The Iron Age 1924-08-07: Vol 114 Iss 6

THE IRON AGE New York, August 7, 1924 ESTABLISHED 1855 VOL. 114, No. 6 New Inland Merchant and Billet Mills Bar Mill Stands Connected with Single Line Shaft—Kraemer Set Drive Largest Yet Built—Hot Bed Will Take Billet from Complete Ingot BY GILBERT L. LACHER 14-in. merchant mill and a 24-in. billet and slab A mill, just completed at Indiana Harbor, Ind., are the first additions to the rolling capacity of the Inland Steel Co. since the war period. Com- plementary to the new mills are four 100-ton basic open-hearth furnaces, also recently finished, which in- in 1916 and 1917. The recent construction of additional open-hearth furnaces and mills is testimony to an in- crease in demand beyond the wartime expansion of the steel industry, as well as to the growing importance of the Chicago district as a center of consumption. Designed and constructed by the Morgan Construc- Broadside Conveyor Serving the Billet Mill Is Tnusually Long—25® Ft.—to Take a Billet from a Complete Ingot. thereby Eliminating Shearing and the Waste from Croppings. To extend the conveyor into the adjacent billet dock it was necessary to support the roof and the crane runways on a truss. Of double construction, this truss showed a deflection of only % in. when supporting all of the overhead cranes, fully loaded crease the steel ingot capacity of the company 18 per cent. The new units are located on the shore of Lake Michigan, in the No. 2 plant, which is separated by three parallel railroads from the original, or No. 1, plant. With the exception of the three blast furnaces and the by-products coke plant, the No. 2 plant has been entirely constructed since 1915. Ten 90-ton open- hearth furnaces and 28, 32 and 40-in. mills were built under the stimulus of war demand, reaching completion 303 tion Co., Worcester, Mass., the merchant mill has an estimated capacity of 12,000 to 14,000 tons of finished steel per month. It is a combination of the continuous and staggered duo-type. Two-high throughout, it con- tains six 18-in. continuous roughing stands and four staggered 14-in. finishing stands. The last four rough- ing stands are tied together in pairs to shorten the runs, while the tables between the first and second and the second and third stands repose on jacks so “ t 7 : F 4 3 304 THE IRON AGE August 7, 1924 Parry me she 9 gr or eee wt ns ne re re a mene ne ees , ee 6 ee ong en nem * . oe a a ow we Path mentite pan gRmaee—s — ; Pa ee me eet EN RI ETE a9 etter ee hee tee tyes . ee ee Re pase en eras. Cae eee - oe vr =r ee A SN eon ri Ae EO nd nom, ~ ~ . gor a ee ee ee —_ Ne OA EL EL ET ACTS. —* ee aay = #4 Le as > wns Seve Rata 6 that they may be adjusted for the rolls. Steel is transferred from the last stand of the roughing mill to the first stand of the 14-in. mill by a “Y” skew roll table which delivers it into proper position for the next pass. The remaining passes are connected with the same type of table, but of progressively greater length to take care of the growing length of the rolled bar. Material may be passed either through all four of the 14-in. stands or through only two of them, No. 7 and No. 10. The mill has a capacity to roll rounds from % up to 3-in. in diameter, equivalent sections of squares and angles, and flats up to 8 in. wide. Both the roughing and finishing stands are driven rom a line shaft 250 ft. long, at the end of which a Morgan reducing gear is connected by a 5-in. flexible haft with the mill motor. The 5-in. shaft was intro- uced for safety siderations, being designed to break at or Se ee a ts Heating Furnaces Arranged for Side Charging, a New Feature in Design Billets are delivered on a shuffle board table which deposits them on live rolls by means of which they are charged into the sid of the furnace \ motor-driven pusher (the cas: ff which was removed when the photograph was taken) advances the billets through the furnace hamber The bric) walls of the furnaces are overed with a lining of silocel brick, over which is outsice covering of steel plates between the in an emergency, thereby protecting the remainder of the equipment. All the bevel gears driving the stands are inclosed in two-piece cast iron cases and run in a bath of oil. As a precautionary measure the gears are served also by a Bowser force feed oiling system. This system is used also for all other gears and pinons in the stands and tables, which likewise are inclosed in grease-type gear covers. The 14-in. stands are driven by spiral bevel gears, which reduce backlash to the minimum. Power is supplied by a Kraemer-type adjustable speed a.c. General Electric induction motor. The Kraemer set complete consists of a 4750 2850-hp. 500/300-r.p.m. induction motor, a 1350-hp. 100-r.p.m. synchronous converter, and a 1700-hp. 480-volt 500/300- r.p.m. d.c. motor on the same shaft as the induction motor. Delivering 4500 hp., the set is said to be the largest of its type ever built. At synchronous speed it runs at 500 r.p.m., but this is adjustable down to 300 r.p.m. Current is taken directly from the line as delivered from the company’s power plant at 2300 volts, 3 phases, 25 cycles. In running the mill, the operator in the motor room brings the motor up to the synchronous speed, after which the roller may adjust to any desired speed down to the minimum of 300 r.p.m. For this purpose the control for a motor-driven rheostat has been located at a convenient point on the mill floor near the finishing stand. Nearby in a pulpit are located a master button to stop the main drive in case of emergency, separate Cutler-Hammer controllers for each mill table and a rheostat in the mill pulpit to control the speed of the rollers in the hot runout table. The hot bed, of the horizontal double-grid type bisected by a runout table, was furnished by the Mor- gan Construction Co. By turning a switch the steel is directed at will from the runout to either side of the bed, which is 300 ft. long. On each side the bed is 18 in. wider than usual to give additional cooling capacity. The distance from the center of the runout to the delivery tables on each side is 26 ft. 6 in. A motor-driven kick-off extending the entire length of the bed on each side of the runout discharges the bar on to