mittees, and C h a p t e r s of S t u d e n t Affiliates appears in C H E M I C A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G N E W S three t i m e s a y e a r — u s u a l l y February ΙΟ. M a y 10, a m i October 10. T h e latest list is printed o n page 001 of t h e M a y 10 issue. e^-c?
Procurement Problems Discussed A
American Chemical Society 104TH MEETING.
Buffalo, N . Y., Septem-
bor 7 to 11, 1942. 105TH MEETING.
Indianapolis, Ind., April
12 to 16, 1943. 106TH MEETING.
Minneapolis, Minn.,fall
of 1943. NATIONAL
CHEMICAL
EXPOSITION.
Ste
vens Hotel, Chicago, 111., November 17 to 22, 1942.
Other Scientific Societies AMERICAN
ASSOCIATION
TEACHERS. 25 to 27.
OF
PHYSICS
State College, Pemia., Juin»
AMERICAN INSTITUTE O F CHEMICAL ENGI
NEERS. Xetherland Plaza Hotel, Cin cinnati, Ohio, November 16 to 18. Annual Meeting. AMERICAN
INSTITUTE
ENGINEERS. 26. AMERICAN
OF
ELECTRICAL
Chicago, 111., June 22 t o
PETROLEUM INSTITUTE.
Ste
vens Hotel, Chicago, 111., November 9 t o 13. Annual Meeting. AMERICAN
PHYSICAL
SOCIETY.
State
College, Penna., June 25 t o 27; Berke ley, Calif., July 11. AMERICAN SOCIETY F O R TEHTIXO MATE
RIALS. 26. NATIONAL
Atlantic City, N. J . , June 22 t o
DESCRIPTION of
the urgency of
the
U. S. Army in procuring chemicals was summed up in one statement by Major S. N. C'ummings, chief of Chemical Pro curement, at a recent War Production ( 'onferonce in Newark, N . J., when he said, "Anything we order, we needed ycsterday." Major Cummings was a speaker in the Panel on Substitute Materials, Chemical Kquipment, and Plant Safety, and ad dressed his remarks mainly to the chemical manufacturers in explaining the workings of the chemical procurement group and the particular problems involved in purchasing and letting contracts for chemicals. "When the Procurement Office asks for a quotation, please be prepared to give it t o us", he said. "We arc working under pressure and need all the speed and co operation that can be given us. Remem ber also", he continued, "that no man in the chemical procurement is an industrial misfit, but rather the chief of t h e service has chosen each man for his ability and be-
cause he knows his special field thor oughly." The Chemical Procurement Division has the power to raise or lower prices, Major Cummings said, according to the status of the profit made by the manufac turer from the contract. Contracts are granted commensurate with the financial responsibility of the company. The Chemical Warfare Service works very closely with the Labor Department. If necessary, a branch office of the Labor Bureau will be set up in the plant of any manufacturer with a view to solving labor problems that may arise. If the company is falling behind in its contracts with the Army, a specialist from the labor board will investigate and install necessary cor rective measures to speed up the productive output. In conclusion Major Cummings said that he did not know "of any industry that has cooperated so unselfishly and so wholeheartedly as the chemical industry, but the new program for the chemical in dustry will make the efforts of the past seem infinitesimal." On the same program Captain W. F . Plank, C. W. S., spoke on "Safety Precau tions in Handling Pyrotechnics". Cap tain Plank reviewed briefly the many tech nical precautions that are taken as a matCONTINUED ON PAGE 8 1 2
Coal Research at Battelle IMPROVED equipment for the utilization of bituminous coal for comfort heating, for metallurgical applications, for the loco motive, and for power generation is fore seen b y fuel engineers who addressed 140 representatives of the bituminous coal in dustry, May 28, at an all-day conference and exhibit on bituminous coal research, sponsored b y Bituminous Coal Research,
Inc., at the Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio. Smokeless space heaters and service water heaters, completely automatic residential stokers, chemical treatment of coal to render it dustless, an industrial forge furnace which utilizes pul verized coal, and other new developments which will increase the markets for coal were demonstrated and discussed.
INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL CON
FERENCE. Stevens Hotel, Chicago, 111., November 17 t o 22. NATIONAL
PETROLEUM
ASSOCIATION.
Hotel Traymore, Atlantic City, X. J., September 16 to 18. Annual meetingN E W ENGLAND ASSOCIATION* O F CHEM ISTRY TEACHERS. I'nivorsity of N e w
Hampshire, Durham, X . II., August 11 to 14. OPTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA.
Massa
chusetts Institute o f Technology, Cam bridge, Mass., July 20 to 2 2 . SOCIETY FOR T H E PROMOTION O F KNGIxERRING EDUCATION. Columbia l*ni-
versity, New York, N. Y \ , June 27 and 28. Annual meeting. TECHNICAL ASSOCIATION O F T H E P U L P AND P A P E R INDUSTRY. Hotel Statler,
Boston, Mass., September 29 to Octo ber I. » The list of the SOCIETY'S National Officers and Directors, Editors, members of Council, Divisional and Local Section Officers, Com-
810
C o a l is sprayed and tested for dustiness on a laboratory scale at Battelle.
CHEMICAL
AND ENGINEERING
NEWS
Procurement Problems Discussed
Army
Begins
Chemical
Plant
Visitations
CONTINUED FBOM PAOE 810
,
;
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ter of course in protecting plants working on explosive mixtures. Police protection is provided by the Army, not the FBI, Captain Plant revealed, this responsibility having only recently been taken over from the federal bureauSafety in the plants has several broad outlines. Dispersion of manufacturing operations is one of them. All procedures must be isolated in small compact units, built usually with three sturdy walls of reinforced concrete, and with the remain ing wall constructed to fracture easily. Dust must be controlled, as it is one of the means of propagating explosions. All mixing is done by remote control and equipment is sparkproof nonferrous con struction. Floors are conductive and nonsparking and are usually made with layers of concrete, mastic, copper plate or sheet ing, and finally conductive rubber. They are used frequently where dust hazards are extreme. Static potentials on belts are prevented through use of a colloidal graphite dressing. Captain Plant stated that humidity is also controlled as most explosions occur when the humidity falls below 40 per cent relative. Explosions, it has also been noted, he said, happen most frequently when the barometer is falling. Other speakers briefly outlined the uses of plastics, glass, hard rubber, and protec tive coatings in the war effort They were Robert J. Moore, Carbide & Car bon Chemical Co.; J. T. Thompson, Corning Glass Works; Donald Wilkins, American Hard Rubber Co.; Francis Scofield, National Paint and Lacquer Association. CONSTRUCTION of a Swedish factory to
extract turpentine oil and by-products from tree stumps, under government con trol, is reported from that country.
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General Paul X. English, chief of Industrial Service of the Chemical Warfare Service, end Colonel Harry A . Kuhn, chief of the New York Procurement District, attending the Army Visitation Exercises at Hooker Electrochemical Co., Niagara Falls, N . V.
ΠΡΗΕ first of a series of Army visitations A t o war production plants in Niagara Falls was held at the main plant of the Hooker Electrochemical Co. on May 26. A large group of enlisted men, soon to move on to one of our fighting fronts, spent two hours going through the various departments and talking with the chemical plant operators individually. Out of these informal discussions, both soldiers and operators gained a clearer under standing of the others' part in the war effort. General Paul X . English, chief of Industrial Service of the Chemical War fare Service, headed the staff of officers which included Colonel Harry A. Kuhn, chief of the New York C. W. S. District; Colonel Floyd D. Carloek, commanding officer of Fort Niagara; LieutenantColonel Frank R. Johnson, head of the Niagara Falls Chemical Warfare Division;
Numerous Croll-Reynolds Evactors are working overtime maintaining high vacuum in planta making explosives, syxithetic rubber, airplane lubricants and a long list of other ordnance materials, They are main taining high vacuum on engines and turbines of «dozens of American ships sailing the seven seas. While the large and special units recruire up %o three months or more for fabrication the smaller ones are sometimes made in two weeks, or less, whan the demand is urgent. These include single and multi-stage uniis for Tacuum up to a smalJ fraction of i m m . absolute, also small condenseia and vacuum chilling equipment. A recent development ia a vacuum-cooled condenser for maintaining condensing temperatures down t o 34° F. Inquiries will be handled as promptly as possible under the circumstances.
