September 10, 1934
INDUSTRIAL
ANDENG
Financial News
A L L I E D CHEMICAL. & D Y E C O R P . has declared t h e regular
quarterly dividend of SI .75 o n the preferred stock, payable October 1 to stock of record September 11. ALUMINUM INDUSTRIES, I N C . , for six months ended June 30, 1934, reports a net profit of S67,72S after taxes a n d charges, compared with S62,291 in t h e first half of 1933. For the fiscal year
ended June 30, 1934, the company reports a net profit of $4.19 a share on 233,206 shares, compared with a loss of $508,127 the previous year. T h e company's cash position is strong. AMERICAN
COMMERCIAL
ALCOHOL
CORP.
and
C H E M I S T R Y
325
1934, t h e net income amounted t o $2,086,511, compared w i t h $1,370,380 in the first half of 1933.
ABBOTT LABORATORIES, I N C . , has declared an extra dividend of 10 cents and the regular quarterly dividend of 50 cents, both payable October 1 t o stock of record September 14. On April 1 a n d July 2 extra dividends of 10 and 15 cents, respectively, were paid.
AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL C O .
NEERING
subsidiaries
report for the quarter ended June 30, 1934, a n e t income of S245,262 after taxes and charges, compared with $56,338 i n the June quarter of 1933. COLUMBIAN C A R B O N C O . and subsidiaries report for t h e s i x
months ended June 3 0 , 1934, a net income of S1,1S5,529 after taxes, depreciation, etc., compared with $4S6,300 i n the first half of 1933. For t h e quarter ended June 3 0 , 1934, t h e n e t i n come was $627,529 after charges and taxes, compared with. $558,000 in t h e preceding quarter and $243,967 i n the June quarter of 1933. E . I. D U P O N T DE N E M O U R S & Co., I N C . , h a s declared an extra
dividend of 5 0 cents and t h e regular quarterly dividend of 6 5 cents on the common stock, payable September 15 t o stock o f record August 29. T h e regular quarterly dividend of $1.50 o n the debenture stock was also declared, payable October 25 t o stock of record October 10. E A G L E - P I C H B R L E A D C O . reports for the six months ended June 30, 1934, a n e t loss of $110,242 after depreciation, taxes, e t c , compared with, a n e t profit of $499,286 i n t h e first half of 1933. Sales increased 20 p e r cent over sales of t h e six months ended June 30, 1933. Tonnage sales were u p 5.7 per cent. EASTMAN KODAK C o . a n d subsidiaries for the 2 4 weeks ended June 16, 1934, show a n e t profit of $6,745,676 after depreciation, taxes, e t c . , compared w i t h $4,348,624 for t h e 24 weeks ended June 1 7 , 1933. T h e 1934 profit o n sales of securities amounted to 2 4 cents a common share. A substantial increase in volume of business was reported over last year. FREEPORT T E X A S C O . a n d subsidiaries report a n e t income f o r t h e six months ended June 30, 1934, of $864,569, compared w i t b $1,019,091 i n the corresponding period of 1933. T h e decline in earnings during t h e first six months of 1934 was primarily d u e to reduced production a t Bryan Mound, with a corresponding increase in costs, a n d to high operating costs a t Grande Ecaille, caused b y conditions similar to those existing a t t h e Hoskins Mound deposit. B . F. GOODRICH C O . a n d subsidiaries for t h e first half of 1934 report a net profit of $1,486,956 after taxes, etc., compared with a n e t profit of $870,577 for t h e corresponding period of 1933. GOODYEAR T I R E & R U B B E R C O . has declared a dividend of S I
on t h e $7 cumulative first preferred stock, payable October 1 t o stock of record September 1. T h e company and subsidiaries report for t h e six m o n t h s ended June 30, 1934, a n e t profit of $2,617,197, after depreciation, taxes, etc., compared with a loss of $738,036 i n 1933. liiQUiD CAHBONIC CORP. reports for t h e quarter ended June 30, 1934, a n e t profit of $370,934 after interest, depreciation, taxes, etc., compared with a n e t loss of $131,394 in t h e preceding quarter and a net profit of $583,749 i n t h e June quarter of 1033. For t h e nine months ended June 30, 1934, t h e n e t profit w a s $108,607, compared w i t h a net loss of $162,015 for t h e nine m o n t h s ended June 30, 1933. M O L Y B D E N U M C O R P . OF AMERICA reports for t h e six months
