The Iron Age 1925-02-26: Vol 115 Iss 9

EN mE RER HE. ESTABLISHED 1855 THE IRON AGE New York, February 26, 1925 VOL. 115, No. 9 Steel Consumption of Individual States Distribution of the Secondary Users—Most in a Few States—East Makes Three-Fourths of the Steel and Uses Less Than One-Half VER one-half of the steel rolled for domestic en- terprises of all descriptions goes from the so- called primary producers of the country into four States. Two-thirds, in the distribution from the mills, is absorbed in six States. Nine States account for three-fourths of the production not exported by the mills and, to put it another way, more than 95 per cent is taken by one-half of the 50 political divisions of do- mestic United States, comprising the 48 States and the District of Columbia and Alaska The foregoing is one of the observations which may REAS in Black Represent ¢t Same Scale the Amount of Steel Shipped on Domestic Account in 1920 into the Four General Sections f the Country These areas are equal to the areas of columns used to indicate the relative im portance of the several individual States in the distribution of shipments. The areas with shaded edges represent how the four sections contributed to the production of the material distributed RMebebbbdiddebiddidaedeeddaéedaaeniad ‘ N N N Ny N N S , N N , ; s 5 TLL. MICH. IND. WIS. MO MINN, Sfner 609 be made of an analysis by States of the particulars of steel shipments tabulated at length in THe IRON AGE of Feb. 19, page 539 and following. As is to be noted in that tabulation, the country was divided for the study of the steel shipments into four general sections. The Eastern section comprised 14 States; the Western, 17; the Southern, 15; and the Pacific Coast section, in- cluding Alaska, 4. In supplementing the investigations of last week, the figures were collated by States. To ascertain their relative importance, all forms of rolled and finished steel were taken into account, except the following: Data on shipments of pipe and other tubular products were not available, as explained in the preceding ar- The records of the shipments by the subsidiaries the United States Steel Corporation of general ms of semi-finished steel were not included on the re that the States to which they were shipped rep resented in turn plants where the steel would be con- erted into the several forms of finished steel and be listributed in much the same manner as finished prod- ucts were by the Steel Corporation itself. The figures for heavy rails were likewise eliminated partly because he point of destination on the lines of the railroad pur- haser is no direct index of the actual distribution. The year 1920 (one of the three years for which the information was available) was taken as being best for discovering broad cross-currents, being a year of fair activity. After deducting from the total produc- tion of that year for exports and for heavy rails and tubular products, there was a remainder of approxi- mately 21,650 thousand tons of rolled steel carried to the 48 States, the District of Columbia and Alaska. Assuming distribution in general would travel with some degree of parallelism to the distribution shown TEX. ALA. VA. ofeer CL. Oto —eyepeay seme SP PS OP IS PEE Te | TORII rer re fon ree ee ¥ . 3 MR ae ee ae ee qi Ei 610 THE IRON AGE for the Steel Corporation, making some allowance for territories more easily tapped by some of the inde- pendent steel companies, and estimating the production for each of the general divisions of the country, it is shown that the Eastern section alone made more than it consumed, 60 per cent more in fact, or nearly 6,000,- 000 tons in excess of the Eastern demand. The West- ern territory made barely one-half of what is absorbed, the Southern less than one-half and the Pacific Coast only one-fifth. The six million ton excess in the East went to balance the 4.3 million ton deficit in the West, the 900,000-ton deficiency in the South and 800,000 tons on the Pacific Coast. This is indicated in one of the tables. The table of shipments to States shows the order according to the estimated tonnage distributed in each case, comprehending the same rolled products pre- viously mentioned. Included in this table also is an approximation of the percentage that the shipments to each State bear to those to Pennsylvania, these relative figures being roughly the relation of the shipments in the Steel Corporation record and not necessarily the rela- tion of the total tonnage estimated for each State. The chart on page 609 is based on this table and on the cal- culation of the share each section of the country had in rolling the steel. February 26, 1925 puvvovvcvovenvveeuvevneenenvoensen4esn1s4nenOengenens4OF00G8QU0400000000040000040040000000000000000000109001 000U080080000004:00U01 000001 0RA0EHRERUEUENOEETOLOLEAOUONEGUROOTOOHEN AND THON Amounts of Finished Rolled Steel (Excepting Heavy Rails and Tubular Products) Shipped to Different States in 1920 Relative Relative Amounts Thousands Amounts Thousands State Pa.=100 of Tons State Pa.—100 of Tons Pas 4 over 100 4,700 GOs. . sce 2.5 100 ee ee 64.5 3,100 BM. ses ee 2 90 Ohio .... 46 2,100 ea 2 90 Mich. ... 36.5 1,750 Okla. fe 1.5 80 ree 1,500 Ee, <<'se 1.5 80 Nw. Re «uk ee 1,150 a eee 1 50 Wik, cscs Be 900 wa wees 1 50 is saci ae 700 era Gas 1 50 Ce, vats 14.5 700 Bm, ex 54 1 40 rer 2.5 625 Utah “s 1 40 Mass ; 8.5 425 Oy > 0.8 0.5 30 Bee. sas 8.5 400 Mont. ... 0.5 25 —>7F—— 6.5 310 Idaho 0.5 25 Tex, 6.5 280 re 0.5 20 Oe vena 6.5 270 Mae es as 0.5 20 hy ss eas 5.5 230 Miss. 0.5 20 ROWE cies 4.5 220 8. D. 0.5 20 Conn. ' 4.5 220 awn 0.5 20 W. Va... 4.5 220 2 0.5 15 Tenn, 4.5 180 Bae Ws ac 0.5 15 Wash 3.5 165 ANGER 2. exe 10 Kan 3 150 BEE, ns. Ca 10 Ore. 3 145 ee 10 La 3 140 Mik: vahiie. aden 10 Ky. 3 140 ES eee 10 20,720 930 Probable Production Apparent Destination i sa ae a é Sections 1000 Tons Per Cent 1000 Tons Per Cent Eastern ..... 16,000 74 10,025 46.5 Western ..... 4,700 21.7 8,975 41.5 Southern .... 750 3.4 1,630 7.5 Pacific ...... 