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T H E JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
record keeping under the Harrison Narcotic Law; in favor of the material reduction of surtaxes; in favor of the Nolan Bill for reorganizing the Patent Office, but opposing that portion which permits assigning of patents to government employees; against the prohibition of the use of saccharin in food products; in favor of the work of the Research Committee of the American Pharmaceutical Association, and in favor of continuing the present tax on nonbeverage alcohol. The following officers were elected to serve for the ensuing year:
Vol. 13, No. 5
Presideizt, William A. Sailer, of Sharp and Dohme, Baltimore; Vice Presidents, James E. Bartlett, of Parke, Davis & Co., Detroit; Willard Ohliger, of Frederick Stearns & Co, Detroit; and Charles G. Merrell, of the William S. Merrell Co., Cincinnati; .Secretary, W. J. Woodruff, Washington, D. C.; Treasurer, Franklin Black, of Charles Pfizer & Co., New York; Members of the Executive Committee, James F. Pardee, of the Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich.; andS. B. Penik, of S , B. Penik & Co., New York.
WASHINGTON LETTER B y WATSONDAVIS,1418 Rhode Island Ave., Washington, D, C.
The keynote of current Congressional activity was sounded by President Harding in his initial address to Congress when he urged instant tariff enactment, “emergency in character and understood by our people that i t is for the emergency only,” and declared: “I believe in the protection of American industry, and it is our purpose to prosper America first. The privileges of the American market to the foreign producer are offered too cheaply to-day. Moreover, imports should pay their fair share of our cost of government.” PROSPECTIVE TARIFF LEGISLATION
An emergency tariff bill introduced by Representative Young has already passed the House. This measure includes the whole of the Fordney Bill that failed last session,and has two additional provisions that will act as “stop-gaps’’ between the time that peace is declared and the regular tariff bill is enacted. The first of these additions is an anti-dumping provision which will prevent the selling of articles by foreigners in the United States a t prices lower than they ask in their own countries. This is accomplished by levying a duty equal to the difference in price in this country and abroad. The second portion aims at conditions produced by dellation of foreign money and provides that the value of such money as a basis for the collection of duties shall in no case be less than one-third of the par value of the money. This provision will increase the duties from Italy, Germany, Austria, and some of the Balkan States, whose currency has depreciated in some cases to only one-twentieth par. It is said that these provisions will revive certain chemical industries that have been drowned in the flood of foreign importations. The regular tariff bill may not be introduced until June. There will be no “pop-gun” bills, as Senator Penrose has called them. Those measures of the 66th Congress whose object was the effective safeguarding of the dye, chemical glassware and porcelain, scientific instrument, potash, magnesite, tungsten, and other industries have bequeathed their provisions to the new regular tariff bill. The Bacharach Bill for the protection of scientific instruments, chemical apparatus, and porcelain will be among those included. It is understood that no hearings supplemental to those of the last session will be held by the Ways and Means Committee, but that there will be hearings when the bill reaches the Senate. The United States Tariff Commission has just finished compiling “Suggested Reclassification of Chemicals, Oils, and Paints,’’ which _.~~ . will be the basis of Schedule A of the new tariff. American chemistry students will not return to the use of German apparatus and glassware, as it is planned to eliminate the tariff clause that provides the exemption of scientific glassware used in schools and colleges. CONFERENCES WITH SECRETARY OF COMMERCE HOOVER
To learn the state of the industries and to determine how the
Department of Commerce can aid them, Secretary Hoover has met groups of prominent chemical manufacturers and has talked to them about their problems. Representatives of the dye, zinc, coke products, paint, varnish, and oil industries have told him of their export needs, domestic conditions, and the tariff protection they desire. Mr. Hoover has also called an informal conference of trade paper editors and discussed with them how the technical and trade information of his department may be most satisfactorily furnished the manufacturers and industries. According to officials, the department is very much interested in aiding the defense of the nation’s war-born dye industry against competition of the German dye and chemical trade, and these meetings have been held to determine what is needed to make the industry secure and assure the independence of this country rom foreign sources of supply.
CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE
The Army Appropriation Bill that will carry with it the funds for the Chemical Warfare Service during the coming fiscal year has not yet been introduced. It is expected, however, that it will soon be offered, and in practically the form in which it failed last session. This will mean that it will carry $1,500,000 for chemical warfare work, and according to Brig. Gen. Amos A. Fries, who has received his permanent appointment as chief of the Chemical Warfare Service, they are planning to operate on this amount. Although it is declared that 2 per cent of the army’s appropriations, or $7,000,000, is the amount needed to supply all branches of the army amply and sufficiently with poison gas and other material and to keep investigative work going at the proper speed, i t is said that the smaller amount will provide for all activities fairly well, except the making of a proper reserve of gas masks for the army. Last Saturday, officers of the Chemical Warfare Service held an annual dinner attended by about 180 officers and guests. Various phases of chemistry and chemical warfare were discussed. Gen. Fries told of the development of the toxic smoke candle, which is an easily transported solid, safe against shock or bullet puncture. He said that, owing to the use of this material and the new “dew of death” gas, war in the future will never be free from gas. Brig. Gen. William Mitchell, assistant chief of the air service, told how, by sprinkling two tons of crying gas on New York City from airplanes once every eight days, the whole city, which is an excellent air target and without sufficient exits for a general exodus, could be subdued. Brig. Gen. Charles .E. Sawyer, personal physician to President Harding, prophesied that the work of the physiological chemist who is determining the effect of gas on body cells and tissues will aid the doctors in getting at the true nature of disease. Rear Admiral W. F. Smith of the navy declared that measures were being taken to protect our battleships from attack both by gas and airplane bombs. “The Chemical Warfare Service will be just as important as any other branch of the army,” declared Assistant Secretary of War E. J. Wainwright. Representative Kahn, chairman of the Military Affairs Committee, said that it was his belief that the Service should be given ample funds to prepare the army for use of gas in warfare. Representative Mondell also spoke in favor of chemical preparedness. Dr. H. C. Parmelee, editor of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, emphasized the need of popular understanding of the work of the Chemical Warfare Service, and Dr. W. D. Bancroft, of Cornell, spoke on research as the true basis of all developments in chemical warfare. Dr. Chas. H. Herty was toastmaster. The advisory committee of the Chemical Warfare Service is to meet a t Edgewood on April 23, and General Fries and his staff will show them the condition of the plant, and get their advice on the further conduct of the work. A new session of the Chemical Warfare School at Edgewood has begun with 25 officer students of the Service, and three officers detailed from both the navy and marine corps. PATENT LEGISLATION
No patent legislation has been introduced in Congress during the present session up to the present time, although i t is expected that the bill providing financial relief for the Patent Office ~ 1 1 1 be introduced jointly in a short time. The provision that authorized the Federal Trade Commission to administer inventions developed in the government service will have separate introdudon. Thomas E. Robertson, a Washington patent lawyer, has been nominated Commissioner of Patents by President Harding. OTHER BILLS
Senator Smoot has just introduced his bill for the reclassifica.
May, 1921
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
tion of government salaries, and there is a Senate scrap in progress between him and Senator Sterling, a firm believer in the importhnce of scientific research, as to whose committee will have jurisdiction. There has been little opportunity for analysis of the proposed Smoot measure, and how the government chemist is treated cannot be said. The use of the metric system of weights and measures in all commercial transactions in the United States where weights and measures are involved, beginning ten years hence, is provided in a bill introduced by Representative Britten of Illinois. Declaring that the United’ States and Great Britain are the only two major countries that have not made the metric system their single standard of weights and measures, Representative Britten has announced that he intends to press his bill for an early hearing. HOUSE COMMITTEES
As yet members of the Senate Committees have not been announced, but House Committees have been selected. The chairmen of the House Committees that are of interest to chemists and engineers are: J. W. Fordney, Ways and Means; J. W. Good, Appropriations; S. E. Winslow, Interstate and Foreign Commerce; S. W. Dempsey, Rivers and Harbors; G. N. Haugen, Agriculture; J. Kahn, Military Affairs; T. S. Butler, Naval Affairs; H. Steenerson, Post Office and Post Roads; N. J. Sinnott, Public Lands; M. E. Rhodes, Mines and Mining; J. I. Nolan, Labor; F. Lampert, Patents; M. P. Kinkaid, Irrigation; P. P. Campbell, Rules; T. B. Dunn, Roads; W. A. Rodenberg, Flood Control. BUREAU OF MINES
Dr. H. Foster Bain, who was made director of the Bureau of Mines in the closing months of the past administration when Dr. F. G. Cottrell resigned, has been nominated by President Harding to that position. Lignite research work, which has heretofore been carried on by the United States and the Canadian government by their own mining bureaus without cooperation, will be conducted
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jointly in the future, Dr. Bain has announced. Information and data that have been obtained in the past will be exchanged, and American and Canadian engineers will work together. PERSONNEL RESEARCH FEDERATION
