The Iron Age 1917-10-04: Vol 100 Iss 14

MR a Timken Plant for Heat-Treating Axles found Furnaces with Revolving Hearths and Other Special Equipment for Reduc- ing Costs—Producer Gas Used for Fuel \ HEAT-TREATING plant in which furnaces the heat-treating plant located in a special building and other equipment of an interesting type, with a high monitor roof with windows directl) designed to meet special requirements and t above for carrying out the heat and gases, the reduce the cost of work, was recently built by the heat-treating department occupies a room with a limken-Detroit Axle Co., Detroit. One of the in 25'o-ft. ceiling in the first floor of a three-stor teresting features of this plant is the use of pro building, directly under a machine shop. Be ducer gas for firing the furnaces. Several of the cause of this location window space for ventila heating furnaces are now fired with this gas and_ tion is limited to swinging sash in the sidewall the remainder are being gradually changed over and a mechanical system of ventilation required from fuel oil to producer gas. The heat-treating department occupies floor space e The plant is designed for quality heat-treating 250 ft. long and 60 ft wide. The building itself i work on the variety of parts that are used in the 397 ft. long, the remaining floor space at one end manufacture of an automobile axle. This includes being occupied by a blacksmith shop. the annealing, hardening and tempering of forg- Along the sidewalls at one end of the plant a ings, of parts made from shafting and small steel battery of five producer-gas-fired carbonizing fur bars, and in fact the heat treating of all the parts naces. A special feature of these furnaces is that that when assembled make an axle, except the steel the hearths are on the floor level for convenience in and malleable castings. charging the carbonizing pots into the furnaces, all Departing from the usual practice of having lifting of pots being thus eliminated. The furnaces lar continuous heat-treating furnaces with revolving hearths are used. The furnace charged through a door at the nd the parts are drawn from the door at the right Small parts are raked to the ite and | y gravit nt yuenching tank 791 792 are of the recuperative type and have 5 x 5 ft. hearths. Two of these were supplied by the W. S. Rockwell Co., and the remainder were built by the Timken company. The pots, which are of various shapes, including square and round, are charged into the furnace with a long-handled forked two- wheeled truck. to provide cooled Chimney pots are used for gears uniform heating conditions and are under asbestos lined sheet metal hoods located along one side of the room near the fur- naces. These hoods have doors swinging down at the front so that the pots are entirely inclosed be- neath the hoods while cooling. By following this practice the parts are cooled in a temperature that is practically uniform the year round instead of being exposed to all kinds of weather and varying temperature conditions by cooling them out of doors, and as the rapidity of cooling is uniform a uniform hardness is secured. Some of the work is quenched at the carboniz- ing temperature. In that the pots, instead of going under the cooling hood, are dumped over a grating conveniently located in front of the fur- naces. The carbonizing compound drops through the grating into a receptacle beneath and the parts to be hardened are raked from the grating ito a quenching tank, the top of which is on a level with the floor. There are two of these quenching tanks, one for oil, and the other for water, one on each side of the grating. The practice is to quench in the tanks if possible, but this cannot be done with parts of certain sizes and shapes, and those liable to distortion when cooled quickly. A mixing machine is used for mixing old and new carboniz- ing compound. Although this machine was built case THE IRON AGE October 4. for other materials it is found satisfactory use to which it is put. A hood extending down to the door is pr in front of each carbonizing furnace for car away the heat which passes into a rectan exhaust flue above the back of each furnace. heat from the furnace chamber also passe through this exhaust flue. These flues co; with a large horizontal pipe that extends from over the tops of the furnaces and around the wa the opposite side of the building where the hot is exhausted by fans. The main exhaust pipe ; passes above the cooling hoods to which it is sin larly connected and the heat is drawn from these hoods. In addition to the mechanical exhaust system connected to the furnaces other equipment is provided for ventilating the room through a system of piping and large outlets directly beneath the ceiling. Hot air is exhausted from the fur. naces and from the room by five American Blower Co. exhaust fans, two of these being located in the heat-treating department and three on the roof. The air supply for the furnaces and for the forges in the blacksmith shop is furnished by three Gen- eral Electric centrifugal blowers, two having a capacity of 2000 cu. ft. of free air per min., each at 2-lb. pressure, and one with a capacity of 500 cu. ft. of air per min. at the same pressure. Air is supplied to the furnaces at a 2-0z. pressure. The heat-treating furnaces are of a special con tinuous type designed by the company. These are circular furnaces with revolving hearths. The out- side diameter of the furnace is 16 ft., and the out- side diameter of the hearth 166 in. The revolving hearth, which is similar in form to a large washer, Pinions are hardened in a quenching bench in which the gears are immersed in oil and the shanks are allowed to cool in the air the localized hardening operation eliminating the necessity of afterward annealing the shanks were they brought to the hardness of the gears Gears and pinions are heated in molten lead in the pot furnaces shown ‘ber 4, 1917 THE IRON AGE 798 hs of the carbonizing furnaces are on the floor level, eliminating the lifting of the carbonizing pots A forked tru irging the furnaces, is shown in the foreground. This illustration also shows the hoods in f t } und the flues and pipes above for carrying away the heat which is exhausted t