The Iron Age 1925-05-14: Vol 115 Iss 20

yg ESTABLISHED 1855 THE IRON AGE New York, May 14, 1925 VOL. 115, No. 20 Steel Boats for Safety How No. 14 Gage Zinc-Coated Steel Sheets Are Literal Lifesavers to Thousands in Peril on the Sea BY PRENTICE WINCHELL “Women and Children First!” To most of us the phrase has a fictional quality; it savors of the melodrama or the six-reeler. But to those who have heard it in the dead of night, on sea- swept decks, with death just over the rail . . . it is a never-to-be-forgotten cry. When grandfather used the clipper ships for his transatlantic crossing, it was heard far more often than today, to be sure. But even with powerful en- gines, steel bulkheads, gyroscopic compasses, and the ever-present wireless—the chances are better than even that this very week the dread warning will ring down a raging wind on one of the seven seas. After that, it’s up to the lifeboats. Now, to the layman a lifeboat is just a lifeboat, capable of holding so many people in an emergency. But to the seaman, there are two kinds of lifeboats—wood and steel. And generally speaking he prefers the latter, for a good and sufficient reason. Steel does not shrink when dry; wood does. Lifeboats which are hung in davits for weeks on end, exposed to wind and sun, develop open seams and leak badly; not necessarily enough to en- danger the lives of the occupants who have taken to them as a last refuge from the storm, for air com- partments are provided to keep the boat afloat even if there is a hole in the bottom; but enough to increase greatly the danger which is almost as great as that of drowning. How many headlines tell of heroic rescues at sea, followed by reports that many of the survivors have perished through “overexposure”? Often—too often— this “overexposure” means sitting in a lifeboat which has a foot or so of icy water in the bottom. Wood 1403 ) A ; 43 4 : hs boats can hardly avoid this condition when suddenly placed in use, as witness the regular boat drills which send them overside, only to take several inches of water in the short period of time required for the test. But steel boats do not leak. They are easier to handle, stronger and safer. More than 95 per cent of the lifeboats in use on American-owned ships are made of steel. Only a comparatively small proportion of those in use on English, French and German boats are steel, for tradition is hard to down and the sea cap- tains of those countries still cling to the wooden boat. Average Life Ten Years There are approximately 15,000 steel lifeboats in use in this country today, and that the trend is toward a further use of the steel boat by European shipping interests can hardly be doubted. For one thing, they last longer. The average life of a steel lifeboat is over ten years, while that of the wood boat is consid- erably less, according to estimates made by one well- known marine authority. The largest fabricator of steel lifeboats in the United States is the Welin Davit & Boat Corporation of Long Island City, N. Y. They produce some twenty standard sizes of lifeboats and turn out a total of approximately 500 every year. Sizes range all the way from 30 ft. x 10 ft. beam x 4 ft. draft to 12 ft.x4ft.x2ft. The keels are made from ordinary steel bars, the ribs of 2 x 2 x %-in. angles, and the hull is made of stock steel sheets, zinc-coated, usually No. 14 gage, but sometimes as thick as No. 12 gage. All the work is done on a manufacturing basis, with jigs and fixtures for all parts. Cold riveting is GS CSET VOTO AS ETON TIT es TERT SSRN IIR Ae OY SNR tea Oo \ vag 1404 THE IRON AGE May 14, 1925 used to fasten the sheets to the framework, as welding has not been found to work satisfactorily thus far. This company also manufactures several lines of standardized steel rowboats and small launches rang- ing from 30 ft. long down to 10 or 12 ft. Large steel tugs, work-boats and yachts are also built, but the fabricating process has been confined to lifeboats and rowboats. Another large manufacturer of small steel boats is the Mullins Body Corporation, Salem, Ohio. Known to automotive manufacturers as a builder of car bodies, this company has fabricated a line of small steel boats for many years and the recent development of the small outboard motor has done much to expand the demand for this type of boat. Steel Ribs Instead of Oak These small rowboats, or outboard motorboats, are made from pressed steel, zinc-coated, in sizes ranging from about 30 ft. down. Perhaps the most popular size is the 18-ft. launch, for which there has been a great demand since the highways have become crowded with a parade of automobiles and many people have turned to the inland waters to escape from dust and exhaust gases. The possible extent of the small boat business may be seen from the fact that there are about 200,000 registered motorboats over 26 ft. in length, approximately another 400,000 below that length, and literally millions of rowboats in use today on the lakes, rivers and harbors of this country. The regular type of steel boat is practically punc- ture proof—i.e., any blow which would puncture a steel rowboat would smash a wooden boat beyond repair. Moreover, they are provided with air-chambers at bow and stern, so that they are virtually non-sinkable. On the previous page is shown a steel lifeboat which was dropped, heavily loaded, on a submerged piling. Here is the same boat, back in the water, with a full load of forty men, no repair work having been done. The force of the blow drove the steel shell inward far enough to smash the thwarts, but the boat was still seaworthy, where a wooden boat would have been wrecked beyond repair It has been centended that the bumps to which every boat is subjected would soon dent and mar the appearance of steel boats, whereas they would have no effect on the wooden boat. Light steel sheets will, of course, show the effects of an impact, but with the aid of a hammer, or in rare cases of a mechanic, the boat is as good as new. Used on Polar Expedition Steel boats have been successfully used in every corner of the world and have become recognized as safe, easy to handle on account of light weight, and long-wearing. Lieutenant-Commander Donald B. Mac- Millan, U. S. N., successor