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By James Gardner

IN 1923, Oklahoma took second place as an oil-producing state; whereas in 1922 it was the leader. California surpassed it, in 1923, by nearly 100,000,000 bbl. In 1923, Oklahoma produced, according to statistics of The Oil & Gas Journal, 165,013,685 bbl., or an increase of approximately 10 per cent. over the preceding year; the increase in California was approximately 90 per cent. The number of wells drilled in Oklahoma and the results of the two years are contrasted in the following table from data published in a preliminary bulletin by the U. S. Geological Survey. 1922 1923 Oil wells 4,149,68%. 3,515, 60% Gas wells 571, 9 %u 587, 11% Dry holes 1,428,23% 1,731,29% Total wells 6,148 5,833 The initial production from wells drilled in Oklahoma in 1923, according to The Oil & Gas Journal, was the largest in the history of the state, being 1,277,936 bbl. It has been 32 years since oil development began in the state, last year being the largest in the amount of production. The production of the past year would have been considerably greater were it not for the shutdown order in the Burbank field and curtailment of production in the Hewitt and Tonkawa pools.

Jan 3, 1924

ON p. 499 of the December issue Of MINING AND METAL-LURGY plans were announced for a memorial to en-gineers who died in overseas service during the World War and a gift to the University of Louvain on behalf of the engineers of America. In this connection it is proposed to erect a memorial tablet giving the names. of engineers who died in the foreign service. Members of the A. I. M. E. who gave their lives, so far as they are known, are listed below. It will be much appreciated if notice be given of any omissions and also if the name of some surviving relative be supplied in each case. Louis Baird, Lieut., Royal Field Artillery, British Army, killed on the battlefield, 1915. John H. Bellamy, Capt., Regimental Staff, 103rd Engi-neers, killed near Fismes, Aug. 9, 1918. Martin F. Bowles, Lieut., 1st Battalion, 355th Infantry, 89th Division, killed on the battlefield, Sept. 3, 1918. Andrew Burt, died in .active service, 1916. Stanley B. Carlisle, Machine Gun Battalion 346, 91st Divi- sion, died in France, Oct. 24, 1918.

Jan 1, 1928

At the Gateway Coal Co.'s mine, about 70 miles above Pittsburgh's Point on the Monongahela River, a battery of television cameras stands guard over what is billed as the longest conveyor belt system ever installed in a coal mine. In all, this system consists of 9% miles of 42- in. and 48-in. wide belting, and is capable of transporting 500 tph at a speed of 625 fpm from working face to the tipple located outside the mine. Gateway Coal, located near Waynesburg, Pa., is owned jointly by Jones & Laughlin. Steel Corp. (64% %), Pittsburgh Steel Co. (22lh%), and Shenango Inc. (13%). Managed by J & L, the mine is under a long-term lease from the Hillman Coal and Coke Co., which formerly operated it as the Emerald mine. Hillman produced 700,000 tons per year of metallurgical-grade coal from this mine, but since J & L et al. took over in 1962, annual output has increased to 1.7 million tons. Mine capacity will reach its peak early in 1964 when total production hits an annual rate of 3.1 million tons.

Jan 7, 1963

By Albert L. Toenges

COAL mining technique progressed slowly until the advent of mechanized mining. The cutting machine was a forward step, but had only a limited effect upon improving the percentage of coal recovery. Previously, the physical fitness of the loaders and the total output of the miners fixed mine production. The miner was an independent contractor and supervision over his working place was superficial. Rising costs and the inroads of substitute fuels demanded increased output per man to lower the unit production cost. Therefore, the amount of coal loaded mechanically in underground bituminous mines has risen from 0.3 per-cent in 1923 to 7.4 in 1929, to 20.2 in 1937, and to 48.9 percent in 1943. When loading devices were introduced it became necessary to adapt them to existing systems of mining, or to alter the mining system to fit the machine. An increased amount of supervision was required as output depended upon proper operation of the machine rather than on the physical fitness of the individual.