ft. 10 in. wide. Mounted on one side of the 5 x 5 ft. hearths. These are generally similar to irnace is a small vertical steam engine which the carbonizing furnaces except that the hearths irives the hearth by a pinion and rack on the bot- are 30 in. above the floor level. They are placed of the hearth, with the necessary speed reduc-_ in two rows, four on one side and two on the other through gears to provide the slow speed re- facing each other. The blast for the furnaces is red. Parts to be heat treated make one circuit preheated and there are exhaust flues in the front the furnace, the hearth making one revolution and rear to secure a greater uniformity in temper from 60 to 140 min., the speed depending upon ature. Between the furnaces are two oil and water parts to be heat treated. quenching tanks into which parts are carried by There are two of these furnaces located near chutes from the furnace doors. These quenching he center of the heat-treating department, and tanks are 8 ft. long, 4 ft. wide and 4 ft. deep are used both for heating for quenching and They are served by a pneumatic hoist. r heating for drawing. One of these furnaces The pyrometer system includes control signal now fired with producer gas. A large combus- lights which are flashed over the furnaces from the chamber, 8 ft. in diameter, is located in the central station pyrometer booth. Rare metal ter of the furnace. Hot gases pass through thermocouples are used. The central station also rts over the top of the hearth, out through ports has a Leeds & Northrup Co. recording Potension djoining the outer wall, under the hearth and meter which records the temperature of the 16 fur hrough a flue under the floor to a stack. The maces connected to the system. The thermo furnace blast is slightly preheated by passing couples in each furnace are checked each week through a pipe under the center of the furnace against a standard thermocouple and the Poten | back through a parallel pipe. sionmeter. A standard time and standard temper The furnace is charged through a door above’ ature are specified for heating each part, controlled he hearth on one side and the work is discharged by the operator of the central station booth by the through an adjoining door. The discharge door colored signal lights. oins the quenching tanks beneath the two fur- Gears and pinions are heated in molten lead in es. There are two of these tanks, side by side, six pot furnaces and gears are quenched in two for oil and one for water, each 12 ft. long, 4 Gleason hardening machines, the gear being wide and 414 ft. deep. Small parts are raked clamped in dies affixed to plungers that immerse it m the furnace upon a movable chute on which in an oil bath when the machine is tripped, this slide into the quenching tank. A pneumatic method of hardening being used to prevent distor- mounted on an I-beam so that it can be tion. Special equipment, designated as a quench ved from one tank to the other, is suspended ing bench, is provided for hardening pinions. This the tanks for lifting out the baskets of consists of six circular receptacles about 6 in. in lened parts. In general practice parts go from diameter, in which oil is kept in circulation by a furnace to the quenching bath, and then to the small pump. In operation a spider or support in 1 furnace for the drawing heat. The capacity each quenching tube is raised by a lever above ths h heat-treating furnace is about four times oil surface, the pinions are placed on the spider ' furnaces of the standard type. the reverse movement of the lever lowers the for general heat-treatment work there are, in spiders carrying the pinions down into the oil, auto nm to the rotating furnaces, six furnaces of matically putting the oil into circulation. The ompany’s design of the semi-muffle type with pinions are immersed to a depth that leaves the ne¢ + View in Producer House Showing the Three-Section Gas Producer The generator appears in the background at the left nd the tar extractor t } esextreme in the foreground a th yht threaded end of the shank standing out above the oil, where it is allowed to cool slowly in the air. By this method of localized hardening the teeth of the pinions are brought to the required hardness and the shank is kept soft. Otherwise it would be necessary to anneal the shank after hardening the whole pinion. This department also includes three cyanide hardening furnaces. The miscellaneous heating equipment includes five small furnaces of the semi-muffle type and a special rotary furnace in which the work to be hardened is placed in a hopper at one end, passes through a spiral course and drops from the bottom of the furnace to a quenching tank beneath. This furnace is used for heat treating and annealing small parts such as bushings and washers. Ad- joining the heat-treating department is a tool-hard- ening department equipped with several Hoskins electric furnaces for the heat treatment of high- speed steel. The oil-cooling system includes direct-connected centrifugal pumps which draw the oil from the quenching tanks and force it through a series of small brass pipes in a cooling tank through which water is kept in circulation in an opposite direction. The water from the cooler goes into the water quenching tanks and from there to a cistern, which is a source of supply for the boiler house and plant fire system. Thus the water supply is conserved. The oil-cooling system was supplied by the Schutte & Koerting Co. The gas producer plant adjoins the forge shop and is some distance from the heat-treating depart- ment. This plant, which was supplied by the Smith Gas Engineering Co., is a three-section producer consisting of two end sections and one intermediate section with a capacity of 18,000,000 B.t.u. per hr. at rated load with an overload capacity of 20 per cent for 2 hr. The gas is guaranteed to have a heating value of 140 B.t.u per cu. ft. when the plant is operated at the rated load with the bituminous coal used. The gas is cooled and cleaned in glass THE IRON Zz AGE October 4, 1917 wool tar extractors before being delivered distributing main. The gas is carried to t} shop in a 24-in. spiral riveted galvanized ir, and a 12-in. line carries it from there to th it. treating department. From the latter 4 an feeders supply the furnaces at a pressur: and 115 oz. per sq. in. The only change r in substituting producer gas for fuel oil in th. naces was the enlargement of the passages the combustion chamber to the hearth. The pany is at present using producer gas in the shop in an experimental way, and expects ev ally to substitute this for oil in the forge furnaces. Census of Engineers Completed WASHINGTON, Oct. 2.