The Iron Age 1900-01-11: Vol 65 Iss 2

THE IRON AGE. TuurRspay, January 11, 1900. The Most Perfect Machine Shop.*—Il. Building No. 16 of the Schenectady Works of the General Electric Company. BY S. D. V. BURR The Helper Eliminated. From what we said in the previous article the state- ment will be appreciated that the helper is conspicuous by his entire absence. It is certainly unusual in a single himself. The labor saving devices are complete, rang- ing from the little portable crane or hoist to the im- mense traveling. cranes, so that the power required is graduated to the requirements. An equipment of this character musi result in an increased output at a de- creased cost, since it does away with the unproductive labor item. The interest charge on this outlay would far more thar offset the interest on the cost of installa- tion, the cost of operation, and the cost of maintenance of the devices here provided. Fig. 12.—lectric Motor Mounted on End of Shaft. THE MOST PERFECT MACHINE SHOP. Shop employing seven or eight hundred men to find not even a trace of a man whose sole function is to lift or push something. Appliances are provided in every case for doing this work mechanically, and it is no exaggera- tion to say that a mechanic need not lift a weight of 25 pounds from the floor unless he desires to do so. There are contrivances provided for doing this work for him and for doing it quicker and better than he could do it *See The Iron Age, January 4, 1900. The Transmission of Power. The short lines of shafting furnished for the groups of small tools are driven by electric motors mounted upon the ends of the shafts, as shown in Figs. 12 and 14. These motors are carried by brackets secured to the columns of the building. From these lines of shaft- ing power is transmitted through suitable countershafts to the several tools. In some cases, as in Fig. 16, the motor is placed upon the floor alongside the machine to January 1], 1900 AGE. vA Oo — (x) ss os ECE A | et a ORE ee et Fig. 13.—View of Opposite End of Shaft, Fig. \2, Showing Bracket Construction. Fig. 14.— Motor on End of Shaft Shaft Brackets and Hangers on Girder. SHOP. MACHINE THE MOST PERFECT Ser Se ET January 11, 1900 be driven and belted to an overhead counter. This is an isolated case, and one in which there was no other so- lution of the problem; in other words, the counter was a necessary evil. In this instance the countershaft is bolted to the under part of one of the girders. An entirely different arrangement is that shown in the planer, Fig. 15. Here the counter is carried at the end of a pair of I-beams projecting from the wall of the puilding and held by two suspender rods. This par- ticular method was required by the location of the tool and the fact that there was no overhead work to which a countershaft bracket could be secured. THE LRON AGE. 3 the free travel of the crane. In this case the brackets are formed to fit against the lower flange of the girder and to be bolted through the web of the girder. The hangers grip the lower flange of the girder from which they are suspended. Provision is made in all of the brackets for the adjustment in or out of the bearings, and both brackets and hangers can be placed where de- sired along the girder. The Electric Motors. As has been stated, electric motors are used through- out, individual motors being placed upon the large ma- Fig. 15.—Driving Planer from Wall Countershaft —Motor on Floor. THE MOST PERFECT MACHINE SHOP. Hangers and Brackeis for Shafting. Particular attention should be paid to the two views, Figs. 138 and 14, as they show an ingenious design of brackets and hangers for carrying line shafts and coun- tershafts. The brackets shown in Fig. 13 are so formed that their upper portion extends over so as to grip one of the building girders. The bearings are suspended from their outer ends. The design is somewhat different in the other engraving, which represents the line shaft in the lathe department in the southwest wing. In this case it was impossible for the bracket to extend above the top of the girder, upon which is placed one of the tracks for the hand traveling crane. It became essen- tial, therefore, that all of the shaft carrying mechanism Should be below the rail in order not to interfere with chines. and the smaller machines being grouped. Of course all of these are of the General Electric type. The latest style, and those which are used more or less free- ly, are the variable speed motors, which were practically developed by the company for their own use. They are now using of this pattern 8 41%4 horse-power running at from 400 to 800 revolutions, 9 7 horse-power running 250 to 500 revolutions. These are all for three-wire control, the voltages being 125 and 250 volts. For the lower speeds the 125 voltage is used, which is obtained by con- necting one side of the three-wire system and the neu- tral. Then by weakening the fields the several increases in speed up to the maximum are obtained. Finally, by connecting the outside legs of the three-wire system the 250 voltsare obtainedand by weakening the field strength 4 the remaining range in speed results. The great advan- tage of this three-wire system is that a smaller and therefore a cheaper motor can be built for a given capac- ity and a given range in speed. In addition to the above there are the following mo- tors, having variable speeds: 4 12% horse-power, at 150 to 300 revolutions, and 4 15 horse-power, having from 130 to 260 revolutions. These sizes are for two- wire control, the armatures being always on 250 volts, and the complete range of speed being obtained by weakening the field strength. These two sizes of motors were perfected before the company considered or de- cided to use the three-wire system in this shop. Application of Variable Speed Motor. The application of a 41%4 horse-power variable speed motor to a 72-inch Putnam lathe is shown in the draw- ings, Figs. 17 to 19. In this instance the motor was mounted underneath the live spindle; taking the place of the cone is a sleeve carrying two gears which engage with pinions on armature shaft. Change in speed of the spindle is obtained mechanically by means of the gearing indicated, the gaps in the speed