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By J. R. FINLA

THE three great war periods of recent times involving the-chief industrial, commercial, and military nations of the world have been the following: 1. Wars centering around the French Republic and Napoleon Bonaparte, .1791-1815;. involving every nation in Europe, parts of Asia Minor and *North Africa., and the United States of America. 2. Wars in Europe, Asia, and North -America beginning with the Crimean War, 1854-56, the British Empire, France, Sardinia, and Turkey against Russia; the Sepoy rebellion in India, -1857; -war of France . and Sardinia against ..Austria in Italy, .185.9; :the Taiping rebellion in China, 1861; Civil War in , America, 1861-65; French. occupation .of .M Mexico, .1863; Prussian war against :Denmark, :1864; (Prussia and Italy against Austria sand various -south German : states, 1866; :the Franco-German War, 1870.7,1.

Jan 1, 1931

By Lewis Carroll

AS he contemplates the numerous good things the hard-working committees have evolved for the 140th Meeting of the Institute, the Editor knows just how the walrus felt when he uttered his memorable, if somewhat lugubrious lines. For there are the Annual Reception and Dinner at the Commodore, 'the Gold Supply Symposium, the luncheons, general and special, and the Annual Institute of Metals Lecture, a Round Table on Iron Ore and a wonderful Informal Dance at the Grand Central Art, Gallery, substantial general sessions, a Smoker-and many other things. -Old, friends and new, reminiscences and confidential chats, horizons pushed back by new information and adjusted perspectives, courage revived and ambitions stimulated-one with a flair for the modernistic might make something-or nothing-of the kaleidoscopic preview 'of the coming Annual Meeting.

Jan 1, 1931

By AIME AIME

THE first meeting" of the Iron and Steel Division was held Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 17, with nearly 100 men present and C. B. Murray as chairman. This was a round table discussion of iron ore beneficiation and of its relation to blast-furnace operations, and only one paper was presented, by Clyde E. Williams. Mr. Williams discussed the future of the Lake Superior district in its relation to the iron and steel industry. He stated that although estimates had shown that the total life of the present known iron ore reserves of the Lake Superior district was 20 to 30 years and that many believed that as a result of this depletion foreign ores would be brought to the Atlantic Seaboard, thus causing a displacement of the steel industry to the East, he believed that the Lake Superior district would continue to be the important producer of iron ore used in this country for decades beyond the predicted time before the exhaustion of the present known reserves. He described the three general types of ores that required concentration and pointed out the needs for research and the proper methods to be used in processes for the beneficiation of these low-grade materials. He discussed the effects of fine concentrates and the use of agglomerated ores in the blast furnace. This general summary led to interesting and valuable discussion on the various economic, ore-dressing, and blast-furnace problems in large-scale development of beneficiation. Perry Harrison described recent developments in sintering and the properties of iron ore sinter. T. B. Counselman and W. H. Coghill discussed the merits of classification of iron ore previous to tabling. Robert Faulkner and J. E. Little described the beneficiation plant of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.

Jan 1, 1931

Jan 1, 1931

By T. A. Rickard

The writing that is effective is woven with a fine texture into an agreeable pattern; it is free from knots, loose threads, and stray fluff. The instrument that weaves this literary fabric, whether it produce a homely sock or a lordly tapestry, a simple story or a learned 'Itreatise, is a disciplined intelligence, as sure as a steel needle, as precise as a swift loom. The simile breaks down at this point, for the product of the pen is instinct with the human spirit and therefore transcends in beauty anything made by a mere machine. If words are to be woven into eloquent meaning, they must be well knit. Upon the relation of words to each other and of groups of words to other groups, known as phrases, clauses, and sentences, depends the success of writing as a means of trans¬mitting thought from man' to man. To be understood beyond question, you should know not only what your words denote but how to build your sentences; you must not only choose your words aright but construct your sentences properly. A sentence is a combination of words that makes complete sense; it says something about something. ' A clause is a subordinate sentence or a sentence within a sentence. A phrase is a group of words without a predicate; it makes sense, but not complete sense. For example: I shall wait for a few minutes before I go home: The whole statement is a sentence; "I shall wait" and "before I go home" are clauses; "for a few minutes" is an adverbial phrase. The orderly arranging of words and of combinations of words is called `syntax'; and from the original Greek form, ouvaeis (suntaxis), is derived the Greek name for an editor,

