The Iron Age 1933-02-16: Vol 131 Iss 7

rust, ared cent ow nes ese - of stic 932 ns, 9,- 31, est is- ..THE IRON AGE.. ESTABLISHED 1855 FEBRUARY 16, 1933 Stop, Look, Listen and Act prices collapsed as completely and quickly as though they were built on sand. This situation cannot be accepted with equanimity. It calls for action to save the industry from self-destruction. J as the red figures of 1932 of steel companies began their parade, steel Today’s losses are due to low operating rates and low prices. Most companies had set their houses in order, on the basis of the previous prices, so as to break even when demand would produce volumes of 35 to 40 per cent. At today’s prices, however, a profit at either of those quotas would be impossible. The industry now wallows in a price morass of its own making and apparently lacks the intelligence and courage with which to get itself out. One mill thinks it can take away another’s customer by offering a tempting price bait; its competitor, doubly anxious to retain what tonnage it is getting, rushes to meet the price. The buyer adds to the demoralization by shrewdly playing one against the other. What price tonnage? What price the retention of a customer? Our answer is that a company should exert every effort within reason to keep hold of the regular and important users of its products, and in some few cases may be justified in going to extreme limits. We contend, however, that the bounds of reason have been passed when the entering of orders promises the seller nothing but continually accelerating losses. That is the situation today. The steel industry is deliberately heading toward destruction and it is time that a halt be called before it is too late. If the present course is not arrested, steel consumers as well as producers will be the losers. Quick, decisive action is necessary in the present emergency. The only way to secure such action is to go directly to the top. We therefore are addressing this message to the leading executives of the steel industry: “Within your company your word is law. By passing down to your sales department the ruling that no orders are to be taken at less than a certain price, you can immediately and effectively stop the present demoralizing trend. You can abruptly end a movement beneficial to no one, a movement which is rapidly depleting the already weakened resources of your company and which eventually will mean further reductions in salaries and wages and purchasing power without adding a ton to the total consumption of steel. “Above everything else, the times demand courage and forthright action. It is time for you to demonstrate the fact that the country’s most important basic industry is capable of setting its own house in order.” Vol. 131, No. 7 am & HIS is the second article in Mr. Giele’s series on the trend of mechanization and its rela- tion to employment. The introductory article, published in THE IRON AGE of Feb. 2, What the Machine Hadon outlined the background of principal events from 1849 to 1929, which have had direct influ- ence upon economic changes. In this article the author analyzes the trend of population and its shifting occupational divisions, in order to arrive at a base for determining normal employment and thus for cor- rectly appraising unemployment. He finds and shows us that the mechanization of the man- ufacturing industries has played a major part in reabsorbing men disemployed in other in- dustries. A careful study of the factual material comprising this unique series will provide us with the safest and surest means of appraising the effects of mechanization and for the analy- sis of the probabilities and possibilities in our own industry. vrvryv Employment and Wages, 1849-1929 Occupation—The influence which mechanization in the manufac- turing industries has exerted on em- ployment can be appraised only after having taken a broad view of the entire population and a consideration of its growth, its changing composition, and its occupation in all of its vari- ous pursuits. Chart 2 shows on line (a) the growth of the entire popu- lation showing very clearly how the total population has been increasing at a rate which is becoming slower and slower. In other words, we are approaching a condition where we may expect no further increase in population. "[\oce Population with Respect to This condition will have an im- portant bearing on employment in an indirect way as consumer markets will then no longer expand by num- bers alone and can be expanded only by replacements or by creating the desire for new kinds of goods. One factor which controls the ac- tivities of the entire population, re- gardless of sex, social, or economic status, is that of age. Dr. Louis Dublin of the Metropolitan Life In- surance Company has recently pointed out the significant changes which are taking place in the age distribution of our population. Doctor Dublin’s investigations were directed at ques- tions other than employment. Doc- tor Dublin has prepared one chart in which he has divided the entire pop- ulation into three groups, namely: under twenty years of age, twenty to fifty years of age, and fifty years and older. A portion of his data has been replotted and shown in dotted 264—The Iron Age, February 16, 1933 lines on chart 3 for comparative pur- poses. Doctor Dublin has pointed out that, by reason of the very large reduc- tion in infant mortality and child- hood diseases, more of the children born survive into the later age groups. Beyond this point the gen- eral advance in medical science has reduced the death rate throughout middle life. In addition, the reduc- tion in child labor, the shortening in the hours of labor, and the ameli- oration of both living conditions and working conditions have contributed to the prolongation of life. Recent changes in the distribution of the age groups have been of sufficient ex- tent to materially change the com- position of the typical family group as well as of the working population. Looking back only a generation or two, there are now fewer small chil- dren in the average family to be cared for and supported and, on the other hand, more potential bread-winners per family in a position to share the burden. Decline in Child Portion of Population The chart shows a