necessarily. re- sulting from this arrangement being filled up by the variable speed of the motor. The result is that by this combination of the two absolutely any speed required can be obtained with the utmost certainty between the minimum and maximum. This is shown upon the chart, Fig. 20, in which the heavy line indicates the speeds obtained with the belt drive originally furnished with the lathe, while the dotted line shows the speeds obtained with the direct motor drive. Comparing the two curves it will be noted that the one representing the belt drive is more or less irregular and that there are gaps which cannot be filled. On the contrary the dotted line indicating the motor drive is a perfect curve, which shows that any speed from the lowest, seven-tenths of a revolution, to the highest, 327 revolutions, can be ob- tained. To explain this another way, the motor pro- vides for the removal of those irregularities of spee created by the mechanical part. Theoretically the line from the lowest to the highest speed of the electric drive would be straight, but the curved one is introduced in order that it may be com- pared with that indicating the original cone drive. Since the rheostat controlling these motors has 50 points, any speed can be obtained. What has been said concerning the wide range of speeds obtainable in this lathe with the motor drive should be borne in mind when the descriptions of other types of machines are presented in the subsequent articles. The same range of speeds is in each case there obtained and the efficiency of the tool thereby increased. There are 94 motors in the building, including all variable and econ- stant speed motors. Panel Board, Each motor is provided with a panel board placed within convenient reach of the operator. It carries an ammeter, a magnetic blowout circuit breaker, a switch and a rheostat. These devices provide not only for the complete control of the current passing to the motor, but also furnish at all times an exact indication of the electrical power absorbed by the machine in doing its work. It is an interesting study to watch the needle when the tool is in operation upon a piece requiring va- rious degrees of power during its stroke, as for instance a shaper. In this case the power is of course at a mini- mum during the return or idle stroke, the reverse of the cutting tool or ram being indicated by a sudden jump in the needle, and then the return of the needle during the travel of the ram from its point of reversal until it strikes the work, when a further increase in power is shown as the tool takes hold and travels across the piece. As the tool leaves the piece another reduction in power is apparent, which continues during the idle por- tion of the stroke, an increase then taking place during the second reversal. Even in continuous cutting oper- THE IRON AGE. January 11, 1900 ations, such as occur in a boring mill, changes in power can be noted due to difference in amount of material removed by the tool, or variations in the homogeneity of the metal. (To be continued.) _ —_—— The Michigan Bolt & Nut Works of Detroit have just manufactured and shipped to Manila two carloads of iron to be used in the crection of the Government refrig- erating and ice plant, which is to be erected at that point. The plant is an enormous one. It has a capacity for cooling at one time 5000 beeves, 7500 sheep, 100 tons of salt meats, eggs, and vegetables and butter—enough to supply the army in the Philippines for some time, Fig. 16.—Driving Machine through Ordinary Countershaft. THE MOST PERFECT MACHINE SHOP. And, in addition, it will produce 50 tons of ice per day and 6000 gallons of distilled water. The ice is to be manufactured by the ammonia process. The building is to be 250 feet square and about 45 feet high, and is being erected on the left bank of the Pasig River. The windows and doors are protected with heavy iron guards, which they expect will resist any ordinary siege. On account of the tendency to earthquakes, the entire structure, which is to be built of brick, is tied together and anchored secureiy every few feet, which accounts for the large quantity of iron going into it. An International Congress on Accidents to Workmen and on Insurance Societies is to he held at Paris from: June 25 to 30. The president of the organization com- mittee is M. Linder, while E. Gruner is general secre- tary. The headquarters are at 20 Rue Louis le Grand, Paris. January 11, 1900 Dangerous Tendencies in Recent Consolidations.* BY JAMES B. DILL, NEW YORK. Premise I.—There is more danger to-day to the public from the tendency on the part of some to indulge in un- reasonable denunciations and to attempt hysterical and unwise legislation against corporate capital than there is from the corporations themselves. Premise II.—Against whatever evil threatening or existing from the corporate evolution through which this country is passing there is but one infallible safeguard, and that is an enlightened public opinion, framed upon a clear understanding of the whole situation and based upon an honest desire to do what is right. We are in the first place dealing with and speaking of tendencies only, discussing the probable drift of affairs, Fig. 17.—Plan of Hlectric Drive of 72-Inch Putnam Lathe. 4 %. Fig. 18.