200 0.9 1,020 4.5 21,650 100 21,650 100 Me Colorado Plan a Distinct Step in Advance Workmen Have, However, No Real Share in Determination of Wages, According to Report of Russell Sage Foundation Investigation HE industrial studies department of the Russell Sage Foundation has recently finished its investiga- tion of the industrial representation plan of the Colo- rado Fuel & Iron Co. In THE IRON AGE of Jan. 29, page 338, the synopsis of the report as to the mining industry of the company was published. The substance of this report was that, while much had been accom- lished through employee representation, the plan is not a complete success. The Russell Sage Foundation has now issued its report in regard to the operation of the employee representation plan in the steel plants of the company. The report declares that through the Rockefeller employees’ representation plan, the men in the steel works of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co. were able to secure the actual 8-hr. day five years before the Steel Corporation and the rest of the industry adopted it, but points out that because this company feels im- pelled to follow the wage scale of its competitors, chief among which is the Steel Corporation, its work- men have no real share in the determination of their wages. This, the report says, limits seriously the scope of the employees’ representation plan which in other respects has accomplished much good. “In an industry so devoid of any tradition con- cerning representation of the workers as the steel industry is,” declared Mary Van Kleeck, director of the Foundation’s Department of Industrial Studies, “the industrial representation plan of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co. marks a distinct step in advance; for under the plan the men in the steel works of this company secured such important gains as the actual 8-hr. day, an opportunity to participate in revising wage scales, a method of presenting and discussing grievances, and a greater degree of security in their jobs through the right to appeal to higher officials against the decisions of foremen and superintendents. When one looks at these accomplishments and then con- siders the methods of the United States Steel Corpora- tion, one must conclude that at least in one small seg- (a ment of the industry the wage-earners have been given a voice in determining the conditions under which they must work. Nevertheless, until the men throughout the industry as a whole secure adequate and effective rep- resentation in determining wage standards, those em- ployed in any one plant such as the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co.’s steel works, are bound to be dissatisfied. Every week the steel workers in this company are re- minded by their pay envelopes that the scope of their representation does not give them an effective share in determining their own earnings.” The lack of this representation in the determination of wage scales, according to the report was one of the principal reasons why the steel workers of this com- pany walked out practically in a body when the na- tional steel strike of 1919 was called, notwithstanding the fact that they had already enjoyed the 8-hr. day as well as several other conditions which the men in- the rest of the industry so badly wanted. Ben M. Selekman, who conducted the investiga- tion for the foundation and prepared the report, a document of 293 pages, found that in the opinion of the workmen the most serious obstacle to the success of the plan is the minor local official, not the higher official. As long as the functions of “hiring and firing” are in the hands of superintendents and foremen Mr. Selekman says, dissatisfaction will exist among the employees. Workmen repeatedly accused foremen of favoritism and of being arbitrary. Norway’s foreign trade forms the subject of an attractive 64-page booklet issued by the Trade Intelli- gence Bureau at Oslo, Norway, and sent out by the Nor- wegian Legation at Washington. The publication has many diagrams and some tabular matter detailing the main features of Norway’s foreign commerce and, in addition, there are illustrations from photographs show- ing some of the features of interest in connection with: that commerce, February 26, 1925 COPPER FROM CENTRAL AFRICA Production Already 12 Per Cent of American Total —New Refinery in Belgium to Handle Output In the Katanga Province at the eastern end of the Belgian Congo district are copper producing mines which appear destined to interfere somewhat with ex- ports of copper from the United States. At present most of the copper produced in this region is shipped to the United States for refining after receiving pre- liminary treatment in the district. Much of it then is shipped again across the Atlantic to European con- sumers. However, as stated in THE IRON AGE of Jan. 22, a copper refining plant is under construction by the Société Générale Metallurgique de Hoboken, at Oolen, Belgium, which is to receive its copper direct from the Congo district, from which it is shipped out by railroad through the port of Beira, on the Indian Ocean, almost due south of Lake Nyassa. In reaching the sea coast, the copper traverses, in succession, Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia, both under the British flag, and Portuguese East Africa, Beira being one of the principal ports in that Portuguese Colony and located about 150 miles southwest of the mouth of the Zambezi River. In the Feb. 7 issue of Engineering and Mining Journal, recent figures are given for the production of the Union Miniéré du Haut Katanga, the great copper mining company of the Congo district. In 1924 this company turned out 188,853,000 lb. of copper, which is nearly one-eighth the production of the United States during that same period. August showed the largest total, with 20,405,000 lb., or almost precisely 15 per cent of the American copper production in August. After the completion of the new plant in Belgium the crude copper from the Congo will go directly to Europe, instead of crossing the Atlantic twice, for refining in the United States and then shipment to the consumer. This will conserve ocean transportation and presumably save costs, not only in carriage but also because of the low rate of wages in Belgium, as compared with those in the United States, which should make the Belgian product considerably cheaper than the American. To what extent the future development of the Bel- gian mines will grow under these conditions is prob- lematical. The article above mentioned states that there seems to be nothing to prevent the company from producing 240,000,000 Ib. of copper in 1925, if that be desired. The ore reserve is placed at not less than 75,000,000 tons, averaging 6 per cent copper. Hence the rate of production apparently is under control of the management, as influenced by market conditions. Appeal to Manufacturers to Help in Prevent- ing Waste WASHINGTON, Feb. 20.