The Iron Age 1910-07-21: Vol 86 Iss 3

THE IRON AGE aie ae New York, Published Every Thursday by the DAVID WILLIAMS COMPANY 14-16 Park Place, New York Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Mall Matter. Subscription Price, United States and Mexico, $5.00 per Annum ; to Canada, y Annum; to Other F Countries, $10.00 per Annum. $7.50 per phe a hemg PRESIDENT Vic€-PREsIDENT TREASURER AND GENERAL MANAGER Cuarces T. Roor, CrarLes KiIRCHHOFF, W. H. TAYLOR, HaroLo S. BUTTENHEIM, - - - - SECRETARY Geo. W. Cope, - - - : - \ eorrons A. i. Finpvey, - - - - H. R. CosBLeicn, - - Mecnanical EoITor Branch Offices Philadelphia, Real Estate Trust Building Chicago, Fisher Building Pittsburgh, Park Building Cleveland, American Trust Building Boston, Compton Building Cincinnati, Second N’t'l Bank Bldg CONTENTS. PAGE. Editorial : Wire. Prices AGjusted. cc kccrcciccccccggescccccncecs 125 The Decline in Iron and Steel PriceS.........se00005 126 Safeguarding Shop Environments..........s..eese005 126 DARONIS “ERMOIUIEY . ooo 5 oon 0 5s owes 6 EES Cae ten 127 The Sales Engineer and His Duties........«.. peewee 127 One Effect of Padded Inventories...........eeeeee8: 127 TRE TVOR BOO TOGOE 6 i666 65 2 cai vcd ee see ahe UCa VERS bie 128 COPresNO Es coke Be ge 8S Riv bhi ok hese dhs dedhies 128 Raw Material Supplies of the Western Steel Corporation... 129 The Automobile Engineers’ Convention..............+005 129 Peace in the Buck’s-Gompers Case...........eeeeeeeeees 130 Labor BegpGR sd rs asset cae ss 0 hase s Shoes aw tO ES 130 Lehigh Valley Freight Rates on Coal.........ceeeeeeeees 130 A Decision on Moa Iron Mining Claims in Cuba........... 130 The Iron and Metal Market Reports..............5. 131 to 140 The World’s Production and Consumption of Metals...... 141 Aquadag Used as a Cutting Compound..............+6+: 141 The Republic Wage Scale Settled. ..........c.ceeeeeeeees 141 Tron QE ReOATUE COLOGNE soc 05 okays 863 6 cee adeweeus 141 The Machinery Market Reports...........-.eeeee08 142 to 152 Judicial Decisions of Interest to Manufacturers........... 153 Ney: PRN. Co's cw Va Chk a4 Sch) te owe dO abCee 6 6 e's 154 ODItGEER: Sts. Mica raereks Us canes aa en oo wb 0's 156 See ee rr ee ee Peer 156 Fluxes as Employed in the Brass Foundry................ 158 Personal ......-. PAR PORMR eee ORM Chto >06 ead nee oo TS 160 Allis-Chalmers Pumping Engines for Grand Rapids. Illus, 161 New England Foundrymen’s Outing..............eeeee++ 161 A 15-Ton Hulett Ore Unloader. Illustrated.............. 162 Sir Andrew Noble. .....4....6d0.655- eee. ee wb odd eee 166 Landis No. 3 Universal Grinding Machine. Illustrated.... 167 A Model Machinery Warehouse, Illustrated.............. 168 The Garvin No. 3 Duplex Milling Machine. Illustrated.... 169 \ New Case Crane Trolley. Illustrated.................. 170 A Large Manganese Bronze Water Wheel Runner. Illus.... 171 Feats with the Oxy-Acetylene Torch, Mlustrated........ 2 ET2 Handling Small Articles Economieally, Illustrated....... 173 J-M RR RIN Ba i oe a cite oo be 6 seo aeale 173 The Meliberg Tube Closing Machine. Tlustrated.......... “174 The Wattles Stoking Register. Ilustrated............... 175 Customas : DggbGRG i755. i6 psi S9 tila hc wae's 10 Se ee es VEER 176 A Heavy Standard Embossing Press. Illustrated.......... 177 The Monarch Bolt and Rivet Heating Furnaces, Illus...... 178 New Tools s6: ASMMIOMOES. «66 6c ieee dei ce biv'ad ops sarcces 179 Current Metal Prices.,:...... is ofa tes ay es Sab 6 oR sok 180 : : Ts : ef ” gs Ks July 21, 1910 VoL. 86: No, 3 Wire Prices Adjusted Otherwise Finished Products Are Unchanged Quietness in All Markets—Advance for Puddlers and Other Iron Rolling Mill Workers The announcement of the $1.70 basis for wire nails and $1.50 for plain wire in the past week does not rep- resent a $3 per ton reduction, as has been stated in some quarters, but rather amounts to a formal notifica- tion that on the new basis buyers may safely con- tract for a time. Prices recently current have been in some cases within $1 a ton of the new figures. Both as to prices and new demand iron and steel markets show no measurable change in the past week. The operation of the mills is generally close to the rate maintained in June. Expectations of a buying move- ment are now centering about late September. The policy of the railroads to buy on the most sparing scale is making more impression on the general situation as the summer advances. Yet it does not appear that the mills are making any aggressive campaign for new business. Enlargement of plant has been so general, that with a good many mills operating on a 75 per cent. basis no important producer has been found attempting to assert a special title to the full employment of all its capacity. Structural work is one of the mainstays of the steel trade, and all the important fabricating plants have work that will carry them well into the fall. The Que- bec bridge, calling for 60,000 to 70,000 tons, will come up formally September 1, and there are indications of sharp international competition involving at least Ger- man, British and American works. Tariff concessions have been asked on the material required. Export business holds up well. A recent contract taken by the leading interest is 3000 tons of structural steel for a coal handling plant at Rio Janeiro. Gas and oil pipe line inquiry continues heavy. Portland, Maine, is close to a decision on its large water pipe contract, which will mean either 20,000. tons of cast iron pipe or 10,000 tons of riveted steel pipe. An agreement was reached this week between the Republic Iron & Steel Company and the Amalgamated Association on the wage scale for the coming year. Puddlers will receive $6.12% on a 1.45c. card, which represents an advance of soc. from the 1909 basis. On busheling the advances range from 7'%c. to 37%c. a ton. To finishers the increases are from 3% to 4.7 per cent. Open hearth steel billets have shared in the decline in Bessemer steel, and are now on a $26, Pitts basis. ee Se eres aN ar ees ta .