HEADLINES of the Month Events of Interest to Chemists, Chemical Engineers, and EXeCUtiVeS-4?eriewed 6 y the rditors 7 FEBRUARY 16. New naval research laboratory goes into operation a t University of Wisconsin to provide Navy with information on development of rocket and jet-propulsion devices with special emphasis on physical and chemical properties of flame. “China’s National Resources Commission concludes preliminary agreement with Reynolds Metals Co. for developing Formosa’s aluminum industry.--Monsanto names four industrial scientists to receive leaves of absence at full salary for an academic year of study at universities of their choice’.
and Director Office of International Trade, industry urges bringing virtually all coal-tar dyes and dyestuff intermediates under rigid export control to end gray market.
7 FEBRUARY 27. President Truman signs bill permitting free importation of synthetic rubber scrap,
q FEBRUARY 28. George A. Baitsell, Colgate professor of biology, Yale University, announces establishment of Research Society of America, a national organization with headquarters at Yale, designed primarily for industry and sponsored by and affiliated with Sigma Xi.
7 FEBRUARY 17. R. J. Lund, mineral economist of Battelle Institute, says building industry was largest single user of aluminum in 1947.--House Armed Services Committee unanimously approves Shafer synthetic rubber bill which would extend federal operation indefinitely2.W-Department of Commerce splits foreign and domestic chemicals work, with C. C. Concannon in charge of foreign aspects and Frederic Arden, former chief inorganics branch, chemicals section, Civilian Production Administration, assuming direction of domestic work.
7 FEBRUARY 29. Representative Jolin Heselton introduces bill, H.R. 5532, to establish a national science foundation in executive branch in order to coordinate and promote basic research4. “Pittsburgh Coke and Chemical Co. announces formation of Pittsburgh Agricultural Chemical Co. for sale of agricultural chemicals.--Calco chemical division, American Cyanamid, appoints manager to oversee disposal of plant effluent.-NSecretary of the Army Kenneth C. Royal1 announces appointment of Col. Kenneth D. Nichols, former engineer for Manhattan District atomic project, as head of Armed Forces Special Weapons Project to succeed Maj. Gen. Leslie R. Groves, retired, and the appointment of Donald F. Carpenter, Southport, Conn., as deputy on atomic energy matters to keep Armed Forces more closely advised on work of civilian AEC.
7 FEBRUARY 20. Department of Commerce halts exports of crude oil without a license.--Rubber manufacturers say Senate bill introduced by Senator Bricker, taking Government out of synthetic rubber industry after mid-1950, is more acceptable than House measure. 7 FEBRUARY 21. New atom-smaBhing linear accelerator veloped a t Yale makes possible attaining energies volts.
8 MARCH1. U. S. Government’s antitrust suit against nation’s flat glass producers opens ih Toledo.--President Truman appeals to Congress to extend Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act to 1951, the present authority expiring June 12, 1948.--J~tmes Boyd, director U. S. Bureau of Mines, announces 30,000 lb. of commercial titanium tetrachloride have been successfully purified through new distillation process developed by bureau. ---A special House Subcommittee on Un-American Activities in report to full committee charges Edward U. Condon, director National Bureau of Standards, associated with alleged Soviet espionage agents and is “one of the weakest links in our atomic security.” Condon, disclaiming disloyalty charges, says he is “completely reliable, loyal, conscientious, and devoted to the interest of my country” and hopes the charge of being “one of the weakest links” is true, for in that event “the country can feel absolutely safe.”
7 FEBRUARY 23. Allied Chemical & Dye Corp. offers 30 graduate fellowships, mainly in chemistry and chemical engineering, to 23 universities for 1948-49 school year.--Atomic Energy Commission and Monsanto Chemical announce installation to be operated in Miamisburg, Ohio, will be officially named the Mound Laboratory3.~”. K. Ferguson Co., industrial engineers and builders, announces construction has started on chlorine plant in Delhi, India. 7 FEBRUARY 24. John Oman, president H. K. Ferguson Co., and Institute de Foment0 Industrial, Colombian governmental agency, announce an $8,700,000 plant expansion program of alkali manufacturing industry near BogotA, Colombia, S. A.-N D u Pont announces start of construction of unit to manufacture benzene hexachloride insecticide a t the Houston, Tex., works of Grasselli chemicals department. --Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co. announces plans to build a $3,000,000 fluorine chemical plant a t Calvert City, Ky.
