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T H E J O U R A T A L O F I N D U S T R I A L AiVD E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y ARTICLE VI1 RESIGNATION AND WITHDRAWAL
Any member may withdraw from any section by giving written notice of resignation to the Secretary, and any member who ceases t o be a stockholder of the Chemical Foundation, Inc., shall ipso facto cease to be a section member. ARTICLE VIII AXENDMENTS
The Constitution and By-laws may be amended a t any meeting of the stockholders of the Chemical Foundation, Inc., by a vote of two-thirds of the members present in person or by proxy, provided a copy of the amendment or the substance thereof shall have been given in the notice calling the meeting. The Advisory Committee may amend the Constitution and By-laws a t any meeting by a vote of two-thirds of the members present subject to ratification a t the next succeeding meeting of the stockholders of the Chemical Foundation, Inc. The following amendments to this constitution were adopted: I-There shall be one additional section known as Metallurgical Section, or Section 5 . z-There shall be one additional section known as Unclassified Section, or Section 6 . Following the adoption of the constitution the stockholders were given an opportunity to signify to which section they desired to belong and a recess was declared for the purpose of organizing the several sections. The following chairmen of the various sections were elected: SECTION 1-JAMES T. PARDEE,The Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich. SECTION Z-DR. W. J. SCHIEFFELIN, Schieffelin & Co., 170 William St., New York.
SECTION MR. P. S. RIGNEY, Roessler & Hasslacher, 100 William St., New Yark SEcmoN DR MR. BLUM (Temporary), United Piece Dye Works, 132 Madison Ave., New York. SECTION 5-THOMAS C. DAWSON,Electric Boat Co., 11 Pine St., New York. SECTION 6-S. S. NORTON, Permutit Co., 440 Fourth Ave., New York.
These chairmen, and a representative of the Dyes Institute and the Manufacturing Chemists’ Association, together with five members to be appointed a t large by the President, constitute the Advisory Committee to the Chemical Foundation, Inc. Mr. Choate and Mr. Hoguet then explained to the members the situation in regard to the Foundation’s title to the patents, and both expressed the opinion that, whether the Peace Treaty was ratified or not, the title to the patents owned by the Foundation was clear. The question of increasing the membership in the Foundation was d s o discussed. At the time of the meeting there were 139 subscribers to the stock, of whom sixty-seven were present. A FATAL LABORATORY ACCIDENT The circumstances of the accident which resulted in the death of Mr. E. C. McKelvy, of the Bureau of Standards, as recorded in another column, have been issued by the Chemical Society of Washington. At the time of the accident Mr. McKelvy, Mr. C. S. Taylor, and Mr. D. H. Simpson were working together on the same apparatus, determining the freezing point of ammonia. The apparatus consisted essentially of an unsilvered Dewar cylinder container, 2 0 cm. high and 9 cm. inside diameter. The cylinder contained a glass tube in which the ammonia was frozen, and in which was fitted a platinum resistance thermometer a mechanical stirrer which was driven by a small ball motor about a foot away, and a copper coil into which liquid air was siphoned in small amounts, about I cc. a t a time. Most of the rest of the space in the cylinder was filled with petroleum ether (about 600 cc.) used as a contact liquid or bath. Petroleum ether was used because other mixtures become either very viscous or else cloudy a t low temperatures. The petroleum ether was cooled to oo C. before introduction into the Dewar container. About
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twenty seconds before the accident, a t which time the temperature of the bath was -30’ C., Mr. Taylor and Mr. Simpson, who were working within a foot of Mr. McKelvy left the room and entered the adjoining room. At that time Mr. McKelvy was cooling the bath by siphoning small amounts of liquid air into the copper coil: A loud explosion was heard, and about eight or ten seconds later Mr. McKelvy, with his clothes in flames, was standing under the shower bath a t the entrance to the room. Mr. Taylor, aided by Mr. Yurow, immediately turned on the water to the shower bath, and a t the same time Mr. Simpson wrapped him in the woolen fire blanket hanging immediately over the shower bath. The fire was out in less than five seconds after Mr. Taylor entered the room. Mr. McKelvy was a t once taken t o the hospital, where in spite of all possible care and attention, he died on the following day, as a result of the very extensive burned areas involved. The exact cause of the accident is not known. Mr. McKelvy said that there was an explosion and everything in the vicinity was afire. The same apparatus had been used in the same way several times before without any signs of trouble. It was designed to be absolutely safe. Several possible explanations have been offered since the disaster: I-The Dewar flask collapsed and the glass rubbing together produced a spark. z-The Dewar collapsed and threw petroleum ether into the motor commutator. 3-A static spark ignited the petroleum ether-air mixture in the container and then broke the container. 4-A petroleum ether-air mixture was ignited by the motor commutator.