very consider- able decline in the proportion of chil- dren under five years of age, too young either to work or go to school, and therefore, for the purpose of this analysis, entering none of the occu- pational groups. The group five to ten years of age is also decreasing rapidly in proportion to the entire population. This group is now nor- mally at school and thus occupied. The group ten to fifteen years of age is also declining in proportion to the total population. This group formerly contributed large numbers to those engaged in gainful occupa- tion. Surprising as it may seem in these days of child labor laws and of compulsory education, some 400,000 children of this age group were enu- merated as engaged in gainful occu- pation in the census of 1930. The proportion of this age group so occu~ pied is rapidly declining. Several causes have contributed to this de- cline; the smaller number of children per family, to which reference has al- ready been made is one; relief of eco- nomic strain on the family is another; general cultural advance or the prog- ress of civilization is a third. Prob- ably as important as any of these causes is the advance of mechaniza- tion in the industries, such as, for instance, in the shoe factories and cotton mills in which these children were employed in such large num- bers. Thanks to mechanization pro- duction costs can now be kept down by means other than the payment of pitiful wages to small children. Supplementary charts 4 and 5 show- ing respectively school attendance and illiteracy throw valuable sidelights on this phase of the employment sit- uation. The largest single group, those fif- teen to sixty-five years of age, is growing in numbers and growing also in proportion to the total population. This is the group which furnishes practically all of those engaged in useful occupations. Those sixty-five and over are also gaining in num- bers.and in proportion as more and more survive into this age group. With the advance of medical science a constantly larger proportion of this group remains in good health and well HAR of and its Age (a) —Tot (b)—Port old, plus years of | able at g 1890, 75 group; 1S 1910, 25 (c)—Por only. (d)—To' plus hous occupati (e)—To (f)—To divided ful occu ploymen tion. (g)—T tacturin clude si (h)—T facturis in gain degree turing. SOL — B00 wp jae" la Jone to Us i By WALTER S. GIELE IB49 > aa 200 HART 2—The Growth of Total Population and its Distribution as to Age and Occupation (a)—Total population. (b)—Portion from 15 to 65 years old, plus part of group 10 to 15 years of age estimated as employ- able at given periods. (1880, all; 1890, 75 per cent of 10 to 15 year group; 1900, 50 per cent of group, 1910, 25 per cent). (c)—Portion from 15 to 65 years only. WM AWO © Oo 2aQ & © (d)—Total in gainful occupations, plus housewives; i.e., total in useful occupations. wo Ss . & (e)—Total in gainful occupations. PO © n D (f,—Total in useful occupations 5 divided by total available for use- ful occupations, i.e., degree of em- ployment or occupational satura- tion. (g)—Total wage earners in manu- facturing industries (does not in- clude salaried group). MILLIONS (Multiply Scale by /0 for Per Cent Curves(f) andth)) w Hb UOIC © (h)—Total wage earners in manu- facturing industries divided by total in gainful occupations, i.e., relative degree of employment in manufac- turing. SOURCES OF DATA FOR CHART 2 A (Total Population.) Statis- tical Abstract of the United States, U. S. Dep’t of Com- merce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, 1932 edition, p. 3. B (Age Groups.) The same, p. 5; also XIII Census Vol. I, p. 306, C Same as B. D (Housewives. ) From the Census—reported in “Recent Social Trends in the United States,” Vol. I, p. 274. 2 E (Total in Gainful Occupa- tions.) “Statistical Abstract, 1932,” p. 50. F Computed. G (Wage Earners in Mfg. In- dustry.) “Statistical Ab- stract, 1932,” p. 730. H Computed. | — oe DATA USED FOR CONSTRUCTING CHART 2 In Thousands (Except Per Cents) 1849 1859 1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 1919 1929 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1904 1910 1914 1920 1921 1923 1925 1927 1930 1931 1932 eer 30,687 37,906 49,093 61,775 74,799 82,691 90,691 97,928 105,003 108,208 111,537 114, 867 118,197 121,526 124,070 124,822 A 23,260 31,503 36,655 50,262 63,056 76,129 ..... SEG acces 106,543 seve 133,191 Bt aE oe ae eo eee 5,715 7,034 8,080 Ee DAO advan 10,641 eae oie er «den 12,005 15 to65 yrs.old ..... 29,429 38,234 46,831 Gaia. eS walkin 67,454 5s aes a ae accu - Gea C See B. gee a ey 19,684 28,399 37,001 45,517 ..... Swe «6nce 64,521 ie ae tims Lowe coun 75,070 ne Housewives 7,808 11,007 13,683 16,444 ..... BAGEL seeec 22,907 owes age e sens “ia 26,240 ‘ Gainful Occup. 11,876 17,392 23,318 29,073 ..... 38 “see bic Sar 41,614 aa ie < a aeia ~ees 48,830 ‘ CCA FOREN eee 80.8% 85.1% 89.5% ..... ae 95.5% ais dats Salis eres 93.8% - G 957 1,811 2,054 2,733 4,252 4,713 65,468 6, G15 > 6,896 9,000 6,947 8,778 8,384 8,350 8,836 6,512 a: gee ee 18.1% 16.7% 18.6% 16.7% ..... TT. asa 19.2% aes come aaa ce, sae hai The Iron Age, February 16, 1933—265 0 1850 1860 1870 890 1900 I910 able to continue its useful service to society. Having thus surveyed the popula- tion with respect to its age, we may well proceed to analyze the employ- able age group with respect to its occupations.. The Bureau of the 1The following note, quoted from ‘Re- 1920 f Over 65 | Years Old Ages 50 yrs. and over. 8.9 Ages 20 to 15 #065 50 yrs. YearsOld Ages under Under 5 yrs. eee 10 to 15 yrs. Under j yrs. old 5 to/O 15 to 65 yrs. 1 65 yrs. old and older. 1930 Census enumerates as gainfully oc- cupied, all persons who are working for others for pay and persons who are engaged in business for them- selves for profit. Some time ago John Van Deventer, Editor of THE IRON AGE, pointed out that in any so- cial order some part of the popula- tion must stay at home, keep house, raise the children, care for the ill, | TABLE CHART NO. 3 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 Per Per Per Per Per Per Per Cent Cent Cent Cent Cent Cent Cent Cent Cent Per Per 38.6 39.3 | —_ 3—The Changing Distribution of the | Total Population with Respect to Age 10.8 11.8 12.7 13.5 14.0 15.4 17.8 $9.4 40.0 41.2 42.2 43.9 43.9 43.9 20 yrs. .. 