* ri 126 Fig iron buying shows some further shrinkage; the volume has been too small, indeed, to affect prices. Here and there foundries seek to contract for deliver- ies extending into I91I at to-day’s level, but producers hold back. In Virginia iron some business has been done at $13.50, and Alabama iron for prompt shipment has sold in a small way at $11.25 for No. 2; but con- sumers are not convinced that the decline has gone its full length. On two lots of steel making iron bought in the Cin- cinnati district—5000 to 6000 tons of basic and 3000 to 4000 tons of Bessemer—new low prices are reported. Coke is more active, and several long time contracts have been closed, the price on one large transaction in foundry coke being slightly below $2.25, at oven. Cur- tailment in coke output has gone far enough to make the market a trifle firmer. Though 60 lake freighters have been out of com- mission since independent owners decided to tie up 20 per cent. of the tonnage for 30 days, there are still a good many more boats than cargoes. The effort of some blast furnacemen to have portions of their ore contracts carried over to 1911 have not been successful thus far. In metals, pig tin has caused some commotion. Under remarkable buying, amounting to 700 tons in New York, the price has advanced in the week from 32.67%4c. to 33.25¢., and speculators for the rise are evidently aiming at higher prices, as no important ar- rivals are expected before August 1. Copper has de- clined to 12.25c. for electrolytic and a 12c. market is freely predicted. The Decline in Iron and Steel Prices The formal and general reduction in the price of wire products in the past week and the published com- ments upon it bring up the whole question of the read- justment in iron and steel prices that has been under way for some time. The impression conveyed by some of these comments is that what has happened in the finished steel market in the past few weeks represents This is not the It is true that the disparity between steel mak- ing capacity and the volume of new buying in finished products has become more marked in the past three months than in the first quarter of the year. The whole industry may be said to be working closer to- abrupt and radical declines in price. case. day, and has been so working, in fact, since it became well established early in the year that a stocking up process had been going on and that we had not come, so soon after the depression of 1907 and 1908, to a con- sumption of 31,500,000 tons of pig iron in a year. It is very clear now that in the buying movement of the fall of 1909 many consumers placed orders with the double purpose of making sure of material as needed and of protecting themseives against possible advances in prices. Time has been needed to digest the steel taken up in that broad movement and it is not to be ex- pected that it will be repeated in kind or in degree this year. Meantime the contraction of demand will natu- rally be attended by some recession in prices. It will be of interest to show the relation of prices now prevailing for pig iron, steel billets and represen- tative forms of finished material with the high points of 1907, the low points of 1909 following the declara- tion of an open market on steel products in February THE IRON AGE July 21, 16) of last year, and the high points of the early mon of this year. The comparison is made in the follo ing table: Comparison of Priccs of Iron and Steel Products in 1907, 15: and 1910. High, 1907. Bessemer pig iron, Valleys... ..$235.2! Basic pig iron, Valleys........ 23.00 Southern No. 2 fdry iron, Cinti. 26.90 Bessemer billets, Pittsburgh... 30.00 Plates, Pittsburgh 1.70¢. Structural shapes, Pittsburgh... 1.70¢c. Steel pars, Pittsburgh 1.60¢c. Sheets, 28 gauge, Pittsburgh... 2.55c. Tin plates, Pittsburgh......... $3.85 Plain wire, Pittsburgh 1.90 Low, 1909. $14.58 14.12 14,25 22.00 1.10¢. 1.10¢. 1.05¢. 2.10¢e. $3.45 1.40 High, July 1910. 1914) $19.00 16.87 17.25 27.50 1.55¢e. 1.55¢. 1.50¢. 2.40c. $3.60 1.65 The Bessemer and basic pig iron prices in the first three columns are monthly averages and represent the highest monthly average in 1907 and I9I0 and thie lowest monthly average in 1909. It should be noted also that the prices given in the third column as the highest for 1910 were also the highest for the move- ment of the second half of 1909, except in the cases of Southern iron and basic iron. The former reached $17.75 at Cincinnati for prompt delivery in Decem- ber, 1909, and the latter reached $17.25 at valley fur- nace in the same month. With these exceptions all the products named entered 1910 at the high point of the buying movement that culminated in the latter part oi last year. In zeneral it will he seen that present prices are between the low points of 1909 and the high points of late 1909 and early I910. Pig iron has come much closer to the low points of last year than have finished materials. The latter have receded only modérately from the high level to which the heavy buying of 1909 carried them; though it is to be said in this connec- tion that the bulk of the deliveries on finished: mate- rials in the eight months of 1909 following April were at prices averaging considerably less than those of to- day. Raw material costs and labor costs to-day are higher than the average for 1909, so that with all the economies the various steel companies mastered last year, they could not stand any material reduction in the prices of their products without a noticeable shrink- age in earnings. What stands out prominently in the table we have given is that thus far the’ inroad upon prices indicates no serious struggle for tonnage. The record of the market in recent weeks has been to the same effect. The situation is quite different from that which brought out the low prices of 1909. And the chief significance of this difference is that to-day, with 12 months of unparalleled consumption behind them, steel manufacturers are not dealing with a market that waits for the stimulation of price reductions. What- ever differences of opinion there may still be as to the price policy of 1908 and 1909, it is plain that in the second half of 1910 iron and steel prices will be largely controlled by developments from without rather than from within the trade. Safeguarding Shop Environments An interesting object lesson in the necessity of making a very thorough investigation in the selection of a manufacturing location is afforded by the