—As the result of a carefy census just completed by the Bureau of Mines, 7500 mining engineers and metallurgists and 15,000 men en gaged in various chemical industries have been class fied for the Council of National Defense, according + the character of the work in which each one clai: proficiency. The classification includes not only special ists in various branches of mining, metallurgy and chemistry, but embraces a sub-class of men who have had experience in various foreign countries. It is not the purpose of this census to enable the bureau to act as a clearing house for technical men in obtaining com mercial positions, but to secure a record that will be available whenever the Council of National Defense desires to call upon these professions for assistance “The war to-day,” says Director Van H. Manning of the Bureau of Mines, “is one in which chemists and en gineers play a far greater réle than ever before. The products of the mines, furnaces, factories, and chemical! plants are being so rapidly consumed that the highest possible skill is required to keep pace with the destruc- tion everywhere apparent. In the organization of a great army, many classes of specialists are needed, and the problem is to get the best qualified men for each place.” The work of conducting this census was carried o! in co-operation with the American Institute of Mining Engineers and the American Chemical Society. Algoma Steel Co. Activities The Algoma Steel Corporation, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., is building another blast furnace, which, wher completed, will have a capacity of 400 tons of pig iron per day. It is expected that the furnace will be com pleted by the first of the year. The company’s work at the present time is confined purely to the turning out of 4.5 and 6-in. shells, and contracts on hand will keep the plant working to capacity for some months to come The company recently completed its open-hearth fur- nace at the Soo plant, with a capacity of 75 tons per hearth, or about 200 tons per day. This makes the tenth open-hearth furnace which the company has in operation as well as the duplex furnace, which has proved most satisfactory. The Granby Consolidated Mining & Smelting Com pany, with plants at Granby and Anyox, B. C., plans extensive improvements to its properties at a cost of $1,250,000 to $1,500,000. A new by-product coke plant will be built to supply the company’s needs. The Bramcote Foundry & Machine Co., Pottstown, Pa., will double the capacity of its plant soon. An annex has just been completed in the molding depart ment, and excavations are now being made for a new machine shop, 48 by 120 ft. The Norfolk Development Co., Quincy, Mass., has awarded a contract for 100 houses to be occupied Dy employees of the Fore River Shipbuilding Corporat October 4, 1917 AIRCRAFT BOARD FORMED Given Official Standing and Important Powers by Congress WASHINGTON, Oct. 2—A long step forward in the de- pment of the aircraft program of the War and y Departments was taken during the past week, both houses of Congress passed and President n signed the bill formally creating the Aircraft Heretofore the work of the board has been by a committee of the Council of National De- e, but in view of the serious technical problems to onsidered and the responsibility resting upon the engaged in their solution because of the colossal propriation of $640,000,000 for this work, it was ned advisable to give the board a statutory standing | to render it a permanent division of the executive irtments. The new law provides that the board shall be posed of nine members and shall include a civilian \irman, the Chief Signal Officer of the Army and two er Army officers to be appointed by the Secretary War; the Chief Constructor of the Navy and two er Naval officers to be selected by the Secretary of Navy, and two additional civilian members. The rman and the civilian members are to be appointed the President and confirmed by the Senate. The an members are required to serve without com- sation. The board is empowered, under the direction and trol of the Secretaries of War and the Navy, “to pervise and direct, in accordance with the require- nts prescribed or approved by the respective depart- ts, the purchase, production, and manufacture of raft engines, and all ordnance and instruments used connection therewith, and accessories and materials refor, including the purchase, lease, acquisition, or nstruction of plants for the manufacture of aircraft, engines, and accessories: Provided, That the board may ake recommendations as to contracts and their dis- ution in connection with the foregoing, but every ntract shall be made by the already constituted ithorities of the respective departments.” The board also authorized to employ clerks and such technical perts and advisors as may be necessary, to fix their ilaries and to rent quarters, but the total amount to spent for these purposes shall not exceed the ap- ropriation of $100,000 carried by the bill. It is under- i, of course, that this appropriation covers merely administrative work of the board in Washington, larger appropriation heretofore made being avail- e for designing, manufacturing and testing airplanes | all their adjuncts. The Aircraft Board has called a special two-day eeting for Thursday or Friday of this week of repre- ntatives of all interests concerned in the manufac- of aircraft to place definitely in effect a series tandards for airplane fittings which has been ‘rked out by the Aeronautic Standards Committee the Society of Automotive Engineers, acting in co- ation with the board. The army and navy as well aeronautical manufacturers and engineers will be presented, and the meeting is expected to advance ommon simplified practice in airplane parts and