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By J. J. Bowman, E. H. Dix

A lack of experimental data illustrating the effect of composition, particularly in respect to impurities, on the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of aluminum-alloy die castings induced the authors and their associates to undertake a limited study of these relations. A number of commercial alloys and several experimental variations of a commercial alloy were used for the investigation. Mechanical property, growth, steam, paraffin, salt spray and atmospheric exposure tests were employed. This paper deals with the more accelerated tests and the results they have produced. It is concluded that a high-silicon alloy with all impurities except iron strictly limited to small amounts will develop an excellent resistance to corrosion and retain satisfactory mechanical properties and casting characteristics. As a direct result of this investigation an alloy of this character with superior corrosion resistance is now available commercially. In general, copper increases the strength and decreases the elongation and corrosion resistance. Tin reduces the mechanical properties and the resistance to corrosion. Iron reduces the elongation and, if excessively high, may adversely affect the tensile strength. Even excessively high iron contents do not affect the corrosion resistance, which is fortunate for the die caster as it is this element that is the most difficult to control. Nickel and zinc in limited amounts do not seem to affect the properties or corrosion resistance of at least the high-silicon alloy. Growth tests have confirmed the previous common belief that dimensional changes under either dry or wet conditions at 100" C. are too small to be of practical importance. Introduction The technical literature contains numerous papers describing die castings, their production, compositions and uses, but nearly all of these

Jan 1, 1935

By J. J. Bowman, E. H. Dix

A lack of experimental data illustrating the effect of composition, particularly in respect to impurities, on the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of aluminum-alloy die castings induced the authors and their associates to undertake a limited study of these relations. A number of commercial alloys and several experimental variations of a commercial alloy were used for the investigation. Mechanical property, growth, steam, paraffin, salt spray and atmospheric exposure tests were employed. This paper deals with the more accelerated tests and the results they have produced. It is concluded that a high-silicon alloy with all impurities except iron strictly limited to small amounts will develop an excellent resistance to corrosion and retain satisfactory mechanical properties and casting characteristics. As a direct result of this investigation an alloy of this character with superior corrosion resistance is now available commercially. In general, copper increases the strength and decreases the elongation and corrosion resistance. Tin reduces the mechanical properties and the resistance to corrosion. Iron reduces the elongation and, if excessively high, may adversely affect the tensile strength. Even excessively high iron contents do not affect the corrosion resistance, which is fortunate for the die caster as it is this element that is the most difficult to control. Nickel and zinc in limited amounts do not seem to affect the properties or corrosion resistance of at least the high-silicon alloy. Growth tests have confirmed the previous common belief that dimensional changes under either dry or wet conditions at 100" C. are too small to be of practical importance. Introduction The technical literature contains numerous papers describing die castings, their production, compositions and uses, but nearly all of these

Jan 1, 1935

By P. D. I. Honeyman, P. A. Faust

At the Miami plant of the International Smelting Co., Inspiration, Ariz., there are four reverberatory furnaces, all 120 ft. long. At present only one of these furnaces is in operation. It is operated as a wet-charge furnace, the charge being distributed for about 65 ft. down the furnace length. Usually this charge contains about 12 per cent moisture and runs 25 per cent sulfur, of which there is eliminated in the furnace from 25 to 30 per cent. The furnace is oil-fired, the fuel being burned in a battery of Cananea-type, low-pressure burners. The flame is kept short and conditions so adjusted as to obtain complete combustion within the furnace. The average furnace draft, taken through the verb arch, amounts to only 0.02 in. of H2O. Draft is purposely kept low to cut down infiltration through the flues and boiler settings, and control dampers are regulated to maintain this uniform condition throughout the charging as well as the smelting period. Hot gases discharge from the furnace uptake through a common header flue to the waste-heat boilers. The general layout and dimensions of the plant are shown in Fig. 1. Four Stirling boilers, two of class M-26 (713 hp.) and two class M-31 (850 hp.), serve the furnace. Three usually are sufficient to take care of normal operation, the fourth boiler being used as a spare when necessary. The distribution of hot gases to the various boilers is regulated by the dampers in the boiler exit flues. Normally the boilers closest to the furnace uptake would evaporate more water than do those farther away, but dampers are regulated so as to distribute fairly well the load between the several boilers. Steam from the waste-heat plant is delivered to the adjoining power house of the Inspiration company, where it is used both in the Nordberg blowing engines and for electrical generation. Steam pressures and temperatures recorded are those in the main power-plant header and are thus inclusive of all losses in about 500 ft. of 10-in. line. Steam for smelter heating and auxiliary use is taken from the main waste-heat header, is reduced to 125 lb. and distributed through separate lines. Boiler feed water is supplied by the power plant and consists of returned condensate, augmented to a large extent by make-up water