experi- ence of an important enterprise which proposed to establish its plant near an Eastern city. The com- pany purchased land in an industrial suburb, and pre- pared plans for a large factory, the initial unit of fuly 21, 1910 which would employ 800 men, with expectations of an irly increase. Some work had been done on the site fore it was discovered that the atmosphere of the cighborhood was polluted by the operations of a ren- ring company. Desiring to proceed with its plans prepared, the manufacturing company has appealed the State Board of Health, asking for the abate- ent of the nuisance. The statement made to the ward is an illuminating exposition of the danger of installing the most approved hygienic equipment where the environments are unwholesome, as shown by the following paragraphs taken from it: As we would like to have our employees working under the very best conditions, we have paid special attention to the ventilating system in laying out the plans for our fac- tory, and these plans include the equipping of our new works with large ventilating towers in which the incoming air will be cooled down in summer by means of refrigerating plants, and the air in the entire works will be changed eight or ten times an hour during summer, and four or five times per hour during winter. Without going further into the matter, we think you will readily see that the odor at present pervading the atmosphere about our plant would fill our works with foul instead of fresh air, so that working condi- tions would be impossible. In view of the foregoing, our Board of Directors has de- cided to stop all work on the erection of our factory on this property and not to proceed with such work until we have a positive assurance from your board that the present condi- tions above complained of will be remedied—otherwise we will have to look around for a more suitable location for our works, In all cities, but more particularly in their outlying districts, there are some processes conductéd with ac- companiments which approach the limits of the ob- noxious. The modern industrial plant, with its splen- did equipment designed to promote the health and in- crease the comfort of employees, should be hemmed in by no such nuisance. One of the first steps in the planning should certainly be a searching scrutiny of the surrounding territory. Disreputable Ingenuity It seems almost incredible that manufacturers of good standing will stoop to seriously fraudulent prac- tices for the purpose of increasing their profits. Most flagrant instances of this character have recently been exposed by the Commissioner of Weights and Meas- ures of New York City. For some time the city au- thorities have been unusually zealous in looking after the interests of consumers, especially the great body of people who are obliged to make their purchases in small quantities. It has been found necessary to adopt the most stringent regulations for the protection of re- tail buyers who have for a long time been imposed upon by the use of weights and measures which dimin- ish the quantity presumed to be purchased. The com- nissioner has discovered that much ingenuity has been exercised in the manufacture of scales for the pur- se of defrauding the consumer. Exceedingly clever rrangements have been devised by which the con- umer has been cheated, the indicator in his view, showing him to be getting full. weight. lhe worst feature about this matter is that the deal- crs who are using the fraudulent scales have not them-- selves originated nor suggested the methods by which the cheating has been perpetrated. It is alleged by them that certain manufacturers of scales have in- vented the peculiar constructions used for this pur- pose. The salesmen of such manufacturers have for years been canvassing the retail merchants and have THE IRON AGE 77 induced them to adopt these methods of cheating. The object in doing this has been to secure greater profits in the sale of scales. A higher price has been realized for them by reason of the fact that such ingenious methods of deception have been incorporated in their construction, The merchants have paid well for the scales because the salesmen have shown how the prof- its realized on the shorter weights would quickly pay for the increased cost and be a steady source of re- muneration thereafter. The sale of these fraudulent weights and measures has undoubtedly been large in other parts of the coun- try. The evil practice should receive such a thorough airing that honest manvfacturers will be benefited. Many manufacturers of scales and other weighing and measuring devices are known to be thoroughly honor- able and above resorting to such devious methods of in- creasing their profits. The Sales Engineer and His Duties The sales engineer is one of the latest institutions of the machine tool industry. His work is not new; it is to act with the selling force, notably with the deal- ers and their representatives in the field. The machin- ery manufacturer has always realized to a greater or less degree the necessity of active co-operation on the part of the practical engineering staff of his establish- ment with the sales end of the business. The sales engineer is the development of a better understanding of the advantages of a specialization in this department commensurate with the degree of specialization in the product of his house and,in the methods of manufac- turing of its customers. The sales engineer holds himself in readiness for the call of the selling corps. He supplies the technical and practical knowledge which the customer may re- quire in selecting equipment, especially where the ex- penditure of large sums of money is involved, and where the proposed venture goes beyond the machinery practice with which the user is familiar. The sales- man often finds it difficult to prove to a buyer the economies of manufacture or the improvement in prod- uct which new equipment would effect, though the argument be based on facts and should be convincing. The technical engineer supplies the detailed informa- tion which may be the deciding factor of the negotia- tions. If a machine is purchased or is installed on trial, his expert knowledge is brought into play in the - training of