Dec., 1911
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 . Pennsylvania., ..................... Ohio .............................. Wisconsin. ......................... Maine ............................. Missouri, ..........................
A STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT SPECIFICATION.
United States Government work is being looked into b y a special committee of government engineers, which has been meeting during the past summer. This committee was appointed t o draw u p a tentative specification b y a conference of government engineers t h a t first met in Washington, D. C., on June 17, 1911. The draft of this specification was submitted later t o the conference and proved acceptable in most particulars. The committee was then instructed t o consult with the American Society of Civil Engineers the American Society for Testing Materials and other similar bodies as t o the practicability of developing a uniform specification t h a t might become a generally accepted standard throughout the United States. The committee is composed of A. P. Davis, Chief Engineer, U. S. Reclamation Service; J. C. Plant, Supervising Architect’s office ; Captain W. R. Rose, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A . ; Lieut. C. A. Carlson, Corps of Civil Engineers, U. S. N.; S. S. Voorhees, Bureau of Standards ; A. E. Phillips, Superintendent of Sewers, District of Columbia; and R. J . Wig, Bureau of Standards.
877,714 415,285 248,238 179,656 193,964
$2,440,350 1,647,335 959,405 893,599 837,681
OIL USED IN PLACE OF COAL.
The small production of coal in California is offset, b y the enormous increase in the production of petroleum, most of which is used for fuel. The oil produced in California in 1910 aggregated between 65,ooo,ooo a n d 70,000,000 barrels, which, on the basis of 3 1 / barrels ~ of oil for each ton of high-grade coal, would be equal t o a production of nearly 20,000,ooo tons of coal. The use of petroleum b y the transportation and manufacturing industries of California has practically eliminated coal as a steam-raising fuel in the State. Oil is also used in the manufacture of gas which is employed for cooking and for heating residences as well as for lighting. Oil is now also coming into use as a direct fuel for household purposes.
NEW JERSEY’S ZINC PRODUCTION.
MINERAL PRODUCTION SECOND ONLY TO AGRICULTURE.
Nearly a third of a billion dollars was added t o the wealth of the United States from the mineral production of the western States during 1910, according t o the figures of the United States Geological Survey. This includes about $66,000,000worth of coal, the remaining production, principally metals, having a value of practically a quarter of a billion dollars. The total figures of western mineral production as compiled b y the Survey are $313,944,881.This is about one-fourth the total agricultural production of the same area, the proportion between mineral and agricultural production being about the same as for the entire United States. The agricultural production of the western States, derived from figures of the Department of Agriculture, was approximately $I,394,791,000. The area considered includes the belt from the Dakotas south t o Texas and the territory westward.
PRODUCTION OF LIME IN 1910. The total production of lime in 1910,according t o figures compiled b y Ernest F. Burchard and just given out b y the United States Geological Survey, was 3,469,416short tons, valued a t $13,809,290,a slight decrease in both tonnage and value as compared with the figures for 1909. The average price per ton in 1910was $3.98: The five leading States in the 1910production are as follows :
Value.
Short tons.
deposits. He concludes t h a t this deposited soda corroded the iron.
+
949
,
The zinc mines, a t Franklin Furnace, New Jersey, produced in 1910, according t o H. D. McCaskey, of the United States Geological Survey, 308,353 tons of ore for the concentrating mills (producing 263,606tons of concentrates), and 67,324tons of crude ore for the smelters. Figured as metallic zinc, the total recoverable output was 137,355,219pounds of spelter, valued a t $7,417,182.The mines are opened b y a vertical shaft 965 feet deep, a slope t o the 600foot level, and a shaft 1,500 feet deep on a n incline of 47 I/. degrees. The crushing plant has a capacity of 2,240 net tons per 2 4 hours and the separator a capacity of 1,344net tons.
WORLD’S SULPHUR PRODUCTION.
The sulphur industry in the United States in 1910 was confined t o the four states of Louisiana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming, the production of . t h e other states being practically negligible as compared. with t h a t of Louisiana. The production of sulphur for 1910, according t o W. C. Phalen, of the U. S. Geological Survey, was 255,534 long tons, as compared with 239,312long tons in 1909. I n 1910there were imported into the United States 30,833 long tons of sulphur, while the exports amounted t o 30,742 long tons.
SICILY SULPHUR PRODUCTION.
