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The opening session of the Institute was held at Hazle Hall, Tuesday evening, October 27th, with a large attendance of members. President Raymond called the Institute to order, and after a few introductory remarks, introduced Mr. I. Lowthian Bell, President of the Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain, and Honorary Member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. Mr. Bell was received with great applause, and made his acknowledgments in a brief speech, of which the following is the substance: He desired to thank the Institute personally for the honor conferred upon him in his election to membership, and also for the invitation extended last year to the body of which he was President. The difficulty felt by many members of the Iron and Steel Institute, of leaving for a long journey the works of which they had charge, aggravated by special industrial troubles at the time of the invitation, had obliged them to conclude that it could not then be accepted in a fitting manner. The iron .manufacture of this country is a subject of great interest to Englishmen, who look with pride upon the achievements on this side the water of the descendants of a common ancestry. His own reception in this country had far surpassed in cordiality even the well-grounded anticipations he had formed from the assurances of the President and other friends. Notwithstanding the flattering manner in which his friend, in introducing him to the Institute, had spoken of his contributions to the science of iron metallurgy, he could not take to himself alone the significance of this welcome. He knew it was a recognition of the services rendered by the body which he had the honor to represent; and he was glad to see present a member of that body, Mr. Thomas Whitwell, who had fortunately been able to make the journey at this time, arid whom he had had the pleasure of meeting on the shores of Lake Champlain. He had been requested to say something of his impressions of the American iron industry. It was not easy to digest so soon the vast

By John B. Mertie

MONAZITE formerly was described as moribund, but, in the light of recent developments, it is no longer so. It is the common source of the rare earths and thorium, both of which are becoming progressively important in industrial and other applications. Moreover, by the action of foreign governments, the sources on which the United States has depended for its supply are now either restricted or cut off entirely. Monazite has thus become a scarce mineral and processors in this country are endeavoring to acquire it from all available sources. RARE EARTHS AND THORIUM The rare earths proper, as defined by spectroscopists, are the oxides of cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, prometheum, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium and lutecium, with atomic numbers ranging respectively from 58 to 71. Chemists include with the rare earths scandium, yttrium, and lanthanum, with atomic numbers respectively of 21, 39, and 57. Thorium, with an atomic number of 90, is analogous to lanthanum, in that it precedes a second group of elements, whose oxides constitute the "rare earths of higher order." These are protactinium, uranium, neptunium, plutonium, americium and curium, with atomic numbers ranging respectively from 91 to 96. The last four mentioned are artificially prepared elements that so far have not been detected in nature. The rare earths with odd atomic numbers, except europium and lutecium, have no natural isotopes; and the two exceptions have only two isotopic forms. Those with even atomic numbers have from 4 to 7 natural isotopes. Samarium148 is radioactive, disintegrating over a half- life of 1.4 X 10 11 years with the emission of alpha rays. Lutecium176 is weakly radioactive, disintegrating over a half-life of 2.4 X 1010 years, with the emission of beta and gamma rays. At least 64 radioactive isotopes of the rare earths proper have been artificially prepared. Thorium is a strongly radioactive element, with a half-life of 1.39 x 1O10 years, which disintegrates through a series of 14 isotopes of 10 elements. The two longest lived and most important of these are

