to serve as a food for millions of bac- ieria per cubic centimeter. When bacterial growths come to an end in sewage and sewage effluents it is not because of lack of food, but for the reason that their environment becomes unfavorable owing to the amount of acid or other by-products that are secreted by bacterial cells in the pro- cess of their growth. This calls for a mention briefly of the important elements of symbiosis and antagonism with respect to the behavior of bacteria as they live in the organic matter of sewage and sewage-polluted waters. Symbiosis refers to the favorable influence which some species of bacteria have on the growth of other species. Conversely, antagonism refers to the retardation which some species of bacteria have on the growth of others. Bacterial antagonism is doubtless of prime importance in explaining the fact that the specific germs of certain intestinal diseases, such as typhoid fever, not only do not multiply in natural waters, but will live, as a general proposition, for the shorter period of time in those waters which contain the greater amount of organic matter and the greater bacterial flora. Before dismissing the subject of bacterial oxidation and passing to that of bacterial putrefaction, it may be stated briefly that bacteria are divided into two classes, namely, the aerobes and the anaerobes. The former grow in the presence of oxygen and the latter in the absence of oxygen. On strict lines, bacteria are divided into obligate aerobes, obligate anaerobes, and an intermediate or facultative class that can adapt itself to growing in either condition. Many of the sewage bacteria naturally being of intestinal origin, come under the facultative class and can adapt themselves to growth either in the presence or absence of oxygen. It is possible to conceive that some suspended matters, such for in- stance as particles of feces, may contain bacteria which are thriving as anaerobes, although the particle of feces may be surrounded with water from which the dissolved oxygen has not been exhausted by the aerobic bacteria growing therein. As a broad practical proposition, however, it may be said that bacteria in sewage or a sewage effluent proceed either upon an aerobic or anaerobic basis. By that is meant that sewage decom- GEORGE W. FULLER, '90 419 poses through an oxidizing fermentation so long as oxygen is available either from atmospheric oxygen, nitrates or any chemical compounds which will release oxygen- When oxygen becomes exhausted the bacterial flora adjust themselves to the new environment and the anaerobic bacteria pro- ceed with the reducing or " putrefactive " fermentation. PUTREFACTION OF SEWAGE Theoretically, organic matter may be reduced in several ways, as fol- lows : 1. By direct chemical means. 2. By indirect chemical means. 3. By direct biological means. 4. By indirect biological means, such as through the aid of enzymes. Brief reference will here be made to the manner in which putrefaction is accomplished, and special attention will be given to the products of putrefaction and the means of avoiding them. DIRECT CHEMICAL REDUCTION The organic matter in sewage according to practical observation does not respond appreciably to chemical reducing agents. Thus hydrogen, for instance, released atomically as in the case of certain reducing fermenta- tions, does not seem to affect measurably the organic matter in the liquid undergoing such fermentation. INDIRECT CHEMICAL REDUCTION From the practical viewpoint, so far as now known, indirect chemical reduction cuts very little figure in sewage disposal operations. It may be that some chemical products of reducing decompositions may influence further decomposition of sewage, but it is believed that these relate to certain mineral salts rather than to compounds of an organic nature. DIRECT BIOLOGICAL REDUCTION We know that as soon as bacteria practically exhaust the oxygen in a sewage, there are plenty of kinds of bacteria that will proceed upon an anaerobic basis to reduce the organic matter to simpler compounds. The result of this represents a complex situation because, in addition to certain 420 SEWAGE DISPOSAL WITH EESPECT TO OFFENSIVE ODOES products of putrefaction that are quite well known, there are also left in the sewage other residual products about which our understanding is at present quite meager. Investigations made by the writer at the Lawrence Experiment Station and given in the report of the Massachusetts State Board of Health for 1894, p. 461, indicate that the direct biological reduction of organic matter in sewage relates to dissolved organic matter more particularly than to suspended organic matter. Whether or not these Lawrence tests are repre- sentative of a wide range of conditions can scarcely be told from the avail- able evidence. It is a point worth further study. Cleavage products are characteristic of putrefaction through bacterial decomposition. Marsh gas or methane, is, of course, a conspicuous product of the anaerobic decomposition of vegetable matters as found in the ordinary mill pond, and is likewise conspicuous in the decomposition of sewage. Some forms of carbonaceous matter, notably the carbohydrates, allow carbon- dioxide to appear as a cleavage product, and so far as this end-product is concerned there is a similarity between oxidizing and reducing fermenta- tions of organic matter. It is not this product, however, or such decom- positon gases as marsh gas, nitrogen or hydrogen that is related to objec- tionable odors. Hydrogen sulphide has the reputation of being the most malodorous product arising from the putrefaction of sewage. It is certainly the best known of the malodorous products and no doubt it deserves for the most part the reputation which it has received. While this product seems to separate as a cleavage product from the organic compounds containing sul- phur, it likewise appears, as already indicated, to be characteristic both of oxidizing, and reducing fermentations. Its appearance is obscured, how- ever, in an oxidizing fermentation, on account of its being promptly oxidized. Sulphuretted hydrogen appears to come for the most part as a cleavage product from organic matter, yet in some of the most conspicuous instances of its development it appears to come in part as a result of the reduction of mineral sulphates. In other words, desulphurization through bacterial agencies may be a most important factor to be reckoned with. In some measure it is similar to the denitrification process as affected by bacterial agencies, although it is believed to be of much less frequent occurrence. It is not, however, those bacteria generally spoken of as sulphur bacteria which desulphurize the mineral sulphates. The true sulphur bacteria will live upon sulphuretted hydrogen and oxidize it to metallic sulphur. On the other hand, there are several species of bacteria which are capable of reduc- GEOKGE W. FULLEK, '90 421 ing mineral sulphates to sulphites and some species which carry the reduc- tion to the sulphuretted hydrogen stage. These are a class of bacteria about which more information is urgently needed. It is not to be inferred that sulphuretted hydrogen is the only objec- tionable product as to bad smells which arise from sewage decomposition. Although our knowledge is very meager as to other products they undoubt- edly exist. Among such a list may be included mercaptan, indol, skatol, cadaverin, etc. It is highly desirable to have more definite information about these last-named products from the standpoint of their relation to objectionable smells. Ordinarily, these products appear in the soluble rather than the gaseous state, but this does not mean that they will not volatilize so as to make noticeable smells in the immediate neighborhood of disposal plants. INDIRECT BIOLOGICAL REDUCTION There is no doubt that enzymes or the soluble ferments secreted by bacteria are an important factor in the reducing decomposition or putrefac- tion of organic matter in sewage. This is a wide field for laboratory men to investigate under the conditions found in practice. It relates, in fact, most intimately to the question of utilizing to best advantage the so-called septic process. It would appear, according to the writer's observations, that the time interval necessary to establish the septicization may be largely accounted for by the period required by the bacteria to produce the enzymes in sufficient quantity to effect a substantial decomposition of suspended organic matter. When these products become established, however, they proceed in a most active manner and accomplish the liquefaction of organic matter. It seems that these soluble ferments will do their work over and over again for some time without material exhaustion provided they can work in an environment where toxins or other antagonistic products do not arise through their own activities. PRODUCTS OF PUTREFACTION IN THEIR RELATION TO OBJECTIONABLE SMELLS Of the soluble but easily volatile products of decomposition such as mercaptan, indol and other compounds mentioned above, there is too little information now available to allow anything specific to be said. But as regards the gaseous products of decomposition and especially sulphuretted hydrogen there is considerable information that ought to be applied to 422 SEWAGE DISPOSAL WITS fcESPfiCt TO O^ENSlVU Oi>ORg sewage disposal plants in a somewhat more scientific and reliable manner than, is frequently the case under present conditions of practice. (Brief mention was made of some of these features in order to accentuate to engineers their importance in practical undertakings as well as to suggest to laboratory men that there is considerable important work for them to do in securing needed data for crystallizing our views as to the proper handling of these subjects.) It is important to ascertain the conditions under which hydrogen sul- phide may make its escape so as to produce offensive odors at some distance removed from the sewage disposal plant. In this connection, there are several features to be borne in mind, among which are to be mentioned that liquids containing gases in amounts forming only a small percentage of that required for saturation are capable of releasing some of the gas at the surface when the liquid is surrounded with an atmosphere free or comparatively free of the gases in question. Another factor of importance is that such gases as sulphuretted hydro- gen may accumulate at some particular place such as within the sludge at the bottom of a settling tank, and mass together into bubbles of such size as to create buoyancy sufficient to cause the bubbles to rise quickly to the surface of the over-lying liquid. Sulphuretted hydrogen or other gases can thus make an escape into the atmosphere without allowing much opportunity for the gases to be held back either through saturation of the liquid or by combination of the gases with other products in the liquid sewage. Precipitation of hydrogen sulphide by iron compounds which form a black insoluble product is apparently an important factor in tracing the history of the sulphur compounds in sewage decomposition. It explains the black appearance of old sewages. Still another point is that there is apt to be quite an irregular dis- persion of organic sulphur compounds in the suspended matter of the sewage, particularly deposits in the sedimentation tank. This feature may perhaps be quite important and explain irregularities in the release of objectionable smells from certain sewage disposal devices such as septic tanks. Associated with the above mentioned factors is the condition of the atmosphere at times when the odors are most noticeable as to intensity and distance from the disposal plant. Aerial nuisances as to odor vary much with the barometric conditions and wind velocity, as they affect the dispersion and oxidation of gases in the atmosphere. Thus, at many disposal plants it is found that objectionable odors are most noticeable as W. FULLEE, >90 to intensity and distance from the plant on what are ordinarily spoken of as "muggy" days. The barometric pressure on such occasions no doubt prevents the gases, particularly a heavy one like sulphuretted hydrogen, from rising as high in the atmosphere as ordinarily is the case. Further- more, the dispersion of the decomposition gases in the atmosphere is much less rapid than usual and this perhaps prevents aerial oxidation at normal speed. Associated with this are no doubt a variety of other factors about which information is quite meager at present. It is perhaps worth men- tioning that some of the malodorous products may not be present in a chemical state such as to promote oxidation. They may be combined with other compounds which retard the reaction with the oxygen of the air. Before dismissing this subject it will perhaps be well to speak briefly of the fact that at some disposal plants there are characteristic odors other than of putrefaction. These odors are sometimes spoken of as being similar to laundry odors or odors resembling a raw turnip. The odor of cooking of certain vegetables is, of course, a conspicious one under the circumstances. It is mentioned here to accentuate the thought that there are a good many decomposition products which have an individuality which is not specifically offensive, although it is noticeable and objected to by some. At the same time, such products suggest that hydrogen sulphide is not the whole story, and that it is important to study other compounds in connection with the question of objectionable odors. PKOPER METHODS FOR GUARDING AGAINST ODORS IN SYSTEMS OF COLLECTING SEWERS For some thirty years beginning with the comprehensive report out- lining the scientific principles on which European sewers were built, prepared by Mr. Rudolph Hering at the request of the National Board of Health, it has been known that sewage should be brought to the point of disposal as promptly as possible and with minimum opportunity for putrefaction of stranded materials within the pipes. As knowledge has increased with respect to decomposition of sewage, it has become clearly recognized that additional care should be required in the collection of sewage from the standpoint of guarding against objectionable odors. The principal features requiring attention are as follows: VENTILATION OF SEWERS It is highly important to provide fresh air in the underground channels comprising the collecting pipes of the sewerage system in order to 424 SEWAGE DISPOSAL WITH EESPECT TO OFFENSIVE ODOES maintain bacterial processes, as far as possible, on an aerobic basis. Lack of ventilation tends to promote in places a needlessly rapid exhaustion of the oxygen dissolved in the water supply as it is discharged into the sewers, and it is not difficult to find some cases where objectionable odors exist in the collecting sewers themselves. In some instances good venti- lation will correct this difficulty. In other instances, the fault is a fund- amental one in the design of the sewers, and one which ventilation will help, but not cure. HOUSE CONNECTION TRAPS Where plumbing fixtures are provided with suitable traps and with vents leading to a soil pipe that extends above the roof of the building, no good seems to be accomplished by putting a trap on the house connection through which the sewage passes from the building to the street sewer. Connections that are so trapped frequently have their interior coated with a slimy deposit in which more or less putrefaction is taking place, whereas similar connections that are not trapped have the sides of the pipes compara- tively free from deposits and bacterial growths. There are still some differ- ences of opinion in this regard, but it is believed that it would be of material assistance for plumbing codes hereafter to call for untrapped house connections. NON-SUBSIDING VELOCITIES Many of the old sewers, both in this country and abroad, were of such a design that the sewage flowing through them deposits more or less of the suspended matters, including some of a fecal nature. This is probably much more true of the so-called " combined " sewers, which convey both stormwater and sanitary sewage, than of the separate sewers, which convey sanitary sewage alone. This is noticeable where large storm sewers, in times of rain, discharge very -foul matters for some minutes following an increase in flow. It is not at all unlikely that, during the interval elapsing since the last preceding storm, some organic matter may have become stranded upon the interior of the sewer under conditions such as to pro- mote anaerobic decomposition. It is possible that putrefaction may result to an extent that exercises considerable unfavorable influence on the broad question of sewage disposal without odors. SMOOTH INTERIOR SURFACES Where the interior surfaces of the sewers are rough and where pro- jecting masonry allows deposits to be built up in front of it, it is quite possible that in these deposits anaerobic conditions are established in a GEOEGE W. FULLEB, '90 425 manner and to an extent that is much more conducive to objectionable odors than is generally considered in this country by those who deal with reason- ably well-designed and constructed sewers. The formation of enzymes or soluble fermentation compounds may do much more towards bringing about putrefaction than hitherto realized in this country. German investi- gators believe this to be true where they have studied old combined sewers. FLUSHING First-class sewerage practice calls for the installation of flushing tanks at the head of all sewer lines in order to wash away stranded particles of fecal matter in those portions of the sewer where the ordinary flow is insufficient to maintain a scouring velocity. Such flushing is sometimes done by automatic flush tanks discharging every few hours. From the bacteriological standpoint, it would probably suffice to have flushing done once a week during the cold season of the year and say twice a week in the warmer season of the year. In the larger sewers, it is, of course, not feasible to flush readily from automatic flushing tanks, but it is practicable to keep decomposing organic matter from remaining lodged upon the interior surface of the sewers- This may be done either by hand, with a hose or flush gates, or by putting in stop-planks at manholes and allowing sewage to build up in depth until a head is established sufficient to create a scouring velocity. PROPER METHODS FOR GUARDING AGAINST ODORS IN SEWAGE DISPOSAL WORKS DILUTION Degree of Dilution. In 1887 Mr. Eudolph Hering recommended a dilution of three and one-third cubic feet of water per second, per thou- sand population connected with the sewers, as the basis for the design for the Chicago drainage canal. That project was put in service in January, 1900, and is now providing approximately the degree of dilution indicated by the original design. Precise data are not at hand to indicate whether or not the organic matter is provided with sufficent oxygen to allow bacterial decomposition to proceed at all times during the flow of twenty-eight miles on an aerobic basis. But in a general way it seems that the dilution above mentioned is adequate with respect to guarding against offensive smells so far as domestic sewage is concerned. Trade wastes at Chicago, partic- ularly from the stock yards district, seem to indicate the desirability of 426 SEWAGE DISPOSAL WlTfi RESPECT TO OFFENSIVE ODORS making the dilution somewhat greater than above stated unless such wastes are treated before entering the sewers. It is understood that during warm weather some odors are noticeable at or near the bear-trap dam at the foot of the canal. At this place, at the power plant and at the falls in Joliet, 111., it is to be borne in mind that considerable opportunity for aeration is afforded the diluted Chicago sewage. The necessary degree of dilution as studied by the engineers of the Massachusetts State Board of Health has been found under different conditions to range from 3.5 to 6 cubic feet per second as the necessary flow of water for each thousand population connected with the sewers. These observations are based upon small streams in many cases where manufacturing wastes are a factor of importance, through the use of oxygen which they divert from that needed for the sewage. It is also true in some cases that deposits of sludge in mill ponds and elsewhere likewise are entitled to consideration so that, as a general rule, it may be said that the Chicago basis of dilution for domestic sewage seems to be adequate to guard against objectionable smells so far as domestic sewage is concerned in well-oxygenated streams where deposits of sludge are not a factor. Dispersion. In a