a straightener plate, where it is held until the next bar is ready to be dropped. From the straightener plate the bar is lifted and transferred to the cooling rack. Operation of the bed throughout is electric. The hot runout rollers are driven from a single shaft by a 100-hp. 500/1000-r.p.m. 230-volt d.c. motor, furnished by the Reliance Electric & Engineering Co., Cleveland. The runout table motor, together with the rack, kick- off, shuffle board and delivery table motors, are located underneath one of the delivery tables on the side, where they are readily accessible and can be removed, if necessary, without tearing up the hot bed. It might be noted at this point that all industrial-type motors were furnished by the Reliance company, all table motors by the General Electric Co. and the crane motors by the Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co. Direct current for the cranes and the auxiliary mill equipment is supplied by a 1000-kw. Westinghouse rotary converter, which converts 2300 volts a.c. to 250 volts d.c. In ease this unit is out of service, direct current may be drawn from the main power station of the No. 1 plant. The converter is located in the motor room, which is equipped with a washed air system to keep the apparatus cool and clean. A novel feature is the removable roof of the room, which per- mits the use of overhead cranes for removal or intro- duction of equipment. At the end of the hot bed delivery tables are Morgan Construction Co. angle straighteners, which are removed when plain bars are rolled, in which case the delivery tables are directly connected with 300-ft. shear ap- proach tables. Each of the latter tables leads to a Morgan No. 2 motor-driven double-gage 75-ft. back shear table, from which cut material is discharged by motor-driven kick-off into a cradle, mounted on a scale platform having a capacity of 30 tons. The platform and scale were furnished by the Strait Scale Co., Kan- sas City, Mo. Finished material is stored either beyond the shears in a space 85 x 300 ft., or in the area between the angle straighteners and the shears, 54 x 352 ft. Extending along one side of the finishing end of the building is a shipping track, 720 ft. long. The handling of material to and from storage and onto cars is ac- complished by overhead electric traveling cranes. There are three 15-ton cranes in the mill, all built by the Alliance Machine Co., Alliance, Ohio. The carriages of the cranes are solid steel castings. The girders supporting the crane runways are covered with solid plate, which forms a walkway along the side of the building. Another convenient arrangement is the pro- vision of stairways on each side at the ends of the hot bed, with connecting passageways underneath. A de- pressed truck bay is located on one side of the mill for the delivery of supplies from the plant store room and for quick shipments of steel to nearby points. The mill building is 1584 ft. long and 105 ft. wide, the crane spans being 100 ft. The interior is painted gray, a color which improves the illumination. Natural August 7, 1924 THE IRON AGE 305 setween the 14-in. Stands Are “Y” from which it will be carried directly into the next stand shape from which they get their name The 14-in. stand lighting is supplied by a considerable area of continuous sash in the side walls as well as in the roof, which is of the high and low bay type. At the finishing end, part of the wall on one side is without windows, to adjoin a future warehouse, the foundations of which are in. The walls are made of corrugated sheets, while the roof is of wood, covered with prepared roofing, furnished by Bird & Son, East Walpole, Mass., except over the heating furnaces, where pyrobar, supplied by the United States Gypsum Co., Chicago, was used. The pyrobar is covered likewise with Bird prepared roofing. There is a permanent floor throughout the building, either brick or concrete; brick is used largely, except on the storage platforms, which are of reinforced concrete Skew Roll Tables The skew rolls deflect material to a position on the table The triangular deflecting blocks give the tables the “Y" ire driven tf m spira bevel gears which reduce backlash because of the heavy loading to which they are sub- jected. Coal and Ash Conveying System At one side of the furnace end of the building is a coal delivery siding protected by an overhanging shelter. Here hopper cars are spotted and their contents dis- eharged through a steel grating into a hopper under- neath. From the hopper the coal is carried on an inclined continuous belt conveyor and transferred to a horizontal continuous belt conveyor, the axis of which is at right angles to that of the inclined belt. The horizontal conveyor carries the coal to a bucket ele- vator, which raises it to another horizontal conveyor Comprising Six 18-in. Continuous Roughing Stands and Four Staggered 14-in. Stands, the Merchant Mill Is a Combina- tion of the Continuous and Staggered Duo-Type. All of the stands are driven from a single line shaft, 250 ft. long. The bevel gears from the line shaft are inclosed in two-piece cast-iron cases and run in a bath of oil RE pe AIRE eS RepeertB Ngay Coe * eB: ty Rp ATS shi ee | + es a f ti: s +» yreayete + fe Seater +a ene Perey ecm eth hgh ei : : x RF cre - Re) pea Pe arme = ¢ caqueliee=-digrcnappnbarthinn-tnasiaa> eS eee aes ac ceerenns 4-4 & CURE pe 306 THE IRON AGE justable-spee the bed is storage serving the gas producers. The same horizontal con- veyor which feeds the elevator is used for handling ashes. An annular ash chute inclosing the bottom of each gas producer is equipped with a trip, so that ashes are held in suspension while the conveyor is handling coal. The ashes are carried by the conveyor to the same bucket elevator which handies the coal, but are raised only to the mouth of a 75-cu. yd. storage bin situated below the coal conveyor serving the producers, and at an elevation above the raiiroad siding. Ashes are discharged from the bin through a chute into rail- road cars for final disposition. The conveying equip- ment was supplied by the Link-Belt Co., Chicago, and The 24-in. Billet and Slab Mill Comprises Six C continuous Two-High Stands and an Edging Manipulator. mated capacity is