the men who are to operate it and who are to supervise its use. He stands to prevent the bad re- sults which may follow the placing of a good tool in the hands of unskillful or prejudiced hands. Not only is his function one of high importance in selling ma- chinery, but he also does much to reduce that not in- significant item of costs, the investigation of com- plaints and the correction of troubles. These often breed the indirect losses which come from unfavorable criticism founded upon the avoidable failure of an in- dividual installation. One Effect of Padded Inventories Professional accountants observe a growing tend- ency on the part of manufacturing firms or close corpo- rations, as distinguished from the larger stock com- panies, to eliminate the padding of inventories with old buildings and machinery of little actual worth, thus peepee ae iar RE, Oe IE Sete Oe eer ee 44 ‘ 7 4 4 - ts 2 ERE PR i { i. : i | | ta 128 THE IRON AGE enabling them to determine more accurately the true condition of their properties. The effect on the ma- chinery market of this adherence to a better standard of factory accounting than in former years—a tend- ency which also manifests itself in other directions— cannot fail in the long run to be beneficial. Instances are known in which plants have suffered considerably from the lack of badly needed equipment because the inventories showed an apparent abundance of tools and the directors, located away from the works, could not see the necessity for buying more of the same kind. The padding of inventories has done much harm in many ways, but this is one result that has gone beyond the walls of the establishment to be felt by the general trade. The Iron Age Index The index to Volume 85 of The Iron Age, January I to June 30, 1910, has been compiled and printed and will be mailed to subscribers applying for it. A list of those who have received the index heretofore is kept in this office, and to all such the latest one will be mailed without notice from them. Additional names will be put upon this list on request. Correspondence Blast Furnace Results with Nature’s Dry Air To the Editor: In the June number of Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering appeared a letter by R. H. Sweetser giving some of the results of the work of the east furnace of the Columbus Iron & Steel Company, Columbus, Ohio, for the six months ending March 31, 1910. Mr. Sweetser’s contention is that none of the dry blast furnaces have done any better, as far as known to him, than this furnace, and the general im- plication is that the dry blast is not necessary in such work. This implication is essentially unfair. Mr. Sweetser has chosen the six months which covered what old res- idents of Ohio admit to be the longest, steadiest and most severe winter within the recollection of any one now living, the result being that he had the benefit of dry blast produced by nature without cost to him. And it is an interesting fact that in spite of his dis- belief in the dry blast, Mr. Sweetser has a most ex- cellent set of air inlet pipes to his blowing engines, which extend out of doors and turn down with a huge inverted funnel on the bottom, giving him outside air and effectually preventing the entrance of any sus- pended moisture. Therefore the natural outside air which nature supplied to all during the last winter was received by Mr. Sweetser’s engines in its natural con- dition, not polluted with any moisture from the engine room as is so often the case. In order to confirm the statement made above as to the natural dryness of the air during the six months in question, the records of the Columbus Weather Bureau were obtained, and the humidity for the six months ending with March as thus shown is given here in pounds of moisture per 1000 cu. ft. : October 0.378 January 0.195 November 0.407 POE Weds ai ee ne wee 0.163 December March 0.33 Average tor the six months, 0.275. The average for the six months is 1.9 grains per cubic foot in the more ordinary unit, and is as low as operators of dry blast plants aim to carry their humidity. In December, when Mr. Sweetser did his best month’s work, the humidity was, in grains per cubic foot, 1.2, corresponding to an average dew point of about 22 degrees F. lower than it is commercially July 21, 1010 practicable. to carry the blast with dry blast pla:is ordinarily. Under the circumstances there does not seem to he any reason why Mr. Sweetser should not have obtained about the same results that the dry blast furnaces do, and this is apparently about what he has done, as the furnaces on dry blast at South Chicago, right on the lake shore, were running on about 1950 Ib. of coke in the middle of last summer. Mr. Sweetser is evidently proud of the tonnage pro- duced by his furnace, which went to gooo tons during one of the months in question, on a 55 per cent. ore mix- ture, but this tonnage will not seem remarkable to those who are familiar with the recent work of the No. 2 furnace of the Republic Iron & Steel Company at Thomas, which made 8992 tons of foundry (not basic) iron in May, with a 39 per cent. yield of ore, making 3100 Ib. of slag per ton of iron. This furnace is 18 ft. in the bosh and 12 ft. in the hearth, the same as Mr. Sweetser’s, the hight being go ft. This, if it is an ad- vantage at all, does not more than offset the much greater hardness and irreducibility of the red ore, which constituted three-fourths of its burden, as against the softness and greater reducibility of the Me- saba ore, which constitutes 70 per cent. of Mr. Sweet- ser’'s burden. The coke consumption was naturally much higher than Mr. Sweetser’s, on account of the irreducibility of the ore and the great slag volume, and particularly on account of the humidity, which aver- aged about 0.9 for the month. In December, when the humidity was about 0.35, the coke consumption was several hundred pounds lower, and if the same rate of driving had been attained during that month as was attained in May, the tonnage would have been far larger. If this coming autumn Mr. Sweetser will report the records of the six months ending September 30, it will be very easy to determine whether his excellent work was caused by the dry blast provided by nature or