to Greely and Peary in Arctic explorations, took a Mullins “Outboard Special” pressed steel boat on his last expedition. No small boat was ever subjected to rougher usage in hazardous travel, but this one stood the battering of jammed ice that would have crushed the ordinary wooden boat like an eggshell. The boat has been left in the Arctic at a point which will mark the start of the new Mac- Millan expedition, which will start this summer, there to become once more a part of the tried and tested equipment of one of America’s foremost explorers. Not only are steel boats suited to pleasure craft requirements on account of their remarkable strength and light weight, but they have certain safety factors which are not to be overlooked. When used with power, there is always danger of fire from gasoline in a wooden boat. There is none of this danger with a steel boat. Again, a wooden boat will, if badly smashed, sink “without a trace,” whereas the steel boats invari- ably are equipped with special air chambers which will keep them afloat even if there is a large hole in the hull. They have met with especial favor in southern and ce Oe, May 14, 1925 tropical waters, where the ravages of the teredo, or water-borer, ruin a wooden-hull in short order. Wooden boats must either be copper-sheathed below the water- line, or else covered with special copper paint every few weeks. All a steel boat requires in the way of SOUTHERN PROGRESS Increased Production and Consumption of Iron in Alabama in Recent Years “Increased Consumption of Southern Iron in the South” was the subject assigned to Russell Hunt, sec retary-treasurer of the Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Co., Birmingham, Ala., and also Southern sales manager of the company, at the recent annual convention of the Southern Metal Trades Association in San Antonio, Tex. Mr. Hunt said in his address: “It has been only a few years since we people of the South had a deep-seated feeling that all manufac- tured articles, if of good quality, must necessarily come from the factories of the North and East. Who could censure us for this attitude? Had we not all grown up with the fixed idea that ours was strictly an agricul- tural country, suited only for the never-changing crops of cotton and corn? But, gentlemen, a new order of things is upon us—the South is now fast assuming its rightful position as a combined agricultural and indus- trial section of the United States. And, why not—for what other section is so bountifully blessed with such wonderful climate, fertile lands, the best and most loyal labor supply in the world, and with untold and unmeasured store of all classes and kinds of raw mate- rials? “At the beginning of 1925, there were about 650 gray iron foundries in the Southern States, whose prin- cipal products are cast iron water and gas pipe, special flange fittings, soil pipe and fittings, ecrewed fittings, bath tubs, sinks, lavatories, stoves, ranges, hot air fur- naces, radiation, car wheels, sugar mill machinery, cot- ton presses, cotton mill castings, farm implements, gas- oline pumps, culvert pipe, white way posts, farm hard- THE IRON AGE The Mullins Outboard Special be- side MacMillan’s ship, the “Bow- doin.” In the circle is shown the explorer and his companions liter- ally digging the little steel boat out of a grave of snow and ice, where it had served as a food cache upkeep is painting once or twice a year. There is corrosion to contend with, of course, but experience has shown that corrosion does less damage over a period of years than normal decay which takes place in a wooden hull. ware and general castings. Eighty per cent of the water and gas pipe used in the entire country is now made in the South; our stoves and ranges find markets in Chicago and other large Northern cities; one of your members is furnishing white way posts to grace the boulevards of our National Capital, and thus the story goes. “You will pardon me for giving you a few statistics from the sovereign State of Alabama. At present Ala- bama has in blast 25 furnaces, while only one merchant stack is going in Tennessee and two in Virginia. In 1885 Alabama produced 227,000 tons of pig iron; in 1890, 915,000; in 1905, 1,560,000; in 1920, 2,400,000; in 1924, 2,774,000. About 60 per cent of this tonnage is merchant or foundry iron, and, as already stated, about 80 per cent of this is being melted in the South, and when you consider in this connection the great in- crease in our production during the last 25 years, the percentage of Southern melt is all the more impressive.” Mining and Industrial Electric Locomotives Shipments of mining and industrial electric locomo- tives in the first quarter of 1924 are reported by the Department of Commerce at 152, valued at $705,689. This compares with 167 in the last quarter of 1924, valued at $901,342, and with 185 in the first quarter of 1924, valued at $974,596. The recent quarter’s ship- ments have the lowest value for any quarter in more than a year and, with the exception of the third quarter of 1924, the smallest number. Of the total, 145 were for mining and 7 for industrial use. The trolley type predominated under both heads, with 100 in the min- ing group and 4 industrial, leaving 45 storage battery type for mining and 3 in the industrial group. neo PLAS an at oa SN OLA Oe 7 ore: Labor Turnover Can Be Reduced But Paternalism Is Not Short Cut to Employee Good- will— Problems of Human Relations Discussed at Meeting of Society of Industrial Engineers HEN the famous five-dollars-a-day minimum V Y wage was announced by Henry Ford, dozens of different opinions were expressed as to the prob- able reasons for and results of such a policy. Some thought it a bold stroke to secure free publicity. Some said pure philanthropy and intimated that it had no place in business, for other employers who might not be so favorably situated might be unable to pay such wages. Nearly everyone conceded that there would be little difficulty at the Ford plants in getting enough good labor from thenceforth. Whatever the reasons may have been which prompted this move, one of the results was so startling that it proved that the policy was not an expensive one, at any rate. Labor turnover was reduced from approximately 500 per cent to less than 14 per cent a year. Perhaps the motives were philanthropic, but the saving in hiring and firing more than paid for the increase in wages, according to a paper read to the Twelfth An- nual Meeting of the Society of Industrial Engineers in Cleveland, May 6-8, by Dr. Charles A. Lippincott, manager of the cooperative department, Studebaker Corporation. “Many efforts have been made to bring about closer relations between management and men,” said Dr. Lippincott. “The problem of human relations can be solved only on an ethical basis. It cannot be solved by any welfare plans that were formerly popular and are still used in some plants. I do not believe in wel- fare plans. They involve paternalism and men resent it. They say ‘give me what is due me and I will look after myself.’ Men do not want gratuities. At one time managers thought that the more servile their men were the better was their labor situation. We are getting away from that now. I am opposed to any- thing that savors of paternalism or gratuity. “If you cut labor turnover, you will go a long way in solving the problem of human relations in industry. Men must be sold on the fact that industry must be conserved and human relations must be developed along that line. Any man engaged on this problem must undertake it with the desire to render justice. The solution of the problem of human relations is a question of dollars and cents in industry. This is all to be brought about by a campaign of education, which is a slow method. The big problem today is the edu- eation of the men to get them to understand the policy of the Board of Directors. It is dollars and cents for the company to have foremen who are leaders rather than drivers of men. It makes no difference how modern the equipment and methods of a plant may be. The whole matter comes back to the men. Industry has spent millions in other directions but has not spent much in solving the method of handling men intelli- gently and until it does, it will not get far in solving the problem of human relations.” Mr. Lippincott said that his company in 1924 spent nearly $2,000,000 on its various lines of cooperative work for the men, the principal reason for which was to cut down labor turnover and to increase loyalty, and he believed the results warranted expectations. Labor unions approve the work, he said, but they believed the company would take the money it spent for this purpose out of the wages. However, the company agreed to pay as much in wages as the going rate for the same work where its plants were located and kept this agreement. Why Managements Fail i the opening session two papers relating to management were presented. Harry F. Hopf, H. F. Hopf Co. of New York, took for his subject “Management—A Problem of Executive Supervision.” He declared that the scope of management is almost unlimited, as many problems are involved and that the task of management has assumed increasing impor- tance, The only limit to the extent of management, he asserted, is the limit in the abilities of executives. In his opinion the human factor overshadows all others in executive supervision. “The average business is sadly lacking in the de- sired management and most failures can be attributed to faulty management,” declared the speaker, who pointed out some of the defects of business executives. He said that too many are concerned with maintain- ing the balance of power between heads of depart- ments, some are too much disposed to refer matters to committees, which leads to discussions and delays be- fore the policies are agreed upon and often results in a compromise, some devote too much attention to routine and some are not inclined to adopt new methods. Another factor in unsuccessful management is nepotism which often appears in plants where the owner, who is the manager, brings in his sons or other relatives. Some executives lack initiative and some do not accomplish the proper welding of the units of the organization. The foundation stone in the relation between an executive and his employees, according to Mr. Hopf, is confidence by the employee in the manager which results in loyalty and efforts of the men to do their best. The speaker listed six tools of management. One is education and training for executive super- vision coupled with the qualifications of leadership, and the others are reports, budgets, research, confer- ence, staff assistance and standards, the latter being the most important tool. To simplify the manage- ment the question “Is this report necessary?” should be asked regarding every report. Budgets should be so prepared as to aid the management. He stressed the importance of research work but declared that some executives are unable to utilize the results of this work. Less Red Tape Needed NOME phases of management were discussed in a paper entitled “Production Management by Organi- zation Rather Than System” by W. B. Ferguson, pro- duction manager, Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Docks Co., Newport News, Va. The speaker declared that some plants have too much system, a great deal of which can be dispensed with, although there is also the danger of having too little system. System is the mental part and organization is the spirit of manage- ment. It takes more than logic to inspire men to do good work, he declared. He referred at some length to information relating to simplified management brought out in a paper by Ralph E. Flanders, manager of the Jones & Lamson Machine Co., presented at the meeting of the American Society of Mechanical En- gineers last December. Turning to the subject of records, he said that certain records have to be ob- — but that the keeping of these records does not ave to be kept up indefinitely and he cited cases of companies that had reduced their number of forms very materially. One, by the elimination of unneces- sary reports, was able to reduce its overhead 30 per cent in sixty days. He believed organization charts are necessary in new organizations but are not required in many old organizations where the men have long been associated together and know their respective duties. He favored the use of committees to bring out the proper