Jan 1, 1946

Jan 1, 1969

By completing a double-track railroad cut-off, involving a large volume of cut and fill, in addition to a half-mile bridge spanning an important French river, engineers in the zone of the Services of Supply have opened up a route by means of which hours of valuable time are being saved in transporting men and materials to combat areas. Its most valuable feature is that it provides a means for by-passing a certain city where several, French railroad lines converge and where, consequently, congestion of traffic has been responsible for delayed train movements. To avoid a double-track turnout, which would have involved a cross-over cutting one of the French tracks, the two track connections of the cut-off are taken off from opposite sides of the French right-of-way. This involved running one of the new lines of the cut-off out from the main line track on a fill to a point where it could be brought back and over the French track on a steel girder bridge. Beyond this bridge the two tracks of the cut-off converge and straighten out in the standard type of double-track construction. The new cut-off is about 5 3/4 mi. (9 km.) long and has required 160,000 cu. yd. of cut (122,329 cu. m.) and 414,000 cu. yd. (316,527 cu. m.) of fill. In the biggest continuous fill a-yardage of 180,000 has been placed; the road-bed in this section-being-about 40-ft. (12 m.) above the original ground surface. The bridge portion of the cut-off, 2190 ft. (667.5 in.) long, is made up of ninety-nine 14-ft. (4.3 m.) timber spans and sixteen 50-ft. (15.3 m.) steel girder spans. This is the longest bridge which engineers of the American Expeditionary Forces have built in France. The timber spans are supported by pile trestle bents, while the longer steel girders rest on clusters of 43 piles. Two pile drivers of the steam-hammer type worked from each -end of the bridge toward the center of the river, while a drop hammer worked westward from the shore end. In this structure nearly two thousand piles 50 ft. or so in length had to be driven.

Jan 12, 1918

Jan 1, 1967

ENGINEERS AVAILABLE (Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members.) Member, technical graduate, aged 36. Experienced copper metallurgist and mining geologist. Familiar also, through 15 years' broad practical experience, with mining, cyanidation, concentration (including oil flotation), metallurgical accounting, and mine and plant management. Best references. No. 237. Member, graduate engineer with 10 years' experience in malleable, gray -Iron, and steel, as chemist., metallographist, and metallurgist. Researches and investigations by laboratory methods and under works conditions. No objection to some routine. No. 243. Member, technical graduate, broad experience in coal, oil, and clay. Will go anywhere as mining geologist after Sept. 1, 1915. No. 244. Member, technical graduate, aged 30, married, with over 10 years' experience as chemist, engineer on construction, superintendent and general superintendent of bituminous coal and coke plants. SpeaksSpanish. References. No. 245. Member, open for engagement as mine safety inspector or as superintendent of bituminous coal mine. No. 246. Member, graduate mining engineer, with five years' experience in coal mining as mining engineer, construction engineer, pit boss, and superintendent, open for engagement. Best references. No. 247.

Jan 9, 1915

By L. O. Howard

L. D. RICKETTS, New York, N. Y.-The advance which has been made in Smelting has been in the line of cheaper cost of handling, due to larger units and decrease in losses. At the International smelter, Mr. McGregor designed everything to handle the ore under cover. But we do find an unaccounted for loss of 0.7 per cent. of our copper, which is serious. Mr. Wallace has made a suggestion that I think metallurgists ought to know of and think about. He made it years ago-and that is that one of the chief losses is undoubtedly in the charging and discharging of the calcine cars. His idea is that possibly the dryers and heaters might be put immediately over the reverberatories So that they could discharge in conveyors. They could feed on both sides, and thereby the dust raised by discharging in the cars from the hoppers could be overcome. E. P. MATHEWSON, Anaconda, Mont.-I might Say a few words on the plants we have visited So far. I was particularly struck with the cleanliness of the plants, which is next to Godliness. I noticed also that the skull-cracker arrangement they have for handling their converter slag is very good. And they have paid considerable attention to ventilation, and are taking steps to take care of the health of the men. "Safety first" has been well looked after in all the plants we have visited so far. The steel structures are right up to date, and the buildings are of the most modern type, and everything is conveniently arranged. I think the designers of the plants in the Southwest are to be congratulated on what they have done.