—An appeal to the manu- facturers of the country included in its membership to support the campaign for the elimination of waste in industry by means of simplification and standardiza- tion of products was issued today by the department of manufacture of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. “Notwithstanding the very evident gains and econ- omies which are certain to accrue from a reasonable application of simplified practice,” says the appeal, “it is surprising that numerous lines have as yet taken no very definite steps in this direction. The Depart- ment of Commerce, the American Engineering Stand- ards Committee and the National Chamber have been and are working to the best of their ability to arouse those lines to the point of determining upon some action.” The department cites a long list of simplification projects successfully carried out. As a typical example of the results achieved, it gives the testimony of one line which reports that on one raw material item alone THE IRON AGE 611 it has scaled down the average inventory from $100,000 to $20,000 without decreasing production and has in- creased production in certain departments from 10 to 25 per cent. Balancer for Portable Tools The device here illustrated, known as the Pedwyn balancer, has been designed for suspending, balancing or lifting pneumatic and electric portable tocls, elim- inating much of the fatigue incident to the operation of such tools. It is intended to replace the usual method of coun- terbalancing, which consists of installing an overhead sheave with a rope or cable to which one end is fastened to the tool and the other end to a counterweight. In this arrangement of balancing the placing of guards around the counterweights, usually required by safety codes or laws, is necessary. Being self-contained, the Pedwyn balancer may be more conveniently installed, and the use of a counterweight and its guard are elim- inated. It may be reinstalled conveniently in various locations, and may be suspended on a trolley or track over a conveyor, permitting the portable tool to be Balancer for Portable Tools. The device is self-contained installed conveniently. The use of a counter- weight is unnecessary and may be traversed in a longitudinal direction. When thus sus- pended and balanced, the damage of the spindles of drills and grinders from falling to the floor is pre- vented. Two sizes of the device, which is being marketed by the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co., 6 East Forty- fourth Street, New York, are available. The capacity of the No. 1 size ranges from 10 to 50 Ib., and of the No. 2 size from 50 to 100 lb., both being adjustable for intermediate loads within the range of their respective capacities. A maximum-demand attachment recently developed for use on the horizontal polyphase watthour meters of the Sangamo Electric Co., Springfield, Dl., permits energy, kilowatt-demand and power-factor readings to be taken on the same meter. This attachment as well as the maximum-demand attachments for the com- pany’s single-phase and vertical polyphase watthour meters are now available with a contact device which will ring a bell or give some other suitable signal, when the demand during any time interval reaches a certain predetermined value. Le NT aE I Ny Tere ater tetera eet ts tantra ecereranee ee etna erect tne meee me a ani Refractory Problems in the Foundry Brick for Cupolas, Malleable Furnaces and the Open-Hearth Discussed at a Symposium of the American Ceramic leable foundry and of the open-hearth furnace were discussed at the twenty-seventh annual meeting of the American Ceramic Society held at Lord Hall, Ohio State University, Columbus, Feb. 16 to 24. In connection with this meeting the university cele- brated the thirtieth anniversay of its establishment of collegiate training in ceramic science and engineering. R recite: found problems of the gray iron and mal- Symposium on Foundry Refractories One session of the refractories division was devoted to a symposium on “Refractories as Related to Foun- dry Practices.” This was a joint session of this divi- sion and the committee on refractories of the American Foundrymen’s Association. This meeting, which took place Feb. 19, continued through the morning and part of the afternoon. Following the presentation of papers on refractory problems in the foundry the same sub- ject in its relation to the steel industry was taken up. The meeting was well attended, but largely by repre- sentatives of the refractories industry. There were quite a number of foundrymen present, but very few operators of open-hearth furnaces. Men of prominence in the foundry industry were on the pro- gram and had prepared papers of a great deal of in- terest, but were not present in person, their papers being read and printed copies distributed. While the papers brought out considerabie interesting discussion, it is probable that some of the subjects would have been discussed more fully had the authors of the papers been present. The symposium was presided over by George A. Bole, Columbus, United States Bureau of Mines, who said that the purpose of the symposium was to bring manufacturers and users of refractories together. He referred to what had been accomplished by the Amer- ican Foundrymen’s Association toward standardizing foundry sands and believed that similar cooperation by refractory manufacturers and foundrymen would bring good results. Iron Foundry Refractories Dr. Richard Moldenke, who was not present, sub- mitted a paper on “Refractory Requirements in the Gray Iron Foundry.” One of the outstanding parts of this paper was its reference to a new method of lining cupolas that has been developed in Germany and which he