great many cases suitable sewage disposal by dilu- tion is seriously handicapped through failure to disperse the sewage adequately in the flowing stream. That is to say, some portions of the stream near the margin are grossly overtaxed with sewage with resulting putrefaction, whereas toward the center the capacity of the stream to receive sewage is but partially utilized. This applies also to sewer outlets on tidal flats at many places. The only fair and reasonable way to utilize the dilution method of sewage disposal ia to provide for prompt and com- plete dispersion of the sewage in sufficient water so that the exhaustion of oxygen will not result. Failure to do this has done much to give this method of disposal an underserved reputation of producing objectionable odors. Sludge Banks. The discharge of crude sewage into various streams results, of course, in a checking of the velocity and a consequent deposition of coarse suspended matters which form sludge banks. Where range in water level, especially on tidal flats, is such that the bottom is exposed at times, these sludge banks may putrefy and give off objectionable odors. In some cases the conditions may be such that it may be advisable to allow the great bulk of the suspended solids to flow into the dilating stream and remove them by dredging with such frequency as to prevent serious putrefaction. Combining the effect of sludge banks with inadequate dis- G20&GE W. DULLES, flO 427 persion of sewage in the flowing stream, it is not unusual to find that in the shallow water near the shore of quite large rivers there are objectionable odors notwithstanding that near the middle of the river the water contains a great surplus of oxygen. Floating Solids. This feature does not deal so much with the question of objectionable smells as it does with the unsightly appearance of the diluting body of water, due to readily visible particles of matters entering with the sewage. Where the diluting water is fairly free of turbidity, it is especially important, as is done in many cases in Europe, to consider means for the removal of the coarser solids by screens or otherwise. Grease and Scum. What has just been said with respect to the coarser solids applies in some measure to those fatty or oily substances which have a specific gravity lighter than water, and hence a tendency to appear upon the surface of the water into which the liquid is discharged. These sub- stances do not relate particularly to the odor question, but rather to the question of unsightly appearance of the diluting water- They can be removed to a considerable extent with the aid of baffles and scum boards. Protection of Fish Life. A number of streams in this country have caused considerable trouble at times as to offensive smells clue to the killing of large numbers of fish, as the result of exhausting the dissolved atmos- pheric oxygen in the water. This question brings up one of the mooted points at present in the disposal of sewage by dilution, namely, the safe margin of residual oxygen to allow in the water receiving the sewage. As a general proposition, the available evidence indicates that ordinary major fish may be reasonably provided for when the dissolved atmospheric oxygen in the body of the diluting water does not become materially less than about 30 per cent of that necessary for saturation. Residual Dissolved Oxygen. It has recently been suggested that a margin of 70 per cent of that necessary for saturation of the diluting water should be provided in ascertaining the proper degree of dilution of sewage. It is believed that this is seriously in error as an unqualified general propo- sition. It may be predicated perhaps to a considerable extent upon obser- vations made at points where sludge banks and improper dispersion of the sewage have caused offensive conditions to arise, but which could not exist if the above features were properly carried out. The extraordinary aspect of this proposition is that it would eliminate some of the largest rivers in this country from the list of those capable of properly receiving sewage by dilution, notwithstanding the fact that such rivers after proper filtration serve as the source of satisfactory domestic water supplies. On the other 428 SEWAGE DISPOSAL WITH EESPECT TO OFFENSIVE ODOES hand, it is quite probable that the degree of dilution established at Chicago might have to be increased materially if certain kinds of fish life were to be satisfactorily taken care of as distinguished from guarding against putre- factive odors. On the latter score there is no question about aerobic conditions prevailing with a substantial absence of offensive smells so long as there is a small but well-defined margin of dissolved oxygen present at all times and at all places. REMOVAL or SUSPENDED SOLIDS The extent to which it is advisable to remove suspended matter from sewage depends largely upon the manner of its final treatment. In the case of dilution where there is ample dissolved oxygen, as above mentioned, that method of disposal calls for the consideration of the removal only of the coarser solids. Some styles of nitration, however, for reasons of economy and efficiency call for clarification to a substantial extent for the reason that it is easier and cheaper, all things considered, to filter a clarified sewage than an unclarified sewage. The proper scope of the different devices for the removal of suspended matter and the conditions under which they may operate with reasonable freedom from objectionable smell is outlined as follows: Grit Chambers. These arrangements comprise very small compart- ments in which coarse matters may be removed by sedimentation. As the term is ordinarily applied, it refers to the deposition of road wash in connec- tion with a system of combined sewers. If these basins are made too large they add complications on account of having too much organic matter in the deposited solids. A reasonable allowance is to provide a velocity rang- ing from 6 to 12 inches per second which corresponds to a sedimentation period of only a very few minutes. Naturally the sewage after passage through such a basin contains substantially its full quantity of organic matter, and hence the putrescibility of the sewage is affected but slightly. In connection with dilution methods it is sometimes better, however, to remove this coarse matter in basins rather than to have to dredge it from slips and flats after it has been deposited in the body of the diluting water. Where works of artificial construction involving fairly complete purifica- tion are installed, it is frequently found cheaper to remove the suspended matter of a mineral nature as a preliminary step rather than to allow it to become mixed with the suspended organic matter which needs more careful treatment when guarding against odors. Screening. Coarse screens are of importance in protecting pumps in plants where pumping is required. In the case of disposal by dilution, GEORGE W. FULLER, >90 429 screening is frequently desirable to remove unsightly solids from the sewage. The position of screens in connection with filtration plants is now in an unsettled state, particularly with regard to fine screens. It goes without saying that th,e solids which are capable of being removed by screens should be taken care of in a sanitary way without producing offensive smells regardless of the detail of procedure. On this basis it becomes a question of determining whether fine screens afford a cheaper and better way of treating the solid matters than do settling tanks with suitable baffles and scum boards. The final answer to this question can scarcely be given from the present evidence. In a general way the ques- tion of economy is an important one and varies with the size and local features of the works. For large plants mechanically-operated screens have a considerable field of usefulness, whereas the cost of maintenance frequently precludes the use of screens for very small plants. The dis- posal of the screenings is an item of considerable expense unless they can be freed of water so that they can be put under a boiler of some convenient power plant or taken to a city incinerator. Disposal by burial affords good results during the warmer seasons of the year with good management. In northern climates burial is not feasible during the winter and accumu- lations of screenings sometimes give offense in the spring before the winter accumulations are finally disposed of. Incinerating plants for screenings alone require considerable fuel, but excluding the item of expense this is a suitable way of disposing of the screenings without local offense. Scum Boards. There is considerable room for improvement in arrang- ing scum boards or baffles so as to retain suspended matters which float upon the surface of the sewage, as it passes through basins for sedimentation or other purposes. In small plants as already intimated it is quite likely that screens may be advantageously eliminated if at frequent intervals the surface accumulations are thoroughly removed and disposed of in a satisfactory manner. Sedimentation. Depending upon the strength of the sewage and the size of the sedimentation basin, it is perfectly feasible to remove from 50 to 75 per cent of the total suspended matter in sewage and about one-half of this percentage of the total organic matter as measured by ordinary laboratory methods. Eeduction of putrescibility, however, according to Hoover's tests at Columbus, is only about 80 per cent as great as is the removal of total organic matter. As regards freedom from odors, it is necessary to prevent putrefaction in the chamber in which sedimentation occurs. Properly speaking, this applies to the surface of the liquid, and to the deposits upon the walls and particularly to those deposits which 430 SEWAGE DISPOSAL WITH KESPECT TO OFFENSIVE ODORS appear upon the floor of the basin and are ordinarily spoken of as " sludge." This sludge disposal question is by far the greatest single problem in con- nection with sewage purification, and with ordinary sedimentation basins the quantity amounts to from five to seven cubic yards per million gallons of sewage treated, with 90 per cent of water in the sludge. Where chem- icals are employed to facilitate clarification by sedimentation, the removal of suspended matter reaches from 80 to 90 per cent, and that of the total organic matter ranges from 50 to 55 per cent. The amount of sludge is about double that obtained with plain sedimentation or even more where the percentage of water is very high. With these devices freedom from odor is also predicated upon cleaning at sufficiently frequent intervals to guard against putrefaction. DISPOSAL OF SLUDGE As already stated, this is the great problem of sewage disposal, and reference will be made briefly to the principal methods of disposal of sludge and particularly to the latest arrangements for the septicization in two- story tanks of the Emscher type. Sludge Beds. The fairly fresh sludge removed from plain sedimenta- tion chambers is frequently applied to special sludge beds where the thick liquid becomes a solid mass, due to the removal of water, partly by evapora- tion and partly by percolation through the material to which the wet sludge is applied. Generally there is removed with the sludge and scum considerable fairly clear liquid which lies between the bottom deposit and the surface scum. The organic matter is in a state where it readily put- refies and odors of putrefaction are liable to result in the old-fashioned sludge bed. After the material has lost a part of its water it is sometimes carted away by farmers to be utilized for fertilizing purposes, but this is not a procedure that can be relied upon. Taken altogether, the sludge bed is quite an unsatisfactory method on a large scale of disposing of sewage sludge from the modern standpoint. Where it is applied with moderate success its operation is usually confined to the cooler seasons of the year when the sludge may become thoroughly dried and removed before warm weather sets in. Sludge Lagoons. This procedure is very similar to the sludge bed, except that dikes are employed so as to permit of storing the sludge to a much greater depth than in the ordinary sludge bed. In some places, as at Reading, Pa., this has worked out satisfactorily for several years. The sludge disappears in volume to the extent of about 50 per cent. Objec- GEOEGE W. FULLEE, '90 431 tionable odors are noticed at times within 100 to 200 feet of the lagoons, but are not noticeable to a greater distance according to present evidence. Whether this would be true with the sludge from all plants is, of course, uncertain. Covers for lagoons have some merit as compared with open lagoons, but except for unusual conditions their utility is far less than the arrangements like the Emscher tank. Sludge Trenches. Sludge trenches, when covered, allow sewage sludge to become well rotted and with the odors greatly minimized due to their passage through the material overlying the trench. For small plants this process seems to have much merit, especially in the northern climates. For large plants, however, it does not afford competition with the Emscher tanks. Dilution. This method is rarely applicable on account of the peculiar conditions which are required in order to justify its use- Its applicability relates to conditions where sludge may be allowed to accumulate in tanks for months at a time and then discharged at time of flood flow into a sizable river. Its practical merit depends upon whether the storage facilities for sludge for some months at a time are a simpler and cheaper arrangement than devices for the removal and disposal of sludge at frequent intervals. A dilution of sludge of about one to eight hundred seems to provide satis- factory results according to observations at Columbus, Ohio, in the Scioto River when it is in flood. Septicization in One-story Tanks. The ordinary septic tank is essentially a plain sedimentation tank operated so that the sludge on the floor of the tank, with whatever scum accumulates on the surface, is removed only at very infrequent intervals. It has its warm advocates and its strong opponents. Likewise it has merits and demerits. Briefly, its advantages are as follows: The first results from the clarification due to sedimentation, although there is no reason to believe that the septic effluent is any easier to purify than is the effluent of plain sedimentation tanks giving equal clarification. The mixing accomplished in the tanks is of some aid in making the work more uniform for filters and other following treatments. As to sludge, there is some liquefaction and gasification of suspended organic matter. The advantage of this consists in the reduced volume, permitting a much longer period between cleanings than is possible with plain sedimentation tanks. Removal of sludge under some circumstances may occur only once in four or five years or so, where the sewage is only of a domestic origin, although it may be necessary to clean the "tanks once a year or of tener. Septic sludge under some circumstances is considered easier to handle than is the sludge from plain sedimentation 432 SEWAGE DISPOSAL WITH EESPECT TO OFFENSIVE ODOKS tanks, and this is probably true if the decomposable organic matter is well rotted out or humified. The disadvantages of a single-story septic tank consists principally in the fact that the detention of the sewage in the tanks is under such cir- cumstances that the dissolved oxygen in the effluent is exhausted and that putrefaction has commenced. This means that fresh sewage is not to be found in the septic effluent under ordinary circumstances, and consequently there is a greater likelihood of putrefactive odors. The products of putrefaction of the sludge rise through the flowing liquid, and even in closed tanks some objectionable odors become diffused in the neighboring air. Similarly, the products of putrefaction cause bacterial products, commonly known as toxins, to enter the flowing liquid and under some circumstances to interfere with the subsequent purification. Gas ebullition with fresh sewages frequently lifts suspended matter so as to form a heavy scum, the organic matter of which is not septicized. This gas ebullition also lifts sediment from the botton and in this way sometimes produces very serious filter clogging unless such sludge in the septic effluent is removed by devices which at best are expensive. The stirring up of the sediment layer sometimes causes a septic tank to be put out of service and perhaps cleaned when it is very inconvenient to attend to such cleaning. If it is not cleaned the septicization or the complete rotting out of the unstable portions of the suspended organic matter does not proceed reliably so as to make an inodorous sludge. The reasons why septicization in a tank that is standing idle does not proceed seems to be partly due to the absence of incoming food for bacterial growth and partly to the dying off of certain desirable kinds of bacteria due to the products of bacterial growth. The result of this is that some unstable organic matter remains in the sludge which is not humified or reduced to an inodorous product that may be satisfactorily discharged on open beds. Practice shows that stable organic matter and mineral matter in suspension are not liquefied. When this style of tank is working to best advantage as regards the complete rotting of the sediment layer, the disposition of the liquid, at times of cleaning and the under-septicization of the scum, still have to be contended with. These factors add much to the odor under some circumstances. Covers for single-story septic tanks tend to minimize the odors noticeable at a distance from the plant. Septicization in Two-story Tanks. These tanks have recently been referred to as the Imhoff or Emscher tanks. They have their origin from a scientific standpoint in certain tests made a dozen years ago by Mr. Clark at the Lawrence Experiment Station on the septicization of sludge in GBOEGE W. FULLEE, '90 433 compartments separate from the sedimentation tank itself. These studies resulted as a first practical outcome in the so-called Travis hydrolitic tank at Hampton, England. These tanks have horizontal partitions or baffles which separate the uper sedimentation chamber from the lower digestion chamber in which septicization takes place. The partitions have a steep slope which allows the deposits or sediment to slide through a slot at the bottom into the digestion chamber substantially as fast as it appears in the sedimentation chamber above. The lower edge of one of these partitions extends beyond the edge of the other partition. In this way the gas resulting from the septicization in the lower compartment cannot pass vertically into the digestion chamber but makes its escape through vents at the side. The principal difference between the Travis tank and the Imhoff or Emscher tanks is that in the former a certain portion say 20 per cent or so of the sewage passes regularly through the digestion chamber. In the Imhoff tank, however, none of the contents of the diges- tion chamber are allowed to mingle with the effluent of the sedimentation chamber above. These two-story tanks seem to possess all the advantages of the single - story tank and they are superior in that they allow a settled effluent to be obtained which is substantially as fresh as the unsettled sewage reaching the plant. The sludge is freed from the sedimentation basin automatically and continuously and it is not necessary in removing the digested sludge to deal with a sedimentation chamber full of fresh sewage, perhaps with more or less scum upon it- In brief, it is possible to obtain sludge which in a suitably designed tank has remained in the digestion chamber for a sufficient number of months to become so thoroughly rotted out that it is well humified and quite inodorous. Furthermore, a sludge can be obtained under ordinary circumstances from these deep tanks such that its removal and its separation from water is much easier than with ordinary septic tank sludge. The deep tanks under the conditions as tested for some three years or so in the Emscher district of Western Germany seem to be unusually free from odor as compared with the single-story tanks or even two-story tanks in which some sewage constantly passes through the diges- tion chamber. This seems to be due to a number of factors, among which may be mentioned the greater coefficient for the absorption of gases by liquids under a greater depth and pressure, and also the mixing which seems to take place. This mixing seems to promote the absence of large bubbles rising vertically so as to make their escape