The Iron Age 1917-04-26: Vol 99 Iss 17

aie [TY vy New York, April 26, 1917 ABLISHED 1855 VOL. 99: No. 17 Oa OI mae) Rec )e) at: Neurmmr- NaC Mmm aco) tObeteg Mill The Ludlum Steel Company One of ae Largest Electric Plants— Spacious New Buildings—A Specially Designed Steel Furnace pt pany, Watervliet, N. Y., is a conspicuous ex- mple of the expansion of the electric steel ndustry of the United States. Starting orig- vith a small plant at Pompton, N. J., as far 1854, under another name, the company its present location between Troy and N. Y., in 1907. The new plant then con- { two steel and sheet metal buildings about long and 60 ft. wide. They were equipped » 80-pot crucible furnaces, gas producers, immers and 18-in. and 9-in. mills. ible tool steel was the principal output until 12. In faet, the company had never made any- Y's recent growth of the Ludlum Steel Com- { thing else since the early days in New Jersey. In 1910 attention was seriously directed to electricity as a melting and refining medium and experiments were started with a view to designing a furnace especially adapted to making tool steel. The com- pany’s experiments embraced many types of fur naces. Five different ones were built and operated as a result of these experiments. Finally one was found satisfactory in every way to a tool steel maker’s requirements. The company has secured patents on its special type of furnace and its method of melting. For two or three years both crucible and electric steel was produced, but in 1913 the management, 1003 wipes “a Piro gtedids fa setccs bt 1004 convinced that the electric process was superior in most respects to the crucible, threw out its crucible furnaces and went over entirely to the electric proc- To-day it is one of the largest makers of elec- tric tool and special alloy steels in the United States. The electric furnace equipment consists of three 5- ton furnaces devoted almost entirely to making high- speed steel and two 10-ton furnaces which produce special alloy and other steels. Extensive additions have been made very re- cently. The growth of the domestic business of the company has rendered this Although shortly before the war some improvements in equip- ment and space were made in the older portion of the present complete plant, it was decided in March, 1916, to make further additions totaling 16 build- ess. necessary. The Main Aisle of the New Rolling Mill of the tion are features. The 9-in. mill is the first one, with the other of the building, ings, more than doubling the company’s output. Building operations were started on May 15, 1916, by the Austin Company, Cleveland, and by early De- cember nearly all machinery was installed. In less than a year the new steel plant proper, consisting of a rolling mill and a new melting department, was in full operation—an unusual performance under prevailing industrial conditions. The New Rolling Mill The main feature of the new additions is the rolling mill. The building with a main aisle about 65 ft. wide and 800 ft. long with numerous ad- joining wings covers a floor area of about 96,000 sq. ft. and is very spacious. The main aisle is traversed by two 5-ton electric traveling cranes, the 40-ft. adjoining wing by a 2-ton electric crane and the 25 and 35-ft. wings by five 1-ton cranes, one in each. The main aisle houses, of course, the mills, shears, saws, cooling beds, some of the fur- naces, scales, straightening machines, etc. The mills are 18 in., 14 in., 10 in. and 9 in., with an extra 9-in. THE IRON Ludlum Steel Company. which is 800 ft AGE April 2) 019 at mill toward the farther end of the building. one are driven by electric motors. Ingots lets are fed to the mills from the furnac number of overhead trolley systems. Am, age space is provided at one end of the ma By means of a depressed track at this end, m are trucked directly from the loading platfo the box cars. The various wings of the main building voted to a chipping room, a machine shop, drives, a Harris Corliss engine, a boiler hou a number of heating furnaces. One wing houses toilet and wash rooms with showers and ot! These wings, as well as the main ing, are well lighted. In this mill the various alloy and special steels cessories. iu wll , Lal Ma oi Its spaciousness and excellent lighting and ventila- i i y and units in the background. The view is from the shipping ene long as well as some high-speed steels are rolled. On 4 special 9-in. mill, wire rods are also rolled for drawing into special wire products in the company’s wire department which now occupies a large part of oné of the older original buildings. The Of considerable importance is the new building known as the melting shop. This runs parallel to the new rolling mill and is 350 ft. long and 15 It. wide. It is served by two 10-ton. electric traveling ladle cranes and one 5-ton traveling magnet crane. The two furnaces occupy the center of this building. Back of these and taking up the rest of that hal! of the building are large reinforced concrete bins with a storage capacity of 2500 tons of raw materi“ of various grades. The various partitions ena’ different grades of the raw material to be carefull) separated. Raw stock is unloaded from the cars a spur track inside the building. Other materia’s needed in the operation of the department are 2/5° stored in this portion of the building. New Electric Melting Department 26, 1917 ingot-pouring practice is interesting. The are suspended from overhead electric cranes the furnaces are being tapped. They are then by the cranes to specially designed ladle which run on a track spanning a row of ingot The ingots are ladle bottom poured and the trucks being rigid, accurate pouring is in- The loaded trucks are controlled and moved effort of one man at a hand wheel. The mod- actice of using a refractory hot top for each employed. At the north end of the build- e the mold pits from which the ingots are to their proper destination, after the ingots een stripped. There is ample room in this ng for increased melting equipment and the anv is now building an additional 10-ton fur- Steel in the New Melting Department A 81 re bottom poured, insuring uniformity and ved by a hand I electric current is purchased from the Power