Jan 1, 1934

By Maynard H. Jameson

Earlier investigations of the potential-drop-ratio method of electrical prospecting have indicated that under suitable conditions this method is well adapted to the location of formation boundaries in stratified ground. A description of this development was given several years ago by H. Lundberg and Th. Zuschlag.l The curves published by these authors for the potential-drop-ratio variation above a horizontal contact indicated a definite relation of the position of the curve peak to the depth of the interface. The theory underlying this relation was subsequently studied by Z. Mitera in greater detail,' and the theoretical deductions were compared with the results of tank experiments. The investigations available at this writing were confined to studies of horizontal formation boundaries. It is the purpose of this paper to extend the scope of the previous work to the problem of dipping layers. Theory Consider the case of three media of different resistivities, whose interfaces are not parallel. If a point-source is located in one of these interfaces, its images do not lie in a straight line, but on the circumference of a circle whose center is at the hypothetical junction of the interfaces. R. F. Aldredgea determined the relation that exists between the degrees of dip of the two interfaces and the distances between the various images and the point for which the potential is to be found. As seen in Fig. I, three media of resistivities PO, p1, and p2 are involved, and the source I is located at the interface of the media Coo) and (p1). The perpendicular depth of the lower interface is h, 0 is the dip, R is the distance between source I and potential point P, and r is the distance between the images and that point. To distinguish between images lying above the ground interface and those below, the notation "odd" and "even" images will be employed; images below the ground interface will be termed "odd" and those above "even." The following relations govern the distances between either kind of images and the potential point: EvEn Odd Ta — R r1 - [rl] - [RS + 4h(h + R sin 01½ r, = [r] =. [R1 + 4h cos 0)2(h + -R sin 0)1½ ri - [r3] ={r3} [R* + 4h(4 cos2 0 - i)1 (h + R sin 0)l½ r4 = [r4] = [R2 + 4h(4 cos $ cos 30)1 (h + R sin 0)]½ r, — [r4] - [R2 + 4h(4 cos9 R cos 20 + cos 48)2 (h + R sin 01½ I RI + 4h[2 cos 30(4 cos2 0 - I)12 (h + R sin 8)1 ½ rn - [r4] - [R2 + 4hlf(cOs 0)18(h + R sin R)l½ As previously pointed out, the images of the source are on the circumference of a circle. If the angle of dip is 0, the angle measured from the horizontal to the first image is 28; to the second image it is 48, and so on. Since the limit of the reflecting interface is at its outcrop, the last possible

