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Events during the Month, of Interest to Chemists, Chemica’ll Engineers, Executives
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A?eGiewed! ll APRIL1. Winthrop Chemical Company announces further price reductions on Atabrine. --Finely precipitated d c i u m carbonate, important to synthetic rubber program, is placed under allocation.
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7 APRIL11. WPB indicates that 26 million pounds of casein will be allotted for 1944, 5 million pounds more for paper coating than in 1943.--Selective Service issues “Critical List of Activities for Occupational Deferment of Men under lI APRIL 3. 107th Meeting of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL 26”, and chemical leaders see serious danger of decline in production and research. Only those students in chemistry and SOCIETY opens in Cleveland. -American Section, Society chemical engineering who will graduate before July 1 will b e of Chemical Industry, through its president, Wallace P. deferred; medical students, however, will be deferred. Cohoe, presents identical gavels to A.C.S. and British Royal Society.--Council of AC.S. adopts definition of the word 7 APRIL12. WPB announces plana to construct Wmile pipe “chemist”. --Two new local sections approved-Norfolk, line to carry natural gas to carbon black plants in Texas PanVa., and Boulder Dam, Nev. handle area. -Defense Plant Corporation advises Senate committee that its investment in war plants totals 7.5 billion 7 APRIL 4. Du Pont renames its Deepwater, N. J., dye dollars, half of total being in factories making aircraft or airworks, the “Chambers Works”, in honor of Arthur D. plane parts; 800 million are invested in aluminum plants, and Chambers, retiring after 47 years of service.--0PA fixes 700 million in synthetic rubber. “John Fairfield Thompson, base minimum price of $3.18 per 100 pounds, f.0.b. plaat, for vice president of International Nickel Company receives carlots of FF wood rosin.--Schieffeljn & Company marks 1944 Egleston Medal of Columbia University’s Engineering 150 years indrug field. School Alumni Association. -NCelanese Corporation offers APRIL5. The Wood Chemical Institute, twenty-one cor350,000 shares of $4.75 series no-par preferred stock. porations, and thirty-two individuals are indicted in alleged 7 APRIL 13. William L. Batt, chairman of National Planning violation of antitrust laws in production and sale of natural Association and a high official of War Production Board, methanol. -Robert D. Coghill, government chemist, readvises congressional committee that certain controls over veals a t Cleveland A.C.S. meeting that twenty-one p e n i c h business must remain “for an indefinite period” after the plants are now turning out 1.7 pounds per day with goal of 9 war.--WPB Requirements Committee refuses to approve pounds. “Joseph S. Fruton, Rockefeller Institute, replans for production of alcohol from wood; manpower lack ceives Eli Lilly & Company Award, and William M. Clark, and material shortages are listed as principal reasons. Johns Hopkine University, receives the Borden Prize. 7 APRIL 6. WPB extends potash allocation order for 12 7 APRIL 14. War Department, in attempt to prevent d u m p ing of surplus drugs, undertakes restudy of recent surplus months. --War Food Administration announces portfon of survey. -WPB head, Donald Nelson, appoints seven to soybean meal in 1944-45 will be subject to a set-aside oradvise with him on industry shift to civilian econ0my.N-J der. -Board of Trustees, Nutrition Foundation, announces Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, etc., proposes that war grants of $131,000 for research.--Plans announced for plants be given to veterans as “bonus”. training 3000-P000 foreign technical students from Europe and Asia in American engineering schools. --Eugene 7 APRIL 15. War Food Administration warns that a deHollman, vice president of Standard Oil (N. J.), enters ranks of ficiency of corn may curtail the production of penicillin and prognosticators of oil supplies and sees enough for loo0 years. asks farmers to release their stocks. --Shortening and ra7 APRIL 7. Formaldehyde, hexamethylenetetramine, and tioned salad oils are now ration-free. --Imported menthol pentaerythritol are added to schedules of General Chemicals is put under ceiling when OPA sets 15 dollars per pound, duty Allocation Order M-300. -Climax Molybdenum Coinpaid, f.0.b. U.S. ports, aa curb on competitive bidding. pany’s sales in the first quarter of 1944 are 50% below t,he APRIL 17. Washington officially discloses use of PETN similar period i n 1943.--PAW bans liquefied petroleum gas explosive, said to be a third more powerful than TNT.-as a motor fuel for use in civilian automobiles. The Armv and the Petroleum Administrator for War oDmm 7 APRIL10. Supreme Court sustains lower court opinion d i e OPA’s acternpt to ration 73-octane gasoline to civiiiak-flymissing Government’s antitrust suit againat Bausch & Lomb ers.”Better supply of acetone features April allocations of Optic81 Company.--Du Pont sales are currently 12-15% chemicals by War Production Board.N-Du Pont Company ahead of last year. reports, for first quarter, $1.38 per common share as against 483
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VoI. 36, No. 5
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