Jan 1, 1931

By Kenneth S. Ritchie

THE discovery well of the world's -deepest oil producing structure, University 1-B of Group No. One Oil Corporation, in the Big Lake oil field, Reagan County, Texas, has had a remarkable record. The well is outstanding for the following reasons: (1) It is the world's pioneer well to produce. oil in commercial quantities from a structure 8500 ft. below the earth's . surface; (2) this well was the only. producer from the 8500-ft. pay for a period of 17 months and 24 days; (3) the flow of the discovery well has been free from-the customary changes at the casinghead, with the exception of putting on a back-pressure of 185 lb.; and, (4) the well's daily production of oil and gas increased rather steadily for 17 months and 18 days from an initial of 40 bbl. per day to a maximum of 2926 bbl. per day, and then six months later, after a period of decline and self-readjustment to subsurface changes caused by six more deep producers, the well set its real record for one day's production of oil at 2950 bbl

Jan 1, 1931

By E. M. Wise

WHEN man became dissatisfied with the mere utilization of physical force and began to use weapons, he made a definite stride forward. At first he used sticks, animal bones and stones, often rudely shaped to some particularly lethal form. These devices, while crude, were moderately effective. How- ever, some of the brighter men of the tribe found that certain particularly heavy "stones" were somewhat ductile and could be hammered into more effective weapons than those previously known. Later, probably through the misuse of one of these weapons to stir the campfire, it was found that heating softened and perhaps actually melted the material. The process of annealing had been discovered! Smelting the more easily reducible metals was in all probability one of those fortuitous accidents which was followed up by thoughtful researchers who ultimately developed the technique of mixing various ores to produce bronze and even some of the nickel content alloys. The resulting products were at first lumps of more or less ductile material which could be hammered to shape, and were thus incidentally hardened by this process. The hardening of metals by alloying and cold working remained for many centuries the only known methods for improving their properties.

Jan 1, 1931

By Paul D. Merica

DURING the Dark Ages, when metallurgy was practiced by the alchemists, any unusual or disturbing variation in metallurgical operations was ascribed to the, presence, in the metals or ores, of an evil spirit, and it was necessary to exorcise and drive it out "by suitable incantations. In this day of science and of engineering, things still incomprehensibly go wrong in the metallurgist's work shop. The metallurgist is even now not unwilling to lay the blame for many such experiences at the door of something which intellectually- much resembles an evil spirit, "gas in the metal." The presence of gases in his metal, he knows, occasions him many very definite troubles which he can clearly distinguish and diagnose-why may it not be also responsible for those which he cannot so well understand?

Jan 1, 1931

By C. L. HUNTZINGER

THE mine here described is in the Witbank district, a coal area of the Transvaal, about 100 miles north- east of Johannesburg. and is owned by the Witbank Colliery, Ltd. The plant has a capacity of 4000 tons per eight hours, and prepares five sizes of coal. The coal seam lies at a depth of about 200 ft. below the surface, and is reached by an inclined shaft sunk at an angle of 18° with the horizontal. Although the thickness of the coal seam varies from 10 to 14 ft. or more, only about a 7-ft. bench is mined. Mining is by the hord and pillar system. Bords are driven 18 ft. wide, with pillars measuring 18 ft. square. The mine is laid out into four sections, each sewed by a main haulage way from the shaft. Arc-wall machines are used for cutting the coal. but all loading is done by hand. Native labor is employed under the supervision of white miners, who do the required blasting. The workings are practically free from gas and water, and very little timber is needed.