into the atmosphere at the surface. Perhaps, the latter is also due in part to the additional 434 SEWAGE DISPOSAL WITH EESPECT TO OFFENSIVE ODORS opportunity afforded for combination of the gases with the liquid in the chamber. The disadvantages of septicization in two-story tanks is that the tanks are more expensive and difficult to build than one-story tanks, particularly if the lower portions are to be built in rock, ground water or quicksand. The scum or floating matters on the surface of the liquid in the sedimenta- tion chamber require frequent and careful attention to guard against odor. Under some circumstances this may be true of the scum which appears on the surface of the gas vents connecting with the digestion chamber. The sludge cannot be removed and dried in thin gravel beds in an advantageous way during the severe winter weather in the northern climate, and hence it is necessary under some conditions to build digestion chambers that are very large. The process does not prevent sulphuretted hydrogen formation in the sludge, but with good management it seems to minimize the escape from the digestion chamber of objectionable gases in the surrounding atmosphere. THE BEST TREATMENT FOR THE EEMOVAL OF SUSPENDED MATTER AND THE DISPOSAL OF SLUDGE WITH MINIMUM OPPORTUNITY FOR OBJECT- TIONABLE ODORS Taking everything into account it may be said that the tieatment that is most suitable and available to-day to secure the above requirements is that of the two story tank in which sedimentation occurs in the upper chamber and the digestion of the sludge in the lower compartment with no connection between the two for transmitting gases or other products from the lower to the upper. In the opinion of the writer it constitutes the greatest step in advance that has been taken in the field of sewage disposal during the past five years. This opinion is given with full appreciation of the fact that the process is one that requires careful management and that there is a large amount of work to be done by the chemist and bacteriologist in adapting it so as to work to best advantage under a wide range of differing local conditions. This process like practically all others is not a " cure-all " for various conditions without careful management. There is no reason to believe that slude digestion by this process does not involve sulphuretted hydrogen and all other malodorous products. Available data clearly indicate that these products are formed. The problem is to control them as well as or better than they have been controlled in the several score of plants that have worked so well in the Emscher district in Germany. In some measure the GEOEGE W. FULLEE, >90 435 Emscher results have been associated in the minds of some with iron com- pounds which precipitate sulphuretted hydrogen and which may perhaps have much to do with the texture and condition of the sludge, as regards its rate of drying on strainers of coarse sand or gravel- It may be also that the mixing which occurs in the digestion chamber due to gas ebullition may be of much benefit and that this may be controlled under some circum- stances to advantage by artificial mixing with aid of water introduced under pressure as has been done in some instances in the Emscher district. There is no reason why the artificial application of iron salts should not be availed of in well-managed plants if needed. With this done, a large share of the difficulties encountered in some plants could be over- come as regards the objectionable odors encountered from time to time. FILTRATION PROCESSES When a sewage has been well clarified under such conditions that it has been kept as fresh as possible, that is, with bacterial decomposition on an oxidizing and not on a reducing basis, and where the sludge has been taken care of in an inodorous way, it is not a difficult matter to filter the sewage by one of several different methods so as to secure a non-putrescible effluent of good appearance without objectionable odors. Reference will be made briefly to these filtration methods, as follows : Intermittent Sand Filtration. This method which has been used generally in New England is a satisfactory one for small or moderate sized plants where the filter beds may be economically established. This means usually that their applicability depends upon finding deposits of porous sand conveniently accessible. When such sand deposits are not readily available, as is true outside of the glacial drift formation, coarse grained filters are generally more applicable. The . intermittent filters will give an excellent effluent and where the surfaces are not allowed to become clogged there will be no objectionable odors, although there are, of course, noticeable odors immediately at the beds. Objectionable odors are coin- cident with clogged surfaces, particularly where the filter material is fine and where the sewage stands for some time so that it actually putrefies upon the filter bed. One of the reasons why in the northern climates inter- mittent filters so seldon produce a nuisance as to smell is that they carry their load much more readily during the summer than during the winter months. In other words, rates of filtration which can be availed of during the winter, when decomposition takes place slowly at low temperatures and when it is impossible to clean the filter surfaces for weeks at a time, 436 SEWAGE DISPOSAL WITH EESPECT TO OFFENSIVE ODOES seldom give trouble in the summer when frost and snow are absent but when bacterial decomposition is most active. With fairly porous material and with unsettled sewage good results should follow the use of this method where the sewage of not more than 600 people per acre is applied. For short periods unsettled sewage in larger quantities may be applied par- ticularly if the material is fairly coarse. It is not wise to figure permanently upon such large doses that clogging arises to a degree that makes its removal too frequent and expensive. Where sewage has been clarified or passed through stone filters, rates of filtration much in excess of those above indi- .cated may be safely used, but it is difficult to state just what the limit should be for varying local conditions. The load certainly should not be such as to cause putrefaction to develop with its attendant bad odors. Contact Filters. These filters will operate satisfactorily in beds of a depth of about four feet, when receiving sewage after some clarification at the rate of about 600,000 gallons per acre daily. Where the material is fairly fine it does not seem feasible to increase this rate much with clarified sewage. The reason of it is that during such a large portion of the time the beds have no air in their pores. The rates probably could be increased by keeping the applied sewage fresh and by using coarse stone that drains quickly and also by commencing drainage operations a short time after the pores of the material are filled. One of the great steps in advance recently in the design of this style of filter is to fill them from below to within a few inches of the surface. Thus the sewage does not appear while it is in a putrescible condition. This method also has the advantage of eliminating surface clogging and the necessity of scraping off deposits of scum which have bad odors under some circumstances. The underfed bed, however, should be provided with a false bottom beneath the filter material and should be drained at a velocity which will flush out solid matters which appear on the filter floor. This means that this style of filter possesses to a considerable extent the unloading feature of sprinkling filters. Under ordinary circumstances it calls for a final settling basin in which the coarse deposits are removed before the final effluent enters a small stream or is applied to a high rate sand filter. Sprinkling Filters. When the applied sewage is fresh as is the case at Eeading, Pa., where dissolved oxygen is almost never absent in the sewage that reaches the filter plant, this style of filter rarely gives odors that ara noticeable 200 feet away. On the other hand, if the applied liquid is in a putrefying condition the sprinkling of the influent releases the various malodorous products, particularly the sulphur compounds, and at the same time there is a smaller percentage of saturation of atmospheric oxygen in GEORGE W. FULLER, '90 437 the liquid as it reaches the surface of the filter. Filters of this type sixl feet deep will ordinarily dispose satisfactorily of the sewage of some 20,000 to 25,000 people per acre. This is predicated on the conditions being such that the atmospheric oxygen is present at all times and at all places within the pores of the filter bed. The filtering material should not be too fine as otherwise there is a danger at intervals of surface clogging due either to suspended matter in the sewage or to filamentous vegetable growths or both. The size of the material most generally preferred is either from one to two inches in average size, or from one and one-half to two and one-half inches. The use of hypochlorite of lime for destroying vegetable growths and in promoting the self-cleansing of the filter makes moderately fine material safer than it was generally considered to be a few years ago. Artificial aeration of stone beds such as was studied years ago at Lawrence and New- port has again been studied in Europe with the conclusion that it is of benefit. It is not believed by the writer that this is correct in principle, unless it provides oxygen at some place where it would otherwise be lacking at times. Ventilators are so inexpensive, however, that exception can scarcely be made to their trial. STERILIZATION PROCESSES. Where sewage is discharged into drinking water streams or bodies of water from which shell fish are obtained, it is possible and sometimes advisable to destroy at moderate cost the vast majority of disease producing germs in the sewage by applying strong oxidizing chemicals such as hypo- chlorite of lime or soda. This treatment scarcely provides absolute steril- ization as it is obviously out of the question at moderate cost to destroy by oxidation the thick walled spores or even the vegetative bacterial cells that are encased in particles of suspended matter. It is feasible, however, to destroy more than ninety-nine per cent of the vegetative cells which respond to ordinary laboratory methods of enumeration. Several investigators have noted that when sewages or sewage effluents are treated with a sterilizing chemical the liquid will not putrefy for some time. This is explained in a large measure by the death of bacteria which are capable of decomposing the sewage and thus setting up putrefaction after available oxygen is exhausted. Even when such samples are mixed with surface waters of good quality a comparatively long period may elapse before they putrefy. This may be explained in part by an excess of the sterilizing chemical which may destroy the bacteria of the water which is mixed with the treated sewage or sewage effluent. It may also be explained 438 SEWAGE DISPOSAL WITH EESPECT TO OFFENSIVE ODORS in part by the failure of the diluting water to contain bacteria which readily bring about a reducing fermentation or putrefaction. It is not to be inferred, however, that sterilized sewage may be dis- charged with impunity into small water-courses, particularly if there is considerable suspended matter in the treated product. It would be only a question of time before the suspended matter would deposit and form sludge banks in which bacterial putrefaction would become established. It is also probable that sterilized sewages or sewage effluents regardless of the suspended matter would sooner or later putrefy in its flow in a water- course by mingling with surface waters containing bacterial flora that would set up putrefaction. Reflection upon the comments above made will be of assistance in understanding the practical application of bacterial processes of oxidation and putrefaction in that they show that it is necessary to have time, bacteria and oxygen to bring about an oxidizing fermentation ; and, further, that it is necessary to have the right kinds of bacteria, the necessary amount of time and absence of oxygen to bring about putrefaction. Sewage will not putrefy if all three factors are not provided and this also explains why oxidation even of crude sewage will continue for an abnormal period when the oxygen is increased by aeration and thus postpone the time when putrefaction arises. RESUME. The purpose of this paper is largely to outline the writer's present understanding of the scientific status of oxidation and reduction as these reactions occur in sewage treatment. This has been done, partly with a view to promoting appreciation of the subject by those who are not specialists in this field and partly to indicate where more data are desired. As to the practical art of sewage disposal the methods now available permit much more satisfactory results to be obtained than was the case a few years ago. Those causes, which from time to time in exceptional cases have resulted in unsatisfactory conditions, with objectionable odors now and then noticeable at some distance from the disposal plant, are now quite well understood. Consequently, there should be in the future far less oppor- tunity than at present to cite instances where modern sewage disposal works with good management fail to eliminate nuisances but tend to create them. THE FOOD INSPECTION CHEMIST AND HIS WORK. By HERMANN C. LYTHGOE, '96, Chief Analyst of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts. IT has been my good fortune to have been connected with the food inspection department of the Massachusetts State Board for nearly fourteen years. This is the oldest food inspection department in the U. S. A., having been in active work since 1882, and has examined over 200,000 samples of milk, food and drugs. Until recently the demand for food chemists has been limited and but few chemists from institutions other than Technology had any training in the fundamental methods of food analysis. Since the passage of the national food law four years ago the demand for such men has increased to a large extent and the schools and colleges are now giving more attention to thii subject and it is not necessary at present to spend a year in training an assistant in the ordinary routine work. The food inspection chemist is called upon to make examinations of various food products for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the sale of such food violates the law, and furthermore he is called into court to defend his findings in cases of prosecution. For this class of work a comprehensive knowledge of the composition of all classes of food is requisite, as well as the ability to express scientific facts in such simple language that the average judge and the average jury will be able to under- stand to some extent the character of the substance in question. In this particular phase of the work the unscientific nature of law is very evident; thus, for example, a food may be pure in New Hampshire and adulterated in Massachusetts, or a change in the size of letters on the label may transfer a substance from the adulterated to the pure class. A further example of the idiosyncracy of law is shown in the decisions made upon the preserva- tive clause of the Massachusetts law. This clause provides that a sample of food is adulterated if it contains any added antiseptic except cane sugar and certain other substances. The courts have held that this clause permits the use of cane sugar as an adulterant, and it may be used to any extent whether its presence as a preservative is necessary or not. A decision as 439 440 THE FOOD INSPECTION CHEMIST AND HIS WOEK peculiar as this has been given in the United States courts to the effect that the general clauses of adulteration do not apply to confectionery because in the United States law the adulteration of confectionery id described in a special clause. We are told by lawyers that law is common sense but such interpretations as these, and they are correct legal inter- pretations, make the law ridiculous. The examination of food for adulteration is complicated because the physical and chemical constants differ to a more or less extent in various samples of the same class of food, and it is difficult in many instances to; tell whether or not a sample is pure. This is due to the fact that all food substances with the exception of cane sugar are not pure in a chemical sense, but are mixtures of different substances in more or less varying pro- portions. Under these circumstances the chemist working for a firm or corporation which is buying food material could easily return all food of a suspicious nature, but the municipal or State chemist must show beyond a reasonable doubt that the sample in question is actually adulterated within the meaning of the law. The State or municipal chemist is further handicapped by reason of the fact that he is forced to give his methods of analysis in court. I per- sonally believe that this should be so, and think that no good can result by trying to conceal anything in the way of new methods, but the publication of these methods gives the food adulterators the opportunity of mixing up adulterated food which will give reactions within those given by normal food, and they are not slow to take advantage of it when possible. On account of the variability in the composition of food the testimony of the food analyst in court may be divided into two classes, namely, a statement of facts and expert testimony. The difference between these two lines of testimony may be explained in the examination of oils. There are but three of the edible vegetable oils which can be absolutely identified, cotton- seed oil, sesame oil and peanut oil. If either of these oils have been mixed with olive oil in sufficient quantity to give the characteristic reaction the presence of the oil can be stated with certainty; if, however, some other oil is used as an adulterant its presence can be made known only by show- ing abnormal chemical and physical constants which can be explained only by a mixture of the oils in question. The nature of the testimony in the latter instance can be characterized as expert testimony. The food chemist is called upon for more or less research, depending upon the character and extent of the work he is undertaking. Modern food chemistry is a new branch of our science and new problems which demand t}ie attention of the investigator are arising daily. These investigations HERMANN C. LYTHGOE, >96 441 will be made in the future as in the past in the course of the daily routine, for the need of the research is noted largely when abnormalities are dis- covered by the persons engaged in the chemical examination of food. .Research in food chemistry has been along the lines described above as a result of which our methods are applicable to our present line of work. Formerly pasteurized milk was considered superior to raw milk, and at present we have methods for the detection of raw milk in cooked milk, but no tests for cooked milk in raw milk. The value of raw milk as a food over pasteurized milk is at present under debate and we now need methods to distinguish between these two substances and some day we shall have them. The chemistry of the decomposition of food has been studied but little and is worthy of the attention of more of our investigators. The United States government has recently lost a case where they relied upon bacteriological work to show decomposition. Some of the most prominent bacteriologists of the country testified for the defense in effect that large numbers of bacteria in the variety of food in question, were no indication of decom- position. This field of investigation is most certainly one for chemists, the decomposition products are chemical products, they must be found by chemical means, and when found we do not care by what variety of bacterial decomposition they were produced. The field of the food chemist is constantly increasing and more men are being employed in the State and municipal laboratories, in the food factories and in the commercial laboratories. The food analyst should be fundamentally a thoroughly trained chemist, well versed in analytical, organic and physical chemistry with a comprehensive knowledge of bac- teriology and of the science of nutrition, and should be a skilled micro- scopist in the field of vegetable histology. FACTORY SANITATION AND EFFICIENCY By C.