ap- lances and in specifications of materials in both inches of the service and throughout the country. progress of the standardization work is expected to ve a constant influence in advancing the work of pro- ng airplanes in quantity. Included in the list of subjects for which standards ve been established by the committee and which will finally passed upon at the coming meeting are pe and varnish, engine testing specifications, inspec- methods, machine gun mounting, propeller ends, ‘fety belts, non-ferrous alloys and steel alloys. The mmittee has previously determined standards for ny important fittings, such as stick and wheel con- trols, bearings, engines, supports, magneto dimensions, rews and bolts of various types, various grades of teel, and heat treatments. The Society of Automotive Engineers Committee THE IRON AGE 795 has been working in close co-operation with the Inter- national Standards Board, composed of American and Allied representatives, of which F. G. Diffin is chairman, and which is working on the problem of establishing common material specifications and fitting standards for the Allies and the United States. In most cases the International Standards Board will probably find it possible to adopt for international practice the major standards established by the Society of Automotive Engineers Committee, while the latter in turn can ac- cept standards which the International Standards Board has already worked out. The work is thus being care- fully correlated, leaving each free to turn to separate fields without duplication. As one example of the simplification which has re- sulted from the work of the standards committee, there were formerly six or eight different sizes of airplane wheels manufactured in this country, each requiring a different tire and different adjustments without any compensation in efficiency. This number was first re- duced to five, then to three, and now will probably be reduced to one size with a new design of rim to take two different sizes of tires, varying with the weight of the machine. New Institute Members The following have been elected to membership in the American Iron and Steel Institute, subject to occur rence of vacancy: S. T. McCall, secretary-tre irer, American Manganese Steel Co Chicago H H New , director of purchase Standard Parts Co., Cleveland Robert W. Waltenbach, vice president, McMyler-Interstate Co Bedford, Ohio; Joseph B Andrews, president, The Andrews Steel c New! K\ Paul Sturtevant bar er, rector ol Americar Ro ing Mill Co Pittsburg Lou J Lind vice-president, Witherow Steel Co I burg! Dan J Ryan, presi dent ind general manager Allyne-Ryan Foundry ( Cleveland; Michael J. Sweeney, vice-president and treasurer, Allyne-Ryan Foundr Co., Cleveland James Harvey Wil liams, president, J. H Willian & Co Brooklyn, N y William P. Witherow, president, Witherow Steel Co., Pitts- burgh; Joseph A. Krantz, secretary, Reeves Mfg. Co., Canal ’ Dover, Ohio; John Goodin Carruthers, assistant manager of sales, Carnegie Steel Co., Cincinnati; Francis S. Maclivaine, metallurgical engineer Lukens Steel Co., Coatesville, Pa Louis Follet, president, Standard Tin Plate Co., Canonsburg, Pa Arthur J. Krantz, treasurer Reeves Mfg. Co., Canal Dover, Ohio; Sterling P. Delano, sales manager, Linde Air Products Company, New York; Peter Richard Foley, general manager of tiles, Eastern Steel Co., Philadelphia; Joseph Warner, president and general manager, Warner Iron Co., Nashville, Tenn Ernest Hallock Webb, president, The Webb Wire Works, New Brunswick, N. J.; William Dalton, gen- eral manager, Washington Steel & Ordnance Co., Washing ton Henry C Dubois, manufacturer of ferromanganese Philadelphia ; Oden H. Wharton, president, Crucible Steel Co of America, Pittsburgh tanks Hudson, general manager Princess Furnace Co., Inc., Glen Wilton, Va The Bradford-Ackerman Corporation, Forty-second Street building, New York, announces that it has been appointed the Eastern sales office for Young Brothers Co., Detroit. The sale of Young ovens, for japanning and drying purposes, will, in the future, be handled by this Eastern office for the New England States, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Eastern Pennsylvania. An engineering department will like- wise be available for manufacturers in the East who are interested in quick drying and baking processes, and special oven designs will be offered to meet various requirements. The Williamsport Wire Rope Co., Williamsport, Pa., has recently completed the installation of a new wire- drawing plant, to be used exclusively for works pro- duction. The company is operating at full capacity, giving employment to more than 200 hands. The Philadelphia office of Joseph T. Ryerson & Son has been moved from 423 Commercial Trust Building to 1103 Widener Building. Tae z T OE Be a = fp L? New Bill to Control Iron and Steel Prices Revised Draft of the Pomerene Meas- ure Made by the Federal Trade Com- mission Will Be Pushed for Passage WASHINGTON, Oct. 2.—The Pomerene bill providing specific statutory authority for the President to control the prices and, if necessary, the distribution of iron and steel for the Government, the Allies and the Amer- ican consuming public, was taken up for consideration in executive session by the Senate Committee on Inter- state Commerce on Sept. 28, and after exhaustive discussion a decision has been reached to refer the measure to a subcommittee to redraft the bill, with a view to its early presentation to the Senate with a recommendation for its passage. The Federal Trade Commission has presented to the committee a revised draft of the Pomerene bill embodying a number of modi- fications intended to remove constitutional objections and to reinforce the power of the President to administer the act. This draft will form the basis of the work of the subcommittee. It is the expectation of the advocates of this legislation that the full commitee will report a bill to the Senate before adjournment and that the measure will then rest on the calendar until Congress meets on Dec. 4, when there will be sufficient time to consider the bill and pass it in both houses before the arrangement concerning basic prices of iron and steel products recently promulgated by