ended June 3 0 , 1934, a profit of $217,053 after interest, taxes, etc., compared with a profit of $36,955 in t h e first half of 1933. Improvement in earnings is reported t o b e attributable to i n creased demand for the alloys manufactured b y t h e company, despite the continued relatively low rate of steel production. Unfilled orders to b e shipped during t h e last six months of t h i s year are the largest in t h e company's history. N E W J E R S E Y Znsrc C o . reports for t h e quarter ended June 3 0 , 1934, a net income of $994,304 after taxes, depreciation, e t c . , compared w i t h $1,092,207 in t h e preceding quarter and $933,002 i n the June quarter of 1933. For t h e six months ended June 3 0 ,
U N I T E D CARBON C O . has declared a quarterly dividend o f 60 cents on the common stock, placing t h e issue o n a $2.40 annual basis, payable October 1 t o stock of record September 15. Comm o n stock dividends were resumed with payment of 25 cents June 3, 1933- T h e outstanding preferred stock was retired July 2, 1934. VANADIUM: CORP. OF AMERICA and subsidiaries report for the
six months ended June 30, 1934, a net loss of $326,485 after taxes, depreciation, etc., compared with a net loss of $613,354 in the first half of 1933. VANADIUM-ALLOYS STEEL. C o . and subsidiaries report for the
year ended June 30, 1934, a n e t profit of $293,279 after depreciation, taxes, etc., compared with a n e t loss of $147,494 i n the preceding fiscal year.
CIVIL SERVICE E X A M I N A T I O N FOR A S S O C I A T E CHEMIST
THE UNITED STATES Civil Service Commission announces an open competitive examination for the position of associate chemist (insecticides), Bureau of Entomology and P l a n t Quarantine, Department of Agriculture. Applications must be o n file with the U. S. Civil Service Commission, Washington, D . C , not later than October 4 , 1934. T h e entrance salary is $3200 a year, subject to a deduction of not t o exceed 5 per cent during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1935, as a measure of economy, a n d also to a deduction of 3.5 per cent toward a retirement annuity. Competitors will not be required t o report for examination at a n y place, but will be rated o n their education and experience. A list of writings o r publications, of which t h e applicant i s the author, and such reprints as m a y be available, will be considered a s partial evidence of qualifications. Full information m a y be obtained from t h e Secretary o f the United States Civil Service Board of Examiners a t t h e post office or customhouse in any city which has a post office of the first or the second class, or from t h e United States Civil Service Commission, Washington, D . C.
RESEARCH ON M I L K
BOTTLE
CAPS
T H E TOLEDO BOTTLE C A P C o . , Toledo, Ohio, has established an Industrial Fellowship a t t h e Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, for researcn o n paper milk bottle caps, b o t t l e closures, and t h e study of improvements of paper packages for food and dairy products. It is conservatively estimated t h a t the annual retail distribution of fluid milk products i n t h e United States requires about 12 billion paper caps of various styles, equivalent t o a daily consumption of approximately 100,000 pounds of paper. There are obviously m a n y technical problems involved i n such a program. Director Weidlein of t h e Mellon Institute has appointed Marc Darrin to the incumbency of this fellowship, effective June 15, 1934. It is interesting t h a t this fellowship has been established during t h e golden jubilee year of the glass milk bottle.
NEW
BUILDINGS FOR UNIVERSITY OF A R K A N S A S
WORK i s progressing rapidly on t h e library and o n t h e chemistry building a t t h e University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, a s well a s on a building for t h e Medical School a t Little Rock, the groundbreaking ceremonies having been held o n July 30. T h e cost of each of the three buildings approximates haft a million dollars. Their erection is made possible b y a grant from t h e Federal Public Works Administration. I t is expected that t h e y will b e completed in t h e late spring or early summer and t h a t t h e y will be ready for occupancy at t h e beginning of the school year i n September, 1935.
