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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 ENGINEERING C H E M I S T R Y
THE DETERMINATION OF IRON IN GLASS SANDCORRECTION Editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: Referring to an article published in THISJOURNAL, g (1917), 941, “The Determination of Iron in Glass Sand,” the author quotes from the Geological Survey Bulletin 285 (1906), 454, by Ernest F. Burchard, analysis of sand submitted by the American Window Glass Company and the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company which have no doubt been recorded incorrectly. I n each
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Vol. 9 , No.
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case the Iron content is stated one-tenth of the correct amount as found in any analysis we have ever made. We have been aware of the error as stated in the Bulletin but did not think it necessary to draw attention to this as we considered that any one acquainted with glass manufacture would naturally take i t as a clerical error and move the decimal point one place over to the right. F. GELSTHARP, PITTSBURGPLATEGLASSCo. Chief Chemist CRGIGATON, P A , October 16, 1917
WASHINGTON LETTER ‘
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By PAULWOOTON,Metropolitan Bank Building, Washington, D. C.
Location of the Government’s nitrate plant on Muscle Shoals came as a surprise to nearly all here who are intimately interested in the matter. Even high officials, diawing their conclusions from the recent report of the Nitrate Board, had decided that Muscle Shoals had been eliminated. There is much speculation in official circles as t o who is responsible for the selection of the site. Some are of the opinion that the selection was made by the President himself. It is known definitely, however, that army officers had combed southwestern Virginia carefully without finding a suitable site. The water is bad in that section of Virginia and that portion of the terrain which is not standing on edge is subject to overflow. With the elimination of southwestern Virginia, resort was had to the elastic “contiguous region” which had been specified by the Board in its report. Several officials were asked why Muscle Shoals was chosen, but, despite their rather determined attempts to point out a good reason for the selection of this site, none was established. One argument was that Muscle Shoals is near a supply of phosphate but in this connection attention is called to the fact that the location selected makes the obtaining of Florida phosphates much more difficult than would have been the case had the choice fallen to some of the other places which were considered. The announcement authorized by the Secretary of War is as follows: The Secretary of War announces t h a t the President has approved the location at Sheffield. Alabama, of the initial ammonia and nitric acid plants t o be constructed with a portion of the $20.000.000 appropriated for Nitrate Supply by the National Defense Act, providing a suitable site be there obtainable a t a reasonable price. As satisfactory prices have now been agreed upon for the transfer of the several parcels of land involved, the location of these initial plants a t She5eld may now be regarded as assured. Sheffield. Alabama, is located on the Tennessee River just below the Muscle Shoals and is near to the phosphate beds of central Tennessee. On the site selected there are several substantial steel buildings which can be utilized with a saving of expense and of time. These initial plants were planned with a view to determining the best and most economical process of nitrogen fixation. Enough land is being acquired to permit of large expansion-by the same or by other processesin case such expansioi a t the same place shall be decided upon. These plants will produce material of much value in the manufacture of munitions for the war. After the war. any excess of their product over the munitions requirements may be sold for use in fertilizer.
The Secretary of the Interior has not been advised of the selection of any scientist in connection with the Giragossiaun free energy generator. While i t has been reported that Garabed T. K. Giragossiau would go ahead with his plans informally, no word of it has come t o the government scientists who were following the matter. The free energy generator bill passed both Houses of Congress but was not signed by the President. The fact that Congress was so willing to have the generator investigated led several of the government’s mechanical specialists to look into the matter closely. It is their opinion that the generator is another Keeley motor fiasco. They point to the fact that those who have been convinced of the generator’s merit are not specialists in the business of power generation. One government official who has followed the matter closely said: “Just because we laughed a t Langley, it is no reason for throwing overboard all the knowledge we possess. The presentation of this seductive style of argumentation seems to have been employed very successfully in this case as Congress was willing to give large prestige t o another perpetual motion machine under a different name.”
Statements that the Burton process of producing gasoline has been freed from restriction for general use have been in circulation for the past ten days, but no official announcement concerning it has been made. As was announced some time ago a t a Federal Trade Commission hearing, the Burton process has been available to any refiner not competing directly with the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, on payment of reasonable royalties. Since it is fairly well established that the Federal Trade Commission has requested those in control of this process to permit its more general use, it will not be surprising if the request is granted. Joseph F. Guffey, the government’s adviser on oil purchases, has declined repeatedly to comment on the matter, which fact is taken to mean that there is a hitch in the plan. A chemical division has been created as an integral part of Food Administration. Herbert Hoover, the food administrator, has summoned Charles Washington Merrill, of San Francisco, to Washington to take charge of the new division. Mr. Merrill, who is the president of the Merrill Metallurgical Co., the president of the Western Ore Purchasing Co., and a director on the board of the Union and the Caledonia Dredging Companies, is a chemist of national reputation. He took a notable part in establishing that the cyanide process of ore treatment could be used on a commercial scale. Under his direction one of the first cyanide plants in the country was erected on the property of the Standard Mining Co. a t Bodie, Cal., in 1894. The new chemical division, which he will direct, will devote itself to the control and allocation of chemicals used in the production and conservation of foods. The importance, to the nation, of maintaining ample supplies of the chemicals used in insecticides, fertilizers, and in refrigeration and of stabilizing their prices is considered by Mr. Hoover as one of the highly important phases of his work. Mr. Merrill will serve on the dollar-a-year basis. Henry Howard, chairman of the executive committee of the Manufacturing Chemists’ Association of the United States, attended the hearing conducted Oct. 16 by Van. H. Manning, the director of the Bureau of Mines, a t which the regulations, which will accompany the explosives act, were discussed. While Mr. Howard objected to regulations attempting to define certain provisions of the law, the regulations as drafted are believed to meet the approval of the chemical industries. Changes now are being made in the regulations so as to conform with many of the suggestions made a t the meeting, a t which all industries affected were represented. After an exhaustive investigation, the chemists appointed to report on the defective ammunition manufactured a t the Frankfort arsenal, have their findings practically ready to submit t o the War Department. The report probably will not be made public. The board consisted of C. L. Parsons, chief chemist of the Bureau of Mines; Col. Wirt Robinson, professor of chemistry a t the United States Military Academy a t West Point; and Wm. H. Walker, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All plans for the formation of the Chemical Alliance are a t a standstill, awaiting action by the Department of Commerce. It is understood that the matter is being delayed while the State Department learns the attitude of the countries associated with us in the war. It is pointed out that under present conditions the activities of the Alliance would be international in its effects.
