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By Edward Steidle

NOTHING stands still. We go forward or backward. As a distinct group of educators, our immediate concern is with the preparation of young men and women for participation in the mineral industries on a professional basis. I am going to have the temerity to state emphatically that for a long time as a whole we have remained in a static position. We are now confronted with the choice of advancement or retrogression. We are still in a position to make a choice and our ultimate fate will depend upon the course of action we elect to follow. Wars always have been great catalysts and social and scientific advancements mature under military stimulus in a fraction of the time normally consumed. We are now in the midst of a conflict whose duration or final effects cannot be estimated. However, the record already demonstrates that this war as never before is a mineral war in which incentive, strategy, and outcome are directly related to the distribution and utilization of minerals. The inevitable result is a drain upon our resources now reflected in our record production and a growing public consciousness of the importance of minerals in the role of human affairs. It is evident that we must seek new mineral frontiers beyond the borders of the United States and take every other precaution to forestall a "have-not" position in the world.

Jan 1, 1943

By Harry C. Wiess

RECENT announcement of further restrictions on gasoline consumption in the Mid-West and Southwest has focused public attention on current discussions of an oil scarcity. Conflicting arguments are advanced on the one hand that we have plenty of oil and will not need to restrict consumption as soon as transportation facilities are adequate, and on the other hand that a great impending shortage will require most drastic reductions in civilian consumption in order to provide adequate supplies for military purposes. Data can be presented to support both views, the result being that the public is confused and uncertain of where the truth lies. For a nation with about half of the known crude-oil reserves of the world and two thirds of the total production it seems almost incredible to the layman that any shortage can exist. Those familiar with estimates of future demand. however. show increasing concern regarding our ability to meet military demands without further restrictions in civilian use or wasteful production from our remaining reserves. Only by considering such facts as are available and can be made public can a true appraisal be made of whether or not we are faced with a shortage that will amount to a crisis in crude oil.

Jan 1, 1943

By AIME AIME

BERYLLIUM is one of the most interesting of the minor metals and distinctly a modern development, for until the last two decades it had practically no commercial importance whatever. Then it was discovered that when small quantities of it were alloyed with copper, a copper alloy of unusual and valuable qualities resulted. This is by far its major use-in the manufacture of strong, heat-treated copper-base alloys in which the beryllium content varies from about 0.3 to 2.5 per cent. Its second most important use, though much smaller, is in the form of oxide or other nonmetallic products in the fluorescent lamp, X-ray, cathode ray, and television industries. Certain beryllium salts have the quality, in common with several other materials, of transforming short-wave radiation and cathode rays to visible radiation. Such materials are commonly known as phosphors, and the beryllium salts are the most important phosphors now in use. The third largest use for beryllium is for ceramics, including refractories. Beryllium is also used in small quantities in the form of the metal itself.

Jan 1, 1943

By P. E. Fitzgerald

SOME readjustments in the research programs of most of the oil companics and petroleum engineering schools have been made necessary by the war. The most obvious change has been the conversion from production engineering to problems more closely related to the nation's was effort. Many laboratories now devote much of their time to studies on products to be derived from petroleum. such as synthetic rubber, toluene, and substitutes for critical materials. Others are working to improve motor fuels including high-octane gasoline and the special lubricants required by the wide geographical range of the present conflict. Of great importance is the experience of the geophysicists, who are now devoting a great percentage of their time on instrument research and production or special apparatus required by the armed forces.

Jan 1, 1943

By L. W. Blau

THE entrance of geophysics and geochemistry into petroleum engineering may be viewed with apprehension by some engineers. They may not remember the time when "practical oil men" opposed the invasion of engineers into the field of petroleum production. By their excellent contributions they established themselves. In the popular mind, engis veers are practical men whereas physicists and chemists are suspected of being theoretical. It will be best to annihilate this misconception right now at the beginning of a closer relationship between petroleum engineers. geophysicists, and geochemists.

Jan 1, 1943

By Basil B. Zavoico

ALTHOUGH the American petroleum industry was affected by the Second World War from its early beginning it was not until Dec. 7, 1941- that the industry was placed on full war footing. Even throughout most of 1942 the American overseas operations were limited and not until late in the year did expansion of military activities, more particularly the offensive in North Africa, affect the domestic supplies to such an extent that critical deficiencies developed locally in this country, particularly along the East Coast. The definite outlook for greatly expanded offensive operations by the United States on both Atlantic and Pacific fronts makes certain that during 1943 the domestic situation will. not be alleviated; rather it may become even more critical even though additional transportation facilities, now being built and planned. will be completed from the southwestern producing states to the East Coast.

Jan 1, 1943

By D. B. Gillies

IN 1938 the Republic Steel Corp. announced that it had leased the ore mines and other property of the Witherbee Sherman Corp. at Port Henry, N. Y. The announcement brought forth an interesting reaction. Two questions were asked repeatedly: (1) Is the iron product high grade? (2) Is there a substantial reserve? The answer to both questions was and is a decided and emphatic "Yes."

