INDUSTRIAL
June 10, 1929
AND ENGINEERING
Our Poets' Corner EDITOR'S NOTE—Other contributions
solicited.
W h y Did Y o u ? Our Editor, Harrison Howe, Is fertile of ideas, but now H e is sadly in error, For loosing the terror Of poets upon us, I trow. He m a y be a splendid go-getter, But this is one time when he'd better H a v e considered once more, Before opening the door, To this kind of poetical letter. Oh, Harrison, why did'je-rome, From the path 'long which so far we've come, Though a phillip it gives, Such trash a s this lives, In the journal when bound as a tome. So before it goes farther, desist, And to help you I shall not insist, That you set this in type. It's so rank—over-ripe, That surely it will not be missed! C. K. WATERS
The Things That Count In a n article entitled "Paths of Progress," b y Marion E. Dies, printed in the May, 1929, issue of the Hexagon, official publication of the Alpha Chi Sigma fraternity, is the following summary of w h a t a group of professional men agreed were the most important things i n their professional life. I t seemed t o us s o worth while t h a t it is reprinted here in order that other chemists may benefit b y it. First, of course, we put education. For this we chose the broadest definition. College merely opens a few doors. It teaches one how t o obtain education rather than turning one out fully educated. It gives an opportunity t o acquire some yardsticks whereby values may be measured, thereby leading one toward wisdom, which consists in choosing the best, whether new or old, ancient or modern. The second essential selected was health. A strong and sound body frees the mind and soul for great tasks. Many a genius has lived in a frail or afflicted body, but the world would doubtless be far richer if genius were always accompanied by health. Ill health was once regarded as an affliction t o be borne with patience and fortitude. This viewpoint is passing. Man's knowledge of human anatomy, the chemistry of body functions, preventive medicine, and nutrition are reaching a point where most cases of ill health may b e looked upon as evidences of carelessness or neglect on the part of the individual. Our ideas of medical service are approaching those of t h e Orient, where physicians are paid only to keep people well. Next, we selected income as an essential. Every man who is willing to contribute his share of effort has a right to a living wage. Poverty has no legitimate place in modern civilization. Any man whose ambition, training, and ingenuity enable him to create and add to the structure of civilization may reasonably expect more than a minimum wage. The compensation of the scientist or engineer with creative ability should be sufficient to free him from the worry of making ends meet. N o man can do his best work with the wolf's shadow on his threshold» Successful men who have risen from poverty are frequently used a s inspiring examples. Pasteur wrote his father, "I am more than ruined b y the cost of printing my thesis." Dalton was wretchedly poor. These men reached their goals in spite of poverty, not because of it. They might have left a far greater heritage had not so much of their energy been expended in obtaining their daily bread. The fourth essential selected was a sense of social responsibility. The very complexity of modern life i s taking scientists and engineers out of their laboratories and into the service of the people. Industry is becoming more and more conscious of its need for technically trained executives. Demands for technical ability are increasing in all branches of public service. The scientific professions command the respect of the people as never before, simply because on every hand the fruits of technical skill are apparent. With recognition comes responsibility, and successful chemists must realize that t h e y may no longer live in a house by the side or the road: their place is in the procession, helping to guide the onward march in paths of progress. Fifth, but quite as essential as any of the first four, we placed spirituality. Wisdom, health, riches, and services to fellow men are transient. They exist o s î y with life. Few, if any, of us think of death as the end of the rich
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experience w e call life. Even in this rapid and pre-occupied age, the beautiful mysteries of spiritual intuition have a tremendous power to guide t h e intellect. To consider the intellect the only human guide is boastful, for man's unaided intellect cannot see around t h e next corner. The deeper o n e delves into pure science, the more he is impressed with the orderliness of the universe, from the simplest atom to the farthest nebula in the heavens. Nothing in science denies man's instinctive hunger for belief in a Power greater than himself. The well-rounded chemist will not neglect, in his thirst for truth and facts, that corner of his mental life where he may reach: beyond the farthest horizon of facts through the media of faith and belief. And because he is a scientist, he occupies an enviable position; through, the researches of chemical and physical science he is able to appreciate i n a finite way the beauty of infinite creation.
J. T . Baker's Fellowship Awards The J. T. Baker Chemical Company Analytical Fellowship, Eastern Division, for 1929-30 has been awarded t o Charles XI. Greene, w h o will investigate "The Solubility of Precipitates in Dilute Solutions of the Precipitant" at Harvard University, under the direction of G. P. Baxter. Mr. Green is a graduate of Haverford College, 1926, and received the M. A. degree from Harvard University in 1927. A similar fellowship of the company for the Midwestern Division has been awarded t o P. G. Horton at Ohio State University. He will work under the direction of C. W. Foulk on a problem dealing with primary standards in acidimetry.
Rice Safety Award The Mine Safety Appliances Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., h a s been given t h e Rice Safety Award b y the Western Pennsylvania Division of the [National Safety Council, emblematic of the best accident prevention record in the Pittsburgh area l a s t year. This company, which employs 503 men and women, had but 34 days of lost-time accidents and no fatalities or permanent disability cases in 1928. The award was doubly significant because the safety competition was especially keen in the great manufacturing section of western Pennsylvania, and furthermore employees o f the Mine Safety Appliances Co., in developing protective, detective, and resuscitating equipment for poisonous and explosive gases, are exposed t o unusually hazardous conditions during t h e course of the year.
S i g m a Zeta B a n q u e t The Sigma Zeta Chapter of Shurtleff College, Alton, 111., held its annual banquet on M a y 29, when addresses were given by Lawrence P. Hall, formerly director of the Walcott Gibbs Laboratory of Harvard University, and now research chemist with the Mallinckrodt Chemical Co., and b y Charles E>. Lowry, research chemist with the Universal Oil Products C o . The first speaker chose as his subject "The Age of the World," and based his talk on studies of radioactive minerals while he was associated with Professor Richards. Doctor Lowry spoke at some length on "Conservation Aspects of the Oil Industry," stressing particularly t h e development and importance of the cracking of oils.
F a r m Wastes There has come t o our desk a copy of N o . 1, Volume 1, Farm Wastes, which is published by the Cornstalk Products Co., Inc., at Danville, 111. T h e most interesting feature of this sheet is th? fact t h a t it is printed on cornstalk-groundwood newsprint, containing h y its label 25 per cent cornstalk pulp, 8 per cent sulfite, and 67 p e r cent groundwood. Other sheets containing various percentages of cornstalk pulp have appeared, and all of them have interested chemists "who have followed this large-scale experiment and demonstration, at Danville. Obviously progress is being made, and other products will doubtless come to hand as production progressively passes into stages of greater tonnage. A corner card o n Farm Wastes invites requests to be put upon the mailing list.
Deterioration i n Book Materials The New York Public Library, New York, Ν . Υ., offers a compilation of references and abstracts on "The Causes and Prevention of Deterioration in Book Materials* ' at 15 cents. An index by authors is included, and in addition t o the preserva tion and durability of book papers t h e subject of deterioration of bookbinding leathers is treated, as are also leather preservative compositions and t h e determination of acidity in leathers.