Company. It comes in at 12,000 stepped down to 100 volts by General transformers. The Other New Buildings lo new buildings, including the two de prise a total floor area of about 190,000 lhe other new additions include individual for: generators, charging stations and power rT transformers il wire drawing machinery. torage and crushing. cy hospital, office building and laboratory. g station. trestle to care for the entire needs of both old and new, and 4000 feet of new defin'teness fill. the TI wheel One 10-ton eles THE IRON AGE 1005 railroad sidings, provide ample facilities for the loading and unloading of materials. A new water system is an important feature. A cement reservoir of 600,000-gal. capacity has been installed. Water may be pumped from this reser voir to the mills and furnaces at the rate of 1000 gal. per minute, returning by gravity to the pump chamber. An extensive new drainage system dis poses of the sewage from the plant and near-by ten ements owned by the company, and also removes the rainfall flowing from roofs and surrounding hills, The new laboratory and hospital building is es pecially complete and modern. It contains every equipment needed by the modern tool steel plant which is constantly experimenting. Complete chem ~N tri furnace ical, physical and microscopical outfit enable the company to analyze and examine all raw material and the steel itself during the process of manufac ture. Instruments for checking up the pyrometer equipment in all departments are also found in this building. Storage-battery tractors and trailer cars are used to transport the ingots, billets and other material between the different buildings, both old and nev The new units being parallel with the old mills, the connection between these is made easy by a 12-ft. concrete roadway, inclosed by a corrugated metal shed, which runs along the north end of each build ing and connected with each one. This roadway not only is a protection against inclement weather but really brings the whole plant under one roof. This arrangement eliminates the nuisance of numerous switches, turn tables, etc. Adequate space has been provided in the new buildings for the passage of tractors and tractor cars throughout their length. One roadway parallels the coal trestle from which coal is loaded into side dump cars and transported ee eee 1006 LPL LLTELN LE OG AITO LIEN ; * i 7 ewe man a - Ls Bs omen - . as eee 2 a ae id One End of the New Melting Shop Showing th These are filled with a magnet crane from the by tractors to any part of the plant or buildings. Most of the buildings are of skeleton framework with corrugated steel roof and sides. The roofs o! the larger buildings are equipped with monitors their entire length with large metal ventilators and center-hung swing sash for additional light and ven- tilation. A large percentage of the side and end areas of buildings are occupied by ventilated steel sash with factory ribbed glass affording an amply) lighted interior. For night operators 400-candle-power nitrogen lamps have been provided. Extra ventilation is ob- tained throughout the new mill and melting shop by swinging steel shutters, starting at the ground level which, when opened, form a complete band of open area 3 ft. high on all sides. The Older Portion of the Plant The older part of the Ludlum Company’s plant is devoted to a melting department consisting of three 5-ton and one experimental electric furnace, devoted almost exclusively to making high-speed steels; to a hammer department for reducing these high-speed steel ingots and to a wire-drawing and THE IRON Excellent and Commodious ears which AGE Concrete Bins in Which Steel Scrap ome in on the railroad track in the center annealing department, as well as apparatus for pickling the wire. There are 3 hammers of 6000, 3000 and 2000-lb. capacity in the hammer depart- ment, and a 500-ton steam hydraulic press. Ther are 12 lead-annealing pots and a complete wire-draw ing and straightening outfit. The Special Steels Made Besides the regular grades of carbon and high speed steels, the company also makes chrome mag- net and bearing steels as well as chrome-vanadium, and other special alloy steels. A new product since the war started is the production of wire. The com- pany entered this field in a small way at first but this business has grown to large proportions. Quan- tities of electric chrome steel wire are produced from which high-grade ball bearings are made. An interesting new feature is the production on a large scale of a chromium steel, which is an ex- cellent substitute for the regular permanent magnet tungsten steel. It is a high-carbon, 2 per cent chromium steel and is reported as a very satisfa tory substitute and much cheaper than the tungste! steel. The New Concrete Reservoir for the 1000 Gallons per Minute, returning by gravity he Rate Vater System from Which Water is Pumped to the Mills and Furnaces at the ” a to the pump chamber. The covered concrete roadway connecting and old buildings runs along one side of the reservoir pril 26, 1917 The Electric Furnaces The electric furnaces are an interesting feature this important plant. In appearance and design y appear to be unlike any other furnace operat- in the United States. The shell is oblong with .ottom shaped like an are. It tilts lengthwise by ans of special motors. The doors are at each end. ; 3-phase and the current is introduced through ree graphite electrodes which extend through the ‘f and which are located in a row. The lining is c, magnesite and dolomite being used. The fs are of Woodland clay brick. The action of eflected heat is so mild that roofs of this material + an average of 90 to 100 heats before renewal is cessary. The tapping and tilting arrangements rk very smoothly and a 10-ton heat is tapped into » 5-ton ladles and completely poured in about 10 nutes. The manufacture of the steel and its etallurgy is directly under the control, day and cht, of thoroughly trained American and foreign etallurgists. Recovery of Copperas and Grease An interesting feature connected with the wire iepartment is the recovery of copperas, or ferrous sulphate, from the exhausted pickle liquor. This juor is now being pumped from the pickling vats to the near-by plant of Sweetser & Bainbridge, Inc., —_- View of the Plant of the Ludlum Steel Company To Study Brazil as a Machinery Market WASHINGTON, April 24, 1917.