The Iron Age 1921-06-30: Vol 107 Iss 26

ESTABLISHED 1855 VOL, 107: Ne 26 Routing of Material Feature of Plant Youngstown Pressed Steel Co. Introduces Tunnels Under New Shops to Avoid Con- gestion of Traffic—Other Operating Economies BY F. L. will be handled in the new plant of the Youngs- town Pressed Steel Co., Warren, Ohio, for the manufacture of steel stampings, prime importance attaches in the layout to the routing of material. () wit: to the large volume of material that PRENTISS general rule the movement of material on the press shop floor will be in a forward direction and “back- tracking” will be done in the tunnels. The plant includes a jobbing press shop for making pressed steel parts for automobiles and for The View from the Air Has Been Made to Serve The plant is so designed that “back-tracking” of material is eliminated to as large an extent as pos- sible. An outstanding feature is the provision of tunnels under the press shop floors for handling both product and scrap in order to reduce trucking on the floor. By the use of tunnels one-half of the traffic is diverted from the press shop floors and congestion around the presses is avoided. As a by Means of the Lettering as a Plan of the Works the manufacture of other sheet metal parts, also a fireproofing material department in which various products for the building trades are manufactured. These include expanded metal, corner bead, cold formed channels, etc. The plant has a total capacity of 3500 tons per month and is located on a 40-acre site on the main line of the Erie Railroad, with close connection to the Pennsylvania and Baltimore & 1741 re 1742 THE IRON AGE The Receiving Department Adjoins and Is Located at Right Raw material loaded from the depressed track on th June 30, 1921 Angles to the Press Shops and Other Production Departments Large floor space provides for separate piles of sheets for each individual order Ohio railroads. It is so designed that additional units:can be added in conformity with the general plan. The plant, 532 x 562 ft., is laid out nearly in the form of a square, and occupies 7 acres, of which five and one-third acres are under roof in connected buildings. There are five main buildings. On one side there is a receiving building extending the length of the plant, 80 x 562 ft., into which raw material is delivered. At right angles to this, at one end, is the light press shop, and adjoining and connected to this is the heavy press shop. Each of these buildings is 80 x 450 ft. Adjoining the oppo- site end of the receiving department are two con- nected buildings, similar in size to the press shops. One of these is the channel shop and the other the expanded metal shop. With this arrangement there are four parallel connected manufacturing build- ings that connect with the receiving building at one end, leaving a space 240 ft. wide between the press shops and manufacturing department. In parallel line with the receiving building, at the opposite ends of the four production shops is a shipping platform that extends the length of the plant through the lower end of the two main sec- tions, and has a connecting link in the form of a covered track shed between the buildings, providing a shipping platform 562 ft. long, or space for 14 railroad cars. The shipping platform is inclosed with rolling lift doors at each end. As arranged the plant is served with two main railroad sidings running parallel, one extending the length of the receiving department on one side, and the other extending along the inclosed shipping platform on the opposite side. The tracks are de- pressed in both the receiving and shipping depart- ments. The plant layout allows for a court in the center, approximately 240 x 450 ft. This is partly occu- pied by the pickling department, 50 x 200 ft. adjoin- ing the receiving department, and at the center by three interconnected maintenance buildings, each 80 x 112 ft. In these are located the machine shop. store room, die storage room, millwright depart- ment and factory offices, bringing the maintenance departments in a central location in respect to all manufacturing departments. Features of the buildings include unusually good lighting facilities, both daylight and artificial, ven- tilation, and a forced hot water heating system. The buildings are of steel with Pond monitor roof construction and Truscon steel sash fenestration. This type was adopted to provide adequate ventila- tion. The press shops are 31 ft. and the channel and expanded metal departments 21 ft. from the floor to the bottom chords of the roof trusses. The windows are glazed with %-in. wire-ribbed glass in the monitors, and 4%-in. factory-ribbed glass in the side walls. It has been found that production falls off ma- terially during night operations in a press shop that is not well lighted. To keep night production as near maximum as possible, and to safeguard press operators, a high artificial illumination is provided with over 100 per cent more foot candle power than is required by the Ohio Factory Code. Diffused lighting is secured with Nitrogen Mazda lamps located below the roof trusses 30 ft. above the floor in the press shops and 20 ft. above the floor in the fireproofing departments. In the former there are three rows of 500-watt lamps across the 80-ft. bays, and in the latter, four rows of 300-watt lamps. The roof is gypsum cast in place. With this type a lighter steel frame structure could be used than would be necessary for buildings carrying a heavier roof. The building columns are i2-in. Bethlehem H_ sections, with 12-in. Bethlehem I beams, supporting the crane runways. Standard- ization was followed in the building construction, all the buildings having the same dimensions for spans, trusses and column centers. All raw material goes into the receiving build- t fr x g SURE Ao Tes June 30, 1921 View Down the Heavy Press Shop Showing in the Foregroun with the Tunnels Beneath. With the use of the tunnel, back tracking on the flo« presse ing and is unloaded from cars with a 10-ton Shaw electric traveling crane. This building was made large enough to provide ample storage room so that piles of sheet steel for each individual order can be kept separate on the floor, avoiding the ne- cessity