J U N E 20, 1938
NEWS EDITION
Chute and the Chemists 9 Club
357 wires. Chute gave a picturesque story of industrial chemical development centering largely o n Morris Loeb and Hans Frasch who did so much for the club and very much more for American chemical in dustry, but alluding in the course of his remarks t o figure after figure, and process after process that have made history in American chemical industry. Long may we have the benefit of his remarkable memory and quaint humor. K. P. MCELROT
V a n Ajatwerpen Joins I. a n d E. C . Staff
H. O. HIMSELF. Ie HE STEADYING OR ROC Κ Ι NO Tas BOAT?
W
ORLD over are many clubs for chem ists; some successful and some just linger-longer-ing à la Lucy. That in New York is probably the chiefest and most lovely; it is the most prominent, anyway. But, like Darwin's cat which had to survive many fits in achieving the status of fittest, it has had its vicissitudes. After surviving the rigors of the World War and the horrors of prohibition it was hard hit by the antepenultimate slump; many members going A. W. O. L. and leaving as a souvenir an economic vacuum representing their fraction of the overhead. There followed a dull blue period when, as in Goldsmith's "Deserted Village,"folks sat around arguing and awaiting worse to come. There were other points of resemblance. But it is a long depression curve that has no upturn and this one developed sine wave characteristics before it went clear off the paper. Rehabilitation of the membership roster became in order and the club sachems passed the buck to its giad-hander and greeter, H. O. Chute, the most resident of the resident members— nobody else knew everybody else. Chute demurred on the genera] ground that he was neither twins nor triplets and that it was his experience that with oniy one charmer a house could not be kept filled. He did, however, suggest that lower prices for meals might help, and expressed doubt as to the necessity of using "nve plates and a paper napkin to serve a grapefruit. " But the upturn in curves and Chute, either or both, turned the trick; the roster overtook the overhead. The cat, like Darwin's, came back. H. O. Chute was born in Indiana, in the part of the state known as Egypt, at an early age, but he reformed and went places, his first migration being to the Virginia suburbs of Washington. The H and Ο of his name do not signify hydroxyl or anything chemical, though there is an erroneous idea to the contrary. They signify Harry Owen—a variant of the martial "Garryowen" played by military bands. He turned chemist with the aid of the old Columbian University in Washing ton and then began traipsing over the country from factory to factory. Where he paused, something usually happened to the factory technic. His achievements in chemical technology are many and no table. In general they are in the fields of wood distillation, distillery waste recovery, evaporator design, rubber reclaiming, and general distillation technic. Some are re flected in a score of patents. Chute's con tributions to the progress of the useful arts, as reflected in his patents, mostly exhibit
the uncommon variety of brilliant com mon sense. His ideas did not always meet with glad acclaim; mostly there was sales resistance. His suggestion that the best way to economize steam was to use less steam was regarded as having a merely meretricious plausibility by makers of wood alcohol and gray acetate of lime. They wanted to be shown. The first in stallation, which was brilliantly successful, was at his own expense; the last, erected without his blessing, got into court as an infringement. Chute finally won out; a decision (Wisconsin Chemical Co. vs. Chute, 261 Fed. 89) was handed down, affirming his patent. This is a leading decision in litigation involving chemical processes; it is one of those cited and relied on by the courts. Unfortunately for Chute, the denatured alcohol law came along and the wood alcohol industry dropped dead, or nearly so. In his perambulations Chute went hither and thither over the entire United States and Canada (to the great profit of the railroads), acquiring an intimate first-hand knowledge of their geography. These journeys have more recently been extended to include the British Isles. This is of utility to him as a greeter. Being entirely human, nonresident members of the club, when in New York, want to talk about their home towns and he can usually ac commodate. For Michigan men he has established a Saginaw subclub composed of those who have seen Saginaw, with those who have only heard of Saginaw eligible as associate members. Living at the club, he is ex-officio a member of all noonday lunch crowds, in cluding the engineers and the economists, and the evening gathering at the round table. As the only common factor, his position is unique. Round-table discus sions range from the number of subway exits at Grand Central to the extreme in iquity of using a stillson wrench on a hex nut. Whatever the topic he has Socratic views on tap, views which always have a parallax. Each of the chemical tribes has its own language, and he can talk most of them, usually disagreeing with the vocabu lary. He is a frequent contributor to the daily press of New York on such subjects as rapid transit, reform of the currency, admiralty law, and comparative religion. In recognition of his long service, the club threw a dinner in his honor March 22, giving him a loving cup and a bound set of Chute patents. Midgley was toastmaster and some 80 well-known chemists, including 5 past presidents of the club, sat around and cheered htm. Others sent
F. J.
VAN
ANTWERPBN
J. V A N ANTWERPEN joined the staff of F ISTRY as associate editor on June 15. Mr.
• INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEM
Van Antwerpen received his B.S. in chemical engineering on June 10 from the Newark College of Engineering after 9 years' attendance at evening school. He left high school after 2 years to enter the laboratories of the American Zeolite Co., now consolidated with the Permutit Co., but later finished high school by attending evening classes. He accepted a position with the United Piece D y e Works a s water analyst in 1930 and the following year, upon enrollment in the evening chemical engineering course of Newark Technical High School, was placed in the company's dyestuff labora tory. T h e last two years he was in tech nical school he served as assistant editor of the school magazine, editor in 1934-35, chairman and editor of the 1935 yearbook, and president of the student council in 1934-35. Since 1933 he has been manager of the Munitex Corp., which position he has just resigned to cast his lot with I N DUSTRIAL, AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY.
J. T . Baker C h e m i c a l C o . Awards Fellowship ΓΓ^ΗΕ J. T. Baker Chemical Co. AnalytiX cal Research Fellowship, Eastern Di vision, has been awarded for the academic year 1938-39 to C. J. Barton, who will work under the direction of J. H. Yoe at the University of Virginia in the field of photoelectric colorimetry. Mr. Barton received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Tennessee (1933 and 1934) a n d was employed in the Chemical Testing Laboratory of the Tennessee Valley Authority from 1934-36, and from 1936 to the present time has been engaged in graduate work at the University of Virginia. The award carries a stipend of $1000. The committee of award consists of G. P. Baxter, H . A. Fales, C. W. Mason, J. H. Yoe, and Ν. Η. Furman, chairman.
