Feb., 1914
T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING C H E M I S T R Y
The joints of my sprocket chain belt are self-cleaning and cannot clog; as shown in practice, each revolution of the chain rubs the screen surface together several times. All the links of the chain are alike, and are of drop-forged steel. The concave edges of these links absolutely fit the under roll. The smaller pressing roll is provided with annular grooves coinciding with the longitudinal joints of the chain so t h a t even the last small percentage of juice has a perfectly free outlet. There is no danger from irregular feeding, as the mass of bagasse between the rolls is about one and one-quarter inches thick, and no loose or open space can possibly exist. The springs yield or follow up, according t o the feed. No crusher or shredder is necessary or desirable. The speed of the surfaces of the rolls and chains is designed to be 30 feet per minute, although I did practically as good work on my previous machine a t 40 feet per minute, and it will probably be proved that this machine can do equally as good work a t 40 feet per minute, but t o be safe, I have calculated it for 30 feet per minute. The ordinary cane mills are run a t anywhere from 16 to 2 5 feet per minute, according to the choice of the owner or engineer. The increased value of the bagasse as fuel, and the avoidance of any peculiar kind of bagasse burner with forced draft, etc., are quite important items. Furthermore, as was shown by my machine a t Adeline, Louisiana, the purity of the juice is considerably improved, as the cane is not ground up as in the ordinary mills, but merely flattened by the great presI have taken out 238 patents (a few of them being joint inventions with others), and several new industries have resulted. The one of next importance t o celluloid is the H y a t t Roller Bearing. I have received considerable liquid money, most of it having been of a volatile and inflammable nature. Age ought t o bring wisdom.
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES By FRANKVANDERPOEL
MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: It is a great pleasure, I can assure you, t o be present this evening, a t a time when, in company with the preceptor whom all the boys of Columbia love, we are to do honor t o my friend of later years, when what was taught me by the former became the equipment for my work with the latter. Every young fellow who had the good fortune t o study chemistry under Dr. Chandler will bear me witness t h a t the days thus passed were very enjoyable indeed: the memory of them will last long in our minds, no matter where, or in what circumstances we may find ourselves. When the request came t o me from our worthy chairman t o say something this evening a t the presentation of this medal, I could not help feeling t h a t there were other members of the societies which we represent who could do the subject more justice than I. There is no other, however, who is more gratified a t the awarding of the medal. The only reason t h a t I can think of for the selection of the speaker is t h a t for a long term of years he has been the intimate friend and associate of the recipient of the medal. Let me say, further, t h a t when I was asked to take part in the exercises, i t seemed almost as if I had been requested t o assist a t the obsequies of a n old friend who had departed this life; for, of course, no one could be expected tosay anything at such a time as this except in praise; anything else, even if it were possible, which it is not, would seem very ungracious indeed, and so, the recipient of the medal must listen, perforce, like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, in Mark Twain’s humorous story, when they came to their own funeral, t o words of eulogy and praise of which he has never dreamed. However, let us dismiss
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from our minds the thought t h a t our friend is a departed one. He is very much alive: we haven’t come here to bury him, and what we are about to say we are going to tell him to his face, and not apologize for it either. If you will permit personalities, Mr. Chairman, without which I don’t believe I could get through with my talk, I should like to say that it was about three years after leaving Columbia t h a t I had the good fortune to meet our guest of the evening. It happened a t a t i m e when I was desirous of locating myself where I could do laboratory work on a somewhat larger and more efficient scale than I had been able to do before. Without going into details, let me say t h a t I met Mr. Hyatt, had a chat with him, found t h a t he had discovered the need of a n analyst a t the works of The Celluloid Manufacturing Company, as it was then called, applied for such a position, and secured it through his kindness and influence. From t h a t time until the present, and this means a long series of years, we have been friends, and our friendship has stood the test of sun and rain, of bright and cloudy days, of the ups and downs which every manufacturing business must have, and I think t h a t we are as strong friends as ever, a t this moment. I n fact, I don’t believe t h a t there is anyone presexit who is more pleased than I am t h a t the Perkin Medal has been awarded to him-unless it be Mr. Hyatt himself. To refer to the early days of the celluloid business in Newark, where the factory was located, I should like t o say that there seemed to be a good deal of prejudice against it in t h a t city. On account of a n unfortunate fire which took place there shortly after the company began operations, the people of Newark did not, as a rule, take kindly to a material which was reported as being made of guncotton and camphor. Of course, such a statement would never lose in transmission, and the people would look askance a t any article of commerce which contained, as an ingredient, this high explosive. I remember hearing a story told of a man who happened to touch, with a lighted match, one of a pair of cuffs made of celluloid when, to his amazement, there was a terrible explosion, and he barely escaped with his