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m a x i m u m r e p e a t e d s t r e s s o n t h e i n n e r s i d e of t h e cover plate. R e v e r t i n g t o t h e r e s u l t s of tensile s t r e s s o n m a t e r i a l f r o m the shell of t h i s digester, a n d f r o m n e w m a t e r i a l u s e d for similar p u r p o s e s , it will b e recalled t h a t t h e true e l a s t i c l i m i t s were s h o w n t o r a n g e f r o m 10,700
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FIG. 20.
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c o n s i d e r a t i o n in r e p e a t e d stresses s u c h a s we a r e dealing w i t h here, t h e f a c t that t h e m a x i m u m fiber s t r e s s of 14,720 lbs. p e r sq. i n c h falls w i t h i n t h e r a n g e of elastic l i m i t of t h e m a t e r i a l i s m o s t significant. N o steel will e n d u r e f o r a n u n l i m i t e d p e r i o d a r e p e a t e d s t r e s s e v e n s l i g h t l y a b o v e its e l a s t i c l i m i t . In t h i s case it t o o k f o u r t e e n y e a r s of r e p e t i t i o n of t h e s t r e s s t o c a u s e r u p t u r e , b u t t h e s a m e a c t i o n is p r e s e n t in all digesters of s i m i l a r design-the s t r e s s v a r y i n g in m a g n i t u d e w i t h t h e t h i c k n e s s of t h e cover p l a t e a n d t h e pressures c a r r i e d . W h e r e t h i s s t r e s s is s h o w n t o exceed t h e e l a s t i c l i m i t of t h e m a t e r i a l of t h e c o v e r p l a t e t o a n y e x t e n t w h a t e v e r , u l t i m a t e failure f r o m r e p e a t e d b e n d i n g m u s t b e expected.
t o 16,900 lbs. p e r sq. i n c h .
Since t h e t r u e elastic l i m i t , r a t h e r t h a n t h e u l t i m a t e s t r e n g t h , is a vital
MCGILLUNIVERSITY MONTREAL, CANADA
GERMAN OBSERVATIONS ON OUR INDUSTRIES WHAT DID WE CHEMISTS LEARN IN AMERICA ?I B y B. RASSOW
“He who would understand the poet must go t o the poet’s country.” (“Wer den Dichter will verstehen, muss in Dichters Lande gehen!”) These words of Goethe are applicable not only to the appreciation of the poets of a foreign country, b u t also t o the general comprehension of its inhabitants and more particularly of its industrial life. It is said of us Germans, that we have in us a special nomadic impulse. Doubtless this impulse to travel is traceable not only to esthetic motives, but also to our craving to learn how other peoples think and work. That our own science and technique are greatly advanced thereby is a matter of course. Of all industrial countries, there is no doubt that the United States of America are at present of the greatest interest to us Germans. The conditions under which technical work and manufacturing are carried on in North America are, in some respects, very similar to our own, but in others, very different from them. It is hardly possible to imagine a greater difference, than we find between the activity of the German manufacturer, who can hardly move, in our old and densely populated country, without being hampered by police ordinances and by the rights of his neighbors-who is forced by the state to care for his employees on a large scale, even in times during which the employee is of no further use to him-and, on the other hand, the American manufacturer, unrestricted by all such considerations and fetters. But the great similarity between American industry and our own is doubtless caused, in part, by the fact that our industry is in reality just as young as that of the United States. The modest beginnings of factories, which came into existence in some of the German states zoo years ago or more, are only insignificant germs of the mighty development of German industry, which has really been established for only about IOO years. The beginnings of American industry also date back about IOO years, i. e., to the time when the United States became politically and commercially independent, when manufactured goods were no longer procured exclusively from the English mother country, and home manufacture was begun instead. There, then, as with us, we see in the last century the conversion of an agrarian state into a political organism, in which, until a few years ago, agriculture and industry still possessed about equil importance for the entire political economy, while a t present the conditions are continually becoming more favorable to industry. 1 Address delivered a t the Annual Meeting of the Verein Deutscher Chemiker, Breslau. Sept. 18, 1913. Translated b y The Chemists’ Club Library from Zeitschrift fuer ongewandtp Chemie, Aufsatzleil, 26, 1913, p . 705.
