Cola G . Parker, president of the American Pulp Association, with A. E. Bachmann, new president lected d u r i n g a period of three months' o p e r a t i o n of one machine. Shewhart con trol charts were applied on all runs that were of more t h a n 15 hours' duration a n d showed a definite effect of basis weight fluctuation on t h e uniformity of moisture c o n t e n t . T h e control charts were also useful, the a u t h o r s said, as a means of setting u p practical limits on these factors a n d eliminating t h e guesswork involved in basis weight and moisture control. An evaluation of wheat straw fiber as an ingredient of insulation board was pre sented b y E . C. L a t h r o p and T . R. Naffziger of the N o r t h e r n Regional Research L a b o r a t o r y . T h e y described methods by which w h e a t s t r a w m a y be cooked and* re fined t o produce a major fraction of long fibers and also hydrated s h o r t fibers. T h e y revealed t h a t these long fibers im p a r t t o board m a d e from t h e m greater flexural and tensile strengths than those of wood fiber boards of comparable densi ties. T h e i m p a c t strength of wheat fiber boards is t w o to three times t h a t of wood fiber b o a r d s , t h e y added. T h e s o m e w h a t confusing manner of reporting biochemical oxygen demand ( B . O . D . ) values was criticized b y D . P a u l Rogers of t h e Pennsylvania D e p a r t m e n t of Health. H e said t h a t some chem ists r e p o r t t h e h i g h e s t B . O . D . value ob tained a m o n g t h e various· concentrations. O t h e r s give the value of all concentra tions, a n d still o t h e r s report t h e average value of all the d e t e r m i n a t i o n s . T h e au t h o r believed t h a t the difficulty can be re solved only b y t h e establishment of a uni form procedure to assure comparable resul ts. An ingenious electronic device for m a k ing water p e n e t r a t i o n t e s t s was described in the paper b y P . E. Marenholtz of Johns-Manville. T h e new instrument, known a s t h e electronic water penetration tester, is a u t o m a t i c and registers the time required for water to penetrate à specified d e p t h into the b o a r d . In operation, a needle, which is used as an electrode, is inserted into one face of the sample to a d e p t h which will place its tip a t a specified distance from t h e opposite face, which is
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exposed to water. When t h e pénétra ting water soaks through t o the needle point, t h e circuit is completed a n d simultaneously shuts off a time m e t e r and turns on
a light to signify t h a t the test is finished. According to the author, the new test h a s the double a d v a n t a g e of being faster and simpler than t h e methods now in use. An evaluation of the effectiveness of moldproof t r e a t m e n t of paper and paperboard was presented by G. A. Cruickshank of the National Aluminate Corp. T h e author claimed t h a t in the agar plate method of determining the antimycotic properties of paper the apparent mold resistance depends upon a number of factors. Among these h e included: t h e ratio between the weight of t h e paper sample and the a m o u n t of agar used in t h e test, the p H of t h e agar, the resistance of t h e test organism, and t h e length of t h e incubation period. He pointed out t h a t a variation of a n y of these factors, in certain cases, can give an entirely new interpretation of the test. T h e author demonstrated this by reporting the results of some tests on Glassine and soap wrap papers, in which variations of test conditions were made.
Per Capita Consumption of Paper and Board Hits New High XVCCORDING to Cola G. Parker, presid e n t of the American P u l p and P a p e r Association, the per c a p i t a consumption of paper and paper p r o d u c t s in America h i t the new high of 3 5 8 pounds in 1948. I n an address before t h e annual dinner of A P P A , in New Y o r k ' s Hotel WaldorfAstoria on Feb. 23, he compared this figure t o t h a t of t h e 254 pound per capita figure of 1940. H e claimed the increase of production reflected by these figures is a l l the more remarkable because of t h e 1 5 million increase in t h e country's population t h a t took place during the eight year interim. Parker claimed t h a t due credit for this manufacturing achievement must be given t o the record production a n d contribution t o the American requirements by t h e C a n a d i a n paper a n d p u l p industry. W i t h o u t t h i s C a n a d i a n s u p p l y , Parker said, " t h e United States' i n d u s t r y a n d public requirements for 1948 could not h a v e been met." The president of A P P A declared t h a t t h e p u l p a n d paper industry can offer itself "as a n outstanding example of a n i n d u s t r y responding with all t h e speed t h a t pressure m a d e possible to achieve a c a p a c i t y more t h a n a d e q u a t e to public needs.'' H e voiced a regret that a u t h e n t i c records of production m a d e under "semisocialistic' ' systems of government were n o t available t o c o m p a r e with those achieved under free enterprise. The speaker believed t h a t an examination of the history of the American pulp
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and paper industry would show that it has always been able to "bring into being adequate supply to meet any demand a t the earliest possible moment." Reaching such balances, he added, does n o t occur overnight. T h e balance now approaching in the industry took two years to bring about, he said, because of the large a m o u n t of production effort required to bring wartime exhausted inventories u p to a normal level. Mr. Parker discounted the belief t h a t the arrival of such a balance indicates the imminence of a n economic recession. Such thinking, he said, might be considered " a continuance of t h e 1930's depression psychology" because it gives little consideration to the fact t h a t new types of demand constantly appear on t h e scene. These new requirements are usually imposed upon prior demands, he added, instead of fully supplanting them. Using his own industry a s a case in point, he revealed t h a t the newer developments "seem to require more paper than the old ones did." I n the latter p a r t of his address, t h e president of the American P u l p a n d Paper Association declared t h a t one of t h e basic functions of his organization is to assure an informed industry. T h e growth in size and importance of the field of paper manufacture has made this an i m p o r t a n t factor in obtaining intelligent consideration of the industry's economy on t h e p a r t not only of its consumers b u t of t h e financial world.
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