THE EXAMINATION OF THE COLLEGE TRAINED CHEMIST FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE Editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: One of the unfortunate things about the war was that, when so many things had to be done, there was not time to do them all well. One is especially struck with this in reading the illuminating statistical article of W. T. Cotton1 on “The Examination of the College Trained Chemist for Government Service.” But now that peace is here, or (senatu volente) nearly here, is it not time to distinguish a makeshift from the real thing, and to recognize the necessary superficiality in every makeshift? I t would certainly be doing Dr. Cotton an injustice to infer that he seriously believes that mere magnitude, mere figures, are what count in giving a good chemical education. And yet, assuming that the Government wants in its chemists something more than an average of mediocrity, one is fairly driven by parts of his article to the conclusion that two of the essentials in a college or university for the providing of an adequate chemical education (and why any other kind?) are: ( I ) T h e offering in the catalog of a large number of hours of chemical courses. (2) Thc; possession of a large chemical faculty. Apparently the classification of educational institutions by the Civil Service Commission was based on these two factors. Yet the absurdity of the first as ’a criterion is laid bare by the author on the next page of his article where he condemns the padding of college catalogs ; and as for the second-somewhere, if I remember correctly, certain radical individuals have dared to point out the importance of the ratio of the number of instructors to the number of pupils. One great teacher had only twelve students, Socrates had not many more, and in the old days it used to be said that Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a boy on the other made a college. But in these days it is all changed; study the catalogs of 550 institutions, tabulate the data, and-presto-the sheep are separated from the goats. 1
THIS JOURNAL, 11 (1919), 1142.
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T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
We graduates of the smaller colleges had thought that the intensity factor in education was as important as the quantity factor-that quality counted; and, for example (if I may be excused for bringing in my own Alma Mater), some support was found for this belief in the fact that for a number of years Amherst College, with a chemical faculty of bu‘t three, did not send a single post-graduate student to Columbia who did not win a university or an approximately equivalent fellowship ; and she sent her fair share of students. It was undoubtedly inevitable that in the exigencies of war some such method of selection as that described should become .necessary, and it is wise that it should now be published. But,
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unless we are mad about figures and bigness, let us recognize that systems such as this do not furnish reliable criteria for peace-time use. 366 MONTGOMERY STREET M. L. HAMLIN BROOKLYN, N. Y . December 12, 1919
PLATINUM THEFTS Between October 3 and 6, 1919,two sets of platinum electrodes for Kimley electrolyte apparatus and one 20 cc. platinum crucible were stolen from a desk drawer in the balance room of t h e Habirshaw Electric Cable Co., Yonkers, N. Y. The loss amounts to between $350 and $400.
WASHINGTON LETTER By J. B. MCDONNBLL,Union Trust Building, Washington, D. C.