Jan 1, 1949

By Wallace Ralston

DuRing the year of 1937, the East Texas district produced 211,194,467 hbl. of oil and marketed more than 22,329 million cu. ft. of gas; 3377 oil and gas wells were completed. During this same period 106 exploratory wells were drilled, discovering three new oil fields and one gas-distillate field. Fields East Texas Field.—The East Texas field again led the district as to production and number of wells completed. During the year, 2420 oil wells were completed, making a total of 24,382 producing wells, which produced 171,336,854 bbl. of oil, for a total of 1,156,352,834 bbl. since the beginning. During the year the average bottom-hole pressure dropped 49 lb., making the average bottom-hole pressure 1119 lb. Approximately 3500 wells are making salt water, 20 per cent of them making over 80 per cent of the water. During the month of December, the daily average production of salt water was 119,000 barrels. Talco Field, Titus and Franklin Counties.—The Talco field produced 9,780,948 bbl. of oil during the year, from 637 wells. During the year 472 wells were completed. All of the wells are pumping and 241 are making salt water. This field has followed a normal development and did not exceed the estimated number of acres reported last year. Rodessa Field, Cuss and Marion Counties.—The Rodessa field was extended about 13 miles southwest into Marion County, which added approximately 4000 acres to the field. During the year 260 wells were completed, making a total of 416 producing wells, which produced 12,646,-970 bbl. of oil. The author was unable to obtain figures for the amount of gas produced. The field has two gasoline plants, which had a daily average of 16,558,000 cu. ft. of gas during December, averaging 0.83 gal. per M cu. ft. As of Jan. 1, 31 wells were making salt water. The bottom-hole pressure varies greatly, depending upon the pay from which the well is producing. The average bottom-hole pressure from the Young

Jan 1, 1938

By Arthur F. Wendt

Within the last few years the production of iron, and of the metals generally, by a given furnace-plant, has been largely increased, in many instances trebled. Iron-furnaces exceeding one hundred tons' capacity per diem are now the rule in new constructions. Copper and lead-furnaces smelting from 60 to 100 tons of ore per day are common. With this greatly augmented product, the life of furnace-linings has been diminished, and recourse has been had to various cooling devices for prolonging the life of such liuings. The object of this paper is to call the attention of the profession to an arrangement recently patented by the writer. The common course of projecting water against the exterior of the brickwork of a furnace has been in a large measure abandoned by our most progressive managers. All have recognized the danger of this proceeding, especially when applied to the crucible of a furnace below the line of the tuyeres. Cast-iron water-jackets, with wroughtiron pipes for circulating the cooling-water, have replaced the cruder methods. In iron-smelting the use of such jackets has been confined to the crucible and the space around the tuyeres; and it has been the custom to support the jackets on the brickwork of the furnace. But the erosion of the brickwork below tuyere-jackets allows them to sag, and often displaces the alignment of the tuyeres and leads to other annoyances. The principle of construction adopted by the writer to remedy this and other evils, is to use a thin fire-brick lining (not over nine inches) from the tuyeres up to the bosh, to back this lining with wrought-iron or steel water-jackets, hung from the mantel-ring, and thus to carry the whole weight of the furnace and its filling upon the supporting pillars. The crucible proper is lined with three or four thicknesses of fire-brick on the sides, and not less than forty-eight inches in the bottom. It is supported on independent pillars, and is practically an independent structure. It could even be placed on wheels and made removable, were there any adequate advantage to be gained by such an arrangement.

Jan 1, 1885

The Committee on Nominations begs to submit the following names as its nominees for the respective offices indicated: For President, SIDNEY J. JENNINGS, New York. For Vice-Presidents. C. W. GOODALE,* Butte, Mont.; MARK, L. REQUA, San Francisco. For Directors, J. E. JOHNSON, JR., New York; ALLEN H. ROGERS, Boston; HOWARD N. EAVENSON, West Virginia; ROBERT AI. RAYMOND, New York; WILLET G. MILLER, Canada. The nomination for President has attracted the attention of a large number of members, as is evidenced by the receipt of many hundreds of letters and postcards. Most of these favored either Sidney J. Jennings or Philip N. Moore, each of whom received many cordial endorsements. Such a wide interest on the part of the members is a very wholesome sign, but where there is so much activity it is natural to expect a certain amount of criticism. Some of the letters indicate that the authors feel that the nomination of President should be left entirely to the Committee on Nominations without any effort by the members at large to influence them. Others feel that the nominations are largely controlled by a small group and that the members at large can have little influence. As the result; of the experience of the last few months; a majority of the Committee on Nominations begs leave to suggest that the method of making nominations be changed so that two candidates, at least, for the various offices to be nominated, and suggests that the Directors appoint a committee to investigate this question thoroughly with. a view to making definite recommendations. In accordance with its opinion that the best interests of the Institute would be served by a change in the Constitution, allowing the nomination of two candidates, and in view of the fact that this Committee has no authority to make more than a single nomination for each office, considering the high standing of both Mr. Jennings and Mr. Moore and the large number of members favoring each of these gentlemen, this Committee respectfully suggests the desirability of ,the immediate nomination of Philip N. Moore by a petition of 25 members in accordance with the present Constitution. This Committee regrets, its inability to make two nominations. Respectfully submitted, S. W. MUDD, Chairman.

