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Jan 1, 1934

By Andrews Allen

WE all remember when, a few years ago the preparation of coal was nothing but a matter of having somebody at the face or somebody in the railroad car pick out the impurities; also the sizes were generally' made" over a bar screen. Anything that was black was coal; and the only matecia1 picked out was the slate or rock-impurities that could be distinguished by eye or by hefting. This was all right as long. & coal could be sold at. a good price. After all, we are all in business to -make the most money honestly out of a certain acreage of coal and a certain plant. For this purpose what is required is the greatest possible recovery of marketable coal and the highest market price.

Jan 1, 1929

By Daniel C. Jackling

WHAT is written here features some of the things that I would say if I were to de- liver a Presidential address during the Annual Meeting to be held this month in New York. I am aware that custom favors written rather than vocal delivery of such a discourse; and, as this accords exactly with my own preference, I assure readers that they will never be called upon to hear these remarks spoken- anyhow, not by me. My year as President is drawing to a close. As I look back I like to classify and analyze the impressions that have been left with me. It has been a delightful and fascinating experience to me personally; I have appreciated the courtesies and aids, and have been deeply gratified at the honors accorded me. Perhaps the source of greatest satisfaction is the opportunity I have had to sense more about the provinces of this Institute and about the useful functions of the profession that it represents. For 38 years I have been a member. I served two terms as Director-one in 1914-'16 and again in 1927-'29. I have been honored by selection as a Saunders Medalist. I thought I was reasonably familiar with the functions, the ideals, and the activities of the Institute. But the things that I have discerned during the past year have dispelled that conceit. I still think that, a year ago, I was as well informed as most members; but since then I have had the rare privilege of executive service and insight. That has given me a perspective that I feel can be obtained in no other way-as I think the illustrious engineers who have preceded me in office will agree. I wish that I had the power to translate to every member somewhat of the feelings of pride in our organization that a year as President cannot help but instill.

Jan 1, 1939

C. D. Demond, Anaconda, Mont. (communication to the Secretary*) :—In order to throw some light on this interesting subject, a series of experiments were made with strips of mild steel, containing about 0.14 per cent. of C and 0.22 per cent. of Ma. These strips were thoroughly cleaned and brightened before use, salts were added to distilled water until it corresponded as nearly as possible to the analysis given by Mr. Lee, and in this water at different temperatures were placed four strips of steel; while four other strips, at corresponding temperatures, were placed in the water used at the Washoe Reduction Works. The latter plant has had no trouble from corrosion of furnace-jackets, pipe-lines or boilers. The analysis of the water used at the Washoe works is: Grains er U. S. Gallon. CaCO3........... 2.92 CaSO3........... 0.76 MgCI3........... 0.64 MgCO3........... 0.58 A1203........... 0.12 Fe2O3........... 0.12 SiO2........... 0.58 NaCl........... 0.35 Organic matter, etc.,........ 1.16 7.23 This water is neutral to litmus; while the artificial Copper Queen water was very slightly alkaline, which Mr. Lee informs us is also true of the water at Douglas. Both waters mere well aerated by pouring from beaker to beaker, and by blowing in air from the experimenter's lungs. The results of these tests, given in Table I., show that there is no significant difference between the effects of the two waters.

Jan 1, 1909

By AIME AIME

NAPOLEON'S dictum that an Army travels on its stomach has not changed in this present war, but the things an Army's stomach calls for would be more than strange to Napoleon. Today one of the main articles of diet for the mechanized army is oil and gasoline, and the chief and most efficient source of 'apply overland is the pipe line. It was a flexible 4-in. pipe line that supplied the voracious appetite of tanks, trucks, jeeps, and planes across the North African desert. and it is the 1800-mile pipe line from Calcutta to Kunming, Yunnan Province in China, the longest in the world, that supplied oil and 100-octane gas for the trucks, tanks, Jeeps, and planes fighting on the Assam-Burma-China front in recent months. Completion of this approximately 1800-mile pipe line to China over rivers that had never been bridged, over hill that towered 9000 ft., and over swamps

