The Iron Age 1918-02-28: Vol 101 Iss 9

ready for the owner. In 55 calendar days the entire ) building, 600 feet by 900 feet, 540,000 square feet of | good clear-working floor area, was ready. LF] This building is essentially nine Austin No. 3 Standards, 100 feet wide and 600 feet long, placed side by side with extra monitors over the junctions. Cross-section of Austin Standard No. 3 showing how the units may be extended to any desired width. From A to B, leaving out the monitor under B, is the original Austin No. 3 Standard cross-section. CLEVELAND 16112 Euclid Ave. Eddy 4500 a ’ “~ NEW YORK 217 Broadway Barclay 8886 ‘sf Philadelphia _ Bulletin Bldg Spruce 1291 ff ashington 901 Fifteenth St Franklin 3779 i Detroit Penobscot Bldg Cherry 4466 : Seiedanatie . re : Indianapolis Merchants’ Bank Bldg. Main 6428 ig ? Pittsburgh House Bldg Court 1993 \ ‘ % TABL Buyers’ Index Section... Wanted Section E OF CONTENTS - - - 569 , Contract Work Section 325 Business Opportunities . Sim ; This Austin No.3 Standard Factory Building, 900 feet by 600 feet, 540,000 square feet, , was ready for the owner in 55 calendar days after order. Austin Standard Factory-Buildings | 3 WORKING-DAYS after order 120,000 square | feet of this Austin Standard No. 3 Building were Help and Situations Wanted The Austin Company holds in stock, in transit, and under order, all the es- sential materials for any one, or any combination of the nine types of Austin Standard Buildings. The Standard cross-sections, from the 60-foot wide light machine-shop to the heavy erecting shops, have been found adequate, singly or in combinations, to meet almost any industrial need. If you need a new building delivered on lime, at a moderate cost, write, phone or wire the Austir office nearest the proposed wor k ~ The Austin Company Industrial Engineers and Builders | aoa — —— — een ae ADVERTISING INDEX - - - 369 . 338 Clearing House Sectio 2 9 999 WSS Th Professiona Notice 337 io Kx > © 3 eo 89999809999 , WY) Ea Xe KK KNX) S o ©) \/ \/ Te KEKE EE KE NE HE KEKE NO EEK KOE @) Y EKKO ©) \/ ©) “/ © \/ COO CO IO EK INTO FXII IOI IIIIISS hake} KOKK Xx S KeXXeKah Y THE IRON AGE February 28, 1919 XIX KX IIDIIIIKS KA (4X Xs) Kt ©. X Y 1S KX Y DIXIIMLIIIIAS y IS . eran a CX KOK I) ©) 4 a LaTES.8 BARS ne 29 oe ? | a3 a4" ; as, dy 999399 39.9.39.99.99.9.3999.99993.99.3999.39 OX Xe X ~ OMe KEKE Ke Ne ON KE Ne Ke) @) J“ Ke Ke Me Xe Xe NE Ne Xe Xe) THE IRON AGE New York, February 28, 1918 ESTABLISHED 1855 VOL. 101: No. 9 A New Method of Burning Powdered Coal A Small-Diameter Low-Pressure Air Transport System Without Return Mains—Handling Coal as a Fluid —An Exact Furnace Feed from the pulverizing plant to the point of use by means of air pressure in distinction from systems in which continuous helical screw conveyors are used or systems in which the coal is carried to the point of use by high-velocity air with the coal dust in suspension, has been put in operation at the plant of Dilworth, Porter & Co., Inc., Fourth and Bingham streets, Pittsburgh. The plant is note- worthy for the distances which the powdered fuel has to be carried, for the large size furnaces sup- plied and for the type of controller or feeder which delivers as need- ed from bins at the furnaces the amount of coal required for the conditions. It is noteworthy that | FUEL system in which the fuel is delivered the transport lines through which the pow- dered coal is brought are 4 in. in diameter throughout the plant, and this fact is empha- sized as one of the economies as against the screw conveyors in the one kind of plant and large cross sec- tion air mains in other genera) types of plants. The engineering of the plant was done by the Quigley Fur- nace Specialties Co., 26 Cort- landt Street, New York. The equipment has replaced natural gas, and it has been operating with marked The conveying scheme is an application of the fact that the powdered fuel when thoroughly dry acts as a fluid and thus allows for installing piping of long lengths at any necessary tilt or angle. The powdered coal collected in tanks at the pulverizing station is subjected to air pressure in the upper part of the tanks and the coal as needed is forced from the bottom of the tank through the coal delivery or transport pipes. Coal has thus keen delivered for a length of 1500 ft. The speed depends in part up- on the air pressure. Four tons, for example, have been carried through a 550-ft. line in five minutes with air at 40 lb. gage pres- sure. The coal is pulverized to pass 95 per cen’ through a 100 mesh sieve and 85 per cent through 200 meshes. Run-of-mine or slack coal is discharged from the car into a steel track hop- per, at the base of which a reciprocat- ing feeder regu- lates the flow of coal into a 24 x 30 - in. double spike roll crush- er where it is reduced to 144- in. or smaller size. By a steel leg chain and bucket elevator the fuel is then carried to the top of the pul verizing plant and dumped up- on a rubber belt conveyor and carried to a magnetic sepa- success through- rator pulley : The pulverized coal is stored in two 5-ton so-called blowing tanks The whi . a out the recent operator on signal admits compressed air above the coal and from the floor ope) which removes severely col d the valve to the 4-in. transport pipe through which delivery is desired He the tramp iron. 2 watches a weighing dial to send the amount requested Each transport pipe weather. starts from a point near the tank bottom and passes out at the top The refined coal 545 546 7 --§ os . mit oI ; He sf oo I —— Slab Heating Furnace 70 Ft. in Length. and pulley operating a shutter-type controller is deposited by screw conveyor in a steel storage bin of 700 tons capacity. It is admitted from there into a Ruggles-Coles rotary dryer of 10 tons per hr. capacity by opening a mechanically-operated gate at the bottom of the bin, which drops the coal upon a reciprocating feeder. A pyrometer with record- ing instruments at the discharge end of the dryer is used as the guide in firing the dryer furnace. The. coal, now containing less than 1 per cent by weight of normal moisture, is elevated by steel leg chain and bucket conveyor and loaded into a bifurcated spout directly overhead, discharging into two 5-ton bins supported