Jan 1, 1917

By Raymond Mancha

THE purpose of the Coal Division's Committee on Ventilation is to cover one principal aspect of mine ventilation thoroughly each year, instead of attempting to touch upon several different subjects. The Committee for 1943 consists of four members besides the Chairman. Members, selected because of both knowledge of the current topic of mine ventilation, and diversity of occupation, are: Carel Robinson, consulting engineer with an operating background; T. G. Fear, chief engineer for the Hanna Coal Co., an operator of varied experience in mine ventilation; E. H. Denny, chief of the coal mine inspection division of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, obviously well qualified; and C. M. Smith, editor of Mechanization with a background of mine ventilation study as a member of the mining department of the University of Illinois, at present retained as a ventilation consultant by the Climax. Molybdenum Co. of Climax, Colo.

Jan 1, 1944

By Lovell Lawrence

MAGNETITE deposits in the Eastern States have been mined uninterruptedly since pre-Revolutionary War days. The industry, thriving in normal times, was given impetus in all periods of tumult, and continued to advance and expand, until the Lake Superior ores came into production. A period of comparative quiet existed until increased freight rates, together with increased mining costs on Lake Region ores, permitted the magnetites again to compete. This, coupled with World War demands, created unpre¬cedented activity. Producing plants were at their peak, new mines were equipped and put in operation and the industry pushed production beyond the absorption point. Ore stocks were tremendous, internal competition severe, and a great increase in import of European ores brought the industry to a low ebb in 1923.

Jan 1, 1933

By Theodore Marvin

NOW that real progress is being made in building airplanes that can stand up under adverse conditions in isolated parts of the world, utilization of aviation by mining and petroleum companies is proceeding rapidly. This isolation, offering such handicaps to ordinary methods of transportation, also was the thorn in the flesh of aviation until the recent advances in plane and englue design. The accompanying illustration shows one of the six new planes just delivered to the U. S. Government for map making. The planes will be used in Department of Commerce, Coast and Geodetic Survey, Navy Hydrographic, and Insular work. There is a trap door in the bottom of the hull for a Fairchild camera which takes five pictures-vertical, N60°, E60°, S60°, and W60°-at regular intervals. It is manufactured by the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., Farmingdale, N. Y.