coordination between departments. In the plant of his company the character of the work 1406 H { May 14, 1925 led to the appointment of a committee on materia! con- trol. Looking ahead to the completion of the job is the real problem in organization, according to the speaker. Labor Pooling Feasible ‘THREE papers were presented at a meeting of the industrial relations group, Friday morning, that was presided over by E. S. Cowdrick, New York. “Un- employment Insurance and Continuity of Employment,” was discussed by Bryce M. Stewart, manager of the Chicago Employment Department of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. He traced the history of unemployment insurance and outlined the plan followed by the garment industry in Chicago which, he said, could be applied to other industries. He favored a pooling of labor reserves of one industry in a community, saying that the labor so pooled would be less than the aggregate of the labor reserves of all plants when the pooling plan is not followed. Labor could be shifted from one plant to another with the fluctuations in plant operations. Men laid off from work would be required to register for employment or they would not draw insurance. When necessary, men fitted for one kind of work could be put on other jobs and trained for that work. Labor turnover would be reduced because men on part time and draw- ing insurance would be less inclined to quit their jobs. The mobility of labor between plants would be promoted. Unemployment insurance would give work- men an income in times of depression and that would be reflected in the benefit to industry at large and unemployment insurance, would cause employers to gather statistics to aid them in devising plans that might result in more continuous operations. In con- clusion he said that unemployment insurance by states can not accomplish much but insurance plans placed in effect by industries give promise of larger con- tinuity of employment. Old Age Pensions é¢(‘OST and Administration of Industrial Pensions” was the subject of an interesting paper by J. E. Morford, industrial relations department, National Industrial Conference Board, New York. The speaker stated that many employers are afraid to adopt pension systems because they do not know what obligations the system will lead to. Many provide pensions with- out figuring the cost. It is better not to adopt a pension system if it can not be kept up. He outlined the motives behind the pension systems including the provision for the care of superannuated employees, the securing and keeping of good workmen, the re- duction of the labor turnover, the elimination of the unfit in a humane way, the increase in efficiency in a plant and the decrease in labor troubles. Many em- ployers are largely influenced by the humanitarian motives, he said, or by their desire to reward long and faithful service. He divided pension system into two classes; contributory, in which the employees share in cost, and non-contributory, the latter being more generally favored by industrial companies. He re- garded the non-contributory plan as deferred wage payments and not to be considered as charity. The usual pension age is 65 years for men and 55 years for women for a continuous service of from 20 to 30 years. Mr. Morford said that industrial pensions have not been in effect long enough to deduct definite conclusions as to cost. Most pension plans have been adopted since 1910 and the whole movement is at present in an Is Personnel Work on the Wane? THE IRON AGE 1407 experimental stage. There are 242 industrial com- panies in the United States, with 2,511,000 employees, having pension systems. A new subject to be discussed by the society was “Vacations for Wage Earners.” This was presented in a paper by C. H. Gullion, industrial engineer Swift & Co., Chicago. He outlined the vacation plan in effect at the Swift plant and declared the subject of much importance as many companies have recently adopted plans for giving employees vacations with pay. At the Swift plant vacations of one week with pay are given to piece workers and weekly employees, to men who have been employed four years and to women who have worked for the company three years. Over 5000 men and 300 women get vacations. The plan, he said, has had a good effect on labor and vaca- tions with pay show good returns on the investment. Research on Management R C. S. YOAKUM, University of Michigan, pre- sented a very scholarly paper on future research in labor management before a dinner meeting of the research committee. He felt that there is an oppor- tunity to do a great deal of work in this direction and suggested three problems for research. These are covered by the general titles of nature of unemploy- ment, analysis of management and the distinction be- tween persons and commodities as factors in produc- tion. Taking up each topic separately, he pointed out in what directions a survey should bring out informa- tion that would be of great value in the management of labor. Under the general heading would come such topics as seasonal employment, labor reserves, better classifications of labor, concerted action on some of the management problems and wage incentives. In dis- cussing management he declared “The curve line that makes captains of industry overnight is dropping rapidly to the base line” and he explained the opinion that shop committees sometimes more clearly perform their functions than executives. The Thursday morning session was a memoria! meeting held by the committee for the elimination of unnecessary fatigue in honor of the late Frank D. Gilbreth, founder of the movement to study fatigue and organizer and first chairman of the fatigue com- mittee. This was presided over by George D. Shepard, Purdue University, chairman of the fatigue committee, and tributes to Mr. Gilbreth were paid by President Sheehan, John Younger, American Machinist, and A. B. Segur, Chicago. The speakers expressed their keen appreciation of Mr. Gilbreth’s work and of what he had accomplished for industry, paid tribute to his remarkable personality and referred to the affection they held for him because of his endearing traits of character. “As years go by, his work will be more appreciated