on steel framework above 5-roller Raymond coal-pulverizing mills with air separation. The flow of coal to the pulverizers can be shut off when desired, by rack and pinion gates in end of spouts, and each mill is equipped with a compartment feeder for further regulating the amount of coal fed into it. The pulverized coal is removed from each mill by an exhauster or motor-driven fan, which, running at a constant speed, lifts by means of a partial vac- uum all coal particles of sufficient fineness, and so automatically maintains a uniform fineness of prod- uct. The dust is carried up by pipe lines to cyclone separators and deposited into an 8-ton storage bin, the air released from the coal returning to the pul- verizers. Aside from the mechanically-operated gates at the bottom of the various coal bins all these operations are actuated by motor drives. The entire electri- cal control, including automatic starters, station switchboards and transformers, are mounted on a platform about 7 ft. above the floor, at one end of the building. The electrical wiring is so arranged that the machines can be started only in a certain sequence, which prevents any possibility of plugging the system; for instance, the raw crushed coal ele- vator must start before the crusher, and the dried- coal elevator before the dryer. Steel platforms with safety ladders afford easy access to all machinery. To introduce the powdered fuel into the air transport system proper two blowing tanks, each of a capacity of 5 tons per charge, are located beneath the 8-ton storage bin. Each is set on a scale, pro- vided with indicating dial, tare beam, etc., by which the operator can tell exactly how much coal is in the tank at any time. gate at the bottom of the bin is joined to the blow- ing tanks by means of spouts and flexible leather or canvas joint to permit of the movement involved in weighing. THE IRON The mechanically-operated, AGE February 28, 1918 The furnace heater is regulating the coal feed to one burner by means of chain Compressed air is supplied by a Laidlaw-Dunn- Gordon two-stage motor-driven air compressor, fit- ted with feather valves, which delivers into two air receivers, from which the air is admitted into the blowing tanks. An after-cooler is provided to re- move moisture from the air as it leaves the com- pressor as well as to cool the air as it is being stored. In the head of the blowing tank there is a patented type of valve which is operated from the floor by means of levers and a locking mechanism. It con- trols the flow of coal into each tank and prevents the escape of air when closed. Each tank is fitted in- side with two 4-in. blowing pipes starting just above the tank bottom, and fitted at the upper end with a control cock operated from the floor. Each blowing pipe is connected to a separate circuit, and delivers the coal to any furnace located on that line. A compressed air line is connected to the tanks near the top with suitable valve controls. By signals the operator in the coal-milling plant is notified to deliver coal to whatever air transport line may be indicated. This is done simply by open- ing the cock on the transport line just above the tank. Upon receipt of signal from a hopper filler, who may be at any furnace in the mill, he opens the compressed-air valve above the coal in the blowing tank, and the air, acting as a plunger, drives the coal in a stream to the hopper. | Lewd ~~, el COAL | 2°'4? Air Line ——-4leel Supply line ~T, PLANT. | roy pews cows own or eet eee ne me mercerreremeeeresstG A at fae ees o ua TE} . fo - aS at Scapa name = 0 50 100 ai a Le | “ Ps aaa =7 € Plan of 4-In. Air Transport System to the Several Groups of Heating Furnaces. The scale indicates the long distances traversed from the powdered coal mill to the furnaces February 28, 1918 The Dilworth, Porter heating furnaces formerly burned natural gas, which is now entirely replaced by the powdered coal fuel. Twenty-six furnaces are used on a 10%4-hr. turn, for heating steel used in the manufacture of railroad tie plates and spikes for railroad, ship and dock work. The division of work is: For small billets for the rod mill; one continuous heating furnace, 9 ft. 3 in. by 35 ft.; two, 7 ft. by 27 ft. 7% in. For large slabs to be rolled into strips for tie plate; two, 8 ft. 6 in. by 39 ft. 71% in.; one, 8 ft. 6 in. by 68 ft. © e202 0¢ 69 2. 2 Outside of coal-milling building shows the erushed coal elevator, belt conveyor en- cased and 700-ton crushed coal storage bin. The discharge spout at its bottom is shown in the upper interior view above the brick combustion chamber of a rotary dryer. The air compressor seen in the foreground supplies air to the storage tanks at the left for use throughout the plant. By means of scale dials shown in lower view facing blowing tanks the oper- ator weighs the coal before it is sent through the transport line. A _ belted motor is shown driving the fan that ex- hausts the powdered coal from the pul- verizer directly underneath and lifts it to the cyclone separator above For heating rods for spike ma- chines; three tunnel furnaces, 4 ft. by 30 ft.; five tunnel fur- naces, 2 ft. 5 in. by 18 ft.; four tunnel furnaces, 2 ft. 5 in. by 30 ft. For short rods for spike machines; eight two-door furnaces, 4 ft. by 6 ft. In department No. 2 the two continuous billet-heating furnaces, 7 ft. by 87 ft. 7% in., feed a rod mill, the bars from which are car- ried over hot and fed into the five tunnel furnaces 2 ft. 5 in. by 18 ft., from which they are drawn by hand and fed to spike machines. In department No. 3 the three tunnel furnaces, 4 ft. by 30 ft., are THE IRON AGE 547 supplied with cold rods, which are fed into spike machines. These rods are produced in a rod mill from billets heated in the 9 ft. 3 in. by 35-ft. con- tinuous furnace, and this same mill supplies cold rods for department No. 5. Department No. 4 consists of the eight two-door furnaces, 4 ft. by 6 ft., taking short, cold rods from department No. 3, and feeding by hand into spike machines. Department No. 5 has four tunnel furnaces, 2 ft. 5 in. by 30 ft., receiving rods from the rod mill in Department No. 3, and feeding into spike ma- chines. 