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$1.16 in the initial 3 month of 1943.--Interstate Commerce Commission orders railroads to show cause May 8 why the Commission should not extend the suspension of freight rate increases now in effect for another 6 months.--WPB announces industry advisory committees for barium chloride and aluminum sulfate. --WPB revokes M-168 under which isopropyl alcohol was allocated, on basis of information availsbIe from suppliers’ forms, and places product under General Allocation Order M-300.~-DU Pont announces use of‘ cnethylolurea for transmutation of wood, a chemical means of converting ordinary wood into R whole new range of usefulness. APRIL18. Benjamin O’Shea, president of Union Carbide & Carbon, tells stockholders that sales are holding a t 1943 levels but net profits are slightly lower because of taxes.-U. S.Potssh places 20,000 shares of 4% preferred privately. --Attorney General Diddle, before Senate Military Affairs Subcommittee, hits antidumping section of Surplus War Property Bill. --Speakers a t National Alcoholic Beverage Control Association criticize WPB for refusal to grant “holiday” to distillers. --I$ PB clarifies regulations (Limitation Order L-11) covering chlorine as pulp bleaching agent.. 7 APRIL 19. State Department announces three officials of oil companies, John A. Brown of Socony-Vacuum, William S. Rodgers of Texas Company, and A. Jacobson of Amerada Petroleum Corporation, will sit in on discussions underway between British and American oil delegates. --WPR relaxes control on tantalum, WLend-Lease is renewed for 12 months, with a total to date of 22 billion dollars.--Franklin Institute Medals for 1944 are presented to William D. Coolidge, General EIectric Company’s vice president and director of research, and to Peter Kapitza, director of Institute for Physical Problems of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences. 7 APEIL20. Turkey refuses chrome ore exports to Germany. --Army and Navy heads urge draft law to fill plants.-War Manpower Commission warns of serious impending shortage of workers in mining and smelting.--St. Joseph Lead Company’s president sees shortages rather than surpluses for most metals in postwar.--Dipentene goes under allocation as of May l..~.~Six oil companies agree on cross licensing and patent royalty rates for use of toluene and aviation gae prooessea.-&tandard Oil Company (Calif.) and Texas Gmpany submit contract covering construction, financing, and operation of Arabian oil pipe line; Gulf Oil Corporation m y not participate. f APRIL21. Shellac allocation revoked, effective April 26. APRIL 22. State Department is reported to be studying international trade with emphasis on cartels; special section fonaed in State Department’s Office of Economic Affairs to tackle problem. --It is rumored that Department of Justice will release shortly a uniform policy with respect to rights of Government in wartime patents, developed in whole or part by its employees or through contracts with private concerns.-wIn a move to prevent draf6 from wrecking naval research projects, Navy announces it will commission or give ratings t o men under 26 in three naval establishments in Washington, when drafted, and send them back to old jobs. N-Chemicals Bureau of WPB and Manufact.uring Chemists’ Association ask for continued deferment of 0000 technical indispensables.--Nelson, WPB chairman, asked to review refusal to approve 2.2 million dollar plant in Oregon to produce alcohol from wood waste.--Carbide & Carbon’s
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first-quarter profit is 97 cents per share, compared with $1.01 in 1943. 7 APML24. War Food Administration freezes corn sales in Midwest to obtain supplies for processing plants making corn products essential in war. --A bill is introduced in Congress to force CF’s into war work.--Standard Oil Company (N. J.) net climbs to $4.45 a share in 1943, compared with $3 in 1942.--Production goal of 250 million gallons of industrial alcohol is assigned to beverage distilleries in 1944. 7 APRIL25. Fred H. Haggerson succeeds Benjamin O’Shea BS president of Union Carbide & Carbon; O’Shea is now chairman of the board; James Ii. Refferty, vice president, is added to Executive Committee. --Sales by Columbisn Carbon Company are up 15% over same period last year.--William S. Rodgers becomes board chairmsn of Texas Company and is succeeded in presidency by I-Iarry T. Klein. --Mathieson Alkali announces a new synthetic rubber. APRIL 26. Eberstadt & Company offers 35,000 shares of Westvaco Chlorine $3.25 cumulative preferred stock of ncpar value.--Division of Rubber Chemistry, A.C.S., opens %day meeting a t the Commodore Hotel in New York. Ti APRIL27. Attorney General Biddle denies that the Department of Justice has ever taken the position that consultation by any industry committee with the Government violates antitrust laws, or that it has made any effort to prevent industry participation in British-American oil discussions. Nylon molding powder is cut 50 cents to $1.60 per pound.-Major mercurials are reduced 20 to 30 cents.--Du Pont acquires Tacoma, Wash., plant of Latimer-Goodwin for its Grasselli Chemicals Department. APRIL 28. United Nations are now producing 400,000 barrels of 100-octane gas daily, according to Petroleum Administration for War. --Defense Plant Corporation undertakes a survey of 1500 government-owned plants to determine postwar possibilities.--New Tr,easury Department unit is formed to handle disposal of surplus consumer goods wiih Ernest L. Olrich as head.NNWar Production Board clarifies filing of WPB Form 541 (formerly PD-1A) for other than controlled materials. --The “Byrnes Special 100Octane Committee” inspects Mbrcus Hook refinery of Sun Oil Company, first stop in coast-to-coast inspection trip. 7 APRIL 29. Establishment of a nation-wide system for a limit;d civilian distribution of penicillin is announced by War Production Board. --New Chilean nitrates plant costing 12 million dollars, to produce 200,OOO tons, will be completed in advance of the 1 9 M 5reason; the fully mechanized new plant is being built by Tarapr,ca and Antofagasta Nitrate, and output will be stepped up to 300,000 tons.--Department of Commerce predicts a paint business of 740 million dollars a year immediately after the war. w -Governor Martin of Pennsylvania warns that Arabian pipe line may bring on World War 111.--Corn shortage reaches acute stage as farmers hold stocks for hog feeding. 7 APRIL30. Canol, the 130 million dollar American-financed oil project in northern Canada, opens.- -Shell Oil Company celebrates tenth anniversary of the first shipment of 100octane gasoline to United States Army with dedication of twin catalytic cracking units a t its Wood River, Ill., works. --War Production Board seeks topflight executives to guide reconversion of industry. -Secretary Ickes reports that soft coal production is still below maximum capacity.
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