February
20,
1926
INDUSTRIAL
AND ENGINEERING
Obituary J a m e s Taggart Priestley On December 11, 1925, Dr. James Taggart Priestley, one of Iowa's most noted physicians, died a t his home in Des Moines. He v/as born in Northumberland, Pa., in 18.52, his great-grandfather having been Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of "pure dephlogisted air," later named oxygen by French chemists. Dr. Priestley had practiced medicine throughout his life, having located in Des Moines in 1876, and devoted himself to internal medicine. At t h a t time there were but few specialists and in later years when men became physicians or surgeons Dr. Priestley consistently adhered to his choice, believing there was a wider field in internal medicine. He did a great constructive work in Iowa, was active in the American Medical Association and in state societies, and was a clear teacher and forceful lecturer. Edward E . Arnold Edward E. Arnold, president of Arnold, Hoffman & Company, Inc., died at his home at Providence, Rhode Island, December 15, and was buried a t Greene, Rhode Island. He was seventytwo years old. His business life was one of marked success, his connection with the chemical industry extending over half a century. He entered business a t Providence, May 11, 1874, as a clerk with Mason, Chapin & Company, wholesale drugs and chemicals, and rose to a partnership in 1883. Later the firm was reorganized under the name of Arnold, Peck & Company, Inc. Afterward it became Arnold, Hoffman & Company. This firm was again enlarged and became a corporation on November 12, 1899, under the name of Arnold, Hoffman & Co., Inc., with Edward E. Arnold, president. In 1892 he founded The Mathieson Alkali Works, of which he was president for a long time. He was president of the Castner Electrolytic Alkali Company of Niagara Falls, president of Nitrogen Products Company, president of Oneonta Light and Power Company, president of Pawtuxet Valley W a t e r Company, director of Ponemah Mills, a n d director of Industrial Trust Company. Mr. Arnold's interest in nitrogen fixation was, to a very large degree, unselfish. While he would not have been unwilling to obtain a financial return upon his investments his main object in his later years was to seek for a solution of t h e fertilizer problem. His work on the development of the Bucher process deserves special mention. H e became interested in Mr. Bucher's experiments and was the principal financial backer of the Nitrogen Products Company. I t was this company which developed the Bucher process at the plant of the Mathieson Alkali Company a t Saltville a n d furnished some liquid H C N to the French Government "before our entrance into the war. It was the experience gained in this plant which was utilized in the design of t h e cyanide plant later built a t Saltville b y the Bureau of Mines for the Army. H e continued his interest in the cyanide process and also developed a synthetic ammonia process. One small plant is now operating on the synthetic process at the Belle Alkali Company a t Belle, W. Va. On January 3 , 1889, Mr. Arnold married Mittie Hodges of Peoria, Illinois. Three daughters and three sons were born to t h e m : Mittie, Edward Nathaniel, who died at the age of 2 years, Dorothy, Edwin Hodges, Henry Nathaniel, and Elizabeth. Cedric Harding Beebe
CHEMISTRY
15
ALLEN'S Commercial Organic Analysis 5th Edition 4 V o l u m e s Now R e a d y Contents Volume I. Introduction; Alcohols; Malt, M a l t Liquors; Wines, Potable Spirits; Yeast; Neutral Alcohol Derivatives; Sugars; Starch, Isomerides; Paper, Pulp Testings; Aliphatic Acids. 105 Illustrations. Cloth, $7.50. Contents Volume II Fixed Oils, Fats, Waxes; Special Characters, and Modes of Examining Fixed Oils, Fats, Waxes; Butter Fat; Lard; Linseed Oil; Higher P a t t y Acids; Soaps; Glycerin; Wool-fat, Wool-grease, S u i n t , Degras; Sterol Alcohols. 24 Illustrations. Cloth, £7.50. Contents Volume III. Hydrocarbons, Bitumens, Naphthalene and Derivatives; Anthracene and Associates; Phenols; Aromatic Acids; Gallic Acid and Allies; Phthalic Acid and Phthaleins; Modern Explosives. 36 Illustrations. Cloth, $7.50. Contents Volume IV. Essential Oils, Special Characters; Resins; India Rubber, O u t t a Percha, Balata, Allied Substances; Constituents of Essential Oils, Allied Substances; General Character and Analysis of Essential Oils. Illustrated. Cloth, $7.50. Volume I contains 218 more pages, 19 more illustrations, than previous edition. Volume I I contains 286 more pages, 10 more illustrations, than previous issue.
C. H . Beebe, Chief of t h e Technical library a t Edgewood Volume I I I contains 96 more pages, 11 more Arsenal, while skating on Gunpowder River alone just at dusk illustrations than previous edition. on December 30, broke through thin ice and was drowned. Searching parties during the night failed to find t h e exact place where t h e accident occurred. The body was recovered early the Volume IV contains 185 more pages and a few next day. more illustrations than previous edition. The news of this frightful accident came as a great shock to t h e entire community a t Edgewood Arsenal and to the friends of t h e family at Edgewood and elsewhere. The funeral services were held a t 2:00 p. M., J a n u a r y 3, at M o u n t Vernon Congre- N O T E ! V o l u m e V is in p r e s s . The other v o l u m e s will a p p e a r i n s h o r t periods. Nine v o l u m e s c o m gational Church, Boston, Mass. Mr. Beebe was born at Reno, Nevada, June 6, 1890, and was a Harvard graduate as well as a p l e t e the work. Rhodes Scholar a t Oxford. H e had been in industrial work with the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, of St. Louis, Mo., and Sharp & Dohme, Baltimore, Md., before taking up his duties at Edgewood Arsenal. Mr. Beebe married Miss Una Dawson, of Cambridge, Mass., in Publishers, J012 Walnut Street, Philadelphia June, 1918. They had two children, Bettina Elinor and Cedric Harding, Jr. H e was very active in the social life a t Edgewood.
P. BLAKISTON'S SON & CO.