of moving part of a pile to secure stock that might be at the bottom. The entire width of the building, except that occupied by the railroad track and a small amount of machinery equipment on one side, is used for storing the stock. This depart- ment is equipped with shears for cutting the stock, and a scrap baler will also be installed. The stamping departments are equipped with various types of presses ranging in size from 3 in. to 17 in., the largest having a 300,000-lb. ram pres- sure for forming heavy truck brake drums, car wheels and other heavy stampings ranging from 14, in. to % in. in thickness. In the light stamping department the presses are located in two rows, one row in the center of the building and the other along the inner columns. Along the outer wall is the assembling department, carpenter shop and employment office. In the heavy press shop there are two rows of presses, one on each side, with a 20-ft. space from the front of the press to the wall. Each press department is served by a 10-ton Shaw crane. There are two tunnels under the heavy press shop, one being located directly in front of each line of heavy presses, and extending nearly the length of the shop. The tunnels are of concrete, 11 ft. wide and 7 ft. high, and are built to carry a load of 3000 lb. per sq. ft. The tunnels and press foundations are so constructed that the front of the press is supported on the outside wall of the tunnel. An opening is provided in each press foun- dation which forms a recess in the tunnel in which tote boxes are placed for handling parts or scrap which pass from the press through an opening be- neath into the tote box. In the case of a punching operation the scrap drops through, but if it is a THE IRON AGE 1743 1 One of the Elevat S ft That Connect the Press Room avoided drawing or a blanking operation the part drops into the tote box. The tunnels will be used principally for blank- ing and drawing work, the blank or part passing through into the tote box, in which they will either be returned by hand or storage battery elevating platform trucks, to the press room floor and de- posited at the side of a press for the next opera- tion, or go through the tunnel to the pickling de- partment for pickling and annealing operations. Two elevators will be installed connecting the tun- nel with the press shop floor, and another elevator will connect the tunnel with the pickling depart- ment. From the pickling room the material will be trucked back to the floor of the press shop. The tunnels not only will eliminate traffic on the floor, but reduce handling of boxes of stampings in process of manufacture from under the presses, thus preventing congestion around the presses. Only two sets of boxes are required at a press dur- ing a blanking operation, one set for stock and the other for scrap. Generally stock will be routed from the receiving room to the shears in that de- partment, then to the presses, and after such press and pickling and annealing operations as may be required to convert the blank into a finished stamp- ing, on to the assembling, inspection and shipping departments. However, the stock may go first to the pickling department and then back to the shears, and then on to the press department. The inspec- tion department occupies space across the plant in front of the shipping department, so that it is im- possible for a stamping to get through into the shipping room without first passing the inspectors. All the large presses are driven by individual motors with gear sets, and the smaller in groups of 8 from line shafts operated by chain drive from motors are located in pits just beneath the floor. Some of the smaller presses are driven from a coun- tershaft attached to the columns. No electric motor controllers are placed on the 1744 THE IRON AGE June 30, 1921 An Example of Aisle Demarcation Is Shown in the View of the Light Press Shop floor of the shops but are located either in the tun- nels in groups for the adjacent presses, or on a controller bridge 15 ft. above the floors, where they are in charge of an electrician, where they are not in danger of being tampered with by other em- ployees. Magnetic control is provided with push button switches at the presses. The controllers are equipped with overhead relays and with automatic cutouts. General Electric equipment is used throughout with the exception of the transformers, which were supplied by the Packard Electric Co., Warren. The main distributing switchboards for light and power are centrally located, there being two switchboards and separate transformers, one for each department. The pickling department in the inner court is connected with the other buildings by covered run- ways, one to the receiving department, one to the press departments, in addition to’the tunnel, and two to the fireproofing departments. The building occupied by the pickling department has a special type of monitor, provided with baffles instead of louvres so that fumes and smoke will pass out freely and at the same time protect the interior from rain. This department is equipped with five tumbling barrels, for taking the scale and sharp edges off small stampings, a Mesta pickling ma- chine, three oil-fired annealing furnaces, and a Niagara washing machine. The exhaust steam from the pickling machine will be utilized in heat- ing the pickling room. This will pass through the heating coils and the air, drawn around the coils by means of a _ suction fan, will be circulated through the room. This heat distributed around the floor will also aid in carrying the fumes up to the roof. In summer time when heat is not re- quired a fan may be used to circulate fresh air into the room and thus help ventilation. Stock made into expanded metal is routed di- rectly from the receiving building to the pickling department and then to the storage and shipping flocr at the lower end, the movement being in a straight line. Stock for the channel shop also goes in a straight line from the receiving department to the machines in the fabricating shop and on to the stock and shipping departments. As previously pointed out the maintenance de- partments are centrally located in the court between the manufacturing buildings, with which they are