Jan 1, 1946

By Maynard H. Jameson

Earlier investigations of the potential-drop-ratio method of electrical prospecting have indicated that under suitable conditions this method is well adapted to the location of formation boundaries in stratified ground. A description of this development was given several years ago by H. Lundberg and Th. Zuschlag.l The curves published by these authors for the potential-drop-ratio variation above a horizontal contact indicated a definite relation of the position of the curve peak to the depth of the interface. The theory underlying this relation was subsequently studied by Z. Mitera in greater detail,' and the theoretical deductions were compared with the results of tank experiments. The investigations available at this writing were confined to studies of horizontal formation boundaries. It is the purpose of this paper to extend the scope of the previous work to the problem of dipping layers. Theory Consider the case of three media of different resistivities, whose interfaces are not parallel. If a point-source is located in one of these interfaces, its images do not lie in a straight line, but on the circumference of a circle whose center is at the hypothetical junction of the interfaces. R. F. Aldredgea determined the relation that exists between the degrees of dip of the two interfaces and the distances between the various images and the point for which the potential is to be found. As seen in Fig. I, three media of resistivities PO, p1, and p2 are involved, and the source I is located at the interface of the media Coo) and (p1). The perpendicular depth of the lower interface is h, 0 is the dip, R is the distance between source I and potential point P, and r is the distance between the images and that point. To distinguish between images lying above the ground interface and those below, the notation "odd" and "even" images will be employed; images below the ground interface will be termed "odd" and those above "even." The following relations govern the distances between either kind of images and the potential point: EvEn Odd Ta — R r1 - [rl] - [RS + 4h(h + R sin 01½ r, = [r] =. [R1 + 4h cos 0)2(h + -R sin 0)1½ ri - [r3] ={r3} [R* + 4h(4 cos2 0 - i)1 (h + R sin 0)l½ r4 = [r4] = [R2 + 4h(4 cos $ cos 30)1 (h + R sin 0)]½ r, — [r4] - [R2 + 4h(4 cos9 R cos 20 + cos 48)2 (h + R sin 01½ I RI + 4h[2 cos 30(4 cos2 0 - I)12 (h + R sin 8)1 ½ rn - [r4] - [R2 + 4hlf(cOs 0)18(h + R sin R)l½ As previously pointed out, the images of the source are on the circumference of a circle. If the angle of dip is 0, the angle measured from the horizontal to the first image is 28; to the second image it is 48, and so on. Since the limit of the reflecting interface is at its outcrop, the last possible

Jan 1, 1946

By F. L. Wolf

The catenary system of line construction possesses so many desirable characteristics from the operating standpoint that it has wide application for all types of electric traction. Many steam roads are electrifying sections of their lines, and in most cases are operating both steam and electric locomotives over the same track. This means that the overhead catenary system is subjected to the severe corrosive action of locomotive smoke, and data concerning the resistance of various alloys to this form of corrosion are very desirable from every point of view. Reliable and specific information and data on the subject of corrosion due to steam and smoke from locomotives are extremely meager and, on this account, extensive service tests, together with accelerated tests, have been made on a number of commercial metals and alloys. The observations and data recorded in this paper are the result of a preliminary test which was started in 1923 and which has been carried on to the present time. The recognition of the need for even more detailed and accurate data has resulted in the undertaking of another test which has been in progress for about a year. The result of this test will be published in due course. Some years ago The Ohio Brass Co. was asked by one of the large steam railroad companies to furnish data on construction details for a catenary system which it was considering for one of its divisions. The selection of materials which would give the necessary physical characteristics as well as withstand the severe corrosive action of locomotive gases caused electrical railroad engineers considerable concern. At that time, there were available no specific or authentic data on these important questions: no systematic investigation of the problem appeared to have been made, even though it's importance was generally recognized. Such observations as had been made were crude in that they had been limited largely to visual inspection which too frequently is most misleading. However, the scattered information which was collected gave important clues as to how best to start an investigation. Technical literature was studied, metallurgical experts were consulted, and the problem was discussed with engineers who were in close contact

Jan 1, 1930

By P. V. Brough, K. B. Gillaspie

DECISION to build a mill at the Bayard property was made in May 1942. Western-Knapp Engineering Co., of San Francisco, assisted by engineers of U. S. Smelting, handled the design and construction. Much of the milling equipment was moved from the Company's mill at Goldroad, Ariz. Wartime restrictions necessitated wood construction and paper sheathing except for structures adjacent to the Bullfrog shaft. Construction started in September 1942 and milling in March 1943. Bayard ores are processed in a single-ection mill. About half of the ore treated during the past year was hoisted through the Bullfrog shaft and the rest was trucked from other shafts. Coarse storage includes four bins, two of 120 tons each for Bullfrog ores and two of 85 to 120 tons each, served by a truck ramp. The low capacity figure refers to