7 MARCH2. White House urges Congress to provide continuing support for synthetic rubber industry in letter of John R. Steelman, assistant to President Truman, to Senate Banking Subcommittee.--Blaw-Knox receives contract from Lever Bros. and Unilever, Ltd., London, for design and construction of plant using Emersol process for production of stearic and oleic acids in A. Hochwalt, vice president of Monsanto England.--Carroll and director of company’s central research department a t Dayton, and Kenneth A. Dunbar, area manager for AEC, announce selection of Scioto Ordnance Works for establishment of new atomic energy installation as part of AEC’s nationwide construction and research program.
7 FEBRUARY 25. Senate votes unanimously to extend wartime . controls over tin, antimony, oils, and fats to May 3 1 . ~ 4 3M. Hauge, Purdue University, reports discovery of new vitamin, believed to belong to vitamin B group, in animal feed. 7 FEBRUARY 26. Union Carbide & Carbon starts production of new synthetic textile fiber, Vinyon N, in large experimental plant at Charleston, W. Va.--Sylvania Electric Products announces first fluorescent lamp to approximate successfully warm color of incandescent bulbs. “In long memo to Secretary of Commerce 2
Eng. News,26, 785 (March 15, 1948). Ibid.,595 (March 1, 1948).
8
Ibid., 686 (March 8, 1948).
7 MARCH3. USAEC says 44 shipments of radioactive isotopes have been sent outside the U. S. to individuals and research groups in eight countries.N-Hercules steps up production of new insecticide, Toxaphene, to enable agricultural insecticide manufacturers to make 30,000,000 Ib. of dust to fight cotton insect
1 Chem.
4
765
Ibzd., 661 (March 8, 1948).
766
INDUSTRIAL AND E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
pests.--Rohm BE Haas puts into commercial production crystal clear plastic Plexiglas in 8‘ X 1O’show window sheets.
7 MARCH4. H. E. Blood, chairman Patents and Research Committee, National Association of Manufacturers, says association will conduct nationwide program t o acquaint industry and public with worlcings of patent system by holding regional seminars for industry and making information available to high school and university groups.--Bruce K. Brown, vice president Standard Oil Co. (Ind.) and chairman Military Petroleum Advisory Committee, announces following chairmen of industry committees making survey of significance of synthetic fuels in connection with national security: Synthetic Fuels Committee, A. P. Frame, Cities Service; Subcommittee on Natural Gas, J. K. Roberts; Subcommittee on Coal, E. V. Murphree; and Subcommittee on Shale, .4lois Kremser.
7 MARCH5. Glenn T. Seaborg, University of California and eo-discoverer of plutonium, receives William H. Nichols Medal of A.C.S.’s New York Section for his work on plutonium and his participation in the discovery of americium and curium and numerous artificial radibactive materials.--Standolind Oil & Gas Co. announces i t will build multimillion-dollar synthol plant a t Garden City, Kans., for manufacture of 6000 bbl. of gasoline daily and an equal amount of Diesel fuel and other oils and large amounts of chemicals from natural gas.--House unanimously passes legislation extending government control of synthetic rubber industry at least until June 30, 1950.-~Krug denies at Senate hearing that his department is blocking development of Alaskan paper mills,--P, C. Keith, president Hydrocarbon Research, Inc., tells House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee that Government should spend one billion dollars immediately to promote production of synthetic liquid fuels instead of $400,000,000 as proposed in House bill. 7 MARCH6. USAEC announces $3,000,000 program to encourage research in use of radioactive materials for determining nature of cancer and for its diagnosis and treatment.--Two recent strike threats a t Oak Ridge, Tenn., prompt joint Congressional Committee on AEC to schedule hearing starting March 9 on methods of assuring continuity of production at atomic plants. 7 MARCH7. D u Pont in annual report discloses that new products introduced or substantially developed in past 20 years acE. Wilson, count for 58% of its 1947 record sales volume.--R. chairman of board Standard Oil Co. (Ind.), tells Society of Automotive Engineers petroleum industry is keeping ahead of demands but new sources of supply are increasingly difficult to find.-U. S. Bureau of Mines says it is producing helium 99.8% pure by new process which passes helium through an additional separation unit containing refrigerated coconut charcoal a t its Exell, Tex., plant.--Association of American Railroads predicts that future rolling stock designs will emphasize special alloy steels, aluminum, and other lightweight materials.