248 Slabs for making tie plates are heated in the % ft. 6 in. by 39 ft. 74 in. continuous furnaces and in the 8 ft. 6 in. by 68 ft. continuous furnace which has recently replaced three Siemens-type furnaces. The large furnace will have a capacity of about 150 tons of billets per turn of 10% hr. The powdered coal is directed into bins at the furnaces where required, by means of special switching valves, operated from the floor by the hopper filler. The hoppers vary from 1 to 8 tons in capacity, according to the furnace consumption. Periodic inspection by the hopper filler warns him in every case when the hopper is emptied to a point requiring replenishment. He then opens the switch valve to that particular hopper and signals to the tender at the blowing tanks to turn on the air blast carrying coal to the point required. To regulate the powdered-coal feed to the fur- naces, controllers are attached to the bottom of the hopper, one for each burner. It consists of a cast- iron hopper casting bolted to the opening, with a spiral screw which feeds the fuel accurately to a cast-iron screen housing spaced from the hopper casting by a steel pipe. At the front of the hopper casting the thread of the spiral screw is interrupted in order to admit of the movement of two simultane- ously operated shutters or gates controlled by levers on the outside, which regulate the amount of coal carried to the burners by varying the shutter open- ing. By this device exact feed of fuel is accom- plished, a controller of 500 lb. of coal per hr. ca- pacity, it is stated, having been adjusted to feed a minimum of 26 lb. per hr. After passing through the worm, which is driven Bifureated Hopper Feeding Into Two 4-Ft. By THE IRON 30-Ft. Tunnel Furnaces supply and mechanism AGE February 28, 1918 by bevel reduction gears from the line shaft, the coal enters the cam-agitated screen, whence the par- ticles are dropped uniformly to a siphon jet that picks up the dust with a 6-oz. air blast and trans- : fers it through a steel pipe to the burner. The burner is composed of a large cast-iron pipe with a specially shaped elbow. The coal-dust pipe is concentric within it, and extends almost to the furnace wall. The air for combustion enters through | mary Peep Holl Airl €p tole | = burner Body Diagram of Apparatus for Regulating Fuel Fed into Burner the elbow under 114 oz. pressure, and the air trans- porting the coal, under a pressure of 6 oz., expands down to 114 oz., mingling with the combustion air at that same pressure as it burns. The controllers can all be driven off one motor by means of interconnecting shafts or a line shaft, and require no variable-speed motors or devices. This method of feeding the coal, it is stated, insures accurate control at each individual furnace and burner, and permits the use of any flame from one of an oxidizing character to one highly reducing. Safety ladder permits quick inspection of hoppe! February 28, 1918 THE IRON AGE 549 Two-Burner Continuous Billet Heating Furnace, the Small Primary Air Line Which Enters the Elbow of the Auxiliary Air Supply Line at Furnace, as Indicated Page The steel as it comes from the furnace is said to be “softer” than that treated in natural-gas-fired furnaces; and it is reported that the absence of excess air reduces the formation of scale on the billets to a minimum, so resulting in a more pene- trating heat. For this reason it is stated the hot billets are able to resist the formation of “cold spots” often caused in sliding them down the water-jacketed skid pipes from the furnace, and an easier-working billet is thereby secured. The furnace temperature is regulated by the amount of coal passed into the burner through the shutter controller, and by the quantity of air. Air tiring at the low pressure of 114 oz. is stated to be very desirable, as it reduces the abrasive action on the brickwork. Less excess air is required in burning powdered coal, it is found, than with al- most any other fuel, powdered coal taking from no excess up to 30 per cent, as compared with 90 per cent to 125 per cent with hand-fired coal. This low per cent of excess air is said to account in a large measure for the soft heats and great economy. There are 435,000 motor trucks in use in the United States, with an average capacity of 2.6 tons. If each truck hauled 25 per cent more, the increase in truck tonnage would amount to 339,300,000 tons a year. To determine average motor truck efficiency, R. E. Cham- berlain, truck sales manager of the Packard Motor Car Co., recently conducted an analysis. A checker was stationed at a busy corner in Detroit for two hours to note the average truck load passing. An even 100 trucks were checked. Of these, 46 were emp- ty, 30 carried partial loads and 24 were loaded to capacity. This shows an average operating efficiency of only 37 per cent. The New York office of the C. W. Hunt Co., Inc., builder of elevating and conveying machinery and in- dustrial railways, has been moved to 501 Fifth Avenue. Powdered Coal Feeding from the Hopper, Shown at the Left, Into the in Diagram or 548 Revision of Coal Prices WASHINGTON, Feb. 26.—The Fuel Administration is planning the comprehensive revision of the prices at which coal mined in various parts of the country shal] be sold after April 1 and in this connection will make a number of important changes in the policy heretofor« pursued, especially in the matter of grading coal as t quality and freedom from foreign substances. “The regulation of coal prices by the Fuel Admin istration,” said Dr. Garfield in an official announce ment yesterday, “is the first attempt ever made, at least on a large scale, by the United States Government t fix and establish prices for any of the great indus tries. It is very important to both the public and the coal industry that the prices so fixed should be based on accurate information as to the conditions prevailing in different fields, and that, when once this information has been received, the right principles should be em- ployed in making use of this information. “The Fuel Administration that it has de vised a speedy and accurate method for using the cost information which it has in hand, and that it ha worked out the fundamental principles which should guide it in considering applications for modification of coal prices. “It is