The Iron Age 1912-09-05: Vol 90 Iss 10

VE THE | Established 1855 New York, September 5, 1912 Vol. 90: No. 10 Investigators of Materials of Construction The Beginnings, Personalities and Aims of the International Association for Testing Materials Which Holds a Meeting in America This Week The United States is conspicuously honored this year by several international scientific meetings which seem to have settled on dates all within a few months of one another. Particularly prominent among these is the con- cress now in progress in New York City of the Inter- national Association for Testing Materials. This associa- tion, of which the American Society for Testing Materials is substantially a branch, has already done much and promises still more toward the establishment of uniform requirements of materials for given purposes and stands as one of the monuments of the present era’s recognition of mutual assistance as a means for accelerating progress. It has given attention to methods and apparatus for checking the quality and properties of the material supplied according to given specifications. As an or- ganization closely linking scien- tific facts to commercial con- siderations it has to the present held itself to the study of iron and steel and non-ferrous met- als, natural and artificial build- ing stones, cements and mor- tars and other materials of a practical value. The wide in- terest is indicated in the repre- sentation by foreign countries of one-third of the total at- tendance, which at this writing promises to be 800. The exi- gencies of language differences among the delegates do not appear to retard progress to any extent, a fact which is a tnbute to the linguistic attain- ments of the Eufopean scien- ust. Elsewhere ise an account of the early deliberations of the present congress. _ The International Associa- tion, it is generally agreed, has is origin in a conference of a small group of workers in ex- DR. HENRY MARION HOWE Presiding Officer of the Sixth Congress of the International Association for Testing Materials, who represented the American Society of Mechanical Engi- neers in the Zurich meeting. Among others present were Prof. A. Martens, director of the Royal Material Testing Station in Berlin, who for years has been one of the vice-presidents of the association ; Prof. Henry Le Chatelier, inspector-general of mines, Paris, France, and Dr.-Ing. Nicholas Belelubsky, professor emeritus of the Institute of Engineers of Ways of Communication of Emperor Alex- ander I. at St. Petersburg, and the late Prof. Ludwig von Tetmajer, who called the meeting to order and was elected president, a position he held until his death. Both Pro- fessors Martens and Belelubsky . were vice-presidents of the meeting, the others of the four then elected being Baron Quin- ette de Rochemont, Paris, and State Councillor Dr. Berger, Vienna, who became acting president on the death of Prof. Tetmajer. The second congress was held at Stockholm in 1897, while the third, held at Buda- pest, did not take place until 1901. In the meantime through the activities of Mr. Henning, who was a member of the Council of the International Association, an American sec- tion of the International Asso- ciation was formed in Phila- delphia on June 16, 1808. Among those taking an active part in what was later incor- porated as the American So- ; ciety for Testing Materials, were Prof. Matisfield Merri- man, who was made chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Howe, who was made vice-chairman and Paul Kreuzpointner, Altoona, Pa., treasurer, and R. L. Humphrey, Philadelphia, secretary. Ac- cording also to the report of the meeting in The Iron Age perimental engineering held in New York, September 3-7, 1912 of June 23, 18,8, Dr. Richard Munich in #882 at the instance chiefly of the late Prof. John Bauschinger.” From this developed a series of meetings, as follows Dresden in 1884, Berlin in 1886, Munich in 1888, Vienna it 1893 and Zurich in 1895. At the last, an ac- count of which was printed in The Iron Age of October 10, 1895, the International Association was formally organ- md. The meeting» was held September'9 » ee Members and delegates presente England wa | | ¥ one engineer and the United States, after much per= te sent Capt. O. M. Carter, Corps of Engineers, V; S.A. An American had, however, been present at the ‘enna meeting in the person of the late Gus. C. Henning, Moldenke was a prominent fac- tor and he with Dr. Howe were named councillors. On the Budapest congress Dr. Howe made a report, printed in the proceedings of the American Society. The fourth congress of the International Association was held in Brussels, September 3 to 6, 1906, and there was anvattendance of no less than 500 members from 18 differ- ent_cotintries, but there was no delegate from the United States. A feature of this meeting was an address by Professor Le Chatelier on “The Practical Value of Metal- lography,” a subject which late years have abundantly recog- nized. Franz Berger was acting president and the vice- 497 es ee ee te 498 presidencies continued to be held by Professors Martens and Belelubsky, with Ernst Reitler, Vienna, already for a number of years general secretary. The fifth congress, though it is the plan of the by-laws to hold congresses at two-year intervals, was held in Copen- hagen, September 7 to 11, 1909. Alex- ander Foss, of F. L. Smidth & Co., Copenhagen, was president and the vice- presidents and general secretary were as before. An extended report was given in The Jron Age of September 23, 1909. There was a good American representation and the late Dr. Charles B. Dudley was elected president. The sixth and the present congress is that now in session in New York, with Dr. Howe acting as president, by vote of the council subsequent to the death of Dr. Dudley. Besides Professors Martens and Belelubsky as vice-presidents, Prof. A. Mesnager, chief engineer of bridges and highways and director of the laboratories of the National School of G, C, LLOYD Member of Council from Great Britain Bridges and Highways, Paris, France, was appointed vice- president. It is generally un- derstood that St. Petersburg, Russia, will be chosen for the next congréss, in 1915, and that Prof. Belelubsky