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By Charles T. Baroch, Charles J. Baroch

Nuclear energy probably has greater potentialities for changing the world's way of life than any other recent discovery. The atomic-bomb bursts over Hiroshima and Nagasaki suddenly changed the concepts of war. Peaceful uses of nuclear energy are advancing so rapidly that no study of economic trends is complete without giving them consideration. The minerals specialist, especially, must be aware of this new force in our lives, as minerals and metals are essential in harnessing the new force, and atomic energy itself is rapidly improving its competitive position in the energy field. Future historians may chronicle December 2, 1942, as the beginning of the Atomic Age. On that day Enrico Fermi and his co-workers at the University of Chicago produced and controlled the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. Lie many inventions, the first application of nuclear energy was as a weapon of war. However, its potential usefulness in man's work and welfare far outweighs in economic importance its destructive use in war, unless its military effect would be considered so great and all-embracing that no major power will hereafter chance a world conflict. Recognition of this potential has generated a vast international effort to exploit the atom for peaceful beneficent purposes. Like its physical manifestation, the advent of nuclear energy has unleashed chain reactions that have pervaded the political, social, and economic environments of the world. The impact of nuclear developments in one of many fields is exemplified by the uranium mining industry. Uranium was discovered in 1789 and in the next century and a half it found only an insignificant use as a ceramic coloring agent; in fact, in the latter part of that period, it was a largely unsalable by-product of the radium and vanadium industries. Up to 1940 the total quantity of uranium metal produced was not more than a few grams, of doubtful purity. Thus the production of 12,400 pounds of pure

Jan 1, 1964

By Chas. B. Dudley

A Discussion of the papers of Mr. James Gayley, on "The Application of the Dry-Air Blast to the Manufacture of Iron," and of Mr. J. E. Johnson, Jr., on "The Physical Action of the Blast-Furnace," by Messrs. Charles B. Dudley, R. W. Raymond, J. E. Johnson, Jr., William F. Mattes, James Gayley, David Baker, John Birkinbine and F. E. Bachman. (Washington Meeting, May, 1905.) CHAS. B. DUDLEY, Altoona, Pa.:-Pam not a blast-furnace man, and this always puts me it a disadvantage because I cannot go into the details of the making of iron and steel. I have not the experience, and have to take the statements of other people, so what I say regarding the subject of this paper is not in the sense of an expert. When I first heard of Mr. Gayley's experiments, I said to myself, " I fear they will result in failure, since, apparently, Mr. Gayley has forgotten one chemical fact, namely, that carbon does not combine with oxygen in the absence of water-vapor." This fact which was so astonishing when it was first brought out some years ago, and which those who are interested may find in the Journal of the Chemical Society of London, for 18S5, page 349, and 1894, page 611, led me to think that the drying of the air would be a mistake. The general subject of the influence of water-vapor on chemical action is a large one; but the special point in which we are for the moment interested, namely, the influence of water-vapor on the combustion of carbon, was especially treated by Mr. H. B. Baker, in the papers referred to. Apparently, however, as the result of Mr. Gayley's experiments, we are to learn that the amount of moisture still left in the desiccated air is sufficient to secure perfectly satis¬factory combustion. In thinking over Mr. Gayley's paper, it occurred to me that there were two alternatives, either of which might be chosen, namely, we might dry the air as Mr. Gayley does, or possibly we might, in a very much simpler way, simply saturate the air at a constant temperature, and thus get uniform working and