Many of us German chemists, when preparing for the journey to North America a year ago, hardly realized these reasons for the special interest which every German must feel towards the United States and her industry. Doubtless, however, the great longing which drives progressive German scientists and technologists t o the United States, is traceable t o this line of reasoning. But I should like to refer a t the very beginning t o one essential difference. Germany is a country having a civilization many centuries old, which, up to the middle of the 19th century had, it is true, manifested itself essentially in literary and esthetic spheres. It is quite otherwise with America. There, the beginnings of civilization do not extend back much more than two centuries. During the last century the majority of the immigrants were poorly educated workmen-men who lacked all literary and scientific training and all advanced technical knowledge. Therefore we cannot be surprised that, in many sections of the Union, in spite of wealth, a finer appreciation of culture appears only in the second or third generation. We chemists made the journey across the ocean principally on account of the Eighth International Congress of 1912. Though we are accustomed to seeing Germany well represented in the international chemical congresses, this was especially the case a t the Eighth International Congress. A good half of the non-American participants in the Congress came from Germany. The reason for this is naturally to be found as much in the magnificent development of the German chemical science and industry, as in the German impulse for study and travel. To be sure, we know that several of the European countries, e. g., England, are still ahead of us in many branches of the chemical industry, especially in inorganic manufacture. But in no country on earth are those branches of the chemical industry which demand versatility of thought, and particularly a large body of scientifically trained employees, so well developed as with us. Our synthetic dye, synthetic drug, and perfumery industries are foremost throughout the world, and there is probably no country in which the heads of factories are so imbued with the conviction that their employees must needs cast a glance beyond domestic boundaries. That our government authorities willingly aid its employees in the study of foreign institutions, is well known. Accordingly, we counted among the German participants in the Congress no small number of professors of chemistry and technology and appointees of various national government bureaus. But those colleagues whom we met there were also largely of German extraction, or had studied in Germany. Thus it
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came about that, on many days, the Congress bore quite a pronounced German character. This was most clearly shown to the public a t the impressive opening exercises in Washington, when more than half of all the addresses were delivered in the German language. If we include our kindred Austrian, Swiss and Baltic colleagues in the number of the German chemists, this proportion is still more in favor of the Germans. The participants in the trips arranged in connection with the Congress were principally Germans. Arriving in the harbor of New York after a very restful sea voyage, the first question asked by the reporters of the great newspapers is of course: “Do you like America?” Even before one has stepped on terra firma, after the first powerful impression of the sky-scrapers and of the bustle of the harbor of Kew York, one is expected to express an opinion of the country. I believe that this expectation is a result of the sad fact that so many visitors to the United States form their opinions prematurely, and thus praise or criticize without having considered the reason for the numerous differences between the United States and their own h0me.l Perhaps you will reproach me with committing the same error by talking to you about America after having been in the United States for only two months, and after having become acquainted with only a very small portion of real American life outside of the great industrial and commercial cities of the western and central regions. However, I do not wish to state what struck me as unsatisfactory over there, but what we learned. I n consequence of my position as professor of chemical technology and as General Secretary of our Society and Editor of the Society Journal, I was in the pleasant position of being able to see and hear more than most of the German delegates, and to profit more than most of us from the experiences of other colleagues. Therefore, let me give you a short summary of what impressed me as especially important and interesting in the United States, and, a t the same time, let me express my thanks to those colleagues, German as well as American, who, by their kind communicativeness, made it