connected, this arrangement making the machine shop, die storage and tool departments and store- room convenient to reach from all parts of the plant. The die storage department and the section of the machine shop occupied by the larger machines will be served by an overhead crane. One feature of the arrangement of the plant is a wide aisle providing a driveway for trucks that extends straight across the plant at the center, through both press shops and then through the center of the maintenance building, between the machine shop on one side and the die storage department, stock room, etc., on the other side, and on in to the warerooms of the fireproofing material departments. There are chalked aisles in front of each row of machines in the press departments. . All partitions are of expanded metal, so that the superintendent can get a clear view of all parts of the plant, with the exception of the experimental shop and shop offices which have solid inclosures. Expanded metal is also used for gear guards. Adequate toilet room facilities are provided, located in pressed sheet metal inclosures 6 x 22 ft. between the building columns. Along the outside of these inclosures on each side are wash basins with spray heads over each basin. A Taco heater is located over each unit for supplying hot water, which is heated at each unit by exhaust steam. The plant is heated by a forced hot water sys- tem. The heating coils, arranged in virtually con- tinuous series, serve as mains so that there are practically no main supply lines in the building. The power house is located a short distance from the plant, with which it is connected by a tunnel, PRCT : tc chee eed an AONE Es Gets TEL NTE SIT Gy 2A RET S Oe LEP SLE PLONE IOI HET A AEN June 30, 1921 Recesses on the Side of the Tunnel Provide for Tote Boxes THE IRON AGE 1745 into Which Work Drops from the Machines Above At the extreme left is one of the controllers for the press motors in which the flow and return pipes for the heating system are carried. This permits the control of the heating from the power house and prevents losses due to overheating and the opening of win- dows instead of the turning off of the radiators by workmen. The system also permits almost the en- tire elimination of valves. Another reason for the adoption of this system is that if for some reason commercial power is not available, turbo generators can be installed and the exhaust steam from the turbines can be utilized for heating or the turbines can be run condensing. Hot water is circulated through the system by two turbine driven centrifugal pumps. In the power house are located two 300-hp. Sterling boilers, circulating pumps, air compressor, main switch- board and other equipment. The engineering work in connection with the hot water system was done by the McCann-Harrison Co., Cleveland, and the system was installed by the Grinnell company. Fuel oil, benzine and acid are stored in 12,000 gal. tanks outside the plant. Acid flows by gravity to the pickling shop. The organization of the Youngstown Pressed Steel Co. and the building of the plant resulted from the purchase in 1917 of the Youngstown Iron & Steel Co. by the Sharon Steel Hoop Co. The Youngstown company operated a pressed steel de- partment and both the Sharon and Youngstow. companies operated small departments for fabricat- ing building materials. After the Sharon com- pany took over the Youngstown plant, it was de- cided to merge all of the fabricating departments and sell them to an entirely new company. Accord- ingly the Youngstown Pressed Steel Co. was in- corporated and Warren was selected as the loca- tion of the new plant. The A. H. Petersen Mfg. Co., Milwaukee, Wis., has discontinued the manufacture of tools and dies and will devote its entire plant to the output of “hole shooter” portable electric drills and other automotive devices. DETROIT-WINDSOR BRIDGE Proposed Structure Will Require 80,000 Tons of Steel Shapes Detroit, June 25.—According to the announcement of Charles Evan Fowler of New York, engineer in charge of the proposed Detroit-Windsor bridge, the bridge will be an actuality by 1926. Mr. Fowler says that the bridge financing has virtually been completed, and that al lother arrangements are so far along that little, if any, doubt is left that it will go through. The bridge will be of the suspension type, closely resembling the Williamsburg bridge, New York. It will span the river at a point where the channel is nar- rowest, and will be 1805 ft. long, 110 ft. above the water at the highest point in the span, and will be, accord- ing to Mr. Fowler, the longest and heaviest bridge in the world. The towers from which the supporting cables will be strung will be 150 ft. higher than the highest build- ing in Detroit, or approximately 400 ft. high. Eight cables, consisting of 10,000 wires each and capable of sustaining a strain of 240,000 lb. to the sq. in., will be strung, one wire at a time, until the eight cables are completed, and wound with additional wire. In other words, there will be, in the eight big cables, 50,000 miles of wire, quite enough to tie a double hitch around the world. Besides the cables, the bridge structure will require 80,000 tons of steel, many tons of concrete and other materials. The wire will be furnished by the John A. Roebling Sons’ Co., Trenton, N. J., which sup- plied the cables for the suspension bridges over the East River in New York. As an outcome of a recent meeting at the Bureau of Standards, Washington, a conference was held at Asbury Park on the subject of corrosion of metals. The best methods for co-operative research on corrosion were considered. The recent meeting at the bureau was held by the advisory committee on non-ferrous alloys. It was the sense of the committee that the corrosion of metals was the most important point that had been discussed and should receive further attention. 