Jan 1, 1945

By AIME AIME

As already announced in the January Bulletin, this publication will be issued during the coming year monthly instead of bi-monthly as heretofore. Among other reasons for this change, it is desired to effect thereby the earlier transmission to members of important papers, lists of candidates for membership, and other items of timely information. Spokane Meeting and Excursions. Further details of the' 97th meeting of the Institute have been sent to members in the Circular of May 8, 1909. For, convenience of the members a summary of the additional in¬formation is here presented. A special train of Pullman cars will leave Chicago about September 15. This train will be side-tracked at all places visited, and the sleepers will be available for lodging and the dining-car for meals during the entire trip, except during the Yellowstone Park tour. The general. cost of the trip per member will be $300, which includes transportation, berth, and meals for the entire trip from Chicago back to Chicago, almost 6,000 miles, and the tour through Yellowstone Park, occupying in all about 30 days. Special accommodations on the train will be furnished at the following, rates

May 1, 1909

Jan 1, 1925

By Thomas T., Read

IN this survey of the progressive development (of education for the mineral industries throughout the United States, the review of .the history of each school has usually been completed wherever it is first mentioned, but the history of the schools in the cities of the eastern seaboard was not carried beyond 1870. It is necessary now to cover what happened during the period of approximately the last quarter of the nineteenth century in several of the schools in the east. Philadelphia Of Philadelphia, it has been related in chapter 4 that the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania began offering a curriculum leading to the B.S. in mining in 1853; that the school did not prosper, and finally closed about 1890. The establishment of a Department of Mining, Arts, and Manufactures at the University of Pennsylvania in 1855-56 was also mentioned, but its history was not carried beyond 1860. In 1859 J. Peter Lesley was appointed professor of mining in the University of Pennsylvania. The son of a cabinetmaker, born in Philadelphia Sept. 17, 1819, he had taken his A.B. degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1838 and then secured a position on the Geological Survey of Pennsylvania under H. D. Rogers. When the Survey was discontinued, in 1841, he went to Princeton to study theology, was ordained a Presbyterian minister and followed that career until 1852, when the Pennsylvania, Geological Survey was again started and he rejoined its staff. He published "A Manual of Coal and its Topography" in 1856, and studied at the École des Mines, Paris, in 1856-57. He published an 800-page "Iron Manufactures Guide" the year that he was appointed to the staff at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1863-64 a College of Agriculture, Mines, Arts and the Mechanic Arts was established, but it was not a separate school

Jan 1, 1941

By AIME AIME

ON JULY 12, 1921, S. S. Arentz, representative at large from Nevada, introduced in the House of Representatives, under the number H. R. 7736, a bill to revise, amend and codify laws of the United States relating to the location of mining claims on public domain, and other purposes. This bill had been drafted by a committee of consulting engineers of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. The immediate purpose of this introduction in Congress was to make it avail- able for general information and discussion. In pursuance of this purpose Mr. Arentz issued the following circular: This proposed codification and revision of the mining laws of the United States as received from a committee of mining and metallurgical engineers appointed by the Director of the United States Bureau of Mines was introduced in the House of Representatives by the undersigned (who has operated and developed mines throughout the West for many years). It is submitted to prospectors, mine operators and mining engineers, all of whom are affected and vitally interested in the subject with the hope that they will give this bill their careful consideration and study.

Jan 1, 1921

By T. Sterry Hunt

Jan 1, 1884

By E. L. BROKENSHIRE

FLUORSPAR, a little known non-metallic mineral, referred to technically as fluorite, chemically as calcium fluoride, is a compound of calcium and fluorine in the ratio of one molecule of calcium to two of fluorine. By weight it is composed of 51.3 per cent of calcium and 48.7 per cent of fluorine. Its specific gravity is 3.2. It is brittle, has a hardness of four and can be easily scratched with a knife. It weighs about 200 Ib. per cubic foot and has a melting point of 1650" F. The color of fluorspar ranges from pure white and opaque white, according to its purity, to various hues of yellow, green, pink, lavender, blue and brown, to bluish black. Although the lumps have color, when ground the fluorspar becomes pure white. The reason for this is because the mineral usually carries no fixed pigment, the color being produced by the re- fraction of light rays within the crystal structure and small quantities of organic matter which readily oxidizes. It crystallizes in the isometric system with perfect octahedral cleavages.