Jan 1, 1948

By Henry M. Rowe

Professor Ruff's most illuminating paper' describing his extremely valuable investigation of the carbon-iron equilibrium diagram assigns definite temperatures to certain very important lines in the diagram, viz.: the eutectic temperature EB (Fig. 1) and the " near-eutectic " temperature E'B', but without indicating clearly enough the reasoning which warrants these assignments. These temperatures are of such primary importance that it is well to indicate the apparent gaps in the reasoning, in the hope that they may be filled in. In his diagram, Fig. 1, the point X and the liues B'D'lII represent the experimental results reached by Ruff and Goecke;a AB, AEB, and SE represent the liquidus, the solidus, and the solubility of the carbon in solid austenite in the absence of graphite according to Gutowsky,3 AB being also in accordance with Spiecker's data; S'E' the solubility of carbon in solid austenite in the presence of graphite according to Ruer and Iljin;5 GS the line A3 after Ooerens and Meyer; 6 and EBC the true eutectic line as inferred by Prof. Ruff from Gutowsky's data. B'D' is the carbon content found in cast-iron which had apparently saturated itself with carbon in the presence of the graphite of the enclosing graphite crucibles in which the determinations were made. From its straightiiess and its sharp inflection near 6.67 per cent. of carbon, the carbon content of

Jan 1, 1913

"Mining as an industry of Utah had its inception in the activities of United States soldiers who came to the Salt Lake valley under the command of Gen. P. E. Connor, founder of Fort Douglas, in October, 1862. Many of these soldiers were from California and naturally employed their spare time in the search for minerals. Although their military status did not permit them to make locations in their own names, they assiduously prospected the region in accordance with their own knowledge and with information conveyed to them by Indians and others. Their efforts were encouraged by their commander, who thereby fairly earned the title of father of the industry here, and by their other officers, and many discoveries that subsequently proved of great value were made by the soldiers.No systematic prospecting or mining had been done in the Territory previously, although early Mormon settlers in the southern portion had mined a little ore from time to time in order to provide supplies of lead for bullets. The Mormon leaders at that time did not encourage mining. They held that agriculture was more important and profitable for their followers.Coal was discovered and produced in 1850. Iron was discovered in 1850 and the first iron plant was in operation in 1852 in Iron County. The first non-ferrous metal production was in 1854, in Beaver County, when Isaac Grundy treated ore from the Rollins mine in what is said to have been the first lead furnace west of the Rocky Mountains. The first mineral location was the West Jordan claim in Bingham canyon, located September 17, 1863, now owned by the United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co., and still productive. The first district organized in the state was the West Mountain (Bingham), December I 7, 1863. Other important districts of early organization are: Little Cottonwood, December 20, 1869; Big Cottonwood, July 11, 1870; American Fork, July 21, 1870; Uintah (Park City), July 8, 1871; Tintic, December 13, 1896; Ophir, August 6, 1870. The first silver-lead smelting was by J. W. Gibson at Stockton in 1866. Lieut. James Finnerty had previously erected two small trial furnaces there, but made no quantity production."

Jan 1, 1925

By R. A. Young

Zinc metal production in the operating plants in the United States during 1948 was approximately equal to that of the year 1947, although new developments during the year assure higher output in 1949, if economic conditions are favorable. In the Western plants, the man-power shortage was almost completely overcome and new capacity has been or is in the process of being added to three plants; thus by December of 1948 daily zinc metal production had risen to the highest point since May of 1944 despite strikes in one large primary smelter and in one secondary plant.

Jan 1, 1949

By S. A. Falconer

Much attention and publicity has been given, during recent years, to grinding, classification, flotation, and thickening. The various technical papers, and symposiums held to discuss these important phases of milling, have contributed to a better under- standing of the fundamental principles and operating variables involved. Another important part of milling- to the flotation operator-is a treatment step to which frequently too little attention is given-" conditioning," or the treatment the ground mineral pulp receives before it enters the flotation machines. Conditioning" is a hackneyed and frequently misused term, commonly employed to describe the pretreatment of surfaces of minerals in ore pulps or mill pr6ducts prior to froth flotation. In general, such pretreatment is for the purpose of changing the flotation characteristics of these mineral surfaces to enable them to respond in some desired predetermined manner when subjected to flotation. Taggartl states that the function of conditioning is "either to insure selective collector coating of one mineral species while another species is not; or to take such steps as will compensate for departure there from."