the President expires on Jan. 1 next. Price-Fixing Does Not Dispose of Bill The meeting of the Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce on Sept. 28 for the consideration of the Pomerene bill was well attended and there was an exceedingly interesting discussion of the provisions of the measure and of the testimony presented to the committee by Commissioner Davies and his associates of the Federal Trade at the hearing on Sept. 21. There appeared to be general unanimity as to the proposition that the President’s action in fixing certain steel prices in no way relieves the necessity for the ultimate passage of a broadly grounded statute dealing with the whole subject. Members of the com mittee drew attention to the fact that the arrangement made between the War Industries Board and certain leading men in the steel industry will remain in force but three months, when it will be subject to revision. Senator Pomerene declared it to be his opinion that the representatives of the steel industry, who nego- tiated the price schedule with the War Industries Board, could only speak for certain large interests and did not represent and cannot bind the smaller producers of the country. This point he urged with considerable emphasis, calling the committee’s attention to the fact that whatever the powers of the President may be, in default of a specific law on the subject, many good lawyers are prepared to contend that manufacturers whose products are in effect commandeered at certain fixed prices under the President’s proclamation wili have an action against the Government if such prices represent less than cost plus reasonable profit. Pomerene Commission Recourse of Manufacturers Against Government This phase of the case has received considerable attention at the hands of the Federal Trade Commission and is discussed in a memorandum prepared for the Senate Committee by Arthur W. Fairchild, special attorney for the commission in the steel investigation. Mr. Fairchild says in part: “Considerable doubt has been expressed by lawyers, particularly those who have given the matter any thought, as to the effect of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution upon Legislation of this kind; that is, that part of the amendment which requires the payment of just compensation for private property taken for public use. The query has been made as to what will be the result if the Government should see fit to tak, over the steel plants or should see fit to commande: by process provided in the law, viz., the creation of buying and selling agency, all the output of a pla buying it for the Government and reselling it again. “Let us suppose, for instance, that under the Ley: act the Government should see fit to take over the coa output of the country and distribute it by purchasing and selling agencies, which say to the owners of th mines, ‘We will pay you $2 per ton for your coal,’ and the coal should be purchased at that price and resold at that price plus a margin of profit. Query: May th producer with any reason claim that this $2 does not represent an adequate compensation in the light of the existing conditions? Can he say, ‘We had a market fo: our coal at very much higher prices; we had a demand far exceeding the supply; we had economic conditions which would doubtless result in still higher prices, and the Government has paid us only $2 for our coal. We are entitled to the difference.’ In other words, is thers a question or a possibility that the Government may b« called upon, at the end of the war, to pay to the owners of the plants, or the owners of property commandeered, a much larger amount than the price which has been fixed by the Executive? Police Power or Appropriation? “There are, of course, two pertinent powers of go\ ernment. There is the national police power, or pe haps more properly the war power, and the power of eminent domain which permits in the one case an im- pairment of property and even its destruction for the common good, and the other, which permits the Gov- ernment to take it for its own use upon payment of an adequate price. Police power and the power to take have been, through all the cases, very clearly differ- entiated. If the exercise of power is the exercise of a police power, which seems akin to the war power, it may result in great impairment of property and may result, in cases, in total destruction of property, but for that impairment or destruction the Government is not obliged to recompense. On the other hand, if the Government ‘takes’ property and appropriates it to its own use, then, under the Fifth Amendment, it is obliged to pay just compensation. Possible Methods of Taking Steel “So the question is for the Executive primarily, and for the legislative department. What steps may be taken without complicating the situation; without in- jecting into it further than necessary the possibility of the Government later being obliged to pay larger sums than the sums fixed for the property and plants? “Under this act, as I view it, there are four possible methods which may be employed: First, the price-fixing method; second, the regulation method—regulation of production, distribution and apportionment; third, the commandeering of plants upon paying a fair rental, and fourth, the purchase of the output, really a pooling of it, and the resale to the public generally. “Briefly I may say that it has seemed to me, with such short consideration as I have been able to give it, that price fixing and regulation would not be deemed a ‘taking’ of property under the Fifth Amendment; that it would be, assuming the exigency, within the power of the Government to fix the price and to regulate the production and shipment and distribution and appor- tionment of products without taking the property in ® constitutional sense. Commandeering Means Compensation “On the other hand, if the Government should see fit to actually commandeer the plant, or actually com- 796 tober 4, 1917 jeer the output, then it would seem a taking, under Constitution, which would require just compensa- Of course, in estimating that just compensation, he Government should see fit to adopt either of the latter courses, there must, if the rules applicable ninent domain