—Sectional Elevation through Head Stock, Fig. 17. THE MOST PERFECI MACHINE dealing with dangers to be apprehended rather than those actually existent. Tendencies are to be found only in some combinations, most emphatically not in all, and by no means in the majority of the aggregations of capital in — form. In the next place we must bear in mind that any tendency which is dangerous imperils not only the public at large but threatens as well all corpora- tions of integrity. Corporate capital, standing as it does in aggregations in close contiguity, the falling of the one is communicated to others, resulting in the possible over- throw of the many. No one is more interested in the discussion of the so- called dangerous tendencies, or rather in determining whether in the first place they exist, whether in the sec ond place they are or are not dangerous, than the corporate capital itself. The importance of the subject becomes apparent when we reiterate that the mercantile and financial business of this country has gone through an evolution. It has arrived at this stage—fortunately for this country—without the danger and peril of a revolu- tion. Corporate capital of integrity to-day is as desirous _ *From a paper read before the Ithaca meeting of the Amer- ican Economic Association. THE IRON AGE. 5 of having a proper line of demarcation drawn between corporations of integrity and those companies otherwise situated as is the public at large, largely as a means of self preservation. To-day corporations strong in the integrity. of their finances, their management and the personnel of their officers demand some line of demarcation between them- selves and other corporations differently situated. This question, therefore, can be discussed with the same de- gree of earnest inquiry and yuite as fully from the corpo- rate standpoint as from the point of public inquiry. Publicity. _ Few remedies against ills, real or supposed, in corpora- tions can be prescribed by statute. Few bills can be introduced into the legislature and few enactments can become laws which cannot be strangled in their inception, crippled in their application and diverted from their intended effect by brains equally clever and by influence equally as strong as those proposing the measure, whether those brains and that influence be backed by combi- nations of capital or not. This rule has an exception, and that is when a calm, reasoning and intelligent public opinion has been fully aroused to the subject and has wisely determined its legislation. Heretofore the attitude of some of the corporation mathematicians bas veen to write the denominator in large and expansive numbers until the difference between 35,000,000 and $20,000,000 has become a difference without a distinction. Calling the denominator of the fraction the capital stock, so long as the corporate mathematician failed to put upon the public blackboard the numerator indicating the assets of the company there is nothing from which the public can deduct any known and certain results. To-day curpora- tions of integrity seek the light, not only because they feel conscious of their ability to stand examination but for the added and equally important reason that sume of their neighbors cannot stand such atest. Corporations strong in the integrity of their organization, their man- agement and their financiers are to day forced by their surroundings, compelled by pressure of business compe- tition and obliged by the force of a growing and enlight- ened public opinion, to draw a line of clear demarcation between themselves and other corporations differently oa 3 es . ae 4 Fig. 19.—Sectional End Hlevation, Fig. 17. SHOP. situated. But lately these great and sound corporations do not stand alone in expanse of capitalization; others saw that the millions denominator was easy to write on the public blackboard, and so long as the sound corpora- tions were unwilling to complete the corporate fraction so long the imitators could make equal claim to the con- fidence of the investing public. The market became there- fore crowded, even glutted, with securities of corporation propositions whose denominators were alike magnificent in their expansion, bnt whose numerators were the unknown quantities. The good were in danger of being injured by the failure of those otherwise situated. Hence necessity to-day compels corporations strong in their integrity to write the corporation fraction in full view of the public. To day corporations with corporate integrity and with real finances are compelled to protect themselves against corporate propositions with high denominators but without enumeraturs that enumerate. In the cor- orate vernacular of to day capital may mean one thing, but assets ofttimes mean another. Hence it is we find that integrity, both in the shape of corporate capital and corporate management and as well on the part of the public, demands, and each for its own proper protection, 6 THE IRON AGE. a reasonable degree of publicity in and about corporate affairs, accounts and finances. Corporate fategrity. In discussing what tendencies. if any, are likely to become dangerous, we seek a common line of demarcation upon which all thinking men must agree. This general line of demarcation between the good and the possibly bad, or resulting evil, is not difficult to find. That line of demarcation lies in the single proposition of corporate integrity from inception to finish. herever on the one side we find a corporation honest in its promotion, carefal and trustworthy in its financiering, honest in nanagement, faithful in the discharge of its duties toward its stock- holders and single in its purpose to produce the best busi- ness results, in such a corporation as this we look for no tendencies which may become dangerous, nor will we find them. But on the other hand all those organizations which depart from the line of integrity, whose promotion is improper or even fraudulent, whose financiering is unwise or even vicious, whose capitalization is therefore excessive, whose corporate proposition has no numerator, only an expansive denominator, thus avoiding a proper degree of publicity, whose management seeks through a minority to control the majority and whose officers are more interested in the success of their private ventures in speculating in the stock of the company than the suc- cess of the business enterprise as an entirety—in such corporations we look for those tendencies which may become dangerous, not only to the public at large but to corporations generally, whose business may be dragged duwn because the public improperly class them with ** corporations otherwise situated.”’ Excessive Capitalization. The first tendency which may be regarded as danger- ous to the public and tu corporate capital is called ex. cessive capitalization. Excessive capitalization has two parents: Promotion, which varies from impropriety to fraud in character. Promotion, whether improper or fraudulent, is always accompanied by one other element, without which the enterprise promoted could never come into existence. The marketing of any undertaking, whether good, bad or indifferent, is generally dependent upon the financier. Therefore these two objects may be discussed together. Improper Promotion aud Unwise Financiering. The question may be asked, What is improper promo tion? Promotion for promotion’s sake merely is apt to be improper vromotion. Where you find secret and un- disclosed considerations proceeding from the promotion either to the directors of the corporation itself or to the moneyed corporation or its officers who finance it, then in such cases you may look for cases of promotion which are perhaps unwise. I may be permitted to observe in passing that the moneyed institution or that financier who observes the greatest degree of caution for and in bebalf of the public is the man or the institution which must ultimately meet with the greatest financial success. No man who has stood by combinations good, bad or indifferent, from their conception in the brain of the promotor, at their birth in the hands of the financier, through their organization and through the management of their corporate affairs by the Board of Directors, until they have been launched either to a public success or laid away in the grave under the receiver’s kindly care—I say no such man with such practical experience will deny that much of the root of evil and the beginning of much © dangerous tendences may be found with the promoter and with the financier. It may be that the time will come when the public will demand that the corporation which has obtained public support through public representations of finan- ciers and promoters, and which has failed and gone into tne grave which shall have had, through the assistance of the bankruptcy courts, written upon its tombstone not ** Well done, good and faithful servants,’’ but ‘‘ Here lie the results of fraudulent promotion and vicious financier- ing ;"’ will insist that the name of the promoter and the name of the financier will be indelibly written upon the same tombstone. The tendencies of excessive capitalization are three- fold. I am not prepared at this time to argue against the expressed opinion of some, who say that the flooding of the country with stock and corporate securities, which on their face state in plain language that their par value is $100 while the public knows that the value is but a small fraction of that amount, has in the long run some- what the effect of a depreciated currency. I am not pre- pared to violently differ at this time with those who say that excessive capitalization, which is productive of depreciated corporate securities, will eventually have much the same effect upon the investing public as a depreciated currency has upon a country’s finances. In support of this view it is urged that lack of ac- curacy in statements relating to financiering, whether in corporate securities or public moneys, can only lead to January 11, 1900 evil and that $100 should amount approximately to $100, whether written upon the bank bill issued directly by the moneyed corporation or upon the certificate of stock or the bond or other corporate security emanating from the moneyed corporation and countersigned or registered by the bank or trust company. A country with securities that wildly fluctuate, that are affected by every breath of suspicion, suggestion or state of fact, is somewhat in the same state as a ship at sea with a loose and rolling cargo throwing itself from side to side in the hold of the vessel. The situation pre- sents a grave question The root of the trouble is the alarm, panic and fear which are produced from a lack of bnowtélas and from want of positive information as to | — = | at & a ' Sam | BRERA ERWAE «§ US RES | | | | an | ed aedlaglialibie bead | | Li : * BERSRERERe SS oe | | | HAG | | | | a jp} —_— 4 j}—}-_—_ | __ Stead SRRRE iim | | a mem All ll — — 4 + = MME BOE & | ee |_| a a ‘a ia J H | w _ | | | | | \ : | l- ' a5 tami el an tee ame. = we wee ane MY © Ltt tT la | Y | | I | |= SSRSSRSSSSSSeE ee _| is ee | i He me i w TTT TTT TTT Tait is is ; bal TT Te ig | ] . oe ] | | | | | | | | | 1 | | in x — an en 7 a = —_ T T + + ° | | | | | | | | ats wt - =. ae Ree ae Se ee AP oe ee | 22 | |. it | iw = t —p—— sD aor | | jo bo if | | jf Bs +4 20 S| Oz rat | i =" pty | lo 3 | itu > 2. 2 2- Tio © Eo ES ve jOr: a 1 | 18 s: Ww ao 2) Fig. 20.—Speed Curves of Putnan Lathe. THE MO3T PERFECT MACHINE SHOP. how high or how low these securities ought to go, based upon a public demonstration of the corporation fraction. lt is the want of publicity, the inability to form an opinion and want of judgment as to sound values that cause the panic and create the rain. Improper Dividend Payments, A corporation that is excessively capitalized in order to keep in the race must provide for the payment of at least minimum dividends. In such a situation, therefore, a board of honest and well meaning directors are faced with a difficulty; they must either pay their dividends to approximately the same amount as their neighbors more fortunately situated, or they must permit their stock to become depreciated in the market as a result of failure to pay dividends. The tendency of an attempt to pay divi- dends upon this excessive capitalization is to pay divi- r eee | January 11, 1900 dends in excess of the actaal earning power and out of capital account. Another effect of excessive capitalization and the attempt to pay dividends upon such capitalization is to create a tendency which is to be deplored in any combina tion of to-day. That tendency is to create artificial earn- ings upon an artificial capital, either by artificially rais- ing the price or by the depreciation of the wages paid. The result to the public from an economic standpoint is objectionable. Avoidance of Publicity. The question of publicity is one concerning which there are wide differences of opinion. It is a question concerning which men may honestly differ according to the viewpoint from which it is discussed. The publicity must be reasonable and it must be restricted as to those matters concerning which the public have a right tu know. The corporations insist, and justly, that the publicity must apply as well to one as to another corporation simi- larly situated; that it is not just to ask a disclosure of one corporation which is not