will be named as the next president. Some idea of what the association is attempting to accomplish may be gained by a brief enumeration of some of the problems which are brought to the pres- ent congress in different stages of solu- tion. They include unified specifications for iron and steel, A. Rieppel, Nurem- berg, Germany, general chairman. The American members engaged in this com- mittee work are: Carnegie Steel Com- pany, Dr. Howe, Paul Kreuzpointner, Dr. Moldenke, William R. Webster and W. A. Bostwick, vice-president of the Orford Copper Company. W. Briigge- mann, Dortmund, Germany, is chair- man of a sub-commitee on cast iron_and cast iron products, and Dr. Moldenke and Walter Wood, R. D. Wood & Co., Philadelphia, are American members. Another branch of the work is imthe hands’ of a committee on uniform nomenclature of iron and steel, Dr. Howe, chairman. Prof. Albert Sauveur, Harvard University, is secretary of the committee and among its American THE IRON AGE CAPT. ROBERT W. HUNT President of the American So- ciety for Testing Materials PROF. N. BELELUBSKY, DR. ING. Vice-President of the International Association PROF. A. MARTENS, DR. ING. Vice-President of the Interna- tional Association in September s, 1912 members are R.. Hibbard, r resenting the American Institute of Mining Engi- neers; Charles Kirchhoff, representing the American Iron and Stee! Institute. Prof. William Campbell of Columbig University; Prof. Joseph W. Richards of Lehigh University and Hugh P. Tie. mann, metallurgist Carnegie Steel Com. pany. Another committee, of which Dr. Howe is chairman and Prof. Sauveur js secretary, has been engaged in defining the microscopic constituents of iron and steel. Some of the other problems have to do with testing welds and weldability. with methods of testing cast iron and finished castings, with impact tests on notched bars, with hardness, with the relations among chemical composition, thermic treatment and properties of special steels, with the resistance of metals to alternating stresses, with the influence of increased temperature on the ductility and malleability of metals, with the classifica- tion of pig iron, etc. A similar variety of problems relat- J. O. ROOS AF HJELMSATER Member of Council from Swe- den ing to cements, stones and concrete have been in the hands of different committees and as regards what may be called miscellaneous materials, there are about a half dozen prob- lems under consideration. Dr. Allerton S. Cushman 1s referee for one of these problems, on methods of testing the protective power of paints used on metallic structures. Prof. Augustus H. Gill, of the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology, 1 member of a committee on specifications of oil for technical purposes. It is to be mentioned that the reso- lutions of the congresses on technical questions are intended to serve to & press the opinion of the majority. They are not binding on the entire member ship, but of course carry great weight. They are carried only on at least three- fourths vote. The mass of information likely to result from the present cof gress may be taken in the light of the “proceedings of. the last congress, which aggregated 1000 pages. For the present wpongress there are about 170 fore" and 35.American papers. Some of the Prominent Personages Among the central figures of ae International Association for Test! Septet r 5» I9I2 Mater are of course the ng officer, the three presidents and rs of council, a representa- swe h country hav- al a nbers and man- ppointed by the from countries membership of 0. Portraits are nted of the act- ng-president and of two e-presidents, the third, f. A. Mesnager Paris not having ar- rive t this writing. raphs of other ers of the council given, together th likenesses of foreign bers who have taken nent part in fur- ring the association’s lo complete the THE IRON F. W. HARBORD Representing the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, London utline of the International Association, a few biographical sketches are appended as follows: PROF, E, HEYN ian Material Testing Bureau Berlin-Lichterfelde irector of the Royal Prus- Dr. Henry Marion Howe, who was born March 2, 1848, was the son of Dr. Samuel Gridley and Julia Ward Howe. He was graduated from Har- vard College in 1869 with the degree of A.B. and received the degree of B.S. from the Massachu- setts Institute of Tech- nology in 1871 and A.M. from Harvard in 1872. The degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by both Harvard and Lafayette in 1905. In 1877 he went to Chile in connection with copper smelting and de- signed and built plants for the Orford Copper Com- pany in this country in 1880-1882. He was later engaged in Boston as con- sulting metallurgist and lecturer before the Massa- chusetts Institute of Tech- nology. In 1890 he intro- i into this country the manufacture of manganese steel. He has been professor of metallurgy in Columbia University since 1897. He was awarded the Bessemer medal of the Iron and steel Institute (Great ritain) in 1895, was gold med f the Verein zur derung des Gewerb- 1895 and the t Cresson gold medal- Franklin Insti- 1805. He was of the jury of 1 mining of the Exposition in member of the the Paris exposi- 889 and 1900. He S che er of the Legion nn¢ France, and sught of the Order of St. wat Russia, « 1906, As W resident of the \erican ‘Institute “of ngineers in 1893 president of the Society for JEAN-FERNAND CELLERIER Director Testing Laboratory, Conservatory of Arts and Measures, France AGE DR. WALTER ROSENHAIN Representing the National Physi- cal Laboratory, Tedding- ton, near London ander 1. at St. Petersburg. 