1746 THE IRON AGE Motor Drive for Drop Hammers The application of individual motor drive for ma- chine tools has been extended by the General Electric Co. to the equipment of several board drop hammers in their Schenectady works. The drive was originally ap- plied as an experiment to a 300-lb. hammer, and prov- ing successful, has been expanded to include hammers of 600, 1500 and 2500-lb. sizes. The design is the same in all cases, except for variations made necessary by the increased weight of the hammer. The only basic change since the first ones were installed is the use of induction instead of direct current motors for the drive. As shown in the accompanying illustration the Length of Drop Is Controlled by An Adjustab'e Trigger on the Frame Coming in Contact with a Stud on the Hamme! whole outfit consists of two towers, one composing the hammer mechanism proper and the other serving to support the other end of the platform carrying the mo- tor, gears, etc. A 15-hp., 800-r.p.m., 40-cycle induction motor is directly coupled to a shaft carrying one loose and one keyed pinion and a flywheel on the extreme end. The flywheel serves to take the initial peak load off the motor when the hammer is drawn up. The keyed pinion engages two beveled gears which are direct con- nected to two pulley wheels, the loose pinion acting as a spacer on the opposite side of the bevel gears. This arrangement of gears causes the two pulleys to revolve in opposite directions and these are belted to pulleys on the shafts of the rollers which, when forced together raise the hammer. The gearing is enclosed and im- mersed in oil. The total speed reduction through gears and pulleys is 8 to 1. Once the motor is started it runs continuously, op- eration of the hammer being through a treadle control which separates the rollers and lets the hammers down. The length of the drop is controlled by an adjustable trigger on the hammer frame which comes in contact with a wooden stud on the hammer. Repeated blows can be obtained automatically by this arrangement, as long as the treadle is depressed. The force of the blow cannot be regulated as it is due entirely to gravity. Among the advantages afforded by the individual motor drive for hammers of this type may be mentioned the possibility of running a crane directly over the hammers, which was impossible with the shaft drive. The motor drive also removes the necessity for a sys- June 30, 1921 tem of braces, both for the shaft and the hammer frame, to maintain proper alinement. The hammer can be placed wherever it is most convenient to furnaces, shears, etc. It is also claimed that the driving pulleys do not get out of alinement owing to vibration of the hammer or to other causes. The platform carrying the motors, gears, etc., is supported by two heavy wooden bolsters which give it a certain amount of resiliency and is free to shift slightly horizontally at the tower end. Therefore the belts tend to hold it in alinement and the driving mechanism is free from vibration due to the hammer. Coal-Washing Problems WASHINGTON, June 28.—Carl A. Wendell, New York, has been appointed consulting engineer of the United States Bureau of Mines in matters relating to coal washing and coal preparation. Mr. Wendell. who has specialized in coal washing problems in this country since 1903, was in charge of the coal washing investi- gations of the United States Steel Corporation at Joliet, Ill., from 1908 to 1913 and since the latter year has given his time to such matters in a general consulting capacity. After July 1, he will visit several Eastern stations of the Bureau of Mines, and subsequently will advise with Bureau officials as to a program for further devel- opment work in investigation and improvement of coal preparation methods. The principal work of the Bureau along this line is being conducted at the Middle West station at Urbana, Ill., and at the Northwest station at Seattle, Wash. Research is being carried on at Urbana, using the-laboratory of the University of Illinois, in order to assist in the development of successful methods for cleaning high sulphur coals, particularly coals of the Central Western field, and to render them suitable for gas manufacture and coking. Lower Bids on Ships WASHINGTON, June 28.—Out of a list of 25 bidders, the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Me., submitted the low- est figures and probably will be awarded the contract for building five light vessels for the Lighthouse Serv- ice, Department of Commerce. The Bath company is to construct the five vessels for $920,000, or $184,000 each. This is at the rate of $347 per construction weight ton. Unusual interest was manifested in the bids because of the present condition of the shipbuild- ing industry and was evident by the number of bidders. To illustrate the change in shipbuilding conditions in the United States, the commissioner of lighthouses has pointed out that at the previous opening of bids for a vessel, Aug. 1, 1919, only two bids were received and the lowest was $396,750 for one vessel, somewhat larger than any of the five vessels to be built by the Bath Iron Works, but at the rate of $692 per construction weight ton. The five light vessels are to replace old ones, Exports Under Webb-Pomerene Act WASHINGTON, June 28.—Steel, copper and cement to the value of $127,000,000 were exported in 1920 by cor- porations organized under the Webb-Pomerene act, ac- cording to a statement issued by the Federal Trade Commission. The value of locomotives, machinery, pipes and valves, and foundry equipment, including wood pipe and tool handles, is estimated at more than $25,- 000,000. Textile machinery was exported chiefly to France, Spain and Italy. Large orders for locomotives are noted for Belgium and Roumania. The statement does not separate the various products to show the value of exports, whose total by associations under this act amounted to $221,000,000 in 1920. There is only one steel organization formed under this law, the Con- solidated Steel Corporation. Further cuts have been made in the working forces of the Fore River Works, Quincy, Mass., Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. Work on the many million dollars’ worth of Government work on the books of this sub- sidiary has been held back by the authorities at Wash- ington because of lack of funds. oe ei c Whitaker-Glessner Continuous Mill For Making Sheet Bars or Billets—Includes Edging Rolls—Approach Table with Skewed V-Groove country has been recently put in operation at the O« of the most modern continuous mills in the Portsmouth plant of