7 MARCH8. E. 0. Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron and director Radiation Laboratory, University of California, announces first artificial production of the meson. --Supreme Court upholds conviction that U. S. Gypsum Co. and six other concerns broke the laws by using patent license agreements which carried price-fixing clauses. --Richard McAvoy, counsel for Great Lakes Carbon Co. of N. Y., says his company has purchased National Carbon Go. plant near Morgantown, N. C., from War Assets Administration for $2,000,000. 7 MARCH9. David Lilienthal, AEC head, tells Congress the Government should keep hands off labor disputes in atomic energy plants wherever possible. --Secretary of Commerce Harriman releases report of six-man group appointed last December to conduct an on-the-spot survey of German scrap
Vol. 40, No. 4
stocks; report recommends bringing German iron and steel scrap to U. S.N-Federa1 Trade Commission files complaint charging conspiracy to fix prices and suppress competition among 35 manufacturers and distributsrs in plywood industry.-Frederick Osborn, at meeting of working committee of UNAEC, charges Russians with hiding atomic data and that they seek to keep the agency from secret plants.
MARCH 10. Trans-Arabian Pipe Line Co. lays and welds in permanent location first mile of its 1075-mile line from oil fields of Saudi iirabia to the Mediterranean.-WBristol Laboratories, Inc., announces development of a form of penicillin containing procaine which acts as local anesthetic to relieve discomfort caused by injection.--J. A. Brownlow, secretary-treasurer Metal Trades Department American Federation of Labor, testifying before Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy, asks AEC to assume some responsibility for labor conditions at its plants, suggests as possible solution a contract formula between AEC and Oak Ridge operating managements.
7 MARCH11. Edwin J. Cohn, chairman Department of Physical Chemistry, Harvard Medical School, wins 1946 Theodore William Richards Medal, Xortheastern Section A. C.S. announces. --More than 200 New York scientists meet to protest attack on Edward U. Condon by Subcommittee of House Un-American Activities Committee. 7 hfARCH 12. Gen. Lucius D. Clay orders halt in decartelizing German combines.--Navy announces scuttling of four more Bikini atom-bomb target ships off Kwaja1ein.--CIO tells Congress it is “prepared to arbitrate” any issue that comes up under any circumstances in atomic energy plants.--R. C. Wilcox, president Hamilton Veneer Co., a subsidiary of U. S. Plywood Corp., says construction has started on a new $1.5 of million plywood plant in Ormgeburg, S. C.--Department Commerce’s Office of Industry Cooperation takes steps to extend voluntary allocations of scarce materials t o the chemical and plywood industries. T hIaRcH 14. National Security Resources Board, established by Congress to advise on military, industrial, and civilian preparedness, will have a chemicals, rubber, and plastics unit in operation this summer, with Norman Shepherd, chemical director American Cyanamid Co., as consultant. --Permsalt develops new techpica1 grade of DDT, expected to save manufacturers of DDT dusts substantial amounts on production and to cut freight, storage, and handling costs by about one half.-Raymond F. Evans, president Diamond Alkali Co., announces postponement of construction of an administration and research F. Goodrich Co. announces center at Cleveland, Ohio.--B. that after several years on an experimental basis electronic vulcanization of rubber has been adopted as standard production procedure for certain types of extruded products.--Complete conversion of a war surplus magnesium chloride plant into one producing daily 200 tons of liquid chlorine and 225 tons of caustic soda is announced by Southern Alkali Corp., the owner, and H. K. Ferguson Co., builders.
7 MARCH15. James E. Pew, manager Sun Oil’s natural gas and natural gasoline division, says 40-acre site is being cleared near Sun field camp in south Texas for plant to process natural gas from four Texas fields, plant to be equipped to process 25 million cubic feet daily.--President Truman approves legislation to extend for 3 years nation’s program for development of synthetic liquid fuels,-”, F. Johnstone, chairman A.C.S. Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, announces formation of a Chemical Marketing Section headed by Wm. H. Harding, director technical service and development division, American Cyanamid Co. Laboratories.