required of another similarly situated. Pablicity us to any matter in or about the cor- poration which is accessible to every stockholder is suffi- cient publicity to answer the requirements of a proper demand. Publicity to all of the stockholders is practically publicity to the world, and the public need not be alarmed about a lack of publicity in any corporation where every essential fact concerning its inception, organization, man- agement and affairs is known to every stockholder. If every company should insist upon plainly printing upon the face of the bond every limitation upon the bondholders’ rights contained in the mortgage, the invest ing public would less often come to grief. So, if there should be placed upon the certificate of stock every re- striction upon the power of the stockholders contained in the charter or by-laws, then the public would less often make a mistake in their investment. Evasive Legislation, The laws of the State of New York are sometimes held up as a pattern in the matter of required publicity. An examination of the history of tie statutes of New York shows a tendency to require from year to year less in the way of corporate publicity. Take it in respect to a single matter, that of annaal reports. The courts have said that the failure of directors to make the annual reports re- quired by the statutes was the commission of a moral wrong and directors failing to file the annual report were held liable ex delictu and not ex contractu. The requirements of the State of New York in this respect have gradually been done away with by legisla- tion. In 1890 *‘ the stock corporation law ’’ of the State (Chapter 564, Laws of 1890, section 380) provided in substance that ‘‘ every stock corporation except railroad corporations shall annually, within 20 days from the first day of January, or, if doing business without the United States, within 20 days after the first of April, make a report as of the first day of January, which shall state: ‘The amount of capital stock and the proportion actually paid in. ‘*The amount and in general terms the nature of its existing assets and debts, and all its receipts and expendi tures during the year. ‘*The names of its then stockholders. and ** The dividends, if any, declared since its last report ”’ It provided farther that if such reports were not made and filed all the directors *‘ to be generally, severally and personally liable for the debts of the corporation then existing, and for such that were contracted before the report should be made.”’ (Laws of 1890, page 1072.) The law of 1875 required such a report to be published in the newspapers. The act of 1890 required no publica tion. In 1892 the law was again amended, requiring less publicity, and all matters required in the act of 1890 were eliminated excepting the following three: 1. The amount of capital stock and the proportion actually issued 2. The amount of its debts or the amount which they do not then exceed. 3. The amount of its assets or the amount which its assets at least equal. (Laws of 1892, volume 2, page 1832, section 30. ) There is no requirement showing how this capital had been issued, whether in property or in cash. The amount which the debts of the corporation do not exveed is sufficed by a corporation with $1000 indebtedness, saying “that ‘the debts do not exceed $1,000,000." The third provision—an amount which its assets at least equal— would be answered by prescribing ‘‘ that its assets equaled $100.’’ There remained then little of real enlightenment in this report as to the true condition of the company. In 1899, however, a new section was added to the act, providing that ‘‘ No director or officer of any stock cor- poration shall be liable to any creditor of the corporation, because of the creation of any excessive indebtedness or because of any tailure to make or to file an annual report, whether heretofore or hereafter occurring; in case of any THE IRON: AGE. T debt, as to which personal liability of directors or officers may be or shall have been waived by such creditor or by any one under whom he claims. or by any provision of any instrument creating or securing debt.’’ (Laws of New York, 1899, chapter 354. ) This statute practically did away with the moral duty of publicity by providing that the filing or not filing of this report might be a matter of private barter made bet ween the creditor and the corporation. This chapter 354 of the laws of 1899 made it practicable for every cor- poration to avoid pnblicity by adding to every contract and to every liability incurred specitic words of waiver by the creditor to the individual statutory responsibility of the stockholder and director. This same statute of 1899, which does away with the moral duty of a director to make public certain matters coneerning his corporation, did away with another element of publicity, the prohibition against the creation of indebtedness in excess of the amount of the capital stock. It proceeded upon the presumption that the capi- tal stock of a corporation was a fair statement of the value of its assets, and that so long as the indebtedness of the corporation did not exceed its capital stock there was property sufficient to pay the creditor, The creditor at this point might rest content, assuming that the pub- lication of the capital stock and the amount paid in was in fact the publication of the maximum amount of in- debtedness of the corporation, because the one was required to be contained within the other and not to exceed the other under penalty of the liability of the directors to pay the debt thus in excess. Bat the passage of this act of 1899 was a letting down of the bars in this respect, and to-day no such assurance is held out to creditors of a corporation, because it has become usual for corporations to avoid publicity by insist- ing on inserting in their contracts a waiver of liability of directors and stockholders. Stock Speculations. I differ with any one who asserts that this tendency to speculate in stocks of the company is often found, or that it is frequently seen, in officers of corporations of standing and importance. The principle claimed is cor- rect that any tendency in any corporation to have two interests