The total production of sulphur in Sicily during the first six months of 1911 was 182,678 tons, against 185,825 tons during the corresponding period in 1910.
950
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 .
On June 30, 1911,the total stocks of sulphur in Sicily were 527,965 tons, against 586,878 tons a t the same date in 1910. The exports of sulphur during the first half-year of 1911 amounted t o 287,410 tons, against 240,919 during the firgt six months of 1910, a n increase of 46,491tons.
SALT PRODUCTION, 1910.
The United States produced 30,305,656barrels of according t o the salt in 1910,valued at $7,900,344, U. S. Geological Survey. This was a n increase of 198,010barrels over the production of 1909 but a decrease in value amounting t o $443,487. The six leading producers of salt in 1910 were New York, Michigan, Ohio, Kansas, Louisiana, and California: Nearly 99 per cent, of the salt consumed in the country was obtained from domestic sources, the United States having long been independent of foreign production.
PLATINUM PRODUCTION, 1910.
The entire production of crude platinum from placer mines in the United States for last year, as well as for 1909, came from the States of California a n d Oregon. This production in 1910, according t o Waldemar Lindgren, of the United States Geological Survey, was 390 troy ounces, valued a t $9,507,a decrease of 282 ounces and $3,296 compared with the figures for 1909. \
INTERNATIONAL MACHINERY AND ENGINEERING EXHIBITION.
An International Machinery and Engineering Exhibition will be held at Olympia, London, from October 4 t o 26, 1912,inclusive. This Exhibition is organized b y the Machine, Tool and Engineering Association (Ltd.), a n d the Exhibition offikes are at 104 High Holborn, London, W. C. The projectors of the Exhibition state t h a t it is their purpose to secure, if possible, so comprehensive a display t h a t i t will be really representative of tfie engineering trades throughout the world.
MODIFICATION OF THE DETERMINATION OF NICKEL BY THE ETHER METHOD.
Owing t o the length of time necessary for the determination of nickel in iron and steel b y the usual ether method which involves solution in nitric acid a n d several evaporations t o dryness and baking prior t o the ether separation, I have been working toward a shorter method. This has been found b y using hydrogen peroxide as a n oxidizing agent in place of nitric acid. By this change in method, determinations can be made in one-fourth the time a n d with just as consistent accuracy.
Dec., 1911
Method-Dissolve one gram of the sample in a mixture of 2 0 cc. of hydrochloric acid and 5 cc. of water using a 200 cc. beaker. Cover with a watch glass and heat until solution is effected. When the sample is dissolved cool the solution a little, add 2 0 cc. hydrogen peroxide (washing the sides of the beaker and watch glass) and boil t o a small bulk, about I O t o 15 cc. Cool and make ether separation in the usual way. The nickel is determined volumetrically in the usual way making the solution ammoniacal and titrating with potassium cyanide using silver nitrate and potassium iodide as an indicator. , CARPENTER STEELCOMPANY, READING, PA., October 12. 1911
JOHN
P. THOMPSON.
----GENERAL NOTES.
Dr. Cushman announces the organization and equipment of a Division of Roads and Pavements under the supervision of Mr. Pr6vost Hubbard, for the past seven years with the U. S. Department of Agriculture, as chief chemist of the Office of Public Roads. The Division of Roads and Pavements has been assigned adequate quarters in the Institute's new building, which has just been completed, and will consist of two well equipped laboratories-one for physical work in connection with cements, mortars, concrete block, brick, etc., and the other for chemical analysis and investigations of all types of bituminous, and other road and paying materials. The equipment consists of the latest approved apparatus, and special ' apparatus will be added as occasion demands. Besides the routine examination, inspection, and specification of road and paving materials which will be undertaken b y this Division, the Institute particularly solicits correspondence relative t o problems connected with the road material industries, in regard t o improvements of materials and processes, and the utilization of waste and by-products.
_-_Ground was broken last week for the Wolcott Gibbs Memorial Laboratory of Harvard University. This building, designed for research in physical and inorganic chemistry, will cost when completed about $72,000. It was given and endowed b y Dr. Morris Loeb, Mr. James Loeb a n d many other friends of Dr. Gibbs and the University.
Mr. Arthur H. Blanchard, M. Am. SOC. C. E., consulting highway engineer, formerly of Providence, R. I., announces the removal of his office and laboratory t o Broadway and 117th Street, New York City.
Sugar beets in Canada from the
12,000 acres
this