Sep 1, 1905

By George W. Doffing

Numerous contradictory statements have been made in the past regarding the importance of the seasonal influence of demand for motor fuel on prices of oil securities. It has often been said that the time to buy oil securities is in the spring, or just prior to the heavy consuming season for gasoline. The fallacy of this argument is brought out in the following paragraphs. Seasonality of Oil-security Prices The indexes used in this paper as indicators of prices of oil securities and general industrials are those compiled by Standard Statistics Co. The oil producing and refining stock index includes 14 representative petroleum companies, while the all-industrials index is made up of 347 issues. All figures are stated as relatives, with 1926 = 100. The primary basis of the index, and one that gives a good weighting of the relative importance of the company within the industry, is the total market value of the stock issue outstanding; i.e., the market price times the number of shares outstanding. Adjustments are made for the addition or elimination of issues from the group index, for stock dividends, split-ups, stock rights, et cetera. At the present time the oil producing and refining index includes the following companies: Atlantic Refining Co., Consolidated Oil Corporation, Continental Oil Co., Gulf Oil Corporation, Humble Oil & Refining Co., Ohio Oil Co., Royal Dutch Co., Shell Union Oil Corporation, Socony-Vacuum Oil Co., Standard Oil Company of California, Standard Oil Co. (Indiana), Standard Oil Co. (New Jersey), Texas Corporation, Union Oil Company of California. In calculating the seasonal for oil-security prices several periods have been selected as indicat,ive of major changes in the industry, as follows: 1. 1918 through 1936. This gives an over-all picture of the industry during the motor-vehicle, motor-fuel era. 2. 1927 through 1936. This period includes the control stages, both voluntary and coercive. 3. 1927 to September, 1933. This is the pre-code period of control.

Jan 1, 1937

By AIME AIME

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers.-The semi-annual meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers will be held in Detroit, Mich., June 23-26. A session will be devoted to hoisting- and conveying-machinery; and many other subjects will be treated in professional papers, among which are . Clutches (with special reference to automobile clutches); The Thermal Properties of Superheated Steam; The Horse-Power, Friction-Losses, and Efficiency of Gas- and Oil-Engines; A Journal-Friction Measuring-Machine; A Simple Method of Checking Conical Pistons for Stress, and The By-Product Coke-Oven. The usual receptions will be held and excursions will be made to manufacturing plants, the slip-building yards, and various points of interest in and around Detroit. Among the excursions' planned is one to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. The Gas-Power Section of the Society will hold a session, and the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education and the Society of Automobile Engineers will hold meet-

Jan 5, 1908

By Maurice L. Pinel, Thomas T. Read, Thomas A. Wright

THE erroneous, but until recently widely prevalent, belief that iron castings were first made in Europe in the fourteenth century has been adequately refuted in a number of earlier papers;1,11,12 but except for an unpublished metallographic study by the late William Campbell, and a phosphorus analysis by T. A. Wright of the metal of the Han dynasty cast-iron stove described by Laufer,2 nothing was known of either the chemical composition or the metallographic structure of the metal of any ancient iron casting, although data on castings of recent manufacture are abundantly available. The metal of the stove, which had been buried in a grave for at least 15 centuries, was so corroded that it seemed inadvisable to publish the results on it until more and better specimens from other ancient castings could be obtained. During a journey through China, extending from Peking in the north to Canton in the south and Cheng-tu, Ssu-chuan, in the west, in the late summer and autumn of 1936, one of us (T. T. Read) was fortunate enough to obtain, and bring home for study, nine castings, all more than 1000 years old, of which the date of manufacture is precisely known because of inscriptions cast in them, another that lacks a dated inscription, but of which the date, as explained below, can be otherwise established, and a specimen from the largest iron casting ever made," which is also dated. The period covered by this suite of specimens extends from 502 to 1093 A.D. In addition, a sample was obtained from a casting of date unknown, but which was certainly cast before 1000 A.D. and possibly as early as the third century A.D. A detailed description of these specimens is as follows: 1. 502 A.D. A pair (right and left) of recumbent lions (Fig. 1). Base 7 ¼ by 14 3/8 in., height over-all 5 ½ in., weight 26 lb. each. The translation of the inscription on the base is: "Made on the twenty-fourth day of the seventh month of the third year of Ching Ming of Great Wei" (Sept. 11, 502 A.D.).