and it will be a lasting standard of meas- urement,” said President Sheehan. Mr. Segur con- trasted industry as Mr. Gilbreth found it and as he left it. “He laid great foundations and it is for you to complete the structure,” he declared. The memorial meeting closed with the reading of resolutions honoring Mr. Gilbreth that were adopted recently by the Board of Directors. “It is resolved,” said the resolution, “that the society mourns his death as the loss of one to whom we looked for leadership and one who had endeared himself to us individually by many kind and friendly deeds; that the workers bave lost in him a true and wise friend; that the engineering profession, science, civilization and humanity have lost in him a courageous and enterprising engineer.” During a discussion of Dr. Yoakum’s paper, read before the Cleveland meeting, mention was made of a recent survey which purported to show that many companies have recently discon- tinued p ersonnel work. In reply, D. W. K. Peacock, director of personnel, White Co., Cleve- land, declared that those companies which went into personnel work m 1918, and avoided “cure-alls” and frothy stuff that passed as welfare work, are now doing more than ever in that direction. In other words, those companies which have used practical personnel methods to reduce turnover and secure a more adequate labor supply have discovered that it does pay. anes: seneerengnereev ene caRnase en ers cameceneuaennecseterey saunensevonneer vanes ys /sneens tevenssanevenaynenensereeyrveennen ni encenpnene rors eeteenion ao ~ cave yet CAR etRN ECE DEES SO RCET A A REOTTTS ROO ENN OER eet eoaeeeee er eee Gates ante ho a a a a | iN Laboratory for Colonial Steel Co. Chemical, Metallographic, Research and Heat- Treating Departments Housed Under One Roof BY GEORGE F. TEGAN NEW laboratory, recently completed and occu- pied by the Colonial Steel Co., Pittsburgh, at its plant at Colona, Pa., is attracting consider- able attention, not only because it embodies so many of the modern ideas as to what such an installation should be, but from the wider aspect of the importance of the laboratory in the manufacture not only of special but of the commercial grades of steel. A large percentage of the commercial steel now made is sold on chemical and physical specifications. Almost all of the steel now used by the automotive industry is sub- ject to analysis and examination of structure. This partly true of structural, railroad and other steels. It is small wonder, therefore, that steel company ex- ecutives see the need of efficient laboratories and this means that, in the future, chemists and metallurgists will have quarters in buildings that provide conditions favorable to the very exact character of the work. The day is gone when the laboratory can be quartered in some old building or some out of the way space made vacant by changes in the plant, if the work is to be properly and accurately done. The departments of the new laboratory are four in number: Chemical, research, metallography and heat treating. In the chemical laboratory a close check is kept on products by making a thorough analysis of all raw materials. Since the company makes nothing but special steels, many of which have a complex chemical composition due to the number of ferroalloys used, the question of analysis and composition is important. In making one of the most highly alloyed as well as ex- pensive steels, the ferroalloys used in some cases, due to scarcity and quality of ores, may carry small per- centages of certain metals which, if introduced into the steel, might prove detrimental. The chemical labora- tory equipment includes electric hot plates, electric ij rying ovens as well as electric furnace equipment fo: the determination of carbon by combustion. The research work will be carried out by utilizing all three departments which, other than the chemical! laboratory, include the regulation metallographic equipment in addition to a critical point determination installation. The heat-treating department is well equipped for any class of work. Metallographic work is rapidly gaining in favor in the metal industry. No first class laboratory in that industry today is considered complete without equip- ment for such work. The equipment in this labora- tory, other than the critical point machine, consists of a Bausch & Lomb photomicrographic outfit, capable Alloy Room on Main Floor. This and other main floor laboratory rooms, except the carbon combustion room, contain hoods of Albe- rene stone sim- ilar to the one shown in this view, except as to dimen- sions of photographing to a magnification of 2300. The necessary dark room for plate development and print- ing is provided, The heat-treating department is primarily intended for hardening of high-speed steel tool holder bits to permit this work to be performed in a central plant. For research and commercial work there are a Leeds & Northrup electric “Hump” furnace and a Leeds & a electric drawing furnace with automatic -Ontrol. a‘ = is the belief of the executives of the Colonial Steel Co. that the laboratory is the heart of a plant making high-grade steel and there is exemplification of that thought in the new laboratory. There is a solidity to the construction of the building that would seem to obviate frequent adjustment of delicate weighing and testing equipment, made necessary by vibration. To © away from the vibration of the rolling mills and aes in the plant, there was extensive drilling of € ground to insure a foundation for the new building on different rock strata from that of the plant proper. From a lighting standpoint the location is ideal. It 1408 36% eT aed Ss eek May 14, 1925 Heat Treating Room. To the right is a Leeds & Nor- thrup electric unit for heat- ing for hard- ening. Another for drawing is not shown. At the left are three gas-fired hardening furnaces occupies high ground near the Ohio River where good natural light is best afforded and where no interfer- ence is likely to occur from other extensive improve- ments now under way on the property. Dr. N. B. Hoffman, metallurgist of the company, designed and supervised the construction of the building, while the engineering work was done by the Samuel