Jan 12, 1916

By Khosrow Bakhtar

A series of nineteen shear tests were performed on fractures 1 m2 in area, generated in blocks of sandstone, granite, tuff, hydro- stone and concrete. The tests were conducted under quasi-static and dynamic loading conditions. A vertical stress assisted fracturing technique was developed to create the fractures through the large test blocks. Prior to testing, the fractured surface of each block was characterized using the Barton JRC-JCS concept. The results of characterization were used to generate the peak strength envelope for each fractured surface. Attempts were made to model the stress path based on the classical transformation equations which assumes a theoretical plane, elastic isotropic properties, and therefore no slip. However, this approach gave rise to a stress path passing above the strength envelope which is clearly unacceptable. The results of the experimental investigations indicated that actual stress path is affected by the dilatancy due to fracture roughness, as well as by the side friction imposed by the boundary conditions. By introducing the corrections due to the dilation and boundary conditions into the stress transformation equation, the fully corrected stress paths for predicting the strength of fractured blocks were obtained.

Jan 1, 1984

By George W. Maynard

In the course of an examination of some of the California hydraulic mines in November last, I visited the property of the Gold Run Ditch and Mining Company, near Dutch Flat, Placer County. This is one of the most important and extensively worked mines in the district. The gold occurs in the characteristic blue gravel, which averages 175 feet in thickness, the lower 40-60 feet being made rip of cement gravel, which resists the action of water, and can only he loosened by blasting. The specimen which I have the pleasure of laying before the members was presented to me by Mr. I. L. Gould, the intelligent superintendent of the mines, who informs me that he found it in the old river channel, about twelve feet above the bedrock. The flattened water-worn nugget of gold, about the size of a kidney-bean, is imbedded in blue cement gravel, around which quartz has crystallized. When found the projecting portion of the nugget was enveloped in quartz, the core of gravel and gold having only been discovered after breaking the lump of quartz. On the quartz there is a shell of cement. The specimen is a remarkable confirmation of the theory of the deposition of quartz from solution. DISCUSSION. Dr. T. STERRY HUNT, in commenting upon this occurrence, remarked that it is in accordance with what we already know of the recency of some of the quartz of this region, and cited the microscopic

Jan 1, 1880

By George W. Maynard

IN the course of an examination of some of the California hydraulie mines in November last, I visited the property of the Gold Run Ditch and Mining Company, near Dutch Flat, Placer County. This is one of the most important and extensively worked mines in the district. The gold occurs in the characteristic blue gravel, which averages 175 feet in thickness, the lower 40-60 feet being made tip of cement gravel, which resists the action of water, and can only be loosened by blasting. The specimen which I have the pleasure of laying before the members was presented to me by Mr. I. L. Gould, the intelligent superintendent of the mines, who informs me that he found it in the old river channel, about twelve feet above the bedrock. The flattened water-worn nugget of gold, about the size of a kidney-bean, is imbedded in blue cement gravel, around which quartz has crystallized. When found the projecting portion of the nugget was enveloped in quartz, the core of gravel and gold having only been discovered after breaking the lump of quartz. On the quartz there is a shell of cement. The specimen is a remarkable confirmation of the theory of the deposition of quartz from solution. DISCUSSION. DR. T. STERRY HUNT, in commenting upon this occurrence, remarked that it is in accordance with what we already know of the recency of some of the quartz of this region, and cited the microscopic

Jan 1, 1880

Harry HaRkness Stoek, whose sudden death on March 1,1923, was a great shock to his friends in all park of the country, was a man of remarkable personal characteristics and mental ability. Through an acquaintance with him of nearly 35 years, during 12 yeam of which I was intimately associated with him both in business and socially, I learned to appreciate his many high qualities, his strict adherence to high professional and social ideals, and his lovable traits of character. In this appreciation I was joined by every one who was thrown in close personal contact with him. He was a conscientious student, not given to hasty judgments, but when he formed an opinion he was positive in upholding it. At the same time, he was most courteous and kindly in combatting that which he believed was erroneous. In fact, I never knew a person of his attainments more modest, forceful and kindly, or one who had a keener sense of clean humor. In his private life,he was a devoted husband and father, a consistent communicant and worker in the Episcopal Church, and was charitable in all things. In fact, his whole life was marked by helpfulness to others and a determined and successful effort to "make the world better by his having lived in it." Doctor Stoek was born in Washington, D. C., Jan. 16, 1866. His early education was obtained in the public schools of that city and he graduated from the Central High School in the first class to graduate from a high school in Washington. He entered Lehigh University in 1883, graduated in 1887 with the degree of Bachelor of Science, and after a year of post-graduate study in mining and metallurgy he received the degree of Engineer of Mines. During the summer vacation in 1885, he served as an assistant in the Department of Mineralogy in the National Museum at Washington, and during the summer of 1887 acted as U. S. Government inspector of dredging on the Tharnes River, Connecticut. From June, 1888, to January, 1900, he was assistant engineer for the Susquehanna Coal Co., at Wilkes-Barre, Pa. From January, 1890, to June, 1893, he was Instructor in Mining, Metallurgy and Geology at Lehigh University, and had charge of all courses in mining and metdlurgical design, and the visits of students to mines and metallurgical