52.56 51.2 49.7 48.1 46.0 44.3 42.0 40.7 38.3 Source—Dr. Louis I. Dublin, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co, 14.3 13.8 12.2 12.1 11.6 10.9 9.3 11.4 11.2 10.6 9.9 10.1 38.1 35.5 34.4 32.1 31.8 29.4 58.5 60.8 61.5 63.7 63.5 oo 84 227. 42 423. 47 Source—Computed from data used in Chart No, 2. just published, has taken account of persons enumerated by the census as “Housewives” not classified by the census as gainfully occupied, and has added these to the persons enumer- ated as gainfully occupied, thus creat- ing a new and larger group which may perhaps be designated as “Use- fully Occupied.” “Recent Social Trends,” p. 308, says, “The economic e follo tec " e dren pore Raemge Fly sogmmdh ae arco etc., and that this constituted a neces- importance of the housewife’s work mad Ss , as : e esen : . discussion as to the one for which it was sary and useful occupation, even is suggested by the number of com- originally written, “The available census though no money entered the trans- mercial enterprises which have now ee er eee meres was” aa ® action. Those so occupied were not attempted to compete with her in aoe ason adr canada aie ohieak tame Gee, enumerated by the census as gain- satisfying the family needs.” hh ent use of materials, the object has been, . ie ; - by means of detailed comparison of the fully occupied. The present writer The occupation of children, ten to offe aut tea nee a = has also pointed out that this is an fifteen years of age, has always de- offe res y ends. reve . © ’ is believed that the figures used are sufi important occupation and probably pended so largely on the size and — ciently comparable to measure the broad the most important for all married economic condition of the families ail taken piace ie ie acts eae have women. ‘The President's Research including. these children, as well as abl ace. s > tas s ap- =" : “ee = ‘ ter to sketch briefly the bold contours of Committee in its report, “Recent So- their environment, that no exact com- = these changes.” cial Trends in the United States,” putation of the numbers of such chil- ao age of ant HART 4—Art left. Per- Fo sons Attending School no: as a Percentage of the elu Total Persons in the Group As of 5 to 20 Years of Age "= th : th HART 5—At right. IIl- of iterate Persons as a gr Percentage of the Total or Persons in the Group of 10 Years of A ge and Older 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 m TABLE FOR SUPPLEMENTARY CHART NO. 4 - Persons Attending School—as a Percentage of the Total Persons in the hi Group 5 Years to 20 Years of Age or 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 ce 45.5 54.3 52.0 61.5 60.5 65.5 72.6 Cl Source—‘‘Social Trends,” p. 305, Table 9. s) 10 TABLE FOR SUPPLEMENTARY CHART NO. 5 n Illiterate Persons—as a Percentage of the Total Persons in the Group 7 10 Years of Age and Older d 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 0 16.9 13.2 10.6 7.7 5.9 4.3 . 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 Source—Bureau of the Census. I 266—The Iron Age, February 16, 1933 of as the 1as er- at. ich 3e- 100 $0 80 70 Per Cent of Total 30 20 “870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 HART 6—The changing Distribution of the Total Population as to Occupation vvv dren available for occupation can be made. Children in Industry In the light of the reference al- ready made to the collateral evidence offered by the growth of child labor legislation, of compulsory education, and the reduction of illiteracy, an allowance for the possible (not prob- able) occupations of such children has been made on the basis of including for 1880 all of the children of this age group, for 1890 three-quarters of them, for 1900 one-half of them, and for 1910 one-quarter of them. For 1920 and subsequent census years, none of this age group has been in- cluded as available for occupation. As about 400,000 of them were still so occupied in 1930, it would seem that this apportionment is well on the conservative side. The additions of these numbers to the occupiable group are indicated by a dash line on chart 2 [line (b)]. We now come to the numbers of persons in the various census years, who were enumerated as gainfully oc- cupied and the additional number of housewives not classified as gainfully occupied, giving us a total for each census year of persons usefully oc- cupied to be compared with the re- spective number of persons who might be so occupied in those years. This leads, by a simple process of division, to a calculation of the per- centage of all persons in the total population who might be usefully oc- # T ] 7 and not accounted for Adu!ts in Institutions i20f-— Under § Years Old a = © 5tol5 Years Old neither 2 60 at school or gaintully ° occupied a 50 QQ °o 40 At School o ° 30 = Housewives (not classified by the census as garmuily occupied) Rural{\orm Gainfully Occupied 2 1870 UFTROR. «saves Non Farm i880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 HART 7—The Relative Growth of Rural and Urban Populations. (Rural divided as to farm and non-farm for 1930 only) IN THOUSANDS 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 14,358 22,229 30,380 42,166 54,305 68,955 \35,798 40,649 45,614 49,806 51,406{3)'895 53,820 Source—"Statistical Abstract, 1932,” p. 46. PER CENTS 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1930 Adults in institutions and not accounted fOP .cacescegetens Under 5 yrs. old....1 5 to 15 years old, neither at school nor gainfully oc- GUIICE ceccerestess 10.7 Be GOROOE £60 ns anime 16.6 Housewives (not classified by the Census as gainfully ao eS £26: 32 Br 6s 12.4 12.1 11.5 10.9 9.3 6.8 67 32 29 234 18.6 17.7 19.6 20.6 22.7 occupied) ........ 21.3 21.9 21.7 21.6 21.2 21.5 21.3 Gainfully occupied.. 