499 Testing Materials. He is honorary member of the Russian Imperial Tech- nical Society, the British Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, the Swedish Royal Academy of Science, and the Société d’Encour- agement pour I’Industrie Nationale, Paris. He is the author of “Copper Smelting,” “Metallurgy of Steel,” ” Metallurgical Lab- oratory Notes” and “Iron, Steel and Other Alloys.” Prof. N. Belelubsky, who as stated is generally regarded as the next presi- dent of the association, was born in 1845. He was educated at the gymna- sium of Taganrog and at the Institute of Engineers of Ways of Communica- tion of Emperor Alex- He is now professor emeritus and in charge of the mechanical laboratory of the Insti- tute. He has been in the service of the government of Russia since 1867 and professor and manager of the laboratory since 1874. For 30 years he has de- voted himself to the strength of materials and for .several years has taught bridge design. He also conducted courses on tests of materials in the archicectural school of the Academy of Fine Arts, St Petersburg, and the Poiy technic Institute for Women, founded in 1906 and attended by more than 600 students. Prof. Bele- lubsky is a member of the Academy of Fine Arts, president of the council of the Russian Cement Con- gress, president of the Polytechnic of the Insti- tute for Women, perma- nent secretary of the Pupils’ Benefit Society of PROF, P. D, C, KLEY Professor of Metallography, Technical High School, Delft, olland the Institute of Engineers and president of the permanent government commission on bridges. EMILE T. CAMERMAN Chief Chemist, Department of Railways, Posts and Telegraph, Belgium His personal en- gineering work has been in the design of bridges, including the replacement of wooden bridges on the St. Petersburg - Moscow railroad by steel bridges, bridges over the Volga near Sysran and the Dnie- per at Jecaterinoslaw, both over a kilometer in length, bridges on the Siberian railroad and a_ recent bridge over the Volga near Kasan. He origitiated in 1888 a type of bridge con- struction with hinged spans, which has been ap- plied to a large number of bridges in Russia and subsequently in other countries. Prof. Belelub- sky is honorary member of the St. Petersburg In- stitute mentioned, the Société des Ingénieurs civils de France, the So- EE ee oe ee are > ¥ tae 5 OR ages Pe ntti ties sete an TSM iets ue “tra Dt eg ERS Se A MEINE PBB 500 THE IRON AGE ciety of’ Architects of Berlin, and he was given the degree oi doctor of engineering by Technical High School of Charlottenburg, Berlin. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Adolf Martens was born March 6, 1850, at Backendorf bei Hagennow, i.M. He worked two years practically in machine construction, then studied at a trade school in Berlin, and in 1871 entered the bridge con- struction bureau of Ostbahn in Bromberg, where he was engaged in the design of the Weichsel und Memel bridges. Some years later he moved to Dortmund, and devoted himself to the testing of materials and the practical study of the iron industry. In 1875 and the following year he was occupied with the building of the Berlin-Nordhausen Railroad, and at this time began his first investigations concerning the microscopic structure of iron. In 1&&4 he undertook the direction of what is now the Royal Ma- terial Testing Bureau at Berlin-Lichterfelde. Prof. Mar- tens is a member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Science, president of the German Society for Testing Materials, and has the degree of doctor from the Royal Technical Highschool at Dresden. He is also a member of the Austrian Engineering and Architectural Society, an honorary member of the Institute of Ways of Communi- cation of St. Petersburg, possessor of a medal of the Vereins Deutscher Ingenieure. Ernst Reitler, who has been general secretary of the association for the last ten years, is a civil engineer of Vienna and a leading officer of the Austrian State Rail- ways. He is a knight of the Order of Danebrog. He made studies in the United States in 1893 in regard to railroad matters and has published several pamphlets on American and British railroads, covering stations, yards, permanent way, safety appliances and traffic administration. When the first president of the association, Professor Tet- thajer, moved in 1901 from Zurich to Vienna, the head- quarters of the association were established in Vienna, where they have since been. Mr. Reitler is 50 years of age. Capt. Robert Woolston Hunt, president of the Amer- ican Society for Testing Materials, was born in Fallsing- ton, Bucks County, Pa., December 9, 1838. He was edu- cated in Covington, Ky., and worked in a “rolling mill at Pottsville, Pa., learning puddling, rolling and other mill operations. He studied analytical chemistry in Philadel- phia from 1859 to 1860, and was chemist of the Cambria Iron Company from 1860 to 1861. He entered the Civil War as a private and was captain at its close. He has been the head of Robert W:' Hunt & Co., consulting engineers and metallurgists, since 1888. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Insti- tute of Mining Engineers, of which he was president from 1883 to 1884 and from 1906 to 1907, and was also president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1891. He was president of the Western Society of Engineers in 1893 and is a member of the Iron and Steel Institute (Great Britain), and the Institution of Mechanical Engi- neers and the Institution of Civil Engineers (England) George C. Lloyd received his early education in Ger- many and was subseque.itly trained as mechanical engifieer at the works of Robert Stephenson & Co., Newcastle-on- Tyne, England. He was afterward occumed as a sea- going engineer and for some years was in the service of the Spanish Royai Mail Steamship Company, the Com- pafia Translantic of Barcelona. In 1898 he became assistant engineer to Jeremiah Head & Co., the: British representatives of the Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Company, Cleveland, Ohio. In 1900 he was appointed assistant to 3ennett H. Brough, secretary of the Iron & Steel Insti- tute, and in 1904 became the secretary of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, London. On the death of Mr. Brough, in 1908, he succeeded him as secretary of the Iron & Steel Institute and in the same year was elected the British member of council of the International Association. J. O. Roos af Hjelmsater, representing his country as a member of the council of the International Association, was born in 1878 at Stockholm, Sweden. He was grad- uated as mechanical engineer from the Royal Technical University, Stockholm, and studied chemistry at the Poly- technikum, Zurich, Switzerland. He held positions in the United States in 1901-1903, principally