The American dyestuff and coal-tar chemical industry has laid its case before the Senate and now is awaiting the action of that body on the Longworth dye bill, embodying the muchfought-over import licensing system. During the whole of last week a dyes subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee conducted hearings on the Longworth bill and some time this week will report to a meeting of the full Committee. An effort will be made to have a measure reported from the Committee to the Senate before the Christmas recess, and action upon it there is planned for early in the new year. Condensation of the testimony of witnesses which required a week in the giving must necessarily disregard many points in favor and in opposition which were made during the hearings. Much the same ground was gone over before the Senate Committee as was covered b‘efore the House Ways and Means Committee. The opponents of the licensing feature shifted their attack somewhat, and the burden of their testimony was a complaint against the War Trade Board and its Dyes Advisory Committee. Led by Colonel John P. Wood, of Philadelphia, the opposition appeared in force, Colonel Wood occupying several hours before the committee, reading steadily from a prepared statement. The hearings actually were but the culmination of a fight which has been waged for months and will be continued in the future. The large committee room in the Senate office building was crowded. It was indicative of the interest in the proceedings that there was little straggling-the committee room was crowded before the hour set for the resumption of the hearings after each recess. The interest a t times was tense and flared up in but poorly concealed ill-temper. There were opponents of the licensing system who undoubtedly were absolutely sincere in their objections. There were others who obviously were thinking of nothing else than their own selfish interests; and yet others who professed to be altruists solely, and standing to lose little if the system was enacted into law, opposed it nevertheless because of their solicitude for dye consumers, among which, however, they were not numbered. Unwittingly, in their attacks upon the War Trade Board for its carrying out of its licensing power, the opponents of the bill laid the foundation of one of the strongest shots which were delivered by supporters. The story told-the committee by Dr. Charles H. Herty of his trip to Europe as the American representative to obtain German dyestuffs, was keenly interesting t o the committee, but has already been told in these pages. Dr. Herty several times approached to the brink of disclosures but contented himself with definite statements that had it not been for activities in this country German dyes already would be in this country. The full force of his statements was brought to light when Francis P. Garvan, Alien Property Custodian and president of the Chemical Foundation, Inc., appeared before the committee -the last witness to be heard-and charged that the dye importing firm of Kuttroff, Pickhardt & Company was responsible for the delay in shipments of German dyes which had been arranged for. It was disclosed publicly for the first time also that the head of the German chemical cartel, von Weinberg, had attempted to avoid the bargain he entered into with this country through Dr. Herty. “We would have the dyes on our docks in New York for the relief of all the industries of America-and you must remember that they were asked to submit them-we spread it as far as we could-every need t h a t they would have for six months,” Mr. Garvan told the committee. “The allocations were obtained; the order was sent a t an expense of some twenty-
five hundred dollars. Dr. Herty had the signed word of von Weinberg, All was safe until a n agent of von Weinberg in this country turned the key And America cannot to-day get the dyes she needs.” Picking up a paper before him he read: “November 14, 1919 T o ANILINFABRIK, Ludwigshafen: We fully expect modification Government regulations which will permit us to confirm our orders. This will enable you t o maintain your position t h a t all goods to this country outside reparation goods should come t o us. KUTTROFFA N D PICKHARDT” “When they got t h a t cablegram to the effect t h a t our method of getting i t through the State Department and the Reparations Commission had fallen through,” Mr. Garvan continued, “then they cabled back five days after that cablegram was sent: ‘Sorry we cannot renew your option. von Weinberg.’ “Kuttroff and Pickhardt seeing t h a t the licensing system was about to be a success and seeing that America was about t o be freed of any annoyance for her dyes for the next six months, and desiring to hinder this. legislation, t o have the licensing system appear a failure, sent thdt personal word. And immediately back comes the telegram: ‘We cannot fill t h e order, the option cannot be extended.’ ”
A letter which had been sent out by the above-mentioned firm t o dye consumers, urging that they oppose the licensing system, was then read to the committee by Mr. Garvan. While it was not brought out in the hearing, it was learned that immediately upon receipt here of the cable from von Weinberg, head of the German cartel, efforts to bring pressure to bear upon the German industry were made through the State Department. Government officials insisted that the option had not expired, but had been exercised. The success of these efforts is indicated in a message from von Weinberg to Dr. Herty received to-day and a t once communicated to government officials here that the German cartel was ready to proceed as agreed upon and only details remained to be worked out with the representative of the Textile Alliance, Mr. H. G. Stephenson, who is now in Paris. Officials here see no further delay, with the exception of possible transportation difficulties, in the delivery of German dyestuffs in this country. That further light may be thrown upon the present-day activities of former German dye agents in this country was indicated by Mr. Garvan who stated that he had other cables which had been sent to Germany by the Kuttroff-Pickhardt firm, which had not yet been decoded. Mr. Garvan’s testimony was delivered amid silence. There was no effort a t oratory. There were no fine rolling phrases. His intense earnestness was reflected in the intense interest of his hearers. His eloquence gripped his audience, not with admiration for his delivery but with the picture he vividly painted them, and one expected for a moment to hear a burst of applause when he had concluded. After outlining the scope and activities in this country of the German chemical industry, and its vital relation to us, its espionage work, and how it was used in an effort t o sway our foreign policy, Mr. Garvan continued: “Now it is our contention that in accordance with the general scheme of Germany’s attempted commercial supremacy, this institution has gone on in the form decided on long ago, until there is one institution, the I. G I irrespective of whether there was a war or not-and I ask you gentlemen t o consider t h a t if the war had not come, with its alarm and its instruction, what condition the textile and dependent industries in this country would have been in on the date in 1916 when all the chemical industries in