Jan 1, 1931

By W. M. Peirce

FOR many years it was considered quite the proper introduction to any discussion of zinc metallurgy to remark that the methods of extracting zinc from its ores were archaic. Often there was an added implication that the industry in every phase savored of the days of alchemy. On rare occasions comments of this sort may still he heard. Fortunately, not only for the zinc industry but for the world at large, there is today no longer a basis for considering zinc metallurgy unprogressive. Progress in any industry is possible along three distinct lines. The methods of production may be improved, thereby reducing costs. In the case of basic materials, this may also have the important effect of increasing potential supply. Second, quality may be improved. Finally, the product may be made more valuable to consumers through increased knowledge of its utilization, thus holding old markets or opening new.

Jan 1, 1931

By George S. Rice

STUDIES of ground movement and subsidence caused by mining necessarily chiefly deal with causes and effects of making extensive excavations underground with spans beyond the strength of the un- supported or temporarily timbered roof or hanging wall. Perhaps no other phase of engineering is so de- pendent for results upon the assemblage of what may be called "experience data." That this is the case is cot surprising when one considers the number of variables involved in any at- tempted mathematical formula to determine the angle of draw or the angle of permanent slope of the rocks in any particular case. It is not like dealing with construction materials in which, through testing of. small specimens, in conjunction with the tests of large built- up specimens, relative stresses and strains may be deter- mined and formulas closely approximated for still larger constructions.

Jan 1, 1931

By C. K. Leith

THE outstanding fact of the mineral world today, at home and abroad, is the surplus of current production, and particularly of capacity for production, over current requirements. This is not by Any means a new condition, but never before has it loomed up in such' menacing form. - Those of us who have devoted most of our professional efforts to the discovery and development of 'new mineral supplies now suddenly find ourselves with the job apparently accomplished, waiting for some one else to find an outlet for excess mineral production before we can further. The management of the industry is in much the same boat. The psjrcho16gy of the industry has been so grooved in the direction of acquisition of, minerals that at the present moment the mineral industry confronts the new problem of surplus in more or less of a daze.

Jan 1, 1931

By AIME AIME

WHEN your good secretary was kind enough to ask me to speak tonight I was rather reluctant to do so lest it be just another case of a man who has been abroad inflicting himself on his friends. So if anybody wants to walk out on me it will be perfectly all right. In the matter of statistics, geography, geology, and the like, you can get more from an encyclopaedia than I can tell you. For that reason I want to restrict myself to mentioning just a few personal impressions of that great country, Australia. About ten days ago I met the professor of mining from the University of Adelaide. In our conversation, which ran into a discussion of the relative characterstics of the two countries, he asked me whether it was fair to think of Australia as a land of strikes and not think of the United States as the home of murderers, bootleggers, and gangsters. At any rate those are the things most prominently played up in the news from the respective countries, so you can see how distorted our conceptions can be.

Jan 1, 1931

By AIME AIME

THE luncheon of the Milling Methods Committee in the Engineers' Club, on Feb. 16, was distinctly a social affair, although several matters of a non-milling nature were fruitfully discussed. The session* on Milling Methods, the same afternoon, attracted a gathering which overtaxed the capacity of the Board Room on the fifteenth floor. Galen H. Clevenger presided, with the moral reinforcement of Charles Butters. As all papers were available in printed form, and since synopses have appeared in MINING & METALLURGY, it is unnecessary to cover the contents of each in detail here. The first paper (T. P. 410), by Leaver and Woolf, on the "Flotation of Minor Gold in Large-scale Copper "Concentrators," was excellently summarized by R. S. Dean of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, who stressed the -very definite action of lime as a depressant of gold, and showed how the authors had worked out the best conditions of alkalinity, pH concentration and reagents for -optimum recovery of gold along with base metals, especially where lime had to be used to depress pyrite. No discussion was evoked.