two years as assist- ant to Thomas Edison at Orange, N. J. He was assistant Septemh« director from 1904 to 1907 and director from | of the Testing Institution of the Royal Tec! versity at Stockholm. He contributes a paper ent congress on endurance tests of machine ste: Prof. Alexander Rejt6 is the member of co Hungary. He is court councillor, member 0; garian Academy of Sciences and professor a versity of Technical Sciences, Budapest. His in have led him to differentiate between material: of elasticity of which is increased by a perman mation and malleable materials, the elastic limi remains unchanged during the permanent defor: advises care in using the two kinds of materials position, as they follow different laws. Dr. Walter Rosenhain, B. A., D. Sc.. cam: York to attend both the congress of the Int. \ssociation for Testing Materials and the Internationa Congress.of Applied Chemistry as the delegate of the Na- tional Physical Laboratory at Teddington, near London In that institution, which corresponds to some extent with the Bureau of Standards at Washington, Dr. Rosenhai; is head of the Department of Metallurgy. He also a member of Council of the Institute of Metals (London and is the author of a long series of metallurgical memoirs dealing with the results of researches on metals carried out principally on the lines of modern metallography. He received his university training in Melbourne, Australia and then at Cambridge, England, where, in conjunction with Professor Ewing, he carried out researches which ‘ed to the discovery of “slip bands” in strained metal. In 1906 he joined the National Physical Laboratory as super- intendent of the newly formed metallurgy department. A large amount of special apparatus and appliances f metallurgical work has been designed by Dr. Rosenh: ut including the Rosenhain metallurgical microscope, quenct ing apparatus and electrical combustion furnaces Prof. E. Heyn, who contributes a review of the prog- ress of metallography from the beginning of 1909 to the end of 1911, was born in 1867 in Annaberg, Erzgebirge, Sax ony. He was educated along iron foundry lines in tl Bergakademie of Freiberg, Saxony. He gained practical experience at the works of Fried. Krupp Essen, and with the Hd6érder’ Verein, now _ th Phoenix Company, in Hdérde, Westphalia. Later was teacher in the Royal Machine Construction and Foun dry School in Gleiwitz and in 1808 was called, to the Royal Material Testing Bureau, Lichterfelde, Berlin. Since 190! he has been professor of mechanical technology, foundry practice and strength of materials at the Charlottenburg Technical Highschool. Since 19c4 he has been sub-director of the testing bureau, His achievements lie chiefly along the line of researches in metallurgy and metallography and the development of metallographic investigation to r place ordinary material testing, etc. Jean-Fernanc Cellerier, director of the testing labo- ratory of the national conservatory of arts and measures 0! Paris, France, was born in Bordeaux. May 27, 1870. He was educated at the college Sainte-Barbe and then in the polytechnic school, leaving this institution in 1892 as under- lieutenant of artillery. His army experience included a period in the national arms manufactory at Chate Heraul He was appointed to his present position in 1908. He invented a portable electric lamp held in position mag- netically and has specialized in electricity. He is a mem ber of the council of the International Society of Elec- tricians, of the Society of Civil Engineers of France ane of the council of the Reole Superieure, Hronautique Prof. P. D. C. Kley was born in Kapelle on the Yssel Holland, October 25, 1871. He was educated at the Uni- versity of Leiden and at the Polytechnic Schoo! at Delft Holland, where he obtained the degree of chemical ens" neer. In 1905 he was appointed professor of microchem- istry and metallography. Emile Camerman, chief engineer of tests 0! F railroads of Belgium. who contributes to the congress a paper on testing cylinder oils for superheated stea™ has devoted himself tore particularly:to cements, mortar and concrete. He contributed a paper on rubber t ~ Budapest congress and papers on paint materials an lubricating oils to the Copenhagen congress. He is of the chairmen of the section having to do with misce laneous materials. the state als » the Presidential Address to Testing Engineers Lines Which the Work of the International Associ- ation May Well Follow in the Future—Specification Making Should Be Added to the Original Plan BY HENRY M, HOWE S f Britannia, as you are f kin, be you near to eutons, so near to us you are ever welcome. Sor f fair France, we wel- this land of lib- quality before the law, fraternity; to this land be held to owe its stence as a nation to in our hour of peril. me, sons of Russia. at Peter has ennobled ir Mendelieff, Pavloff, f and Tschernoff have ed science; your Rubin- [schaikowsky have in- with their strains and nieff with his words; Nicholas the Second 1s given an incalculable impetus God’s own cause of peace on h. good will toward men. Sons of that Italy whose Co- gave mankind this new your presence gives wus unify methods of testing. Bringing to- ) Spain, you who gave Co- Godspeed, you whose ndant ‘f this new world, how we welcome your sons. : dinavianss you whose ions. the Red was the first to see nent, you whose John aided so brilliantly in tion of this land, we greet you most heartily. ntals, we of the setting salute you of the rising ians, you with whom we are in reciprocity of trust and brotherly affection, a brotherly greet- Danes, so lately our generous hosts; you from m that sheltering asylum whence the earliest led hither; you, indomitable Belgians; you, rable Swiss; a most cordial welcome is yours. ve met last the Summoner of kings and peasants rest and peace some priceless leaders of our irfare for progress. The bitterness and depth of the great, good, wise and beloved man ose as our president for this Congress is ir outpourings of grief and praise on either \tlantic. In him this society has lost a leader ) the highest idealism the complete mastery it, and the most astute practical wisdom. al patron of our last Congress, Frederic of that strong supporter of our