32.4 34.7 37.2 38.3 40.6 39.6 39.8 Source—The Census. Reported also in “Recent Social 97 Trends in the United States,” Vol. I, p. 27 cupied who are actually so occupied. The line so plotted shows a steady increase from about 81 per cent in 1880 to 95.5 per cent in 1920, which presumably is about the maximum possible occupation, as there must always be some of those rated as occupiable, who are voluntarily idle, mentally or physically too ill to work, or for other reasons not seeking oc- cupation. The percentage had fallen to 93.8 in the census of 1930, an amount of recession too small to be perceptible on the chart. This decrease of a little more than 1.5 per cent may have been influenced by the depres- sion which was getting under way in 1930 and, on the other hand, may merely be within the range of nor- mal variation. Turning now to chart 6 we may pass from the total num- bers occupied to the consideration of the changing distribution of the population with respect to its occu- pations. Those gainfully occupied and the additional number designated as usefully occupied, here again show the same increases already pointed out. The most noticeable change in distribution, however, is in the rapid reduction of those five to fifteen years old, neither at school nor gainfully occupied, and in the increase in those at school, particularly in the decade from 1920 to 1930, indicating that our young people and their parents are aroused to the fact that the oc- cupations of the future will require better preparation than did the occu- pations of the past. A further considerable factor in de- termining the occupations of the pop- ulation arises from the environment in which it lives. The census enumerates as urban population persons living in incorpo- rated places of twenty-five hundred or more inhabitants, and the balance as rural, the latter being sub-divided as farm-rural and non-farm-rural. Supplemental chart 7 shows graphi- cally the growth of the rural and urban populations and particularly empha- sizes the more rapid rate at which the urban population has been grow- ing in recent years. Supplemental chart 8, showing the relative distribu- tion of urban and rural populations, shows in even more striking fashion how rapid has been the shift from rural to urban. Environment Statistics Not Conclusive While environment has only a gen- eral bearing on the subject under dis- cussion, it is well to point out, as is mentioned in several of the reports of the census, that the distribution as indicated by the enumeration is not conclusive. Every great urban center is surrounded by a suburban area, many of whose inhabitants live in communities of less than twenty- five hundred people but who are never- theless in all of their economic re- lations to be considered as urban population. On the other hand, cer- tain communities far remote from the centers may grow to a size larger than twenty-five hundred inhabitants The Iron Age, February 16, 1933—267 1) > So >) Per Cent of Total 7 So Ww So 20 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 without involving any essential change in the rural character of its popula- tion. With the total number engaged in gainful occupation established, we may now consider the growth of the vari- ous broad classes into which these gainful occupations may be divided. The classifications of the census make it convenient to sub-divide the gain- ful occupations into: 1, The group in- cluding agriculture, lumbering and fishing; 2, The group including man- ufacturing, mechanical pursuits and mining; 3, The group including trade, transportation, and clerical work; 4, The group including domestic and personal service; and 5, Professional service. Inspection of chart 9 emphasizes that all the sub-divisions of gainful occupations showed substantial rates of growth up to the census of 1910, from which time the numbers of those engaged in agriculture alone show a decline, while the remaining sub- divisions continued their growth. Absorption of Displaced Workers Supplemental chart 10, however, shows in much more striking fashion how rapidly the distribution of those gainfully occupied has changed with respect to the various occupations and especially how disemployment in some occupations has been absorbed by growing employment in others. It is particularly interesting to no- tice how the technological advance involved in the mechanization of all kinds of industry has increased the proportion of those in the profes- sional service group. The largest in- crease is in the group comprising - Non farm RURAL farm 1930 268—The Iron Age, February 16, 1933 ) HART 8—At left. | The Relative Distri- bution of Total Popula- tion with Respect to Environment (Farm and non-farm) HART 9—At right. The Growth of Oc- cupations URBAN a-—Total gainfully occupied »— Gainfully occupied in agriculture, lumbering and fishing (b)+gainfully occupied in manufacturing and mining d (b and c)+gainfully oc- cupied in trade, trans- portation and clerical e—(b, ec and d)+gainfuliy occupied in domestic and personal service e to a=Professionai service Millions of Workers The number of persons gainfully occupied in.. Agriculture, lumbering ee ee «oc ane a ha4s Manufacturing, mechani- cal pursuits and mining Trade, transportation and clerical work......... Personal and SCE. a 4:6 9ewannn &S0's Professional 1870 6,428 2,846 1,383 wow Fh OOO O 0 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 ——IN THOUSANDS——-——_———_~ 1930 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 8,596 10,027 10,889 12,459 11,393 10,752 4,449 2,122 1,622 6,481 3,797 2,133 603 ‘8380 7,451 11,700 13,809 16,809 5,444 8,373 10,383 13,034 3,076 3,871 4,157 4,812 1,213 1,764 2,112 3,426 Total sacha penal 12,163 17,392 23,318 29,073 38,167 41,854 48,833 Source—“Statistical Abstract, 1931,” p. 63; “Recent Social Trends,” Vol. I, p. 274 and p. 281. ————IN PER CENT sa 35.4 40.0 45.8 51.4 56.2 64.6 60.0 54.2 48.6 { Hw "43.9 Urban . Pinas ovale wens 28.6 in Non Farm( =, Rural. . 