whether he has some secret of producing such re- sults without the aid of the dry blast. The critical temperature and available heat charts published by Johnson several years ago indicate that for the current six months Mr. Sweetser’s coke con- sumption, other things being equal, will be about 300 lb. per ton of iron higher. It will be very interesting to be able to compare the actual with the theoretical re- sults, if Mr. Sweetser will give us the data to do so. 3..5. Ss New Toughness Tests in Tool Steels To the Editor: In an article in The Iron Age of June 9, page 1398, the writer hopefully ventured to express the belief that although absolute hardness fig- ures—that is, figures that not only place steels in their proper order of hardness, as does the Brinell test, but that also give the hardness ratios of these different steels correctly, as the Brinell test does not—were not strictly a necessity and could well be dispensed with, yet those who desired such figures could probably find them, either in elastic limits or in bend hardness figures ——pounds per square inch necessary to produce a per- manent bend (or break) with supports distanced in proportion to thickness of test piece. But he wishes to say now that actual trial has shown that both these guesses were very wild ones indeed. When the bend hardness of a 0.10 carbon steel is compared with the bend hardness of a quenched and untempered high car- bon steel, and we find the latter but a fraction of the former, all idea that this bend test expresses hardness is of course rudely dispelled, and we see at once that what the test really shows is what the Shore test shows (except statically instead ef dynamically), and that is hardness and brittleness together, but in low carbon steels principally the former, and in very hard steels principally the latter. But this discovery was after all the reverse of @ July 21, 1910 pointment, for a static toughness test is, we think, valuable than an absolute hardness test. The lat- s, in fact, of no value that we can see, and to us ems that it is rather an advantage of the Brinell that it gives us exaggerated ratios of hardness, as erefore shows up plainer small differences in hard- works like a microscope, so to speak. Our bend iness test, therefore,.in showing static toughness ore valuable to us than if it showed the absolute ness we expected it to show, and a detailed descrip- of it seems to us worth while. We proceed as WS: if the strip of plate to be tested is 0.09 in. thick, the supports are distanced 3 in. apart, and in any other thickness of test piece this distance is altered propor- nately. Three inches (in a 0.09 in. strip) are ced off on the piece, the dimensions taken at the lle, and the surface edge of this 3 in. of the piece | as a rule to draw a lead pencil line on a sheet of The piece is then laid upon the supports in proper position and pressure applied, 20 Ib. at a . by a Riehlé machine, until comparison with the cad pencil line shows that the piece has acquired a The number of pounds per square inch required produce this bend (or break) is divided by the num- required in the case of a standard 0.10 carbon test ece, and this result is set down as “ bend hardness.” static hardness, also in terms of the 0.10 carbon standard, is then found by the Brinell test, and the ercentage the bend hardness is of the static hardness gives us the “ static toughness ” figure. The “ dynamic toughness” figure is found in exactly the same way, except that the Shore test is substituted for the bend test. (he underlying theory in both cases is this: The Brinell figure (the writer's figure—the number of times the sample is harder than a standard 0.10 carbon piece) does not represent all hardness, but hardness plus exaggerated ratio error. The Shore figure (also in terms of the 0.10 carbon standard) or the bend fig- ure each represents hardness diminished by brittleness. Now, if there was no such thing as the exaggerated ratio error in the Brinell test and no such thing as brittleness in the steel, the Shore hardness and the bend hardness would both agree with the Brinell That is, they would each be 100 per cent. i the Brinell hardness, If instead of this we find are only, say, 20 per cent. of the Brinell hard- ss, that means that the steel is 20 per cent. tough- ss (and 20 is taken as the toughness figure) and the her 8o per cent. is exaggerated ratio error and brit- ‘cness. Now, the exaggerated ratio error is greater proportion in high than in low carbon steels. Con- uently this error in the hardness operates to give ‘isely a similar error in the toughness figure. ‘hat is, although steels are placed in their right rier as regards toughness, the ratios will be exag- serated ones—the brittler steels will not be so much brittler as the toughness figures indicate. But this, as the hardness figures, is not a serious matter and s not destroy the usefulness of the test. Georce AuCHY. \CONY, PHILADELPHIA, July 12, IgTo. rdness. artnet clinicians (he Thomas Steel Company, Niles, Ohio, is build- . an addition to its plant involving an expenditure about $50,000. A new building, 70 x 250 ft., is be- erected for use as a stock room for sheet bars. > will be equipped with a shear capable of cutting sheet bars at a time, furnished by the United cineering & Foundry Company, Pittsburgh, and a ‘on crane built by the Pawling & Harnischfeger ipany, Milwaukee, Wis. The McClintic-Marshali struction Company has the contract for the build- secause of the construction work the plant was down June 30. Operations, however, were re- ed in full July 18. t THE IRON AGE Raw Material Supplies of the Western Steel Corporation } The second cargo of iron ore and pig iron from China for the Western Steel Corporation’s blast fur- nace and steel works plant at Irondale, Wash., leaves Hankow this month by the steamer Netherlee. Under the contract with the Han-Yeh-Ping Iron & Coal Com- pany, which operates the Hanyang Iron & Steel Works at Hankow, China, a cargo will be sent each month for two years, after which the fleet will be increased so that three cargoes a month will be taken. The first cargo, which was unloaded at Irondale early this month, consisted of 5000 tons of Tayeh ore and 1400 tons of basic pig iron. The