the purpose of the Fuel Administration to an nounce decisions on all applications for price revisions now before it, prior to April 1, 1918, and, prior to that time, to make such changes in the classification as seem to be necessary, in order to relieve uncertainty on this score as far as possible before the beginning of the new coal year.” believ es Plans are being drawn for a large community hotel to be erected in the vicinity of the plants of the Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Corporation and the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Co., which are located near each other at Buffalo, to provide accommodations, with bath, for men working or orders at factories. and two room war these 550 TIME IN TEMPERING STEEL* Excellent Properties in Rifle Barrels Obtainable from High Manganese Machinery Steel BY A. E. PELLIS HE time effect in reheating certain steels below the critical range is very marked. The increased toughness, shock-resisting power, and machinability of steel subjected to a long, high drawing temperature has been thoroughly demonstrated and is of practical importance, particularly in the manufacture of “smoke- less” rifle-barrel steel. The time effect in tempering is most important when a maximum drawing effect is desired, in which case maximum physical properties as well as ease of ma- chining are important considerations. These are the conditions in drilling a rifle barrel. A hole, 0.30 in. in diameter and 24 in. long for the Springfield rifle, and 30 in. long for the Russian military rifle, has to be drilled in the heat-treated material. This barrel- drilling operation is probably the most difficult one in rifle manufacture, and anyone who has been connected with rifle manufacture knows how seriously production is affected when “hard” or un-uniform steel for barrels is encountered. The importance of high physical prop- erties, tensile strength, toughness and resilience, in a rifle barrel is obvious. The physical properties of two different lots of barrel steel are given below. The first lot, No. 1, gave serious trouble in the drilling operation. The second gave no trouble at all. No. 1 No. 2 ai Rete. Te. OEE WE, Bs oii ok ke cawiee wns 117,450 116,800 Tensile strength, lb. per sq. in............. 132,500 131,750 N,N ORNINE 5 is ara nnd o:c-6. 6 eee wae 16.0 20.0 Reduction of area, per cent. .....cccccscccss 42.1 51.0 Impact strength, ft.-lb. per sq. in.......... 450.0 520.0 This difference in machining and physical properties was due entirely to the time of reheating. The first lot was given a reheating time of 30 min., the second lot remained at the reheating temperature 2 hr. Both lots had been oil-quenched from 1500 deg. Fahr. and reheated to 1180 deg. Fahr. The time required in the reheating or drawing for the work to come to tem- perature was not counted. This time was approxi- mately 20 to 30 min. The steel used has the follow- ing composition: Carbon, 0.54; sulphur, 0.050; man- ganese, 1.22; phosphorus, 0.065. The physical prop- erties when untreated are as follows: Elastic limit, lb. per sq. in.............. - 69.800 ee WERE, TE. OE OG, TB ook icic cites sibeceravewe 128,700 SE er ee eee ee 15.0 CORRODE DIOR, DOT BOK oa. s x vac onesie e6ecde wae 35.2 Further experiments established the fact that at least a 2-hr. reheating is necessary in order to have satisfactory machinability. Steel which, after treat- ment, gave elongation of 20 per cent or over gave no trouble in the shops. These results were backed up by hundreds of physical tests and production reports on thousands of barrels. Reheating Time alae eit 1 Hr. 2 Hr. 3Hr. %Hr. 12Hr. Elastic limit, lb. per i .. 124,250 121,600 116,250 115,500 98,750 RS a oe ako en Tensile strength, Ib. ee i eee 137,000 135,600 125,900 135,400 116,50 Elongation, per cent.. 17.0 17.5 19.0 17.5 Reduction of area, per cent to bn o 42.2 45.4 47.6 52.7 uw “ re A similar test with different-heat lots of steel in- dicates that greater increase in machinability, ductility and resilience can be obtained by making the drawing time still longer. The results of this test with draw- ing periods of 1, 2 and 3 hr., are given in the foregoing table, together with the results of another test made *A paper presented at the February meeting of the Amer- ican Institute of Mining Engineers in New York, Feb. 20, 1918. The author is metallurgist, Springfield armory, Spring- field, Mass. THE IRON AGE February 28, 1918 with drawing periods of % hr. and 12 hr. The latter test was made with the idea of producing the maximum time effect. It will be noted that there is a decrease in the elastic limit and tensile strength as the drawing time is increased, but that this is slight compared to the relatively great increase in ductility and impact strength. The decrease of elastic limit of less than 1 per cent is accompanied by an increase of 25 per cent in ductility as measured by elongation, and 13 per cent increase in impact strength. In order to determine whether this effect was largely due to the high manganese content of the steels, an ordinary machining steel of the same carbon, content was given a similar test. The steel analyzed: Carbon, 0.53; sulphur, 0.036; manganese, 0.65; phos- phorus, 0.049. Four specimens were oil-quenched from 1500 deg. Fahr., and drawn at 1180 deg. Fahr. for periods of %, 1, 2 and 4 hr. respectively. The results follow: Reheating Time % Hr. 1Hr. 2Hr. 4Hr. Elastic limit, Ib. per sq. in...... 66,150 63,800 62,750 61,600 Tensile strength, lb. per sq. in...101,250 98,250 97,250 96,600 Elongation, per cent............ 23.0 26.0 28.5 28.5 Reduction of area, per cent...... 60.8 67.5 65.0 65.8 In all of these experiments, the standard test speci- mens were prepared from the bar stock after the heat treatment. The original diameter of the stock was 11/32 in. The heat treatment was carried on in large- production furnaces, temperatures being controlled with carefully standardized Wilson-Maeulin pyrometers. The reheating time was not counted for the first 20 or 30 min. necessary for the pieces to reach furnace temperature. A reheating time of % hr., therefore, means at least 50 min. in the furnace. For quenching, a straight mineral oil was used of 0.890 specific gravity at 60 deg. Fahr., 