E. Duff engineering organization, Pittsburgh. The building is 41 ft. 2 in. wide from north to south by 71 ft. 2 in. long in plan and 23 ft. high to eaves. It is constructed of fireproof and acid-resisting mate- rials throughout, the effort being made so to finish the interior that all possible resistance to fumes would be provided. Even the hardware is of acid-resisting metal. There are two working floors, a basement con taining the physical laboratory and heating plant and a main floor containing the office of the metallurgist and a complete chemical laboratory. The basement floor is of smooth finished concrete Routine Lab- oratory. At one corner of each sink is a trough located below a water spigot. Beak- ers are placed in the troughs instead of the sinks for cool- ing, this ar- rangement freeing the sink for other uses THE IRON AGE i ft. 6 in. below yard. ground level. Inclined ramps at each end of the building provide means for conveniently conveying heavy materials and samples to the physical laboratory by wheelbarrows. The basement is divided by fireproof terra cotta tile partitions into the follow- ing rooms: Metallographic room in which is included a dark room; hardening and testing room; sampling room; acid etching room; acid storage room; men’s toilet and locker room; boiler room and coal storage. The clear ceiling height is 11 ft. 6 in. The walls are finished in hard plaster and painted with two coats of acid-resisting paint. The floor of the metallographic room is finished with a surface of elastic magnesite. Light is provided by numerous windows with heavy plank frames and double hung wood sash glazed with crystal glass. A commodious steel stairway with cement filled treads connects the basement with the main floor. The main floor has a surface of 6 in. x 6 in. semi- ee ae a ee ee ee 1410 THE IRON AGE vitreous red tile laid with 1/16 in. Portland cement filled joints and coved tile base, except the metallur- gist’s office which has a surface of elastic magnesite. The main floor is constructed of the standard type of reinforced concrete joist and terra cotta tile filler con- struction, supported on the main walls and steel beams. The entrance is by means of monolithic smooth finish concrete steps, located at the center of the north side of the building, to a vestibule 3 ft. below the main floor level, floored with red tile, from which reinforced con- crete stairs, finished with red tile risers and treads, lead to the main floor corridor. The main floor is divided by fireproof brick and tile partitions into the following rooms: Routine room; alloy room; raw material room; water analysis and miscellaneous room; carbon combustion room; balance room between routine room and alloy room; balance room between raw material room and water analysis room; metallurgist’s office and women’s retiring room. Corridors 5 ft. wide connect the main entrance and basement stairway with the various rooms. A steel stairway with checkered plate treads leads to fan room under the roof. A.hand operated lift is provided between basement and main floor for handling of sam- ples, ete. The walls of the routine room, alloy room, raw ma- terial room, water analysis room and carbon combus- tion room are lined with granite Tiffany enameled brick, laid in white Portland cement mortar with slightly concave tooled joints. To keep out dirt all door and window openings are trimmed with bull nose shaped brick. The ceiling over the main floor rooms is applied on metal lath, suspended from the steel roof purlins, and has a clear height of 12 ft. The walls of all other rooms on the main floor and all ceilings are hard finished gypsum plaster painted with three coats of acid-resisting paint. Light for the main floor is through windows glazed with crystal sheet glass. Gear-Driven Universal Saw A gear-driven universal saw recently added to the line of R. L. Barker & Co., 642 West Washington Boulevard, Chicago, and intended for cutting wood, The Gears in the Drive Are of Helical Type and Run in Oil. The shafts are mounted in ball bearings metal, Bakelite and other compositions, is illustrated herewith. The gears in the drive are of helical type with wide “face, and the shafts in the drive are ball-bearing mounted. The gears run in oil. A %4-hp. General Elec- ric motor is employed and the drive unit is adjusted . May 14, 1925 All laboratory rooms except the carbon combustion room are fitted with Alberene stone benches and hoods, and the balance and carbon combustion rooms with Alberene stone benches. The laboratory benches are constructed of Alberene stone slabs 2 ft. 2 in. wide, supported by steel pipe frames and are fitted with Alberene stone sinks, cooling troughs, shelves and peg board, as well as a continuous line of wood drawers under the slabs. The hood in the center of the routine room is 5 ft. x 13 ft. and contains four compartments, all constructed of Alberene stone slabs and fitted with counterweighted wood sash, glazed with clear wire glass. The hood in the center of the alloy room is 5 ft. x 10 ft. and those in the raw material and water analysis rooms each 4 ft. 6 in. x 8 ft., with four compartments of identical construction as the routine room hood. In the center of the building a concrete floor, 5 ft. x 30 ft., is constructed above the main floor ceiling, in- closed by rough tile walls running to the roof, provid- ing space for exhaust fan, water still and distilled water storage. The building is heated by a hot water system from a boiler in the basement. The electric driven exhaust fan, with ducts from all laboratory hoods and from hardening room, is arranged to discharge into a brick stack at east end of building. From the fume collec- tion box on top of each hood an Alberene stone duct runs vertically through the ceiling to a system of hori- zontal sheet metal ducts carrying the fumes to the fan. The capacity of the exhaust fan is sufficient to change the air in all the laboratory rooms about every two minutes. A fresh air supply comes through an adjust- able screened opening in the basement and is carried through an indirect heating stack for regulation of the temperature, after which it is discharged into the base- ment hallway, from which it circulates through the building. up and down by means of a handwheel. The saw arbor runs in ball bearings. The table, the size of which is 23 in. by 28 in. by 34 in. high, will accommodate stock up to 12 in. wide. The saw is 8 in. in diameter and will cut to a depth of 2% in. A 1-in. removable dado plate is provided. The shipping weight of the machine is 300 lb. Iron and Steel Industries of Oakland, California SAN FRANcisco, April 25.