August 7, 1924 Oe TTT] rizontal Double-Grid Type, the Hot Bed Is Bisected by a Hot Runout Table, with rollers driven by an otor from a single line shaft. The view gives an excellent idea of the length of the building. Beyond space, 652 ft. long is motor-driven. Automatic push-button control has been provided for starting and stopping the system. Heatine Furnaces and Gas Producers The merchant mill is served by four 10-ft. producer gas machines and two flat-roof gravity-charge con- tinuous recuperative heating furnaces with inside hearth dimensions of 13 x 40 ft. Space has been provided for another furnace and two more producers. Furnaces and producers were furnished by the Morgan Construc- tion Co. The brick walls between the buckstays are covered with a lining of silocel brick, over which is an outside covering of steel plates. The furnace is ar- ranged for side charging, a new feature in design. The esti- 5,000 tons a month nvsantesan ' Ud August 7, 1924 Billets are delivered on a shuffle board table which straightens them out and deposits them on live rolls, er convey them into the side of the furnace at the end. Motor-driven pushers advance the billets through the furnace chamber. The heated billets, which remain in the chamber an average of 1 hr. 15 min., pass by gravity out of the discharge end of the furnace onto a rol’ line serving the mill. The gearing for the live rolls, which are operated on a line shaft from a single motor, is entirely inclosed in heavy cast iron plates. ll bearings are self-oiled, being served by the Bowser force feed oil system installed for all the mill and table gears and pinions. Blast for the furnaces is supplied by Coppus turbo-blowers instead of motor-driven fans. Each furnace is equipped with a steel stack, 8 ft. in diameter and 154 ft. high. Billet Yard and Scale Pit Parallel to and adjoining the furnace end of the mill is a covered billet yard, 80 x 485 ft., with a capacity of 8000 tons and commanded by two 15-ton overhead electric traveling Alliance magnet cranes. In the yard also is a scale pit into which mill scale is flushed, being then dug out by crane bucket and loaded onto cars. Steel work for the mill and billet yard was fabri- cated and erected by the Morava Construction Co., Chicago, and the foundations were laid by the Nash- Dowdle Co., Chicago. Beyond the furnace end of the mill is a roll shop, connected with the mill room by 3-ft. gage track, on which operates an electric buggy used for conveying rolls. Billet Mill Has Unusually Long Hot Bed The 24-in. billet and slab mill is directly in line with the company’s 40-in. blooming mill and is fed by it. It consists of six continuous two-high Morgan Construc- tion Co. stands. Between the fourth and fifth stands is an edging manipulator driven by a 250-hp. 464-r.p.m. d.c. Westinghouse motor. All of the stands are driven by herringbone pinions and are connected with a single BUREAU OF STANDARDS Growth of the Testing Work in the Last 22 Years An increase of more than one hundred times its initial volume has taken place in the testing work of the Bureau of Standards during the 22 years of its existence. During the first fiscal year, that is, up to June 30, 1902, there were completed 1055 tests of all kinds. During the year just closed about 140,000 tests were conducted by all divisions of the Bureau. Most of these tests were executed for other branches of the Government, practically every branch making use of the facilities provided. The Bureau acts as the principal testing laboratory of the Gov- ernment in the fields of physical science and engineer- ing, and expenditures amounting to many millions of dollars are dependent on its findings. Its tests, which cover a large part of the supplies purchased by the Government, serve to insure that these supplies are of the right degree of excellence and in conformity with the specifications. Much testing is also done for commercial firms and for individuals, over 40,000 test folders, cover- ing over 600,000 such tests, for which a charge is made, having been issued since the founding of the Bureau. The Government work is given precedence, however, and in some cases all testing except that for the Government has had to be refused because the demand exceeds the facilities for doing the work. The inability to meet this demand is unfortunate. It is very desirable for the Bureau to carry out cer- tain tests for outside parties, not only as a means of assisting American industries and American citizens, but because the information so gained is of value to the Bureau. It is not to be supposed that the Bureau THE IRGN AGE 307 line shaft operated by a 6250-hp. 2200-volt 3-phase 25-cycle constant speed Westinghouse motor, running at 368 r.p.m. The mill rolls 8 x 8-in. blooms down to 4 x 4-in. billets and has an estimated capacity of 75,000 tons a month. It was la‘d out to take the product of both the present blooming mill and a projected one, and was so arranged that a 19-in. sheet bar mill and a small billet mill may be added later. From the mill billets are delivered to a broadside transfer, which is of unusual length, 220 ft., to take a billet from a complete ingot, thereby eliminating shearing and the waste from croppings. The im- portance of this may be gathered from the fact that the mill can roll a 13,000-lb. ingot at one time without cutting it up. The broadside conveyor, operated by a 70-hp. motor, was furnished by the Morgan Construc- tion Co. Its construction necessitated the design and erection of a double truss of unusual load capacity. The billet mill is located in an extension of the bloom- ing mill and billet dock. The blooming mill, originally 60 x 920 ft., has been extended 260 ft., while the ad- joining billet dock, which had the same dimensions as the blooming mill, was lengthened 540 ft. To extend the conveyor into the adjacent billet dock it was necessary to support the roof and crane runways on a truss. This truss is of double construction, one side being 14 ft. deep and the other 22 ft., to overcome the effects of eccentric loading. Over 220 ft. long, it showed a deflection of only % in. when supporting a 50-ton and two 20-ton cranes on one side and four 10-ton cranes on the other side, all fully loaded. The