predicted would shortly come into use in this coun- try. Dr. Moldenke’s criticism of the refractory manu- facturer for not studying the foundry refractory prob- lems on the ground with the view of making improve- ments was answered, in a brief discussion that fol- lowed, by the statement that refractory makers have a committee on industrial survey, a subcommittee which looks after refractories for foundry use, and that this committee had been unsuccessful in its efforts to get data from foundry associations. One great trouble from the foundry standpoint, it was pointed out, is in educating foundrymen and reference was made to the efforts to get to the foundrymen through the press and technical papers. A refractory man declared that refractory makers are not in a position to conduct re- search experiments and that foundrymen can conduct such work. The discussion also brought out that foun- dries often want brick in a hurry and take any that may be handy, and that many foundries, particularly small ones, use only one quality of brick for lining vari- ous zones of the cupolas and ladles when it would be better to have three kinds. Better results were de- clared to have been obtained by using a hard, dense, cheap brick for ladles. 612 Society Later in the session the subject of cupola brick was again brought up by W. D. Griffiths, Lavino Refrac- tories Co., Philadelphia, who said foundrymen want one type of brick that can be used for the top and bottom of cupolas. If foundrymen would permit experimenta- tion along that line he believed good results would be accomplished. He referred to one large foundry that uses a very dense brick for all purposes and to another that insists on a blast furnace type of brick for all work, which he said is a mistake. Cupola Practice and Life of Brick “The Effect of Variations in Cupola Practice on the Life of Refractory Bricks” was discussed in consid- erable detail in a paper prepared by James T. Mac- Kenzie, metallurgist American Cast Iron Pipe Co., Birmingham. This paper was not read in full, but par- ticular attention was called to certain parts of it. One of these related to the time allowed by the working conditions of the foundry for getting the furnace ready for the next heat. The author said that, in plants using short melts, this is of little concern, but where the cupola is run all day and must be ready for charging early the next morning, there is a temptation to put the men to work as late as possible and rush the work. This usually results in a poor job in chipping and daubing and the charging is done helter-skelter. He believed it would be better to have a separate shift to get the furnace ready at night so that there is time to do the job well. This often requires the cooling off of the walls with a hose which probably injures the lining, but good blocks stand this treatment re- markably well. Another operation phase dwelt on was blast. The writer declared that far more damage is done to lin- ings and castings by too much blast than not enough, and he referred to oxidation of the iron and other trou- bles that result from high pressure. In conclusion he said that in one point only does good foundry practice work against the lining and that is high temperature. He believed it far better to melt iron hot and cool with scrap than to court disaster by melting cold. In fact, he doubted whether correct melting would attack a lining any faster than cold melting on account of the increased chances of oxidation in the latter. He be- lieved the finest thing that could be done would be the elimination of oxidation in the cupola, the price of which is vigilant application of fundamental principles and painstaking attention to routine. In the discussion Mr. Bole called attention to the fact that the Bureau of Mines had issued a bulletin on cupola temperatures several years ago. Refractories in the Malleable Foundry The next paper submitted was one on “Principal Re- fractory Problems of the Malleable Cast Iron Foundry” prepared by H. A. Schwartz, head of the research de- partment of the National Malleable & Steel Castings Co., Cleveland. He pointed out that, in the air melting furnace, such combustion conditions are required that the final products will contain little or no free oxygen and a small percentage of carbon monoxide. In opera- tion the temperature of the furnace walls is approxi- mately 3000 deg. Fahr. If the thermal engineer seeks to minimize radiation allowance by using very thick walls, the inner face of the wall grows hotter as the cooling action of the exterior has diminished and he buys fuel economy at the expense of refractory econ- omy. In side walls, thicknesses of from 18 to 9 in. are in use, but the author said that the best economy in both fuel and brick with which he was familiar was ob- February 26, 1925 tained on furnaces with 12-in. walls. He saw no prom- ise of merit in heat insulation which he said would probably result in the rapid destruction of the inner refractory linings. Air furnaces will survive more hot hours if allowed to cool overnight than if operated continuously. Erosion by flue gases is an important source of wall destruction. Most furnaces use top blast and if the streams of air are so directed as to strike a wall. the brick is rapidly cut out by a combination of melting and erosion. The writer also pointed out that the char- acter of fuel is of importance. He said that pulverized coal has an advantage in that the burning mass travels along the length of the furnace and hence need not impinge on walls or roof at its point of maximum tem- perature. There is now a feeling that both pulverized coal and oil are less destructive to furnace linings than is hand-fired coal, but he doubted whether this is capa- ble of rigid proof. Mechanical difficulties in roofs were also mentioned, with the statement that too round an arch results in an unfavorable flame distribution and a too flat one im- poses too high stresses on the bung frame. The life of the bung is influenced by its mechanical rigidity, ac- cording to the author, who said that within his knowl- edge a mechanically more stable design more than dou- bles the bung life. Where crane service is available he regarded the 24-in. bung as