Jan 1, 1935

By G. B. Pryde, R. M. Magraw

In laying out a new mine, provision should be made for the ultimate recovery of as much coal in any given bed as is consistent with safety and economic mining. Though each mining district, if not each individual mine, has problems that make the adoption of any hard and fast rule impossible, certain basic principles are adapted to practically all conditions. One of the most vital is the provision for barrier pillars of ample dimensions to protect all haulage and permanent airways during the life of the property. Where conditions permit, room or butt entries should be driven on the strike or slightly to the rise, and rooms turned at right angles to these entries. The width of rooms and room pillars is governed by conditions prevailing in the mines under consideration. A safe rule is: In advancing, extract not more than 25 to 35 per cent. of the entire seam; in exceptionally thick seams, considerably less than 25 per cent. should be taken. Rooms usually vary in length from 250 to 350 ft. (76 to 106 m.) with a barrier pillar of not less than 80 ft. between the last crosscut. in rooms and the back entry of the level above. All entries, rooms, and entry-and-room crosscuts should be driven .on sights and room crosscuts should be driven at, right angles to the direction of the rooms. In mines under excessively heavy cover or where roof conditions are bad, rooms should be driven narrow and a barrier pillar left at every fifth to tenth room. This barrier should be of such dimensions that one or more rooms, with pillars of usual dimensions, may be turned through it when the barrier is no longer required. Two of the advantages of such a barrier are the protection of the panel against peaking of roof load during pillar extraction and the easy closing of the entry in case of fire. Where economic conditions permit, it is preferable to follow the retreating panel system of mining. In the case of coal that outcrops, and even in cases where no outcrop is exposed, it is preferable to commence pillar extracting on the high side of the mine. Where the retreating

Jan 1, 1922

By A. F. Lucas

EACH day, the fact becomes more evident that the ever-growing demand for oil is farther outstripping production, regardless of the increase in output throughout the past twenty years. The development of known oil fields and the prospecting for new ones along present lines are not resulting, in, and cannot bring forth, supplies large enough adequately to meet the oil needs of the country. The usual methods of prospecting-for new supplies are insufficient to meet the exigencies of the situation which threatens, in the not distant future, to reach a critical stage. Were it not that within the last two years new and prolific oil fields have been discovered in northern Louisiana, central Texas, and California, this crisis would undoubtedly be now at our door. Stocks are being exhausted in spite of the rapid growth of imports. The time is therefore fast approaching when some radical departures must be made in the method of prospecting and developing old and new fields in order to increase our oil supplies. Methods and chances, that have seemed unwarranted will not only be given serious consideration, but, according to the results promised, will be put to the test. Meanwhile, however, nearly all the oil fields are responding to the stimulus of higher prices, whereby enormously growing capital is attracted to this important industry, both here and abroad; the increase in our petroleum production at the present time is due to this circumstance. Yet, although a most active search is being made for possible sources of additional supply, one section of our country is not yielding the results that, in my opinion, it is capable of producing: I allude to the coastal dome belt of Texas, Louisiana, and Mexico. The United States Geological Survey has estimated that three-fourths of a billion barrels are available in the ground in the Coastal Plain of the two states just mentioned. Numerous papers have been written on the subject of the salt domes of the Coastal Plain and more or less attractive theories have been advocated by leading geologists to account for their origin and the presence of the oil, sulfur, and salt associated in them. However, owing in part to the generally monotonously level country in which the coastal

Jan 9, 1920

By J. R. Thoenen

IF ASKED whether limestone production was a mining problem I would; not hesitate to answer emphatically in the affirmative. The question, "When is a quarry a mine?" is familiar. The immediate mental picture induced by the thought of limestone production is that of an open quarry. All are familiar with the open pit in the iron-producing districts of Minnesota and Michigan and the open cuts of the so-called "porphyry" coppers of the West. If these are mines, they differ little from limestone quarries in general mode of operation; if quarries, why do they need the attention of mining engineers? During 1923, the United States produced in round numbers 70,000,000, tons of ore. The limestone production of the United States for the same period was something over 100,000,000 tons. In tons, it about equals the oil production of the United States. The uses of limestone are legion. A paper read by a prominent engineer of Chicago, at the meeting of the National. Crushed Stone Association held last February in St. Louis says: "There is no industry in the United States today that is more basic in its operation or by itself controls. more industries. There is hardly a chemical operation, hardly a metallurgical operation or building operation that a crushed-stone man does not control if he will jump in and make the full utilization of it." Some of the many uses are for road metal, concrete, railway ballast, building stone, riprap, and rubble, the manufacture of iron and steel, alkalies, calcium carbide, magnesia, carbolic and carbonic acids, asphalt filler, mineral wool, poultry grit, sulfuric acid, phosphates, nitrates, soap, baking powder, the purification of copper and prevention of coal-mine explosions, to say nothing of the quantities used in the making of lime and cement. It has been said that without iron we would revert to the Stone Age; how much iron would we have without limestone? From the point. of view of the mining engineer, using the term in its broad sense to include geologists and metallurgists, the production of limestone is important because of its occurrence, volume, commercial importance, and the problems presented by its recovery and treatment.