Jan 1, 1923

Harry HaRkness Stoek, whose sudden death on March 1,1923, was a great shock to his friends in all park of the country, was a man of remarkable personal characteristics and mental ability. Through an acquaintance with him of nearly 35 years, during 12 yeam of which I was intimately associated with him both in business and socially, I learned to appreciate his many high qualities, his strict adherence to high professional and social ideals, and his lovable traits of character. In this appreciation I was joined by every one who was thrown in close personal contact with him. He was a conscientious student, not given to hasty judgments, but when he formed an opinion he was positive in upholding it. At the same time, he was most courteous and kindly in combatting that which he believed was erroneous. In fact, I never knew a person of his attainments more modest, forceful and kindly, or one who had a keener sense of clean humor. In his private life,he was a devoted husband and father, a consistent communicant and worker in the Episcopal Church, and was charitable in all things. In fact, his whole life was marked by helpfulness to others and a determined and successful effort to "make the world better by his having lived in it." Doctor Stoek was born in Washington, D. C., Jan. 16, 1866. His early education was obtained in the public schools of that city and he graduated from the Central High School in the first class to graduate from a high school in Washington. He entered Lehigh University in 1883, graduated in 1887 with the degree of Bachelor of Science, and after a year of post-graduate study in mining and metallurgy he received the degree of Engineer of Mines. During the summer vacation in 1885, he served as an assistant in the Department of Mineralogy in the National Museum at Washington, and during the summer of 1887 acted as U. S. Government inspector of dredging on the Tharnes River, Connecticut. From June, 1888, to January, 1900, he was assistant engineer for the Susquehanna Coal Co., at Wilkes-Barre, Pa. From January, 1890, to June, 1893, he was Instructor in Mining, Metallurgy and Geology at Lehigh University, and had charge of all courses in mining and metdlurgical design, and the visits of students to mines and metallurgical