the more economical. Some of the artificial refractory minerals such as spinel, sillimanite, etc., hold theoretical advantages, but at present they seem to lack resistance to thermal stresses. If the problem be viewed merely as a re- duction in the amount of refractories used and not the interruptions in service for repairs, the author said the thin-walled, artificially cooled furnace might furnish a solution at an undetermined increase in fuel cost. How- ever, he doubted whether the various variables he had alluded to could be combined in an equation from which the most economic practice could be calculated. It is much more likely, he said, that the operating executive will continue to arrive at his results by a process of trial and error in an attempt to find the fuel, refractory and design which reduces his costs for labor, material, interruptions and service, etc., to a minimum. He believed that in the present state of the art the ceramists’ efforts may be most profitably ap- plied to improve the resistance of side walls to the chemical actions of slags and of bung brick to me- chanical destruction by thermal stresses and perhaps the stresses applied by the bung frame. So far the best solution seems to have been based on using very dense brick for the former and coarse open brick for the latter. During the discussion one speaker said that, finding 12-in. side walls unsatisfactory in a reverberatory fur- nace, he had changed to 21-in. wall thickness and dou- bled the furnace heats to 22. Another pointed out that insulating the side walls reduces the crown temperature and he thought the next step would be to try out in- sulating the walls. Another favored the use of large bungs up to 24 or 36 in. wide or as large as can be con- veniently handled. Refractory Problems in Steel Foundries “The Principal Refractory Problems of the Steel Industry” was the subject of a paper by Dana T. Dem- orest, professor of metallurgy, Ohio State University. First taking up the subject of brick for the roof and side wall of an open-hearth, furnace he said that the problem is more one of manufacture and technic than of materials. Silica brick is used for roofs and side walls because of their ability to keep their crushing strength at high temperature. In this they are different from fire clay brick, although their melting tempera- ture is not higher than that of first grade fire brick. Magnesite brick is Wmsati ry for roofs and side walls because it does not maltain its crushing strength and because of its tendency to slack. Probably the chief trouble to which silica brick, especially in the roof, is subject is spalling and, in addition in the basic furnace, the brick are being continually fluxed by the spray of iron oxide and basic slag, both of which at- tack silica brick. This attack cannot be prevented, but THE IRON AGE 613 it can be minimizéd by making the brick as dense as possible and by so laying up’the roof that there ure as few places as possible for the spray of these fluxes to accumulate. He suggested a more careful study of the proper proportion of grain and sizes in the manufacture of silica brick so as to get the densest possible brick. The speaker declared that the life of a roof of silica brick can be enormously prolonged if the brick is accu- rately made in machine presses. He said that an open- hearth furnace in a Columbus foundry had been in use a year with no roof repairs and is still in good con- dition. Later during the discussion he said that the roof in this furnace has lasted only six months when machine made brick was not used. While one reason for the long life of this furnace was its intelligent op- eration, another was because of the use of machine made brick with very true surfaces. This permitted the laying of the roof with a minimum amount of cement. Since the most easily fluxed material in a roof is the cementing material and the brick next to it, a roof made with accurately made brick and a minimum amount of cement is bound to stand up better. The spalling of the silica brick, the author said, is due partly to the manufacturing processes not being sufficiently prolonged and at an insufficiently high tem- perature to bring about the inversion of the quality of its invert forms as much as possible. Certain bonding material such as oxide and lime hasten the inversion better and the more completely the inversion has been carried out in the manufacturing processes the less danger there is of spalling in the roof. Spalling is also greatly reduced by using accurately made brick because the pressure on the brick is more uniform. The standard basic material for open-hearth bot- toms is magnesite, both in the form of bricks and in grain magnesite. The top layer or working bottom is usually made of a burnt-in layer of dolomite because it sets more quickly. In some furnaces a layer of chro- mite is burnt in near the slag line, on the neck and on front and back walls. The speaker declared that mag- nesite is ideal in its resistance to basic open-hearth slag, especially when the top layer or working bottom con- tains enough chrome ore or iron oxide so that it is pretty well saturated with these oxides and will not take up more in use and hence will not swell or shrink and develop cracks. After patching the neck and breast of the furnace at or near the slag line with granular burnt dolomite, the effectiveness of the refractory is helped by covering it with chrome ore. The life of a foundry open-hearth is greatly pro- longed by using chromite after patching with dolomite. The checker work brick, the speaker pointed out, are subjected to severe scoring action of the slag spray and he suggested that the top brick, where the action is severest, be made of a more neutral type of refractory than fire clay. It might be advisable to make a top layer of chrome or die-made brick, especially when powdered coal is used and much ash is lodged on the checker work brick. In conclusion he said that the real problem which needs solution in the case of checker work brick for an open-hearth, and also for a blast furnace, is to find a brick with the greatest ability to absorb heat from high temperature gases and to return it to low tempera- ture gases. This is a problem for