in the business equally important and equally engrossing the attention of the officers, the one the busi- ness end of the corporation and the other the speculative or Wall street end, is a tendency which may be with emphasis pronounced as dangerous. It is dangerous to the corporation itself as exposing it to attacks from sources other than those of the business itself; it is dan- gerous to the officers of ths corporation as tending to take their attention from the one and only end and purpose of the corporation—viz , the betterment of the industry in hand; it is dangerous to the stockholders as furnishing to them a false and unwarranted indication of the prog- ress, or, as the case may be, the failare of the business itself. The great captains of industry do not attempt to be great captains in speculation at the same time and in one and the same transaction. The two objects and purposes stand antagonistic each to the other. The officer of the corporation who has one eye upon the business end of the company and the other upon the price of the stock of his company, in which he may be speculating, may have his attention so diverted from the real object of the corpora- tion that failure in both objects may be the result. In the ordinary walks of life such a diversion from the true aim of business enterprises would not be for one moment tolerated. That captain of the transatlantic steamship who should be guilty of indulging in private wagers as to the ship’s run per day, or as to the leagth of her voyage, or as to the time when she would pass a certain point, would be instantly dismissed at the end of his home voy- age. Because the tendency on his part (1t allowed) to indulge in private speculation would endanger the lives of his passengers, the safety of the ship and the regularity of his duties, and all for the purpose of private gain. Conclusion, I am no believer in drastic legislation or an attempt to bring about by enactments of etatutes that which should be regulated by an intelligent public opinion. The tendency of incorporated capital to day is to be right, to do right and to comply with whatever may be demanded of it by a well educated and fair public opinion I believe that the proposition has been accurately stated that drastic penalties for officers and liabilities for stockholders are but too often pitfalls for the unwary and the innocent. It appears to me that incorporated capital could be better led by an intelligent public opinion than forced by unwise or hysterical legislation. Reasonable publicity and proper restrictions are advisable and necessary. Much publicity and many restrictions will be voluntarily assumed by corporate capital because of a desire to raise their own standing in the public community, to separate themselves from others differently situated. It has been suggestei that there should be a separate corporate act requiring greater publicity and providing for a fnll compliance with a proper jaw in this respect. This need not at the outset be made applicable to all cor- porations, but such a corporation act should provide that corporations complying with it should have a greater degree of freedom from petty annoyance than suffered by those under other acts. Let the public exchange for true publicity freedom from State surveillance as to unim. portant details. A high moral standard is often better than police supervision, and the proper aim should be to induce incorporated capital to voluntarily take this high moral ground rather than attempt to force capital by strict supervision and petty surveillance. The national banks organized under the national act are compelled by the provisions of that act to comply with strict require- ments as to the management of their finances and the publicity of their affairs. In return for this they are granted certain immunities which are not incidental to ordinary corporations, their assets, for example, are free from attachwent, no matter where located. Applying this same principle it has been advocated, and with sound wisdom, that a high class corporation act be passed em- bodying all these particulars so far as the public and publicity are concerned which are desirable, but in re- turn granting to the corporations immunity from other details of less importance. The result would be the same as in the case of the banks. A national bank is by many deemed to be an institution of a higher standard than a State bank, hence we find more national than State banks. Applyin g the same principle to the suggestion already made and creating a high class of corporate law, we would find that those corporations who are able and willing to stand the test would voluntarily come under such a Jaw for the very purpose of showing clearly in the minds of the pub- lic the difference between themselves and those corpore- tions who are not able to thus stand before the public. In the matter of transportation one may go from New York to Chicago for $10 or may spend $28. It is merely a ques- tion of choice, but that choice is to a large degree influ- enced by the company into which one is permitted to go under the $28 rate and forced to go by the $10 rate. The man who would go to Chicago for $10 is deterred from this by the fact that he would be obliged to go in an emigrant train and suffer all the disadvantages of thus being classed, while the man who desires to travel in comfort and to be recognized as a man of means and standing avails himself of the higher priced but more luxurious method of travel. Legislation is not needed to compel travelers to go from Chicago to New York by the limited train; the railroads do not seek to compel the use of the high grade means of travel by law. These matters regulate themselves. Emigrants associate with emigrants and are properly classed. Gentlemen travel with gentle- men and are likewise recognized by the company in which they travel. In all of these discussions, rights, remedies and en- forcements of certain matters of law, the safest and surest way to bring about the desired result is to educate the public and to enable them thus to classify the corpora tion according to the company with which they associate. _— —_—— Carson Iron Mine Changes Hands. Negotiations have been