broadside conveyor delivers billets to a shear table which advances them to a Mesta Machine Co. 600-ton guillotine shear. They then are conveyed by roller table to a cradle scale built by the company. From the scale the billets are kicked off into a cradle from which they are transferred to storage by overhead crane. Only one additional traveling crane, a 20-ton Al’iance overhead electric, was put into this department and that was installed on the dock side. of Standards has any idea of entering into competition with commercial testing laboratories, but there are certain classes of work considered desirable for it to undertake because the results are of public benefit. As a result of the stimulus given to American in- dustry during and following the war, many impor- tant industries are now established in this country which did not exist prior to 1914. Many of these are dependent on the Bureau for the testing of their fundamental standards and in these cases, and indeed in most test work, prompt results are essential. The Bureau’s experience in the field of scientific and industrial instruments is particularly illuminat- ing. Before the war most high grade scientific in- struments were bought abroad and the development of instruments for use in industry was in its infancy. Now, over 85 per cent of the scientific instruments used in the United States are manufactured in this country. There has been a tremendous extension of the use of instruments in all fields of industry. In the meantime the Bureau’s facilities for testing these types of apparatus have not been materially increased and the American manufacturers have been greatly handicapped by their inability to get adequate service from the Bureau in developing and testing their in- struments. Additional support for this important part of the Bureau’s work would bring about increased savings in Government expenditures, and would re- sult in higher efficiency in many lines of industry and in better finished products for the public. In certain lines American manufacturers have been compelled to adopt unsatisfactory substitutes for adequate tests, and in some cases they have even had to send instru- ments abroad and to Canada for tests. The Bureau of Standards itself was established as the result of an insistent demand that our manufac- turers be made independent of other countries for precise measurements. [oe oat Ne el eS ge GPRBH Oy Qn pan err tees tite eee id, < ee ee ee Stee nee Bae dea eS SS eee st eee Sr oy ak 308 INCREASED EFFICIENCY Interesting Facts Developed by the Commissioner of Labor Statistics WASHINGTON, Aug. 5.—The war worked marvels in the reorganization of industry in increasing the pro- ductivity of labor, according to Ethelbert Stewart, Com- missioner of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor. After making careful studies of many industries throughout the United States, Mr. Stewart has de- veloped some interesting figures to support his state- ment. He estimates that, taking it all in all, 10 per cent fewer men are performing the same work that was performed before the war. The records of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, he pointed out, show that in the production of pig iron, from 14 to 16 one-man hours were required per ton in 1890 and 1891, while today in the Eastern district two hours and 18 minutes one-man time is required per ton, while in the Pittsburgh and Great Lakes districts one hour and 54 minutes one-man time is required per ton, and in the Gulf States district four hours and 30 minutes one-man time. In the best furnaces, he de- clared, it costs one hour and 12 minutes one-man time to produce a ton of pig iron, and the range is from this all the way to 11 hours, though the average for any one district is not over four and one-half hours. He suggested that if in the best furnaces a man can produce a ton of pig iron for each hour and 12 min- utes per man employed, labor shortage might be solved by making over the other blast furnaces so that they will not require five or six times this number of men. It is far better to stop wasting men, he asserted, than to let down the immigration bars and “flood the coun- try with more men to waste.” Results at Worcester A plant at Worcester, Mass., employing 6000 people, according to Mr. Stewart, is producing more goods with 600 fewer employees than it had before the war. For- merly steel billets in this plant were said to be carried by “low wage workmen from the stock pile to the initial piece of machinery.” Now a huge magnet attached to a crane picks up tons of these billets at a time and swings them around where they are needed, one crane engineman doing the work of 66 men. A New England can manufacturing plant reports to the bureau that it has increased its production 100 per cent by the simple routing of material, placing the machines in rows in the order of their place in the work of production so that the material merely glides from one machine to another instead of being trucked from one part of the plant to another as before. The whole question of trucking and assembling has been made mechanical and automatic. Working Part of Year Window glass employers, Mr. Stewart said, had a working agreement with the union to run the plants 17 weeks out of the year because in that time they could supply all the window glass that could be sold, the men thus getting their work all together and their idleness all together, so that they could use this spare time to fill in with other industries or other forms of work, a means to save men. It was asserted that 25 per cent of the bituminous mines of the United States employing 40 per cent of the present total number of workmen engaged in the industry could by running 312 days a year produce all the bituminous coal that can be used in the United States or exported. If all the common brick made in the United States were made on the best known machines such as are actually now operating, it was declared, the entire supply could be produced with less than one-third of the men now engaged in brick manufacture. Figures were given to show that in agriculture the situation is still worse. The conclusion was reached that if agriculture in the United States was as