-E. A. WINSLOW, '98, Associate Professor of Biology, College of the City of New York, and Curator of Public Health, American Museum of Natural History, New York City; Some- time Assistant Professor of Sanitary Biology and Biologist-in-Charge of tne Sewage Experiment Station, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It may fairly be maintained that in most industries the largest element invested is what may be called life capital. For example, in the cotton industry in 1905 there was invested a capital of 613 million dollars, while the pay-roll amounted to ninety-six millions a year. Capitalized at 5 per cent, this pay-roll would correspond to an investment of 1920 million dol- lars in the form of the hands and brains of the workers. The calculation is perhaps a fanciful one, but it illustrates the fundamental fact that the human element in industry is of large practical importance. Particularly in regions like New England where there is no wealth of natural resources, prosperity depends on a skilled ' and intelligent operative class. Such a class Massachusetts has had in the past and the present interest in industrial education testifies to the conviction that the efficiency of the operative must be improved to the highest possible degree. Once the operative is trained and at work it is generally assumed that the results obtained will depend only on his intrinsic qualities of intel- ligence and skill. The effect of the environment upon him is commonly ignored; but its practical importance is very great. In industries where it has been shown that the machine which makes a given fabric requires certain conditions of temperature and moisture for its successful operation these conditions are maintained with exemplary care. In every factory, however, there is another type of machine, the living machine, which is extraordinarily responsive to slight changes in the conditions which sur- round it. These conditions, in this relation, we habitually neglect. I am not dealng now with the sociological and humanitarian aspects of the case. I am quite frankly and coldly, for the moment, treating the operative as a factor in production whose efficiency should be raised to the , highest pitch, for his own sake, for that of his employer and for the welfare of the community at large. The intimate relation between the conditions which surround the living machine and its efficiency is matter of common experience with us all. 442 C.-E. A. WINSLOW, >d8 443 Contrast your feelings and your effectiveness on a close, hot, muggy day in August and on a cool, brisk, bright October morning. Many a factory operative is kept at the August level by an August atmosphere all through the winter months. He works listlessly, he half accomplishes his task, he breaks and wastes the property and the material entrusted to his care. If he works by the day the loss to the employer is direct; if he works by the piece the burden of interest on extra machinery has just as truly to be borne. At the close of the day the operative passes from on overcrowded, overheated workroom into the chill night air. His vitality lowered by the atmosphere in which he has lived, he falls a prey to minor illness, cold and grip and the disturbing effort of absences is added to inefficiency. Back of it all lurks tuberculosis, the great social and industrial disease which lays its heavy death tax upon the whole community after the industry has borne its more direct penalty of subnormal vitality and actual illness. The remedy for all this is not simply ventilation in the ordinary sense in which we have come to understand the term. Mr. E. "W. Gilbert of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology begins a suggestive paper on " The Economics of Factory Ventilation" in The Engineering Magazine for December last as follows : " Webster's definition of the word ventilation is ; to air ' or ' to replace foul air by fresh/ In actual practice, however, ventilation should mean more than this. It should mean the conditioning of the air of any enclosed space to the best requirements of the occupants of that space." Conditioning of the air so that the human machine may work under the most favorable conditions, this is one of the chief elements of industrial efficiency as it is of individual health and happiness. The chief factors in air conditioning for the living machine, the factors which in most cases far outweigh all others put together, are the temperature and humidity of the air. In many a plant after spending money for an elaborate system of ventilation, the air has been kept too hot or too dry or too moist, and the effect on comfort and efficiency has been worse than nil. It is a curious instance of the way in which we neglect the obvious practical things and attend to remote and theoretical ones, that for years more attention has been bestowed on the testing of air for carbon dioxide which was supposed to indicate some mysterious danger than on the actual concrete effect of overheating. Yet heat, and particularly heat com- bined with excessive humidity, is the one condition in air that has been proved beyond a doubt to be universally a cause of discomfort, inefficiency and disease. Fliigge and his pupils in Germany and Haldane in England 1 *The literature on this subject is well summarized with references to original sources by T. R. Crowder in "A Study of the Ventilation of Sleeping- Cars," Archives of Internal Medicine, VII., 85. 444 FACTOBY SANITATION AND EFFICIENCY have shown that when the temperature rises to 80 with moderate humidity or much above 70 with high humidity, depression, headache, dizziness and the other symptoms associated with badly ventilated rooms begin to mani- fest themselves. At 78 with saturated air Haldane found that the tem- perature of the body itself began to rise. The wonderful heat regulating mechanism which enables us to adjust ourselves to our environment had broken down and an actual state of fever had set in. Overheating and excess of moisture is the very worst condition existing in the atmosphere, and the very commonest. The importance of the chemical impurities in the air has dwindled rapidly with the investigations of recent years. The common index of vitiation, due either to human beings or to lighting and heating appli- ances, is carbon dioxide ; but carbon dioxide in itself has no harmful effects in tenfold the concentration it ever reaches in ordinary factory air. Nor is there any reduction of oxygen which has any physiological significance. In the Black Hole of Calcutta and below the battened down hatches of the. ship Londonderry there was actual suffocation due to oxygen starvation; but this can never occur under normal conditions of habitation. It was long believed that the carbon dioxide was an index of some subtle and mysterious " crowd poison " or " morbific matter." All attempts to prove the existence of such poisons have incontinently failed. There are very perceptible odors in an ill-ventilated room, due to decomposing organic matter on the bodies, in the mouths, and on the clothes of the occupants. These odors may exert an unfavorable psychical effect upon the senstively organized, but as a rule they are not noticed by those in the room but only by those who enter it from a fresher atmosphere. Careful laboratory experiments have quite failed to demonstrate any unfavorable effects from re-breathed air if the surrounding temperature is kept at a proper level. In exhaustive experi- ment by Benedict and Milner (Bulletin 136, Office of Experiment Stations, United States Department of Agriculture), seventeen different subjects were kept for periods varying from two hours to thirteen days in a small chamber with a capacity of 189 cubic feet in which the air was changed only slowly while the temperature was kept down from outside. The amount of carbon dioxide was usually over thirty-five parts (or eight to nine times the normal) and during the day when the subject was active it was over 100 parts and at one time it reached 240 parts. Yet there was no perceptible injurious effect. The main point in air conditioning is then the maintenance of a low temperature and of a humidity not too excessive. For maximum efficiency the temperature should never pass 70 F., and the humidity should not be C.-E. A. WINSLOW, '98 445 above 70 per cent of saturation. At the same time a too low humidity should also be avoided. We have little exact information upon this point, but it is a matter of common knowledge with many persons that very dry air, especially at 70 or over, is excessively stimulating and produces nervousness and discomfort. It would probably be desirable to keep the relative humidity between 60 and 70. Another point which may be emphasized in the light of current opinion is the importance of " perflation " or the flushing out of a room at intervals, with vigorous drafts of fresh cool air. Where there are no air currents the hot moist vitiated air from the body clings round us like an "aerial blanket," as Professor Sedgwick calls it, and each of us is surrounded by a zone of concentrated discomfort. The delightful sensation of walking or riding against a wind is perhaps largely due to the dispersion of this foul envelope and it is important that a fresh blast of air should sometimes blow over the body in order to produce a similar effect. The same process will scatter the odors which have been noted as unpleasant and to some persons potentially injurious. The principal value of the carbon dioxide test to-day lies in the fact that under ordinary conditions high carbon dioxide indicates that there are no air currents changing the atmosphere about the bodies of the occupants. There is one other problem of atmospheric pollution to which special reference should be made. The presence of noxious fumes, and still more the presence of fine inorganic or organic dust, in the air constitutes a grave menace to health in many processes and is an important contributory cause of tuberculosis. The normal body has its " fighting edge " and can protect itself against the tubercle bacillus if given a fair chance ; but the lung tissue which is lacerated by sharp particles of granite or steel quickly succumbs to the bacterial invader. In dusty trades like stone cutting and cutlery working and emery grinding, 75 per cent of all deaths among the operatives are often due to tuberculosis, against 25 per cent for the normal adult popu- lation. This may be fairly interpreted as meaning that the actual death rate from tuberculosis in these trades is from two to four times as high as in a corresponding average population ; in other words, three or four or five out of a thousand of these workers are sacrificed every year to the conditions under which they labor. The elimination of the dust by special hoods and fans is imperative in such industries and must be supplemented in extreme cases by the compulsory use of respirators. It is extraordinary how little is known to-day of the actual conditions of factory air, either by manufacturers or by sanitarians. So far as I am aware the New York Department of Labor is the only State department 446 FACTOKY SANITATION AND EFFICIENCY dealing with factory inspection which collects and publishes exact data in regard to the quality of the atmosphere in the workshops. If the conditions indicated in these reports by Dr. C.-T. Graham Eogers are typical, and there is no reason to doubt that they are, for the smaller industries at least, there is urgent need for betterment. The table below shows that of 215 workrooms inspected 156 or 73 per. cent had a temperature of over 72 and 63 or 29 per cent exceeded 79. Relative humidity exceeded 70 per cent in 39, or 18 per cent of the workrooms. In tabulating these analyses I have excluded all case where the outdoor temperature was over 70. TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY IN NEW YORK FACTORIES (Reports of the Commissioner of Labor for 1908, 1909 and 1910.) ,.. k Industry. Number of Workrooms with Temperature Number with Relative Humidity Over 70 per cent. 72 or less. 73 to 79. 80 or over. Printing shops 2 9 1 33 8 6 25 23 20 9 4 7 5 29 il 5 I 3 6 f.2 \ Clothing shops Bakeries. . . Pearl button factories . Cigarmaking shops . Laundries Miscellaneous Total . 59 93 63 39 In the report on the sanitary condition of factories and workshops made by the Massachusetts State Board of Health in 1907, is the following com- ment upon the boot and shoe industry : In the majority of factories visited, tlie ventilation was found to be poor, and in many of them distinctly bad. Of the rooms not especiaUy dusty, 102 were badly ventilated and 26 were overcrowded. In the rooms in which large amounts of dusts are evolved, the number of machines with means for efficient or fairly efficient removal of dust was found to be 1630; the number either inefficiently equipped or devoid of equipment was 2769. Of 84 of the many dusty rooms reported, 40 were also overcrowded, 35 were dark, 21 were overheated, and 18 were overcrowded, dark and overheated. In more than one-third of the factories visited, the conditions of water-closets were not commend- able; most of them were dark and dirty to very dirty. There is plenty of evidence, though of a scattered and ill-digested sort, that the elimination of such conditions as these brings a direct return in increased efficiency of production. The classic case of the U. S. Pension Bureau is always quoted in this connection. The removal of the offices of the department from scattered and poorly ventilated buildings to new and C.-E. A. WINSLOW, '98 447 well-ventilated quarters reduced the number of days of absence due to illness from 18,736, in the neighborhood of which figure it had been for several successive years, to 10,114. In an investigation of my own of conditions in the operating room of the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company at Cambridge, Mass., I found that before the installation of a ventilating system, 4.9 per cent of the force (50-60 girls) were absent during the winter months of 1906 and 4.5 per cent in 1907. The ventilating duct which was put in was a simple one and cost only $75 to install, but in the winter of 1908 following its introduction the absences were cut down to 1.9 per cent of the force employed, without any other change in conditions or personnel so far as I was able to discover. The vice-president of the Manhattan Trust Company of New York states that by proper ventilation he has so increased the efficiency of his clerical force that he has been able to reduce the number of employees four per cent. In the printing establishment of Mr. C. J. O'Brien, in New York, a ventilating system was installed because of the insistence of the State Department of Labor that the law be complied with, the order having been resisted for two years. After the system had been in use a year the pro- prietor stated that had he known in advance of the results to be obtained no order would have been necessary to have brought about the installation. Whereas formerly the men had left work on busy days in an exhausted con- dition and sickness was common, now the men left work on all days in an entirely different condition, and sickness had been very much reduced. The errors of typesetting and time required for making corrections were greatly reduced. It is much to be desired that this problem should be studied by careful quantitative methods as a definite factor in the profit and loss account. The National Electric Lamp Association is approaching the question of sanitary conditions in this manner, comparing in detail the temperature and humidity of its workooms with the hours of work, the pay and the efficiency of its employees.' Only by such systematic study can it be deter- mined how much factory sanitation is really worth in any given case. The evidence is already strong enough, however, to warrant some investigation. In cases where preliminary study shows its value, why should not the sani- tary inspection of a factory be made a part of its routine operation just as supervison of its mechanical features is -a part of its organization to-day? It is not solely or chiefly the problems of ventilation as ordinarily under- stood that should be studied; and it must be remembered that there is 448 FACTOBY SANITATION AND EFFICIENCY never anything magical in a " ventilating system." " Systems " are as dangerous in sanitation as quackery in medicine. The problem must be approached from a broad biological viewpoint, and should include all the conditions which make for lowered vitality. Temperature and humidity come first and foremost and dust and fumes must be guarded against in certain processes. The cleanliness of the factory, the purity of drinking water, the quality of lighting, the sanitary provisions and a dozen other points will suggest themselves to the skilled investigator when on the ground. He may find in many of these directions economic methods by which efficiency can be promoted. The consulting factory sanitarian will be a new factor in industry, but the progress of industrial economy and of sanitary science unite in pointing to the need for such an expert. THE WOBK OF THE SANITARY RESEARCH LABORATORY AND SEWAGE EXPERIMENT STATION OF THE MASSA- CHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. By EARLE B. PHELPS, '99, Assistant Professor of Research in Chemical Biology at the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology, Boston. THE Sanitary Research. Laboratory and Sewage Experiment Station was established in 1902 through the generosity of an anonymous friend who, at that time, offered the Institute the sum of $5,000 a year for three years for the special study of sewage disposal and allied sanitary subjects. The specific wishes of the donor were expressed as follows : 1. For keeping up with the investigations of the best men in all countries. 2. For utilizing this knowledge in the work of the Institute. 3. For original experiment. 4. For distributing all over the country in such words as they who run may read the results of the work. 5. For inciting the students to make plain and simple statements of the results of their work. Despite the fact that much larger sums of money were being spent elsewhere along similar lines, the task of instituting this work was gladly undertaken, for it was recognized at once that the opportunity to conduct experimental work of this kind within the walls of an educational institu- tion was not only unique, but presented great possibilities. The staff of the new laboratory was organized with William T. Sedg- wick, professor of biology, as director, with C.