Western Steel Corporation’s domestic and Canadian sources of raw material, as described by the management, are stated by a Seattle newspaper to be the following: Thirty mineral claims, 1500 acres, on Quatsino Sound, Vancouver Island. Bog iron ore is delivered at the furnace at Irondale for $2 per ton, in- cluding duty. Magnetite deposits on Barclay Sound and Pitt Island, British Columbia. Same cost at fur- nace. Ashford coal properties at Ashford, Pierce County, 1400 acres under 99-year lease, 600 acres un- der 21-year lease. On Graham Island, British Co- lumbia, 20,500 acres of coal lands. Limestone quarry in Skagit County. It is stated that two open hearth furnaces at [ron- dale are now in operation and a third is under con- struction and that a plant will be built for the manu- facture of horse shoes. it Oe The Automobile Engineers’ Convention The Society of Automobile Engineers has issued the programme for its convention which is to be held at the Hotel Tuller, Detroit, Mich., July 28, 29 and 30. The programme is a long one, providing for the presentation of numerous papers and presenting a wide range of subjects for discussion. Among the papers named are the following: “The Specification and Heat Treatment of Automobile Ma- terials,” bv Henry Souther. : “Variation of Current Practice in Anti-Friction Bearings,” by D. F. Graham “The Pyrometer—its Bristol. “Testing the Hardness of Metals,” by A. F. Shore and H. G. McComb. Report of Committee on Gear Steels, by Dr. G. W. Sargent, chairman. “How to Make Gears Quiet by Grinding,” by Frederick A. Ward. “ Seamless Steel Tubes and the Necessity for Standardization in Their Specifications,” by H. 8S. White. “ Slide, Rotary and Fiston Valves versus Poppet Valves for Gas Hngine Service,” by Eugene P. Batzell. “Test Data Upon Sheet Metal Frame Sections,” by ... R. Smith, Development and Use,” by W. H. ——— #+e- The Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania, on invitation of officials of the Department of Public Works, Bureau of Construction of the City of Pitts- burgh, the Dravo Contracting Company and the Fri- day Contracting Company made a visit of inspection July 16 to the Twenty-second street bridge now being built over the Monongahela River at Pittsburgh and the new concrete arch bridge being erected over Neg- ley Run at Meadow street, Pittsburgh. The construc- tion work at both these bridges presented features of unusual interest to engineers. The improvements made to the Blandon Rolling Mill, Blandon, near Reading, Pa., have been completed and the mill has been put into operation again, making skelp iron. The plant of the American Sheet & Tin Plate Com- pany, at Muncie, Ind., is being overhauled and addi- tional machinery placed. On nn nr ee « Y % aes as oes ee ae THE IRON AGE Peace in the Buck’s-Gompers Case Cincinnati advices state that representatives of the Buck’s Stove & Range Company of St. Louis, Presi- dent Samuel Gompers of the American Federation of Labor, and representatives of the several unions hav- ing workmen at that company’s plant reached an agree- ment on Tuesday on the case which resulted in the sentence to jail of President Gompers, John Mitchell and Frank Morrison for contempt. William H. Crib- ben and Thomas J. Hogan represented the company. By the terms of the agreement, the union men say that their representatives will go to St. Louis to con- fer with the employers of their men within 30 days and that then the hours of labor, wages and conditions of employment will be considered. The Buck’s Stove & Range Company, through its representatives at this conference, “agrees to with- draw its attorneys from any case now pending in the courts which has grown out of the dispute between the American Federation of Labor and any of its affiliated organizations on the one hand and the Buck’s Stove & Range Company on the other, and that the said com- pany will not bring any proceedings in the courts against any individual or organizations growing out of past controversies between said company and organ- ized labor.” Mr. Gompers states that this agreement does not alter the case against him which is now before the Supreme Court of the United States. Labor Notes The bi-monthly settlement of the puddling and fin- ishing scales was made in Pittsburgh last week. The price for puddling for July and August will be based on a 1.45 cent card rate for bar iron, giving $6.12/% per ton to the puddlers employed in the bar iron mills that have signed the new Amalgamated scale. Mills that have not signed the Amalgamated scale, includ- ing those in the Western Bar Iron Association, will pay the old rate of $5.62% for puddling until a settle- ment of the scale is reached. None of the bar iron mills of the Republic Iron & Steel Company is running at present. The following have signed the wage scales of the Amalgamated Association for the coming year: Whitaker-Glessner Company, Wheeling, W. Va., and Martins Ferry, Ohio. National Enameling & Stamping Company, Granite City, Tl. and St. Louis, Mo. American Rolling Mill Company, Middletown, Ohio. Carnahan Tin Plate & Sheet Company, Canton, Ohio. Newport Rolling Mill Company. Newport, Ky. Pope Tin Plate Company, Steubenville, Ohio. Atlanta Tin Plate & Sheet Mill, Atlanta, Ga. Follansbee Brothers Company, Follansbee, W. Va. Empire Iron & Steel Company. Niles, Ohio. Thomas Steel Company, Niles, Ohio. De Forest Sheet & Tin Plate Company, Niles, Ohio. Zug Iron & Steel Company, Pittsburgh, Pa. Youngstown Roofing Company, Youngstown, Ohio. N. & G. Taylor Company, Cumberland, Md. Top Mill Sheet Mill, Wheeling, W. Va. Licking Rolling Mill Company, Covington, Ky. Joliet Iron Products Company, Joliet, Ill. Texas Rolling Mill Company, Fort Worth, Texas. Cleveland Hardware Company, Cleveland, Ohio. Judson Mfg. Company, Oakland, Cal. ————- Dom — The Van Camp Hardware & Iron Company, In- dianapolis, Ind., has increased its capital stock to $400,- ooo. Three new stockholders have been admitted— George S. Winders, sales manager for the company, and J. A. Schlueter and A, R. Dewey, who have been con- nected for many years with a large iron and hardware house in Louisville. The addition of $100,000 to the capital stock was made necessary by the increased business. The company