the Whitaker-Glessner Co. By this addition the company has considerably in- creased its production of finished steel and is now in a position to expand its plant further, which normally employs some 5000 men. The mill was built by the Morgan Construction Co., Worcester, Mass., and consists of six stands of 18-in. roughing and finishing rolls together with two edging Rollers for Centering Blooms roller 3 in. deep with sides sloping at 45 deg. When the bloom is delivered to this table, it clings to the side guard while traveling, but just before it is cropped by the preliminary shear, the table is reversed and the bloom travels laterally across to the center, where it drops into the V groove and is ready for the first pass. All of the table gears are cut and run in oil and Hyatt bearings are used. The mill proper is driven by a 5000-hp. 3-phase 60-cycle 2200-volt motor of 440 r.p.m., which was built Fig. 1—The Continuous Mill Assembled for Rolling Sheet Bars mills, located respectively before the first and third roughing passes. Provision is made for drawing loops between each pass when rolling sheet bars; and by use of the edging rolls, 10-lb. sheet bars may be rolled, with good edges and of accurate weight, from slabs 12 in. wide and 2% in. thick, without having to use tongue and groove passes. The shoes are arranged so that each mill may be lifted off separately and replaced with mills assembled, ready for rolling blooms 4 in. square to billets 1% in. square—twisting guides being placed between each alternate pair of rolls. The capacity of the mill is at present limited in production by the blooming mill, but it is capable of producing 40,000 tons of 10-lb. sheet bars per month. Fig. 1 shows the mill assembled for rolling sheet bars. In the upper left-hand corner may be seen the skew approach table, which was built by the Wheeling Mold & Foundry Co.; this table is provided with rollers 14 in. in diameter, which are set at an angle with the center line of the table. This arrangement enables the operator to center the blooms quickly on the table ready for the first pass, as V grooves are cut in each by the General Electric Co. Both the motor and the control are protected by a brick inclosure with a re- movable roof, thus to allow the use of overhead mill crane while making repairs. The main drive was built by the Woodard Machine Co., Wooster, Ohio, and consists of a double helical pinion and gear unit, which reduces the speed from 440 to 80 r.p.m. The forged steel pinion is cut integral with the shaft, while the gear is of cast steel with split hubs held tegether with shrink rings. The gear cover is of cast iron made tight to permit the gears to run in oil, and the bearings are connected with a Bowser gravity feed oiling system, which lubricates all the mill bearings and mill pinions, these being built for oil lubrication only. In the foreground may be seen an Edward-Carroll flying shear, which operates by steam. Adjustment of the shear trip can be made on the shear table so that multiples of any desired length of sheet bar can be cut. Fig. 2 shows the end of the shear table elevated ‘o deliver sheet bars to the pinch rolls, which in turn deliver them to a removable bar piler shown in Fig. 2. 1747 a ae Se IRON AGE June 30, 1921 Fig. 2—Shear Table Elevated to Deliver Sheet Bars to the Pinch Rolls Here the sheet bars are stacked approximately 24 in. which group the billets of approximately 30 ft. lengths high and are then removed by a lifting beam with six and deliver them by means of a straight edge to the hooks attached to the overhead crane, which conveys cooling bed, which was also built by the Morgan Con- them to the cooling bed. When rolling billets, the end struction Co. This bed is 44 ft. wide and 80 ft. long of the shear approach table is lowered level with the and built of heavy rolled steel sections capped with skew assembling table, from which the bar piler has “ast iron wearing plates. Billets are pushed across been removed. This table has a capacity of 8000 lb. this bed by means of tilting go-devils, placed every of 1%-in. billets and is provided with skewed rollers 6 ft., and moving at a speed of 188 ft. per minute to indeed Cy Ie ? Fig. 3—Removable Bar Piler to Which the Pinch Rolls Deliver the Sheet Bars June 30, 1921 THE IRON AGE 1749 a piling bin located in the ad- joining building, in which the billets are weighed and then transferred to storage. The 18-in. mill building is 103 ft. 4 in. wide by 717 ft. long. In the lower end are located the sheet bar shears and picklers, which conveniently serve the furnace aisle of the sheet mill building. In order to provide power to drive this mill and to take care of contemplated extensions, a 10,000-kw. turbogenerator, built by the Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co., was installed, together with two Stirling boilers of 823 hp. capacity equipped with Westinghouse underfeed stokers. All of the necessary piping was supplied by the American Foun- dry & Construction Co., Pitts- burgh, and the pipe covering by the H. W. Johns-Manville Co. 10,000-Kw JOHN FRITZ MEDALIST Presentation to Sir Robert A. Hadfield in Lon- don This Week A feature of the engineering conference of the In- stitution of Civil Engineers at its opening session in London, June 29, was the presentation of the John Fritz medal to Sir Robert A. Hadfield, Bt., D.Sc., D.Met., F.R.S. As has already been told in these columns, a deputation from the four national societies of civil, min- ing and metallurgical, mechanical and electrical en- gineers of the United States crossed the ocean recently to make, in connection with the presentation to Sir Robert Hadfield, formal expression of “the obligation which the United States and the world generally owe to the engineers of Great Britain for the part they played in winning the war.” At the annual meeting of the John Fritz Medal Board of Award held Jan. 21, 1921, Sir Robert was unanimously chosen the medalist for the year 1920, the medal being awarded to him for the invention of man- ganese steel. The deputation appointed to make the presentation in London consisted of Ambrose Swasey, chairman of the John Fritz Board of Award; Dr. Ira N. Hollis, president Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Charles