1 Farm i 71.4 Source—Computed from Data Chart 7. transportation, trade, and _ clerical work. These are the people that move the materials from one industry to another and finally to the consumer. They are the buyers and the sellers of the products of other industries and they care for the records and handle the financial phases of the transactions. Those engaged in manufacturing, mechanical pursuits and mining also have shown at each census a gain in numbers as well as a gain in proportion of all of those engaged in gainful occupation. Although agri- culture, lumbering and fishing showed a gain in numbers up to the census of 1910, it has shown a steady loss in proportions to the total number engaged in gainful occupations throughout the period from the cen- sus of 1870 to the census of 1930. Reverting to chart 2 there is shown a line (g) representing the wage- earners in manufacturing industry to develop the part that the manufactur- ing industry has played in total em- ployment. This curve shows wage- earners only and does not include the considerable number engaged also in manufacturing industry compen- sated otherwise than by wages. Com- puting the percentage of those em- ployed as wage-earners in manufac- turing industry as a part of all of those engaged in gainful occupations, we find that the highest percentage occurred in 1920 at 19.2 per cent and the lowest in 1930 at 15.8 per cent (chart 2, line h). This relative de- cline is due to the increase in the classification of transportation, trade and clerical, during the decade be- tween those years. This does not, however, tell the whole story, be- cause substantially the whole ex- pansion in the classification of trans- portation, trade and clerical service has been brought about by the mechanization in the mechanical in- dustries. To cite a single illustra- tion, the entire automobile industry could never have been developed without the very highest known de- velopment of mechanization and it is possible that no industry contributes so much, directly and indirectly, to employment in transportation trade and clerical services as does the au- tomobile industry. 2 Quotation from “Recent Social Trends in the United States,” from volume 1, page 286. “The clerical and selling occupations have expanded rapidly with the refinement and elaboration of the processes of com- merce and trade. We have seen that be- tween 1870 and 1920 those at work in agriculture fell in relative numbers from over half to a little more than 25 per cent of the total working population and those in manufacturing and mechanical opera- tions increased from 22 per cent to 30 per cent. In 1870 a scant 10 per cent of the working population was sufficient for the distribution of the combined product of the 1% per cent who were engaged in min- ing, the 22 per cent in manufacturing and the 52 per cent in agriculture. But in 1930 the diversity of industrial production and the area of markets were so vastly extended that more than one-fifth of the nation’s workers sought a livelihood in transportation and distribution of the na- tion’s output. Thus those engaged in trade, transportation and communication had more than doubled in their relative num- -s in th bers 930. “The o¢ into two cial and mercial £ travelers, and the marketin 1880 and tions wel those in chanical were abi 1930 one the man ations. ” “Tf th with bi agents, | expande of the | about a people a ‘The which is of finan place it of labor “If cl those il found t most tl! portanc (Pag mate W the pro ployme ber em of the eupatio made i estimal than a had in hundre in the with s growtl has a bers. portan comm) of hig sentia At th ists fi federa too li the p of th enjoy of em privat have total pear lack grea sorb of n trad to t try bers in the occupied population from 1870 to 1930. ; “The occupations of trade fall naturally into two main subdivisions—the commer- cial and financial employment. The com- mercial group comprising the commercial travelers, the wholesale and retail dealers, and the sales people, is responsible for marketing the products of industry. In 1880 and 1890 persons in these occupa- tions were only one-fifth as numerous as those in the manufacturing and me- chanical groups. From 1900 to 1920 there were about one-fourth as many and in 1930 one-third as many in trade as in the manufacturing and mechanical occu- pations. ; “If the real estate dealers are included with bankers, brokers and _ insurance agents, the ranks of the financial groups expanded even more rapidly than those of the retail and wholesale dealers and about as rapidly as the number of sales people and stock clerks. “The expansion of the clerical group, which is scattered widely among the fields of finance, industry and trade, has taken place in spite of the rapid introduction of labor-saving office machinery. “If clerical workers are combined with those in trade and transportation, it is found that this composite group has al- most trebled in relative numerical im- portance over the seventy-year period.” (Page 290—footnote 19)—‘“This esti- mate was made primarily to determine the probable trend of governmental em- ployment, rather than the precise num- ber employed. An independent estimate of the growth of the public service oc- cupations from 1910 to 1930 has been made in connection with this study. An estimate of public payroll including more than a million and a half persons in 1910 had increased to about two and three- quarter millions in 1930. “It is estimated that approximately two hundred thousand clerical workers were in the public service in 1930 as compared with seventy-four thousand in 1910. The growth of employment in public service has a significance far beyond its num- bers. At one extreme the growing im- portance of public boards, bureaus and commissions is responsible for the conduct of highly important constructive and es- sential scientific and investigative work. At the other extreme political opportun- ists furnish the basis for local, state and federal machine’ politics frequently with too little reference to the best service to the public interest. The growing ranks of the permanent civil service commonly enjoy an unusual security and a continuity of employment during the vicissitudes of private business.” The two classifications of personal and domestic service and professional service being relatively small could have but relatively little effect on total employment. It therefore ap- pears that the tremendous relative lack of growth in employment in the great agricultural industry was ab- sorbed almost entirely by the groups of manufacturing and transportation, trade and clerical. Reverting again to the spectacular automobile indus- try for illustration, it is a well-known British Report Issued On Heterogeneity of Steel The Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain, 28 Victoria Street, London, S. W. 1, has published the fourth report on the “Heterogeneity of Steel Ingots,” which embodies the results of the work done during the past three years by the joint commit- tee of the Iron and Steel Institute and the National Federation of Iron and Steel Manufacturers with the as- sistance and support of the Iron and Steel Industrial Research Council of Great Britain. Details of a study of 27 ingots are presented, the whole 100 90 5 Agricul ture Lumbering Fishin g dO re rdss 70 =3 cS oe eid HART 10— The £60 Ss . . . Oo YS ~ = Changing Distri- NS bution of Occupations ‘5 <0 Ss Showing Per Cent of . —- Total Gainfully Occu- a = pied in Each of the S49 i. Occupational Groups is is. > PK DV BF SBC 30 SS: rce & iS UO 20 . Personal 10 Domestic Service )Professional C i870 1880 1890 1900 I910 1920 1930 — - —IN PER CENT—————- 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 Agriculture, lumbering and fish- Ee. bic Culalk subiew, d oie e.