life. Well, this and other stories of a like nature produced a strong feeling against the manufacture of this new substance, to say nothing of its use by the public, and, of course, some one had to bear the brunt of it. Naturally, the inventors (The Hyatt Brothers) and those most intimately associated with them in the business, had to carry the burden; and it wasn’t a very light one, either. But om friend had the enthusiasm of the inventor, a n enthusiasm which he imparted t o those who were associated with him, and without which success would have been long delayed, if not impossible. I suppose that, in the minds of some, even a t the present day, the idea exists t h a t the principal ingredient in the material referred to is true guncotton, the highly-nitrated compound of cellulose. This is because the public, as a rule, is not given to distinguishing between the compositions of different chemical compounds. If, in order t o make true guncotton, you treat cotton fiber with a bath composed of a mixture of strong sulfuric and nitric acids, why, it stands t o reason-so some of these people think-that cotton fiber treated with a bath of these same acids, no matter what their percentage composition may be, will be converted into the explosive compound. You know t h a t this is not the case, but the general public does not, or did not, some thirty years ago. If you will pardon the digression, I shouldlike to say that, shortly after I became associated with the Celluloid Company samples were made of these two varieties of nitrocellulose, using raw cotton fiber in each case, and their solubility tested in a strong solvent, and thus compared. Any nitrocellulose which would not dissolve in this solvent would be utterly worthless as a basis for the manufacture of our product. Upon making the test, the fibers’ of the lower nitrated compound disappeared in the solution upon the instant t h a t they touched the solvent. This was the variety of nitrocellulose
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T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
which was the principal ingredient in the manufacture of celluloid. How long do you suppose it took the other, the true guncotton or trinitrocellulose (or, as some call it, hexa-nitrocellulose) t o dissolve? It was kept in the bottle of solvent for more than six years without showing the slightest evidence of a solvent action-each fiber showing up bravely-then it was thrown away. B u t the public did not know of this difference and thought t h a t the product of our friend’s brain was a menace to every one who came near it. Prejudice goes far, and i t takes courage and pluck to fight it. If I said much more on this point, you good people would think t h a t the company had paid m e to boom its product, which is not the case. Mr. Hyatt’s share in the work of making celluloid did not consist in merely getting out the various patents and handing -them over to the company. H e was often a t the works, superintending, advising, assisting in the manufacture and always on call if things needed his attention. We all felt confidence in his judgment, and found afterwards t h a t this confidence was not misplaced. The inventor’s enthusiasm is a valuable asset or adjunct in bolstering up the faint-hearted employee who may sometimes think t h a t he has a n idea of his own which he would like to have exploited. I think t h a t more than one of the men employed a t the works received encouragement from our friend, Mr. H y a t t , in certain lines of work in which they were engaged a n d which they might have been inclined to give up if i t had not been for his enthusiasm and optimism. It not infrequently happens, in this world, t h a t the succcess which a naturally timid person achieves is due, in some degree, to the encouragement which he may receive from one who has more courage and backbone. As the boys would say, “ H e doesn’t get cold feet,” .and this means the difference between success and failure. We .sometimes need optimistic friends who will help us over the rough places, or the thin ice-put it whichever way you will. Mr. H y a t t was one of these, I can assure you, and to his cheering influence is due, in great measure, I think, the success of the Celluloid Company. This comforting way of.looking a t things does not mean, let me say, t h a t everything t h a t a fellow would think of and suggest, would be endorsed by him. I well remember a remark made by him one day when I had occasion t o relate how a certain so-called or self-styled chemist had utterly failed in the solution of a problem which he was bbsolutely certain he could solve. In fact, he claimed to have solved i t some time before, but when a second attempt was made, the result was not in the least satisfactory. (Mr. Hyatt will pardon tales told out of school.) “Yes,” said Mr. Hyatt, “ a man may ‘say t o you, ‘if I put this brick which I have here on this side of the street with t h a t one over across the way, I’ll have two bricks;’ but when he goes across the street he finds t h a t what he saw on the other side was not a brick, after all!” Very likely, hlr. Hyatt does not remember this occurrence, but, I assure you, it is true, as is also another one which happened at the works and illustrates his practical way of looking a t things. You know i t is just as important, sometimes, to know what ‘to omit as to know what to d o : what to leave out of your invention as well as what t o put into it. A mutual acquaintance, a n employee of one of the branches of the Celluloid Company, went to our friend one day and told him of an invention which b e had almost worked out in his mind, and asked his opinion of its value. He was going to make billiard balls out of celluloid, these balls t o have a hollow centre, and this small cavity was to be partly filled with mercury, which, when the ball was struck, would act as a sort of brake on the motion of the ball a n d cause it to slow down, Mr. Hyatt’s reply was: “Well, if billiard balls came ready-made and partly filled with mercury as you suggest, and you could find some way of getting t h a t mercury out, I think t h a t i t would be a fine thing.”