efficient as it is in Illinois, itself said to be none too good, there would be 4,619,372 fewer persons engaged in it than now. The increased productivity of labor since the war. Mr. Stewart said, means that the employment index of today stands for greater productivity than the em- THE IRON AGE August 7, 1924 ployment index of 1914. The bureau index, taking 1914 as 100, reached 115 in May and June, 1920. In January, 1921, it had fallen to 79; in June, 1923, it went to 103, and in July it dropped to 100, or precisely the same as the basing point in July, 1914. But, it was ex- plained, the 100 of July, 1923, means a whole lot more in actual output than did the 100 of July, 1914. Remedy Lies with Labor “This leads to the consideration of the fact that the remedy for labor surplus and labor shortage lies with industry itself,” said Mr. Stewart. “Some stabiliz- ing may be done with profit to everybody. This em- ployment movement, which resembles the pumping of an accordion or the inflation and blowing of bellows, might, if straightened out, have very happy effect both upon the unemployment and upon labor shortage.” He suggested the bringing of the jobless man and the man- less job together “regardless of any question of poor or good economics behind these demands.” It was pointed out that the employment situation at present presents nothing unusual. The statement was made that there are always many out of employ- ment, no matter how busily industry is engaged. This unemployment is the ordinary labor turnover, in which men are idle for a short time in shifting from one occu- pation to another. Present conditions in that respect were said to be normal, with no large number perma- nently unemployed, except, of course, the “unemploy- able,” who never can be taken into account. Mr. Stewart declared that any statistical record of unemployment as such is physically impossible. He pointed out a number of reasons. The number who are out of work from day to day varies and can only be located when they apply to some agency to assist in securing employment; it is questionable, he said, as to whether or not 50 per cent of the people who really desire work if they can get just what they want ever apply to any sort of employment agency; the number and variety of employment agencies make it practically impossible to schedule with sufficient frequency to mean anything the number who really do apply; it is im- possible to get returns from employment bureaus of corporations, associations, etc., showing the number registering for work, it was said. Mr. Butler’s Autobiography YOUNGSTOWN, Aug. 4.—Despite his fourscore years and more, Joseph G. Butler, Jr., veteran iron and steel maker of the Mahoning Valley, beloved far and wide, retains an abiding interest in the industry, his friends and the community where he lives. Mr. Butler is now engaged in what promises to be his final literary achievement, his autobiography, which he hopes to complete by the end of this year. He is also planning to enlarge the Butler Art Gallery, a stately Georgia marble structure opposite his residence on Wick Ave- nue, Youngstown, which he donated several years ago to the “people of the Mahoning Valley.” In the mean- time this gallery has become the artistic center of the community, in a large sense of the word. On Dec. 21, 1924, Mr. Butler will have reached the age of 84. His autobiography, awaited with interest, will virtually be a history of the development of the iron and steel industry during the period of 50 years or longer that Mr. Butler was actively associated with it. Every obsolete machine tool continued in wasteful use challenges the selling ability of the builder of better machines, says E. F. Du Brul, general manager National Machine Tool Builders’ Association. Here is the list he gives of a few of the high crimes and misdemeanors that obsolete machine tools commit against the law that capital invested in machinery must earn the greatest profit possible: Obsolete ma- chine tools impair, exhaust, sap, undermine and destroy profits; they ravage, filch, pilfer and steal profits; they throttle, hamstring, choke, cut off and kill profits. Misinformation on Pittsburgh Basing Case Commission Lacks Power to Enforce Decision—Cotton Tie Case, Involving Alleged Unfair Competition, Is of Interest at Present Time BY L. W. MOFFETT WASHINGTON, Aug. 5.—Out of the mass of misin- formation that has been published with regard to the cease and desist order of the Federal Trade Commis- sion in the Pittsburgh plus case, the confusion sur- rounding this famous proceeding has become greater. It is evident that many articles presuming to discuss this case intelligently were written by those who had a woeful lack of understanding of the case. Reading of the articles gives the impression that they were struck off on the spur of the moment either as “feature” or “follow-up” stories, which had been ordered as being necessary supplements to the subject. There seems to have been a vague idea that the case was extremely important, though many of the writers apparently were unable to say why, and because of this importance a series of stories was required. Despite the evident hurry in which these articles seem to have been written, the lack of understanding of the case shown is remarkable. Volumes of material on the subject are available and have been presented by both sides. Either the majority opinion of the commission itself or the dissenting opinion by Com- missioner Nelson B. Gaskill would have afforded suffi- cient information to keep these writers within the lines of accuracy. But even “research” to this extent was not engaged in and the issue in the public mind is per- haps more befogged than ever before. It is conceivable that this is a source of regret to all sides directly involved in the case because of the unnecessary agita- tion it excites. Preposterous Reports Lurid stories have been published, in which it was predicted that the Steel Corporation would completely ignore the order, also a preposterous presumption. Judge Gary dissipated the possibility of such a pre- tended belief, although it must have been known even to these writers that the Steel Corporation or any other institution of self-respect and