CEeiaL-RSYMOLBS CO.
812
;,-
Ί
AIDING NATIONAL DEFENSE
Established 797 7
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1
STEAM JET EVACTORS
17 J O H N STREET
:
NEW YORK
and Lieutenant-Colonel Leslie Suther land and Major Cummings, both of the New York Chemical Warfare District Office. General English was accompanied by Major William Brooks from Washing ton, and Captain Cleveland J. Bishop, also of Washington, represented General Sommervell of the Service of Supply. Harry M. Hooker, president of the company, and Edwin R. Bartlett, execu tive vice president, joined the Plant Service Committee as hosts to the Army visitors. Refreshments were furnished in the plant restaurant. When the tour of the Hooker plant had been completed, the soldiers, officers, and workmen moved out into the plaza in front of the Administration Building to hear a talk by General English, who developed the theme that "the work of you chemical plant operators is just as CONTINUED ON PA OB 814
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A N D
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NEWS
VINYL ACETATE f o r t h e p r e p a r a t i o n of Poly Vinyl Acetate, Alcohol, a n d A c e t a l resiims; s y n t h e s i s of p h a r m a c e u t i c a l «chemicals
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LABORATORIES, INC.
CHEMICALS CORPORATION 4701 Pine Ave.
Niagara Falls, N. Y.
A r m y Begins Chemical Plant Visitations i'dNTINVEU FROM PAGE 8 1 2
necessary as the work of the m a n behind the gun". His address i n condensed form follows: I speak to you today a s a soldier. Every man, woman, and child in t h e United States wants t o know whnt he can do t o help win the war. Those a b l e to bear arms who are not in the Army often have the uncomfortable feeling that they are not serving as fully as t h e y shoula. Those who cannot bear arms, often feel that their efforts are weak and ineffectual, compared to t h e total problem. I will tell you how t h e Army feels about these matters. This is a new kind of war. It i s a war of both machines a n d men. The armies over which the Nazis rolled were n o t composed of weaklings o r cowards. T h e Dutch, Jugo-Slavs, French, Belgians, Poles, Greeks, and all the other b r a v e peoples who are enslaved b y the N a z i terror wished t o defend their homelands, b u t with what? N o amount of bravery, l o v e of country, willingness to do or die could long stand up against armored force, with out armored force witb which t o counter. That is why w e in the Army consider t h e workers as soldiers of production in t h i s war. Your work i s as necessary as the work of the man with the gun. Without it, there can be no gun—and then—no man. The soldier faces nopeless odds, unless y o u keep him supplied. War has become so mechanized that against the 8 or 10 work men it took to enable a soldier t o pull the trigger in the first World War, it now takes 20 or more workmen. This is not only a war of machines, it is also a war of chemicals. T h e steel and metal which t h e machine m a k e s need to be filled with chemicals. Chemicals must treat a host of materials to protect them against war damage. Chemicals arc vital in the course of almost every industrial process to make munitions. Incendiary bombs are filled with chemical materials. These are being used o n every hand. General Doolittle told t h e Chemical Warfare Service, and the fact was pub lished b y the War Department, that he was highly impressed b y the workmanship and action of the incendiary bombs· he and his heroic fellow soldiers dropped on Tokyo. Inflammable Tokyo was your 814