—Brazilian markets metal-working and wood-working machinery and ime movers are to be investigated by Special Robert Grimshaw, just appointed by the Bu- of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, of the De- ment of Commerce. Brazil has never used ma- ry extensively, but it is felt that a new period evelopment is setting in and that the demand for ich equipment will grow rapidly. For a number of , at least, practically all machinery will be im- ted. As the government is an important purchaser, special study will be made of the methods of award- ng contracts for government supplies. A_ bulletin d by the Department of Commerce concerning s investigation says: “Dr. Robert Grimshaw of New York, who is to make investigation, is an engineer of large and varied perience in this country and in Europe and author of rous works in English, French and German on tationary and locomotive engines, special shop pro- es, and workshop organization and management. ng his clients have been the Governments of the ted States, Bavaria, and New South Wales. He one of the founders of the American Society of ianical Engineers, and has been admitted to mem- ‘ship in the corresponding French and German so- he | ‘ies. Since his return to this country at the begin- ‘ of the war, Dr. Grimshaw has filled the chair of eduction in the New York University and acted nief of the planning department of a prominent York firm.” . Grimshaw expects to sail for South America in June, but in the meantime will visit the lead- ir THE IRON The new rolling mill and melt oid original plant at the right AGE 1007 manufacturing chemists, who are closely affiliated with the Ludlum Steel Company. Here it is evap- orated and crystallized. The ferrous sulphate crys- tals are separated from the mother liquor and sold, the remaining liquor, in its concentrated state, be- ing pumped back to the pickling vats, where it is used for further pickling. It is estimated that this recovery will save the Ludlum company several thousand dollars annually. A 90 per cent recovery of the grease from all the mills and machinery of the entire plant is also near- ing completion. By a system of filtration and the use of special separators a decided saving here is expected. The new plant as a whole as well as the plans for all the buildings and a large portion of the me- chanical equipment were designed and purchased by Thornton W. Price, industrial engineer and archi- tect, Woolworth Building, N. Y. City. He also su perintended the construction of the work. Edwin Corning is president of the Ludlum Steel Company, C. F. Simmons is vice-president, Parker Corning is vice-president and treasurer, and E. P. Gavit is secretary. The company’s New York office is.2 Rector Street. The organization attributes its rapid growth to the development of an electric fur- nace, especially adapted to tool steel making. No open-hearth furnaces are employed nor is any open- hearth steel purchased from other producers. eer ie Ano AES ng shop are at the left and the ing American machine shops to confer with manufac turers who are interested in export trade. He may be addressed at room 409, Customs House, New York. New Chain-Making Plant at Norfolk The American Chain Company, Bridgeport, Conn., has purchased 35 acres of land and a like acreage of riparian rights at Norfolk, Va., at the site occupied by the Jamestown Exposition, at a reported price of $130,000. The company has entered into an agreement with the Norfolk City Council to expend at least $150,- 000 in plant construction, but it is reported that the actual expenditure will amount to at least $300,000, and may reach $500,000. The plant contemplated by the company some months ago for the manufacture of ship’s cable chain was to be of six units, including a rolling mill. The erection of the plant will be started immediately. The Baltimore Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Company, Baltimore, of which Holden A. Evans is president, has plans for the construction of a shipbuilding plant on the waterfront in Baltimore, which will eventually cost about $3,500,000, and from which it is expected to turn out eight wooden ships a year. The site covers about 20 acres and has a waterfront of more than 600 ft. Mr. Evans states that about $2,000,000 will be spent at once if a project of the city does not interfere, and later $1,500,000 will be expended. The city is considering the construction of diagonal piers in the vicinity and Mr. Evans says the site will be useless for shipbuilding if that should be done. ~ 2 FR NAL: ie EDR BAF Lo ee ean NNT EN Se ea ee Compulsory Health Insurance in Industry Main Provisions of the Proposals in Massa- chusetts—Experience in Other Countries Does Not Commend the Plan to the United States BY MAGNUS W. ALEXANDER* The legislative proposals for compulsory health insurance pending in several States contemplate the creation of insurance funds by means of which sick or injured wage-earners would be furnished free med- ical, surgical and nursing aid and medical supplies from the day of sickness or injury, also cash benefits equal to two-thirds wages from the fourth day of their disability and during its continuance for a period of not more than six months in any consecutive twelve months; provided such wage-earners were regularly employed, did not earn more than $100 per month, and did not receive similar benefits or other compensa- tion through the operation of other federal, State or municipal laws. Under this system there would also be furnished certain dental and hospital aid and funeral benefits; maternity benefits to female wage-earners or the wives of wage-earners; and medical, surgical and nursing aid and medical supplies to dependent mem- bers of wage-earners’ families. Existing insurance funds or societies operated by trade unions, fraternal societies, or industrial establishments could, under cer- tain stringent .conditions, become a part of the health insurance machinery. Insured’~ employees would be compelled to contribute two-fifths of the insurance funds; their employers would