400 deg. Fahr. flash point and 200 sec. Saybolt viscosity at 100 deg. Fahr. Since our measurements of strength, ductility and resilience are not absolute, and because of the inherent structural variations in steel, we cannot make exact conclusions from a few tests such as are given here. From daily contact, however, we acquire knowledge of these properties which we cannot easily record, but of which we are certain. I regard this knowledge from experience the best evidence, that increasing the time of reheating increases the ductility, toughness and machinability of the particular steels herein described, to a degree well illustrated in the above tests. The excellent physical properties that can be ob- tained by properly heat-treating a machinery steel con- taining 1 to 1% per cent manganese does not seem to have been generally recognized. Will Expend $25,000,000 More at Sparrows Point Plant Charles M. Schwab paid a visit of inspection to the Sparrows Point property of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, near Baltimore, one day last week. After the visit he amnounced that approximately $25,000,000 had been so far expended in carrying out the original program outlined for Sparrows Point, following the acquisition of the old Pennsylvania Steel Co. He added that this amount represented about one-half of the total amount to be spent, and that the Maryland branch of the company will be made one of the finest steel and shipbuilding plants in the country. For the purpose of aiding the manufacturers of Baltimore to secure contracts from the Government, the Merchants & Manufacturers’ Association of Baltimore has collected and published a complete list of articles needed in the nation’s war work. The association has issued this information, with a list of suggestions and the addresses of all the Government departments which should be addressed to secure the contracts in pamphlet form, and there is a great demand for it. Wage Scale and Conditions of Labor Final Report of Shipbuilding Board—No Con- troversy as to Closed or Open Shop Will Be Tolerated—Bonuses and Premiums Abolished WASHINGTON, Feb. 26.—A wage scale and an outline of conditions of labor in the Delaware River and Balti- more shipyards, which has been accepted by all the metal-working trades employed therein and which, it is to be hoped, will prevail throughout the period of the war, are embodied in the final report of the Shipbuild- ing Labor Adjustment Board which has just been filed with the Emergency Fleet Corporation. Both the scale and the pending rules are of much importance not only to.the other shipyards of the Atlantic coast but also to all employers of labor for any form of metal working east of the Mississippi River. The wage scale in par- ticular will exert an important influence throughout the eastern labor market, especially in view of the com- prehensive campaign now being conducted by the Ship- ping Board to recruit workers for the shipyards of the Atlantic, the Gulf and the Great Lakes. The board in its decision announces very positively that the controversy with regard to open and closed shops must not be injected by either employers or em- ployees. The spirit of the ruling in this connection calls for the maintenance of the status quo when the board’s investigation was undertaken and no discrimination be- tween union and non-union men will be permitted. The report of the labor adjustment board is based on the investigation undertaken at the instance of the Shipping Board to settle disputes which originally arose in the Delaware River district last October. These were temporarily adjusted by Vice-Chairman Stevens of the Shipping Board with the understanding that any wage scale subsequently determined by the adjustment board should be retroactive to Nov. 2, the date when the men returned to work. Although there is some question as to whether this understanding was intended to apply to yards in which disputes had not yet arisen, the adjustment board decided to resolve this in favor of the employees and to make the wage rates retroactive as regards the shipbuilding crafts to which they apply to Nov. 2 for all the shipyards in the Delaware River district actually engaged in the building of ships for the Navy Department or the Emergency Fleet Cor- poration. Plants Included The yards specifically included in the decision of the adjustment board are the following: Chester Shipbuilding Co., Chester, Pa. Harlan Plant, Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co., Del. New Jersey Shipbuilding Co., Gloucester, N. J. New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N. J. Pennsylvania Shipbuilding Co., Gloucester, Pusey & Jones Co., Wilmington, Del. Sun Shipbuilding Co., Chester, Pa. Wm. Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co., Phila- delphia. Traylor Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Cornwells, Pa. Wilmington, N. J The decision will also apply to any other. yards on the Delaware River having direct contracts with the Navy Department or the Emergency Fleet Corporation and to the following yards in the Baltimore district: Baltimore Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co., Baltimore Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Sparrows Point, Md. Henry Smith & Sons Co., Baltimore. The rates of wages in the Baltimore yards are to be retroactive to Feb. 1. Scale Is Retroactive The board defends its action in making the new wage scale retroactive as to all yards irrespective of whether strikes have actually occurred therein on the ground that it has been convinced by the unanimous testimony on both sides that a uniform minimum wage scale and uniform piece rates for all of the shipyards on the Delaware River from Bristol on the north to Wilmington on the south would be desirable and be- cause limiting the retroactive provision to employees who actually struck would amount to penalizing those who, notwithstanding their dissatisfaction with condi- tions, remained loyally at work and thus be an incite- ment to future strikes. For the Government-owned shipyards in which fab- ricated steel vessels are to be built at Hog Island and at Bristol, the board makes the wage rates retroactive to Jan. 15, the date on which the board held