policy, the advantages of communication and coiiperation, whcncvcr practicable, are conspicuous and unquestionable ; and their trcniendous univcrsal effect is manifested to us in this ncw age through the activity of technical schools, technical journals, and above all, technical societies. Perhaps the grcatcst tnetallurgical novelty of the 20th ccntury has bccn thc development of electric smelting through the i ~ ilization t of watcr-powcr. Through this industry, Sweden xiid Norlvay, rich i n minerals b u t poor in fuel, are coming rnpidly to the iront, as competitors with those nations which have hithcrto becn recognized ds natural leaders b y reason of their supplies in coal. This change would be momcntous, if it concerned thosc two nations only; b u t lately I found my
professional brethren in Japan, standing tiptoc, as i t Jvcrc, bcsidc the mountain torrents of their Island Empirc, watching cagcrly, and alrcady beginning to imitatc, thc metallurgical practice of the Antipodcs. I n short, gentlemen, I have arrived, Iiy way of this desultory and imperfect discussion, at thc conclusion which I might h a w stated with cloqucnt conlidencc a t the tjcginiiing: iianicly, that your Socicty and similar organizations for the inlcrchangc of knowledge constitute the most potent agency and thc brightest glory of this New Agc. Whatever you may think of thc dctnonstration, I humbly submit that you ought to be pleased with thc proposition!
CURRENT INDUSTRIAL NEWS HAMOR
THE PRODUCTION O F CALCIUM CARBIDE AND CYANAMIDE IN NORWAY The C'hcnlikev-Z€ilZ~ilg (37, No. 6, 6 j ) reports t h a t the plants of thc Alby United Carbide Factories, Ltd., of London, in Odda,
Norway, will, aftcr the completion of the extension t o its works in June, have an annual production of 80,000 tons of calcium carbidc, of which. according to a thirty-year contract, 57,000 tons arc to he delivered cacli year to The Nitrogen Fertilizer Co., the rest rcniaining for the production of acctylcnc. The Nitrogcii Fcrtilizcr Co. has taken over all thc sharcs of the Alby factories, and, in rcturn, has given sufficicnt of its own stock to IIC ;tl)siilutcly dominated by thc Allby xorks. Thc Nitrogcn 1:rrtilizcr Co. has also acquircd the plant of thc Northwcstern C'yaiiainidc Co., near Odda. The annual capacity now amounts t ( i 18.000 tons (of calcium cyanamidc. The production is sold out for months to comc, for t h c demand is not only for cyanamide for icrtilizcr purposes, b u t also for use in the production of ammonia according to Ostwald's process. Therc is a reason, therefore, why the Nitrogen Fertilizer Co. has interested itself financially in thc Nitrate Products, Ltd., which concern owns the patents on Ostwald's catalytic process for the principal countries. . ~
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POTASSIUM SALTS FROM SEAWEED 7'hr .1wc,vira,t Feulilzzev. 38, 49, states t h a t the l3ritish Consul(kiicral a t Sari Francisco reports t h a t two attempts arc now I)ring inadc to rxtract potassium salts from scaivced on a commercial scalc, but t h a t the industry has so far not passed the cxperiniental stage. One company treats 40 tons of kelp daily, obtaining about 20-30 per cent. of potash from it. The kelp is gathered from the beach, and so contains a good deal of sand. I t is dried on the beach by being turned over by hand, and is then burned in an open hearth. The residue is a chloride of potash, which has to be further treated, as only sulfate of potashlis used in California. This process requires no fuel, and, though i t is crude, yet the results afford good reason for thinking it may be made profitable in time. The other method consists of gathering the kelp in the water by a special cutting device carried on a barge, which ensurcs t h a t no sand is present, the potash produced beingfthcrefore much cleaner. The kelp is treated in closed retorts heated by petroleum. One ton of dried scawccd is estimated to produce about j jo pounds of chloride of potash, zoo pounds of sulfate of potash, j pounds of iodinc, 2 0 0 pounds of fertilizer and 4 j pounds of gum, creosotc and \\-aste. It is intended t o equip the factory a t which the kelp is treated with an apparatus for the production of cyanidc and chlorate. i J f 1)OtaSh. THE COBALT OXIDE MARKET The Eizgz'jitwz'tzg arid Miiiiizg J o t k r m l , 9 5 , z 14, states that the
trade in cobalt oxide is closcly controlled. and the pricc during 1 9 1 2 was hcld at $0.80 pcr pound without change; for 1913, ail advance has been made, and So.90 has becn announced as the figure for this year's contracts. Except for the imports by thc International Nickel Co.'s subsidiaries, there is but little CCJbdt oxide imported. Thcrc is a duty of zj per ccnt. on the commcrcial article, but a few customers adhcre to thc cstablishetl European brands and arc willing to pay the premium their usc cntails. Thcrc is some recovery from ,the Cobalt-district ores. but I)y no means so g c a t as would be possible with a more widely cx tcnded usc of the mctal. Thcrc is no production of thc nictal as a by-product of coppcr rcfining. I t is rcportcd that thcrc arc over 3,000,000 pounds of cobalt-nickel rcsiducs a t thc Cana dian and American rcfincrics treating Cobalt-district ores, b i i t statistics of production arc not availablc. Thc Canadian Government is conducting cxpcrimcnts to tcst the application of cobalt as a n alloying material for stccl. Thc results arc reported to be encouraging, but i t is likcly that t h c final outcome will be only a market on the basis of the prices of nickel, t h a t is, from $0.30 to $0.40 per pound for thc mctal: this conclusion is based upon the chcmical similarity, practically speaking, of cobalt and nickel. An outlet for some cobalt products may bc looked for in thc direction of paint driers a n d special cutlery, ctc.. mctals: but thc principal use now for col,alt is LIS a coloring for blue glass and for pottery cnamcl. -___
THE MARKETS FOR CAUSTIC SODA AND SODA ASH The following information is taken from The Chemical Tvadc Journal, 5 2 , 3 : A certain amount of caustic soda is imported into Francc, but large quantities are produced in t h a t country and the exports are almost I j times as great as the imports. The exports of soda ash are said to be about 20 times as great as the imports. The French caustic soda and soda ash come principally from the northeast in the Department of hleurthe-et-Moselle, a region rich in salt mines. The principal soap-making centers of Francc are Marseilles (kitchen soaps) and Paris (toilet soaps). I n Germany, soda ash and alkali seem to be controlled vcry completely by syndicate arrangements, otitsidc of which thcy can not be had a t prescnt. X large number of Gcrman conccrns produce these articles, the most important bcing, perhaps, thc Deutsche Gold- und Silber-Schcideanstalt, of Frankfort, Jvhich controls the Electro-Chemische Fabrik Natrium and the Chemische Fabrik Residua, both of Frankfort. All German houses have given ovcr their export business t o Brunncr, Mond and Co. and the United -4lkali Co., of Livcrpuol, and these firms seem to be the instruments through which the export trade is distributed The imports of caustic soda into Italy average about @oo,ooo