contribute an equal amount; the State would pay the remaining fifth, also the cost of a complicated organization and administra- tion.7 The American Sickness Rate The proposal centers around the claim that high sickness and high death rates prevail among American wage-earners; that the average wage-earner, when sick, is unable to meet the expenses of proper medical care and the needs of his dependents; and that existing agencies cannot provide adequate relief. <A plea is therefore made for legislation to guarantee wage- earners against exigencies of sickness and its conse- quences, on the ground that in this way the health of wage-earners will be conserved, their happiness and efficiency increased, and the productive resources of the country strengthened. The need for conservation of the health of our people—the whole people, not wage-earners alone in a narrow sense—is self-evident. Difference of opinion does not relate:to the issue itself, but to the methods of meeting it. And if it is true that health conditions in the United States are excessively bad, that the death rate is abnormally high, that a large proportion of our people have not resources wherewith to conserve their health or, when sick, to secure adequate medical service, and if it is further found that care of the sick by legislative compulsion is conducive to the public good, then—but not until then—does the proposed health insurance legislation merit serious consideration. Nevertheless, if the pending health insurance pro- posal should be refused enactment, the problem of pre- ventable sickness and death and of consequent priva- tion of some of our people would still demand most serious thought, which should be reflected in early remedial action. More Time Lost in Europe Through Illness In 1915 the United States Commission on Industrial Relations, which cannot be charged with an understate- ment of unsatisfactory conditions, estimated that wage- *Extracts from statements presented at legislative hear- ings in New York and Massachusetts March 7 and March 13, 1917, respectively. +Digest of salient features in Health Insurance Bill (House No. 1074), proposed in Massachusetts, Jan. 16, 1917. -ing a more lasting cure. earners in the United States lost an average of 9 working days annually through sickness. The Ame: ican Association for Labor Legislation, the chief advo- cate of health insurance laws in America, estimated in 1911 that wage-earners in the United States experi enced an average sickness disability of 8.5 days an- nually. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, in a sickness survey of North Carolina in 1916, disclosed an annual sickness disability of 7.6 working days for males, 10.2 for females. Its survey made in 1915 in Rochester, N. Y., showed a sickness disability rate of 7 working days per year for males, 7.7 for females; its survey made in 1916 in Boston indicated an annual loss of 6.5 working days for both males and females. The Social Insurance Commission of California, in its report of January, 1917, states that among wage-earn- ers in that State “an average of 6 days is lost each year because of sickness.” In contrast we find that in Germany in 1913, after health insurance laws had been in effect 29 years, sickness disability for each insured member averaged 9.19 days annually. In the same year in Austria, where health insurance laws had been in effect 24 years, the average was 9.45 days. Later statistics seem unavail- able; if available, they would merely reflect an extra- ordinary condition brought about by the great war. Mortality Rates Compared It might be claimed, however, that the greater dura- tion of sickness disability in Germany and Austria indi- cates that wage-earners in those countries are taught to recognize and deal with sickness in its earlier stages, and thus ward off serious illnesses; or that their sick- ness is treated longer and more thoroughiy, thus effect- It should be expected that early treatment would result in a much earlier return to work; moreover, the more thorough cures should be reflected in that most accurate barometer of the health of any people, the mortality rate. What do we find in this respect? In 1912 the death rate in Germany was 15.6 per thousand population; 20.5 in Austria, 23.3 in Hungary In the same year the mortality rate was 11.2 in Aus- tralia, 14.8 in Belgium, 13 in Denmark, 12.3 in the Neth- erlands, 8.9 in New Zealand, 14.2 in Sweden, 14.1 in Switzerland. In all of these countries, with no compulsory health insurance laws in effect, the mortality rate was in every case lower and in most cases much lower than in Germany, Austria or Hungary, where health insur- ance laws had been in force for periods ranging from 21 to 28 years. In the United States we find that the mortality rate in 1912 was 13.9 per thousand population, further re- duced in 1915 to 13.5. This low rate is all the more significant when we consider that many of our people live in the rural districts, far from physicians, special- ists, hospitals and sources of medical supplies; and that the ordinary tendency to sickness is aggravated by the great variety of climate peculiar to the United States and by the diversity of races represented in its popula- tion. While the mortality rate among the white races in the United States in 1912 was only 13.5, it was 22.9 among the colored races, which brought the average rate to 13.9. And it should not be overlooked that the United States has kept its doors open to millions of immigrants who were unused to our changing climate, and that many of them came to our shores physically weakened by toil and privations in their home land. In every case the facts seem to show that health conditions among all classes of people in the United States, or in other countries which have no compu!sory 1008 il 26, 1917 insurance laws, are superior to health conditions se countries where compulsory health insurance tre most in evidence. The claim for health insur- on the basis that it has improved conditions in ountries therefore does not appear to be well ed. Good Health Conditions Among Workers xr does the claim for health insurance seem justi- n the basis that a comparatively low rate of health ils among wage-earners as a class, for authentic res show that health conditions among wage-earners ractically on a par with health conditions among ypulation generally. Again consulting the mor- tables of the U. S. Bureau of the Census, we that the average mortality rate in the 13 leading istrial States (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indi- na. Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New lersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) 13.6 in 1914, exactly the same as for the country ige. In New York State in 1914 the mortality rate r the cities, in which industry predominates, was found to be slightly less than for the state at large. In Massachusetts, in 1914, the mortality rate in the ties was exactly the same as for the state at large. lhis conclusion is further substantiated by the Metro- itan Life Insurance Company, which has insured one out of every six persons in the state of Massachusetts, and which is authority for the following statement in respect to the mortality rate for 1914 among its indus- policy-holders and the people in general: “The two mortality experiences are practically identical. The surprising fact is established that the industrial popu- , in so far as mortality is concerned, is very rep- entative of the population at large.” lurning now to the alleged poverty of a large num- ber of American wage-earners, it would seem that the repudiate this claim. The United States is the richest nation in the world and its wealth is well dis- tributed among the wage-earning population, as is best reflected by deposits in savings banks; the large ma- jority of saving bank depositors are wage-earners. Keeping in mind that there are about 20,000,000 fam- the United States, we are confronted with the ndous fact that in 1915 there were nearly 12,000,- vings bank depositors in the United States, with aggregating more than $5,000,000,000, more $400 per depositor. | what shall be said of building and loan stock- . largely enterprising wage-earners, to the num- :35,000 in the United States, with holdings of $1,485,000,000 in 1915? And of mutual benefit tions in their many forms, numbering within embership over 11,000,000 persons with $10,000,- ) sickness and life insurance in force? These do lude industrial and other establishment associa- numbering over 2,000,000 members eight years nd growing at a tremendous rate ever since, nor and death benefit funds now becoming. more nore common among labor unions. \merican Workers Do Their Own Safeguarding these facts point to such a condition of poverty average wage-earner as would warrant us in : on him, his employer, and the public in general, expense which the proposed health insurance ild entail? On the contrary, do not the facts that United States wage-earners have, by their tiative and good sense, already protected them- y a voluntary system of health insurance of proportions, a system of individual thrift esults are reflected in independence, fraternity, r sickness rates and in greater protection to But if it were true that wages generally are to sustain American standards of living, do we such a socially and economically unsound con- by obscuring its character by such palliative es as are proposed in health insurance legisla- Inadequacy of wages should be met by legit- ‘forts to secure adequate American wage rate. | . however, lamentably true that, when overtaken | mi ess, many people have neither savings nor sick vith which to meet their medical needs or to THE IRON AGE 1009 secure the necessities of life. Even when such pov- erty is the result of thoughtlessness, wastefulness, ignorance or intemperance, it is common for relatives and friends, true to the American instinct of mutual help, to rally to the support of the sick and to help carry the temporary burden until health is regained. This tendency, coupled with habits of thrift which pre- vail among our people, are perhaps the chief reasons why so few people in the United States are without aid in time of sickness. They are taught to help them- selves and to care for their home folks, not to lean on the Government, as seems too common in European countries where health insurance funds are easily tapped. Efficiency Not Increased by Health Insurance It is claimed that the proposed health insurance law will increase the efficiency of our people and thus strengthen the productive resources of our country; but the facts introduce a grave doubt of this claim. Sta- tistics have already been cited showing that in 1913, in Germany and in Austria, wage-earners lost more time through sickness under health insurance laws than in the United States, independent of such laws. It is sig- nificant also to note how the tendency to become sick, to imagine they are sick, or to make believe they are sick, has grown in the habits of German and Austrian workers. In Germany out of every 100 insured wage- earners, 36.7 were listed as sick in 1890 and 45.6 in 1913; in Austria the corresponding figures were 45.7 in 1890 and 51.8 in 1913, The average number of days of sickness for each sick member increased in Germany from 16.2 in 1890 to 20.2 in 1913; and in Austria from 16.4 in 1890 to 17.4 in 1913. The average number of days of sickness per insured member, which was 5.9 in Germany in 18385, when the law had just gone into effect, increased to 6.19 in 1890, and to 9.19 in 1913; while the Austrian statistics from 1890 to 1913 show an increase from 7.98 to 9.45 days. Not only did the duration of sickness per person increase, but more per- sons were reported sick in Germany and Austria in 1913 than in 1890, showing that compulsory health insurance laws did not prevent sickness nor minimize its duration, and therefore did not promote efficiency. In fact, the whole history of European health-insurance disburse- ments seems to indicate that the scramble for the “funds” has developed in thousands of workers a very prominent wishbone to the detriment of their backbone. And we have no assurance that this tendency to play sick among dishonest workers in Germany and Austria will not be duplicated among the dishonest in the United States under health insurance legislation; on the con trary, experience with workmen’s compensation laws in the United States, as in