Jan 2, 1925

By F. V. Hicks

THE similarity of mining practices in bituminous coal fields through-out America is due to the fact that certain fundamental conditions are encountered in all fields. The problems of labor, housing and mining are somewhat similar whether the mine is in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wyoming or the State of Washington. Each field has had its particular problems, resulting in advantages or disadvantages over a competing field. This might take the form of a wage differential, a better natural condition more favorable to cheap production, or proximity to a market that allows freight rate advantages, etc. In any event, no matter how favorably situated, the mining companies that have been slow to recog-nize and accept the advantage of mechanization, clinging too long to the old hand methods, have found themselves unable to meet competition. Throughout the Wyoming coal fields, production methods have so changed in the last decade as to be almost unrecognizable to an old-time coal miner who has had no connection with the industry during; that period. The old contract system, with its peculiar labor relationship between employer and employee, based upon the long-established custom that the miner's working place was his castle, and that it was his privilege to carry on operations within that place largely in his own way and to his own liking, is a condition that has passed away. The present-day, 100 per cent mechanized mine bears but little resemblance to the old. A change -in system has naturally altered the old-time labor relationship. Contract labor has been almost entirely eliminated and a straight day-wage basis established, with certain classes of work calling for different rates, which places the entire personnel of the underground operating force more directly under the direction and supervision of the mine foreman and his assistants. The transition from the old order to the new has gradually done away with the system of penalties, personal- rights and privileges existing under the contract system, which were so controversial in the past that the average mine management was constantly involved in labor disputes in fields where organized labor was employed.

Jan 1, 1936

By William E. Newman

Lead mining has been carried on in several localities of the Province of Ontario in a desultory fashion for the past 60 years, but up to 1916 the results have not been of much commercial importance. The most ambitious attempt was made by an English company which built a lead smelter at Kingston, Ont., in 1880 to treat the concentrates from the Frontenac mines. After 2 years' operation, the mines and smelter were abandoned. Up to the present there has not been a sufficient tonnage of concentrates to support an efficient blast-furnace plant and as most of the small properties could not stand the heavy freight and duty charges into the United States, development work has not been carried on in a systematic manner. As a result the industry has languished. At Galetta, in southeastern Ontario, considerable prospecting and development work has been carried on in the last few years and very promising deposits of galena have been found in the Chats Island group by the James Robertson Co., Ltd., of Montreal. The chief deposit is that of the Galetta or Kingdon lead mine, located on Chats Island in the Ottawa River about 5 miles east of the town of Arnprior. The rocks1 in the vicinity of the mines consist of an interbedded series of crystalline limestone and biotite gneisses of pre-Cambrian age. This part of the Ottawa River basin has been severely faulted and the overlying Paleozoic limestones may be seen in normal fault cantact with the pre-Cambrian. The vein filling is of a very well-marked fault fissure type and although the amount of displacement is not determined at this point, similar faults to the east show a displacement of from 1,500 to 1,800 ft. which would indicate mineralized fault fissures of considerable depth. The ore occurs in a highly crystalline calcite with some barite and fluorite, and the galena occurs more or less richly disseminated in clusters and crystal aggregates. In some cases these masses weigh several hundred pounds. Small amounts of sphalerite are occasionally encountered.