respect for the Government itself would under no circumstances at- tempt to disregard any action coming from a Govern- ment source. To round out these statements and carry out the idea of a “bitter fight,” some of the stories went on to declare that in the event the Steel Corporation ignored the order the Federal Trade Commission would go to the courts and apply for an injunction restraining the Steel Corporation from “fixing” prices on an f.o.b. Pittsburgh basis. The stories would indicate that all prices were “fixed” or quoted on a uniform price at Pittsburgh, in the face of the many explanations that had been made showing the varying methods of quoting steel prices, some on an f.o.b. Pittsburgh basis, some on a delivered basis, some allowing for freight, and in a market like the present some would show a wide spread in quotations. Commission Lacks Power The lack of understanding shown in this kind of publicity in a great number of cases apparently does not show any vicious hostility, but rather indicates that the writers were “playing” to what they consider a popular appeal. These stories have entirely miscon- ceived not only the operation of the Pittsburgh base, but the authority of the Federal Trade Commission. As is well known by those who have studied the acts under which the commission operates, it has no power to enforce its orders. It can assess no penalty. Its jurisdiction is largely of a negative character. To a great extent it must rely on the moral force back of its orders. It is recalled that when the Federal Trade Commission was before Congress President Woodrow Wilson sought to have the commission possessed with the power of enforcing its orders through penalties and at the same time to persuade Congress to authorize the commission to pass upon the legality of business organizations, such as trade associations, etc., in ad- vance. But these powers were never bestowed upon the commission. It therefore is obvious that the com- mission would not have power to get an injunction or take any similar drastic step against the Steel Corpo- ration for not abandoning the so-called Pittsburgh base practice. Of course the Steel Corporation will not disregard the order of the commission but, if it should do so, the commission would have redress by going before a court of appeals and asking that the Steel Corporation be compelled to show why it should not be held for con- tempt. The question of its lack of jurisdiction has been a source of a great deal of consideration by the commis- sion itself. It frequently has sought to get Congress to enlarge its powers. The commission on the whole has fared rather badly in the courts in putting into effect its orders because of its restricted powers or because of the erroneous construction it puts on the authority it has. The Pittsburgh case was brought under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission act dealing with unfair methods of competition and Section 2 of the Clayton act relating to price discrimination. When Commission Was Defeated Among the cases dealing with unfair methods of competition in which the commission was defeated was that of Warren, Jones & Gratz, which related to the sale of cotton ties and bagging. This case had come before the Supreme Court upon a review of an order of the commission involving unfair competition. The commission’s order was reversed upon a rule of plead- ing. The court held that the commission had not specifically charged the respondent with a monopoly but had limited its charge to that of unfair competition in requiring customers of the respondent to buy a certain brand of bagging in order to get a supply of cotton ties. It was claimed that this particular com- pany was the only one in a position to supply the ties. This decision placed the first limitation upon the power of the commission in its development of the law of unfair competition as applied to business practices. In the majority opinion rendered through Justice McReynolds, it was noted that the words “unfair methods of competition” are not defined by statute and that their exact meaning is in dispute. The court held that these words are clearly not applicable to practices never heretofore regarded as opposed to good morals because characterized by deception, bad faith, fraud, or depression, or as against public policy because of their “dangerous tendency unduly to hinder competi- tion or create monopoly.” The Question of Jurisdiction This opinion is mentioned by Commissioner Gaskill in his dissenting report in the Pittsburgh base case in the course of which the commissioner claims that the commission has no jurisdiction. This court decision also is particularly interesting in the light of the state- ment made on Tuesday of last week by Judge Gary, in which he declared that “So far as we are concerned, there never should be any reason for governmental ac- tion to compel us to do what is right.” Judge Gary 309 < eIeaEEFe= em —— re 1a cate Re ns re ete ae, AY Mp ep iy Py ae nes : Peep ego / tena renee me 2 Pitt pe, a : prety ee “pte Ramee on ‘Tete a gt ae FE aacep ath it Del I cw te act alate teat pil tt he gh goede o et ER teehee - regan: nin a Oe Lae eee coe eb M oe a ee SS ee eee P< ee ee ee seater: tell es ee aoe * 310 THE was discussing the Federal Trade Commission’s orders in the Pittsburgh base case. The effect of the decision mentioned was to hold that the commission in its appli- cation of the law of unfair competition is held to those practices which have heretofore been declared by the courts to be unfair competition. Justice Brandeis, in a dissenting opinion in this case, held that the commission should be allowed to develop the law of unfair competition in the prevention of unfair methods, and maintained that the new law was directed to methods of present-day business. With regard to Section 2 of the Clayton act, directed Combination with Tough Shock-Resisting Back Achieved Through Double Casting Using a new process made possible by a combination of metallurgy and organic chemistry, the nature of which is withheld pending the granting of a patent application, the Dycast Steel Co., Collinsville, Conn., is producing some unusual steel dies. With a face of unusual hardness and denseness, which