purposes, that and kingly man, has passed from us, and beautiful spirit of Floris Osmond, the the seer of metallography, has been called from gile dwelling. er shining trophies have been won by death, ers of our council, Jacopo Benetti and August ~} | as ever, death is swallowed up im. victory. is drowned by our flood of gratitude for- the ‘kc of knowing, leving and laboring with such men. rr ng for what might have been is eclipsed by our it has been, Leading Points in the n traditions, and in Address: It is to make the work of the testing engineer more effective, to guard the lives and the interests of the public the better, that the International Association for Testing Materials exists. In one direction most tests are very faulty—their conditions are radically un- like the most trying ones of service. In the future indestructive tests, ap- plied directly to the objects which are to enter into service, must supplement the vicarious destructive tests of coupons. Specification making should be added to the original plan which made it the work of the association to perfect and gether those competent to improve meth- s share with us the ods of test has also brought together those most competent to draw specifica- 501 The Association and Its Work Let us look at our purposes, at the tokens that we are accom- plishing them, and at a way in which they may be broadened. Our purpose is to serve hu- manity by enabling it to distin- guish the fit from the unfit among the materials with which the world’s work is done—the materials for its buildings, its bridges, its ships, its railroads, its machinery, and its construc- tions in general. This is the function of the testing engineer. He stands between the public and the manufacturer who would supply that public to test the fit- ness of those supplies, to meas- ure accurately their degree of fit- ‘ ness, and to reject unsparingly the unfit. He is a guardian of the lives of those who travel by land or sea, and of those who live or work in buildings of im- portant size. He is a protector of the material interests of the public, because in the last analy- sis all structures and all ma- terials of which they are made are for the use and benefit of the public individually or collect- ively, and are paid for directly or indirectly by that public; and it is to the interest of that public that the fitness of those materials for their various purposes shall be known quantitatively to those who select them. It is to make this work of the testing engineer more effective, to guard the lives and the interests of the public the better, that this association exists. It is ah open court in which the public sits in judgment on the various methods of testing. Of that public certain parts are here repre- sented directly by their own engineers. This is true of the great railroads, the great shipbuilders and bridge builders, and the great engineering houses. Other parts of the public are represented indirectly by the middlemen or by the public engineers of tests. The results of experience in all lands, in all climates and under all conditions, and the,points of view of all races, are here focussed in the most searching criticism of the various methods of testing, to the end that the buyer may gauge their fitness with full knowledge, and thus may select intelligently those which give the fullest protection first to himself and ultimately to the public. If one method is unduly favorable to one manufacturer or to the manu- facturers of one region or of one country by tending to gloss over the shortcomings of their product and to give undue profinence to its special merits, the public is here warned of the deceptiveness of that test by the evidence offered by the competing manufacturers. Standards for the World’s Competing Goods However far distant may be the political “Parliament of Man,” which is “coming yet for a’ that,” the industrial parliament of man is already here. The buyer in each country may well say, “My country is the worid, my coun- ttymen are all mankind,” for wherever his abode he sélects the fittest goods, quality and cost considered, without te- gard to their origin. While he is selecting his purchases, friendship, patriotism, national boundaries, empires, and ee ee sp % ” Sea aX a a er Lae LS pie hgh ANE eae ‘ REA ONS TO CA OEE ye Le es 502 THE IRON AGE continents cease to ‘exist. To-day’s market place is the world, and our society is an essential part of that pente- costal market place, in which we enable all races to speak the common language of the methods of testing, that is, of appraising the market place’s competing goods. * An important phase of our work is the unification of the methods of testinz throughout the world, to the end that the buyer may the more readily and the more justly weigh the relative merits of all competing materials of a given kind, from whatever country they may come. The day has passed when the buyer’s ignorance, his inability to ascertain for himself the fitness of what is offered him, forced him to rely on the reputation and on the assurances of the manufacturer or exporter. To-day he relies not on the untested assertions of the seller, however credible, but on his own tests, or on tests made by his own agents. Pur- chase is no longer a matter of faith but one of knowledge. It is our mission and privilege to carry this substitution of knowledge for faith ever farther and farther. Attitude Toward New Methods Turning our attention now in a different direction and asking what our attitude ought to be toward attempts to replace or supplement our present niethods of testing with new methods, we find that, though we have good reason to be dissatisfied with our present methods, yet we should be extremely cautious in the industrial adoption of new ones. Let us consider these two aspects briefly. For every structure there are certain conditions which are more trying to it than all other conditions, certain con- ditions which it fuifills with the greatest difficulty. Its ability to meet these most trying conditions is the measure of its industrial and commercial fitness, usefulness, and hence value. The fact that I cannot lay my hand with certainty on these conditions does not affect the truth of this proposition. We