<a 6 ai 52.8 49.4 42.9 37.4 32.6 27.2 22.0 Manufacturing, mechanical pur- oo lh arr 23.5 25.6 27.8 29.1 30.7 33.1 34.5 Transportation, trade and cleri- Pre rr eee 1.4 12.2 16.3 18.7 21.9 24.8 26.7 Personal and domestic service 9.6 9.3 9.2 10.6 10.2 9.9 9.8 Professional service.......... 2.7 3.5 3.8 4.2 4.6 5.0 7.0 A, dic ccmek edema: 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source—Computed from Data of Chart 9. fact that a very large proportion of the many thousands of men who find employment, not only in the automo- bile factories themselves, but in all of the countless subsidiary industries that serve it, a large proportion has been recruited from the farms of the middle west. So it appears that much as has been said about disemploy- ment resulting from the mechaniza- tion of the manufacturing industries, a very much greater measure of dis- employment has taken place in the an- cient and conservative agricultural industry. The reaper and the binder, work being divided into the following: A Further Study of Steel Ingots. Oxygen and Silicates in Steel. The Principles Distribution of Silicates. Involved in the Making of Rimming Steel. Pyrometry as Applied to Liquid Steel Ingot Mold and Materials. Part I Thermal Properties of Ingot Mold Irons. Part II—The Thermal Conduc- tivities of Ingot Mold Irons. Some Further Mathematical Considera- tions concerning the Cooling and Freezing of Steel Ingots. Bibliography. The experimental work carried out during the past three years proves that the presence of non-metallic par- the gasoline motor and electric power on the farm; improved technique with respect to soil fertility and cattle breeding, seem in their own field to have far outdistanced the auto- matic screw machine, the Bessemer process and high-speed steel in scrap- ping men. So far as throwing men out of em- ployment is concerned, it would ap- pear that the mechanization of the mechanical industries has played a major part in reabsorbing men dis- employed in other industries. ticles and ghosts in the ingot is largely governed not only by the prin- ciples of manufacture, but also by the conditions of melting and refining in the furnace, the condition of the fin- ishing slag at the moment of tapping and the manner of addition of the deoxidants. The program illustrates besides the effect of the temperature of the mold, the size of the nozzle, the rate of teeming and the choice of deoxidants upon the heterogeneity of the ingot, and the position is now reached at which it is possible to con- trol with a certain degree of precision the segregation inevitably associated with even the best ingots produced in modern practice. The Iron Age, February 16, 1933—269 W. H. SPOWERS, Jr. 7 WHERE are two general ways of embalming iron to prevent its decomposition, which might be called, respectively, the metallic and non-metallic methods. In the non- metallic method the coated with an organic substance, usu- W. H. SOMMERS The Author and Representatives of Compan responsil C. N. TURNER E. H. EDWARDS President, Keystone Steel Vice-President, Neuer Steel President, E. H. Edwards and Wire Company, Peoria, Barrel Co., Newark, N. J. Wire Company, San Fran- IHinois cisco, Calif. —— articles are . By W. H. SPOWERS, JR. ally oil, or varnish, the efficiency of which depends on its being more or less airtight; when coloring matter is added to the oil it becomes a paint. The metallic method consists of coat- ing the iron with some other metal, and it is this method which we will here discuss. Zinc the Best Rust Preventive Coating It is difficult for many persons to understand why zinc is the best rust preventive for iron and steel, and they believe it is on account of its cheapness that it is so extensively used. They have an idea that lead, being a cheaper metal, would answer far better, and as it is more non- corrosive than zine, would protect the iron better. This is not a fact, how- ever. The very fact that zine is a cor- rosive metal does not affect its prop- erties when applied as a coating to iron or steel. Indeed, if it did not corrode, it would not be of value for such a purpose. When iron or steel, which has been coated with zinc, is exposed to the atmosphere, a gal- vanic action is set up, although, of course, extremely slight. Any two dissimilar metals form a _ galvanic couple, but as zinc is the most elec-. tro-positive metal, the galvanic ac- tion between the zinc and iron is as great as could be obtained when iron is used for one of the metals com- posing the couple. The result is, therefore, that, with the slight galvanic action set up on galvanized iron or steel when ex- 270—The Iron Age, February 16, 1933 posed to the atmosphere, a corrosion takes place. Were this not so, then there would be no protection. Zinc, however, when exposed to the air, does not corrode rapidly or deeply and, erty in fact, very lightly. This prop- is of great value, as the zine VAN WINKLE TODD President, Hanson - Van Winkle-Munning Company, Matawan, New Jersey coating does not corrode rapidly, even with the galvanic action set up, so that it lasts for a far greater length of time than would naturally be ex- pected. The very fact, however, that the zinc corrodes at the expense of the iron is all that is necessary to D. HENRY MILLER Asst. to Pres., Gilbert and Bennett Mfg. Company, Georgetown, Conn. pro’ it b De ing sal W. F. GOODNOUGH President, American Fence Construction Co. in} Galvanizing © © © protect the iron or steel, even though it be extremely slight. Decrease