Jan 1, 1929

THE annual meeting of the Lake Superior Mining Institute was held on Sept. 7 and 8, Crystal Falls and Iron Mountain, Mich., being the principal centers of activity. Members of both institutes began assembling early, and by the evening of Sept. 6, some 60 had already arrived at Crystal Falls. The greater number arrived the following morning, however, and after the usual formalities of registration were attended to, the party were loaded into automobiles and set out on a tour of inspection of the mines near Iron River; some properties were passed through, and some were briefly visited to permit the inspection of any unusually interesting piece of equipment or detail of practice. The last stop of the morning was at the Caspian, Iron River, where the entire party was entertained at luncheon at the Caspian Club House. Both the food and the company were excellent, and as the weather was superlatively good (though the natives of the district modestly declared it was only ordinary autumn weather) the lunch was served on the lawn at the rear of the club, where the green turf, abundant flowers, and music by the band, added to the charm of good fellowship. The degree to which mining men have become addicted to golf was indicated by the large number of plus fours in evidence, whose wearers appeared just before lunch and disappeared immediately afterward.

Jan 1, 1928

By Howard H. Fields

Any mining engineer with a desire to operate independently, with some financial backing, and with no fear of heavy responsibility and long hours, should be able to make a comfortable living in Mexico. Barring a few inconveniences such as a lack of satisfactory liability or accident insurance, the difficulty of obtaining repair parts or vehicles, and the length of time required to receive returns from shipments, the operation of small mine is not at all difficult. It is, in fact, a little easier to find a good prospect in Mexico than in the U.S.

Jan 1, 1950

By J. L. Bray

ACCELERATED programs, as discussed in this paper, refer to the year-around operation of a college or university with three sixteen-week or four twelve-week terms per year, with pauses between sufficient only to allow the administrative group to perform their functions. In most engineering schools, under such conditions, the conventional four-year course can be condensed to two years and eight months. These accelerated programs of study, which now exist in most of our technical institutions, were forced upon us under the influence of the outburst of wartime patriotism, perhaps one might go so far as to call it hysteria. Many of us felt and hoped that these programs were temporary expedients, but the cold hard threat of permanency now rears its head; consequently we should examine the merits and shortcomings of the new order, and evaluate its effect on our educational system, since it may persist in some form in the postwar years, because of the changing political and financial situation. Many engineering students are being educated in state supported institutions

Jan 1, 1944

By Paul T. Benson

MOST important of the various departments of a custom smelter, so far as the financial welfare of the plant and the confidence of shippers are concerned, is that responsible for correct weights, accurate moisture sampling, and the obtaining of control samples that are strictly representative of the lot of ore from which they come. Treatment rate schedules are based on the metal content of ores received, reduced to dry weight. These rates must be low enough to keep the ship- per from taking his business else- where and still must allow the smelter a profit. Assay results, likewise, must satisfy the shipper, but if they show too high a metal content for the ore they represent, the smelter will actually lose money. It is always considered, and constant checks through umpire assays prove, that laboratory results are closely correct, so the bur- den of the plant profit and loss and the satisfaction of the shipper rest squarely upon the sampling department.

Jan 1, 1936

By George S. Rice

DEFINITE data on the amplitude and effect of ground movement in specific mineral formations, caused by various methods used in the mining of ores, coal, and nonmetals, or in the extraction through wells of petroleum, sulphur, and soluble salts, are increasingly needed because of legal liabilities from damage to overlying or adjacent properties, and growing concern as to the conservation of national mineral resources. Not since the committee was established in 1923 has it been so difficult to get technical papers giving ground movement and subsidence data from specific mine operators. The reasons given, as above indicated, are pending or threatening lawsuits. There are three major objectives in ground movement and subsidence studies : (1) Maximum recovery of a mineral resource. (2) Minimizing damage to surface structures, highways, railroads, and agricultural lands caused by caving or subsidence, which may in some situations, as along the Gulf of Mexico shore, cause flooding by surface waters. (3) Lessening damage to overlying or adjacent mineral by back-filling of mine excavations as completely as possible.