should obtain, probably be taken into sideration all of the elements that enter naturally a determination of an adequate compensation. On yne hand, there would be the present high prices, over-demand, or demand exceeaing the supply, and possibility or probability of future enhanced prices; on the other hand, there should be taken into int the economic exigency, the possibility of a ruption of the industry, because of these war condi- s, and the whole possible ultimate effect of these ditions upon the industry which, of course, in the i but for the Government action, might result in saster to it. “So I take it that if, short of confiscation, an admin- trative officer or designated board should fix a com- sation, a court would be very loath to alter that ling, because the weight which must be given this r that element is one of fact or mixed law and fact, the court ordinarily does not modify a finding vhich is based upon a disputed fact. But the question ; there, nevertheless, and the executive officer or board | naturally wish to avoid it. Therefore, in preparing bill it would seem important to have the powers, of taking of property, very accurately defined and Piecemeal Commandeering “There is another thing that occurred to me: This of course, is fashioned after the Lever act, and t act provides for the taking over of plants and esses of coal producers. The steel industry differs, yurse, radically from the coal industry, in that there o many different products of the industry, and the stry is integrated to such an extent that it really, tain instances, is a combination of a very large ber of different industries into one. The language the bill, as it stands, might be taken as requiring ommandeering of the whole plant and business of given company, if any is to be commandeered. I! onceive of a case where the Government might ire to take over perhaps only a small portion of the or business of particularly a highly integrated npany, and my suggestion would be to broaden out power conferred by inserting in the bill, after the rd ‘appurtenances,’ the words ‘or any part,’ so that the Government might take over one branch of a par ir company instead of being required to take over the entire thing.” Text of the Trade Commission Bill Mr. Fairchild’s views, as outlined above, are re ed in the text of the bill submitted to the commit behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, which, se of the attention this important matter is now landing in the steel trade, will be examined with terest. It is as follows: mn POWER TO FIX PRICES enacted. ete That by reason of the existence of a war it is essential to the national security and dé the successful prosecution of the war and for the nd maintenance of the Army and Navy to assure te supply and equitable distribution at reasonable to facilitate the movement of iron ore, iron, steel roducts, and because thereof the President of the States shall be, and he is hereby. authorized and em henever and wherever in his judgment necessar nt prosecution of the war and for the purposes to fix the price of iron ore, iron, steel and their wherever and whenever sold, either by producer or establish rules for the regulation of and to regulate tion, sale, shipment, distribution, apportionment, ge thereof among dealers and consumers, domestic or Said authority and power may be exercised by hin ise through the agency of the Federal Trade Com luring the war or for such part of said time as ir ent may be necessary POWER TO TAKE PLANT in the opinion of the President, any such pro dealer fails or neglects to conform to such prices or THE IRON AGE i97 regulations or 1 oOnduct his isines etficientiy ur regulatior and « t f the President as aforesaid, or ducts it in a manner prejudicial to the public int the President is hereby authorized and empowered such case to requisition and ake ver the plant, | ” property, and a ippurtena es or any part thereof | nig ing to or operated | ic) producer or dealer ‘ 1 going concern, and to operate ur handle or cause the ime to b operated and ndled ! suc! maner ind through ucl agency as he may direct during the period of the war, or for uch part of said time a ! udgment may be necessary That any roducer o1 ealer vhose plant, business, prop erty, and appurtenances sha have been requisitioned o1 taken over by l’re dent sha be paid a just compensati for the use thereof during the period that the same ma hoe requisitioned or taken over! . ifore sid, which compensation the President shall fix , ‘ | fixed 1} t} Ke. Trade Commission SEVENTY-FIVE PER CENT DOWN That if the prices so fixe« r if mn the case over or requisitioning of the plant busines }) the appurtenances, or any part thereof, of any ich producet or dealer, the compensation fherefor a determined by the provisions of this act be not tisfactoryv to the person o1 persons entitied to receive the e, wh person hall tee put 75 per centum of the amount o determined ind Tall te entitled to sue the United States to recover such further sur as, added to iid 7 per centum “ make up ich mount as will be just compensation in the manner provided by tion 24, paragraph 20, and section 145 of the Judicial Cock While operating and handling ! ‘using to be one te and handles i ucl pliant bu ‘ ind appurter wn thereof, the I're dent ituthorized to pre ! ‘ h regul tions is he ma deem essent for the employvme ft control ind compensation of the ¢ es nece 7 t ret the same GOVERNMENT PURCHASE OF ENTIRE PRODUCT () if ti I I i tl! ! ! ! or defense he udgment i ‘ ! f the w ‘ } equire ! ‘ i pre ! prod I t t Unit Stat t £ rt of « } ' lesignated i t< } resals t th rod ra ind I t mi rx ! ‘ A } r } ind reg tt r t i i portionment, or torag ! it ' domestic ¢ foreigt nel ke payment of the pure price thereof to the producers thereof, or to the persor erso! leg entitled t ' ant That within fiftee i notice from the designate te produce f ! ore ron tee ind their pDroducts that | or t sutput or port ! thereof te tv purchased b thre L' nites State i } einbefore described uch produce hall cease ‘ hipments of iid product pon hi owl wecount are transmit to uct us I ; tt orders reeived and unfilled or partially unfilled howing the exact extent to whicl } ment have been made thereon, and