Jan 1, 1938

By William E. Ford, Edward Salisbury Dana

1. Normal Class (25) Barite Type 2. Hemimorphic Class (26) Calamine Type 3. Sphenoidal Class (27) Epsomite Type Mathematical Relations of the Orthorhombic System Crystallographic Axes. - The orthmhombic system includes all the forms which are referred to three axes at right angles to each other, all of different lengths. 296 Any one of the three axes may be taken as the vertical axis, c. Of the two horizontal axes the longer is always taken as the b or macro-axis * and when orientated is parallel to the observer. The a or brachy-axis is the shorter of the two horizontal axes and is perpendicular to the observer. The length of the b axis is taken as unity and the lengths of the other axes are expressed in terms of it. The axial ratio for barite, for instance, is a : b : c = 0'815 : 10 : 131. Fig. 296 shows the crystallographic axes for barite.

Jan 1, 1922

By Grover R. Castle

INTRODUCTION "Project Financing" or "Project Loans" have become increasingly popular in recent years, and commercial banks are being asked to consider more and more of such financing. However, the analysis of this type of loan is quite different from the analysis of a loan to a financially sound corporation based on the company's balance sheet. For this reason Chemical Bank did a study of project loans in an attempt to be more sophisticated in our approach to them. As part of this study, we examined 29 project financings for which information was available. In this article I shall describe project loans and set forth the guidelines we developed, as an aid to credit officers who might have occasion to analyse this type of financing. DEFINITION OF "PROJECT FINANCING" OR "PROJECT LOAN" The terms "project financing" and "project loan" commonly describe the various methods that banks and institutional lenders use to finance the construction of new projects on a basis whereby payout is anticipated from the revenue stream generated by the project. A project financing often involves a loan to a new entity formed specifically to own the project. The analysis of a project loan proposal is quite different from the analysis of other term-loan proposals since it involves a credit decision based on the review of a projection or forecast rather than of historical earnings and/or it involves the reliance on contractual obligations of third parties. Lenders are asked to assume the added risks associated with project loans because: 1. Project financing may permit a company to obtain additional leverage. It is possible for companies to arrange financing on a project basis that could not be arranged as a direct borrowing. For example, a company may not be permitted to borrow more money directly, due to a limitation in a bond indenture. However, a project financing can sometimes be negotiated on a basis not prohibited by the indenture. 2. Often the sponsors of, or the stockholders in, the project are seeking an off-balance-sheet financing. For example, 11 of the 29 projects in our study were arranged on an off-balance-sheet basis and one showed on the balance sheet as a deferred income item. An off-balance-sheet financing, for the purpose of this article, is a financing which does not show as a direct liability on the balance sheet of the sponsors of or stockholders in a project. 3. Projects are often located in a foreign country. The financing is arranged so that the lenders assume the political risk on the loan because many companies rightly believe that this arrangement affords a degree of insulation from political risk not otherwise obtainable. 4. Many projects are jointly owned by several sponsors. This form of financing lends itself well to a situation where a new entity is formed to own a project and do the borrowing. Project loans can be used to finance a variety of activities including development of iron-ore deposits and associated pelletizing plants; development of coal reserves; construction of pipelines, alumina plants, fertilizer plants and refineries; etc. The specific areas of analysis can be quite different, depending upon the type of project being financed. It is important, therefore, to classify the proposal according to the type of project, and also by the nature of the financing - nonrecourse financing, financing covered by a guarantee of completion and financing supported by an undertaking lasting for the life of the financing. I will discuss each of these types in more detail later, but first, I should like to make some

Jan 1, 1985

The accompanying sketch shows the interesting position of Salt Lake City with reference to Western mining areas and justifies its title "The Center of Western Mining." In the last twenty years, the area embraced within a circle of 600 miles radius with Salt Lake City as its center has produced 79.87% of the gold, 91.9% of the Silver, 77.47% of the copper, 53.61% of the lead and 26.55% of the zinc produced in the United States, including Alaska. This area also contains the greatest coal deposits of the continent, some of the greatest oil deposits, great iron deposits and many other important mineral resources. The 600-mile circle contained 69% of the active operators of other than coal mines and 40% of the men employed in mines other than coal mines of the United States, including Alaska, for the four-year period ended with 1923.