completed in the last few days by which McNair & De Camp, lessees of the Mis- souri Furnace at Carondelet, St. Louis, Mo., will be- come owners and operators of the Carson iron mines, located at various points from 3 to 15 miles from West Plains, Mo. Contracts for new machinery and modern equipment are being placel, and work on a spur % mile long from the main line of the Memphis Route will be- gin immediately. McNair & De Camp will use 400 tons of ore per day, and will contract large quantities to other. parties. A force of 40 men is employed clearing a dirt and débris accumulated since former opera- ons. atin = The Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Com- pany have been empowered by the Virginia Legislature to manufacture steel and iron products and armor plate. The Western Society of Engineers celebrated their thirteenth anniversary with a banquet at the Grand Pacific Hotel, Chicago, on the evening of the 2d inst. The officers elected for the ensuing year were installed at a business meeting held prior to the banquet, and are as follows: President, Ambrose VY. Powell; first vice- president, BE. D. Blake; second vice-president, Wiliam H. Finley; secretary, Nelson I. Litten; treasurer, Ralph Modjeski; librarian, Bion J. Arnold. A promi- nent feature of the addresses following the banquet was an original poem by Isham Randolph, chief engineer of the Chicago Drainage Canal, on Western engineering achievements. 8 THE IRON AGE. January 11, 1900 Iron Ore Fields in Southern Utah. I’urexLo, Col, January 4, 1990.—Contracts have just been closed between the owners of some newly discov- ered iron ore fields in the southern part of Utah and the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, of this city, that ere of great importance to the latter. ‘They also call attention to a new ore district that seems destined to be important. The lands taken by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Com- pany consist of 11 United States mining claims, in Iron County, Southwestern Utah, 380 miles from Pueblo and about 300 miles from the Pacific Coast at Los Angeles. They were first brought to the notice of iron men from Minnesota about two years ago, when they were Govern- ment lands. These men, one of whom is R. B. Dear. 2 railway and mining contractor of prominence in Min- nesota and Iowa, and the other of whom is F. W. Lerch, a chemist and assayist of the Mesaba range there, asso- ciated with themselves Colonel Milner, a mining man of Salt Lake, and have been engaged in development since then on 25 claims they were able to enter. In addition to these mining claims, they took up a large tract of coal lands, and some limestone ledges. The coal is of a character that can be successfully coked for an iron makiug fuel by the new Hemingway process, now owned by the Leiters of Chicago. Eleven of the ore claims and 640 acres of coal lands have now been: leased to the Colorado Company after protracted nego- tiations here. The terms of the lease of the ore Jands: are that a royalty of 15 cents a ton shall be paid on an annual minimum output of 150,000 tons, with the pro- vision that 180,000 tons more must annually be taken from these leases before any other ore bodies of the re- gion can be utilized by the lessees. This makes to all intents an annual minimum of 330,000 tons, as the les- sees are compelled to construct, or furnish business to some company that will so construct, a line of some 90 miles in length southerly from the present nearest rail- way point connecting with Pueblo. To make such a line profitable the annual business should exceed the sum of these minimums. The ore is a hematite, varying from 60 to 65 degrees metallic iron, and carrying from 0.015 to 1 per cent. phosphorus, according to location. It is in a mountain some 2000 feet high, and these claims cover an ore bed of about 600 to 800 feet wide and a mile long, rising to an extreme hight of 500 feet above the surrounding desert. It is estimated by the owners, two of whom are iron mining men of experience and accustomed to dealing with the ore deposits of the Mesaba range. in Northern Minnesota, that they have in sight above the surface of the desert some 40,000,000 tons of ore. They have sunk 200 feet below the surface, and there has been no change in the ore conditions at that depth. ‘The ore, except in a small portion of the tract, is a soft de- posit, and an offer made the Colorado Fuel & Iron Com- pany to mine and place on railway cars for 20 cents per ton has been refused by them, under the belief that they can do the work at less cost. There is no surface cover- ing on much of the ore, and on the remainder the cover- ing appears to be merely a few inches of vegetable mat- ter and mold which can be scraped off by one’s foot. It is stated that the Milner-Dear-Lerch interest have secured about 50 per cent. of the known deposits of the immediate section under discussion, and that a large part of the remainder has been taken by other individ- uals. A portion of these latter interests have been optioned by a European concern who propose to erect works there for the supplying of a portion of the Ori- ental trade, for the sum of $800,000. This same concern, it is understood, have made offers for the remainder of the Milner-Dear interests, both coal and iron, but have not come to any agreement. This company expect to have furnaces and mills in operation in Southwestern Utah, and to build their own railway to an available har- bor on the Pacific Coast. This company start in with a cash sum of $2,000,000 for immediate necessities, and a guarantee of what more is needed as required, and their plans are very complete. Since about ten months ago the knowledge of the iron ore finds of this district has been more or less common property in this city and Salt Lake, and there is now a great excitement at the latter point. Nearly a year ago the Colorado Fuel & [ron Company sent a force of pros- pectors into the region, but were somewhat surprised to find the favorable indications covered by others, who had been working for the Milner-Dear party for a year, and had perfected title. At that time the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company began negotiations for a