hereafte i hipment ha bye made only o tuthoritys of the ager designated hb ft and ti ifter n such producer shall se ul of said products except to the I‘nited State throug mT! ger ind the iid K cy alone is hereb uthorizer ad empowered to purchase lur ing the continu ce ¢ the requirement the output of ich producers That the prices t be paid f «ch products so purchased shall be base« ipon a fair and just profit over and above the cost of productior including proper maintenance and denl« tion charges. the reaso blenes of wh profit and coat f production to be determined b the Federal Trade Con sion, and if the prices fixed by the ild commission of any such product purchased by the United State s hereinbefore described he insatisfactor to the person or persons entitled to receive the same such person or persor hall be paid 7! per centum of the amount so determined and shall be entitled to sue the (nited States to recover such further sum a added to said 75 per centum will make up such amount a will be just compensation in the manner provided by section °4. paragraph 26, and section 145 of the Judicial Code All such products so sold to the United States shall be sold by the United States at such uniform prices, quality considered, as may be practicable and as may be determined by said sgency to be just and fair Any moneys received by the United States for the sale of anv such iron ore rer stee] and their products may rm the i) TRADE COMMISSION COST INQUIRY quiry, giving such notice leem prac to tl PENALTY FOR HIGHER PRICES W Existing Contracts an Obstacle The question uppermost in the minds of those who are studying this problem with a view to adjusting it through legislation is the disposition of existing con- tracts, which, according to the investigation made by the Federal Trade Commission, cover a very large amount of the production and run from six months to a year into the future. Commissioner Davies, in his statement before the Senate pub- lished in THE IRON AGE last week, emphasized this feature, and Dr. Walker, the chief economist of the commission, who for the past two years has made a special study of the steel industry, has dwelt upon it in a statement supplementing Commissioner Davies. “Assuming the Government would fix the price of pig iron at $25,” says Dr. Walker, “there would be a great difference in the cost of production of those who bought at the Government price and those who bought on the existing bona fide contracts, which would, in my judgment, upset any reasonable price-fixing scheme that the Government might decide on for future steel production; hence, it would appear that these bona fide contracts, if allowed to continue, would completely upset current Committee THE IRON AGE October 4, 1917 a successful scheme of price regulation at any able figure. No man could compete with a differ: $10 per ton in the cost of pig iron against hi alone a difference of $25 which would occur instances.” Proposed Cancellation of Contracts Chairman Newlands, who has constantly had the idea that the consumption of iron is so uni that Congress possesses the constitutional pow decree it to be a public use, has frankly suggest: cancellation of all outstanding contracts. “If th ernment,” he said, “has the power to decree this a public use and the courts should sustain the ex: of that power, all contracts would be abrogat assume that a water company is a purely p organization, supplying its customers with water. has not as yet been decreed to be a public us subject to public regulation; but just as soon a declaration is made, at that moment all contract: all persons have a right to resort to the public for the commodity upon equal terms. Therefor mind is directed to this as the possible solution whole question, whether we could not simplify confining the regulation purely to iron ore, pig iro: steel billets or steel plates, upon the assumptior the basic price of these things being fixed and lb: reasonably fixed, all the products in which they ent will be sold at a reasonable price.” To this suggestion Dr. Walker takes except “In the present state of the steel market,” he said, “a a matter of practical study, I should not anticipate th that would be the consequence. We find it illustrated in the steel market at the present time. The prices of ore are comparatively high—higher than ever befor The prices of coke are very high—unheard-of prices. They have produced a high cost of pig iron; but, ever taking those prices of ore and coke, translating then into the cost of pig iron, as it is done for those who have to purchase it, and getting a very high pig-iron cost on that account, we do not find the price of pig iron corresponds even to that high cost, but is away above this high cost of pig iron. t Prices Out of All Relation to Cost “In other words, the same factor that has made the coke price out of all proportion to the cost of coke makes the pig-iron price high out of all proportion to the cost of pig iron, made even by the people who ars paying the highest prices for raw material. And so successive stages we find with certain costs of ste that the price of shapes is one thing and the price of plates very different, although normally the cost shapes and plates is approximately the same, and normally their prices have been about the same; ir fact, one familiar with the past prices of the articles knows that ordinarily they were quoted at the sam¢ level, especially if there was any general agreemen‘ about what the prices ought to be among the producers “Now, take the price of shapes to-day. I do not remember the exact figures, but it is about one-half the price of plates. Why? Not on account of different conditions in cost of crude steel, but on account different demand conditions for these different articles The same thing that has put the price of pig iron awa) above the cost of even high-cost pig iron has put th price of plates away above even the high cost of plates and much higher than the price of shapes, which mally, and even under present conditions, has for t same mill the same cost approximately as plates. 