Jan 1, 1931

By AIME AIME

NEW YORKERS look forward to the third week of February as the time of the year when they can count on seeing their friends-from far and near gathered in the city for the four-day annual session of the Institute.., Indeed, the metropolitan district is so large that in engineer who lives in New, Jersey and has his office on the lower end of Manhattan island may easily pass a whole year without seeing an acquaintance who lives in Westchester and has an office near Forty-second Street. If the Institute served no other function than to provide a place where friendship may be renewed, ideas exchanged, and new acquaintances made it would still be worth while. But when about 30 technical sessions at which about 160 papers are read and discussed are compressed into four days the annual meeting is also entitled to high rank as an intensive course of post-graduate instruction in the newest development in mining and metallurgical technology. Last, but not least, it is the occasion of a good time for one and all, even if they do get more than a little behind on sleep before the end of the fourth day. Nine o'clock is the time set on Monday morning for the beginning of registration, but a half-hour before that a number have always 'put in an appearance, and this is fortunate, because by 10 o'clock four sessions had begun, those on mining methods, geophysics, a round table on the valuation of coal, and the session of the Local Section delegates. Three committees of the A. S. T. M. were also in simultaneous session, so the meeting may be fairly said to have started "in high."

Jan 1, 1931

By AIME AIME

THE papers on geophysics were roughly divided into two groups*, those presented Monday morning being of a more technical and theoretical nature, whereas the afternoon session was principally taken up with discussions of a predominantly geological flavor. Thus it was made possible for those of a mathematical turn of mind to indulge their penchant for formula and differentials before lunch, leaving the field comparatively free, after lunch, for the geologists to learn of practical applications. The advantage of this classification is evident, and it is to be hoped that in some future meetings it will be possible to hold joint sessions of the geophysicists and mining geologists, to consider the overlap of the two fields.

Jan 1, 1931

By AIME AIME

LAST month we published (p. 440) the first half of the L discussion by O. E. Kiessling of the paper on copper by Mr. Vogelstein that appeared in the same-issue, but lack of space made it necessary to hold the remainder for this number. Mr. Kiessling now asks to have the last " sentence of the part already published revised to the form given in the first sentence which follows, and also asks that the two parts, though necessarily published separately, be read together, as a mistaken impression may be derived from the first Dart unless it is read in connection with the statement of the Bureau of Mines policy respecting secondary metals which is here published. .

Jan 1, 1931

By LUDWIG VOGELSTEIN

WE are indebted to Mr. Barbour for his valuable contribution to the literature on copper statistics; it is to my knowledge the only intelligent attempt to throw light on a much misunderstood subject. If I should appear to criticize some of his findings and arguments, I do not want to leave the impression that I do not appreciate the article; I think Mr. Barbour has been painstaking, and even where one might not agree with his conclusions, he has opened our eyes and stimulated us in our search for the truth.' It might be well to define the term "secondary copper" and to make a few remarks about the origin and the reasons for the variation of the supply. Mr. Barbour has touched on these points, but not sufficiently to make them clear to those not in the business.

Jan 1, 1931

By J. W. JESSUH

TO certain people the name of Northern Rhodesia brings only a vague recollection of a distant country somewhere in Africa; to others, it means a big game territory and the opportunity for excellent shooting; to some, a land of sunshine and peace; but to mining men the name signifies the land where the latest discoveries of copper ore are astonishing the mining world and bid fair, in a few years, to make Northern Rhodesia one of the largest copper- producing countries. There is a fascination about this part of the globe that is somewhat similar to southern California, and at the same time there is that feeling of mystery peculiar to a tropical climate. Perhaps it is the isolation, the fear of wild animals, or the influence of an undefinable something which cannot be expressed.

Jan 1, 1931

By Clyde E. Williams

THIS review of the progress made in iron and steel metallurgy during the past year is confined to developments in this country. It attempts to give examples to illustrate progress made rather than to appraise results. As a result of the gradually diminishing supply of rich iron ores and of predictions made as to the probable life of the iron-ore reserves of the Lake Superior District, attention of iron and steel executives was directed to the question of beneficiation of iron ores. Laboratory and plant-scale experimental work was conducted on the wash ores .of Minnesota and an investigation, was, begun on the Old Range low-grade ores.

Jan 1, 1931