lease, and this has but now been closed. Iron has been known to exist in that section for many years, but the country has been prospected time and again for other minerals, especially copper, and the great hills of iron ore passed by un- noticed. Two years ago the nearest railway point to these finds was 112 miles away; now it is but 90 miles to a connection with a road running to this city, while January 11, 1900 both the Oregon Short Line and the Rio Grande are building across the country and will pass but a few miles frum Iron Mountain. Mr. Lerch, one of the lessees of this property, is now in Utah superintending work by his company. Mr. Dear was here a few days ago, but has returned to Minne- sota, where he has large railway contracts under way. Ww. <i —— The Stallman Duplex Single Acting Ammonia Compressor. The Creamery Package Mfg. Company, 1 to 5 West Washington street, Chicago, are paying special attention to the manufacture of mechanical refrigerating appa- ratus for purposes requiring the installation of compara- tively small plants. An illustration is here presented of their Stallman duplex single acting ammonia compressor, which is so constructed that it embodies practically two independent machines, each of which is complete in it- THE STALLMAN DUPLEX SINGLE ACTING AMMO- NIA COMPRESSOR. self and can be operated without the other. This is of great advantage, as it is extremely desirable that the process of refrigerating be continuous. In the case of a double acting machine the plant must be entirely shut down in case the compressor is disabled. The duplex or two-cylinder single acting machine becomes, therefore, in this case an insurance against loss from stoppage or breakdowns. In this machine the stuffing box is constructed to hold under a pressure of not over 30 or 35 pounds of gas, whereas in the double acting type it must hold against a compression of 125 to 200 pounds. In the former case, therefore, it is not necessary to pack the stuffing box as tightly as in the latter, and the friction resulting from it is evidently much reduced. The discharge and suction valves are relatively large, thus avoiding the necessity of a considerable movement of the valves and securing the advantage of quick action. The cylinders are so con- structed as to secure the complete discharge of the com- pressed gas from the cylinder at each stroke and have no loss whatever from clearance. The suction and dis- charge pipes do not in any way interfere with access to the cylinder and valves. Ample bearing surfaces are provided for all moving parts, thus securing the min- imum of friction. ‘The balance wheel is very heavy, giv- ing to the compressor a sinooth and easy pressure under THE IRON AGE, > the loads carried. This type of machine is made in sev- eral sizes, ranging from 2% tons refrigeration or 1% tons ice, occupying a floor space of 28 x 56 inches, to 8 tons refrigeration or 4 tons ice, occupying a floor space of 48 x 78 inches. These machines are built in both single and. double acting types. ~<a ae A Tariff Conference in Australia. The Australasian Ironmonger prints the following ac- count of the Intercolonial Conference of Chambers of Manufactures which has been sitting at Melbourne: The conference seems to have been suggested, in the first instance, by the South Australian Chamber of Manufactures, and was attended by delegates from alk the colonies that are about to enter into the federation. The delegates that assembled were all shrewd business. men, most of them prominent in public affairs, as well as successful manufacturers. The principal manufac- turing industries of the colonies were well represented, and where the delegates were not directly interested in any industry they had carefully prepared themselves with a large amount of evidence. The metal industries had influential delegates in W. Sandford of the Lithgow Rolling Mills, New South Wales; Aaron T. Danks of John Danks & Son, Melbourne; J. L. Dangerfield, Mel- bourne, and Mr. Ward, the well-known stove manufac- turer of Sydney. The capital represented ran into mil- lions, and the wage sheet to an exceedingly large amount. It was noticeable from the beginning of the discus- sions that all present had laid aside provincial ideas and had set themselves to consider every question from the point of view of Federated Australia. It is perhaps. easier for a manufacturer to take this standpoint than for any one else, for his dreams must always have been active business, large profits and extended markets. The conference resolved to recommend that the fed- eral tariff should be of a protective nature, and based on the lines of the Victorian tariff, and of such a nature as to develop the manufactures and producing interests of Australia. The committee were instructed that im- ported raw material required for manufacturing pur- poses, the like of which is not produced or suitable for production in Australia, be admitted free from duty. After this discussion the conference settled down to a minute discussion of the tariff to be recommended to tne Federal Parliament. The conference divided itself into sub-committees and allotted to each sub-committee some section for dis- cussion, and then the reports of the sub-committees were discussed in a committee of the whole. Although sitting from day to day for something like ten days, and as late as 11 o’clock at night, the work was not nearly accomplished, and it was decided to adjourn till March, 1900, in Adelaide, where an exhibition of South Austra- lian manufactures will be going on at that time. A preliminary report only has so far been published in very vague terms, but as soon as the discussion of the tariff has been completed, copies of the suggested tariff will be submitted to the Chambers of Manufactures of the different colonies for revision and the result will then be freely published. Those who have been inti- mately acquainted with what has been done agree that the proposals will be couched in a spirit of moderation— not with a view of asking more than is wanted, that whatever is obtained may be more or less satisfactory, but that the manufacturers have asked definitely for the minimum rate of protection that will enable them to carry on their