Jan 1, 1949

By Hiram B. Woon

Uranium ore deposits in the Lisbon Valley area are in an arcuate belt, 15 miles long by one-half-mile wide, on the southwest flank of the Lisbon Valley anticline. They range in size from 500 to 1,500,000 tons and by mid-1965 had yielded 6,147,000 tons containing 48,530,000 pounds of U3O8. Ore bodies average 6 feet thick, are tabular, amoeba-shaped masses, concordant to the bedding, and are in the thickest, lowest sandstone unit of the Moss Back Member of the Chinle Formation of Triassic age. The host rock is predominantly a fluviatile, calcareous, fine-grained to conglomeratic sandstone. Uraninite, the principal ore mineral, fills the pores in the sandstone and partly replaces sand grains and fossil wood fragments. During Late Permian and Early Triassic time pre-Chinle Formations were arched to form the ancestral Permian anticline. Moss Back streams truncated Moenkopi and Cutler beds which capped the ancestral anticline and then covered it with fluviatile elastics, which were subsequently covered by thousands of feet of Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous sediments. Uranium, probably derived from the Chinle Formation by diagenetic processes, was transported in connate ground waters, was moved by compaction or hydrostatic forces, and was deposited under reducing conditions. Uranium was emplaced around the crest of the ancestral anticline, prior to the Laramide orogeny. During the orogeny, the Tertiary-Lisbon valley anticline was super induced on the Permian anticline and, penecontemporaneous with uplift, was faulted parallel to its longitudinal axis. The Big Indian ore belt on the southwest flank footwall block was elevated to approximately its present position, and the northeast flank hanging wall block was elevated only slightly. An extension of the Big Indian ore belt around the northeast flank of the ancestral Permian anticline may exist in the Moss Back sandstone in the downthrown block northeast of the Lisbon Valley fault.

Jan 1, 1968

By R. W. Gurry

IN the course of a series of measurements of the rate of diffusion of carbon in austenite at about 960°C. (1760°F.) and 1110°C. (2030°F.), it became necessary to determine carbon concentration when austenite is saturated with graphite, because of indications that the hitherto accepted value of the solubility of graphite in this temperature range is too low. Specimens of carbonyl iron were saturated at temperature in a hydrogen-toluene atmosphere which was in equilibrium with graphite. The carbon content of the steel was measured either by combustion or by the loss of weight after substantially complete decarburization in an atmosphere of hydrogen saturated at room temperature with water vapor. The absence of carbide or graphite as a phase at temperature was demonstrated by microscopic examination of saturated specimens that had been drastically quenched. The mean result of concordant measurements is that gamma iron saturated with respect to graphite contains 1.39 per cent carbon at 957°C. (1755°F.) and 1.89 per cent at 1110°C. (2030°F.). These two values, plotted along with what appears from the literature to be the best value (0.69 per cent) at the iron-graphite eutectoid temperature (738°C. or 1360°F.), yield a curve that is almost linear, and which, continued upward through a short interval, leads to a limiting solubility of 1.98 per cent at the iron-graphite eutectic temperature 1135°C. (2075°F.) instead of the commonly accepted value of about 1.7 per cent. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The samples of carbonyl iron, with the exception of those for microscopic examination, were cylinders 3.8 cm. long, 0.475 cm. in diameter. They were placed in a graphite holder and suspended in a vertical furnace, the temperature of which was controlled precisely by means of the resistance of the platinum winding.1 In the empty furnace the range of temperature over a distance of 4 cm. at the heat center was 9°C. (16°F.) but at a given location the temperature remained within ±0.5°C. (0.9°F.); it was measured by inserting a platinum-rhodium couple calibrated at the melting point of palladium, 1555°C. Since the presence of the sample probably improved the uniformity of temperature, it was decided to consider the average temperature of the sample to be 3°C. lower than the maximum measured in the empty furnace with the same setting of the controller. Data were obtained in the vicinity of two temperatures, 960°C. (1760°F.) and 1110°C. (2030°F.). The samples for microscopic examination, 2.2 cm. long, 0.475 cm. in diameter, were suspended individually on pure iron wire; for these no temperature correction was applied. The carburizing gas passed into the furnace was dry, oxygen-free hydrogen saturated at room temperature with