all other countries, is a strong indication of what might be expected in regard to ex tended malingering. Would Penalize Provident Employees As we ponder the problem we should keep in mind the salient factors: the high sickness and mortality rates in health insurance countries as compared with sickness and mortality rates in the United States; the almost exact harmony of general mortality rates with the mortality rates among wage-earners; the ability of American wage-earners in general not only to save money for sickness and other emergencies, but to de- posit it at interest or to invest it for home-building and other good purposes; their habits of self-reliance and mutual help that promote independence and thrift; the tendency of health insurance to degrade such habits into dependence upon governmental machinery, uncon- sciously robbing them of true grit and efficiency. It would seem that these facts constitute a direct chal- lenge to pause and thoroughly consider the whole prob- lem before embarking on a far-reaching health insur- ance experiment. Moreover, a great many wage-earners who would be forced to contribute to the insurance funds have wisely husbanded their strength and rarely become sick. Yet they must, against their will, help support those who have induced weakness and illness by foolish living, those who are frequently ailing and are most apt to play sick or to fancy they are sick when they are really well enough to work; and who would work if it were not PerAT UIE a ae x 4 } _ 5 St — 1010 made easy for them to “lay off.””. The American citizen who saves his money for investment in the United States would have to help support the alien who sends his savings abroad; the thrifty would be called upon to support the thriftless; the virtuous would be taxed for the benefit of the vicious, the temperate for the intem- perate; all by the authority of the state. An impartial judge of the health insurance proposal will recognize that its chief function would be to dis- tribute funds and to provide medical care; that it lays but weak emphasis on prevention of disease, the great consummation toward which all health betterment efforts should tend. Instead of saving the money of wage-earners and our people in general, it seems de- signed to waste it; instead of adding virility and effi- ciency to our people, it gives every promise to lower their standards of independence and to discourage Amer- ican grit. The Cost Health insurance cannot be considered apart from its cost. Estimates varying from 4 per cent to over 6 per cent of the payroll of insured members have been made by both advocates and opponents of the proposal, which in Massachusetts would amount to from $25,000,- 000 to $40,000,000; in New York from $70,000,009 to $110,000,000, and in the entire United States from $650,- 000,000 to $1,000,000,000. The cost of health insurance in Germany, excluding administrative expense, in 1885 was 52,646,800 marks, or 12.3 marks for each of the 4,294,173 insured mem- bers; in 1913 the cost had increased to 390,686,552 marks, or 28.8 marks for each of the 13,566,473 insured members. This happened in an efficiently managed monarchy. What must we expect in our democracy? Advocates of health insurance legislation have sought support for it by calling attention to an annual wage loss of $500,000,000 or more in the United States on account of sickness among wage-earners. Assuming this statement to be true, although its truth has not been established, it must be borne in mind that the dominating influence of any health insurance scheme should be to prevent sickness and thus eradicate both the wage loss and the consequent loss in productivity, at the same time building up the efficiency of the worker as an individual and of the nation as a whole. Does payment of cash benefits to idle sick wage-earners, in the light of European health insurance experience, ac- complish any one of these constructive results? Full of Uncertainties The whole problem of health insurance bristles with uncertainties; yet many of these can be removed by careful study, and they should be so removed before creating a health insurance law, in order that it might be less expensive and less palliative, but more direct and more effective in grappling with the real problem. As has been said before, even though the pending health insurancé proposal should be refused enactment, there would yet remain the problem of a large amount of preventable disease and death and of consequent dis- tress among some of our people, which would still de- mand most serious thought and which should be re- flected in early remedial action. Effective measures should be taken to find out how much preventable dis- ease exists, what its character is, where it flourizhes, what causes it, and how it can be prevented. Such work must be very thoroughly done in order to pro- vide a foundation on which health betterment measures could be based with a satisfactory degree of accuracy. In no case should the problem be forgotten. There is no more serious bar to our industrial and national efficiency than the lack of vitality among our people, whether wage-earners or not. The extension of knowledge of health factors among our people, with a clearer understanding of the causes of disease and its results, particularly contagious dis- ease, may be utilized with far-reaching effect to pre- vent much preventable sickness; such a spread of knowl- edge, in conjunction with well-planned methods, gov- ernmental or otherwise, for coping with the remaining sickness among our people, would seem to be the nat- ural process in the promotion of a worthwhile health campaign. THE IRON AGE April 26, (917 New England Foundrymen Mee: The New England Foundrymen’s Association | April meeting at the Exchange Club, Boston, . April 11. The speaker of the occasion was Wal!:-¢ T Montague, sales engineer of the Norton Company Worcester, Mass., who spoke on “The Manufactye of Grinding Wheels and Their Use in the Foundry.” The lecture was illustrated with lantern slides, showin. ¢} manufacture of artificial abrasives and grinding wee}. and the adaptation of safety devices to the various i ypes of grinding machines found in the foundry. At the suggestion of