Jan 1, 1925

The Industrial Minerals Division met jointly with the Materials and Equipment Division of the American Ceramic Society at State College, Pa, Sept 24-26 Headquarters were at the Nittany Lion Inn Thurs- day afternoon was devoted to a tour of inspection of the Bell Mine, American Lime and Stone Co , Bellefonte, Pa The party returned to State College for dinner and in the evening the Division's executive committee held a brief session There were four technical sessions Friday morning, Mining, afternoon, Beneficiation, Saturday morning, Industrial Minerals and Beneficiation There was an informal banquet at the Nittany Lion Inn Friday night with 93 present Edward Steidle was toastmaster Brief talks were made by President F C Flint and Secretary Ross Purdy, of the American Ceramic Society, Oliver Bowles, Chairman, Industrial Minerals Division, Adrian Morse, assistant to the president, Pennsylvania State College, and George Otis Smith, past president A I R'I E

Jan 1, 1937

On Sept. 22 to 26, the Institute will hold its 120th meeting in Chicago. The program arranged provides for technical sessions on: Mine Taxation, Non-ferrous Metallography, Coal and Gas, Milling, Oil, Industrial Organization, Geology, Non-ferrous Metallurgy, Mining and Local Resources, Iron and Steel, Symposium on Sulfur Coals, Symposium on Pyrometry. Inspection trips have been arranged to: Gary Steel Plant. La Salle District: Zinc smelters, coal mines, cement works, America's first permanganate plant, many varied industries, scenic trips. North Chicago and Milwaukee: Mining-machinery manufacturing plants, tungsten and molybdenum reduction plants. East Chicago and Whiting: Lead refinery, oil refinery. Franklin and McCoupin: Coal fields. Chicago: Nearly every kind of metallurgical and manufacturing industry. MONDAY, SEPT. 22d Morning Registration, Non-ferrous Metallurgy, Coal and Gas. Afternoon Coal and Gas Milling Industrial Geology, etc. Evening Smoker. TUESDAY Morning Gary. Afternoon Gary. Iron and Steel. Evening Oil, Iron and Steel.

Jan 9, 1919

By N. V. Melnikov, L. N. Marchenko

The latest theoretical and experimental study of physical processes initiated by explosions in solid media have made it possible to obtain a deeper insight into the mechanism of the energy transfer to ambient rock from char es of explosives interspersed with various air gaps. As shown in (17, high explosive action causes excessive fragmentation of medium in the vicinity of the charge, while expansion of the process into the massif is negligible. A theoretical outline of a more rational application of explosion energy was given with a view of obtaining more uniform fragmentation of rock convenient for loading and transportation. The proposed idea proven by experimental study consisted of the possibility of explosion control based on redistribution of explosion energy. Practical realization of the above idea was proposed (1) involving charges with air gaps for rock fragmentation. Since the Rolla Symposium on Mining Research (USA, 1961) (2), borehole charges with air gaps have become common practice. This method of rock blasting is applied in open cast and underground mines working the hardest and viscous, hard, medium hard and soft rocks (ore, quartzites, granites, 1 imes tones, sandstones, coals, etc.) as well as at enterprises for extraction of building materials and raw chemical minerals of any strength. Application of charges with air gaps results in an increase of the degree and uniformity of fragmentation (up to 94 percent of the blasted rock mass consists of fragments not exceeding 400 mm), the average fragment size decreases by 1.5-2 times and the amount of lumps is reduced by 2-10 times (in some cases there are no lumps at all ). Besides, the amount of operation for filling boreholes with tamping material is reduced, the specific consumption of explosives

Jan 1, 1971

By AIME AIME

THE meeting of the Petroleum Division at Houston, Oct. 10-12-headquarters, Rice Hotel-was preeminently a technological success. Two hundred and twenty-five attended the Thursday morning session and approximately 200 attended the sessions on Thursday and Friday afternoons and Saturday morning. Harry Power, Chairman of the Division, in his opening remarks, credited Paul Weaver and M. Albertson, respectively chairman and vice-chairman of the local committee, with working long and prodigiously in organizing the program. The theme of the initial session was indicated by Mr. Albertson in a statement relative to the estimation of developed petroleum reserves. He said that the problem of securing more accurate estimates of developed petroleum reserves existed prior to curtailment of production. With curtailment, however, the problem became an acute one. Mr. Albertson gave some of the more important reasons for this situation. Since the decline-curve method became inapplicable, the volumetric method has become the chief one used. It depends on the factors of productive formation volume, porosity, saturation, and recovery. He briefly discussed the factors necessary for application of the volumetric method. P. P. Gregory discussed the estimation of petroleum reserves in prorated lime¬stone fields (see his paper in the October