hearings on conditions in those yards. The variable expense for transportation to and from work to which the employees of the yards up and down the river from Philadelphia are put owing to inadequate local housing facilities, the board finds to be the most serious obstacle to the maintenance of a uniform min- imum wage scale in all of the yards of the district. To equalize this condition, the board authorizes ship- yards, the employees of which ‘are compelled to expend regularly more than eight cents for transportation to and from their work, to provide such employees with commutation or other tickets at the expense of the company. In providing free transportation for em- ployees coming from a distance, each shipyard must adopt such precautions to prevent the privilege from being abused as may be prescribed by the auditors of the Navy Department and the Emergency Fleet Cor- poration. Hours of Employment Concerning hours of employment, the board finds that there is much diversity and confusion in the dif- ferent yards growing out of the fact that although the eight-hour day has not yet been universally introduced, the half holiday on Saturday is an institution that is firmly established and tenaciously adhered to. Under the Federal eight-hour law, work in excess of eight hours in any calendar day for any department of the Government counts as overtime. In the light of these limitations imposed by law and local custom, the board prescribes the following rules to govern hours of em- ployment in the shipyards referred to: 1. Eight hours shall constitute a day’s work from Monday until Friday, inclusive, and four hours on Saturday. 2. Work in excess of these periods on any day shall be calculated as overtime and paid for at the rate of time and one-half. 3. Work in excess of 10 hours for any employee on any calendar day shall not be permitted, excepting in dry docks, or when ordered by the Navy Department or the Emer- gency Fleet Corporation, or to protect life or property from imminent danger. 4. Work on Sundays and the following holidays be paid for at the rate of double time: New Year’s shall Day; Washington’s Birthday: Decoration Day; Fourth of July; Labor Day; Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day Men employed on night shift shall receive compensa- tion 5 per cent higher than is paid to those day shift employed on Excessive Overtime The purpose of the board in limiting the work of employees under ordinary circumstances to 10 hours a day is frankly stated to be “to discourage the practice of excessive overtime, which we believe leads to ineffi- ciency and lessens rather than enlarges production and to encourage the introduction of the two and three-shift systems.” The feasibility of working two or three eight-hour shifts in the eastern shipbuilding plants, the board asserts, has been conclusively demonstrated, and shipyard managers are strongly urged to take imme- 551 diate steps looking to the introduction of additional shifts in their yards with a view to increasing produc- tion and expediting the delivery of much-needed tonnage. No More Bonuses An important ruling embodied in the report of the board applies to shop management systems based on bonuses or premiums. In the course of its investiga- tion of conditions in the various yards, the board found that in addition to the straight day wage and piece-rate systems there were in operation in different yards numerous bonus, premium and contract systems of wage payment. Without undertaking to determine the propriety of these methods of increasing production or limiting cost of output, the board states that the mini- mum wage scale and the piece rates prescribed by it are designed to introduce a greater degree of uni- formity in connection with wage payments and that it is believed to be impossible to standardize the various bonus and premium systems so as to make it prac- ticable to apply them generally in all the yards in juestion. The board therefore directs that “no bonus or premium in addition to the minimum rates and piece rates prescribed in this award shall in future be paid, except with the express permission of this board.” In certain departments of shipbuilding, and espe- cially in the work of riveting, chipping and calking, the board found an actual preference for the piece-wage system on the part not only of employers but also the workers themselves. It has, therefore, been decided to authorize a scale of piece rates which represents the results of conferences between representatives of the yard owners and of the crafts concerned in which con- cessions in the interest of harmony and greater produc- tion were made by both sides. The board expresses the hope that this list of piece rates will be extended from time to time to include other operations and other types of vessels such as torpedo boat destroyers and cylin- drical oil tankers, for which fair rates have not yet been aseertained. Limited Work One of the most important matters dealt with in the board’s report is the existence among the workers in many of the eastern yards of rules or understandings limiting the amount that any one worker shall produce ina day. While many conflicting statements have been made as to the existence of these rules, the board states that adequate testimony was presented to prove that these understandings have been observed to a substan- tial extent and that they appear to have had their origin in the experience of the workers “of having the piece rate cut as soon as they showed an ability to in- crease their earnings beyond what the employer con- sidered a normal wage.” Recognizing the importance of a reasonable piece-rate system for the stimulation of production but desiring at the same time to protect the men against rate reductions that would operate un- fairly, the board promulgates a comprehensive rule to a The piece rates prescribed as part of its award by the Shipbuilding Labor Adjust- ment Board, and printed in the piece-rate book for Delaware River shipyards, shall under no circumstances be lowered during the duration of the war. In the name of the people of the United States, we urge em- ployees in shipyards to do their utmost toward winning the war by removing all limitations upon output and