-E. A. Winslow, instructor in (later assitant professor of) sanitary biology, as biologist-in-charge and with the writer as research chemist and bacteriologist, devoting his entire time to the actual conduct of the investigation. A piece of property with buildings suitable for the experiment station was secured at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Albany Street on the line of the main trunk sewer of the city of Boston. Here the work of construction was immediately begun. A connection was made with the 449 450 THE WORK OF THE SANITARY RESEARCH LABORATORY nine-foot trunk sewer passing the premises, and the necessary suction pipe, screen chamber, pumps and piping were installed. Upon the two floors and in the cellar of the larger of the buildings suitable tanks were installed for the conduct of the series of investigations that had been planned. Chemical and bacteriological laboratories were equipped in an adjacent smaller building. In Juty, 1903, the work of preparation was finally com- pleted and the actual investigations were begun. These investigations were carried on continuously at the Albany Street station until July, 1909, when a new plant, larger and in many ways more satisfactory than the old one, was installed on city property near the Dorchester pumping station. Here we are about completing our second year's work. The organization of the staff as outlined also remained .unchanged until the summer of 1910 when Professor Winslow left us to assume very important duties elsewhere. The station and its workers will long feel the loss of his enthusiasm and faithful service. At the same time there were added to our staff S. C. Prescott, associate professor of industrial bac- teriology, Selskar M. Gunn, instructor in biology, and, more recently, S. C. Keith, Jr., research assistant professor in bacteriology. During the eight years of the history of this laboratory part of the routine work, and many special investigations have been carried on by students and advanced workers. Aside from regular students who have carried on thesis work as a requirement for graduation, the following have from time to time assisted in the conduct of the work in the capacity of volunteer investigators or of paid assistants : Miss A. F. Rogers, Dr. B. G. Smith, F. W. Farrel, G. B. Spaulding, G. C. Bunker, G. E. Wilcomb, W. T. Carpenter, J. W. Newlands, F. E. Daniels, W. H. Beers, R. C. McRae, Leyland Whipple, A. S. Wiester, and George T. Palmer. The earliest work of the station was along the lines of analytical pro- cedure. The chemical analysis of sewage had been modeled closely after the analysis of water, and, although discontent had been expressed and the gen- eral unsatisfactory nature of many of the current methods of sewage analysis was a matter of common consent, definite suggestions for improve- ment were lacking. An early paper (4)* on the Determination of Free and Albuminoid Ammonia was later followed by one on the Kjeldahl process (5). The recommendations of these papers to substitute the organic nitro- gen for the albuminoid ammonia determination and to determine the free ammonia by direct reading have been accepted quite generally and were later officially endorsed in the standard methods of the Laboratory Section * References are to bibliography at the end of this paper. EAELE B. PHELPS, '99 451 of the American Public Health Association. A second paper on the Kjeldahl method (25) presented a satisfactory solution of the difficult problem of the direct reading of the Kjeldahl digestate and did much to hasten the general use of this process. The next contribution to this phase of the problem was through studies of the methylene blue method for deter- mining putrescibility. This process was proposed by Spitta and Weldert, of Berlin, in 1906, and was shortly after investigated by us. Two papers have resulted, the earlier one (39) having been a study of the method itself to determine its applicability as a test, and the second (27) a more theo- retical discussion of the relation between the results of the methylene blue test and the actual relative stability. This gave the results definite quan- titative significance and has formed the basis for a general adoption of the method. The use of the relative stability number as thus defined has not only become quite general but has led to a somewhat modified conception of the purposes of a sewage analysis. The newer conception is taking definite form in some work which is now being done at the Sanitary Research Laboratory by which it is intended to establish a distinctly new basis for sewage chemistry. Too much significance has hitherto been attached to the nitrogen in sewage. Its easy determination in several forms and our pictorial conception of the nitrogen cycle has given it an undeserved importance. Our present conceptions are based upon oxygen requirements. Relative stability is one phase of this. When the complete set of oxygen lelationships shall have been worked out we believe that there will be found a more satisfactory relation than now exists between anaylsis and the behavior of sewage before and during treatment. A basis for this work was laid as early as 1905, in two papers on interpretation of analysis of sewage (11) and of effluents (12). The important discoveries of the value of copper sulphate in the treat- ment of water, first announced by Moore and Kellerman, made the rapid determination of small amounts of copper in water a necessity, and an improved electrolytic method for doing this was devised in 1906 (16). Bacteriological methods have also been investigated and a new method of direct enumeration was described in two papers in 1905 (2, 6). The chief task of the station, however, has been the study of Boston's sewage and of means for its economical purification. This important and, as we believe, very real problem, has served admirably as a background for these investigations, and as one or the other of the minor problems of sewage purification lias been attacked, the major problem has never been lost sight of. During the first two years it was roughly blocked out by a general 452 THE WORK OF THE SANITARY RESEARCH LABORATORY study of all the various types of sewage treatment and by an extensive and critical study of the literature of sewage disposal. While this routine work was under way, a most thorough detailed study of the chemistry and bac- teriology of Boston sewage was made, all of which was reported in the first volume of Contributions, (1). The second volume appearing in 1906 con- tained the results of the first two years' study on the major problem, (7). A critical historical review of sewage disposal and a detailed discussion of the results of the treatment of Boston sewage by the various known processes was here presented. This paper was published as a water supply paper of the United States Geological Survey and was given wide circulation. It was shown definitely what results would follow the treatment of Boston's sewage by various methods, and the comparative costs of those various treatments. It was evident that the trickling filter was by far the most economical and the type best adapted to the local situation. From that time on the main effort has been toward perfecting the details and increasing the efficiency of the trickling^ filter, although for purposes of comparison, and particularly for educational purposes, filters of the other types have been maintained and from time to time special investigations made upon them. The earliest of these was a detailed study of the mode of action of the contact filter (3) and much was done toward settling what had been a much debated question. Studies made upon the septic tank and its applicability to the local problem are of special interest at the present time. In the second volume of Contributions it was shown as the result of our own series of septic tank experiments, as well as by other isolated examples which we brought together, that the longer periods of septic action were undesirable and that on the whole the septic process had not wholly justified itself. This preliminary note of caution was developed into a decided word of protest two years later when it was reported that the septic tank offered no advantages in the treatment of Boston sewage and that the latter could be most advantageously treated upon trickling filters with no further pre- liminary treatment than is afforded by fine screening. Eecent develop- ments in septic tank practice have confirmed this general conclusion. The detailed studies of the trickling filter do not lend themselves well to a resume of this kind. The effect of preliminary treatment, of size of stone, depth of filter and rate, upon efficiency of purification have been deter- mined. The problems of distribution were early recognized to be vital ones and the first attempt at a scientific measurement of distribution was made at the Albany Street station. A somewhat complicated mathematical analysis of the experimental results was found necessary in order to measure EARLE B. PHELPS, '99 453 the evenness of distribution. A coefficient of distribution was finally developed. This mathematical study was published in 1906 (21) and has been adopted as a basis for calculating similar results wherever such tests are made. It is now to be found in text books both here and abroad. The second paper (22) containing the actual results of tests was a distinct con- tribution and stimulated work of the same character in many quarters. The definite part of the work which had direct reference to the Boston problem was summarized and crystallized in a paper published in 1907 and reprinted in the fourth volume of Contributions in 1908, (20). Definite conclusions and recommendations were made at that time and preliminary plans and estimates of the cost of construction and operation were presented. Since that time the work of investigation has been conducted along more detailed lines, although for the purpose of obtaining further informa- tion upon the trickling filters, the outdoor filters were maintained in full operation and routine tests were made upon them until the removal of the station. The problems of disinfection are so intimately associated with those of sewage purification that they were naturally investigated in the course of this work. The first of this kind of work was undertaken, curiously, witli a view to studying the injurious action of acid wastes upon purification processes. The 'result was a paper upon the toxic effect of certain acids upon typhoid and colon bacilli (15) which was not only of immediate prac- tical bearing on the sewage disposal problem but was a distinct contribution to the theory of disinfection. The proposed use of copper in water purifica- tion, already referred to, led to a series of studies from which, in addition to the paper on analytical procedure already mentioned, there resulted two papers, both published in volume three, upon various phases of this prob- lem. The first (17) was upon the inhibiting effect of certain organic sub- stances upon the germicidal action of copper sulphate, and the second (18) upon the storage of typhoid infected water in copper canteens. This latter work was undertaken in behalf of the United States Geological Survey and the expenses of investigation were borne by that bureau. In 1906 a prelim- inary paper on disinfection of sewage filter effluents appeared in the Tech- nology Quarterly and later in volume four of the Contributions (23). The results of the brief studies that had been made were so promising that the Geological Survey through the interest of Mr. Marshall 0. Leigh- ton, chief hydrographer, undertook to pay the expenses of more elaborate investigations. The final result appeared in 1909 as United States Geologi- cal Survey, Water Supply paper 229, and was reprinted in volume five (27). The successful outcome of this work has probably been of more direct and 454 THE WORK OF THE SANITAEY EESEAECH LABOKATOEY material .advantage-' in modem sewage disposal practice than any other single piece of work which the laboratory has performed. We were event- ually able to say that the possibilities of this mode of treatment had never been thoroughly developed in the past and that sewage could be rendered free from infectious material by chemical means and at a cost which is not disproportionate to the benefits derived. The full significance of these developments in connection with the protection of water supplies from dangerous pollution must be obvious. Incidental to the main problem of sewage disposal many special prob- lems have been taken up from time to time. At the request of the United States Geological Survey investigations of certain manufacturings wastes were made, the results of which were reported in two survey bulletins and later in the Contributions. The first (24) dealt with the offensive waste waters of the strawboard mills of the Middle West and a satisfactory remedy was found. The second (28) dealt with the much more difficult problem of the waste from, sulphite pulp mills. Although this work was without imme- diate practical outcome a distinct contribution to the chemistry of the prob- lem was made. We have also from time to time been called in to advise manufacturers in the treatment of minor wastes and have at times' found it possible to give material help. Probably our most important contribution to the broader problems of public health has been Professor Winslow's work on sewer air, (26). Com- ing as it did at a time when there was a conflict of opinion in the minds of those best qualified to judge, this paper, by its scientific method and definite conclusions, laid at rest forever the bugaboo of germs in sewer air. Other researches in applied sanitary bacteriology are reported by Pro- fessor Winslow in two papers. The first (33) deals with the possibility of differentiating the intestinal organisms of the higher animals and of man, and the other (34) the extent of the bacterial pollution of air by mouth spray. The practical results of all these researches have been enhanced by the expressed wishes of the donor that the results of our work shall be made as fully available as possible. These wishes have been interpreted to mean not only that the scientific results themselves be presented in full, but that a. broad educational policy be adopted in connection with them. To this end addresses and semi-popular presentations upon vital sanitary problems have been made from time to time before various associations, societies and 3 ay bodies. Some of these addresses will be found in Hie volumes of Con- tributions; others are published separately, while many of them have not been published. Such questions as the relation of education to hygiene EARLE B. PHELPS, '99 455 and sanitation (8), the responsibility of public water supplies in the causa- tion of typhoid fever (14), and the fundamental problems of the prevention of disease (32), have been competently discussed by Professor Sedgwick. From Professor Sedgwick's pen there has come also a study in vital statistics upon the decrease of mortality from diseases other. than typhoid fever follow- ing the purification of polluted water supplies, the far reaching significance of which needs no comment here (31). In rendering an account of- our stewardship some attention must be paid to the cost of the studies which has been thus hastily enumerated. And indeed it is the efficiency item with which we are most gratified. We have received all told for this work up to the beginning of the present year about $45,000. Columbus, Ohio, spent about $40,000 in one year's investigations of her problem, and Baltimore, Md., spent somewhat less. When the city of Boston has to face the problem of sewage disposal there will be available for use results which judged by their cost elsewhere will be worth to the city very much more than they have cost. In addition to this, and in the world's work of far greater importance, this station has been a work- ing part of an educational institution, and these funds have been doubly utilized^ for men have been trained to carry on in many places the work which had been so ably begun by their predecessors. Following is a list of the publications of the laboratory: REPORTS AND PAPERS FROM THE SANITARY RESEARCH LABORA- TORY OF SEWAGE EXPERIMENT STATION OF THE MASSA- CHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY VOLUME I, 1905 The papers of this volume, with the exception of number 4, were published originally in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, Vol. 1, Suppl. 1, 1905. 1. The Chemical and Bacterial Composition of the Sewage Discharged into Boston Harbor from the South Metropolitan District. C.-E. A. Winslow and E. B. Phelps; p. 175. 2. The Number of Bacteria in Sewage and Sewage Effluents Determined by Plating upon Different Media and by a New Method of Direct Microscopic Enumera- tion. C.-E. A. Winslow; p. 209 3. The Mode of Action of the Contact Filter in Sewage Purification. E. B. Phelps and F. W. Farrell; p. 229 4. A Critical Study of the Methods in Current Use for the Determination of Free and Albuminoid Ammonia in Sewage. Jour. Infect. Dis., 1903, 1; p. 327. 5. The Determination of the Organic Nitrogen in Sewage by the Kjeldahl Process. E. B. Phelps; p. 269. 6. Tests of a Method for the Direct Microscopic Enumeration of Bacteria. C.-E. A. Winslow and G. C. Willcomb; p. 287. 456 THE WORK OF THE SANITARY RESEARCH LABORATORY VOLUME II, 1906 7. Investigations on the Purification of Boston Sewage, with a History of the Sewage Disposal Problem. C.-E. A. Winslow and E. B. Phelps, U. S. Geol. Survey, Water Supply Paper ; p. 185. VOLUME III, 1906 8. The Readjustment of Education and Research in Hygiene and Sanitation. W. T. Sedgwick (Proceedings of the American Public Health Association, Volume XXXI, 1905 meeting) ; p. 115. 9. The Scientific Disposal of City Sewage : Historical Development and Present Status of the Problem. C.-E. A. Winslow (Technology Quarterly, Volume XVIII, 1905) ; p. 317. 10. Experiments on the Purification of Boston Sewage, 1903-1905. C.-E. A. Winslow and Earle B. Phelps (Proceedings of the American Public Health Associa- tion, Volume XXXI, 1905 Meeting) ; p. 16. 11. The Interpretation of a Sewage Analysis, Earle B. Phelps (Technology Quarterly, Volume XVIII, 1905) ; p. 40. 12. The Interpretation of an Analysis of the Effluent from a Sewage Filter. Earle B. Phelps (Technology Quarterly, Volume XVIII, 1905) j p. 123. 13. A Winter Visit to Some Sewage-Disposal Plants in Ohio, Wisconsin r,nd Illinois. C.-E. A. Winslow. Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies, Volume XXXIV, 1905; p. 335. 14. On the Present Relative Responsibilty of Public Water Supplies and Other Factors for the Causation of Typhoid Fever. W. T. Sedgwick and C.-E. A. Winslow. Journal of the New England Water-Works Association, Volume XX, 1906; p. 51. 15. The Toxic Effect of Certain Acids upon Typhoid and Colon Bacilli in Relation to the Degree of Their Dissociation. C.-E. A. Winslow and E. E. Lochridge. Biological Studies by the Pupils of William Thompson Sedgwick, Boston, 1906; p. 258. 16. The Determination of Small Quantities of Copper in Water. Earl B. Phelps. Journal of the American Chemical Society, Volume XXVIII, 1906; p. 368. 17. The Inhibiting Effect of Certain Organic Substances upon the Germieidal Action of Copper Sulphate. Earle B. Phelps. Biological Studies by the Pupils of William Thompson Sedgwick, Boston, 1906; p. 283. 18. Experiments on the Storage of Typhoid-Infected Water in Copper Canteens. Earle B. Phelps. Proceedings of the American Public Health Association, Volume XXXI, 1905 meeting; p. 75. VOLUME IV, 1908 Second Edition, 1909 19. Disposal of Sewage. C.-E. A. Winslow (Paper read at the Ninth Annual School for Instruction of Health Officers, Burlington, Vt., June 19, 1907. Bulletin, Vermont State Board of Health, Volume VIII, pp. 3-12. September 1907). 20. Investigations on the Purification of Boston Sewage in Septic Tanks and Trickling Filters. 1905-07. C.-E. A. Winslow and Earle B. Phelps. (Technology Quarterly, Volume XX (1907), pages 387-452.) 21. A Method for Testing and Comparing Sewage Sprinklers. Earle B. Phelps. (Engineering News, Volume LVI (1906), pages 410-411. Reprinted, Technology Quarterly, Volume XX (1907), pp. 34-40.) EARLE B. PHELPS, >99 457 22. Studies of Sewage Distributors for Trickling Filters. C.-E. A. Winslow, Earle B. Phelps, C. F. Story and H. C. McEae. (Technology Quarterly, Volume XX (1907), pp. 325-374.) 23. The Sterilization of Sewage Filter Effluents. Earle B. Phelps and William T. Carpenter. (Technology Quarterly, Volume XIX (1906), pp. 382-403.) 24. The Prevention of Stream Pollution by Strawboard Waste. Earle B. Phelps. (United States Geol. Survey, Water Supply and Irrigation Paper, No. 189 (Washington, 1906). Reprinted, Technology Quarterly, Volume XX (1907)", pp. 292-324.) 25. The Determination of the Organic Nitrogen in Sewage by the Kjeldahl Process: II. Studies on Direct Nesslerization. Leyland Whipple. (Technology Quarterly, Volume XX (1907), pp. 162-170.) VOLUME V, 1909 26. The Sewer Gas Question; with Special Reference to the Sanitary Signifi- cance of Bacteria in the Air of Drains and Sewers. C.-E. A. Winslow. (Report made to the Sanitary Committee of the National Association of Master Plumbers of the United States, and reprinted from the Report of the Sanitary Committee for 1907-8-9.) 27. The Disinfection of Sewage and Sewage Filter Effluents, with a chapter on the Putrescibility and Stability of Sewage Effluents. Earle B. Phelps. (United States Geological Survey, Water Supply Paper 229, Washington, 1909.) 28. The Pollution of Streams by Sulphite Pulp Waste. Earle B. Phelps. (United States Geological Survey, Water Supply Paper 226, Washington, 1909.) 29. Corrosion of Water Pipes. Earle B. Phelps. (Report made to the Sanitary Committee of the National Association of Master Plumbers of the United States, and Reprinted from the Report of the Sanitary Committee for 1907-8-9.) 30. An Investigation of the Sanitary Condition of the Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, N. Y. C. F. Breitzke. (Technology Quarterly, XXT, pp. 243-280.) VOLUME VI, 1910 31. On the Mills-Reincke Phenomenon and Hazen's Theorem Concerning the Decrease in Mortality from Diseases other than Typhoid Fever Following the Puri- fication of Polluted Water Supplies. William T. Sedgwick and J. Scott MacNutt. (Jour. Inf. Dis., Volume VII, 1910, pp. 489-564.) 32. The Foundations of Prevention. William T. Sedgwick. (Trans. First Conference on Prevention of Infant Mortality, New Haven, Conn., 1910.) 33. A Comparative Study of Intestinal Streptococci from the Horse, the Cow, and Man. C.-E. A. Winslow and G. T. Palmer. (Jour. Infectious Diseases, Volume VII, No. 1 (1910), pp. 1-16.) 34. An Investigation of the Extent of the Bacterial Pollution of the Atmos- phere by Mouth Spray. C.-E. A. Winslow and E. A. Robinson. (Jour. Infectious Diseases, Volume VII (1910), pp. 17-37.) 