Jan 1, 1935

By E. L. Bruce

THE district of. Patricia, in the province of Ontario, lies northwest of the Albany River and extends northward to Hudson's Bay. Formerly this was the unorganized district of Keewatin, the southern part of which was divided in 1912 between the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. The interprovincial boundary now runs north from Lake of the Woods for 275 mi. and thence northeast 375 mi. to Hudson's Bay. This district is comparable in size to all the older part of Ontario south of the Canadian Pacific Railway east of Lake Huron-thus it is roughly one-third of the whole of the present provincial area. The central part of this great triangle is one of the least accessible parts of Canada. From it streams flow southward to the English River, southeastward to the Albany, northward to Hudson's Bay and the Hayes River, and westward to Lake Winnipeg. None of the streams is large and canoe travel is not easy. The only industry it has ever had is the trade in furs. Until the development of the airplane on a commercial basis, the only means of travel was by canoe or dog-train. There is not a mile of railway in the whole district. The two areas to be dealt with lie in the southwestern part of Patricia. Red Lake is 50 mi. east of the Manitoba boundary and 75 mi. north of the transcontinental railway from Cochrane to Winnipeg. Woman Lake is 50 mi. farther east and slightly farther north. The late Dr. D. B. Dowling, of the Geological Survey of Canada, visited Red Lake and spent some time there during his exploration survey from Lac Seul to Berens River in 1893. He also visited the Woman Lake basin during the same journey, but his examination of it was much less detailed, the great area covered by him during the one field season making it impossible to make more than a hurried reconnaissance. Some prospecting in the Red Lake district followed Dowling's exploration, but the distance from railway was too great for any systematic work to be done.

Jan 1, 1928

CHICAGO SECTION CHARLES H. MACDOWELL, Chairman, LUTHER V. RICE, Vice-chairman, HENRY W. NICHOLS, Secretary-Treasurer, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Ill. ALEXANDER K. HAMILTON, G. P. HULST, HENRY P. HOWLAND, FREDERICK T. SNYDER. A meeting of the Chicago Section was held at the Chicago Engineers' Club on the evening of March 30, 1918, on the occasion of the visit of the President, Vice-president. and Secretary of the Institute. The meeting was called to order by Henry W. Nichols, Secretary of the Chicago Section. The first speaker of the evening was Mr. Allen, Deputy Fuel Administrator for the State: of Illinois, who spoke on the problems and difficulties encountered by the Fuel Administration during the past -winter, He paid high tribute to the spirit of cooperation shown by the

Jan 5, 1918

By C. WIFLARD HAYES

(New Haven Meeting, February, 1909.) I DESIRE to make it perfectly clear at the outset that I fully realize the hazardous nature of any attempt to estimate the quantity of iron-ore or any other mineral in the ground. I should not have had the temerity to venture upon an inventory of the iron-ore supplies of the United States except for the requirements of the Conservation Commission. During the preparation of this inventory I have been impressed by the wide diversity in estimates of those best qualified to. hold an opinion, and I am therefore prepared in advance for criticism of my figures. Inasmuch as this report was prepared in large part for unprofessional readers, I considered it necessary to classify and describe the commercial iron-ores in a somewhat elementary manner, in order to explain the reasons for the large element of uncertainty in the estimates. I have therefore given a chemical and a geological classification of iron-ores, which place the commercial deposits in six classes: (1) magmatic segregations in basic igneous rocks; (2) contact-deposits formed in connection with igneous intrusions; (3) concentration-deposits; (4) replacement-deposits; (5) bedded-deposits, and (6) gossan-deposits. The iron-ores are further distinguished under two classes available and not available. This classification is in large measure arbitrary, and it, is evident that it will vary front time to time. In the available class are placed those ores which can be worked at a profit under conditions essentially as they exist at present. Since it depends wholly on the question of costs, the various factors which affect cost will determine the classification of any particular deposit. Actual production, * Abstract of Report prepared for the Conservation Commission. t Chief Geologist, United States Geological Survey. .