hastening in every possible way, each according to his capacity, the production of ships. Shipbuilding Labor Adjustment Board. meet the situation. “In the present national emer- gency,” says the report, “it is vitally important that every limitation upon output be removed. Every ship- yard worker must appreciate that he is fighting for his country when he drives a rivet or calks a seam just as THE IRON AGE February 28, 1918 effectively as the soldier in the trenches when he wields his bayonet or fires a gun. And as the soldier is paid directly by the Government, so the shipyard worker must realize that he now receives his compensation from the Government, all shipbuilding now being upon Gov- ernment account. To bring it home to piece workers that the Government is behind them and that they must be behind the Government, we direct that the following notices be printed and posted conspicuously in every department of every shipyard where piece work is carried on. [One of the notices is given in the preced- ing column.—EDITOR. } The new wage scale is as follows: Hiammer and machine forgers, heavy.. $1.35 Anglesmiths and blacksmiths, heavy fires............. S7le Leading men, erecting department; gang leaders, mold ME ecik anno hake wknd ah ean cw eae whee Sai teteaarer aah aca be ix 2a Furnacemen on shapes and plates (ship work); lofts- men, first claSS.......e.- ay or, ies ncaa areas ep aseae . 82% Operators, locomotive cranes in construction work... Ad Flange turners, slab furnacemen, pattern makers, marine leaders, Crane leaders. ....ccccccscccdcese 75 Anglesmiths and blacksmiths, other fires; boltmakers; marine erectors and machinists, first class; fitters, first class; molders and coremakers; cupola tend- ers; loftsmen, second class, and pipe fitters........ 72k Levermen or cranemen, blacksmith shop; drop forg- ers; boiler calkers; class; makers; tank testers; hand chippers and coppersmiths; plumbers; electricians, first joiners; machine men; joiner department; locomotive, cantilever, gantry and other cranes of over three tons; rivet testers; hand rivet- carpenters, first class; house carpenters; wood calkers:; layers-out; metal workers...... .70 67% operators, ers; ship sheet Leaders, furnace department; crane gang leaders.... Acetylene burners and welders, first electric welders, pneumatic chippers and calkers; electricians, fitters, machine men, lumber department: engineers, locomotive; pneumatic riveters; ship carpenters, se Marine erectors riggers; Burners, and polishers; Stage builders; mangle Anglesmiths’ helpers, heavy fires; smiths’; hammer runner, heavy; heavy fires; liner forgers: leader, cleaning department; helpers, furnace department; partment; reamers; planers and searfers: countersinkers: men, second class; GUMOTCOTS 6 .ka dace 7 — Linermen ph selene ee ache i 54 class; second class; second class: ond class... and machinists, bending rollers; second class; marine pressmen, first class....... regulators, first painters cranemen;: erector leaders, fasteners. . 60 second class; class; rollers sitébhewealat “er heaters, black- blacksmiths’ helpers, drillers; planer hands; wiremen; firemen and strikers, furnace de- wood punchers; press Regulators, second class Marine erectors, Grinders; helpers hand and road men, third class; chippers; holders-on;: cranemen bolter Ss: helpers; drop cementers: forgers, reamers, locomotive conductors; hoisting and portable fire- erectors .. 7 i ze Pat Maco ae mace of machine chippers; rane conductors Sawvers hse in bie edie what Burners’ and welders’ helpers; anglesmiths’ helpers, other fires; blacksmiths’ helpers, other fires; bolt- liner forgers’ helpers; boiler shop coppersmiths’ helpers; electrical department helpers; fitting-up department help- helpers; hull engineering department machinists’ helpers; riveters’ helpers; ship shed helpers; metal workers’ helpers.......... 44 solters’ and liners’ helpers; cementers’ helpers; join- ers’ helpers; lumber helpers; mold loft helpers; paint- ers’ helpers; ship carpenters’ helpers... 6 42) rivet heaters, boiler shop..... ane i) Heaters . ; , . 38 makers’ helpers; helpers; helpers; erectors’ ers; foundry helpers; sheet Laborers, In addition to the rates given above, the award also prescribes piece-rate scales for riveters, chippers, calk- ers, drillers, reamers and liner men. W. L. C. A chrome ore facing in the upper part of the end wall of the gas down-take, immediately below the entrance of the gas port thereto, in an open-hearth furnace, is suggested by Thomas S. Blair, Jr., of Chicago, in a patent, U. S. 1,245,555. He states that in practice a furnace of this structure runs indefinitely without any slag accumulation and with no appreciable depreciation of the chrome ore body. February 28, 1918 Patriotic Action of Employees WASHINGTON, Feb. 26.—Realizing the necessity of assisting the government in the operation of the rail- roads on a more efficient basis, and to meet the present emergency in the repairing of locomotives, the shop employees of the principal railroad systems of the country, acting through A. O. Wharton, president, railway employees’ department, American Federation of Labor, and the international officers representing the machinists, boiler makers, blacksmiths, carmen, sheet-metal workers, electrical workers and apprentices and helpers have patriotically agreed to the following ‘hanges in reference to working conditions: 1. The hours of labor in shops and roundhouses to be governed by the necessities as indicated by the general condi tion of equipment. At me shift shops and roundhouses now which totals less than working 70 hours per week, an in- rease, preferablg on a 7-day basis, may be made. Where iesired, working hours may be so arranged that men will be released at 4 p. m. on one day each week. Existing work- ng agreements to govern the t} rate, subject to the action of Railroad Wage Commission 2. All apprentices who have may be served three years promoted to mechanics and paid the going rate of that position. Such apprentices to be right of practical experience on work of their respective trades to which they had not been advanced during the three- ear period 3. Helpers in wages for promoted given the their respective trades who have had five promoted to