T. Main, of the American Society of Civil En- gineers; Dr. F. B. Jewett, of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers; Charles F. Rand, of the John Fritz Board of Award and chairman of the Engineer- ing Foundation; Christopher R. Corning and Col. Arthur S. Dwight, representing the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, and John R. Freeman, past president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Sir Robert Hadfield is one of the best known of British metallurgists and steel manufacturers and no man has had greater prominence in recent years in the scientific and engineering societies of Great Britain. He was Master Cutler of Sheffield in 1899, president of the Iron and Steel Institute 1905-1907, of the Society of British Gas Engineers 1917-1918, of the British Com- mercial Gas Association 1919-1920, and of the Faraday Society 1914-1920. Numerous medals have been awarded to him, chiefly for his discoveries in alloy steels, particularly the invention of manganese steel, the Bessemer gold medal being awarded to him in 1904. Four other awards were made by the Institute of Civil Engineers. Previous awards in the United States were of the John Scott medal and premium and the Elliott- Crescent gold medal, both by the Franklin Institute. In France three gold medals were awarded him by the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry. Ss ro ~ prea a - ees 5 Fig Power Is Supplied from a Turbogenerator Robert A. Hadfield was born at Sheffield, Nov. 29, 1859, and entered the laboratory at his father’s works in Sheffield in 1876. His work in metallurgy includes the discovery and invention of manganese steel in 1882, and later the discovery of low hysteresis steel. He has been chairman and managing director of Hadfields, Ltd., since 1888. His contributions to the proceedings of engineering and scientific societies have been im- portant and voluminous. He has been indefatigable in research and is probably not rivaled in the range of his acquaintance with contemporary literature in iron and steel. His presidential address before the Faraday So- ciety in 1914 on “Advances in the Metallurgy of Iron and Steel” was a notable paper, as was his presidential address before the Iron and Steel Institute in 1905. He has had closer contact with American developments in the iron and steel industry than any of his British con- temporaries. In connection with the award made to him in Lon- don this week Sir Robert Hadfield submitted an ad- dress covering the history of the John Fritz medal, the work of the United Engineering Society in the United States, references to manganese steel and its applica- tion, a general statement concerning his own research work, with a final section dealing with the history and work of the Royal Society. A set of Sir Robert’s en- gineering papers and presidential and other addresses has been made up for transmission to the Engineering Societies Building, New York, to be permanently avail- able for inspection and reference. Joseph G. Butler, Jr., Honored In appreciation of the efforts of Joseph G. Butler, Jr., steel manufacturer of Youngstown, Ohio, in be- half of the community, the Youngstown Federation of Women’s Clubs has presented a bronze tablet of Mr. Butler to the city. It has been placed in the Butler Art Gallery, which Mr. Butler erected and equipped with a collection of paintings at a cost of $600,000. The tablet bears this inscription: “To honor our emi- nent citizen, Joseph G. Butler, Jr., contributor to the advancement of our communal life, liberal patron of the fine arts for the people, the Youngstown Federa- tion of Women’s Clubs places this tablet.” The Federal Trade Commission has changed the time for resumption of hearings in the so-called ferro- manganese anti-dumping case to Tuesday, July 12. It had previously decided to resume them to-day or to- morrow, but the date was changed because the commis- sion is moving its New York office, where the proceed- ings are to be held, from 20 West Thirty-Eighth Street to 105 West Fortieth Street. 1750 New Drill Grinder A new design of drill grinder, automatic in opera- tion and said to produce a specially shaped point of unusual penetrating ability and endurance has been developed by the Oliver Instrument Co., Adrian, Mich. The accompanying illustration shows the general construction. The drill holder is a rotating spindle with a _ hole to receive standard taper sleeves, the nose of the spin- dle being threaded for a chuck for holding straight shank drills up to 1% in. in diam- eter. The spindle is located at an angle to the grinding wheel and is revolved by means of gear- ing. The drill is inserted in the spindle as_ for drilling, the only adjustment re- quired being to set the lip hori- zontally by means of a gage provided for the ss ae . »urpose. The The Grinding Wheel Has an Oscillat P in : . bearing ing Movement, the Grinding Wheel Pid ' 3 - hie Arbor Revolving in Ball Bearings is adjustably mounted ona guide to accom- modate different lengths of drills, the guide being at- tached to a slide which can be moved by a feed screw. The grinding wheel is mounted to give an oscillating movement, the grinding wheel arbor revolving in ball bearings mounted in an oscillating cradle. The cradle also has an axial movement controlled by a cam in the body of the machine. The movements are so related that the wheel traverses the cutting lip of the drill until the point of the drill approaches the periphery of the wheel, the drill remaining stationary. At this point the drill revolves automatically and the wheel moves forward. This motion is said to have the effect of increasing the lip clearance toward the center of the drill and forms the heel clearance, also cutting out the metal in front of that part of the chisel point where the drill lip usually drags. This has the effect of assisting the chisel point to cut rather than rub and is said to greatly increase the penetrating ability of the drill. After the lip is set horizontally against the lip gage the drill is brought in contact with the wheel by turning the feed screw and the wheel oscillates and the drill rotates in contact with the wheel. The drill point is in plain sight of the operator