Apr 1, 1909

NEARLY one hundred members of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America and friends of Professor Peele met at dinner at the Aldine Club, New York, on the evening of April 26, to take part in the ceremonies attending the presentation of the Society's annual gold medal. This had been awarded to Professor Peele by the Society in recognition of his laborious and painstaking work as Editor-in-chief of the monu-mental "Mining Engi-neers' Handbook. Carl A. Meissner acted as toastmaster. W. Y. Westervelt, a student and lifelong asso-ciate of Professor Peele, then recounted some of his friend's early exploits, be-ginning with his mining adventures in the paternal cellar, whereby the neces-sity for adequate ventilation was indelibly impressed on his mind. Graduating from the Columbia School of Mines in 1883, Robert Peele for several years followed the typical mining career, as assayer and superinten-dentatan outlying Colorado mine; mill foreman and assistant superintendent of the Silver King, in Ari-zona; in charge of a mine at Fairplay, Colo.; and superintendent for the Ore-gon Gold Mines Co., at Cornucopia. At intervals during this experience, he spent parts of four years on two mineral investigations m in Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, and Dutch Guiana. He i was called to Columbia as Adjunct Professor of Mining in 1892, and became Professor in 1904. During his sabattical leave in 1903 he travelled around the world, r stopping at some of the most important mining cen-ters, and in 1910 he renewed his acquaintance with South Africa and South America.

Jan 6, 1923

By David, Cole

THE years 1914-15-16 were a pioneering period in mining, milling, and copper metallurgy generally. It was uncertain just what path the crushing, grinding, and concentrating processes would take. This situation was quite embarrassing to the directors of some of our large porphyry properties, then being equipped for production. Inspiration had already made several designs for its proposed 15,000-ton concentrator, incorporating in them the latest devices developed in the art of gravity concentration, only to have the work vitiated by the rapid march of events. In a little improvised plant, built on ground that is now in the crater of subsidence over the Inspiration- Miami orebodies, flotation was being experimentally ' applied to Inspiration ore by Minerals Separation engineers in 1914, with results indicating that this process would be of major importance in the concentration of the sulfides. How best to apply it, and especially how to crush and grind the ore to the very much finer sizes required for the new process, was a serious question, properly to be answered only by doing it, in full- sized machines, under regular 'operating conditions.

Jan 1, 1931

By Walter V. Knopp, Laurence Delisle

INTRODUCTION THE aim of this work was the preparation of nickel-steels from elemental metal powders by powder metallurgy techniques. It was known that plain carbon steels could be made from a mixture of iron powder and graphite and that the effect of carbon on iron in powder form was of the same nature as that produced in fusion metallurgy. The problem in making nickel steels from elemental powders consisted therefore in finding out whether sufficient diffusion of the nickel and other incidental metals normally present in such steels could be induced in the solid state to modify the properties of plain carbon steels made from powders and produce the beneficial effect of alloying. The composition selected originally was that of an S.A.E. 2330 steel. Metal powders, in the proportion corresponding to that composition, were mixed with graphite, pressed, and heated at different temperatures for different periods of time, to produce bonding of the metal particles and mutual diffusion of the various elements without melting. Temperatures up to 1325°C and sintering periods as long as 6 hr were first investigated because it was expected that such conditions would produce maximum diffusion with an accompanying improvement in the properties of the alloy. It was found that, although diffusion proceeded to a large extent under the conditions investigated, it would not be complete unless sintering were carried out at a high temperature for much longer than 6 hr. Relatively high temperatures and long sintering times are objectionable from a practical point of view, particularly when a low cost material is to be produced, because they necessitate the use of special, costly equipment. Work could be done to improve the diffusion of iron and nickel by changing conditions other than the sintering temperature and time, i.e., finer primary or alloy powders could be used. However, a marked change in the properties of the steel had been observed even with only partial diffusion. It was thought, therefore, that instead of trying to improve the diffusion, advantage might be taken of its incompleteness to produce a special structure consisting, in the unquenched condition, of a hard constituent, rich in nickel, dispersed in a tough pearlitic matrix. Steels with such a structure, not readily obtainable by fusion, should have desirable mechanical properties. Besides, it should be possible to prepare them from elemental powders under economical conditions. This latter alternative was therefore adopted for the second phase of this work. This report is divided into four parts: 1. General Procedure. 2. Effect of Sintering Temperature. 3. Effect of Varying the Nickel Content. 4. Effect of Alloying Elements. GENERAL PROCEDURE The general technique of cold pressing as used in powder metallurgy was applied.