may not know these conditions to- day, but they are intrinsically discoverable. The supreme danger to the chimney may be the gale. The supreme anger to the rail may be the unduly rapid impact of an ill-balanced driving wheel when the ground is frozen hard, and after the head of the rail itself has been brought from its initial ductility to the vitreous state by the peening of the wheels. The supreme danger to the hull plate may be ‘the dynamic stress along the rivet holes in a collision. That which at last breaks down the well-aligned factory shaft may be the inevitable slight variations of stress. In each case there are probably two or more supremely trying sets of conditions; but be they few or be they many, be they recognized or be they still-undiscovered, there must in the nature of the case be such most trying conditions, the ability to endure which necessarily carries along with it the ability to endure all of the other conditions of use. It is to these -most trying conditions that our tests should address themselves. We assume reasonably that the ability to meet these most trying conditions will be measured most trustworth- ily by that test which reproduces these same conditions the most closely. For instance in the many cases in which the most trying stresses are dynamic, it is reasonable to believe that a dynamic test is fitter than a static one. Of course we should not leap to the conclusion that any and every dynamic test is here fitter than any and every static test. Admitted Inadequacy of Present Tests Here, then, is one direction in which most of our tests are very faulty. Their conditions are radically unlike the most trying ones of service. The light which they throw on the fitness of the object for its proposed service is most indirect. In that respect they are unfit tests. An objection from a wholly different direction lies against most of our tests: the objection that, because they are tests to destruction, they cannot in their nature be ap- plied directly to the object whose fitness they would gauge, but instead they must be applied vicariously to small pieces assumed to represent those objects. We do not test the in- dividual rails, boiler plates, shafts, bridge posts, or con- crete columns on whose fitness the lives of our fellows hang, but small pieces cut from them, or for some other reason assumed to represent them. In certain rare cases we do indeed test, not such a small fragment, but a similar whole structure, a like beam or shaft or post. This is not as bad as measuring the endurance of your recruits by finding what forced march suffices to kill their brothers, but it is open to the same kind of objection, the objection Septembe 5, 1912 that because it is destructive it must needs }: carious But a great range and variety of indestructiye (cst; sug. gest themselves, tests which leave no more effect on the piece tested than seeing, tasting, or smelling it woud. The presence of cavities may be detected through ¢| density and that of plastic deformation through the potential Microscopic examination is already well advance: Mag- netic testing has received much attention; and clectrical disintegration is now pointed out as a means of test. The number of physical properties which offer themselves as possible means of testing is very great. Tests by Forces Which Leave the Body Tested Unchanged Here we note that Miers and Isaac determine the super. solubility curve of solutions by measuring their index of refraction of light, and that Honigsberg and Coker study the lines of stress by the behavior of polarized light passed through transparent specimens. What do these things mean? They mean that light, a manifestation of energy, in crossing these bodies undergoes a change; and the nature of that change teaches us concerning properties in those crossed bodies little related to light; or, in short, the action of the body tested upon a form of energy passed through it ‘or reflected from it may be made to disclose and to gauge properties of that body but little related to that form of energy and with no residual effect on the body itself. But light is only one of a considerable number of forms of energy which seem open to such use. Sound, electricity, the divers kinds of radiations which only lately disclose themselves to our amazement, and the many yet undreamed ones awaiting discovery; these are forms of energy some of which may be harnessable to a like use. Let us remember that later our analysis of these subtler manifestations of energy will be even fuller than our present analysis of the coarse radiations of sound. As to-day we know not only the pitch and volume, but the timbre, overtones and harmonics of sound, so later shall we know corresponding characteristics and phenomena of these other kinds of radiation, so that we seem embar- rassed by the riches of the variety of agencies from which the testing engineer of an age less crude than ours may choose. Steel Tests by Indestructive Methods Here lies the suggestion that we may learn the prop- erties of the very rails and girders which we are to use, and later the properties of assembled structures them- selves, such as boilers and bridge posts, and conceivably in the far, far future the assembled hull, by their action and re-action with some form of energy. Who shall say that the pitch or volume or timbre of sound emitted by a rail as the result of a given excitement may not be made to disclose pitilessly its hidden defects and to measure the fitness, not alone of the material of which it is com- posed, but of the rail as a whole structure? Or, giving rein to our fancy, we hear the inspector report, “This one- hundred-story building indeed responds to G-sharp, but its timbre has this abnormality and these harmonics are ¢x- aggerated.” These indestructive methods indeed have the defect of being indirect in one respect, to weigh against their ad- vantage of ‘being direct in another; they are indirect in that they gauge the properties actually’ ‘needed in service by means of other properties: ‘they are direct in that they may be applied to the very objects to be used, instead of vicariously to coupons or like objects to be destroyed in the test itself. Their natural service seems to be