Jan 1, 1923

By W. A. Backofen, D. Lee

Tlze condition of superplasticity or neck-resistanl flow that results front high strain-rate sensitivity has been observed in isothermal tension tests on several titanium alloys and one of zirconium hi general, il was associated with reasonably fine-grain micro-structures being stvained in the transformation range at rates below i - 10 -3 sec-&apos;. The metallographic mean-free path, L, was measured at room temperature after rapid cooling from the temperature of test-ing. The flow stress of Ti-GAL-4V at 950°C was proportional to La at different constanl <; the value of a decreased with increasing. E but at E< 1.5 x 10-4 sec-1 it varied only from 0.9 to 1.25. The findings were interpreted to mean that viscous boundary shear is the rate-controlling process of deformation at high levels of strain rate sensitivity in these materials. Elongation of over 1000 pet could be obtained, but a1 temperatures so high and rates so low that any practical application of the full effect would probably be difficult. As the transformation range was narrowed, by turning from Ti-6AL-4V to Ti-5Al-2.5sn to nomznally pure titanium, the allowable temperature varialion was correspondingly reduced. Superplasticily was not found in Armco iron, presumably because the transformation range was too narrow to allow the developtnenl of a reasonably stable microstructure for isolhermal lesting. THE work represented by this paper grew out of a recent study of texture hardening in a(hcp) titanium and zirconium-alloy sheet,&apos; of which part has now been published.2 It was found that, with heating, the tensile plastic-anisotropy index, R,* was decreased from well above 1 towards 1 as the temperature range for the a(hcp) -ß(bcc) phase change was entered. The clearest example of that trend is illustrated with previously unpublished data in Fig. 1. It might have been thought that such a development resulted simply from introduction of the cubic and therefore plastically less anisotropic phase. However, the accompanying change in the index of tensile strain-rate sensitivity, m = a log a/a log E, was rapidly upwards, to a high of 0.85 in some cases (also illustrated in Fig. 1). At the same time, the total tensile elongation rose to a maximum and the flow strength dropped away as R (and m) approached 1. Taken together, the observations cannot be understood as resulting from the presence of cubic phase, per se. It has been concluded instead that they reflect the largely noncrystallographic deformation which characterizes superplasticity. As demonstrated in other recent work? a necessary condition for super-plasticity is strain-rate sensitivity of flow stress sufficiently high that m is above a lower limit of -0.3. The origin of large m has been traced, in turn, to grain size so small that a substantial amount of viscous deformation is introduced by such processes as Nabarro-Herring diffusional flow4 and/or grain boundary shear.5,6 Because of problems in the processing of titanium and zirconium alloys—problems of high strength, limited ductility, and excessive springback, originating largely in slip resistance-it was natural to wonder if something useful might be done with superplasticity in those materials. Therefore experiments were made for more closely identifying and generally bounding the phenomenon with temperature and strain-rate limits, before attempting to decide about its exploitation. The results are being reported here. EXPERIMENTAL Materials. The two of primary interest were the titanium alloys of nominal composition (in wt pct) 5A1-2.5Sn and 6A1-4V. Others were a 4A1-1/4O2 titanium alloy, titanium of commercial purity (RC-70), Zircaloy-4. and Armco iron. All were received as annealed 3/16 in. thick sheet, except RC-70 which was & in. thick, and tested in that condition. Details of transformation temperature and grain size are given in Table I. The results of dilatometry for the measurement of transformation temperatures were unsatisfactory. Data were finally obtained by metallographic examination of each specimen after test, to determine from the amount of transformed 4 where the specimen had been heated in relation to the critical temperatures. Results were in reasonable agreement with information from the supplier. Strip tensile specimens were of full sheet thickness and taken along the rolling direction, except for those

Jan 1, 1968

By Robert L. Akre

When Marco Polo visited China in the 13th century, no one knew what black powder was except the Chinese: they knew enough to make dazzling fireworks with it. But the realization that black powder could also do useful work came much later and, like all important discoveries, it altered the course of history. It was in the 14th century that black powder was first used to break rock in a very crude way: there were no drills and the powder was simply poured into cracks and exploded by setting it afire. Because its energy value was pretty low, the need for something more powerful was felt when the industrial revolution arrived.

Jan 6, 1976

By R. G. Aspden, D. A. Colling

THE {120}(001) texture has been reported in near 50 pct Ni-Fe alloys <0.004 in. thick1,2 and in copper 0.014 in. thick.3 This texture is one of two types of secondary recrystallization textures observed to replace a cube texture matrix and is desirable in Fe-Ni alloys because of its unique magnetic characteristics.1,2 However, the conditions for and mechanism of the {120}(001) formation are not well understood.3 During an investigation of the influence of alloying elements on the magnetic characteristics of 49 pct Ni-Fe alloys with a sheet thickness of 0.014 in., we have observed the growth of {120}(001) secondaries when strong deoxidizers such as aluminum and calcium were present. It is believed that this observation in unique and provides additional insight with regard to the mechanism for {120}(001) texture formation. Three alloys were prepared with electrolytic iron and nickel and contained a nominal 49 wt pct Ni. Alloy A was a straight binary Fe-Ni alloy, whereas intentional additions of 0.013 wt pct Ca to alloy B and of 0.59 wt pct A1 to alloy C were made. Ingots were forged at 1100 C, hot-rolled to 0.150 in. gage, pickled, and cold-rolled to 0.014 in. Standard U-shaped magnetic test specimens were punched, deburred, sprayed with MgO, and annealed in ~50°C dew point hydrogen. Textures were identified with the aid of etch pits, the