—Thirty-seven factories have been listed under the classification of steel prod- ucts in the industrial survey recently completed by the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. These factories have a combined annual output of products valued at $31,700,0000, annual payrolls of $7,500,000 and a total of 4150 employees. Ten of the concerns have an annual production capacity in excess of $1,000,000, seven are in a class above $500,000 and eight produce commodities valued at more than $200,000. Following are the names of the concerns listed under the classification of steel and steel products by the Oakland Chamber of Commerce: Pacific Diesel Engine Co., Pacific Engineering Co., Pacific ( oast Engineering Co., Pacific Malleable Castings Co., Spears- Wells Machinery Co., Steel Tank & Pipe Co., Solanc Iron Works, Threaded Products Co., Union Gas Engine Co., Dnion evens & Forge Co., United Iron Works, Union Machine Wor*s, United States Foundry Co., Western Aluminum Mfg. Co., Western Steel Package Co., Western Forge & Tool Works, Western Heavy Hardware Co., Yager Sheet Metal Co., Made- well Pipe Co., American Manganese Steel Co., Atlas Imperial Engine Co., Borrman Steel Co., Best Steel Casting Co., Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, C. L. Best Tractor Co., ee ae Foundry Co., California Corrugated Culvert 0., California Steel Co., Dow Pump & Diesel Engine Co., Detroit Steel Products Co., East Bay Iron Works, Hubbard md a Hanlon Drydock & Shipbuilding Co., Janson Iron a =. . Judson Mfg. Co., Herrick Iron Works, Moore Dry- o> oO. , Trade Commission Policy Change Federal Body Clearing Docket of Cases Involving No Public Interest—Publicity Fea- tures Challenged WASHINGTON, May 11.—Proceeding under its markedly changed policy, the Federal Trade Commis- sion has figuratively been transformed overnight from an organization that was reputed to have a radical cast to a conservative body. Most assuredly the sharp changes in its practices have come as a distinct relief to business interests of the country. There can be no doubt that the more conservative tone of the commis- sion accords with the policy of President Coolidge to encourage rather than discourage business and not needlessly to disturb it. As to the attitude of the commission toward busi- ness, including that of issuing complaints and of mak- ing public statements concerning complaints, it re- cently has been noted, though not generally, that the commission in connection with one of the outstanding features concerning its new policy of procedure has been and is dismissing many old cases on the ground that no public interest is involved. The commission also is dismissing cases and declining to take up new ones where it considers it has no jurisdiction; the ele- ment of interstate commerce comes prominently into this latter case. Instead of taking all of these old cases which, under the new policy, became dead timber, and wiping the slate clean of them en bloc, the commission is dis- missing them one at a time or in groups. But at the rate these cases are being dismissed it is expected that it will not be long until the docket not only has been greatly reduced as to number of cases, but will con- tain only those proceedings which are held to involve not alone an issue between a complainant and a re- spondent, but the public as well. Public Interest a Criterion Unless a case does concern public interest, it will not be taken up. The theory is that the commission itself, being a government organization, has been set up to serve the public and should have no dealing with personal quarrels within given trades. Moreover, the commission has taken the attitude that it is just as much its duty to assist business as to press complaints, when they are issued under the charge of unfair methods of competition, or any other issue over which the commission has jurisdiction. Dismissing of many old cases was begun shortly after announcement of the new policy of procedure and was taken after the chief counsel of the commis- sion had gone over the docket and passed upon the individual cases, as to public interest being involved. Among the numerous complaints that have been dis- Pacific Coast Steel Industry Moves for General Survey SAN FRANCISCO, May 9.—Meeting for the purpose of consolidating the work of sub-committees and of confirming plans for a survey of the State steel in- dustry, which has already been started under the direc- tion of John D. Fenstermacher, secretary Columbia Steel Corporation, the executive committee of the Iron, Steel and Allied Industries of California held its third meeting yesterday in the offices of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. As a result of the meeting publicity work will be undertaken in the near future to emphasize the impor- tance of the State’s steel industry to the industrial and economic development of California and the Pacific 1411 missed were those directed against the Banner Foundry & Furnace Co., and the Banner-Mahoning Furnace Co., Akron, Ohio, and the Boston Automobile Dealers’ Association. In the former cases the respondents, manufacturers of stoves, etc., were charged with at- tempting unfairly to obtain a competitor's business; dismissal was based on lack of public interest. In the proceeding against the Boston Automobile Dealers’ Association the charge was that of combining to fix uniform allowances and valuations for automobiles; it was held that there was no interstate commerce shown. Withholding Publicity One recent change adopted by the majority vote of the commission concerns the matter of publicity. This not only was a source of dissent by Commissioners Thompson and Nugent but has created considerable adverse criticism. Under the new policy the commis- sion announced that it no longer will issue statements for publication