to supplement the vicarious destructive tests. Thus the tester of the future may prove his material by the vicarious destructive tests of coupons, and prove his structures themselves by these indestructive tests. It is not to imply that such means are of our decade or even of our century that I have hinted at them. but rather that we may put ourselves in the right attitude towards our art. It is well to climb at intervals from our details to the top of some lofty pyramid, and, looking afar, see how the brightness of the future contrasts w't the darkness of our present unfathomable ignorance. A Time of Great Progréss h in the To our pride, to that God-given quality whic! si last analysis has probably aided more than any other yer 5, IQI2 fring os from apehood, it is indeed gratifying to look at a time as a time of great perfection. Like the fly the wheel, we enjoy reflecting that in our own day and ur fathers’ anaesthesia, the railroad, the telegraph, the sewing machine, the telephone, the wireless telegraph, and the flying machine have come, both poles of the earth have been reached, and the last important absolute mon- archy has passed away forever. These are great and mar- el hievements, and each of us may be proud that in form he resembles those who have brought these thi out. Still better, look around us and see on every side the accelerating substitution of the altruistic for the egoistic point of view; the rapidity of the spread ; the conviction that our powers form but our steward- ship: that, once our old age is provided for, we are bound devote at least a large part of our energies, each of us in his own way, to the betterment.of our fellows, be it through charity; through public service, or through scien- tific. historic or other form of learned investigation. But if we would take the right attitude toward our art and its future, then, looking at once on the rapidity of acceleration and on the immensity of the remainder of man’s sojourn on the earth, our pride should be not in to- lay but in being the fathers of the race to whose golden era millions of years hence our day is as midnight. New Methods Inevitable, Yet Changes Must Be Slow That our present state seems to us modern is nothing; every period in the last fifteen centuries has seemed mod- ern to itself. If, remembering the wonderful progress, scientific, industrial, and social, in our time we admit that progress is accelerating; if from Fielding’s photograph of life we infer that the progress in the 160 odd years since it was written has been as great as in the 1600 odd years which preceded it, and hence that the acceleration itself is rapid; if we then admit both that the acceleration will continue, and that man will continue to dominate the earth not for centuries but for millions of years; that the middle ages are not behind but far before us and we ourselves at the dawn of history; if we do this, we may gain some idea of the futility of imagining that we in this stream of progress ought to lie at anchor; and we may recognize that the methods which our present ignorance and crude- ness have evolved are mere temporary makeshifts. Let us remember that till very lately our most com- petent authorities have been unable to answer the elemen- tary and readily answerable question, “Does a soft or a hard rail better resist abrasion?” The facts that such relatively modern marvels as the reciprocating engine and the Bessemer process seem already threatened and that the electric telegraph has already yielded much of its im- portance to the telephone and to radio-telegraphy, may help us to a right attitude, in which we concede that as to-day’s makeshift testing methods are sure to be displaced some lay by some new ones, the new ones offered to-day may be those which are to displace them. On the other hand, the frictional resistance to the in- troduction of any new method of testing is so great, and ie ae of mental and moral energy needed for over- g this resistance is so limited in quantity and so pre- ous to mankind, that we reasonably require the advocates ot new methods to elaborate them, to put them into ser- iceable condition, and to proyide convincing proof both ‘hat they are competent and that the form in which they offered is reasonable and fit. Till then we can hardly expected to urge their industrial adoption even as sup- plementary tests; and of course we cannot consider sub- tituting them for existing tests till their competence and advantages have been overwhelmingly demonstrated, nomentous are the interests at stake. Though we rec- enize the need of progress, we recognize also the need | Scrutinizing most searchingly every contemplated step lat progress. are he ¢ Gains in Numbers and Prestige Tr Ta ng thus considered the purposes of our society, let ‘turn to some tangible evidence of the progress made in ishing them since our last congress. First, four | countries are represented in pur, Council— Japan, hina, Canada, and Brazil, by Meés*s. ‘Saito, Kwong, Her- ty and di Paolo, bringing the number of countries repre- nt the Council up to 25. Second, our membership ‘sed from 2160 to 2680, or by 24 per cent., and now 30 countries and every continent. Adding the accomn! add; lditior 4 c las incre repress 4 THE IRON AGE 593 members for the present Congress year, our membership becomes about 3700. Third, in addition to the existing na- tional societies closely affiliated with us in Germany, America, Italy, Austria and Hungary, two new national societies have arisen in Russia; and in addition to the ex- isting organization of our own members into a racial group in France and Belgium, a like national Swiss group has formed. I appeal to the members of Council from other countries to institute like works. Perhaps by this means better than by any other can they discharge that solemn trust which they accepted in entering the Council. That we are recognized not as a private club for our own benefit and enlightenment but primarily and es- sentially as a benevolent institution, successfully aiming to benefit mankind, an institution to which our contributions of time and thought are such as no sordid motive could evoke, is shown by the generous and widespread response to our appeal for aid in this