classification they to receive mechanics’ opportunity to learn all branches of the ‘uly authorized committeeman of trade in each shop overed by shall be consulted, and mutual under- promoting helpers, and the ratio of helpers to be promoted, to the number of mechanics, in any me trade in shall not exceed 20 per cent rhe international! officers and general chairmen of each trade on each road covered by agreements shall be omplete record of the men promoted 4. Mechanics applying for uch employment for any form the work vr more years’ experience may be f mechanics ; rate and be given trade. The each agreement standing arrived at in any one shop, furnished a employment cause will not be denied other than inability to per- this preference rule to be in effect as long as ree-year apprentices or promoted mechanics’ helpers are employed at rates 5. Where a reduction is made in the force of mechanics promoted helpers in accordance with their seniority shall be set back first; then advanced apprentices; no mechanics to be laid off until all such promoted helpers and apprentices have been set back 6. The emergency of the war promotions above referred to are to meet an caused by the war and shall cease at the close In appreciation of the patriotic action of the shop employees, Director General McAdoo has officially pro- mulgated the above agreement and has thanked Presi- dent Wharton as the official representative of the workmen. Cutler-Hammer Opens Washington Office A Washington office has been established by the Cutler-Hammer Mfg. Co. H. W. Knowles of the New York office has been put in charge and the office is to remain at the Capital for the period of the war. Mr. Knowles entered the service of the company shortly after being graduated from Cornell University in 1912. He spent nearly five years in the shops, engineering department and sales department of the company at Milwaukee, and since May has been identified with the New York district office in the Hudson Terminal Build- ing. The Washington headquarters will be at the Bradford, Eighteenth and K Streets. The Ranken School of Mechanical Trades at St. Louis, by arrangement with the United States Govern- ment, has undertaken the training of aviation mechan- ics in squads of 250, who are to be given a four weeks’ course and then transferred to other points for other training. The first squad of 250 is now undergoing the course and has been quartered close to the school in a hotel commandeered for the purpose, where the kept under military discipline while struction. men are taking in- THE IRON AGE 553 A Special Tool Steel Heating Furnace For heat treating carbon and tungsten steel tools of every description a rather interesting furnace has been patented by W. R. Bennett of the Bennett Metal Treating Co., Elmwood, Conn. It is designed as a sub- stitute for the three separate units required to preheat Preheating, High Heating and Drawing the Temper of Stee Tools Car se Accomplished in a Single Special Furnace Instead of Three Separate Units the steel to about 1500 deg. Fahr., removing the stee! to another furnace heated to a temperature of between 2200 and 2350 deg. and finally quenching or cooling from the high temperature, and drawing the temper by an oil or lead bath or dry heat. In this new furnace which is known as the Triad the three steps can be ac- complished simultaneously with the use of a burner employing either fuel oil or gas. The furnace is cylindrical in shape, a feature of design which is relied upon to insure uniform temper atures and the elimination of cold corners, and operates with a single burner which is not built into the furnace. There are three chambers, the lowest one for hardening, the intermediate one for preheating, and the top one for drawing the temper. The temperatures in both the intermediate and the lower compartments are deter mined by a pyrometer and a thermometer is employed to determine the drawing temperature in the top division This is controlled by an air inlet from the main ai supply line and is operated by a valve and mercury air gage. It is pointed out that both the intermediats and the lower chambers have a reducing atmosphere, thus preventing pitting or scaling of the stee] that is being heated. The furnace which is operated by one man will han dle milling or forming cutters up to 4 in. in diamete and 10 in. long. The time required to bring the lowe) compartment to the proper hardening temperature fron a cold start is 10 min. when tool steel js being treated and 20 min. with high-speed The temperaturs can be increased from the preheating one of 1500 deg to 2250 deg. in a short space of time. single steel. American Institute of Mining Engineers Erosion of Guns and Steel Rail Fissures Dis- cussed at February Meeting — Steel Fusion Welds and Copper in Steel—Employment Problems were the two most important topics discussed at the iron and steel sessions of the 116th meeting of the American Institute of Mining Engineers in New York last week, Feb. 18 to 21. The meeting this year was no exception to its predecessors in the importance and value of the steel papers presented and discussed. While not so many papers were scheduled as on former occasions, the attendance was fully as good despite the war and the discussions were full of interest. It was an unusual occurrence, however, that so many written discussions were presented and read. These always fail to instill the interest that the oral effort brings out. G« erosion and transverse fissures in steel rails Erosion of Large Guns Hudson Maxim, chairman of the Committee on Ord- nance and Explosives of the U. S. Naval Consulting Board, presented in abstract Dr. Henry M. Howe’s paper on “The Erosion of Guns.” A synopsis of this voluminous paper was published in THE IRON AGE, Feb. 7, 1918. It is generally regarded as the most important contribution on this subject ever published. Mr. Maxim, in presenting in his own words the sig- nificant parts of Dr. Howe’s paper, interspersed the abstract with comments of his own. In his opinion, gun erosion, especially in large caliber guns, is the most important problem confronting ordnance experts. The Navy has worked many years on it, he said, but there was much yet to be accomplished. Early in the war i