the ceramic en- gineer. Discussion on Roofs and Bottoms A discussion of both open-hearth roofs and bottoms followed the presentation of the paper. The opinion was expressed that the life of an open-hearth furnace might be prolonged from 100 to 200 days if spalling is reduced. It was pointed out that the parts of the roof that gave out first are the slope and the corner under the arch. Suggestions for roof improvements included the use offsuspended roofs and interlocking tile as well as machine made brick, and the need of preventing the loss of the glazed roof surface because of brick was emphasized. L. S. Longenecker, Vitrefrax, Inc., explained the use of interlocking arch tile for roof construction. He pointed out that an outstanding trouble with ordinary roofs is that pieces break off and drop, leaving ‘the ee er et eee ere eins 614 THE IRON AGE faces of the adjoining brick exposed. Difference of opinion was expressed regarding furnace bottoms. One speaker said he had seen a magnesite bottom taken out after 20 years’ service and its life is usually seven to ten years, so that he was not interested in dolomite bottoms, but another declared that he had found dolo- mite bottoms better and would not use magnesite bot- toms again. Open-Hearth Furnace Bottoms The subject of furnace bottoms was dwelt on briefly by the last speaker, William J. McCaughey, professor of mineralogy, Ohio State University, whose subject was “Microscopic Examination of an Open-Hearth Steel Bottom.” He said that up to the war magnesite open- hearth steel bottoms had been generally used, but as Austrian magnesite was no longer available, American iron-free magnesite came into use and this was gen- erally successful in open-hearth bottoms, but not so FABRICATED STEEL PLATE Detailed Bookings for Two Years Compiled by Bureau of the Census WASHINGTON, Feb. 24.—The Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce, has issued a revised state- ment concerning bookings of fabricated steel plate. The original statement, the first of a series of monthly re- ports for this unit of the industry, was incorrect as it related to the percentages of capacities reporting, and also as it concerned total bookings by months, for 1923 and 1924, and further as it related to bookings for stocks and miscellaneous sources of consumption. The figures as they related to bookings for other purposes, such as oil storage tanks, etc., were correct. The re- vised statement says that total bookings of fabricated steel for 1924, representing 43 per cent of capacity and based on reports from 30 identical firms, including one firm now out of business, amounts to 304,187 net tons. This compares with 532,805 tons booked in 1923 by the same firms, representing 76 per cent of their 1923 capacity. The revised statement in detail fol- lows: Fabricated Steel Plate Bookings (Net Tons) Oil Blast Storage Re- Tank Gas Fur- Stacks Total Tanks finery Cars Holders naces Etc. Jan. ...... 60,382 38,917 3,629 1,935 2,493 32 13,080 Feb. ...... 55,927 36,669 5 3,344 2,569 425 10,367 53 March ... 68,228 41,144 291 3,948 4,783 709 16,353 a, eee 54,321 20,924 2,579 2,141 6,481 268 21,928 Oe cae 34,162 16,511 1,381 2,620 1,825 849 10,976 | eee 56,031 $8,351 956 3,252 2,514 699 10,259 July ...... 55,242 34,330 1,146 3,492 4,909 945 10,420 Bee veewes 33,138 15,498 1,314 2,829 2,406 746 10,345 Sept. ..... 36,267 23,634 480 1,130 1,435 736 8,852 RRA 31,603 15,589 912 2,238 5,512 1,073 6,279 Nov. ...... 35,445 9,503 312 1,223 6,378 750 7,279 DG 6s ciaet ee 6,718 212 239 2,571 715 11,604 1923 Total.532,805 297,788 16,765 28,391 43,876 8,243 137,742 MRL tara welt 19,675 4,012 729 99 7,934 632 6,269 Feb. 15,498 2,393 895 134 4,700 505 6,871 March 21,057 4,757 1,590 425 3,917 334 10,034 April 19,099 6,342 999 366 1,630 710 9,052 Pe wsawee 24,872 5,137 1,322 336 6,448 693 10,936 June 28,511 15,816 879 52 2,606 640 8,518 July....... 21,248 11,360 850 93 657 461 7,827 Be ocicen eee 15,927 1,031 322 706 363 11,002 a. waters 19,430 10,286 627 284 1,128 620 6,585 eee 7,868 1,352 530 1,536 1,929 9,898 Nov. ...... 86,937 13,098 241 8,987 5,206 103 9,302 Dec. ...... 45,396 26,449 757 1,345 5,769 2,508 8,568 1924 Total.304,187 123,445 11,272 12,973 42,2379,398 104,862 Pumping Oil with Centrifugal Pumps Tests of two centrifugal pumps used in California in pumping oil are reported in a pamphlet just issued by the Goulds Mfg. Co., Seneca Falls, N. Y., maker of the pumps. The report is made by Prof. R. L. Daugher- ty, of the California Institute of Technology, and con- sists in the main of curves of characteristics of the pumps when handling water, gasoline, light crude oil, heavy crude oil, warm residuum and cold residuum. The petroleum products handled range from the fluidity of gasoline to as high as 7000 Saybolt viscosity. The ha satisfactory in brick making. He referred to an un- usually good furnace bottom made of Canadian mag- nesite used in one of the open-hearth furnaces of the Donner Steel Co. After 200 heats had been taken there was not a hole in the bottom. He secured a piece from this bottom for a chemical and microscopic examina- tion and found that the composition had changed, the 16 per cent of lime having been reduced to 4 per cent and the silica having dropped to 2 per cent. The ma- terial had recrystallized and had formed a monolithic bottom. In connection with the convention there are two ex- hibits, one by the Ohio manufacturers of ceramic prod- ucts and the other by makers of various equipment used in the ceramic industry. Trips were made to the plants of the Ohio Malleable Iron Co. and the Buckeye Steel Castings Co., Columbus, the American Rolling Mill plant in Middletown and to various Ohio plants en- gaged in ceramic industries. charts should therefore be of assistance in determining the performance of centrifugal pumps in handling vis- cous liquids. One of the pumps used was a 4-in. single-stage volute centrifugal pump, while the other was a 5-in. 3-stage turbine centrifugal pump. At maximum effi- ciency the single-stage pump, running at 1450 r.p.m., had a capacity of 600 gal. per min., at a head of 142 ft. of water, and the 3-stage pump a capacity of 450 gal. per min., at a head of 343 ft. Senator Reed Indorses Present Law as to Immigration WASHINGTON, Feb. 24.