possible for me to give you a sort of cross-section of the experiences of the German chemists in America. At the same time, however, I shall not go into any details. Doubtless you have already heard numerous reports by members who visited America and have read them in the Journal.2 You all know that the American manufacturing industry is developed principally along mechanical lines. This is the result of the fact that the Americans, on account of the great extent of their still somewhat thinly settled country, and of the great concentration of life at a few points, are accustomed t o reckon with quantities, space and time quite different from ours. To provide for these, extraordinary contrivances and arrangements were necessary. I n the mechanical industry, to be sure, the dependence of Americans upon European technology is likewise noticeable on every side. Not only do the ideas which are the basis of the much admired gigantic bridges and tunnels, and the astonishingly delicate machines which are used in the metal and the wood industries, come from Europe, but many of the engineers who constructed these machines are either of German or of English extraction. I can say that I was especially proud when Moreover, t h e quite superficial criticism of Germany and i t s industries which t h e spokesman of t h e American Society of Mechanical Engineers gave t o his questioners on his return t o New York, shows conclusively t h a t Americans readily fall into t h e same e r r o r a s s u m i n g t h a t t h e newspapers have reported him correctly. Reports on t h e 8 t h International Congress, on t h e addresses and trips in connection therewith, were published as follows: Z. angew. C h e m . , Vol. 25, pp. 1937 (German Celebration), 2098-2449 (General Report), 2672 (Report Trip by Schoen); Vol. 26, I , pp. 1 (Duisberg’s lecture), 10 (Bernthsen’s Lecture), 17 (Frerich’s Lecture), 57 (Kloeppel’s Report), 169 (Description of Factories), 398 (Cottrell), 485 (Karau’s Report of T r i p ) , 497 (Friedmann’s Report of T r i p ) ; Vol. 111, p. 15 (Alexander’s Report of Trip)
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I crossed Brooklyn Bridge in New York and realized that both Roeblings, father and son, who designed and executed the bridge, were Germans. I n spite of all this, it is just these and similar works that have filled me with a profound respect for the Americans. Of what avail are the finest constructive ideas, if men are not to be found who are courageous enough to risk the money necessary to transform them into reality? This brings me to a leading characteristic of the American. He possesses a profound respect for thorough work, and it is comparatively easy to persuade the American capitalist to furnish the means for a new factory, or an entirely new industry, provided the man who makes the proposition concerning it impresses him either by his knowledge, or still better, by his ability. It is in accord with the democratic way of thinking which dominates a wide class of Americans, that the donor of the money does not ask about the descent or training of the engineer who unfolds a daring plan to him. As soon as he has obtained confidence in the practicability of the idea, he furnishes the money, and the new bridge, tunnel or factory, is built on a gigantic scale. Moreover, he is aided by the fact that land for purposes of construction is, as a rule, to be obtained cheaply, and a t the same time in locations favorable to transportation. If there is no lake or river in the neighborhood, the nearest railroad company is easily prevailed upon to construct connecting branches. This shows how helpful private railroad systems may be toward industry. Fear of competition and lack of bureaucratic interference really work wonders. What stimulates the enterprise of American capitalists and industrialists to such activity is the constantly growing capacity of the American market. Not only the number of inhabitants, but also the need for products of a refined civilization are increasing so rapidly, that the American market can generally dispose of colossal quantities of new products with ease. That this does not always happen without severe crises is known to all of you. The apparently very cordial relations existing between superintendents and workmen of the better class in American factories struck me as very characteristic. The phrase “Work is no disgrace” is familiar to all of us. It surprised me, however, to see how cordially chief engineers associated with foremen, and how young engineers with a university education worked a t the vise and in the machine shop-not only during apprenticeship, but also later on. I do not want to represent the manual labor of one of these engineers, so educated, as ideal; i t is certain that the abilities of a scientifically trained engineer can be used to better advantage. I have mentioned this only because in my opinion i t