35. The Disinfection of Water and Sewage. Earle B. Phelps. (Proc. EngVs Club of Philadelphia, Volume XXVII, No. 21, 1910.) 36. Disinfection of Sewage and Sewage Effluents. Earle B. Phelps. (Trans. Am. Soc. Munic. Improvements, 1910.) 458 THE WORK OF THE SANITARY RESEARCH LABORATORY 37. Water Pollution and Water Purification at Jersey City, N. J. C.-E. A. Winslow. (Jour. Western Soc. Eng., Volume XV, 1910.) 38. The Field for Water Disinfection from a Sanitary Standpoint. C.-E. A. Winslow. (Proc. Second Ann. Meeting Illinois Water Supply Association, 1910.) NOT REPRINTED 39. On the Use of Methylene Blue in Testing Sewage Effluents. Earle B. Phelps and C.-E. A. Winslow, Jour. Inf. Dis., Suppl. No. 3, 1907, p. 1. 40. Why Dirt is Dangerous. W. T. Sedgwick. 41. Why Dirty Water is Dangerous. W. T. Sedgwick. 42. Why Dirty Milk is Dangerous. W. T. Sedgwick. BACTERIA AND DECOMPOSITION. By SIMEON C. KEITH, Jr., '93, Assistant Professor of Research in Bacteriology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. THE term decomposition has been handed down to us from the alchemists. It was a term used by them to describe a process which resulted in the production of one substance through the destruction of the composition of another substance. The term was applied to certain changes in mineral substances, as well as to changes in organic bodies, and it was generally believed that the decomposition of organic bodies was due to their coming in contact with air, to a process of oxidation. Liebig to the day of his death, held to the purely chemical, or mechanico-chemical, theory of decomposition and. fermentation notwithstanding the fact that it iiad been demonstrated that something in the air rather than the air itself caused these changes. Leuwhenhoek, in 1680, found by the aid of his newly invented com- pound microscope that certain organisms which he called Thierchen (ani- malcules), existed in decomposing fluids such as hay infusions. Little advance on Leuwhenhoek's studies was made for nearly one hundred year*, or until in 1778 when von Grliechen attempted to classify these organisms. In 1796, von Mtiller continued the work of von (rliechen and to him we owe the present names of some of the bacteria. It was not, however, until the advent of a practical compound microscope that any great advance in bacteriology was made, and the years 1835 to 1840 may be said to mark the time during which the foundation was laid for our modern science of bacteriology. During this period Schwann and Schlieden, and later Schultz and Turpin made classic experiments partial!}' explaining fermen- tation, which is a kind of decomposition, and laid down the axiom i( no decomposition, no fermentation without the plrysiological action of vegeta- tion." In 1850 Dr. Burnett of Boston gave us the idea that bacteria were plants, and in 1857 Louis Pasteur, then a chemist studying the lactic fer- mentation, saw with his microscope certain bodies in fermenting liquids to which he ascribed the cause of the fermentation. Bacterial decomposi- tion from that time forward has been regarded as consisting of the 459 460 BACTERIA AND DECOMPOSITION destruction of the composition of an organic body through the agency of bacteria. Now we know that all fermentations and putrefactions are due to bacterial growth, but we must not for a moment fall into the error of believing that all bacterial growth results in fermentation or putrefaction; because more recent studies of the bacteria concerned in these processes have narrowed down the particular kinds of bacteria that will actually produce these changes. It is evident that bacteria must be as differently organized as are human beings: for instance, using an analogy, some human beings vegetate, as it were, eat only to maintain their existence, while others who eat the same kinds of foods, do a large amount of useful work. Then again, we have a class of undesirable citizens who are charac- terized by their bad works. The influence of the environment on the kinds of bacteria that may be said sometimes to produce fermentative or putrefactive changes in any particular material is of the greatest impor- tance. It has been shown by Dr. Kendall, one of our graduates, that bacillus coli communis when grown in ordinary peptone meat bouillon produces certain very definite decomposition products which might almost be called putrefactive in character, whereas if the same organism is grown in the same solution to which a little sugar has been added, the sugar is decomposed, but the putrefactive products are entirely wanting, so that in some cases it appears that the same organism may produce totally different end products, when the character of the medium in which it grows is. slightly changed. The work of Herter and Rettger has thrown a great deal of light on what organisms actually produce putrefaction. They found that many of the organisms that we have believed to cause putrefaction were not the real cause; that in many instances, while they seemed to be the cause of such putrefaction, further investigations showed that there were other organisms present which actually did the work and, at least in the case of the natural proteids, that putrefaction was due solely to the development of putrefactive anaerobes such as bacillus putrificus. There are some who believe that bacillus coli communis can produce putrefactive changes in food products, but it is extremely doubtful if this is really the fact. Having recently had occasion to make several experiments along this line, and especially in connection with eggs, I have found that bacillus coli communis can be artificially introduced into the yolk of fresh eggs and grown there to 50,000,000 or more per cubic centimeter without producing any perceptible change whatever in the egg substance, and even when they were cultivated to as high a number as 250,000,000 per cubic SIMEON C. KEITH, JK,, '93 461 centimeter the egg was not at all disagreeable when cooked, although before cooking a slight sourish odor was noticeable. Bacteriology as applied industrially deals almost wholly with decom- position in some form, for example with the ripening, or souring, of cream for butter, the manufacture of cheeses of various types, the production of lactic acid from starchy material, all of which may be controlled through the introduction of various types of bacteria which have been carefully selected to do this particular work with the best results. I could go on at length to describe many such applications as the use of selected yeasts for wines, beers and distilled liquors. Of course, there are more instances where, the decompositions are allowed to progress in a more or less hit or miss fashion, but which ultimately will undoubtedly be controlled in a similar way. Among these are the production of vinegar, the tanning of hides for leather, the manufacture of sauer kraut, and the septic tank in sewage disposal. In closing, I may mention one instance in which bacteriology, to my mind, has not been properly applied, and that is the realm of foods, to the purpose of determining whether a food is, or is not, decomposed. The Fed- eral Pure Food Law contains a clause which reads as follows : " Foods shall be deemed adulterated if they are filthy, decomposed or putrid in whole or in part/' Within the past two or three years the Bureau of Chemistry at Washington, has been applying a bacteriological test and holding a tenta- tive standard of mere numbers of bacteria, without any distinction as to kinds other than bacillus coli, as a basis for seizing and destroying food products as being either filthy, decomposed or putrid under this clause of this act. It is only recently that there has been any check to the carry- ing out of this policy, absurd as it is to any thinking biologist. This was in the Trenton egg case, when the Government sought to condemn as decomposed some ten tons of frozen egg product mainly because the bac- terial count exceeded an arbitrary standard which was set up by one analyst in the Department of Chemistry at Washington. Professors Sedg- wick, Winslow, Jordan and myself, as bacteriologists, helped to defend this product and denied the alleged fact of decomposition. We maintained that no such standard as the Government had adopted meant anything as prima faciae evidence that this egg product was decomposed in the ordinary sense of that word and that the arbitrary standard was not a recognized standard by bacteriologists generally. Fortunately we had associated with us Prof. Otto Folin, the eminent physiological chemist of the Harvard Medical School, who showed that chemically the products of decomposition were not greater in this egg product that in shell eggs regu- 462 BACTERIA AND DECOMPOSITION larly sold on the market. The decision it is needless to state was in favor of the defendant eggs, although I may add that while numerous complaints have been brought by the Government on the basis of mere bacterial count, as proof of decomposition, this is the first case where the verdict has been for the claimant, largely as I believe because in most instances the foods have not been defended at all. SECTION F ARCHITECTURE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: A DEFINITION AND A BRIEF RESUME OF ITS PAST AND PRESENT. By STEPHEN CHILD, '88, Landscape Architect and Consulting Engineer, Boston, Mass., and Santa Barbara, Cal. THERE is at the present time much apparent misunderstanding of the terms Landscape Architecture and Landscape Gardening. It is not un- usual to hear it stated that " this calling a man a landscape architect instead of a landscape gardener is merely a fad." One well-known writer has even affirmed that " the men most deeply engaged in the art have not decided what to call it," and that it is suspected that " the present fashion among professional brethren of calling themselves landscape architects is due to the accidental cause that architecture sounds bigger than gardening and can demand a better fee,, and to the fact that the architectural style of landscape work is the present vogue among the wealthy clients." In the firs* place, the term is not a " recent fad." Frederick Law Olmsted, the elder, called himself a landscape architect as long ago as in 1856, when he first entered upon the work of developing Central Park in New York City; and continued to so designate himself during the whole of his career. He appears never to have given any specific reasons fo'r the adoption of his title, however, but we may be perfectly assured that he had reasons, and most excellent ones. Fifty years a ;o, when Mr. Olmsted began the practice of his profession, there was beginni ig to be a demand in this country for men to do a certain line of work tha was quite different from that previously carried on by either the architect, the engineer, or the gardener, and yet work that embodied some ol the principles heretofore utilized by each of them. That great tract of land, now known as Central Park, was to be developed and made beautifu 1 for the purpose of providing " for a form of recrea- tion to be obtained only through the influence of pleasing natural scenery upon the sensibilit 3S of those quietly contemplating it." It was a new problem for this c untry, and indeed for any country, for none of the present great parks in Europe were originally created as such. They are 465 466 LANDSCAPE AECHITECTUKE : ITS PAST AND PRESENT chiefly the result of developing land that had originally been set aside as hunting forests by the nobility or rulers of Europe. Mr. Olmsted saw clearly the greatness of his task and the differentia- tion of this form of design from that of the architect or engineer, and certainly from the work of the gardener, and chose to call it landscape architecture, and himself a landscape architect. What Mr. Olmsted un- doubtedly meant when he adopted the title was that he was aiming to be a master artisan, the primitive meaning of architect, in matters pertaining to land and to human works upon it, having regard both to the beauty of its appearance and to its use. In a very real sense such work covers agriculture, forestry, gardening, engineering, and the elements of architecture. Landscape Architecture has been defined as "a group of activities including horticulture, architecture, civil engineering and agriculture. Humphrey Repton, a great English authority, says that in order to carry out this line of work one must possess not only artistic ability and taste, but "a complete knowledge of surveying, mechanics, hydraulics, botany, and the general principles of architecture." Humphrey Repton was a cultivated English gentleman of great refinement and good taste. He was the first Englisman from such a grade of society to undertake the planning or designing of country estates. Kent, one of his predecessors, was a coach painter by trade, who possesed some artistic taste but little culture. " Capability " Brown, Repton's most famous immediate prede- cessor, was a gardener, who, by association with men of refinement and by his tact and native ability, worked his way up to an honorable position; but Repton was a well-educated Englishman, who had traveled and studied much.. He, however, called himself a landscape gardener, as did all of the others at that time. The term landscape gardening was, I believe, first used by the poet Shenstone to mean particularly an informal or picturesque treatment of the grounds of an estate, as distinguished from the older style of formal treatment that had been in vogue and carried to such excess. In the early part of the eighteenth century formality had been pushed to the point of puerility, and assisted to bring about a reaction. The "new style," or "English style," was introduced by Kent and others, who, as Sir Horace Walpole enthusiastically exclaimed, "leaped the wall and saw all nature was a garden." These men made a practice of designing country places in an informal or naturalistic manner, and termed this landscape gardening. They were in favor of abolishing all formality, and they in their turn carried their theory to excess. STEPHEN CHILD, '88 467 Iii the latter part of the eighteenth century and the first of the nine- teenth century, men like llepton, came forward, realizing that formality had its place and value, and began to use it under certain circumstances, but still called themselves landscape gardeners. The English landscape designers mentioned were engaged almost exclusively in the preparation of plans for country estates. These were, of course, not always large, and often were walled in or engirt (girt in), and, therefore, perhaps in a sense gardens. Mr. Olmsted in 1856 had to face a very different problem. It was a work of design, a work that could be undertaken and successfully carried out only by a "master artisan in matters pertaining to land." Here at Central Park were to be developed broad peaceful landscape effects, giving opportunity for restful contempla- tion and relief from city sights and sounds. These effects were to be designed and executed where none had existed before, and were to show no obstructive evidence of man's elaborate control. This was what Olmsted termed landscape architecture. The French landscape designers had already adopted this term in their phrase " architecte paysagiste," meaning simply landscape architect. It is quite largely the architect himself who is responsible for any wrong impression that may have developed in the use of the term landscape architect ; as many have assumed that, because the word architect is used at all, the term landscape architect means simply an architect who meddles a bit with the landscape immediately surrounding his buildings. Many architects have done this, with regrettable results both to the client and to the profession of landscape architecture. I think it is but fair to suggest that, il: the architect solves the problems of his buildings successfully, he may well leave to the landscape architect the matter of designing surround- ings for them, realizing that his own architectural problems are many and difficult, and that the trained landscape architect can, by cooperating with him, greatly improve the net result; for, as we all know, the effect of many a successful building has been seriously impaired by lack of a proper setting. Many of Mr. Olmsted's great works are familiar to us all. They include Central Park, New York; Prospect Park, Brooklyn; the almost unrivaled Park System of Boston; the World's Fair at Chicago; and almost innumerable country estates, notably Biltmore at Asheville, N". C. The great diversity of this work shows the unfitness of applying to it the term landscape gardening. Landscape architecture is then, as Charles Eliot, one of Mr. Olmsted's gifted disciples, has well said, a the art of arranging land for use and the accompanying landscape for enjoyment." Landscape gardening is a term 468 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTUEE : ITS PAST AND PBESENT used, if at all properly, simply to cover that part of the landscape architect's work which has to do with the development of formal or natural beauty by the simple process of removing or setting out and caring for plants. This is quite secondary to the matter of designing a general scheme for the development of land for any given purpose. Our studies of ancient landscape design reveal most clearly that the principles of our art were more or less well understood and followed in very early times. In ancient Egypt even, the arrangement of the grounds about the royal palaces and other important buildings, while distinctly temporary in its character, is well preserved to us in wall decorations and other drawings, and shows many evidences of thoughtfulness in design. There is seen to have been a distinct effort to 'conform to the existing conditions of flat topography, fertile soil, ample space, and hot dry climate. Provi- sion is made for irrigation, for desirable protecting walls, and there are many evidences of the fact that while the economic motive may have been to a certain extent present, the primary one was agreeableness and pleasure. There were decorative pavilions, painted walls, sculptured ornaments, all planned for pleasing effects and with careful thought as to scale and pro- portion. There was no particular attempt at symmetry as a whole, but in the smaller structures and portions of the ground symmetry is recognized. Repetition is effectively used and a certain degree of unity is clearly expressed. The records of Mesopotamia show similar thought and study; and in that country and in Persia we know about the famous hanging gardens of Babylon, and of great enclosed hunting parks controlled by their more or less orderly system of avenues and paths. Homer's famous description of the grounds of the Palace of Alcinous depicts their beauty and shows the careful study of such problems by the Greeks. No other people have ever shown more thoughtfulness in matters of design in the arrangement of their grounds and in the placing of their statuary and buildings to meet the unusual conditions in topography. All this is very different from gardening, and in Greece as in Egypt we note the application of true principles of design. The Roman conquerors brought these Greek designers of landscape art and other artists to Rome, and as a result Roman estates and villas* reflect this fine Greek influence. The greater available wealth and different physical conditions led to the development of new forms of landscape art, still evident in the ruins of the great Roman and Pompeiian estates and gardens that have descended to us. Here are seen not only the modified ideas of Egypt and Greece, but careful consideration of the questions of distant view and vistas is now in evidence. It is clear that these designers STEPHEN CHILD, '88 469 of landscape planned to preserve informality in the distant grounds with a more evident approach to formality in the work directly associated with the very precisely designed palaces and terraces. There appears a correct appreciation of the need of unity by a conformity to the same architectural style throughout. We find also among the Romans examples of the best and very earliest carefully designed city squares and public parks. Fitness, definiteness of purpose, a careful consideration of scale, as well as of beauty and art and unity, led to such results that to-day to our great advantage we may study these designs in connection with our own efforts in city planning. The habit of setting aside such areas for the recreation of the people grew apace, and the question of their distribution throughout the city was studied with care. Under the Empire the park areas of Borne were one- eighth of the total area of the city. During