will retain a cutting edge remarkably long, the tough back is relied upon to absorb shock and prevent chipping or cracking where too great hardness is adopted in an effort to prolong the life of the cutting edge. It has always been a problem to obtain a cast ma- terial of this sort in which the hard face was cast first and the softer back cast on top of it, because the high- carbon qualities of the face have made it lighter in weight and the difficulty of retaining a heavier fluid floating upon a lighter fluid previous to the setting of the casting has interfered with the success of the process. The material used in the present case obviates this difficulty by the (at present) secret ingredient used with the steel, which not only gives it the higher specific gravity needed for the lower metal in the mold but also gives it the quality of becoming almost instantaneously plastic—so much so that the falling of the second stream upon the first material does not cause the second material to penetrate to an appreciable degree, while the temperatures involved insure a perfect weld of the two materials at their point of juncture. Tests made of such materials after being cast in this manner have shown that the point of welding is stronger than either of the two materials welded, and that the break when the material is tested to destruction comes outside the welded area. There is a certain com- bination or commingling of the two materials over a narrow space at the weld, the extent of which is not definitely marked. On a polished sample of the material it is impossible to see the point of puncture. This point does show up on the material as it is taken from the mold, by reason of the fact that the thin line of demar- cation is made manifest by the plasticity of the harder material, which sets with a tiny rounded corner. Grind- ing around the edge to a depth of about 1/64 in., how- ever, in tne samples observed, gets rid of this surface mark and conceals effectually the point of junction of the two metals. Use of the crucible process makes it easy to handle the material in this way. Small heats, one of each metal, are poured by two men, one following imme- diately after the other. The first man pours the denser and harder material until a bleeding hole on one side of the mold gives warning that the predetermined height has been reached. This man then proceeds to the next mold, while the second man completes the pouring of the first. Under the usual method of welding a refined steel to a softer steel, the softer is poured first and the other poured upon it, unless the two are poured separately and welded mechanically by forging at a high welding temperature. Difficulties with the harder steel follow this treatment, disintegration of the higher carbon material being caused sometimes by the high tempera- ture. By the method described above, each metal is heated in a separate crucible and melted at a tempera- ture suited to its analysis. Both are put through the IRON August 7, 1924 AGE against discrimination in prices, this section first says that it shall be unlawful to discriminate in prices among purchasers. It has been urged that there are provisos which weaken the first statement because it is provided that discrimination shall not be unlawful if made be- cause of differences in the grade, or differences in the cost of selling of the commodity or if made in good faith to meet competition. The order of the commis- sion in the Pittsburgh base case carefully recognizes this construction, and in its attempt to prevent the Steel Corporation from alleged price discrimination, sets forth these provisos. special process for obtaining high density, which mechanically changes the reaction of the metal. The steel required for high-duty work, that is, the facing of the die or tool, is then treated in a manner to exag- gerate its normal specific gravity, which treatment at the same time causes it to become plastic almost in- stantly in a sand or iron mold. This permits it to resist the shock from the sudden pouring in of the lighter hot metal, and results at the point of contact of the two metals in almost a straight line of homogeneous molec- ular cohesion. Surfaces of dies may thus be plated with steel of any desired analysis and the backing may be composed of any desired analysis. This makes it possible to face dies with a steel of such great density as has been considered impractical to use because of its sensitive- ness to shock, which would break it apart. In the dycast method of making a composition steel block the softer and tougher back acts as a cushion and avoids this trouble. In one instance a drop forging die was made with a hard face 2% in. deep and a back of soft steel about 8 in. thick. The face had an analysis including tungsten 15.50 per cent, chromium 3.25 per cent, vanadium 0.90 per cent and carbon 0.52 per cent. The carbon in the back- ing steel was 0.38 per cent. This die was hardened by preliminary heating at 1600 deg. Fahr., removed from the furnace, when it was placed between cold brick reaching slightly above the plated section, then the high-speed steel was raised to a temperature of 2250 deg. The die was then submerged in oil and after being cooled showed a Brinell hardness of 625 on the working surface. It was then reheated to 1125 deg. and per- mitted to cool for about 14 hr. in the furnace. The Brinell reading then was 480. Such a die as that just described has produced as high as 103,000 forgings, while the best of six blocks of steel tested against it produced only 20,000 forgings. The six blocks were of steel now in general use for drop forging work and contained an average of 0.72 per cent carbon and 0.80 per cent manganese. Bar Mill Being Operated by Illinois Rolling Mill Co. at Joliet An 8-in. Belgian type bar mill in production at Joliet, Ill., is now the property of the Illinois Rolling Mill Co., 1049 First National Bank Building, Chicago. The company purchases billets and converts them into light bars, bands, angles, channels, etc., and also spe- cializes in the rolling of alloy steel bars for automotive and agricultural implement manufacture. The officers of the company are as follows: C. H. Nichols, president; F. C. Richey, treasurer