E. B. Freeman, genera! man- ager of the B. F. Sturtevant Company, Hyde Park. Mass., the association indorsed a set of resolutions syb- mitted by the Railway Business Association of New York. E. C. Douglas, W. & B. Douglas, Middletown, Conn., spoke at some length on the subject of present transportation difficulties. He pointed out how the non- arrival of certain irons made it impossible to maintain standards of mixtures. He also pointed out that the railroad situation in the “peninsula” of New England was being made worse by the numerous instructions now being received from Western customers to ship al! rail instead of by water to Southern ports and thence by rail. The waterbound commerce was being killed off by fears of submarines and by war risk insurance, and a further additional burden loaded upon the railroads of New England. He felt that some relief could be af- forded by a rearrangement of tariffs so that the Erie and Lackawanna roads could bring into New England the iron and coke now being handled almost exclusively by the Pennsylvania system. The lack of lighterage docks at New York harbor to handle the great volume of traffic so routed was a prime factor in the present delays. It was voted that the president appoint a committee of three members to investigate traffic conditions and possible measures of relief, and report as soon as pos- sible to the executive committee of the association. W. J. Breen, George B. Hamlin and B. M. Shaw were ap- pointed to this committee by President T. R. Scott, who presided. e Coke Ovens for Manchurian Iron Development The American Coal & By-Products Coke Company, Chicago, Ill., has closed a contract for a battery of by product coke ovens of the Roberts type to be installed in Manchuria in connection with a blast furnace, to be built for the South Manchuria Railway Company. The plant will be near an iron mine in the An Shan Chan district and is to have an output of at least 150,000 tons per annum. The South Manchuria Railway Company owns the Fushun coal mines, which will supply the ovens. The contract was signed on behalf of the rail- road company by Yeyiro Ono, vice-president, Industrial Bank of Japan, Tokio, and L. Nakaya, chief engineer, South Manchuria Railway Company. A sidelight on the employment of women in Great Britain is indicated in the report of the Employment Exchange for 1916. The registration, presumably for those desiring positions, showed an increase of 55.9 per cent in the number of women in that year compared with the number in 1915. The decrease for men was 18.7 per cent. There was an increase for boys of 2:.5 per cent and for girls of 8.3 per cent. The Liberty Steel Company, Warren, Ohio, recently incorporated to build a sheet mill, has organized by the election of the following officers: President and treasurer, E. F. Clark; vice-president and secretary, Albert Kenworthy; directors, E. F. Clark, Albert Ken- worthy, John W. Ford, T. A. Manchester, Howaré Taylor and W. H. B. Ward. Smith & Hemenway Co., Inc., of 99 Chambers Stree New York City, manufacturers of tools, are remo ing their executive offices to 130 Coit Street, Irvingto”, N. J., where their factory is located. Only a sma" sales office, devoted to New York City and export trade, will be maintained in New York City, at 261 Broadway: il 26, 1917 \deperdent Four-Jaw Chuck for Lathes \ lathe chuck of the four-jaw independent type has brought out by the Simplex Tool Company, Woon- et, R. I. The jaws of the chuck can be reversed separately, and automatic adjustment is provided for taking care of backlash. In addition to being cap- able of independent re- versal, the jaws can be changed quickly. The body of the chuck is made of cast iron with deeply planed jaw ways extending across the face. An automatic § arrange- ment is provided for tak- ing care of the slack in the jaw guides, and it is stated that the entire set of jaws can be reversed easily as quickly as a single jaw of the ordinary type of chuck. The jaws, which can be reversed separately if desired, are ad- justed by forged screws, which are turned all over and hardened and tempered. The heads of these screws are square and are produced by milling. High-carbon steel yushings are provided for the screws, and in addition to serving as a bearing also act as a collar for taking up the end thrust of the screws. laws in This Chuck Can te Reversed Separately and ny Backlash Occurring Be- ween the Jaws and Their ‘uides Is Automatically Taken Care Of British Steel Exports lhe volume of British steel exports continues small. The February shipments, excluding iron ore and inc:ud- ing scrap, were 186,308 gross tons. This compares with 210,124 tons in January and 279,819 as the 1916 monthly average. Pig-iron exports in February were 49,772 tons, France taking 43,807 tons of this. The monthly ex- ports in 1916 were 65,838 tons. Ferroalloy exports in ebruary, principally ferromanganese, were 10,198 tons. (his compares with a monthly export rate in 1916 of remo 4 SY) LOT Rail exports continue very small, only 851 tons being it in February, against 3905 tons in February, lhe 1916 average was 4189 tons per month, but in more than 41,000 tons was exported each month. bar exports continue large. In February they were 39,242 tons of which France is credited with 662 tons. They are lower however than in 1916 when were 51,429 tons per month. The January, 1917, , ports were only 26,293 tons. Tin-plate and galvanized exports in February were also very low, 11,069 ind 1799 tons, respectively. bruary imports of iron and steel were exceedingly only 27,428 tons, excluding iron ore and including crap. This compares with 72,740 tons per month in ' \916, which was regarded as low. In February, 1916, . ne imports were 76,125 tons. . lron-ore imports were large in February, 507,560 j tons, the monthly average in 1916 having been 575,494 . In February, 1916, they were only 403,973 tons. 9 eceipts of steel billets, blooms and slabs in Febru- vere only 4603 tons, of which the United States shed 3544 tons. In 1916 these imports averaged ~ on Vv id he Bird Coal & Iron Company, which is repairing y, Valladega, Ala., blast furnace for operation, has n- ‘ollowing officers: E. J. Bird, president; Glenn C. rd \merican