Jan 1, 1942

By R. Woodward Moore

A graphical method of analyzing the data obtained from shallow earth-resistivity depth tests is presented. The method is based upon empirical results and has no theoretical basis. The usual apparent resistivity-electrode spacing curve is used together with a cumulative resistivity-electrode spacing curve plotted on the same sheet. The greatly reduced scale required for plotting the cumulative values of resistivity together with the effect of the summation of the individual resistivity values serves to minimize the effect of purely local surface anomalies and inadvertent errors of measurement. The point of intersection of tangents or straight lines drawn to intersect at zones of maximum curvature in the cumulative curve indicates the depth to the underlying material. Numerous figures are presented in which data from published reports and from recent field studies are analyzed and the results compared with actual depths established by borings or with depth values obtained by the use of theoretical methods of analysis. Smoothly rounded curves of apparent resistivity such as are often obtained in the field, and which have been a serious drawback to attempts to analyze the data empirically heretofore, appear to be susceptible to rather accurate analysis by the method described. The method is best suited to analyses involving shallow two-layer formations. It has been applied successfully, however, in analyzing the data obtained from tests made over shallow three-layer formations. As with most empirical methods, its chief advantage is its simplicity and ease of application. There have been published many papers that discuss the interpretation of data obtained from earth-resistivity tests when using the four-terminal method of electrode spacing developed by Wenner.' The majority of these have dealt with theoretical analyses for two-layer and three-layer formations. Some sets of "master curves" have been presented for use in analyzing field data to determine the depth to the first and possibly the second horizon below the earth's surface. Although practically all of these theoretical methods of analysis have appeared to have particular merit and some have been used successfully in practice, they have been found to be of little value where the local conditions surrounding the test failed to conform to those assumed in the theory. In certain fields, particularly in civil engineering, relatively shallow explorations are often involved and geophysical methods of test must compete with the direct methods of exploration ordinarily used. Only when it can be demonstrated that geophysical methods of test can materially reduce the time and cost of a given exploration project will the civil engineer abandon direct methods in favor of the interpretations of geophysical exploration data. Empirical methods of analyzing earth-resistivity data have been used in many instances in the past. Such methods have been employed for a number of years by the Public Roads Administration in research work relative to the application of

Jan 1, 1946

By R. Woodward Moore

A graphical method of analyzing the data obtained from shallow earth-resistivity depth tests is presented. The method is based upon empirical results and has no theoretical basis. The usual apparent resistivity-electrode spacing curve is used together with a cumulative resistivity-electrode spacing curve plotted on the same sheet. The greatly reduced scale required for plotting the cumulative values of resistivity together with the effect of the summation of the individual resistivity values serves to minimize the effect of purely local surface anomalies and inadvertent errors of measurement. The point of intersection of tangents or straight lines drawn to intersect at zones of maximum curvature in the cumulative curve indicates the depth to the underlying material. Numerous figures are presented in which data from published reports and from recent field studies are analyzed and the results compared with actual depths established by borings or with depth values obtained by the use of theoretical methods of analysis. Smoothly rounded curves of apparent resistivity such as are often obtained in the field, and which have been a serious drawback to attempts to analyze the data empirically heretofore, appear to be susceptible to rather accurate analysis by the method described. The method is best suited to analyses involving shallow two-layer formations. It has been applied successfully, however, in analyzing the data obtained from tests made over shallow three-layer formations. As with most empirical methods, its chief advantage is its simplicity and ease of application. There have been published many papers that discuss the interpretation of data obtained from earth-resistivity tests when using the four-terminal method of electrode spacing developed by Wenner.' The majority of these have dealt with theoretical analyses for two-layer and three-layer formations. Some sets of "master curves" have been presented for use in analyzing field data to determine the depth to the first and possibly the second horizon below the earth's surface. Although practically all of these theoretical methods of analysis have appeared to have particular merit and some have been used successfully in practice, they have been found to be of little value where the local conditions surrounding the test failed to conform to those assumed in the theory. In certain fields, particularly in civil engineering, relatively shallow explorations are often involved and geophysical methods of test must compete with the direct methods of exploration ordinarily used. Only when it can be demonstrated that geophysical methods of test can materially reduce the time and cost of a given exploration project will the civil engineer abandon direct methods in favor of the interpretations of geophysical exploration data. Empirical methods of analyzing earth-resistivity data have been used in many instances in the past. Such methods have been employed for a number of years by the Public Roads Administration in research work relative to the application of