NETHEKLANDS M A Y UTILIZE SUGAR B E E T S FOR M O T O R ALCOHOL
THERE is under consideration b y t h e Netherlands Government the possibility of making alcoholic motor fuel from sugar beets grown i n t h a t country. T h e Minister-President h a s a n nounced that he i s considering t h e appointment of a commission to study all phases of the question. A report drawn up b y t h e Hollandsehe Noord-Kwartier Agricultural Association concludes that t h e u s e of beets t o make alcohol is feasible, a n d that the mixing of t h e alcohol t h u s obtained with gasoline gives a fuel only sligbtly more expensive than t h e present-day gasoline.
326
N EW S
DITION
Emanations
What Can Be Done about the "Gas Suicide" C. H. S. TUPHOLME, 6 Hamilton Gardens, London, N . W. 8, England T H E TEXDEXCY of politicians t o grab a t new-fangled ideas which intrigue the mob as a means of furthering their political prestige is no new thing in any country. Thus, in Britain, all politicians have become electrified because they know that the press-the-button idea appeals to t h e crowd. So electrified have they become, indeed, that electricity is a government-fostered industry, and members of Parliament lose no opportunity i n or out of the House of Commons to point t o America's progress in electrification and t o encourage British manufacturers to do likewise, notwithstanding the fact that Britain has laboriously installed what i s known as a grid transmission scheme, which is already proving uneconomic. AU this is, of course, a t the expense of t h e manufactured gas industry, for politicians cannot be expected to understand that the manufactured gas industry in Britain not only is the supplier of heat and light to millions of homes and thousands of industries, but also i s the basis of the growing domestic dyestuffs and other synthetic industries. This is beside the issue and by way of preamble. The point is that the electrified politicians take every opportunity of attacking the older g a s industry, and lately there has been a revival of the "We must do something about the suicides who put their heads in the gas range" business. This was quite an important political question a few years ago, so much so that in 1922 the government appointed a committee to find out whether the gas people could n o t p u t something i n their gas to make it more unpleasant for suicides. After many meetings and profound discussion, the committee decided that nothing could be done about it. This question has popped up again and a member of Parliament has just asked the president of t h e Board of Trade, who, for some obscure reason, is supposed to know all about these matters, whether "in view of the increasing number of suicides through gas stoves, inquiries could be made as to t h e practicability of introducing into coal gas at the place of manufacture some pungent or disagreeable chemical agent which would render it more difficult for anyone attempting suicide in this way t o do so." The president of the Board of Trade, a polite man, said "Nope." A few years ago the U. S. Bureau of Mines 1 proposed the use of ethyl mercaptan as a means of detecting leaks in natural gas transmission systems. The writer does not know whether anything came of this suggestion, but h e ventures the opinion that, if t h e would-be suicide can brave the ordinary stink of manufactured gas as a means of escaping from t h e bureaucrats, then he deserves h i s suicide. Again, assuming that the electrified politicians had their w a y and, say, tannery effluent was distilled and admixed with coal gas a t the manufactured gas plant with the object of deterring the gas suicide, then obviously we must go the whole hog and treat t h e Thames so that those who jump in would soon jump out again. Obviously, t o o , razors must in future b e supplied only with blunt edges. The ordinary man's view, always the most sensible, i s plainly this. If a man is fed up with being pursued by the income tax people and has decided to die, h e will kill himself somehow. H o w much better is it, then, that h e should do so by putting his head in a gas oven? B y so doing he exits cleanly and shows a proper consideration for those who must discover and identify him. How much more gentlemanly is his conduct than i s that of him who dies messily under the wheels of subway trains, delaying thousands of stockbrokers and stenographers on their way to business while h i s carcass is being cleared away, apart from the unpleasant task he gives ambulance men and London's underground railway officials. Again, how much better that h e should die quietly inhaling the proper percentage of carbon monoxide to insure a painless exit than that he should climb one of the gaunt transmission towers which deface the English countryside, thus tripping innumerable circuit breakers, plunging whole towns into darkness, and bringing electrified trains to a dead stop until his frazzled and contorted corpse has been released from the overhead lines? * EDITOR'S N O T E . T h e reader is referred t o Monograph 4 of the TJ. S. Bureau of Mines, entitled "Warning Agents for Fuel Gases." This i s by Fieldner, Sayers, Y a n t , and associates a n d presents cooperative work of the Bureau of Mines with t h e American Gas Association. In this it was proved b y actual experiment t h a t t h e addition of one pound of crotonaldehxyde per million cubic feet of gas will impart sufficient irritating properties to awaken sleeping persons before exposure t o the carbon monoxide i n the gas can cause unconsciousness. The same investigation showed that only 0.01 pound of e t h y l mercaptan is required to impart a striking odor t o a million cubic feet of natural gas. DEPRECIATED
CTJERENCIES
INFLUENCE
WORLD
CHEMICAL
T R A D E . Depreciated currencies and changing economic conditions have resulted i n many modifications in world chemical trade, according to t h e Department of Commerce. While t h e United States retained its position as t h e second largest exporter of chemicals, following Germany, during the first half of 1934, it lost its position as the chief importer of chemicals to t h e United Kingdom.