Trust & Security Company, Chicago, irer; Floyd T. Mackey, New York, secretary. E. J. d., is general superintendent. ot, puns a a he 600-ft. freight boat Midvale, which is being all ' for the Johnstown Steamship Company, was de. hed at the Ashtabula yard of the Great Lakes En- = ering Works April 18. The boat will be managed \. Hanna & Co. THE IRON AGE 1011 Hack Saw Machine with Special Feed Four coil springs employed to overbalance the saw frame is the special feature of a power hack saw ma- chine that has been developed by the Peerless Machine Company, Racine. The largest as well as the smallest sizes of work can be handled and a special feeding mechanism, which it is pointed out is capable of sen sitive adjustment and is also relied upon to bring the machine up to speed before the actual cutting is started, is provided. The cabinet base is employed to house a brass gear driven pump for circulating cutting compound on the blade. Thumb screws are used to lock the nozz'e in po sition, an arrangement which, whi'e it permits of adjust ment in either direction, is also found to avoid danger of loosening through jar and in this way permitting the nozzle to move and the blade to run dry. A tray is provided for collecting the cutting compound and re turning it to the cabinet base. This is made very deep, thus it is pointed out providing ample room for the saw chips and eliminating the danger of the compound over flowing on the floor. The saw table has two T-slots, one on each side of the blade, to enable irregular work to be bolted on the our Coil Springs Are Relied Upon to Overbalance the Saw Frame and a Special Ratchet Feed Mechanism Is Employed to Bring the Machine to Full Speed and Supply Cutting Com- pound to the Work Before the Blade Actually Starts Cutting table. The slot next to the saw blade has two movable angle plates which are relied upon to prevent work from rolling after being cut off. The rear vise jaw swivels to permit mitre work to be cut, while the front jaw is of a quick-acting type provided with a handwheel for quick and fine adjustment and a ratchet hand!e for gripping the work securely, a rough adjustment of the jaw being made by sliding it as close as possible to the work and sliding a locking pin into one of the holes shown. The holder for the saw blades accommodates different lengths of blade. A depth gage is provided to stop the machine automatically at any depth of cut. The feeding mechanism consists of a ratchet bar and a set of dogs, the latter being mounted in one end of an oscillating arm. The other end of this arm has a roller that is forced against a cam on the crankshaft by a spring. Varying the tension of this spring by ma- nipulating the lever at the left side of the machine changes the feed pressure. When the saw frame has completed its cutting stroke the cam on the crankshaft forces the roller of the feeding mechanism down, thus relieving the tension on the feed spring. The four coil springs then lift the saw frame clear of the work until the start of the cutting stroke is reached when the cam runs off the roller, thus permitting the spring to pull up one end of the oscillat ing arm while the other pulls down on the ratchet bar of the feed mechanism. The Hydraulic Press Mfg. Company, Mount Gilead, Ohio, has received an order from Petrograd, Russia, for five hydraulic presses. One ed ee «otis SNe Ni i AE AGERE 8 CLC OLE GBR EI a: ee aan 1012 THE SIZE OF A BUSINESS Largeness No Gain According to One Investi- gator of Census Figures That there is a limit to the profitable increase of a business concern though large combinations are still the order of the day, was a leading suggestion of an address which was made before a meeting in New York on Tuesday evening, April 10, by Earle Buckingham, Winchester Repeating Arms Company, New Haven, Conn. To fortify his contention, he drew from the records of the census of 1910. The census figures, he finds, throw some light on purchasing and production but none on sales or credits of a manufacturing busi- ness. He ascertained the labor cost for $100 of sales for a number of different industries and the cost of materials for $100 of sales. These have been added to- gether in the accompanying table. The author’s figures for the cost of materials show in general a rise as the concern is larger, and while labor costs in general are shown smaller the larger the business, the addition of the two items of labor and materials, as covering a part of the cost of articles of manufacture, still indicates a rise rather than a fall as the business is larger. Mr. Buckingham said that these figures show that if the volume of business be doubled, labor costs decrease by an amount equal to 2 per cent of the total sales and THE IRON ' ' AGE April 26, financial standing of all the customers is not pos:ible. even with the aid afforded by the commercial age )::jcs The cost of collecting, furthermore; the carryi outstanding accounts and the loss of account doubtedly increases, as the volume of business , and here again, he emphasized, direct figures fro: eral concerns must be secured before information wi be available. While emphasizing that the figures ay; not to be taken as absolute or conclusive, the inferen, is that the large concern offers more opportunity for leaks and that these more than consume the advantages gained by the increasing size. Such leakages, }y pointed out, might be due to delegation of management. to lavish buying, to excessive expenditure on sales, t careless crediting. Thus it would seem that the large concern represents no economic gain but an actual loss We should not jump at this conclusion, however, he ad mitted, until the most thorough search has been mack Welding School Building Destroyed The Chicago Welding Institute’s school building for instructing in autogenous welding, described in the last issue of THE IRON AGE, was destroyed by an explosior on April 17. The news came just as the issue was going to press, but as the details of the explosion were not then forthcoming, no explanation was attempted. The cause of the explosion is still unknown at this writing. The building was razed and windows blown out within a Cost of Materials and Labor Per $100 of Sales for Different Ind