Jan 1, 1948

By Edward H. Robie

SUBJECT to formal Board approval in September, AIME dues will continue indefinitely at the present scale of $20 for Members and Associate Members; and $12 for Junior Members for the first six years of such membership, thereafter $17. That is the wish of the Board of Directors and the will of the membership, as expressed in the recent referendum. Though the official returns, as reported by the tellers, are not available as this is written, the data are sufficiently complete to give the results to the nearest percent. The total vote was approximately 93 pct for continuance of the present scale. Metals Branch members voted about 94 pet for continuance; Mining Branch members slightly less than that; and Petroleum Branch members about 91 pct. As in the referendum of 1949, there was no particular difference of opinion on the question of dues as between the three Branches. The percentage of ballots returned was about 61 pct, only slightly more than in the 1949 referendum. But the affirmative vote was much greater, 93 pct against 78 pet in the earlier referendum. Looked at another way, a majority of those to whom ballots were sent, 56 pct, voted to continue the present scale of dues, whereas only 46 1/2 pct of those canvassed voted to raise the dues in the previous referendum. But approximately 600 , members expressed their opinion that the dues should go back to $15 for Members and Associate Members and to $10 and $15 for Junior Members. This is a substantial group of members who either do not think they are getting their money's worth from AIME membership, or believe that a more businesslike conduct of Institute affairs should provide current services at less cost, or believe that more service is being provided for their dues than they need. As to the first point, it is probable that some members are not getting their money's worth. They perhaps have only a fringe interest in. AIME activities, or they do not or cannot participate in such activities at the Local Section, divisional, or national level, so that all they get out of the Institute is the monthly journal, which they do not have time to read. If they did read it intelligently, and acted upon the professional information thus gained, it is difficult to understand how one or more ideas cannot be gained that would be worth $20 to them professionally. But the 600 members who want lower dues offer a challenge to the Directors and to the staff to do a better job; to make Institute membership so rewarding that every. member will be thoroughly satisfied. Twenty 1935 to 1939 dollars are worth only $11.60 now, according to the latest government data, but that makes it all the more necessary for us all to appraise the value of what we buy. To the 93 pct of Institute members who expressed a vote of confidence, so to speak, the staff, and we feel sure the Directors as well, are most appreciative and thankful.

Jan 1, 1952

By W. E. STOKES

A GENERAL extension and appreciation of the stereocartographic principle of precise mapmaking is evident. Under the stimulus of war, many radical improvements in aerial photography, and in airplane and motor con? struction are indicated for the future. A survey of advanced military designs points to the conclusion that the familiar radial motor is destined for oblivion under the impact of the inverted "V" type.' The latest German inverted "V" design of 1000 hp. is 68 in. long whereas British and American motors of the same power are 72 and 94 in. respectively, suggesting a horsepower-weight efficiency ratio in favor of the former. Application of the pressure cooling principle has made possible the development of in-line air? cooled engines which offer many advantages, such as small frontal area, unobstructed vision for the pilot, freedom from vibration because rotative speeds are not limited by fundamental unbalance of reciprocating parts, freedom from excessive bearing loads, and less weight per horsepower.

Jan 1, 1940