Jan 1, 1946

By T. Lane Carter

BEFORE describing the experience with the Chinese on the Rand and the work they have accomplished, it will be necessary, sary, first, to give a brief account of labor-conditions in the Transvaal since the war, and then to show how the necessity of importation of labor arose. As is well known, the Transvaal mines are run on the dual system of labor-that is, the rough work is done by colored laborers under the superintendence of white men. From the start of mining operations in South Africa there has been the cry of shortness of native labor, due in great measure to the failure of Kaffirs to work continuously in the mines. While he works, the Kaffir is a satisfactory laborer, but his period of service is short, averaging about nine months. People unacquainted with the Kaffir have maintained that, by offering a higher wage and better accommodation, better results would be obtained from the native workers, but an increased wage simply aggravates the trouble. The Kaffir's wants are few. While at work he spends little of his money, and before long has sufficient capital with which to buy wives and become a gentleman of leisure. Doubling the wage of the Kaffir means that he acquires a competency in half the time, so that his period of service is correspondingly reduced. In 1899, before the war, there was always a cry about the scarcity of Kaffir labor. The highest number of natives at work was in July and August, 1899, when nearly 100,000 were employed. At the outbreak of hostilities the Kaffirs were scattered far and near, many doing well during the war by working for the military authorities. On the, resumption of mining operations on the Rand a serious mistake was made. Based on past experience, it was argued that if the whole industry decided to start anew with

Sep 1, 1908

By L. A. Cranson

WHEN I came out of Stanford University in 1922, the out-look for men trained in geology, petroleum engineering, and mining was indeed dismal; in fact, so much so that most of us looked upon our future in those fields as pretty hopeless. Neither our professors nor those men in industry with whom we came in contact gave us any enthusiastic encouragement as to the future of ourselves or the fields we had chosen for our labors. I believe that the attitude of pessimism which saturates everyone about graduation time is lament able and short-sighted, and may often start a young man on his way with an attitude of defeatism. Instead, he should be starting out knowing that he can expect hard work and keen competition, but that the fields of his labours are expanding at an accelerated rate, and that strong, energetic efforts will as always accomplish highly satisfactory results.

Jan 1, 1941

By J. M. Hassler

NOWHERE can there be found a more misleading statement than the old one that "Iron can be manufactured cheaper in the South." During the past decade ironmakers and users of iron have heard varied and sundry stories of the wonderful resources of the Birmingham district, including abundant ore and coal fields, cheap labor, a wonderful climate and similar industrial Utopian statements. Birmingham represents the major portion of the iron business in the South, acid as Birmingham fares so goes the iron business of the South. The intent of this paper is to shed some light on the actual conditions surrounding ironmaking in the South, especially in the Birmingham, or North Alabama, district. By a presentation of facts it is desired to point out that the "cheap iron" of the industrial South is a thing of the past, primarily because of increased labor cost and because labor is radically different in performance to what it was years ago. Also, because most of the raw materials needed in ironmaking that would be classed better than inferior are gone.

Jan 1, 1937

By W. G. SWART

THE best estimate on reserves of iron ore in the Lake Superior district is that made, in 1920, by Mr. R. C. Allen, amounting to 2,947,225,000 tons of assured and probable ore. This includes direct- shipping or so-called merchantable ores, and those capable of beneficiation by demonstrated processes. De- ducting from this the 287,000,000 tons shipped since 1920, leaves a present reserve of approximately 2,500,- 000,000 tons, or; about 50 years' supply. The assured ore in this estimate is given as 1,560,500,000 tons, which checks Mr. Lake's estimate of 1,528,948,000 tons, or about 30 years' supply. This is not a long time in the life of the steel industry, and it can be readily appreciated that the matter is important enough to war- rant the attention it is beginning to receive. The first question that engages our attention is, What is merchantable ore? In 1902 the average of all Mesabi shipments was 56.07 per cent iron and 4.35 per cent silica. Twenty-five years later it had dropped to 51.99 per cent iron, with silica up to 7.92 per cent. It has remained around these figures for' ten or twelve years and, except for a probable rise in silica, can stay there for an indefinite period. Most of these figures I am giving cover the Mesabi Range. Including the other ranges does not change the figures greatly, and the Mesabi Range commands the situation, since it produces about 65 per cent of the total annual tonnage and, according to Mr. Allen, contains 81 per cent of the assured reserves, 50 per cent of the probable reserves, and 66 per cent of both the assured and the probable reserves.

Jan 1, 1926

Jan 1, 1885