Jan 1, 1970

By J. Nutting, D. H. Kirkwood

The oxidation of lead sulfide in air between 200° and 350°C has been investigated by electron diffraction from thick sulfide films and from galena surfnces. It has been demonstrated that sulfate is the stable reaction product up to 570°C. Sulfate is HAGIHARA has investigated&apos; single crystals of galena roasted in air by the reflection electron-diffraction technique, which owing to the very limited penetration of the beam into the crystal gives information of the nature of the surface only. He has shown that up to 280°C the first oxidation product is lead sulfate, followed by lead mono-oxysulfate (PbO . PbS04). At longer times and higher temperatures more complex patterns appeared which could not be analyzed. All of these patterns were of streaks or spots arising from crystals oriented on the galena surface, and it is probable that these crystals are lead compounds whose structures have not been determined, such as the other oxysulfates (2Pb0 • PbS04 and 4Pb0 . PbS04) or a number of oxides. Certain lead sulfide films, formed chemically, give ring patterns in transmission electron diffraction2 because they are polycrystalline, and should also give ring patterns of the products after oxidation. It was thought that a diffraction study would reveal the sequence of phases produced in the reactions at different temperatures, since X-ray powder patterns are available for many lead compounds. PREPARATION OF FILMS The films were prepared by passing H2S over a saturated solution of lead nitrate in water. Once a silvery film had formed on the solution surface, no further thickening was apparent. The films were transferred by a gauze to a bath of distilled water for washing and pieces of film were caught on small discs on which they were dried. The discs were formed initially on galena up to temperatures of 300°C, followed by oxide and oxysulfates in turn at longer times. The appearance of- these phases is believed to result from an inadequate rate of supply of sulfur to the top surface 01. the crystal. standard Siemens mounts, made of platinum alloy, and had seven 20-p apertures drilled through them. The parts of the film which had dried onto the disc surface were light blue in color, which is the interference color of a film about 600A in thickness. A strong pattern of lead sulfide was obtained in transmission electron diffraction through the apertures but slight broadening indicated a crystallite size of around 200A. Tilting a sulfide film in the beam produced arcing of the rings, increasing the intensities of the (Ill), (3111, and (222) rings and reducing (200) and (220). This arises from preferred orientation in the film, a [loo] direction of the crystallites being normal to the plane of the film. These specimens were oxidized in an oven maintained at the required temperature. The reported times include that taken to heat the film to the reaction temperature. STABLE PHASES FORMED IN OXIDATION The conditions in which various oxidation products of lead sulfide are stable have been considered by the authors in a previous paper.3 It was shown that in a normal atmosphere, taken as containing lo-&apos; atm of SOs, lead sulfate would be stable up lo about 570°C. This was confirmed by oxidizing thin films of sulfide for several days, and the analysis of the transmission-diffraction pattern is given in Table 1. The fit with the patt$rn from X-rays is good, except for the missing 3.62A ring. Some disagreement in intensities of reflections given by X-rays and electrons is to be expected. Up to 570°C a spotty pattern of sulfate was still obtained, indicating grain growth, but above this temperature the film disintegrated. Probably this is associated with the decomposition to PbO . PbS04. It needs to be emphasized that the atmosphere

Jan 1, 1965

By A. Eilers

NO one who has visited our Western mining districts, and studied the economical part of the beneficiation of the ores occurring all over that vast extent of country, can underrate the high importance of the above subject. By far the larger number of the districts which contain smelting ores, i. e., argentiferous and auriferous lead, or copper ores, are situated in the Great Basin, that great plateau between the Rocky Mountains on the east, and the Sierra Nevada on the west, almost the whole of which is comprised at present in the boundaries of Nevada, Utah, and part of Arizona. This region is essentially a barren country. The extreme dryness of the atmosphere permits but a scanty vegetation in the plains; and even in the detached mountain-chains running through it-generally from N. to S., or from N. W. to S. E.-there are no trees found except dwarfed pines and mahogany, at the head of sheltered ravines, and a few cottonwoods and willows, which fringe the insignificant streams, before the water sinks in the arid plains. Nearly all the mountain-chains in this region are rich in silver ores. That class of these ores which is adapted to amalgamation, and rich in silver, has been worked with profit for more than ten years. But before the advent of the transcontinental railways, mining was restricted to these ores alone, and the consumption f fuel could be met with the scanty supply of forest trees in the immediate vicinity of the mining districts. Since, however, the Union and Central Pacific Railroads have brought the Great Basin nearer to the commercial centres of the East and the Pacific coast, thus reducing the expenses of freight and labor materially, other silver deposits, containing poorer ores in greater abundance, have been rapidly taken