NEWS EDITION
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E x a m i n a t i o n for S e n i o r C h e m i s t s The United States Civil Service Commission states that the positions of five senior chemists to direct chemical and technologi•cal research in the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, Department of Agriculture, are vacant, and that in view of the importance of these positions an unusual method of competition will be followed to fill these vacancies. Instead of the usual form of Civil Service examination, the qualifications of candidates will be passed upon by a special board of examiners composed of W. W. Skinner, acting chief, Chemical and Technological Research Unit, Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, Department of Agriculture; Percy H. Walker, chief of the Paint and Varnish Section, Bureau of Standards; and A. S. Ernest, examiner of the U. S. Civil Service Commission, who will act as chairman of the committee. The work in three of these positions is in connection with re search in organic chemistry to ascertain the structure of complex organic compounds of high molecular weight naturally occurring vn certain tropical plants and characterized by high toxicity to fish and insects. The duties of the fourth position are concerned with the direction of research in inorganic and physical chemistry with special reference to insecticides and fungicides. The fifth senior chemist will engage in investigations of t h e physical prop erties and chemical compositions of turpentines, rosins, and other naval stores products. The entrance salaries are $4600 a year. Formal applications will be received by the Civil Service Com mission until June 20. Full information may be obtained by communicating with the United States Civil Service Commis sion, Washington, D. C.
T h e American Chemical Industry Under the above title, the Chemical Division of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce has issued a booklet of 114 pages in which the production and foreign trade in the first quarter of the twentieth century are presented and discussed statistically. The 55 tables included are filled with the kind of information which, if properly used, furnishes sound guidance for trade expansion, while the discussion emphasizes the signifi cant figures. The booklet is organized in three parts: the first on produc tion; the second on foreign trade; and the third on foreign trade in the year 1928. The usual divisions of the chemical industry are used for the segregation of the statistics, while the foreign trade is presented from the standpoint of commodities, as well as geographical distribution. The booklet is priced at 20 cents, and can be obtained from the Government Printing Office, Washing ton, D. C.
T h e R o m a n c e of R u b b e r This film tells the story of American rubber production on plantations in the East Indies, shows how the land is cleared and the young rubber trees planted, "bud grafting" for higher yields, and the gathering of the latex from the full-grown trees. The sap is coagulated b y the modern "spray process," clearly explained by animated cross-section drawings. There are also interesting glimpses of native life. Every foot of this film was photographed on the largest American-owned rubber plantation in the world, and will b e informative for the general audience, as well as for school classes. With the film will be sent an attractive illustrated book entitled, "The Romance of Rubber," which will be found useful for reference material. This subject has lately been added to the library of the Rothacker Film Corp., 7510 North Ashland Ave., Chicago, 111. There are no charges except transportation.
Gies F e l l o w s h i p in Biological C h e m i s t r y Pupils and other friends of William J. Gies have established a t Columbia University the William J . Gies Fellowship in Biological Chemistry, the income from which for 1929—30 will be $1500. Incumbents of the fellowship will be free to devote their time exclusively to biochemical research of their own selec tion. Inquiries regarding this fellowship, and applications for appointment to it in 1929—30, should be addressed, before June 30, to the Department of Biological Chemistry .
C o m m e r c i a l Standards M o n t h l y For the past four years ''The Commercial Standards Monthly" has been the medium through which the Division of Simplified Practice of the Bureau of Standards has kept American industry
Vol. 7, No. 11
advised of the progress being made in the elimination of waste through simplification and standardization. This mimeographed bulletin summarizes the projects under consideration by in dustry in cooperation witti the Bureau of Standards, meetings held, and, wherever possible, the work being done by individual concerns and lion-gOvernrnental groups in the movement to eliminate waste in industry. The monthly bulletin, starting with the July 15, 1929, issue, will hereafter appeax as a, standard-size printed magazine and will be on an annual subscription basis of one dollar, payable in advance to the Supcriattendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
A m o n g Chemists W. D. Bancroft was elected t o honorary membership in the Polish Chemical Society on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of its founding. Charles W. Barton has been transferred to the headquarters of the associated companies of the Winthrop Chemical Co., Inc., 117 Hudson St., New York, Ν. Υ . Rolland G. Bowers, formerly employed by the Pierce Petro leum Corp., Tulsa, Okla., as testing engineer in charge of the laboratory service tests on antiknock gasolines, motor oils, and creases, is now refinery operator a t the newly modernized plant of the Sun Oil Co., Toledo, Ohio. Amos A. Fries retired as a Major General May 16, 1929, with no announcement of plans for the future. William J. Gies, professor of biological chemistry at Columbia University, has presented his library, consisting of more than 5000 volumes, chiefly in biological chemistry and dentistry, to Columbia University. It i s now in the library at the Medical Center. J. S. Hicks, formerly witii the Hecker-H-O Co., Inc., Buffalo, Ν. Υ., has accepted a. position as research chemist with the Na tional Aniline and Chemical Co. L. W. Mason, who tias recently completed a plant for the manu facture of lard compound a n d refined vegetable oil in Manila for the Mantecoco Company of the Philippines, has been appointed general manager of thte company. Louise Morgridge gradixates from Michigan State College this month. She h a s been specializing in organic and physio logical chemistry. N. E. Oglesby h a s resigned from his position a t Edgwood Arsenal, and is now director of t h e chemical department of the Behr-Manning Corp., Troy, Ν. Υ. L. A. Parker has resigned from the chemical division of the Procter & Gamble C o . to work toward his master's degree at Ohio State University^ commencing with the fall term. The Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain has awarded the Hanbury medal "for rjdgh excellence in the prosecution or promo tion of original research in tlie natural history and chemistry of drugs" to Henry Hjusrd Rushy, professor of materia medica in the College of Pharmacy of Columbia University. G. C. Scott, formerly with the laboratory of the American Can Co., has accepted a position as director of research for the Minnesota Valley Canning Co., Le Sueur, Minn. "William Seaman completed work for his Ph.D. degree at Cornell University in February, and is now employed in the research laboratories of the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, Elizabeth, N. J, Robert M . Searle, president of t h e Rochester Gas and Electric Corp., Rochester, NT. Y., ha^s accepted a place on t h e Advisory Committee on Gas Engineering of t h e Johns Hopkins University. Halsey E. Silliman sailed, for Bngland May 4 for a stay of several months. His address will be care of American Express Co., London, EnglandH. J- Skinner, president of Skinner, Sherman & Esselen, Inc., Boston, Mass., during the l a s t few weeks has spoken on "Some Contritfutions of Chemistry to Industry" before a number of luncheon clubs, notably the Kiwanis Clubs of Holyoke, North ampton, Turners Falls, and Wakefield, Mass. G. Henry Way has ^resigned his position as research associate for the Gypsum Industries a t the U . S. Bureau of Standards, to accept a position with t h e Structural Gypsum Corp., linden, N. J. E. P . Wenzelberger has resigned from the research organiza tion of the Victor Talking Machine Co. to accept a position as research and development engineer with the Brunswick Balke Collender Co., Muskegron, Mich. J. Enrique Zanetti h a s been promoted to a full professorship in chemistry a t Columbia. University.