and two, three or four lips may be ground by moving a handle to the proper posi- tion on a segment, with no adjustment necessary for drills of different The machine stops automat- ically in the proper position for setting the drill so that the relative motions of the wheel and drill cannot change. Belt or motor drive may be furnished, the motor being housed in a dust proof compartment in the base, and running at 1750 r.p.m. The machine occupies 20 x 20 in. floor space, its height being 52 in., and the overall length parallel to the slide, 32 in. Mounted in an Oscillating Cradle sizes. The committee on welded rail joints of the Electric Railway Association, realizing that the use of elec- trically welded joints on the tracks of street railroads is becoming quite common and that it is important to know as fully as possible the characteristics of the welded metal, has asked the Bureau of Standards, Washington, to participate in organizing a program of research in connection with tests of various types of welding as related to street railroad practice. THE IRON AGE June 30, 1921 Coke Breeze and Coal as Fuel Tests were recently made by the Bureau of Mines to determine the steaming value of coke breeze as a fuel when mixed with Pittsburgh coal. A No. 60 Smith boiler was used in the test. The fuel burned was a mixture of coke breeze from the by-product ovens of the Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. and Pittsburgh run- of-mine coal, equal weights of each being mixed to- gether before firing. The calorific value of the mix- tures was between 8 and 16 per cent less than that of the coal. Two tests were made with a mixture of a coarser grade of coke breeze and coal, the first of which was run at about 31 per cent of the boiler rating and the second at 71 per cent. With the mixture containing the finer breeze, one test was run at about 34 per cent, and the other at 45 per cent of the boiler rating. The result of the test showed that the mean steam- ing value of the mixture of the coarser coke breeze and coal to be about 80 per cent of that of Pittsburgh lump coal, anthracite and screened coke. At the low rating the mixture of finer coke breeze and coal evapo- rated the water as efficiently as the coarser mixture, but its efficiency fell so rapidly at a slightly increased rating that it is doubtful whether its mean steaming value is more than 70 per cent of Pittsburgh coal over the same range of steaming rate as the range quoted for the coarser mixture. The above figures are only ap- proximate, as the calorific value of both the coal and the coke breeze vary. Smoke density readings showed that the coal emitted nearly three times as much smoke as the coarser coke breeze and coal mixture, at the higher rate of steam- ing, and nearly twice as much at the lower rate. At the lower rate the finer coke breeze and coal mixture emitted about one-fourth less smoke than the coal and about one-third more than the coarser coke breeze and coal. At the 45 per cent rating it emitted 16 per cent less smoke than at the lower rating. Iron and Steel Production in Canada Statistics of the production of iron and steel in Canada for the month of March, just issued by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Ottawa, show an increase in pig iron and a decrease in steel ingots and castings. The total output of pig iron in March was 60,443 tons compared with 57,711 tons in February, and 41,000 tons in January last. At the end of March, only five fur- naces were active and 15 idle. The production of steel ingots and castings was 53,050 gross tons in March, compared with 58,547 in February and 40,000 in Janu- ary. The Bureau of Statistics says: “Very little com- ment of an encouraging character can be made on the iron and steel situation in Canada at the present time. It seems nevertheless true that if the present uncer- tainty continues for an indefinite period, the accumu- lated needs of the steel-working and construction indus- tries may become such as to create better market conditions for the steel trade.” At the present time, however, conditions in the pig iron and iron and steel markets of the Dominion are growing worse instead of improving. Railroad Building in Belgian Congo WASHINGTON, June 28.—Considerable railroad con- struction and development in the Belgian Congo is planned for the near future, according to a report made to the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. The road from Matadi to Leopoldville is to be reconstructed at a cost of 10,000,000 francs. The Katanga railroad is to be extended northward from Bukama to a less ob- structed portion of the Lualaba River at a cost of 30,- 000,000 francs and 20,000,000 francs are to be expended on the construction of the first Belgian portion of the Benguella railroad. The port of Bomba and the May- umber road will be improved at a cost of 8,000,000 francs, while 25,000,000 francs will be devoted to the purchase of railroad material for the Great Lakes rail- road. James A. Campbell Calls for Quick Action President of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. Predicts Men Out of Work Will Become Bolsheviki Unless Something Is Done—Fears Return to Government Ownership of Railroads town Sheet & Tube Co., and A. E. Adams, president First National Bank and _ vice- president of the Electric Alloy Steel Co., Youngs- town, Ohio, were the principal speakers June 21 at the regular monthly meeting of the Pittsburgh Pur- chasing Agents’ Association. The association con- ducted a special factory visitation trip to the General Fireproofing Co. and the Republic Rubber Corporation during the day. About 200 members participated, trav- eling between Youngstown and Pittsburgh on a special train via the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad. Purchasing agents of Youngstown industrial com- panies arranged the entertainment, among them S. H. Hedges, Republic Iron & Steel Co.; C. Y. Farrell, Gen- eral Fireproofing Co.; Carl A. Ilgenfritz, Brier Hill Steel Co.; F. J. Laskey, Newton Steel Co.; R. J. Pike, Pennsylvania-Ohio Electric Co. and J. R. Stroh, Brier Hill Steel Co. Officers of the association are G. W. Sanborn, United Engineering & Foundry Co., president; S. E. VanVranken, Locomotive Stoker