was organized in 1876 and has grown steadily. Beginning in a building with 12,- July 2: 1910 ooo ft. of floor space, changes were made at int -rvya\ to larger buildings until it reached its present ight. story home, with nine acres of floor space, bi It jy 1906. It is one of the largest buildings in the c: intr; occupied exclusively for the hardware and iron busj- ness. The company also maintains 11 warehou:.s. Lehigh Valley Freight Rates on Coal Considerable interest has been aroused in ’enp. sylvania in regard to a possible test of the powers of the State Railroad Commission as a result of the no- tice given to the commission by the Lehigh \alley Railroad Company that it is not its purpose to comply with a recommendation of the commission that it re- adjust its rates for transportation of coal in the Lehigh Valley. This is the first instance wherein a railroad company has declined to accede to a recommendation of the commission, which has passed upon scores of cases involving rates charged by railroads for hauling coal, ore, iron and steel products and various manv- factures. It is taken to mean that the commission will invoke the aid of the Attorney-General’s depart. ment, which, under section 17 of the act of May 31, 1907, it is empowered to do through the Secretary of Internal Affairs. The recommendation came after a complaint which attracted unusual attention. The Coplay Cement Mig. Company protested against being compelled to pay go cents a ton for a haulage of coal about 21% miles, setting forth that steel companies, foundry companies and other corporations having plants situated at a greater distance from the mines were not proportion- ately charged by the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company. The company replied that it was acting in a manner to enable it to supply its customers and to maintain competition with other manufacturing districts. The commission set this aside and contended that the sec- tion of the State constitution prohibiting discrimina- tion in charges was being violated The commissict will shortly meet to consider the matter. A Decision on Moa Iron Mining Claims in Cuba In the litigation between. McLoughlin Brothers, New York, and the Juragua Iron Company (Bethlehem Steel Company), the Supreme Court of Cuba has re- cently given a decision in favor of the former, affirm- ing their title to 11 mining claims of about 1100 hectares in the Moa district of northern Cuba. The claims are adjacent to the coast at the Bay of Moa, and the ore they contain is said to be the characteristic iron ore of the Moa district, low in phosphorus and sulphur. The amount of ore involved in this litigation is unknown, as there has been no thorough exploration. The orig- inal suit was begun by McLoughlin Brothers to enforce their “ derecho de tanteo,” or the right given under the Spanish law by which a partner has preference ovef an outsider in the purchase of a partner’s interest. Under it a partner, within nine days after a convey- ance to an outsider of any interest in the common property is filed by another partner, may deposit in court the purchase price, together with security for expenses of transfer, and may have the property deeded to him instead of to the outside purchaser. The above mentioned case passed from the court of first instance to the intermediate court and finally to the Supreme Court, the decision being uniformly in favor of the plaintiff's contention. —— OOO Charles A. Bookwalter, receiver of, the Technical Institute, Indianapolis, Ind., has sent out, letters an- nouncing the usual fall term: for the machinists’ and molders’ schools and the departments of ‘lithography, printing and pharmacy. Ninety students are now at tending the summer term of these schools. THE IRON AGE 131 The Iron and Metal Markets A Comparison of Prices Ad) inces Over the Previous Month in Heavy Type, Declines in Italics, \t date, one week, one-month and one year previous. July20, July13, June22, July21, PIG tRON, Per Gross Ton : 1910. 1910. 1910. 1909. I iry No. 2, standard, Phila- hia .jUsEs dean eee eek eens $16.25 $16.25 $16.50 $16.50 iry No, 2, Southern, Cincin- 1. « 2a pubdate teieneste aes eee 14.75 14.75 14.75 15.75 I iry No. 2, loeal, Chicago. . 16.50 16.50 16.75 17.00 B delivered, eastern Pa.... . 5.75 15.75 16.00 16.00 B Valley furmace......... 14.50 14.50 14.50 15.00 Bessemer, Pittsburgh.......... 16.40 16.40 16.40 16.40 Gj forge, Pittsburgh........ 14.40 14.40 14.90 14.90 I Superior charcoal, Chicago 18.50 18.50 18.50 19.50 BILLETS, &e., Per Gross Ton : Bessemer billets, Pittsburgh.... 25.00 25.00 25.00 24.00 ng billets, Pittsburgh..... 30.00 =30.00 31.00 28.00 () hearth billets, Philadelphia 28.50 28.50 28.50 25.50 \\ rods, Pittsburgh......... 29.00 29.00 31.00 29.00 s rails, heavy, at mill...... 28.00 28.00 28.00 28.00 OLD MATERIAL, Per Gross Ton : s rails, melting, Chicago.... 13.00 3.00 14.00 14.50 s rails, melting, Philadelphia 14.00 14.25 14.50 16.00 Rails, CORORIBs 6 a1 ois cme ss 6.75 16.75 17.00 17.00 ails, Philadelphia........ 8.50 19.00 19.50 19.50 wheels, COORD. ss 68 sca ss 1.75 14.75 15.50 16.00 ( vheels, Philadelphia....... 144.00 1450 15.00 15.00 steel scrap, Pittsburgh. . 14.50 1450 15.00 16.00 H steel scrap, Chicago..... 2.25 12.25 18.00 14.00 lleavy steel serap, Philadelphia. 14.00 14.25 14.50 16.00 FINISHED IRON AND STEEL, Per Pound: Cents. Cents. Cents. Cents Ketined iron bars, Philadelphia. 1.43 147% 1.47% 1.45 Common iron bars, Chicago..... 1.40 1.40 F 1.45 i 1.35 Ce limon iron bars, Pittsburgh. . 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.45 Stecl bars, tidewater, New York 1.61 1.61 1.61 1.46 Steel bars, Pittsburgh.......... 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.30 fonk plates, tidewater, New York 1.56 1.56 1.61 1.51 ra k plates, Pittsburgh........ 1.40 1.40 1.45 1.35 Be ns, tidewater, New York... 1.56 1.56 1.61 1.51 Beams, Pittsburgh............; 1.40 1.40 1.45 1.35 \ tidewater, New York... 1.56 1.56 1.61 1.51 angles, Pitta; (ccs. : 1.40 1.40 1.45 1.35 “Kelp, grooved steel, Pittsburgh. 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.35 S sheared steel, Pittsburgh. 1.60 1.60 1.60 1.45 SHEETS, NAILS AND WIRE, Per Pound: Cents. Cents. Cents. Cents. Sjeets, black, No, 28, Pittsburgh 2.30 2.30 2.40 2.20 nails, Pittsburgh*........ 