Vol. 12, N o . 17
Detergency of JNon-Alkaline Salt Solutions FOSTER D E E SUSTELX,, 305 Washington St., Brooklyn, N . Y .
A few random observations o>f a detergent chemist while immersed in salt water.
partially
T H E DETERGENTCY of alkaline salt solutions is a matter of accurate measurement. It i s known from work of both Harkins and co-workers a n d from that of McBain that amounts of salt of the order of 0.01 per cent have a n appreciable positive effect on detergency of soaps. The extrapolation of such data to more than 2 per cent is technically unsound and i n the absence of positive data m a y be ignored, That leaves t h e detergency of nonalkaline salt solutions a matter of pure conjecture based on the assumption that, since water is a cleaning agent, salt and water should have some merit. Trie theory has often been questioned. DATA
D a t a comparable with previous papers of this series have been obtained and are tabulated below: DAT-A.
pH Total solids Interfacial tension against a standard oil Deflocculating and ernulsifying power
COMMENT
7.8 This is satisfactory 3.57% This suggests grave doubts as t o the ability of t h e deterger t o add more solids to t h e water 42.6y Again t h e value of t h e detergent becomes questionable, when compared with that of 28.5 for distilled water None This is counter to the theory
REMOVAL, OF S O I L PROM STANDARD SOILED CUTICLE AT 60° C.
Total Total Total Total
organic solids, s q . cm., no soap used inorganic solids, sq. cm., no soap used organic solids, s q . cm., soap used inorganic Bolids, sq. cm., soap used
BEFORE WASHING
AFTER WASHING
Mg. 48 34 48 34
Mg. 48 340 4800 3400
T h e above are representative of data accumulated but are not complete. All results show negative detergency. DISCUSSION*
In control experiments it was observed that after the total solids had accumulated t o a value somewhat below 150 mg./sq. cm., friction would prevent further accumulation. Checking this, the solids accumulated without use of soap could be removed to that level b y friction. When soap was used, the observations were entirely different. The accumulation of alkaline earth soaps furnished a base forfurther accumulation of organic and inorganic solids, and neither the solids present at t h e end of the experiment nor additional solids accunoLulated thereafter could be removed b y friction. The suggestion i s therefore advanced that the solution of soap in sea water used a s an experimental detergent is more suitable for use as a n adhesive. Further work along those lines is under way. CONCLUSION
T h e conclusion i s reached that the detergency of non-alkaline salt solutions is a n unproved theory, particularly in the usual method of using soap a s an assistant. The data show that sea water is a negative detergent-
CAXJSE O F DROUGHT F O U N D I N U S E OF N I T R O G E N 1 T H E POSSIBLE H E A S O N of extra heat this summer, or at least one cause t h a t m a y contribute to it, is the taking from the atmosphere the great quantity of nitrogen used i n fertilizers and other chemical products from so many plants all over the world, notably our own, a n d a great number in all the European nations where they have cheap power. Putting this amount at a low estimate of 4 0 0 million tons per year would take away from the atmosphere 11,200,000,000,000,000 cubic inches of nitrogen without returning any back, o r at least to a very small amount, as w e eat most of it in m e a t and grains. Hence the value of the nitrogen in the air, which acts a s a cushion in retarding the heat wave from the sun to reach us less freely. As the abstracting of the nitrogen from the a i r is only in i t s early period, what will be when twice as much will b e taken yearly? JOHN B. C O N T E » R e p r i n t e d from biie Evening World-Herald, Omaha, Nebr., July 20, 1934.