Co., first vice- president; J. E. Stauffer, A. M. Byers Co., second vice- president; W. G. Scott, R. D. Nuttall Co., third vice- president; H. Llewellyn, Pittsburgh Steel Products Co., treasurer and Frank T. Adams, Carbo-Hydrogen Co., secretary. P' tower “She JAMES A. CAMPBELL, Youngs- Business Situation Serious Mr. Campbell stated that the business situation was now more serious than anyone had thought it would be several months ago and pointed out the necessity of definite action if it is to be improved. He said the coun- try would gradually right itself, but that this would take two, three or four years “if we let it work out its own way. Men out of work will turn bolshevik in seek- ing for a change unless something is done in the mean- time. Nothing will help but a quick adjustment of wages and freight rates. If we delay we are doing great injustice to ourselves and to our workers who are walking the streets. We may get Government owner- ship of the railroads if the situation doesn’t improve.” He stated that he had wired the President opposing the Freylinghuysen coal stabilization bill and urging Mr. Harding’s own slogan of “less government in business and more business in government.” President Sanborn of the association later informed the audience that the organization had adopted resolutions against the Freylinghuysen bill, which had been communicated to Congress. Competing with Europe Mr. Campbell emphasized the absence of foreign trade, the improbability of any revival in that quarter for some time and the handicaps being imposed upon American industry by competing with low-priced labor in Europe. “In Germany and France to-day common labor is being paid 10 to 12c. per hr. and skilled labor 15c. Germany is starting to get on her feet and is try- ing to do her best to get into the world market. We can’t hope to compete with German steel makers on the pres- ent basis of costs and in a measure we don’t want to. We have to give them a start. I would be sorry to see wages lowered to the continental standard in America. At the same time, I am opposed to a high tariff wall, which will keep up our present wages and prices. What we want is a fair tariff under which the people can get the benefit of competition to which they are entitled.” In this connection he stated that the Consolidated Steel Corporation recently reported that Germany had offered certain finished steel commodities in Japan at $20 per ton below the lowest American quotation. Reasonable Freight Rates Mr. Campbell said all interests agree that we must have equitable and reasonable freight rates in this 1751 country or business will not be profitable. He insisted that lower freight rates, permitting movement of com- modities over the long hauls in this country and to sea- board points for export at fair charges, are fundamental to any attempt to correct existing conditions. “The farmers are actually on strike,” he stated. “They will not and in many instances cannot buy. A large share of the sales price of the commodities goes to transpor- tation and the minor share to the farmer. The farmer buys 45 per cent of the goods manufactured in the United States and the railroads transport 40 per cent of their total tonnage from the farmer. We must get freight rates reduced on farm products, food and basic commodities before we can get on an equal basis.” Proposed Remedies He proceeded to read parts of a draft of the remedies to be suggested by him and associates to Congress and President Harding. He enumerated the following four items and said others will follow: First—Abolish completely agreements made during Federal control by the Railroad Administration, made up largely of union representatives and interests iden- tified with the railroad unions. Second—Restore to the individual railroads the right to negotiate wages, classification of employees and working conditions. He condemned the present tri- partite control of the railroads by the managers, the in- terstate commerce commission and the labor board. Third—Repeal the Adamson law, defined as a war measure to give more wages to railroad workers and as such a detriment to the equalization process which must be started to revive industry. Fourth—Prevail upon the Government, in settling with the railroads for repayment of advances made during the war for betterments, to fund the amount so that it may be paid in 15 annual installments. Do Away With Labor Board “We can’t start industry until we are on an equal basis,” Mr. Campbell de lared. “Do away with the labor board, which is nothing but a perpetuation of Government control. Give the railroads free hand to settle their disputes with their employees. Railroads should not be forced to pay nationalized wages. It is unfair to them and unfair to industries in the communi- ties they serve. Railroad wages must be governed by conditions in various localities and should not be higher or lower than prevailing wages of industry in com- munities which they serve. It is unjust, unfair and un- equal to pay a railroad laborer $3 or $4 per day in Ala- bama, where the prevailing wage is $1.50 per day, and to pay the same wages in highly congested industrial districts, such as Pittsburgh and Youngstown. “TI believe it is our duty, yours and mine, to shorten the time of the depression by going to the contributory causes and trying to find remedies for them. The quicker we can have a crisis the better. Our men are walking the streets and continued unemployment will make them want a change. Hungry men always want a change. They will turn to bolshevism and jump from the frying pan into the fire. We all know what bolshe- vism has done in Russia. We don’t want it here. Our difficulties would work out in the course of a few years, but we can’t wait, we have to act. 2 “It’s no use ‘pussyfooting’ any longer. It is no use simply knowing where the trouble is ana what the remedies are. Knowledge alone will not help. We have to go to the Government and we have to go to Congress and insist that they act. We have to face the issue squarely. We must have the courage of our convictions. Truth hurts, but so does the knife of the surgeon who saves the life of the sick man. Business (Continued on page 1796) , 1752 THE IRON AGE Motor Driven