Jan 1, 1918

By H. B. Fuqua, B. E. Thompson

The area discussed in this paper, commonly known as the West Texas district, is easily divisible into three geologic provinces, the Midland Basin to the east, the Delaware Basin to the west and the West Texas structural platform separating these two. Production in Garza, Scurry, Mitchell, Howard, Glasscock, Irion, Reagan and central Crockett counties is associated with the east flank of the Midland Basin. That in Loving and Reeves counties is associated with the Delaware Basin. All other production and developments discussed in this paper belong to the province of the West Texas structural platform. Because of certain developments that have occurred during the past year, it has been found necessary to slightly revise one of the fields as grouped by Mr. Reith in last year's paper1. The Scarborough-Leck field has been broken down as follows (Table 1): The Leck field is shown separately because it is producing from dolomite; while the Scarborough area, producing from sand, is regrouped and designated as " Scarborough-Kermit-Halley," which includes the producing sand belt across Winkler County from Ward County to New Mexico. It is believed that this is a more logical division of Winkler County and that considerable future work will be avoided by making this change before further production figures have accumulated under the present set-up. A number of new fields are listed in Table 1, some of which may represent extensions of other produeing arras. The authors, however, are inclined to believe that they represent new fields. In either event, less work is involved ill adding two areas together, if they later prove to be one, than in attempting to separate a maze of production data into two fields after they have been erroneously carried as one for a number of years. The Howard-Glasscock field is designated in this review as the Chalk-Roberts field and the Denman production on the Howard-Mitchell County line is included in the Iatan field. Development during 1934 Development in West Texas during the year 1934 showed a marked increase over the previous year both in exploration and ill exploitation

Jan 1, 1935

By C. S. Barrett

W. Hofmann, J. Ziegler, and H. Hanemann—Having dealt with the same alloys in the winter 1941 to 1942, we want to give a short report on the generating of the hexagonal kappa phase by deforming the supersaturated alpha phase, which we then observed. This work was delivered as a Doctor of Engineering dissertation to the Technical University of Berlin by J. Ziegler in 1942. It still exists in two copies, somewhat damaged, a brief publication of it having been issued in Fiat-Review. Our work was started from the alloy Tombasil with 4.5 to 5 pct Si, 14.5 to 14 pct Zn, the rest Cu. Torpedo propellers were die cast from this alloy in Germany during the war. In order to improve this alloy, annealing was tried. By this treatment the alloy became at the same time harder and more brittle. A further research of this process was made in the Got-tingen University30 and the "Institut fÜr Metallkunde" of the Technical University of Berlin. It soon was apparent that the Cu-Si diagram at our disposal15,31,32 would not fit the observations. For this reason the pith of the matter became from then on the Cu-Si system. At that time we did not know of Smith's* and Andersen'sm latest diagrams. We first knew of them from Dr. Barrett's publication. Twenty-two alloys containing 2 to 11 pct Si were melted in a nitrogen atmosphere and generally homogenized for 2 to 4 hr at 800 °C. Part of the samples were then annealed at 700°, 600° and 500°. Annealing was followed by quenching in water. The phases corresponding to the various temperatures were identified by X-ray and microscopy. The Debye-Scherrer photographs generally were made of filings. The latter were produced after the last anneal of the samples, then equally annealed another 30 min in evacuated glass tubes and quenched in water. In the region of concentrations examined, the Cu-Si phases already known to us were observed: alpha, kappa (then called beta by us), gamma. By hot exposing an alloy of 7.69 pct Si at 800" and 750°,

