June 10, 1931
INDUSTRIAL
AND ENGINEERING
Financial News Abbott Laboratories A t a meeting of the board of directors of Abbott Laboratories on June 2, the regular quarterly dividend of 62.5 cents a share w a s declared payable July 1 to stockholders of record June 18. T h e company is reported t o be in excellent financial condition, with the present ratio of current assets t o current liabilities better than nine t o one. The combined net earnings for the first five months of 1931 are reported as approximately 10 per cent better than for t h e same period last year, notwithstanding a decrease in sales of about 4 per cent. D o w Chemical C o . The secretary of the D o w Chemical Co. states that, a s a result of plant operations, the financial statement for the fiscal year ended M a y 31, 1931, will show that, after paying regular dividends on both preferred and common stocks, paying income and ail other taxes, writing off the usual yearly depreciation, amounting this year to approximately $1,260,000, and all other charges, there will remain nearly $900,000 to be transferred t o surplus, making the total surplus about $6,000,000. Drug, Inc. Although no quarterly reports are issued by Drug, Inc., the earnings in the first quarter of this year were in excess of those in t h e corresponding period of last year. The corporation's chances of exceeding the first six months of last year are good. With prospective earnings for the first half of the current year in excess of $3 a share, t h e period's dividends of $2 will be covered with a margin of better t h a n 50 per cent. Freeport T e x a s C o . The dividend of the Freeport Texas Co. for the first four months of 1931 w a s fully earned in that period and the present rate of earnings is in excess of the S3 per share annual dividend requirements, it w a s reported at the regular monthly meeting of t h e board of directors. T h e increase in the sulfur production tax from 5 5 to 75 c e n t s a ton just voted by the Texas Legislature, instead of the increase to SI.50 a ton originally proposed, will affect the c o m p a n y ' s 1931 earnings to only a nominal extent, as t h e law does not become operative until September 1, and during t h e last four m o n t h s of the year shipments will b e made largely from stocks on w h i c h the smaller tax already has been paid. Hercules P o w d e r Co. · The directors of the Hercules Powder Co. declared o n May 27 t h e regular quarterly dividend of 75 cents per share on t h e 606,234 outstanding shares of no-par common stock, the dividend t o be payable June 25 t o stockholders of record June 12. Lindsay Light C o . At the regular meeting of the board of directors of the Lindsay Light Co., held o n May 26, the regular dividend of 1.75 per cent w a s declared o n t h e preferred stock for the quarter ending June 20, 1931, p a y a b l e June 10 t o stockholders of record June 6. Liquid Carbonic Corp. The earnings of the Liquid Carbonic Corp. for April and May, t h e first t w o m o n t h s of the last half of the corporation's fiscal year, put t h e c o m p a n y again on a profitable basis. Profits after all deductions a m o u n t e d t o slightly more than $202,000 in April, a n d while the c o m p l e t e figures covering operations for May are n o t y e t available, preliminary figures indicate that the profits for that m o n t h will a t least equal those of April. Thus, these profits are more t h a n sufficient to wipe out the loss of $314,171 reported for the six m o n t h s ended March 31, 1931. Monsanto Chemical Works The regular quarterly dividend of 31.25 cents, payable July 1 t o stockholders of record June 10, has been declared by the Monsanto Chemical Works. A substantial upturn in orders received is reported for March, April, and May, and noticeable economies are being m a d e possible b y the large amount of money turned back into t h e business in recent years. Newport Co. At a meeting of the board of directors of the Newport Co. held M a y 6, the following dividends, payable June 1 to stockholders of record M a y 23, were declared: 75 cents a share on class A convertible stock, a n d 25 cents a share on common stock. The consolidated n e t i n c o m e of the company and its subsidiaries for the quarter ended March 31, 1931, amounted to approximately 41 cents a share o n t h e common stock outstanding. United Carbon C o . The directors of the United Carbon Co. have omitted the semiannual dividend of $3.50 due at this time o n the 7 per cent participating non-cumulative preferred stock, f which 18,578 shares of $100 par value were outstanding at the ciose of last year. This action was t a k e n because the earnings were not sufficient to cover preferred d i v i d e n d requirements, and also for the purpose of conserving cash for the drilling program in the Kentucky field in
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connection with the contract with the Columbia Gas & Electric Co. The Bancsamcrica-Blair Corp. has become represented in the management of the company through the election of Hunter S. Marston as a director and Charles A. d i s h i n g as a member of the executive committee. The profit of the company for the quarter ended March 31, 1931, was $22,257 after depreciation and depletion, but before federal taxes, against S28,157 for the last quarter of 1930. T h e president stateel that the continued depression in the carbon black industry bias consistently reduced prices until profits from that branch of :the business have been practically eliminated, a condition which may afTect the profits for the remainder of this year.
Indianapolis and Purdue Sections Hold Joint Meeting On Saturday, May 10, t h e Indianapolis Section was the guest of the Pu:--lue Section. T h e committee in charge had arranged a full program o»f golf and speakers. The golf tournament in the afternoon was "very well attended, for Dame Nature was kind t o the sections for a change. Later in the afternoon the ladies were entertained with a t e a and a musical program. At this time Gustav EgLoff gave a lecture on "Modern Gasolines and Their Properties," followed with one by F. X . Govers on "Uses of Diphenyl i n the Oil Industry." A delightful "banquet was served to over one hundred, after which Doctor EglofT gave another instructive address o n "Products Derived in the Cracking Process." The remainder of the evening was de-voted t o cards. About forty motored down from Indianapolis for one of the best joint meetings these t w o sections have had.
Convenient Factor for Liquid Charges in Tanks Many plant chemists calculate their liquid charges in terms of liters, b u t record their tank dimensions in feet. A convenient and easily remembered factor for vertical cylindrical tankzs is 22.2. If the square of the diameter (in feet) is multiplied b y this factor, the result is liters per foot of depth. JACOB EHRLICH
Obituaries Frarrk Wigglesworth Clarke Frank Wigglesworth Clarke, Past President of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCHETY and for forty years chief chemist of the U . S. Geological Survey, died M a y 2 3 at his home in Chevy Chase, Md., at t h e a g e of S4. After graduation from the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard in 1807, he taught chemistry at Cornell, Howard, a n d the University of Cincinnati until 1883, when he joined the G-cological Survey as chief chemist. Doctor Clarke was a chevalier- of the Legion of Honor of France, and the recipient of the Wilde Medal of the Manchester (England) Literary and Philosophical Society, as well as of honorary degrees from Columbia University and European universities. He served as president of tine International Commission on Chemical Elements and in 3.900 was a member of the International Jury of Awards of the Paris Exposition. H e was a member of many scientific societies, and t h e author of a number of books on chemistry, as well as of more than a hundred papers on chemistry and mineralogy. As he was a Past President of the SOCIETY, a formal obitmary will appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Harry Fordham Noyes Harry Fordh-am Noyes, vice president in charge of manufacturing operations of thie Victor Chemical Works, Chicago, 111., died suddenly £n New York on May 8 from a heart attack. Mr. Noyes was born at Auburndale, Mass., February 7, 1881, and received h i s B . S . from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1904. He was connected with mining and iron and steel industries in various capacities for ten years, and then went to Australia, where he was works manager and superintendent of a blast furnace f o r eight years. I n 1922 he became general manager of the LaFollette Coal and Iron Co., and continued in this position until 1925, when he joined the \^ictor Chemical Works as works manager. Mr. Noyes left two children, his wife having died about four years ago.