the period of the Dark Ages landscape art was dormant. When in Mediaeval times the awakening began, we find evidence of an effort at design in gardens and grounds more or less after the manner of the Greeks. Mediaeval designers were greatly limited in their opportunities; the areas dealt with were necessarily restricted and irregular in shape, and both labor and funds for such purposes were lacking. Designs show an absence of symmetry except perhaps in minor details. They show none of that recognition of axis or of balance about an axis, so notable a feature of Roman and Italian design. Their own peculiar conditions are well met, however, and fitness may be said to have been the controlling motive. In these warlike times security was first sought for; pleasure and beauty were later considerations. The gardens and grounds of the monasteries and feudal castles were essentially places of leisure and contemplation to which the high embattled walls lent an element of austerity. All these conditions made for simplicity, fitness, and a complete utilization of every part. Everything was compact, neat and orderly. These were noticeable features of English design. With the dawn of the Renaissance, landscape design, in Italy especially, entered upon a new and glorious era. We begin to find country places designed solely for enjoyment and the entertainment of guests, not as retreats for protection from warlike neighbors. The greatest artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Rapha?!, and many others, helped in the development of that culmination of landscape art, the Italian villa. The upper slopes of a hilly country, exposed to healthful breezes and favored with rare views, were the sites chosen. The sloping surfaces led naturally to the develop^ ment of the terrace. While the Renaissance designers may have modified 470 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTUBE : ITS PAST AND PEESENT the topography more or less, they never ignored it as was doiie in the earlier Roman times. Symmetry, almost lacking in the Middle Ages, was carried to extremes in the later Renaissance. Repetition was effectively employed. The shade of trees, lawns and gardens, and an abundant water supply were always in evidence. A joyful luxurious life was ever in mind. The Villas Lanti and d'Este, to mention only two of the more famous, show how perfectly every cultivated taste was developed for the social enjoyment of the wealthy nobilit}^ The later development of landscape design in France and England shows to a more or less degree the influence of the Italian Renaissance, in France even more than in England. In England there is more evidence of Mediaeval influence and motives. The Italian villa and its grounds make a single and very highly developed unit of rather limited size, domestic in its scale. In France this phase of Italian design was at first the accepted type ; but the French landscape designers soon refused to be bound by such limita- tions. Their desire was to express the wealth and power of their nobility by the extent of the finished grounds of their palaces and chateaux. They deviated from the Mediaeval and Italian designs by adding unit after unit. Owing to the generally level topography, French terraces became broader, areas of water were increased, and the chateau was developed. The Mediaeval moat was retained but made an object of beauty instead of defense, as at Fontainbleau and Chantilly. The highly organized axial arrangement of the Italian, school was retained in the French designs but the scale was immensely enhanced, was no longer domestic or human but superhuman or colossal, especially in the time of Louis XIV, who firmly believed he was more than human. Louis XIV employed LeNotre and Mansard- to design Versailles and Chantilly. The scale is always colossal. The purpose was to express magnificence, and was for effect wholly; and the results, while grand and impressive, are not as exquisitely interesting as in some of the Italian work. Relatively little of this grand style spread elsewhere. It is somewhat in evidence at Hampton Court in England; and Schoenbrunn, near Vienna, and Wilhelmshohe are respectively Austrian and German examples of its influence. Le Notre's style is evident not only in the later work of Haussmann and Alphand and Andre at Paris, but to a certain degree in the plans of L'Enfant for the city of Washington. English landscape design was as a rule more human, more influenced by Mediaeval motives. It shows less emphasis of formal motives, and distinctly less symmetry than in either the French or Italian work, though unity is carefully considered. STEPHEN CHILD, '88 47.1 French formal work makes the gravel paths the basis of the design; and the parterres, fountain basins, pools and other details are laid out in subservience to them. English work secures its effect quite differently. There is always the background of turf and foliage masses, and the paths occur as much more incidental features. The trained landscape architect in America studies these earlier prob- lems solely as a guide to correct principles, and it will be interesting to consider some of the many classes or types of problems in landscape designs met with in American practice, and note how we are helped in their solution by this study of the past. The term domestic landscape architecture may be applied to the designing of suburban and country estates and grounds. Such oppor- tunities occur on the rugged coasts of Maine, the tropic sands of Florida, on the mountains and on the level prairies and amidst the semi-tropic conditions of the Pacific Slope. No rules can be made to meet such varied conditions, but right basic principles are of the utmost importance, and these are suggested by our earlier studies. In these domestic problems there are first considered the conditions of topography, existing vegetation, climate, soil, proximity and direction of outside factors affecting the accessibility of the site; and second, the personal factor. Who is the home for? Is it to be occupied the entire year or only some part of it? What is to be the limit of cost? Accessi- bility as to supplies of material, water and so on are considered. Provision is made for means of approach both for guests and service. Views or outlook from the site and the aspect of the finished scheme from without are all studied; and the proportioning of the three vital elements of the design, the entrance, the service, and the living or pleasure portions of the grounds, are carefully determined, usually the greater area being devoted to the latter. Local topographical and climatic conditions affect all these points as do also the client's desires. From the work of these earlier designers we get inspiration helping us to determine the general character of the special treatment. Shall it be formal or informal, and here is where there should be the heartiest cooperation between the client, the architect of the buildings, and the landscape architect, for manifestly the type of house selected should suit as well as fit the site. While some sites demand greater formality than others, almost every house, no matter how informal its general character, is com- posed of rigid straight lines and definite angles. There is therefore almost always a demand for some formality immediately about such a structure. This formality may not go so far as to involve exact symmetry or balance; 4?2 LANDSCAPE AKCHITECTUEE : ITS PAST AND PEESENT it should, however, gradually merge into the more distant free and informal natural surroundings in order to secure that unity and harmony without which no design is successful. Problems of another great class are those coming under the general head of public reservations, including greater and lesser parks, city squares and play grounds. Here also we have the two main factors, the local and the personal. But now we are dealing with the public, and we strive to determine the wants of the average personality rather than those of the special or distinctive one. The Eomans showed us many vital principles in such designs, and not the least in their study for the distribution of these areas throughout the city. Definiteness of purpose is always to be maintained; the great country park for a large city is to afford perfect relief and rest from the sights and sounds of city life. This affects the choice of the tract of land, its bounds, its present scenic effect, its accessibility, and its design of roads and paths by means of which the public may enjoy but not destroy its beauties. Among our best examples are Central Park in New York; Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and Franklin Park in Boston, all the work of the elder Olmsted. The distribution of city parks, squares and play grounds brings with it the problem of connecting parkways. Perhaps the banks of a hitherto neglected sluggish stream, until now an unsightly dumping ground, can be transformed by careful design into beautiful parkways. Never has this been done better than in the case of the "Riverway," that part of Boston's parkway system leading from the city proper to Franklin Park. Beautiful and natural as this all appears now, fifteen or twenty years ago this part of the town was one of its ugliest sights. Now all is beauty of the most restful sort, but every particle of it is the result of design. This is not landscape gardening, but landscape architecture, the work of a "master artisan in matters pertaining to land/' Real estate allotments and new town sites offer vital and interesting opportunities for the landscape architect. In the way of suggestion much may be learned from the work along these lines now being done in England and, Germany. But the English Garden Cities and the German suburban townsite developments can again be copied only in the principles involved. These are fitness, convenience, definiteness, study and skill in adapting needs ; to conditions, and forethought to meet future demands of traffic, and so on. This leads up to and is in fact part of the important subject of city planning which in general is one of great complication for it is most STEPHEN CHILD, '88 473 certainly true that no comprehensive plan can be made at any given time which will definitely decide the problems of a great city's growth. Cities grow and change, and their plans must be constantly modified. Any careful study of this great question, while it may solve some immediate need, such as the right placing and design of a civic center, and its grouping of public buildings, must be relatively tentative and must by constant effort and study of proposed schemes be kept up to date. Certain right principles, however, can be laid down, and in many of these matters the trained landscape archi- tect can be of greatest service in an advisory capacity. Modern city planners are realizing more and more that the first essentials are practicability, fitness, convenience and beauty. Mr. Olmsted, Jr., hag well expressed this in a recent address. " The kind of beauty most to be sought in the planning of cities is that which results from seizing instinctively with a keen and sensitive appreciation the limitless opportunities which present themselves in the course of the most rigorous practical solution of any problem/' It is to be noted that in this country alone fully seventy cities are engaged in more or less elaborate studies with this purpose in mind. In Europe, great city planning efforts are going forward; staid old London is having its very vitals renovated; Berlin is in the midst of similar upheavals, and Paris, which we have been brought to believe was nearly perfect in this respect, is getting ready to spend untold millions for further improvements of this sort. It has not been possible within the necessary limits of this paper to more than enumerate some of the salient features of this profession, and the preparation necessary for its practice. The aim has been to make clear as its leaders contend that landscape architecture, if not in its comprehen- siveness the greatest of all the fine arts, is at least one of them, and that its sure foundation and its never-failing handmaiden is science. The greatest painters, sculptors, and composers have been absolute masters of the technique, or in other words, the science of their particular art. No truly fine art was ever developed without a complete mastery of its technique. Many of the old masters spent years of patient study in the preparation of their colors alone. It is true that this technique must never be allowed to master art. We know how thoroughly Michael Angelo studied anatomy, and how some of his later work was marred by his evident desire to have it show his complete knowledge of the most minute details of anatomical conditions. Success in any art is to be attained through a knowledge of its principles and facts or what may be called its scientific data, but this knowledge must be held in complete subordination to the highest aesthetic consideration before perfection can be reached. 474 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE : ITS PAST AND PEESENT ThtTol'orc \vc sliiily thu ]>asl ; llu'ivl'mr we require the most careful preliminary investigations and the preparation of accurate scientifically prepared topographical plans or we cannot work successfully. Fitness and practicability are always to be considered first. Alphand and Andre in France, and Major L'Enfant in his preparation of that masterpiece of landscape architecture, the plans for the city of "Washington, and that great master of the art, the elder Olmsted, all had rigid scientific training, and they never forgot its principles. The value of this association of art and science is well expressed by Mr. Olmsted : " The demands of beauty are in a large measure identical with efficiency and economy, and regard for beauty neither follows after regard for the practical ends to be obtained nor precedes it, but must inseparably accompany it/' So must we follow in their footsteps, not as copyists or imitators but as thorough conscientious students of principles. How great shall be the benefit to mankind, when in this art which so vitally affects humanity, all its problems shall be solved in the right spirit; a true blending of art and science. SOME PHASES OF MODERN ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE. WALTER H. KILHAM, '89, Architect, Boston. ALL important matters associated with the business side of architecture have become pretty definitely understood both by the members of that profession and by the public. It is sometimes profitable, however, to discuss the- familiar points that arise in the daily office routine, and perhaps gain a new point of view, or a better grasp of some of the less firmly established principles. The direction of complicated operations by the busy modern architect requires, in addition to professional knowledge and skill, a considerable amount of executive ability in placing before the builder in clear and definite form the directions necessary for the successful execution of the work and at the same time keeping the owner fully informed as to the character of every part of the building which is under construction. An architect's principal duties are threefold: he designs buildings and produces clear and intelligible working drawings and specifications; he obtains tenders from contractors and arranges the letting of the con- tracts; he secures proper execution of the work and certifies as to the amounts due to the contractor from time to time under the contract. Proper fulfilment of these duties is impossible unless the architect has at his disposal a business machine or " system " so well adjusted and lubricated that its methods of operation will never make itself evident either to the clients or contractors who do business with the office. This system must work so well that every drawing, sketch, letter or memorandum will always be producible at a moment's notice; nothing must ever be for- gotten from a specification; no mistake occur in a certificate, and no " extra " or " changed " work be done except on a special order counter- signed by the owner prior to its execution. To carry out the above, the filing system should be simple and efficient and free. from all unnecessary complication.. The stationery of the office, blanks, forms, etc., should be of uniform size or at least of sizes to fit the standard filing cases. Drawings can be kept flat in drawers, and great 475 476 PfiASES OF MODERN ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE convenience results from adopting standard sizes of sheets and making " full sizes " whenever possible on bond paper or " Alba " from which blue prints can be readily taken. The convenience of this system extends also to the contractor's shanty, where fewer valuable drawings would be lost if it were easier to keep them in a neat pile. Every floor plan should show the points of the compass, and every column, pier, window, room, space and electric outlet should be numbered on the plans according to a relative system; thus column 42, on the second floor, should be called column 2-4:2; room 23, on the sixth floor, should be known as room 623, and so on. It is far easier to refer in a letter to pier 3-16 than to say "the second pier from the southwest corner on the third floor," and simplicity is the essence of all building operations. Extras and deductions will occur in every building operation. This fact must be recognized and means taken to meet it in a businesslike way. Have special order blanks printed and numbered in triplicate. Let each one have a blank space large enough to contain a clear definition of the work to be done or to be omitted and the agreed price, with a notice to the effect that the order shall not be considered valid until signed by all three parties, owner, contractor, and architect. This takes time, sometimes several days, but the architect should insist upon the signatures even if the work stops. The three copies allow each party to retain one for his files. 