Jan 1, 1951

By L. C. Morganroth

From a geological standpoint, but scant attention has been paid to fire-clay beds. Only within the last few years have they been the subject of individual investigation, prior to this time having been considered only in their relation to coal seams. While the relative importance of coal and fire clay is still immeasurably in favor of coal, yet an industry as large as that of fire clay is entitled to a measure of attention. A discussion of the Carboniferous clays is practically a discussion of the clay beds in the Appalachian basin, since more than 90 per cent. of these clays mined are from this region. The clays are confined to the northern end of the basin, or the States of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland and West Virginia, ranking in importance about in the order named. The clay deposits of the Carboniferous period have been divided into two classes; those found in the Pottsville conglomerate series of rocks, ' and all those that are found in the formations above, for the reason that the clay beds above the Pottsville series all resemble each other in properties, composition and appearance, and all are distinctly different from the bed found in the Pottsville formation. The bed of clay found in the latter formation is unique in that flint clay is practically restricted to it. (A variety of flint clay is occasionally found in these upper deposits but this is in such small amounts as to be negligible.) Carboniferous clays occur between stratified rocks; sandstones, limestones, etc., in the same manner as coal veins. They are often accompanied by a coal vein although where the clay is of a workable thickness, the coal is generally too thin to work. The clay beds are sometimes known by the name of the coal seam at which horizon they occur. Clay beds may be from a few inches up to 20 ft. in thickness. They may consist of all soft clay, all flint or both soft and flint. The Carboniferous clay beds of Pennsylvania are the most important of any of the clay beds found in the country, and are among the oldest ones worked. We know more about this clay geologically for the reason

Jan 1, 1916

By George Stone

THE method of making oxide of zinc direct from the ore was invented and developed at the works of The New Jersey Zinc Co. at Newark in the middle of the last century. The process was invented by Burrows, who had not the ability, financial or technical, to work out the details necessary to make it of commercial value. This was done by Col. Wetherill, whose name is commonly attached to this process. The, grate bars used are also frequently called Wetherill grates, which is a misnomer because they were in common use for boiler firing at the time and he never claimed their invention. The invention of the process was due to the efforts of The New Jersey Zinc Co. to find a profitable means of working the ores from Franklin and Sterling Hill, N. J. These are a mixture of franklinite, willemite and zincite, containing about 20 per cent. of zinc. The first attempts were to make spelter, which were not successful, owing to the low grade of the ore and the fusibility of the residue. Failing in this, the next attempt was to make oxide in large muffles and reverberatory furnaces. This succeeded, although the cost of operation was high, the recovery low, and the quality of the product uncertain. In 1855, the new process was patented and has been in successful operation ever since. Essentially, the process is to spread a mixture of coal and ore on a body of burning coal on a perforated grate and blow an excess of air through the grate. The zinc is reduced in contact with the coal, volatilizes and burned by the excess of air in the upper part off the furnace and in the flues. It is then carried to the hag rooms by the excess air and products of combustion which are forced through the flues by fans. In its main features, the process is the same today as at the time of its invention, but the details have been so modified that it would hardly be recognized by its originators.

Jan 9, 1917

By H. R. Barnhurst

IT would be a difficult matter to trace from the beginning the very few improvements made in the burning of fuels prior to 1860. Doubtless the crossing of the sticks of wood in building a, wood fire early appealed to our savage ancestry as a means of expediting its effectiveness for their crude culinary purposes. Stones and andirons came later in assisting the admission of air to the under part of the fuel bed, while beacons and cressets utilized metal bars as supports for the same purpose. It is probable that Tubal Cain owed his success to the use of bellows making possible the use of mixed fuel and charge upon a hearth. With the development of working in east iron, grate bars cane in, and they are still with us doing duty in every household and almost every art where heat is a factor. Little was done beyond these crude methods prior to 1860. With the advancement of knowledge came the fuel-gas producer, a. natural child of the retorts employed in supplying illuminating gas. It is only within the last 15 years that the conclusion became general that complicated systems for saving heat would not remedy deficiencies in its primary development, and within that tine there has been great advancement in the means of producing initially fire of high efficiency, so that to clay we are moving rapidly toward loth high development and high absorption, with the resultant of high efficiencies. In studying the subject of the availability of pulverized coal as a fuel, it may occur to ask, why has this not come up earlier? This question would be naturally prompted by recalling the fact that Thomas Crompton's English patents upon his methods were issued to Min nearly 40 years ago. A conclusive answer to this, however, is that Crompton at that time had very crude facilities for raking what was at best a, very imperfect pulverization of the coal, and the expense of preparation was very great. He does not seem to have been aware of the advantage of a thorough drying of the coal in the