Jan 1, 1943

By GEO H. DEIKE

NOT much activity has been evident during the past year in the establishment of co-operative scholarships but the interest among the coal-mining companies is more pronounced than ever. This is apparent from the replies received to a letter sent out by the Committee on the Promotion of Student Interest in Coal Mining to over 120 coalmine operating officials. With that letter was forwarded a bulletin issued by the school of mineral industries of The Pennsylvania State College entitled ?Industrial Scholarships ? a Partnership of Industry and Education.? In that circular was outlined the need for trained men in the war and postwar world, and particularly as such demands pertain to the growth of the mineral industries.

Jan 1, 1943

By HAROLD VINTON COES

MANAGEMENT has been tersely defined as getting things done through the efforts of other people; but before we proceed further, let us distinguish between administration, management, and organization. Oliver Sheldon in his book, "The Philosophy of Management," offers the following definitions: Administration is the function in industry concerned in the determination of the corporate policy, the co-ordination of finance, production, and distribution, the settlement of the compass of the organization, and the ultimate control of the executive.

Jan 1, 1943

By R. R. Sayers

TWO serious hazards from coal dust confront the bituminous-coal miner- -a physical or safety hazard and a physiological or health hazard. The first threatens the miner with loss of life from coal-dint explosions, and the second with loss of health and earning capacity from inhaling large quantities of the dust. Studies by the Bureau of Mines have shown that coal dust, except some grades of anthracite dust, is capable of initiating an explosion when no explosive gas is present and that its property of extending or propagating an explosion has been responsible for nearly all the widespread explosions that have occurred in bituminous mines in the United States in the present century. For years many mining people believed that low-volatile coal dust was not explosive but not only is it explosive but if the source of ignition is intense, it is as explosive as the dust of many high-volatile coals because the war is creating increased pressure for greater coal production and because of the trend toward greater mechanization in mines, explosion and health hazards from coal dust are likely !n increase considerably.

Jan 1, 1943

By AIME AIME

T. E. PURCELL, general chairman . of the local committee, opened the seventh meeting of the Fuels Division A.S.M.E. and the Coal Division A.I.M.E., at the William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh, Oct. 28-29, by introducing Harry M. Moses, president, H. C. Frick Coke Co., who welcomed the 500 registrants to "our town." Mr. Moses, in his brief talk, declared that in the postwar period each of the new centers must have a reason for existence. Pittsburgh, he said, has no iron ore, or bauxite, and limestone is scattered and not near by; but Pittsburgh does have low-cost fuel within reasonable distance. Its problem is the economical utilization of the low-cost fuels that remain, as the high-quality fuels are gone. Mr. Moses expressed confidence in this group in the solution of the problem and looked forward to what they would do. Harold V. Coes, the first A.S.M.E. president to attend one of these conferences, responded. He thoroughly believed in these joint meetings - in the cross-fertilization of ideas. Each Division learns from the other. Mr. Purcell then turned the meeting over to J. E. Tobey who presided over the coal research session that followed.

Jan 1, 1943

By Martin A. Moyers

THE nation's effort to win the war speedily is reflected in current trends in coal utilization, as in all other fields of our lives. In all industries, wherever coal is used for the production of heat and power the emphasis is on getting the most useful result with the least expenditure of matt.ria1. In addition to carrying its own share of the load, increased as it is by the demands of war industry, coal has had to fill in for the other fuels, mainly petroleum products, whose distribution from their more distant sources has been crippled by lack of shipping. Thus, the outstanding note in the utilization of coal this year is not the development of new methods of burning or handling coal but the extraordinary job that the industry has done in producing enough coal to serve all needs.

Jan 1, 1943

By F. W. SUTTER

IN order to have ore available on the completion of the beneficiation plant at Clifton and to provide for continuous production while underground development was carried out, it was decided to develop an open-pit through the crest of a long hill in which the ore outcropped, using 40-ft. vertical benches.

Jan 1, 1943

By AIME AIME

THIS year's Chairman of the Institute of Metals Division is a relatively rare phenomenon in the metallurgical profession; he is an expert historian of metallurgy, he is a confirmed collector and student of old works on alchemy, chemistry, and metallurgy-vide: the famous Biringuccio and he is a profound student (with a somewhat idealistic slant) of recent trends in world affairs and in what some incurable optimists call civilization; and at the same time he is still possessed of a sense of humor. Incidentally he is also one of the bestknown nonferrous metallurgists in this country and abroad, and for fifteen years has been a willing worker in A.I.M.E and the Institute of Metals Division.

Jan 1, 1943

By A. E. WALKER

SOME eighty years have elapsed since the discovery of the Clifton magnetite deposit. For a few years about the time of the Civil War it was mined for iron ore. most of which was smelted on the property. Since risen the small exposures of ore in the old cut. test pits, and on the dumps have been examined by various prospectors. The M. A. Hanna Co. first became interested in the possibilities of the deposit when we discovered the large area of strong magnetic anomalies caused by the margnetite bed, indicating a size that would support a commercial operation. In 1940 we made a detailed magnetometer survey of the area. and the deposit was diamond-drilled. The main ore lied was found to be 1500 ft. long, to average 60 ft. thick, and to dip southeast at an angle of about 40 deg. The thickness of the bed is irregular in wavy folds both along the strike. and down the dip. Faults occur at both raids of the main deposit.