1 believe it is well to have certain general clauses of the specification printed in fine type at the bottom of the order to assure the relation of the extni or changed work to the general contract. One of the most constant cares of an architect is to make sure that the owner understands clearly what result is to be brought about by the plans and specifications. The ability to read plans and understand technical wording is given to few, and the difference between paints and stains, "water struck" and "common" brick, "rift" and "heart rift" must ever remain a sealed book to the majority of the laity. Add to this the multiplicity of misleading trade adjectives, such as "double thick" glass, which the unfortunate client will generally read and expect the thickest of French plate, or "standard" thickness of slate, which means the thinnest (why is " Standard " or " First quality " always used to mean the poorest grade?) and the care which devolves upon the architect to properly inform his client becomes quite considerable. All this care must be taken, however, as part of the day's work, and vigilance of this sort must never slacken. Disappointment sometimes ensues, not through any particular fault of the work, but from faulty drafting of the specifications or contract f equir- WALTEK H. K1LHAM, '89 477 ing impossible performance from the contractor. For example, architects have for years been accustomed to insert at the beginning of their specifica- tions a clause stating that no sub-contractors shall be employed except such as are approved by the architect. This clause, which is necessary to prevent portions of the work being let to irresponsible or disagreeable sub-con- tractors, should be followed by a clause stating that a list of the proposed sub-contractors shall be enclosed with the bid which is stated to be based on such sub-proposals. If then it is decided to use a different sub- contractor, the difference between his bid and the one used as a basis of estimate should be added to the contract price then and there. The ideal way is really for all sub-bids to ^e sent to the architect, who selects the lowest received from reputable concerns and sends them to the contractors. General clauses are in many cases an unexpected disappointment. It is of little use to say, " All the painter's work must be done in the best and most thorough manner known to the painting and finishing trade," when you only expect a three-coat job for a low-priced building. Neither should the contractor be required to guarantee a piece of work for which an elaborate specification has been written. Either let him do it his way, if he is to guarantee it, or have him do the work your way and it will not need any guarantee if you are sure of your ground. The average contractor will sign anything that may be put into his contract, but he is apt to think that in the last analysis, even if the contract makes the architect the sole arbiter of every detail, the courts cannot be ousted and that he will be able to force a payment, even without a final certificate from the architect: The building contract often provides for certificates by the architect at various stages that the work done is in accordance with specifications, which throws the responsibility on the architect for determining that fact. The attempt is sometimes made to avoid that responsibility by inserting a clause to the effect that said certificates shall in no way lessen the total and final responsibility of the contractor. Such a clause, however, does not authorize the architect to furnish a certificate that the work has been done in accordance with the specifications if in any particular he has reason to believe the contrary, for the courts have construed the above language to apply only to deficiencies afterward discovered. The practice of specifying materials by their trade names is a dan- gerous one. If a contractor, for instance, supplied a cement of a specified brand and the lot was found worthless, he might, through some loophole, try to evade the liability. It is usual to specify, rather, that the cement shall conform to the requirements of the American Society of Civil Engin- eers, It is worth noting, however^ that some cements behave much better 478 PHASES OF MODERN ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE in frosty weather than others, and this ought to be taken into account in carrying on masonry work in the winter time. So much for a few of the ordinary aspects of the ordinary verbiage and specifications. A much wider subject is the designing and specifying of the materials of which a building is constructed, in such a way as to bring about the desired results with minimum of cost and in a minimum amount of time. Most buildings are wanted complete by the owners in an incredibly short time after their acceptance of the plans, and every means should be taken by the architect to simplify the task of the contractor. Much time can be saved in the erection of a building if none of the different materials which constitute the structure be specified for use in the early stages of the work whicli will cause delay on account of processes of manufacture. For example, ornamental terra cotta should not be speci- fied for any part of the construction where it will be wanted within sir weeks of the date of signing the contract, for it is rarely that a shipment of this material ever arrives on the site in less than that time after the order for it is placed. In ordinary buildings, therefore, some more easily procur- able material should always be used for the trimmings up to the first floor level. Another point, somewhat less generally understood, is the reduction as far as possible of the number of operations involved in the construction of a building. Take, for example, the case of a public building; in many buildings of this sort it has been a common custom to use brick work, steel frame and terra cotta block filling, galvanized iron and even reinforced concrete, in construction of the walls, flues, and partitions, of one and the same building, each done by a different gang of workmen, with a different Hub-foreman. In our experience we have found that in most cases the same gang of bricklayers under the same foreman has carried out the whole construction in brick at a saving which sometimes has amounted to one cent per cubic foot on the entire building. There is no loss of time between the departure of one gang and the arrival of another, and no waste of odd lots of unused material, and the building is a homogeneous whole. The above are a few suggestions for the smooth and pleasant conduct of an ordinary architect's business. It only remains to be added that no human machine will operate for very long without attention, and no system however perfected will work successfully without constant oversight. An American sage has said that "The doors of opportunity are marked ' Push ' and ' Pull '." The successful architect has generally found, how- ever, that to the above will have to be added the legends Progressiveness. Punctuality, and Prudence, and "then as many more as constantly suggest WALTEB H. KILHAA1, '89 479 themselves. But no time spared from the harassing daily duties of a modern architect will yield better results than that spent in the perfecting of a system which shall help to keep the varied interests of builders and owners directed toward the quick and efficient securing of the results which both are seeking. THE ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT UNITE. LUZERNE S. COWLES, '97, Assistant Designing Engineer, Boston Elevated Ry. Co. ENGINEERING and architecture were not in the beginning dissociated, but the tendency in the United States to keep them widely separated has until recently been decidedly marked. That this tendency has proved a detriment to the proper aesthetic development of our communities cannot be denied. In ancient times the architect was his own engineer. Inasmuch as the exact science of figuring stresses and strains was unknown, judgment and precedent were governing features in the design of structures. There was little haste in completing a project once commenced, and artistic treat- ment requiring much time and labor was rendered possible. A century ago engineers were either military or civil, the civil engineer being chiefly occupied with surveying. The architect seldom required the services of an engineer except in the capacity of surveyor. Sizes of members for building construction were usually determined by "rule of thumb," such determination being strictly an architectural or builder's problem. As time went on the art of bridge building with materials other than stone was gradually developed. The somewhat primeval state of this country was such that the demand for anything more than utilitarian was seldom expressed. To keep pace with the rapid growth of the railroads and other projects, the expense incurred by the erection of even the cheapest classes of structures consistent with good design, was necessarily very great. The public demanded as a rule service, caring little for appearance. The adoption of the cheaper methods of construction no doubt accel- erated the growth and development of the country at large. Although the Government was financially able to erect elaborate structures, public service corporations and the like, constantly confronted with heavy charges for construction and equipment, were compelled to limit the cost of their structures frequently at the expense of appearance. Municipalities have proved many times to be grave offenders in this respect. To satisfy urgent demands the erection of hideous structures has 480 LUZERNE S. COWLES, '97 481 been permitted with slight hesitancy. This radical spirit recently asserted itself in the otherwise conservative city of Eome. A steel bridge was erected over the Tiber in the midst of an atmosphere utterly antagonistic to this type of structure. The excuse for such a blot on the landscape was, no doubt, that an iron strcture could be built cheaply and quickly and would be at best but temporary. The word temporary in connection with a structure may mean three years or thirty. Many an eyesore has been permitted on the plea of its temporary nature when with a little patience and persistence on the part of the public a first-class permanent structure would have been assured. Coupled with the increasing wealth and population of the larger cities of the United States there appears at the present time from public and press alike, the demand for rational civic improvement along harmonious and well defined lines. To-day, while the architect may consider the engineer somewhat inartistic, he does not hesitate to consult him on all matters where engineering judgment is desired. On the other hand, the engineer may consider the architect at times extravagant, nevertheless he consults him freely, with the result that certain structures, particularly when constructed of metal, are vastly improved in appearance. It is obvious that some types of engineering structures are hardly suited to much adornment. Adorning construction should at all times be fostered, but constructing ornamentation can scarcely be advocated. An elevated structure, for example, ugly from its very nature, could only be considered in the premises as a violation of real art. To construct much ornament for such a structure would not ameliorate conditions in any ordinary case. To quote a well known western architect : " True architecture is construction carried to the highest point of development without the necessary addition of any elements foreign to its own conditions of stability and strength. Structure cannot be elevated into the domain of art merely by the application of ornaments. Ornament is contributory to a work of art and not essential to it. A Cistercian abbey has no ornament, but its rank as a work of art is as high as that of a Clunisian abbey which abounds in the richest decorative accessories. Cer- tainly the true function of ornament is not to conceal or obscure construc- tion, but to illustrate it. "It is the misfortune" of the engineer that he is dealing with a strictly mechanical problem, and is therefore constrained to use materials and methods which have as yet never been developed in the direction of that more perfect union which really constitutes the essential qualities of grace and beauty/' 482 THE ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT UNITE Engineers should foster the spirit of close cooperation with architects,, and the public of our large cities has a right to expect the erection of bridges and other structures which will be an ornament rather than a detri- ment to their city. Such results will be attained if the public demands them and our cities will tend to become more attractive in every way. The necessity for engineers to consult architects on all important work is coming to be too well recognized to require special emphasis. Examination of many structures might lead to the conclusion that many engineers endeavor to avoid beauty in their construction. Messrs. Carrere and Hastings, architects, appeared to share in this belief in a recently published communication in which they write as follows : "In general, engineering works do not aim at beauty, and we think that this is always a great misfortune. Any engineering work is a spot in the landscape, or in the city, which has either a good or bad influence on the general appearance of the panorama, and upon its enjoyment. " The fact that the first aim of every work of engineering is practical, that the essential qualities are strength, simplicity and economy of cost and of operation, leads many very able engineers to the conclusion that they fail in these qualities in the degree in which they may be artistic ; and for this reason many of them are not only indifferent, but are opposed to having their work beautiful. " We believe that the great difficulty is due to the fact that engineers, not having been trained in matters of art, do not conceive or plan their structures artistically. They should seek the advice of the architect at the very start, so that the entire work may be designed and constructed on artistic lines, which may even make the use of ornament absolutely unnec- essary, or may make it of so little importance that it may be almost bad, and the structure still be beautiful." Private individuals assume the right to erect almost any type of build- ing provided the local building laws are in a measure complied with. Little regard for the feelings of one's neighbors is frequently shown. Public service corporations are beginning to realize the importance of erecting only first-class structures, perfect not only from an engineering but an architectural standpoint. The Pennsylvania railroad station in New York and the Forest Hills terminal of the elevated railway in Boston are typical examples of the combined efforts of the engineer and architect. The same cooperation is desirable in the construction of bridges. The original bridge was the fallen tree of the aboriginal, surely more agreeable to look upon than some modern efforts. One frequently considers the engineer as the sole person to consult in the construction of a bridge. LUZERNE S. COWLES, '97 483 % Exceptionally pleasing results have, however, been obtained in the con- struction of the nine span masonry arch bridge crossing the Connecticut River at Hartford and the eleven span steel arch bridge over the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge. This was rendered possible by the close union of engineer and architect. This close association has many advantages other than the gain in aesthetics. The architect after such association plans his work so as to make the arrangement of his supporting structure perhaps more orderly than might otherwise obtain. The engineer endeavors to plan his work so that the architect may have ample freedom to exercise his art. Their com- bined efforts redound to the advantage of their employer whether munici- pality, corporation or individual, the result being the best possible under the particular conditions involved. It is only by the close union so fre- quently noted to-day that results most favorable to the public at large may be obtained. Many architects' offices now employ an architectural engineer, while any large engineering office surely requires the services of at least one man well versed in the general principles of architecture. The alliance of engineer and architect ensures better structures with possibly a more orderly arrangement and frequently a saving in material and labor. This result is a distinct advantage to the community as it means economical construction together with an aesthetic treatment of what might otherwise be unsightly or commonplace. MILL CONSTRUCTION WITH STEEL PEAME AND TILE WALLS By JOHN O. DE WOLF, '90 Mill Engineer, Boston IN designing a new building for a manufacturing plant recently, the writer made a study of different styles of mill construction to determine that most suitable and economical for the conditions under consideration. The plant already had buildings of slow-burning mill construction and of reinforced concrete, each of which served its purpose admirably. As there was no need of duplicating the construction or appearance of the existing buildings, the way was clear for the erection of whatever seemed best. After studying the problem and making estimates on several types of construction it was decided to use plank and timber floors, wooden columns, a steel outside frame, and walls of hollow tile plastered on the outside. Concrete pilasters were to be used outside of the steel columns of the frame. The result of this construction was so satisfactory that the writer believes a description of it may prove of interest. The building is three stories in height, with a basement, and is designed to permit the addition of a fourth story if desired at some future time. As it was erected on filled land, piles were necessary. The founda- tions are of reinforced concrete, designed to serve as a retaining wall for the basement as well as a support to the structure above. These walls were carried a little above grade. Bolts were set in them to anchor the steel columns. The basement height is 10 ft. from floor to floor and the height of each of the other stories is 15 ft. The floors were designed for about 100 Ibs. per square foot, live load, and the floor beams are two 8x16 in. hard pine timbers bolted together. Bays are 9 ft. 3 ins. in width and the span of the timbers is 24 ft. The main floor is of 4-inch plank, splined and covered with %-inch maple flooring. Round wooden columns were used with cast- iron caps and pintles. In general the interior of the building follows the familiar lines of slow-burning mill construction. The outside frame of the building was made of built-up channel-iron 484 JOHN O. DE WOLF, '90 485 columns and horizontal angle-irons tying the columns together and forming lintels over all door and window openings. In designing the columns special attention was given to adapting them to receive the tile curtain walls and the concrete that was to form the pilasters. Ample light was desired in the building, and the windows were made about 6 ft. 11 ins. wide by 11 ft. 3 ins. high, outside measurements of the frame. They are of the mullion type with swinging transoms and double hung sash, each sash having nine lights of 11 x 15 in. glass, and each tran- som six lights, 11 x 14 ins. Hollow, hard-burned tile were used for the curtain walls. All were 6 ins. thick and most of them were 12 ins. square on the face, but some half- size tile, 6 x 12 ins., were used. All were smooth on one side and grooved with dovetailed grooves on the outer face. An important consideration in the column design was the use of such size of channels as would suitably receive the tile walls. As tile 6 ins. thick were to be used they fitted well into 8 ins. channels, and the latter gave proper strength for the loads to be carried. Instead of following the standard practice as to the distance apart of the channels forming the columns, this distance was varied a little in order that the tile should fill the space between the columns without cutting. The proper length for this was provided by a variation in the width of the win- dow mullions or in the width of the columns, and the design was so worked out as to fit the two sizes of tile previously referred to. Great attention was paid to this detail, as it was not intended to plaster the building on the inside, and it was realized that any cutting of the tiles would probably appear unsightly and would also add to the expense of the construction. Over all window and door openings angle-iron lintels were placed to support the tile and prevent its bearing on the window or door frames. These lintels were riveted to the columns, and thus securely tied together all of the steel work. In designing the building it was desired to use pilastered construction. The pilasters were to be of concrete and to enter into, and form part of, the steel columns. In order to do this the channel-iron columns were made with plates on the inside of the building and lattice work on the outside. The plates on the inside give a smooth appearance and obviate the necessity of wooden forms to retain the concrete when pouring it. The only forms required for the concrete pilasters were on the outside. The pilasters are 20 ins. wide and project 4 ins. beyond the face of the cur- tain walls. As the outside of the columns were latticed, the concrete entered and filled them, and added materially to their strength. The out- 486 STEEL FKAME AND TILE WALL MILL CONSTEUCTION side finish on the tile walls is cement plaster applied directly to the grooved surface which gives it a secure hold. After completion and painting the inside of the building presented a finished appearance. Most of the tiles being 12 ins. square, the walls show a uniformity in surface, divided into 12-in. sections in place of the cus- tomary small sections in brick walls. Each column projects inward from the curtain walls about 1% ins. and is studded with rows of rivets at its edges. Under each window is seen the window sill, which is of rein- forced concrete 6 ins. thick. These sills were cast of such shape that on the inside of the wall they are the same length as the window opening, but on the outside they are enough longer to receive the finish at the sides of the window. These steel, tile and concrete walls compared with heavy brick walls show economy in the cost of construction and a greater amount of avail- able floor space. In this building each of the three main floors is of the same size, and there is no increase in the thickness of the walls at the lower story. At the pilasters the total thickness is only about 12 ins. The air spaces in the tile walls prove excellent non-conductors of heat, and form a wall that was found well adapted for economical heating. This building is not being used for rapid-running machinery, but the use of a steel frame with concrete pilasters in connection with the columns would undoubtedly give all the rigidity that would be necessary for any ordinary manufacturing purpose, and this construction would seem to have many uses in industrial buildings. University of California Library or to the Richmond, CA 94804-4698 I S^w^ "* \/d1r I. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 242295