of Zine Coating Cause of Short Life Many galvanized commodities dur- ing recent years have not given that same high character of durable ser- C. C. WICKWIRE President, Wickwire Brothers, Cortland, N. Y. ALEX L. PAGE President, Frost Steel and Wire Company, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada k Responsible for Progressive Achievements ; W. H. MOHR Vice - President, Lehigh Structural Steel Co., Allen- town, Pa. }). T. HANLEY Vice - President, American Wire Fence Co., Chicago, Illinois b ipreese-n are five major developments of importance which have influ- enced greatly the quality as well as the cost of galvanized products in the past year, according to the author, who is a consulting engineer in New York, specializing in this field. Among these developments are the perfection of a neutral flux to reduce dross formation, the preparation of a special flux, and a continuous process for galvanizing wire. Applica- tion of the diffusion flame for heating galvanizing kettles is discussed. Three developments under way are: perfection of an automatic wipe for galvanizing wire, a more permanent container for zinc, and a bright coat on galvanized products. vwvvyv vice which was earlier responsible for tion. The decrease of zinc used to their excellent reputation and which furnish the protective coatings is resulted in a large tonnage consump- justly given as the reason for the short life of these materials. The thinner the zinc coating the shorter the life of the finished article. Every executive, engineer, archi- tect, builder and purchasing agent should be vitally interested from an economic standpoint in this matter. There can be no reasonable excuse these days for the purchase or appli- cation of galvanized roofing or siding having an average life of only about three years, when, for a small per square foot additional cost, sheeting and roofing can be obtained which will last many times as long. This incorrect use of thin coated stock has done much to produce erroneous im- pressions as to the real merit of gal- vanizing. In the manufacture of galvanized products the application of the maxi- mum amount of zine consistent with the practical possibility of its manu- facture should be striven for, if these products are expected to render long service on exposure. Physical con- siderations only should be the lim- iting factors in deciding the amount of spelter per unit area. W. C. SUTHERLAND Vice - President, Pittsburgh Steel Co, Pittsburgh, Pa. The Iron Age, February 16, 1933—271 } Lee Combination fuel setting at Wickwire-Spencer Steel Co., Buffalo, N. Y. To those individuals who have rec- ognized the desirability of producing a fine quality of merchandise and of marketing only such products as will speak well for themselves, great credit is due. These progressive men have undertaken, often at great ex- pense, developments based many times only on hope of successful result but of course on engineering experience. In every case, where sound construc- tive cooperation has existed, success has been attained. Development of Neutral Fluxes HERE are five of these develop- ments of major importance and of recent date which have had great in- fluence not only on the quality of the e 272—The Iron Age, February 16, 1933 merchandise but on the cost of pro- duction, the first being the use of neutral fluxes. Those of us who are concerned with this process have realized for a long time that one of its bug-bears, seem- ingly necessary, has been the forma- tion of dross. We know that dross is formed because the zinc absorbs iron and that a small percentage of iron would contaminate large per- centages of zinc. This contamination came from four sources: first, from the work itself; second, from the sides of the kettle; third, from boiling dross; and fourth, from the use of active fluxes. The writer decided to attack these problems individually and first to ap- co Modern setting for woven fabrics at Wickwire Brothers, Cortland, N. Y. proach the active acid situation. We knew that by the use of active fluxes, such as muriatic, the situation was acute. We first cleaned the scale from the work by either sulphuric or muri- atic acid; then used the water wash; then we brought this clean material The muriatic to a bath of muriatic. was used on the theory that the clean condition of the work must be main- tained until its immersion in the zine and that the best protection for this was a flux wash but, in the use of muriatic acid which is in itself a very active agent, we presented work to the bath coated with a heavy layer of iron salts which were very soluble in zinc. The problem, therefore, was to protect the clean work as it came from the water wash but not to at- tach to it this heavy layer of iron salts. After much experimental work with various types of materials, a neutral flux of zine chloride with proper acidulation seemed to be the answer. Reduction of Dross Formation About this time the writer was called to a large range boiler plant in Tennessee because of what seemed to be an excessive dross accumulation in their operation. The muriatic tank was emptied and filled with the proper concentration of zine chloride, prop- erly acidulated, the sal ammoniac was dispensed with and the proper grade of zinc ammonium chloride substi- tuted. The dross in this plant was immediately cut in half. This was the first practical application of the neutral flux technique. Today every progressive galvanizing plant in the country uses this technique, except those, of course, who are using No. 20 flux, a more recent advance about which I shall speak later. Eliminating Under-Fired Shallow Pans The next attack made upon the dross accumulation—that of boiling dross—was then subjected to labora- tory experiments. We found that agitation of dross, caused by bottom firing or too low firing of the kettle, produced excessive quantities of dross. Methods were then devised so that the great proportion of the input of heat on the kettle went through a higher area of the bath than was the custom. Changes were then made in a wire plant located in Canada. The shal- low underfired pan was removed and a deep reverse flange-type kettle was installed. This design was so worked out that the greatest proportion of heat input was