5° you can not rely on fixing a basic price to get an eve! proportionally reasonable price of successive products, and the illustration of plates and shapes is one of the very best illustrations you could pick out. And taking them as typical is a mistake; plate prices are away out of proportion to any products of a similar degree 0! manufacture.” Extent of Steel Price Fixing Another exceedingly interesting phase of this su- ject to which members of the Senate committe are giving attention is the question as to how far Gover?- ment price-fixing should go in the listing of steel com- tober 4, 1917 ities. In reply to a question as to “how far it i be necessary to go in fixing the prices of the is successive products in order to insure justic: to the Government and to the public,” Dr. Walker it as his opinion that the category should include semi-finished steel, including blooms, slabs and sheet bars, plates, rails and shapes, merchant nd skelp for rolling tubes, rolled and drawn tube nized sheets, tin-plate and numerous additional lhe committee’s attention has also been called to the that in England the Government has established rices of more than a hundred items, including th« products of nearly every important plant. The : Commission has investigated the practical opera- of the British law and finds it to have been suc but to require a very large administrative chiefly because of the minute detail into which ntrol has been ramified and which extends to s’ hardware and a considerable variety of small pletely finished articles. r the convenience of its members the Senate Com- has reproduced the tables and chart showing ind steel prices for the nineteen-year period, 1898- which appeared in the Jan. 4 issue of THE IRON The printed report of the recent hearings will ontain the controlled prices for iron and steel icts fixed by the British Government. W. L. C. Motor-Driven Radial Drilling Machines Some interesting arrangements of adjustable-speed drive for radial drilling machines have been de- ped by the Cincinnati Bickford Tool Co., Oakley, nnati, Ohio. This type of drive can be applied to tically all of the machines built by this company, two illustrated being perhaps as good examples as of the extent to which this form of drive has been yped. Both machines are of the plain type and the iipment includes a plain table, an arrangement for pplying cutting lubricant to the drill point, and an yperated device for clamping the arm in place on olumn. One of the machines, which is built with 4, 5 and 6 ms, is driven by an adjustable-speed motor mounted the arm and geared directly to the arm shaft. This tor has a speed range of 3 to 1 and the controller is mounted on the drilling head on the arm. A nstant-speed reversing compound wound motor inted on the top of the column provides for the ng and lowering of the arm. The operation of this tor is controlled by a reversing switch actuated by uare shaft equipped with the builder’s patented rlocking device and a dynamic brake resistance. The s Mounted on the Arm and Column Drive the Drill and Raise or Lower the Arm THE IRON AGE 799 \ Ad tal SI ‘ Nik x } S ] ) ~ } g lat Attacl at ! | Radial D = M i6 | wiring for this motor is led in through a revolving con nection in the base of the column and runs up throug! the center to the top The other machine, which is also built with 4, 5 and 6 ft. arms, has an adjustable-speed motor with a starter larger motor. The speed control is of the Reliance re mote push-button type, the starting and stopping but tons being mounted on the head of the machine. and a smaller one for speed adjustment attached to the In addition to the motor-drive arrangements illu trated, three other types of drive can be supplied These are a belt and cone pulley and through a gear box, either with or without an electric motor New Steel Foundry at Massillon The Massillon Steel Casting Co., Massillon, Ohio, recently organized with a capital stock of $250,000, has commenced the erection of its new steel foundry which it expects to have in operation about Dec. 1. One unit, 100 x 100 ft., will be built at present and arranged with a view of adding additional units later. In addition, two other buildings will be built, one for cleaning and annealing and the other for pattern storage. The foun dry will be equipped with a two-ton convertor and a Whiting cupola. A Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co. two stage air compressor, with a capacity of 750 cu. ft. of free air per minute, will be installed to furnish blast for the sand blast machine, a General Electric centri fugal compressor for the cupola and a No. 5 Root posi tive pressure blower for the converter. The plant will be served by a five-ton Bedford Foundry & Machine Co. crane. Complete molding machine equipment will be installed, this including seven Osborn, Tabor and Herman machines. The product of the plant will in clude steel castings of 200 lb. in size and under. E. H Birney is president, Fred H. Snyder, vice-president, I. M. Taggart, treasurer, and A. H. Anthony, general manager. The Northern Iron Co., Plattsburgh, N. Y., recently suffered a $50,000 loss by fire at its Standish, N. ¥ blast furnace. The machine shop, carpenter shop and some of the trestles and storage bins were destroyed Temporary repairs were made, so that the blast fur- nace operations were resumed one week from the day of the fire. It will require about six weeks to replace the destroyed buildings, and meanwhile the company will operate its furnace at a somewhat reduced capacity The Union Iron Works, Erie, manufacturers of steel boilers, has let a general contract for a new boiler and power house. The concern states the only equipment it needs for the new plant is a small coal-handling propo- sition, as there will be no new equipment put in the plant, this being merely a removal! to a new site of the old equipment. The building will be one stor high, 58 x 89 ft. in size and will cost about $15,000. = mY a & ei S00 VERTICAL STEEL STORAGE New Detroit Warehouse of Union Drawn Steel Co. Racks in A STEEL storage warehouse designed for tion of space convenience and economy in handling cold drawn steel was built recently in Detroit, Mich., by the Union Drawn Steel Co., conserva and Beaver Falls, Pa The greater part of the stock is stored ipright racks, which are of a special design, rigidly built to withstand heavy loads