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S Τ Κ Ι A L
scientists at the Shell Development Co. laboratories at Kmery ville, t h e Associa tion of Industrial Scientists h a s reached agreement < >n a contract with the Shell management. Tlie contract was approved b y the association membership along with acceptance of a 7.5 9o salary increase, retroactive t o July 1. On the first item a compromise was reached in which, the company agreed t o bargain with t h e association on general salary increases a n d t h e association agreed to allow the company to grant "merit" in creases without bargaining. There is a unique provision that the m a t t e r of salary increases m a y 1κ· discussed a t "reason able'' times by either party a n d also t h a t the company wilL endeavor to send more of its professional scientists t o scientific meetings a n d will encourage t h e publica tion of scientific papers. The agreement will run for one year. The association, is actively working with similar organizations at Standard Oil Co. of Ind. and t h e H u m b l e Oil Co., Ray town, Tex., and i s cooperating fully with the National Professional Association of Kngineers, Architects, and Scientists.
ResearcJi Fellowships in Latin, America The State Department and the United States Office of Education have announced t h a t a limited n u m b e r of study and re search fellowships will he m a d e available for work i n several Latin American countries. T h e s e fellowships are being offered to American college graduates who have a graduate program initiated a n d who have a knowledge of t h e language of the host country. Preference will b e given to veterans and students under t h e age of 35. Additional details m a y be secured from t h e Division of International Educational Relations, American Republics Branch, United States Office of Education, Wash ington 25, D . C.
New Syntlvelic Fiber in Pilot Pl&nt Stage? A pilot plant in Waynesboro, Va., is producing limited quantities of the new synthetic Orion fiber for develop ment and experimental purposes, prior to constrict ion of a large plant in Camden, S. C , by E. I. d u Pont de Nemours & Co. for its manufacture. This acrylic fiber, t h e result o f intensive research directed toward developing a versatile industrial fiber, was made possible b y t h e discovery of suitable organic solvents which could be employed for preparing solutions of poly aery lonit rile. Orion is described as a continuous filament fiber with the warm, dry hand o f silk and the bulking power a n d high thermal insulation of wool. High dry a n d wet tensile strength, high 3768
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resistance to stretching, high flex life, rapid drying, bonding to resins a n d rub bers, dimensional stability in presence of heated gases and liquids, resistance t o acid and acidic fumes at high tempera tures, and resistance t o molds, mildewT, a n d other microorganisms are a m o n g t h e properties claimed for it. However, nylon, having greater resistance to abra sion and to alkalies and retaining more of its strength in air at higher temperatures than does Orion, will be supplemented rather than supplanted In- the new fibers.
New Sohio Pipe-Line Terminals Kxtensions, improvements, and addi tional storage facilities costing more than $2.(5 million h a v e been erected b y t h e Standard Oil Co. (Ohio) at six of i t s pipe line terminals in the state, including those completed a t Tiffin, Canton, D a y t o n , Marietta, and Akron, and the giant newstorage and transportation terminal in Cleveland. T h e s e six extensive expansion programs follow an earlier $000,000 con struction this year of the Ohio River r e ceiving and distributing terminal now in operation at Tiltonsville and called t h e largest to be built since t h e war. I t occu pies approximately 10 acres and has a monthly volume of 4 million gallons of finished petroleum products.
Steelman Acting IVSRB Chairman J o h n R. Steelman, assistant t o t h e President, h a s been appointed acting chairman of the National Security R e sources Board by President T r u m a n . Dr. Steelman will replace Arthur M . Rill, who recently submitted his resignation a s chairman. Prior to assuming the position of assistant to the President. Dr. Steelman was director of the United S t a t e s Concilation Service, war mobilization a n d reconversion, a n d economic stabilization. Usually reliable sources believe that President T r u m a n will appoint Mons C. Walgren, ex-governor of Washington, as one of his assistants, to serve as liaison between the White House and Congress and will subsequently name him chairman of the X S R B , t h u s allowing Dr. Steelman to devote full time to his duties as assistant to the President.
General
Petroleum
Group
More gasoline out of every one of t h e 100,000 bbl. of crude oil which flow daily through the General Petroleum Oorp.s' Torrance (Calif.) refinery is claimed t o lxî the net result of a n improvement project completed b y the company recently a t a cost of over $500,000. CH
EM1CAL
The project consists of the construction arid installation of a 52-foot vacuum distillation tower to recover gas oil from residual or heavy fuel oil. Of a total of 12,000 bbl. daily of gas oil the vacuum tower will produce, almost all will be fed into General Petroleum's four Thermofor catalytic cracking units which will turn i t into gasoline. T h e previously used material fed in part to the T h e r m o for crackers was another type of gas oil which had already been "cracked" once before. This "cracked" gas oil, now freed for other uses, will be combined with the pitch left over from the vacuum tower process to reconvert it into heavy fuel oil
Water Pollution
Control
Further to carry out t h e policy expressed in the W a t e r Pollution Control Act approved J u n e 30, 1948, relative to t h e responsibilities a n d rights of the states in controlling water pollution, President T r u m a n has directed the heads of dep a r t m e n t s , agencies, and independent establishments of the executive branch of the Government to take such action as m a y b e practicable, in cooperation with interested state and local authorities, to ensure the disposal of wastes accumulated in the course or as result of federal activities. This action will also cover industrial o r manufactured foodstuffs a n d other products destroyed by order or under supervision of federal regulatory authorities, in such manner as will conform to state regulations for the preservation and improvement of the quality of surface and underground waters.