The formation of the Personnel Research Federation, a national clearing house, linking two hundred and fifty scientific, engineering, labor, management, and educational bodies, has been accomplished at the National Research Council here. The organization aims to study the efficiency of all the personnel elements of industry, that involve employer, manager and worker, and make for improved safety, health, comfort, and relationships. Its immediate purpose will be to learn what organizations are studying one or more problems relating to personnel and the scope of their endeavors, and to determine whether these endeavors can be harmonized, duplication minimized, neglected phases of the problems considered, and advanced work undertaken. Robert M. Yerkes, representing the National Research Council, has been elected chairman of the Federation, and Samuel Gompers, representing the American Federation of Labor, vice chairman. Robert W. Bruere, who represents the Bureau of Industrial Research, was chosen treasurer, and Alfred D. Flinn, representing the EngineeringlFoundation, secretary. Beardsley Ruml, assistant to the president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, was selected as acting director. ______
The Secretary of War has announced after investigation that if responsible persons can be found to take over the operation of the Muscle Shoals hTitrateand Water Power Plant, he will recommend to Congress that the $30,000,000 needed to complete the project be appropriated. Dr. Augustus Trowbridge, chairman of the division of physicar sciences of the National Research Council, has been appointed the American representative on the International Research Council. April 19, 1921
INDUSTRIAL NOTES The Burnham Chemical Company has been incorporated to further the commercial development of the solar concentration processes which have been used in experiments on the potash brines of Searles Lake for the past year. The features of the patented process are chilling over shallow areas during winternight periods and storing in deep vats between chilling periods to avoid warming up excessively, thus removing sodium sulfate, as well as influencing further brine treatment in the recovery of potash and borax. It is hoped by this method to produce potash more cheaply than by methods now in operation on brines. The escape of phosgene from a defective valve in an 1800gal. tank a t the Hemingway Chemical Plant a t Bound Brook, N. J., on April 22, 1921, caused the death of one man and threatened the whole community. Workmen in gas masks who were filling small containers from the large tank had difficulty in breathing and found the defective valve, but were unable to repair it. Harold Saunders, chief chemist a t the plant, was notified, and finally succeeded in checking the flow of the gas. Plans are under way for a laboratory building for chemical, bacteriological, and other research work of the Netherlands Institute of Animal Nutrition which will be completed in about two years. An annex known as the vitamine laboratory is already under construction for immediate occupancy. Dyes valued a t $1,343,531 were exported during the month of January 1921. These included aniline dyes valued a t $943,595, of which $262,954 went to China, $148,699 went to England, and $108,026 to British India. Imports of dyes and dyestuffs during January totaled 399,214 Ibs., valued a t $324,677. There were no imports of synthetic indigo. Alizarin and alizarin dyes were imported as follows: France. .....................
Germany .................... England.
...................
Pounds
Value
176 1500
$ 515
25
88
1574
Mr. Hervey J. Skinner, Mr. Herbert L. Sherman, and Mr. Gustavus J. Esselen, Jr., have formed an association under the name of Skinner, Sherman & Esselen, Inc., Boston, Mass., to furnish counsel on matters relating to the application of chemistry and biology to industrial relations, and have acquired the business of the Boston Bio-Chemical Laboratory.
In order to utilize to its full capacity its plant a t San Antonio, Paraguay, an American meat packing corporation has plans under way to manufacture citrous fruit products, and has asked the Paraguayan Congress to amplify its concession to include this field. The company also plans to bring in seeds for the cultivation of cotton, castor beans, and sunflowers. It is estimated that the plant will be able to handle yearly 500 tons of tangerines, 500 tons of bitter oranges, 1000 tons of sweet oranges, 250 tons of lemons, 500 tons of limes, 100 tons of mangoes, and 100 tons of guavas. During the month of March 1921 thirty-two companies were formed to engage in the manufacture or distribution of chemicals, drugs, and dyes. The total authorized capitalization was $11,765,000, as compared with $6,450,000 in February, when twenty-three companies were organized, and $22,295,000 in January. The total capitalization for the first three months of 1921 amounted to $40,520,000, which is a considerable decline from the total of $60,188,000 for the corresponding period of 1920. The Societa Anonima Cooperativa, representing the fruit industries of Sicily and Calabria, has been organized under the auspices of the Chamber of Agriculture to supervise the fruit industries in general and arrange for the manufacture of derivative products of the lemon industry. The company is expected to continue for ten years, and includes, in addition to producers of essences, exporters and brokers of the essences and producers of acid fruits and derivatives. In spite of the attention which has been given during the past ten years to the recovery of coal by-products in South Africa, it is estimated that a million tons a year is now wasted. Much experimental work has been done recently on the testing of coal for the production of coke and tar and the distillation of oils and creosote, as there are large accumulations of waste and low-grade coal a t the various collieries which can be treated for by-products, although not suitable for sale purposes. German residents in Japan are reported as steadily increasing in number, now almost double that of pre-war days. Most of them are employed in firms and factories as engineers, and i t is stated that nearly a hundred applications for positions in Japan have been received from German engineers and experts. The imports of toys, chemicals, and dyestuffs from Germany during the first ten months of 1920 amounted to $l,OOO,aOO.
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