INDUSTRIAL
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AND ENGINEERING
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Published
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in all directions, reaching many of t h e playgrounds of northern Michigan. B u t one city block beyond the hotel headquarters will b e found t h e bus terminal from which busses s t a r t for Dearborn, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Los Angeles, " a n d points west." A unique highway is t h a t t o Pontiac, a distance of twenty-five miles, for most of which t h e highway is two hundred feet in width a n d paved with concrete. Hotel headquarters for t h e meeting will be t h e Statler, which is located on t h e site of t h e home of t h e former Governor of Michigan, John Bagley. T h e Hotel Statler fronts on Park Avenue, which is a segment of the same circle of streets inclosing Grand Circus P a r k , a beautiful spot where once the circus spread its canvas. Within four blocks of the headquarters hotel are four other hotels, and three additional hostelries are n o t much farther away. From time t o time, t h e News Edition will carry moie detailed announcements of the Detroit meeting. T h e preliminary program will appear in our issue for June 20, a n d the final program in the issue of August 20. Plan t o be a t Detroit.
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Entered as second class matter at Easton, Pa. Issued three times a month. Industrial Edition on the 1st, News Edition on the 10th and 20th. Subscription t o Industrial & Engineering Chemistry, $7.50 per year, News Edition only, $1.50 per year. Single copies, 10 cents. Subscriptions should be sent to Charles L- Parsons. Secretary, 1709 G St.. N. W., Washington, D . C.
Vol.5
News Edition
CHEMISTRY
M A Y 20. 1927
N o . 10
A n d Now—Detroit! Detroit, founded in 1701, when Sieur de le M o t h e Cadillac built t h e first fort o n the spot where the south entrance t o t h e present postoffice on Fort Street, West, is located, is t o become the chemical center of t h e world for t h e week beginning Mon day, September 5. The Seventy-fourth meeting of t h e American Chemical Society will open with a council meeting o n t h a t day. Since t h e gates t o old F o r t P o n t Chartrain were built a t t h e spot indicated, Detroit h a s been making history, a n d her popu lation h a s increased 100 per cent every ten years for t h e past hundred years, until the city now ranks fourth in population. T h e French origin of Detroit is still evident in t h e n a m e s of m a n y of its prominent families a n d of its streets. Detroit itself means "The Strait,** referring t o t h e Detroit River, which connects Lake S t . Clair and Lake Erie. T h e river t u r n s from its southward course and for a b o u t eight miles flows in front of Detroit in a nearly westerly direction, putting Canada in t h e anomalous position of being for t h a t short distance s o u t h of t h e United States. The river h a s been greatly n a r r o w e d b y filling t o t h e harbor line, b u t is still more than one-half mile wide a t the narrowest point and h a s a depth of forty feet o r more. During t h e season a boat passes every fifteen minutes, t h e river accommodating more traffic t h a n the P a n a m a and Suez canals combined. I n t h e minds of many, Detroit is associated only w i t h auto mobiles, a n d t h e name of Ford is thought to b e practically synonymous. Detroit, however, is the home of m a n y industries of first importance. It ranks first in t h e production of salt, which is both mined a n d pumped in t h e form of brine. This salt is marketed as such and also finds its way into caustic, soda ash, a n d baking soda. Detroit also manufactures in great quantities stoves, drugs, copper products, brass, a n d aluminum, paints a n d varnish, rubber goods, automobile accessories, a n d cigars. Twenty or more varieties of automobiles a r e m a n u factured in Detroit. T h e net-work of modern highways spreads out from D e t r o i t
Obituary Julius Hortvet In t h e death of Julius Hortvet, for many years the chief chemist of the Minnesota Dairy a n d Food Department, the chemists of the nation have suffered t h e loss of a n active and influential colleague. His death, which occurred April 7 after a brief illness a t his home in Minneapolis, came a s a severe shock t o his many friends. Born in Sauk County, Wisconsin, April 24, 1863, he w a s edu cated in t h e public schools of t h a t s t a t e a n d in 1886 received t h e degree of B.Sc. from t h e University of Wisconsin. After a n interval of teaching in t h e schools of Minnesota, and i n the Eastern High School of Minneapolis, during which time h e be came t h e author of a textbook on Elementary Physics, h e was appointed chemist in 1900 t o t h e Dairy a n d Food Commission of Minnesota. For 27 years his has been a familiar figure a t gatherings of chemists and food control officials and scarcely a y e a r has passed without some contribution from his active mind, either b y -way of developments in methods for analysis or ingenious improve ments in a p p a r a t u s for t h e examination of dairy a n d other food products. Outstanding among these a r e his work upon t h e nonsugar constituents of maple products, t h e determination of acids in wine, t h e adaptation of t h e cryoscope t o t h e ready detection of added water in milk a n d cream, a n d t h e designing υίfcJica\iulimation a p p a r a t u s and precipitation t u b e which b e a r his name. He w a s an active member of t h e Association of Official Agri cultural Chemists, serving for years a s t h e referee on methods of analysis of dairy products and since 1913 a s a representative of t h a t association upon t h e Food Standards Committee of the U . S. D e p a r t m e n t of Agriculture. He w a s also a member of the American Chemical Society, of t h e American Association for t h e Advancement of Science, and of t h e Royal Society of Arts. His interests extended t o science, literature, a n d philosophy. A s an investigator h e was thorough a n d careful, using rare talent in his methods of approach and sound judgment i n his conclu sions. Loyal t o his friends, tolerant t o all, zealous in h i s labors for public welfare, a n efficient public servant, well may h e be classed among "those mortals, who, racing down a n endless street, h a n d on life's t o r c h t o others."
Part o f t h e Skyline of Detroit
A.
S.
MITCHELL