New Esso Office
Building
Construction of a six-story main office building with approximately 170,000 square feet of floor space—designed so t h a t changes in layout can be made overnight—started last month a t t h e Baton Rouge refinery of t h e Esso Standard Oil C o . T h e project, which will also include a two-story cafeteria, is expected t o be completed in early 1950. Both buildings will b e constructed by John W . Harris Associates, New York.
I J
Business and Financial N e w s
Abbott Laboratories has declared an extra dividend of 35 cents as well as the regular quarterly 65-cent dividend. Net profits of Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., for the three m o n t h s ended Sept. 30, 1948, after depreciation and all income taxes, totaled §2,627,333.17, equivalent to slightly over S 1.60 per share on the AND
ENGINEERING
NEWS
FOR POLYMERS 1.034,748 shares of stock outstanding. This compares with §2,560,138.09 earned in t h e corresponding quarter of 1947. which is equivalent to SI.56 per share. During the calendar year 1948 the com pany has authorized total dividends of $2.00 per share of common stock. Celanese Corp. of America will p a y a dividend of 60 cents per share on t h e common stock, payable Dec. 31 t o stock holders of record Dec. 17. Regular quar ter ly dividends for t h e current quarter of S1.18 3 /4 on t h e first preferred stock a n d §1.75 per share on t h e second preferred stock were also voted. Crosby Chemicals, Inc., D e R i d d e r , La., lias reported a net income for the fiscal year ending Oct. 3 1 , 1948, of §2,101,626.35 after provisions for federal a n d s t a t e in come taxes. This is equivalent t o an earn ing of $23.25 per share on 90,384 shares of o u t s t a n d i n g common stock. Xet income for t h e prior fiscal year was $2,945,405.07. T h e decrease in earnings is a t t r i b u t e d t o a general reduction in prices of products manufactured by t h e company. T h e board of directors of H e r c u l e s P o w d e r Co. has declared a year-end divi dend of $1.20 a share on common stock, payable Dec. 22, 1948, to stockholders of record a t t h e close of business Dec. 8, 1948. T h i s brings total dividends for the year on t h e common stock to $2.25 a share, a g a i n s t $2.00 a share in 1947. Directors of Industrial R a y o n Corp. re cently declared a n extra dividend of 5 % p a y a b l e in stock on J a n . 12, 1949, to share holders of record Dec. 16, 1948. This form of dividend was adopted in order t o eonserve cash which will b e required t o meet future expansion plans. T h e board of directors of International M i n e r a l s & Chemical Corp. has announced a regular quarterly dividend of 50 cents per share on t h e common stock of t h e corporation, this being an increase of 10 cents per share on t h e common stock over t h e rate which has been paid since Feb. 27, 1947. Also declared was a regular quar terly dividend of $1.00 per share on the 4 % preferred stock; b o t h dividends will be payable Dec. 30, 194S, t o stockholders of record 10, 1948. M e r c k & Co., Inc., h a s ordered a quar terly dividend of 75 cents a n d an e x t r a of 60 cents, both payable J a n . 3 to stock of record Dec 10. T h e company previously paid 60 cents quarterly. A dividend of one share of stock for each 20 held has been declared by S t a n d a r d Oil Co. (Calif.), payable J a n . 28. F o u r cash dividends of $1.00 each h a v e already been paid this 3 r ear. T h e decision calls for issuance of 650,197 new shares, representing reinvested earnings. T h e board of directors of Sterling Drug, Inc., has declared a regular quarterly divi d e n d of 87.5 cents per share on t h e 3 . 5 % preferred stock, payable J a n . 3 , 1949, t o stockholders of record Dec. 16, 1948.
VOLUME
AND
COPOLYMERS
Koppers Styrene Monomer CH=CHjr i
•
. ·
\
regularly produced in quantity
with a purity off 99.7% φ K o p p e r s S t y r e n e M o n o m e r is t h e p u r e s t c o m m e r c i a l s t y r e n e y o d can b u y w i t h o u t p a y i n g a p r e m i u m . I t is r e g u l a r l y p r o d u c e d in q u a n t i t y with a p u r i t y of 9 9 . 7 ^ . C o m p l e t i o n of a d d i t i o n a l facilities a t K o p p e r s Chemical Division p l a n t a t K o b u t a , P a . , h a s increased the availability of t h i s i m p o r t a n t i n d u s t r i a l c h e m i c a l . S t y r e n e M o n o m e r i s used b y p r o d u c e r s of s p e c i a l t y c o p o l y m e r s , plastics, ion exchange resins, p o l y e s t e r l a m i n a t i n g a n d c a s t i n g resins, and f o r c h e m i c a l s y n t h e s i s . T h e price of K o p p e r s S t y r e n e M o n o m e r is a s t o n i s h i n g l y low for a s y n t h e t i c organic c h e m i c a l of this p u r i t y . I t s c h e m i c a l r e a c t i v i t y combined with low p r i c e s u g g e s t s careful e x a m i n a t i o n of K o p p e r s S t y r e n e M o n o m e r for use as a chemical i n t e r m e d i a t e . Send for more information a n d a free s a m p l e .
KOPPERS C O M P A N Y , I N C . Chemical Division . Pittsburgh 1 9 , Pa.
KOPPERS SEND
FOR
SAMPLE
Koppers Company, Inc. Chemical Division, Dept. CEN-1220 Pittsburgh 19, Pa. Please Π Π Π Name
send m e Sample 1 pint of Styrene Monomer. Bulletin C-8-119, "Styrene Monomer." Bulletin C-8-103, "Products of the Chemical Division.'
Company Address
2 6, N O . 5 1 - . D E C E M B E R
2 0, 1 9 4 8
3769