Jan 10, 1913

By Howard Hughes

IN drilling for water and oil to reasonable depths through the generally soft yielding clay and sand formation of the Coastal Plain of Texas, . Louisiana, and Mississippi, the rotating method of drilling was adopted, principally on account of the easy and quick penetration, and the low cost of the drilling plant. In favorable ground, free of heavy gravel and rock strata, as much as 1,000 ft. has been drilled in less than 36 hr., although such performances were of course rare. Hydraulic rotary drilling, or, as it is now called, rotary drilling, was used in the above States as early as 1880. The plant consisted of an ordinary derrick, a 25-h.p. boiler, a small hoist, a steam pump, and a water swivel with hose attachment, and an ordinary flat diamond-pointed bit. The successful drilling in of a phenomenal oil well by this process on Spindletop, near Beaumont, Texas, on Jan. 10, 1901, and the ascertained impracticability of drilling subsequent wells in the same locality by other methods (owing principally to heavy quicksand under pressure from below), brought rotary drilling into great prominence, practically to the exclusion of any other process throughout the Coastal Plain, and later on elsewhere. The method, as its name implies, involves the rotation of a pipe by means of machinery placed on the derrick floor. A drill bit attached to the lower end cuts a clearance for the drill pipe, with much the same motion and effect as an auger. Water forced through the drill pipe by means of a pump, and escaping through the bit, removes the cuttings and returns to the surface outside the drill pipe. In this manner the hole is kept open, permitting the drill stem to rotate freely. The pressure of the column of muddy water holds up the walls of the hole until it has been cased. Practically all the wells of the Gulf coast region, numbering nearly 10,000, have been drilled with this system. During the last five years its use has been extended to many other States and countries.

Jan 3, 1915

By E. S. Bardwell, R. J. Lapee

Twenty years ago, W. T. Burns, in his paper presented at the Butte Meeting of the Institute,' discussed the general scheme then in use in the electrolytic copper refinery of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. at Great Falls, Mont., for removing impurities from tank-room electrolyte and controlling its acid content. Since then marked changes have taken place in copper-refinery practice at Great Falls. The electrolytic copper refinery in use in 1913 has been replaced by a new and entirely modern plant capable of producing up to 27,000,000 Ib. of cathode copper per month. With the building of the new plant in 1916, the treatment of converter anodes was discontinued. At first the substitution of refined anodes for converter anodes resulted in a decrease in the impurity content of the anodes, but as time went on, changes in metallurgical practices at the smelter resulted in substantial increases in the impurity content of the anodes. The leaching of the silver slime to remove copper before shipment to Raritan for treatment further added to the purification problem. The fact that the scheme of purifying electrolyte which Mr. Burns described in his paper has proved adequate for our needs under a wide variation of conditions speaks well for its essential soundness. Method of Purification Briefly, the method adopted for purifying tank-room electrolyte at Great Falls has been as follows: Each day a certain volume of tank-room electrolyte is run off and sent to the purification plant, where it is boiled down to approximately 46' 136. The concentrated electrolyte is then sent to crystallizing tanks where the bulk of the copper is crystallized out as copper sulfate. The mother liquor is then passed through insoluble anode tanks to remove the last of the copper and most of the arsenic and antimony. It is then either returned to the tank room direct or boiled down to 55' Bé, the iron and nickel salts crystallized out and the mother liquor returned to the tank-room circuit as restored acid. Prior to 1930 all of the evaporating was done in lead-lined tanks 13 ft. in diameter by 4.5 ft. deep, provided with lead heating coils through which steam at 30 lb. gage pressure was circulated.

Jan 1, 1934