Vol. 6 , No.
2
There was one element in Mr. Hyatt’s make-up concerning which I cannot speak too highly, for the reason t h a t you don’t find i t everywhere: it is, I believe, the exception and not the It was his willingness to give every one credit for his rule. own idea and not attempt to appropriate i t himself. Sometimes he went further than this: he would take the thought t h a t you gave him, enlarge upon it or improve it, and then hand i t back to you as your own. How many do t h a t to-day? I think t h a t if you counted them on your fingers, you would have some fingers left over when you had finished counting. No, indeed, there are probably several of us here to-night who can tell of cases where the true inventor has been coldly shoved to one side, and all the glory and honor appropriated by some one else. There is another quality or characteristic possessed by the successful inventor which is a most important asset. Something which happened not very long ago on a train running across the A4rizonadesert may, in a slight degree, illustrate the point. The day was hot and dusty, and anybody who has ever traveled those alkaIi deserts with nothing much in the way of vegetation but sage brush in sight, can tell you what t h a t means. It is decidedly uncomfortable, t o say the least, and you look in vain for a cool spot where your eyes may rest-a clump of trees, or a little running water. One of the passengers kept looking out of the window every minute or two, pulling the shade t o one side as he did so, and then letting it drop back again into place. Another passenger, noticing the interested look on his face, asked him what he saw. “ I see miles and miles of corn, acres of wheat and cotton, and the whole country covered with farms,” he said. “When the supply of water back of t h e tops of those mountains is tapped and brought down here to this prairie, we shall have it blossoming as the rose.” “ W h a t is your name?” the passenger asked. “Luther Burbank,” was the reply. Now, what shall we calI this quality or element in the composition of the successful inventor and advanced thinker along these lines? Some might say, “Efficiency.” Well, t h a t is a good name for it. It means making two, three or twenty cornstalks grow where none, or a t the most only one, grew before. It means causing the dry and dusty desert t o become a veritable garden, It means taking a product of the laboratory which, before, had been only a chemical curiosity, and working upon it in such a fashion, and with such. determination t h a t it shall become a most useful article of commerce which shall find application in a multitude of ways, and bring comfort, yes, and happiness to many a home Time will not permit me to tell of our guest’s other achievements; his process for the continuous filtration of water; the roller bearings invented by, and named for him, and many other inventions for which the world is indebted to him. They are matters of record, and we know t h a t they represent the product of a mind t h a t is not content to remain idle but is a t all times a t ‘ work in the interests of the general public. H e has the faculty, often lacking in many well-meaning persons, of putting the right thing into the right place. You remember the story of the school boy who was reading “ W h a t a good time I am havin’.” “ W h a t ! Repeat that!” said the teacher. “ W h a t a good time I am havin’.” “Why,” said the teacher, “you are leaving out the ‘g’.” “Gee! What a good time I am havin’.” Now, Mr. Hyatt differs from the boy, inasmuch as he generally gets the “ g ” in the right place. And, Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I think t h a t by placing the well-earned Perkin Medal in the hands of Mr. John W. Hyatt, you have put i t in the right and proper place.