explains many phases of the development of American industry; young chemists and engineers in most American factories are under no different form of contract than laborers. They are engaged on terms of short notice, there is neither a pension nor a sick benefit system, and he who would progress must impress his superintendent favorably, or change his position. In the difficult labor conditions from which American industry suffers, the expert handling of the workmen is among the most important duties of the plant manager. As a result of the heavy expenses which the American states incur for education in the public elementary schools, the average education of the second generation of workmen is quite high in grade. Consequently the members of this generation no longer go to the factories as manual laborers. Since the skill of Americans in the construction of machinery has not yet succeeded in replacing all hand work by machine work, American manufacturers are forced to employ workmen making lower demands, and hence the working class is of a really alarming polyglot nature. I saw rules for the workmen in a zinc factory in Illinois posted in seven different languages-English, German, Italian, Greek, Russian, Polish and Ruthenian. You can imagine the difficulty of favorable cooperation with such a mixed body of
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men. The only advantage derived from this by factory superintendents is that strikes are usually not so extensive as in old Europe. For the most part, the various races of which the working force is composed, are a t odds with one another, so that one-half continues t o work merely to annoy the other. However, i t is well known what power the organizations of skilled laborers-the trade unions-exercise in the United States, and how they force the manufacturers and public o p i n i o n a y e , even the legislative bodies-to take their demands into consideration. I should like t o consider somewhat more in detail the school and educational conditions in the United States, and the favorable opportunities for obtaining a higher education. Tuition in general elementary schools is free; this is tho logical consequence of compulsory school attendance. If the young man goes from the elementary school into business, then, according to my observation, he has more and better chances t o continue his education than in our country, notwithstanding all the advanced schools in our large cities. New York City possesses an especially exemplary arrangement for advanced instruction in the College of. the City of New York. This college is not a university, but an advanced school, in which thousands of better qualified young men and women receive instruction every year, enabling them to obtain good and even advanced business positions. In the great Assembly Hall of this college, which is built like a mighty cathedral, the general lectures of the Eighth International Congress were held. It is characteristic that in all schools, but especially in such advanced schools, a specific American patriotism is instilled into the children. This discloses t o us the secret of so many American successes and peculiar qualities. From the beginning of his schooling the child brought up in America, b e his origin ever so little American, is taught to regard America as the land of freedom, and as the country in which all is arranged in the best manner. Even if later experiences cause much to appear different to the mature man, unlimited respect for all American institutions and productions remains the key-note of all his thinking. We have sometimes laughed over the fact that every important edifice was represented to us as the greatest in the world, or at least as the best and most expensive. But there is method in thus inculcating a special respect for the achievements of the country and its inhabitants. I wish our Germans, and especially our German workmen, had somewhat more of this way of thinking. We cannot truthfully say that the workman in America is essentially better off than here. Certainly, in some of the large cities of the Union, more opportunities are given him to own his home, and to become more independent than in Europe. But so far as the factory owner is concerned, he is regarded, after all, only as so much horsepower, which is paid for so long as i t works, and is then pitilessly cast aside. In America there are no welfare provisions of any kind for workmen, such as there are in Germany. Although the wages are much higher than with us, many of the necessities of life are so much more expensive that i t is difficult for even an economical workman to provide for illness and old age. If the living and working conditions of New York City and Chicago are observed, the conclusion is reached that our factory workmen enjoy, on the average, better living conditions than the American workmen. Let me return t o the means of achieving a higher education, which, according to my observation, are especially well provided for in America. Hardly a week passes without our reading in the newspapers that one of the multimillionaires has donated one or several million dollars t o a public library, a museum, a university, or a high school. This seems to me like a kind of auto-taxation on the part of these trust magnates. They know that the United States covers the principal part of its budget by means of import duties. The many high duties on manufactured goods and raw materials make it possible for the great industrial manufacturer to amass immense wealth, while at the