—Approval of the present immigration law given by Senator Reed, Republican, of Pennsylvania, is looked upon as being a reply to efforts of the Department of Labor to have the law so amended that it would apply quota application to con- tiguous territory of the United States so as to include Canada and Mexico. Also the Department of Labor is anxious to have adopted a system of registration of aliens. There can be no doubt that the proposed legis- lation of the Department of Labor is gaining in favor. But Senator Reed apparently is opposed to it because he said that smuggling has been on comparatively small proportions. The present law, he declared, has brought about the three primary purposes for which it was intended, including uniform distribution of immigration, apportionment of quotas more in accord- ance with the national characteristics of the United States, and a sharp reduction in the number of arrivals. “I think we can fairly say, for the first time in 75 years, that the problem of European immigration to America has been settled, with a net gain at the rate of less than 40,000 annually, and all of that net gain coming from northern and western Europe, mostly people who speak our language before they get here, mostly people who have inherited from their forbears a capacity for self-government,” said Senator Reed. “I think we can say that for once and all the problem of European immigration is settled.” Quad City Foundrymen Meet The Quad City Foundrymen’s Association held its regular monthly meeting at the Davenport Chamber of Commerce, Davenport, Iowa, Monday evening, Feb. 16. George A. T. Long, Pickands, Brown & Co., Chi- cago, read a paper on cupola construction and opera- tion, and discussed the effects of various elements in cast iron. The paper was based’ on many years of experience and observation in connection with many kinds of cupola operations, as well as the mixing of many different kinds of gray iron. Ww. D. Moore, president, American Cast Iron Pipe Co., Birmingham, Ala., was a guest at the meeting, and in the discussion told of some of the peculiarities and difficulties attending the casting of cast iron pipe. February 26, 1925 <a February 26, 1925 Sensitive Drills with “Motorized” Spindles The motor-spindle ball-bearing sensitive drilling machine, illustrated herewith, is stressed by the mak- ers, the Leland-Gifford Co., Worcester, Mass., as repre- senting a distinct novelty in motor drives for drilling machines because the spindles themselves are “motor- ized.” An advantage claimed for this form of drive is unusual flexibility. The research work in the design and developments of the motors is said to have been ex- “Motor- Spindle” Arrangement of the Sensitive Drill Shown Above Unusual Flexibility Is Claimed for the tensive, as well as tests on applying this form of drive. These machines are available in the usual sizes of 14 in. and 20 in. swing, in spindle combinations of one, two, three, four and six. In their simplest form they are equipped with lever feed to the spindle, with four open motor speeds and arranged for dry drilling. The machines are easily adapted for semi-automatic power feed, back gears to the spindle, giving four additional speeds with correspondingly increased power to the spindle nose. Equipment for wet drilling may be in- cluded also. The machines are full ball bearing, with mountings that assure ample lubrication and protec- tion from dust. An alternating current, 220-volt, 3 phase, 60cycle motor is employed, and provision is made through small compact transformers for handling other line voltages. Four motor-spindle speeds, 600, 900, 1200 and 1800 ¥.p.m., are obtainable through a special five-position drum-type controller. The controller may be manipu- lated conveniently and the various speeds are plainly indicated. The rotating member of the motor, the rotor, is of the cast type, in which wires are not used, and there- fore trouble from loose wires is eliminated. This motor is mounted on a quill carried on ball bearings. It is claimed that with its freedom from commutator and brushes, the life of the motor with ordinary care is practically indefinite. The Gulf States Steel Co. has purchased 85,000 acres of coal lands from the Bessemer Coal, Iron & Land Co. for future development. The lands are in Tuscaloosa and Fayette Counties, Alabama, and the mining will be of the deep kind. THE IRON AGE 615 Dial Bench Gage with New Features Provision for raising the work-carrying table against the indicator spindle by means of the foot, leaving both hands free for inserting the work to be gaged, is one of three features claimed as new for the bench gage shown in the accompanying illustration. The knurled handle for raising and lowering the work table is grooved, as shown. In this groove there is a drilled hole in which a cord or wire may be in- serted and run over the groove to the floor, permitting of operation of the table with the foot. The travel of the table may be adjusted by turning the knurled ad- justing nuts beneath the table. Foot operation is of particular value, perhaps, in locating odd-shaped parts upon the table. For hand operation the cord may be removed conveniently. Another feature is the provision for gaging long stock. By unloosening the clamping screw the table may be swung out of the way and the base of the gage it- self used as a table for gaging larger pieces than can be accommodated on the usual gage of this type. To permit the work to be inserted between the indicator spindle and the base of the gage, the small button on the top of the indicator is lifted by the fingers. It will be noted that the usual lever attachment on the indicator to raise and lower the spindle from the work is not employed, the work table being brought up to the spindle instead. The makers, the Federal Products Corporation, Providence, state that although they manufacture the other type of machine, tests have shown that more uniform readings can be obtained by the method used in the gage illustrated, and that less wear takes place in the indicator. The The Knuried Handle for Rais- ing or Lowering the Work Table to the Spindle May Be Operated by the Foot. The table may be swung aside for measuring