Jan 1, 1943

By E. DeGolyer

WAR has wrought sharp and sudden changes in the pattern of the oil industry. The most obvious and most striking of such changes have been in the fields of transportation and refining. A third of the world's total oil production formerly started to market, tanker-borne, over the waters of the Gulf and Caribbean. Most of this oil went to our North Atlantic ports, supply points for the world's greatest consuming center. This tremendous traffic, disrupted by the loss of tankers as a result of requisition for military purposes and by the activity of enemy submarines, has had to be substituted largely by such lines of supply as could be improvised without loss of too much time. No single solution for this gigantic problem has been found nor is it likely to be entirely solved for some time to come. It has been solved in part, however, by rearrangement, reversals, and patching up of existing pipe-line systems; by overland transport of crude and products in tank cars on a scale never before attempted; by barging over inland waterways; and through the construction at long last of the "big-inch" line, the first leg of which is just being put into operation as far as Norris City, III. The tank-car traffic alone, reaching a peak of deliveries of 856,710 barrels per day into District 1 during the week ending Sept. 19, 1942, and accomplished at an expense of millions of dollars in extraordinary transportation costs, defrayed by the Defense Supply Corp. and by the mobilization of tank cars from all over the nation, is a story worth the telling but by some of those who directed it.

Jan 1, 1943

By AIME AIME

CHARLIE WARNER, Chairman of the Petroleum Division, is no stranger to the problems of the oil industry or to those of the Petroleum Division, after more than 25 years of experience in locating and producing oil and more than 22 years of membership in the Institute. He was born at Jefferson, N. Y.. April 27, 1894, and educated in the public schools of New York State and at Cornell University where he studied geology and allied sciences from 1913 to 1917 and received a B.A. degree. Immediately upon completion of this training, he was employed by the Empire Gas & Fuel Co. as a field geologist in Oklahoma and Kansas. Two years later he became district geologist for the Emerald Oil Co. in Oklahoma and Kansas, and in 1920 he rejoined the Empire Gas & Fuel Co. in the capacity of district geologist in Oklahoma. In September of 1921 he began his association with the Houston Oil Co. of Texas. He was district manager for the company in the Mid-Continent area until 1932 when he was transferred to the head office at Houston, where he became superintendent of the land and lease department in 1934 and was elected a director of the company in 1941. In these capacities, and also as petroleum engineer for the company, he keeps in intimate touch with all phases of field activity and with the regulation of the industry by State and Federal agencies.

Jan 1, 1943

By William L. Batt

FROM the time the Japs overran the Far East, the United Nations faced a serious military problem in the critical shortage of many raw materials desperately needed to prose¬cute the war on two fronts. For many months this critical shortage threatened substantially to limit the gigantic effort to get shooting equipment into the hands of the fighting men on the far-flung battle lines. Now this crisis has been met. Solvency in raw materials has been achieved. Simply stated, this job of producing solvency has been done by "cutting cloth to fit the garment." This does not mean that we have all the raw materials we need. Unfortunately, a few raw materials are still short, thereby limiting the total production of certain war goods, or making these goods less effective. Where the supply of raw materials is known to be limited, however, substitutions have been made or production schedules have been geared to the amounts available, and an over-all balance has been achieved between various parts of the war-production program.

Jan 1, 1943

By AIME AIME

HEREWITH is presented a preliminary report of a special committee, consisting of Erle V. Daveler, Paul D. Merica, and C. H. Mathewson (chairman), dealing with sundry matters of which many are of vital interest to all members of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. As the report states, the initial purpose of the investigation was to determine ways and means to stimulate "the welfare and growth" of the Institute of Metals and Iron and Steel Divisions. However, it soon became apparent to the committee that most of the problems and possible correctives were of no less vital concern 1o members of the other Divisions and to the "unattached" group of members. Consequently, the Committee has authorized publication of the report and invites written comment from any member on the specific recommendations or on any other phase of the broad subject.

Jan 1, 1943

By AIME AIME

BY the end of 1943, the United States will be able to produce aluminum at a rate of 1,150,000 tons a year. How much aluminum is 1,150,000 tons? It is sufficient to replace every railroad passenger car in this country three times a year. Or, it would put a thirty-piece aluminum cooking utensil set in every one of America's 34,000,000 homes with enough metal left over to make 5,000,000 miles of aluminum transmission cable, such as was used in the electrification of much of rural America. Expansion of aluminum production capacity for the war program has occurred in three steps: (1) expansion by private industry; (2) the letting of contracts by the Defense Plant Corp. for the construction of additional aluminum plants which may remain after the war to compete with existing facilities; and (3) the more recently announced D.P.C. program for the building of emergency plants to make aluminum, using stand-by power available in large metropolitan centers power of relatively higher cost, making it questionable whether such plants, now gravely needed, will be able to compete in a peacetime economy.

Jan 1, 1943