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same time the most necessary requirements of the whole people become very much more expensive. Of the great fortunes which are accumulated by so small a number of individuals, then, a very considerable part is returned to the people in the form of donations for a great variety of cultural purposes. How many magnificent foundations we have seen! It is well known that the buyers for the American museums and libraries, a t all auctions in Europe, constitute a direct danger to our stock of artistic and literary treasures. But how beautifully are these treasures displayed in America, and how easily accessible! All the museums I saw are open until 8 or even I O P.M. All are provided with arrangements for artificial illumination and heating, so that progressive employees and workmen can devote several hours, after the close of the working day, to further education along the lines of art, science and literature. Accessibility in the late evening holds good not only for the public libraries, but also for the great scientific libraries and museums of all kinds. In this direction we can really learn much. Instruction is also imparted to ambitious people from eight until ten or eleven o’clock evenings, and not only by lectures, but also by practical exercises in natural science (especially chemical branches.’ One representative of a great dye stuff factory told me the progress of his education from a young apprentice in a store, with only a common school education, to a chemical merchant of the foremost rank. His practical knowledge of chemistry he owes chiefly to evening courses. You have surely all read in the papers of American students who earn their livelihood and the wherewithal for studying by cleaning streets. Even though I did not become acquainted with such students, yet in Atlantic City, in one of the great bath-houses, we became acquainted with a doorkeeper of the individual bath-houses, a medical student, who, by this well-paid confidential position, earned enough money in four months to enable him to study during the rest of the year. I a m sure that none of his American fellow students finds anything degrading in this. That “work is no disgrace” is still more true in America than among us.
I should like to depict to you a few more good aspects of a truly democratic commonwealth, which struck me in the United States, and above all the self-control which the -4merican evinces on all public occasions. To the man who has once seen the migration of nations, which begins daily a t the close of business hours from the city of New York to the widely scattered suburbs, in which hundreds of thousands of the employees live-to him all the magnificent traffic arrangements-subways, street-cars, and elevated railroads must seem totally inadequate, and it is a fact that a t those hours every means of traffic is filled to twice and three times its capacity. B u t with what wonderful quietude the departure of these hundreds of thousands takes place! N o crowding and no haste, because each one knows that he will not hasten progress thereby, but will, on the contrary, hamper it. How few policemen are necessary to direct and guide this movement! How little are the trainmen annoyed with questions which they could answer just as little as our own officials! On a trip in the neighborhood of Pittsburgh, we stopped a whole hour before a bridge, just before reaching the Pittsburgh Station. Not one of the Americans in the car with us asked a single question of the train crew. Each one knew that the track would be cleared as soon as possible, and that, until then, all questions and restless running about were absolutely useless. This selfcontrol depends upon the fact that the public is supervised as little as possible in all traffic arrangements. If, instead of the 60 people provided for, I Z O or 130 should be carried in one of the cars of a subway train, i t does not concern any policeman. If people walk on the railroad tracks, it does not concern any employee. To be sure, prohibitions are posted, but, as a matter 1 I n several large German cities, especially in Hamburg, Berlin and Frankfurt on the Main, there are similar arrangements, but still not to the same extent as, for example, in New York or Boston.