long stock, which rests on the base The dial indicator is of larger diam- eter than usual gage may be operated by raising the spindle of the in- dicator and locking the table, however, by means of the small button on top of the spindle. The graduations on the indicator, which has only 0.030 graduations to one turn of the hand and is also graduated in 0.0005 in., as shown by the lines be- tween the dial, is the third feature. The indicator is 2% in. in diameter, which is claimed to be larger than usual, the increased diameter being stressed as increas- ing the distance between the graduations, which fa- cilitates reading. The gage is designated as Model No. 35. The post on which the table and indicator are clamped is regu- larly 12 in. high, but posts of other heights may be fur- nished. Domestic sales of oak leather belting reported by the Leather Belting Exchange, which represents about 60 per cent of the total, amounted in January to 409,252 lb., valued at $686,316, or an average of $1.68 per Ib. This is a considerable increase over the December figures of 324,263 Ib. and $547,681, the average being $1.69 per Ib. In January, 1924, sales were 441,266 bb., $752,213 and $1.84 per Ib. 616 THE IRON AGE NEW FOUR-SPINDLE AUTOMATIC Compact Machine with Features Designed . to Facilitate High Output Permanent. alinement and rigidity, which are im- portant in maintaining high. output of work within close limits, as. well as convenience. in control and adjustment were set up as primary considerations in designing the four-spindle automatic screw machine shown in the accompanying illustrations. The capacity of the machine, which has been re- cently brought out by. the Cleveland Automatic Ma- chine Co.. Cleveland, and is designated as the Model M, is for 1%-in. round, .1%-in. hexagonal, and 1-1/16 in. square stock. Compactness is a feature, the machine occupying a floor space of 42 x 116 in. . Many details Front and Side Views of New Four-Spindle Automatic. The arrangement of the controlling the working movements are features incorporated in-the company’s single-spindle automatic have been applied to the new machine. Ample chip room is a feature, liberal space having been provided between the tools and the chip pan. Additional provision for chips has been made by ar- ranging the bed casting of the machine so that when the space under the tools has been filled, further accumulation of chips is deflected by an inclined sur- face inside of the bed at the top of the center legs, shown at A. Chips thus deflected slide across into the compartment at the right of these legs. Spindle- change gears are kept in a cabinet cast in the bed, the door of this cabinet being shown at B. Seven changes of speed, from 210 to 751 r. p. m. are provided, the change gears being contained in case C. A knurled steel guard which is screwed onto the spindle turret, is intended to keep dirt and chips from getting into the spindle mechanism, and may be quickly removed facili- tating the changing of chucks. Compression collars are provided on the spindles to take care of the variation in dimensions of materials. The spindle bearings are made up of hardened steel bushings mounted in the spindle turret housing and bronze bushings pressed on the spindles. Adjustment is provided for taking up wear in the front spindle bearings ahd also spindle end motion. One of the features intended to facilitate operation is the lever shown at D, for opening and closing the chucks. As shown, the lever is shown hanging down, out of the operator’s way. When a new bar of stock is to be put into.the chuck, or when for any other reason the chuck is to be released, this lever is swung into a horizontal position, in which the rear. of. the lever enters the space between the two flanges on the .chuck- operating thimble; the hand lever is then swung side- ways to open. the chuck. When stocking up the machine, the spindle turret is indexed to. bring suc- high-spee2 mechanism for the indexing and the low-speed feed for February 26, 1925 cessive spindles into the position where they can be engaged by this hand lever. A feature especially stressed by the makers is- the arrangement of the high-speed mechanism for effecting indexing movements, and the low-speed feed: for con- trolling the working movements of the machine. Two complete sets of gears are provided for these two movements. The method of accomplishing the high- speed and idle movements may be noted from the side- view illustration. Power is transmitted from the driving pulley E through bevel gears and a vertical shaft to another pair of bevel gears shown at F. The drive is then through spur gears G to a worm which meshes with the wheel H on the feed cam shaft. These high speed gears run continuously, but when the indexing movement has been accomplished the clutch shown at J. is tripped automatically by the adjusting pins on the face of worm wheel H, thus HeceneepuNNEONECLANERONEROREONEDOUNOMAGeRDOOO ONE OOUnERONORUONONESINN OF CUO HU eEE cee rere interrupting further transmission through this drive. The low-speed drive for the working feed move- ments is taken from the spindle driving gears, all feed movements, as expressed in inches per spindle revolu- tion, remaining constant even with the changes in spin- dle speed. From the spindle change gears in the case shown at C in the front view illustration, power is transmitted through gearing to bevel gears, which in turn drive a vertical shaft. At the lower end of the latter shaft there is a worm meshing with a wheel in case J. From the worm wheel the drive is through either of two pairs of selective sliding gears K and then through a cone of spur gears LL, an intermediate gear controlled by lever M and finally to a cross shaft upon which is mounted the ratchet N. The low-speed drive also runs continuously, but when the high-speed is thrown out a spider fastened to the back of lower bevel gear F' stops automatically, this permitting the ratchet N to engage the pawl. The low-speed move- ment then becomes effective, power being transmitted through to the worm meshing with the feed wheel H. Ten changes of feed are available. The cam shaft of the machine extends along the back of the machine, and the accessibility for adjustm