applied to the top third of the side of the kettle and graduated toward the bottom. We found that we then had a down- ward thrust of the dross, which aided of course its natural desire to settle to the bottom and eliminated the boil- ing situation which had existed be- cause of the under-firing which had previously been the case. This kettle was started Jan. 8, 1931, was drossed April 18, delivering 1020 Ib. of dross. It was May 23 five mo consum sulting over 1 ation. kettle has res change Whe ance 01 ducing cent di figures this fF plant | sible i great cannot simila reduci 8 per juncti nique. Of tages proce the { dross a pul ize a the s UXes, was from nuri- ash; erial iatic lean ain- zine this 2 of very ¢ to r of e in s to ame at- ron ork a rith the vas ant 1ed ion nk er )p- as de ti- ‘as as he he pt 20 ut It was drossed the second time on May 23, delivering 860 lb. of dross. In five months 175,822 lb. of spelter was consumed with 1880 lb. of dross re- sulting. This was a loss of slightly over 1 per cent in five months’ oper- ation. Continuous operation of this kettle for a period now of two years has resulted in proportionately little change in this situation. When you take a previous perform- ance on under-fired shallow pans, pro- ducing in the neighborhood of 35 per cent dross and compare it with these figures, the saving is manifest. In this particular case, however, this plant used a fuel which is not permis- sible in the States and therefore as great a reduction from this angle cannot be attained. But I have seen similar changes here with gas fuel reducing dross from 30 per cent to 8 per cent—this, of course, in con- junction with the neutral flux tech- nique. Of course, there are other advan- tages resulting from this deep-fired procedure and one of the greatest is the fact that by pushing down the dross instead of boiling it up, we have a pure zine area in which to galvan- ize and this means a great deal from the standpoint of bonding. Thus we have the second step com- pleted. First, the elimination of iron salts by the neutral flux technique and, second, the elimination of boiling dross. The third step in this proce- dure, then, is the elimination of the dross which is formed from the sides of the kettle to which I shall refer later in “developments in progress.” The fourth step—the formation of dross from the work itself—has not been undertaken, but it is, I believe, quite possible of solution. Perfection of a Special Flux HE next development which we shall review is the perfection of the No. 20 flux. We know that, in order to produce a perfect bonding in all forms of galvanizing, it is necessary to present perfectly clean work to per- fectly clean zinc. The technique in regard to presenting perfectly clean work is handled by means of the neu- tral flux which we have been discuss- ing but, to produce a perfectly clean surface of spelter continuously and at all times on the surface of the bath, is quite a different problem. It has been the custom for three generations of the writer’s family to use for this purpose a volatile flux of sal ammo- niac, but this requires constant re- newal by hand and results in a dis- agreeable atmospheric condition in the plant and is very expensive. May we take, for example, a pipe or tube plant which feeds its pipe into the kettle from the side. One- half of the kettle is ordinarily dammed off for the full length of the kettle and this volatile flux is built up by shoveling on the top of the spelter great quantities of sal ammoniac, which produces a black foaming froth which is more or less ee Straight line technique in range boiler operation at Hedges-Walsh-Weidner Co., Chattanooga, Tenn. effective in blanketing the zine upon this area of the kettle. The pipe is then rolled into the kettle through this flux, which not only prevents burning of the flux wash but presents to the work a clean kettle surface. To stand beside this operation, as I have done for years, and see the work- men shovel on this expensive material, shovelful after shovelful, is to make one’s heart sink. To eliminate this waste then and still retain the neutral flux technique was the problem. This work was put in the laboratory for solution and what was considered a satisfactory material was decided upon in Decem- ber, 1931. The writer then placed the material in practical operation in three plants—and the results were so satisfactory that it was placed upon the market for general use in March of last year. It is now sell- ing in carloads. How to Use the New Flux What is done is just this: The up-to-then highly desirable zinc chlor- ide flux bath is emptied and the No. 20 flux, which is in itself entirely neutral, is substituted. A starting flux is built upon the kettle from crystals of No. 20. As the work feeds from the flux bath into the kettle, it carries with it sufficient No. 20 to produce the required volatile flux on the top of the kettle. The required amount of bath cover is maintained by a prescribed concen- (Concluded on Advertising Page 12) Deep fired installation at Frost Steel and Wire Co., Hamilton, Ontario The Iron Age, February 16, 1933—273 A Recorder-Controller for Materialsf est initiated the art of materials testing by making certain tests upon materials to determine their strength. For nearly 250 years after- ward we had to be satisfied with tests on small specimens and with the erroneous assumption that the data secured were applicable by direct pro- portion to full-size structural mem- bers. Proof of this error has caused the construction of larger and larger machines until such proportions have been attained as those of the 2,300,- 000-lb. Emery and the 10,000,000-lb. Olsen at the Bureau of Standards, Washington; the 6,600,000-lb. Seifert at Grosse-Lichterfelde; the 4,000,000- lb. Southwark-Emery at the Berkeley laboratory of the University of Cali- fornia and the 2,800,000-lb. Avery at Dorman, Long & Co., Ltd., Middle- borough. During the past 50 years there has been continuous development in de- vices to record the results of such tests. In general, these devices have used no auxiliary source of power to produce the record but have depended upon the variation in length of the specimen itself and upon the motion of the poise or pendulum or other means of l