202 East 44th St. β New York, Ν . Υ. ï&^È&*£^i^S&#>W.
target as well as General Doolittle's and his mon. It was your military objective, as much as the Army's. T h e Japs are reported to have used war gas in China. Such gases are chemicals, and chemicals are vitally needed as well for protection against war gases. Prime Minister Churchill warns that Germany may use gas. We must be prepared for all these contingencies. The people know that the best defense against war gas is retaliation. Chemicals are not alone important to our fighting men, they are just as essential for the protection of our loved ones at home. Chemicals are materials of war, just as vital as guns and tanks and planes. In this war our preparations and our actions must be complete. There can be no flaws in our armor; no hole through ΛΝ hich the enemy can drive a wedge. One such hole, no matter how small, may well prove fatal. We are engaged in a titanic struggle with powerful enemies, but no enemy is greater than ourselves. Compla cency and overconfidence can defeat us as they defeated France. Selfish internal bickering and discontent are as effective as bombs and bullets. The factory where time is lost is a factory half bombed. Every minute of idleness or of an idle machine adds to the length of the war. Americans are used to playing as a team. You and the Army and N a v y are a team. You are the passers, w e the re ceivers. You give us the ball, and we will carry it. It takes a very poor judge of the game not to recognize the equal im portance of the passers and the receivers. Americans are too adept at games not to see that clearly. N o matter how tough the task is, how uninteresting it may seem, and how many hours you have to put into it, just bear in mind that somewhere, someone in uniform is waiting for what you turn out. If it doesn't arrive on schedule, it may mean the difference between life and death to him. And that person may be a father, or a brother, or a young fellow from this very plant. You are fortunate in being able to do your particular job in surroundings such as these. You don't have to dodge bombs and bullets in stinking swamps, or on blaz ing desert sands. You have regular hours. You can wash up and go home a t night to loved ones, ana enjoy the comforts of your own home. T h e soldier can't. He doesn't punch a time clock, and his war time pay check is much smaller than yours. He is fighting for his country under many more disadvantages than y o u have. He is bearing a very heavy pack, b u t he does not envy you your modest comforts; he C H E M I C A L
Έ
wants you to enjoy them if you will but roll the material out to him in the field. The godless and inflated egotist Hitler has boasted that a free people can't pro duce. He has challenged the democracy of free men with a drab collectivism of slogan-chanting robots, but Americans are from Missouri, and ho will have to show us! Kaeh of us—workers and soldiers alike— will sec t o that. Your work clothes are your uniform, as dignified and as impor tant as that of a combat soldier. We, the soldiers, tell you that. The Army recognizes the importance of your work. The War Department is ar ranging to award suitable recognition to workers and to plants that distinguish themselves in production. Plants will re ceive the Army Pennant which will bear an "A" similar in purpose t o the " E " flags now awarded by the Navy. Workers will receive a companion button which will honor the individual worker who has earned it by merit. Every minute of your working day remember the men who are waiting for what you make—in the desert under the blazing sun, in t h e northland in ice and snow, on the sea, in the forest, on the field and cramped in forts—and grimly and realistically under fire. As General Sommervell has pointed out, these men are too busy protecting this job of yours t o think of the quitting whistle or profits, or wages, or overtime, or vaca tions. Take as yours the motto of the Chemical Warfare Service: "The difficult w e do promptly; the im possible takes a little longer. ' There is no time for bombast and blue prints. These are the tools of too little and too late. General Porter, chief of the Chemical Warfare Service, has said: "This is a war of production. Whichever side pro duces t h e most will eventually win." There is time only for toil. This means sweat and sacrifice on your part today, to prevent unnecessary bloodshed and death on the soldier's part tomorrow. I t means unstinting contribution by both labor and management to a degree never before at tained, but which must be reached if we are going to win. You will, I know, cheerfully deny your selves many a peacetime privilege in order that the men at the front may carry on, and in addition t o this, you will work like demons to see that they have the materials with which to win. Our country is like that. Every crisis makes it more deter mined to gam the victory, and this time it will be satisfied with no patchwork vic tory—only with a conclusive one—for this CONCLUDED ON PAGE 8 1 6
A N D
ENGINEERING
NEWS
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