1.70 1.80 1.80 1.70 ( nails, PICteparen . os... se 1.65 1.70 1.75 1.70 Wire, galy., Pittsburgh*... 2.00 2.10 210 2.00 METALS, Per Pound: Cents. Cents. Cents, Cents. Lake copper, New York........ 12.62% 12.62% 12.75 13.50 trolytic copper, New York.. 12.25 12.37%41250 13.00 New. Not@asseasin. opts 5.20 5.20 5.15 5.35 ; er, St, A is ae 5.05 5.05 5.00 5.27% , NOW Satan s. toe 4.40 4.40 4.37% 4.35 1 St. TB ATR FE a 4.25 4.25 4.22% 4.20 New YORUM, tbe meies eau $3.25 32.65 32.60 29.00 Ant mony, Hallett, New York... 8.00 8.12% 8.12% 7.50 Nickel, New Wort... 0:2. cc... 45.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 plate, 100 Ib., New York... $3.84 $3.84 $3.84 $3.64 ‘hese prices are for largest lots to jobbers. Prices of Finished Iron and Steel f.o.b. Pittsburgh c ‘reight rates from Pittsburgh in carloads, per 100 Ib. : , York, 16¢.; Philadelphia, 1ic.; Boston, 18c.; Buffalo, : Cleveland, 10e.; Cincinnati, 15c.; Indianapolis, 17c. ; ago, 18¢c.; St. Paul, 32c.; St. Louis, 22%4c.; New Or- 30c.; Birmingham, Ala., 45c. Rates to the Pacific | are 80c. on plates, structural shapes and sheets, No. nd heavier; Shc. on sheets; Nos. 12 to 16; 95c. on sheets, 16 and lighter; 65c. on wrought pipe and boiler tubes. Structural Shapes.—lI-beams and channels, 3 to 15 in. sive, 1.40¢) to 1.45¢., net; I-beams’ over 15 in., 1.55c., I-beams over 8 in., '1.65¢.; angles, '3 to 6 in., itichisive, _ and up, 1.50e, met; angles, over 6 in, 1.55c., net; *. 3 x 3 in, and up, less than \% in., 1.65c., base, half s, steel bar card; tees, 3 in. and up, 1.55c., net; zees, ind up, 1.50¢., net; angles, eee and tees. under 3 in., 1.40c¢., base, plus 10¢., half extras, steel bar card; deck beams and bulb angles, 1.75c., net; hand rail tees, 2.75c., net; checkered and corrugated plates, 2.75c., net. Plates.—Tank plates, % in, thick, 6% in. up to 100 in. wide, 1.40¢, to 1.45¢., base. Following are stipulations pre- scribed by manufacturers, with extras to be added to base price (per pound) of plates: Rectangular plates, tank steel or conforming to manufactur- ers’ standard specifications for structural steel dated Februar 6, 19038, or equivalent, %4-in. thick and over on thinnest edge, 10 in. wide and under, down to but not including 6 in. wide, are hase. Plates up to 72 in. wide, inclusive, ordered 10.2 Ib. per square foot are considered \4-in, plates. Plates over 72 in. wide must be ordered \-in. thick on edge, or not less than 11 Ib. per square foot, to take base price. Plates over 72 in. wide ordered less than 11 Ib. per square foot down to the weight of 3-16-in, take the price of 3-16-in. Allowable overweight, whether plates are ordered to gauge or weight, to be governed by the standard specifications of the Association of Americar Steel Manufacturers. Gauges under \4-in, to and including 3-16-in, on GALL. s+ chisch og 666 8e hans cheese én e $0.10 Gauges under 3-16-in. to and including No. 8..... 15 Gauges under No. 8 to and including No. 9....... 20 Gatiges under No. 9 to and including No. 10...... .B0 Gauges under Ne. 10 te and including No. 12..... 40 Sketches (including all straight taper plates), 3 ft. and over in length... . 2... 2.66 se dee eee ween’ 10 Complete circles, 3 ft. diameter and over........ .20 Boiler and flange stoel...........ccsccvececves 10 “A, B. M. A.” and ordinary firebox steel........ .20 BOT Bethe BOOG . oko nc cece Kae se ebcee ces soees 30 Fens WOOGNT 8 ob ivdc oS. TIE. IRA QU 40 Locomotive firebox steel. ..... 2... 65sec cee enee 50 Widths over 100 in. up to 110 in., inclusive...... 05 Widths over 110 in. up to 115 in., inclusive...... 10 Widths over 115 in up to 120 in., inclusive...... 15 Widths over 120 in. up to 125 in., inclusive...... 25 Widths over 125 in. up to 130 in., inclusive...... 50 Widths over 190 bm. . onc ccccsescdgeccsevecsere 1.00 Cutting to lengths or diameters under 3 ft. to 2 ft., RGNGO San ccc 6 9 FRbo Ue 0 Oe oo 656 Bio's 9 6 4.910 wales 25 Cutting to lengths or diameters under 2 ft. to 1 ft., sos wok owe ine 8s 6a eee Qin ee es oO Cutting to lengths or diameters under 1 ft....... 1.55 No charge for cutting rectangular plates to lengths 3 {t. and over, Terms.—Net cash 30 days. Sheets.— Makers’ prices for mill shipments on sheets in carload and larger lots, on which jobbers charge the usual advances for small lots from store, are as follows: Black annealed sheets, Nos. 3 to 8, 1.70c.; Nos. 9 and 10, 1.75«. ; Nos. 11 and 12, 1.80c.; Nos. 13 and 14, 1.85¢.; Nos. 15 and 16, 1.95c. Box annealed sheets, Nos. 17 and 21, 2.10c. ; Nos, 29 to 24, 2.15¢.: Nos. 25 and 26, 2.20c.; No. 27, 2.25¢.; No. 28, 2.30c.; No. 29, 2.35¢e.; No. 30, 2.45c. Galvanized sheets; Nos. 13 and 14, 2.50c.; Nos. 15 and 16, 2.60c.; Nos. 17 to 21, 2.75c.; Nos. 22 to 24, 2.00c.; Nos. 25 and 26, 3.106. ; No. 27, 3.20c.; No. 28, 3.40¢.; No. 29, 3.50¢.; No. 30, 3.75e. Painted roofing sheets, No. 28, $1.70 per square. Galvanized roofing sheets, No. 28, $8 per square, for 2%-in. corrugations. Wrought Pipe.—The following are the discounts on the Pittsburgh basing card on carloads of wrought pipe now in effect: ——Steel.—, ——Iron.—— Black. Galv. Black. Galv. MW and, WK. ies. i abiler see esees 70 54 66 x: Oe , . . on cake tue nedee 444i Zl 57 67 53 ie once Ta aes 74 4€2 #70 58 % fo 6 ims tT ae 78 68 74 64 T t0. 12:2. ivieds cerns was aelices's 72 57 68 53 Plugged and Reamed. Ste is os athens se > cee 76 66 72 62 Extra Strong, Plain Ends. % to % im...... fe cenes chee 63 51 59 47. o ta & Wh... 5... mis eae 70. 5S 6 &4 BB, 00 BIR sits cco no anna 66 54 62 50 9, 10, 11 and 12 In........++-. 54 42 a cs Double Extra Strong, Plain Ends. My to 8 ts. es ie eee 59 48 55 44 The above steel pipe discounts are for * card weight,”’ subject to the usual variation of 5 per cent, Boiler Tubes.—Discounts on lap welded steel and char- coal iron boiler tubes to jobbers in carloads are as follows : Steel. Iron. 1 tol * Se Aa a jiaddihld «Oa pee ¢ 8 EL. deonempepabebeebrmperiument SO Eg bins wn onl 4p da oreben ts cHmeR ewes 69 BS @: Se 9B hs oc via dsey ones ues renner ooo ik 6 a 43 2% in. and sma jer, over, 18 ft. 10 per cent. _ het extra. . an , over ” * r cent, "then caribatis to destinations east of the peeates River will be sold at delivered disco