work, and by the action of many governments and important public bodies in appoint- ing representatives on our commissions. Here it may be mentioned that the volume of papers for this congress is about twice as large as that of any previous congress. The Council contemplates ways of lessening the impedi- ments to the efficiency of our international committees, due both to the language difficulties and to the usual need of carrying on their deliberations by correspondence instead of face to face. Lines of Evolution The human hand in the early stages of its evolution was probably a fin for swimming. With diverging paths of evolution the fin became here a digging tool as in moles, there a flying tool or wing as in birds, bats, and some fishes and reptiles, and there a walking tool as in all quad- rupeds. From a walking tool it became a grasping tool as in apes, and thence the unrivaled feeling, grasping, and guiding hand, which has played so indispensable a part in civilization. Though it is still of some use for certain of its Slder duties, swimming, walking as in childhood, and climbing, what interests us here is that in evolving it passed for aeons through stages in which it was wholly useless for its final duties. This is a frequent path of evolution. Providence bridges the stages in which the evolving organ is useless for its final purpose by giving the creature to which it belongs needs which it can then serve, and this temporary service may be wholly unlike its chief final service. Thus too does Providence evolve theindividual man or the organized group of men. Thus does the man who has de- veloped with infinite pains and self-restraint a special skill ot special knowledge for the immediate purpose of bene- fitting himself, of supporting his family and providing for his old age, find not only that he has been spurred on by these egoistic motives to developing that which is of value to mankind, not only that he who would serve himself well must serve his fellows better, but beyond this that his spe- cial skill and knowledge become, with changing environ- ment, useful for purposes which he could not have fore- seen. Little could Mushet have foreseen that in develop- ing his special knowledge of the influence of manganese on iron he was prefitting himself to form an almost necessary link in the development of the Bessemer process. The Broadening of Original Scope Spurred on by the impulses through which the Creator leads us to initiate our work and mark out its boundaries, we are as the colt in the trainer's hands. We see the im- mediate result, the reward held out, the penalty to be avoided; we do not dream of the greater purpose lying hidden beyond our present vision. But when that greater purpose later opens before us we accept it in spite of not foreseeing it, as the warhorse rejoices to carry his rider through crashing charge to victory, unmindful of having been blind in the days of his training to the glory which awaited him. Let this thought impress us. Let us say with Emerson, The passive master lent his hand To the vast soul that o’er him planned. Tei is because we recognize this as part of the Creator’s plan that the broad-minded, as their powers Nat re- fuse to be bound by their initial forecast of the limits of their activity, a forecast which fitted their then narrower vision. As a new task offers itself only the narrow ask 504 . “Is it part of my original plan?”; the moderately broad ask, “Is it to my interest?’ The truly broad say, “Is it to the interest of my fellows? Then I accept it as part of the plan of the great Overplanner.” Specification Making Must Be Added to the Original Plan Let us see if these considerations apply to ourselves. The immediate purpose before the founders of our so- ciety was to perfect and unify the methods of testing; the ultimate purpose was to enable the public to get fit goods. But if I am to learn whether my purchase is fit by testing it, 1 must know not only how to test it, i. e., how to meas- ure its properties, but also how much of each property it ought to have. Of what use is a process for testing axles by impact or tension unless I know quantitatively what tensile properties they ought to have and what impact they ought to endure? Of what use are methods of test- ing without receptior. specifications? One is the necessary complement of the other. It so happens that, in building a society fitted for the immediate end of improving methods of testing, we have simultaneously fitted it for the indispensable supplement, specification making. In bringing together those compe- tent to improve methods of test we have also brought to- gether. those most competent to draw specifications. We have “builded better than we knew.” We have uncon- sciously made an organization fitted for filling both needs of the public, for telling it both what properties, quantitatively, its purchases need and also how to measure those properties. At the prompting of the unseen Master the founders of this society conceived a useful purpose. To Him they passively lent their hands, with the result that in building this structure under His guidance they unconsciously pre- fitted it to a still more useful purpose. If it is true that were thus fitted, then it follows irresistibly that we have this duty, for our duties are co-extensive with our powers. Every power is granted to us as its custodians, not to hide it in a napkin but to exercise it. I am not unmindful of the obstacles and pitfalls in the way of specifiéation making. I understand the gravity of the commercial questions involved. I see that com- mercial interests may readily be antagonized into the posi- tion of resenting supposed interference. But let us look at obstacles as things primarily to be overcome and pit- falls as things primarily to be bridged, remembering that where there is a will there is a way; that the human be- ings with commercial interests on other continents do not differ in their innermost nature from the corresponding human beings on this continent; and that if it has proved possible to bring maker and user into harmonious and in- deed enthusiastic co-operation here it ought to be possible there ° The American Society Has Made Specifications Prominent As men of you