and sales manager; D. D. Richey, secretary and E. F. Sharpe, general manager and superintendent. The officers have been connected with the coal industry for a long time, while Mr. Sharpe has had an extensive experience in the manufacture of light and heavy forgings. The Wickwire-Spencer Steel Corporation announces that its Clinton, Mass., Mount Wolf, Pa., Blue Island, Ill., and Wright Works, Worcester, Mass., immediate- ly will begin increased operations and that increased employment at these, as well as its Palmer and Spencer, Mass., plants will be speeded up as quickly as possible. The plants concerned are largely weaving units, and in the aggregate employ approximately 3000 workers. August 7, 1924 Spur Gear Speed Transformer A spur gear speed transformer designated as its Industrial Type transformer has been brought out by the Hill Clutch Machine & Foundry Co., Cleveland This is for use where speed changes are required from motor to machine and from shaft to shaft and for such service as reducing speeds in connection with conveyor drives and for steel plant and other industrial uses where transformer units are operated under continuous or heavy service conditions. The speed change can be Spur Gear Spee ad Transformer. Sim- plicity and accessi- bility are features of the unit, which is available in seven sizes The gears run in an oil bath. The lubrica- tion is by means of the splash system small or large as desired for practical power transmis- sion. It is a closely coupled unit and requires com- paratively little space. The device is made up of a nest of plain spur g2ars revolving in oil and changing the speed of the input shaft to the desired speed of the output shaft. Two pairs of gears are used for small speed ratios and four pairs for large ratios, the even number of zears being necessary in order to obtain the same direction of rota- tion of both shafts. The power transmitted is the same in both shafts. The gears have 20 deg. involute cut teeth. It is pointed out that the short length of these teeth combined with powerful cross section insures great strength. The gear housing is a one-piece cast- ing containing one large bearing braced to the housing. At one end of the housing is a removable housing bear- ing for the high-speed shaft and at the other end a removable housing bearing for the low-speed shaft. With this construction both shafts are supported in double bearings. The housing cover is a plain castinz, its only function being to seal the housing. The two intermediate shafts are fixed in position in the nousing. Set screws in the high speed end of the housing secure these shafts against rotation and cap screws in the low speed end of the housing draw both shafts against shoulders and the housing itself. The first intermediate shaft carries two sets of spur gears and the second shaft one set, these gears revolving on their fixed shafts. The high-speed shaft carries a pinion and the low-speed shaft a large gear. All bearings are of bronze. Auto- matic lubrication is provided by a splash system and is effected by a circular disk on the high speed shaft. The transformer is made in seven sizes. Each size has a number which bears a fixed relation to the diam- eter of the low speed shaft and each number represents the horsepower this shaft is capable of safely trans- mitting at 100 r.p.m. The horsepower capacity of the different sizes at that speed ranges from 10 to 160 The twenty-five cities which led in plans filed and per- mits issued during the half year ended June 30, showed a gain of 11 per cent over 1923, according to the Na- tional Monthly Building Survey prepared by S. W. Strauss & Co. In June these same cities gained 19 per cent over the same month last year and 18 per cent over June, 1922. The Spencer, Mass., plant of the Wickwire-Spencer Steel Corporation, on part time for some weeks, is now on full again. Employees in the fine wire drawing and other departments have accepted a cut in wages, ap- proximately 10 per cent. About 200 are employed at this plant. THE IRON AGE dll Steel Trade Extension Plan Committees The Trade Extension Committee of the sheet steel manufacturers comprises beside W. S. Horner, presi- dent of the National Association of Sheet and Tin Plate Manufacturers, who was named chairman of this com- mittee when it was instituted at the second annual meet- ing of the Sheet Steel Executives at White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., May 12 to 15, J. B. Andrews, Newport Rolling Mill Co., Newport, Ky., Charles O. Hadly, Alan Wood Iron & Steel Co., Philadelphia, Severn P. Ker, Sharon Steel Hoop Co., Sharon, Pa., Walter C. Carroll, Inland Steel Co., Chicago, W. H. Abbott, Wheeling Steel Corporation, Wheeling, W. Va., and G. H. Charls, United Alloy Steel Corporation, Canton, Ohio. Walter W. Lower, secretary of the National Association of Sheet and Tin Plate Manufacturers, is treasurer of the committee and C. L. Patterson is manager of the cen- tral office located at 715 Oliver Building, Pittsburgh. The advisory committee comprises Charles O. Hadly, chairman, Walter E. Watson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., Youngstown, A. T. Hunt, Seneca Iron & Steel Co., Buffalo, W. W. Sebald, American Rolling Mill Co., Mid- dleton, Ohio, P. F. Voigt, Jr., Allegheny Steel Co., Brackenridge, Pa., J. H. Fitch Jr., Newton Steel Co., Youngstown, Ohio, H. A. Roemer, Superior Sheet Steel Co., Canton, Ohio, A. M. Oppenheimer, Apollo Steel Co., Apollo, Pa., and W. L. Latta, Wheeling Steel Corpora- tion, Wheeling, W. Va. Crosby-Chicago, Inc., which formulated the trade extension plan, will direct the ad- vertising in connection with it. Develops New Valve for Oxygen Manifolds The Oxweld Acetylene Co., 30 East Forty-second Street, New York, has developed recently the valve shown herewith which is for use in connection with oxygen manifolds. The valve has a swivel tip on the stem. The body, 1, has a formed seat receiving the stem tip, 2. This Valve for Oxygen Manifolds, of Which Fool-proof Con- struction Is a Fea- ture Emphasized The stem screws into the stuffing box and should the handwheel be wun- screwed all the way, internal parts of valve would not be blown out tip is attached to and carried by the s