Jan 1, 1940

By AIME AIME

FREDERICK WORTHEN BRADLEY, the newly elected president of the Institute, may be said to be the prototype of the men who have built up the great mining industry of the West. He was born in Nevada County, Cal., on Feb. 21, 1863, and studied mining at the University of California from 1882 to 1884, as a member of the Class of 1885. He was in contact with the mining industry from his earliest years and in his reminiscences which we published last month, he told of meeting Thomas Mein and H. C. Perkins in 1877. Beginning as assayer and roustabout at the Eagle Bird mine, in Nevada county, Mr. Bradley was a deputy mineral surveyor in 1886 and 1887 and superintendent of the Spanish mine from 1885 to 1890. There he made a record of mining gold ore at 65 cents per ton that was not only astounding in that day when modern large scale mining had not yet been developed but is still a mark to shoot at. As a result he was called in 1890 to be assistant manager of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan and was made manager in 1893. In 1897, he was elected to the presidency of the company, a position he still holds. H. C. Perkins and D. O. Mills, the largest stockholders in the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Co. took over the Tacoma smelter in 1898, feeding it with concentrate from the Coeur d'Alene and Douglas Island mines but also doing a gen-era1 smelting business. Mr. Bradley was put in as president of the Smelting company, and held that position until the plant was sold to the American Smelting Securities Co. in 1905.

Jan 1, 1929

By J. L. CAHUTHERS

MANY different methods are used for transporting coal from the working face to the tipple. The common methods are animal haulage, locomotive haulage, conveyor systems, and combinations of these three, supplemented, at times, by the miner pushing his own car. Haulage may also be classified into gathering and main line. Gathering haulage is the collecting of loaded cars to a point whence they are hauled to the tipple. In this there is perhaps more lost-time than on the main line because there are .more units in the operation to be synchronized. Also, conditions on the gathering haul- age, such as bad track, poor timbering, insufficient motive power, etc., cause delays; usually these are corrected on the main-line haulage.

Jan 1, 1931

By Mark Eisner

ONE'S JOB is the watershed down which the rest of one's life tends to flow write the Lynds in the first pages of their classic social study, "Middletown in Transition." Certainly engineers will confirm this statement after a check among those in their own profession with whose lives they are at all familiar. I have no hesitancy in acknowledging the truth of their observation for the men and women who are engaged in the profession of the law. It has been often remarked that American public life is overrun with members of the law profession. The highest public office in the land, that of President. has been occupied by lawyers almost to the exclusion of citizens of any of the other professions. Twenty-two Presidents of the United States out of the total of 31, were members of the bar. For the most part, members of Congress, the governors of the states, the state legislators and the mayors and other local leaders, men who occupy important positions of responsibility and public trust, have had legal training. Now this fact is no mere accident. Those who were fitted for the "job" of the practice of the law are favorably placed with respect to their participation in public life. Thus public service and public office is the watershed down which the "lawyer's" life tends to flow.

Jan 1, 1940

By A. M. STROKG

Discussion of the paper of Charles R. Keyes, presented at the Spokane meeting. Bulletin o. 34, October, 1909, pp. 867 to 903. A. M. STRONG, Bishop, Cal: (communication to the Secretary*) The paper of Mr. Keyes gives us the most complete account of the geology of the borax-deposits in the Death Valley region that has yet been published, and is a valuable addition to the geological literature of a very interesting though little-known territory. During the past ten years I have been over much of the northern part of the country described by Mr. Keyes and the region immediately north of it. Mr. Keyes seems to give the impression that Furnace creek is the northern end of these borate-bearing deposits, but such is not the case. Of the seven principal marsh-deposits which for years furnished the greater part of the borax supply in the manner described by him, four are north of the boundary-line as given on his map. The entire territory immediately east of the Sierra Nevada is composed of a series of sinks, each with a well-defined drainage-area.. Of these, Death valley is the deepest, and its drainage-area one of the greatest. The section given in the paper is typical of any line drawn eastward from the Sierra Nevada. At the lowest point of each of these sinks is a marsh, which, in times of heavy rain-fall in the mountains, is converted into a lake. These marshes always contain borax, which is now considered to have been derived from the washing of the Tertiary lake-beds in the surrounding mountains, of which they form a considerable part. Additional territory which I have studied shows that the boundaries given on Mr. Keyes's map should be considerably extended to the north. Just how far these borate-beds extend I am not prepared to say. J. E. Spurr says of them : 1

Feb 1, 1910