concerning any question settled by stipulation. Also it was stated that, after a complaint is issued, no announcement will be made for publication until after the final determination of the case. After a complaint has been issued and the answer filed, or in case no answer is filed, the papers will be opened for public investigation “under such rules and regu- lations as the secretary (of the commission) may pre- scribe.” The underlying purpose of the majority with re- spect to its publicity policy is accepted as being well taken, because it is sought not to injure the standing of any business interest by publicity until after the merits of the case have been determined. But the point has been made that it remains for the commis- sion not to issue the complaint, if it has such solici- tude for proposed respondents, unless it is confident that a meritorious case has been presented against them. Moreover, it is held that complaints involving any particularly important proceeding could not pos- sibly be issued by the commission without the fact be- coming known in the respective trades and the com- mission would be obviously without authority to pre- vent the press from publishing the facts, provided it were sure of their accuracy. Moreover, it has been contended that complaints might be issued and the fact become known without publicity and, in the absence of the latter setting forth the case clearly, there would be a great deal of speculation and gossip that would do more injury to the respondents than accurate publicity could possibly do. Coast. Plans alse will be formulated by the traffic com- mittees of both the northern and southern divisions for bringing about an equalization of freight rates so that California manufacturers will not be handicapped by alleged archae rates in attempting to broaden their trade territories. Maynard McFie, president W. T. Mc- Fie Supply Co., Los Angeles, presided. The committee is making a study of the importation of foreign iron and steel on the Pacific Coast, and will endeavor to impress all Pacific Coast steel users with the importance of supporting the local industry as the only way of insuring the industrial development of the Coast, and the maintenance of present industries. The next meeting of the committee will be held June 26 at the offices of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles. Sen ae: a anes x) RMR Mee re oe ans rn ee en ae Cane rae eer ea) : ' Costs Multiplied by Old Machines Good Management Can Be Nullified and Real Profits Strangled by Reluctance to Replace Obsolete Equipment BY FRANK A. SCOTT* 66 OTWITHSTANDING all the advance—and it was tremendous—made in metal working during the World War, we have entered another new era since 1921. The struggle to meet fiercer competition; in- creased overhead; higher taxation, is now reflected in new productive methods. Whereas mass production formerly commanded our interest, now small-lot pro- duction must have its turn. One of the responsibilities of management is keeping plant equipment up to date. This requires constant ef- fort, for the advanced designs of today become obsolete tomorrow. The general executive of a large business cannot be expected to know the details of the productive equipment in his plant. Here are just a few illustra- tions of actual installations which have occurred re- cently, emphasizing the opportunity for net profits from modern equipment. First is a case which shows clearly the difference in output of a modern machine tool without any change in the method of cutting. This shop replaced a planer perhaps ten years old with a new 48-in. Gray maximum service planer. There was no change at all in the method of cutting the bronze driving box shoes, nor was there any change in the size of the planer. What- ever reduction occurred in the time was, therefore, due entirely to the heavy construction, abundant power, and heavy cuts of the new planer. The time was cut from 30 to 20 min. A little fig- uring showed that the additional investment of $4,700 in this planer earned net profits each year of 43.6 per cent. Possibly this figure strikes you as high, and yet there are similar possibilities in the planer field in hundreds of shops all over this country. Even in the railroads shops, the gospel of “net profits from modern equipment” is gaining ground. One shop with which we are acquainted, typical in every way, reduced the time in grinding crank pins from 45 to 20 min. To do this required the additional investment of $2,540, which earned net profits of 108.3 per cent. It is the responsibility of management to seek out and find opportunities such as this for the profitable investment of capital. Many industries come to our attention where the metal cutting function is relatively unimportant, and those of us in the metal working industry find some curious attitudes of mind. For example, the chief en- gineer of a large copper concentration plant stated recently he could not obtain an appropriation for new machinery for maintenance work in a large mine, al- though literally millions of dollars of capital were available for any change in operating methods which would save a cent or two a ton in mining or crushing the ore. In other words, the policy of the company is to adopt new machinery which affects operating costs, even scrapping overnight large sums of capital invest- ed, but to ignore entirely savings in the subsidiary, or secondary, part of operations, that is, maintenance work, Those of us in the metal working industries «now *President Warner & Swasey Co., Cleveland, Ohio. LSTALUUOUAU SONORA SEALE EUCLA ul tl Whid Wt th DAS TONLETUNL tt per Unit!” OUOAUDUSDSAUSONALAUESUUUTALUUOSASUUDGUAGUUUU NL ASUAEDUNSNA LTT ; i s0PETDUUUNNONOVORUPONULAYONAESOOULGLEESTURQLAQEQUANOOUOQOOQGREDRLDSOQENE¢°70 1000002011 MMOMQRGURUENAANAEPOL AYA NENOONAEE URNA TH TONE TONA TPT HAGUE AA NAN TAs) i ; os = ¥ When production costs are dangerously close to selling prices. whe under the burden of taxes and competition fights hard for every profits is one with the problem of low manufacturing costs. presented before the Society of Industrial Engineers in Cleve some sound reasons why the modern battlecry of busines from a careful study of this si