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of fact, this serves only to guard the directors from claims for damages. I do not wish to represent American railroad conditions as entirely ideal. I an: firmly convinced that, in most respects, our arrangements are better. But, with respect to a certain ease and dexterity in dealing with the public, our courts and officials could learn much. We would in the long run progress further by these methods, than under the present system of guardianship. JVhile thus far I have spoken to you principally of what struck me as worthy of imitation, and as actually typical of the United States, I cannot pass over some of its unpleasant aspects. The haste with which the American is accustomed to pursue his work and pleasure is well known. However, I cannot say that the work, as a whole, is benefited by this haste, which is usually followed by a corresponding depression. Even if the American generally has 1-ery good nerves, and is able to hear great overexertions as well as great distractions, through noise and unrest of all kinds, nature will nevertheless have her revenge sooner or later, for, in spite of all training, the American is only a human being. This great and unproductive haste is closely connected with that prodigality with natural treasures, which is universal in America. These resources, as you know, stand a t the disposal of the TJnited States in almost unlimited sbundance. You know that the American soil contains coal of all kinds, in such quantities that, in spite of the high cost of labor, a good hard coal does not cost much more than a dollar a ton a t the mine and not more than $ I O to $12.50 in h-ew York, in spite of the high cost of transportation. The same is true of soft coal. You know that ores of nearly all important metals are found in great quantities in the central and western states. I need not tell you of petroleum and natural gas, .of phosphates and sulfur; all are found in abundance, and are energetically exploited. But this very abundance, and the high cost of labor, easily led the American technologist to squander the treasure. The mining of coal and ores is often carried on in such a way that a fourth and even a third of the minerals remain in the mines, because these portions are somewhat more difficult t o remove, and because the handling as well as the preparation, would make the cost somewhat higher. This neglect of thorough exploitation has already given much concern to far-seeing Americans. Institutions have been created like the Bureau of Mines, which, by means of fine scientific and technical apparatus and large sums of money, are working towards the rational removal of treasures of the soil. It is well known that the Americans are careless in the utilization not only of their mineral treasures, but also of their arable land. The virgin ground of the Eastern States, which the Pilgrim Fathers wrested from the wilderness and its inhabitants, and which was then planted with grain year in and year out, has long since been exhausted, because proper fertilization was neglected. The billows of wheat have already reached the Rocky hlts. I n the Eastern States large tracts, which were exhausted and devastated by decades of corn cultivation, are now being replanted with forests. In this respect also, the Americans have much to learn from our old country. Rational fertilization, especially by artificial fertilizers, is spreading farther and farther in the United States. Phosphates exist in enormous quantities. Nitrogen fertilizers are still obtained in great measure from Chili, but the time will come when all American coke plants will utilize their by-products, furnishing ammonia salts for purposes of fertilization. Furthermore, the plants already installed for manufacturing atmospheric saltpeter and calcium nitride are being enlarged, and will then furnish the necessary material for nitrogenous fertilizers. Only potassium salts are lacking. We felt that it is really painful to the American that this important fertilizer has not yet been found in any sufficiently large quantity in the Union, and that for this material, at least, America must remain dependent upon Germany. An
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entire meeting of the Inorganic Section of the International Congress was devoted to the potash question, without the appearance of any possibility of independence of German potassium salts. If, then, the American farmer is forced to fertilize artificially in the ‘same measure as the European, all productive and commercial conditions will be changed not a little, and obviously not to our detriment. You are probably surprised that, in this summary of mine, so little has been said of chemists and the chemical industry, but I have already stated in my introduction that, in accordance with American conditions of labor and production, only the inorganic manufacturing industry is really well developed, and that even there work is done, for the most part, by methods which are known and familiar to our German technologists. Certainly our colleagues in the chemical professions have seen much of great interest, as for example a t the Parke-Dayis plant in Detroit, a t the General Chemical Co., in th- Acheson Works, etc., but I should prove ungrateful were I to report on them in detail, since these matters are, for the most part, considered as business secrets. The greatest gain which we have obtained from the American trip, need not be sought in these special fields, but rather in the universal broadening of our knowledge and observatLon in every industrial and cultiiral line. But the gain in this respect was all the greater and finer, as the Americans met us with wonderful hospitality and cordiality. It may be true that a subtle touch of braggadocio was one of the reasons for our being shown so many fine plants and arrangements, secrecy about which would be demanded by stern business interest. I n any case we owe our American friends lasting gratitude for what they permitted us to see, and for the friendship which we enjoyed. Thus, many a visit was made, in accordance with the Yules of the Congress, on the basis of reciprocal courtesy. I think I can assure you in the name of the participants in the Congress and in the trips, that this reciprocity will not only be carried out by us according to the “rules,” but that we shall always be pleased to receive visits from our American colleagues in order to return like foilike. That German chemical science has, ever since Liebig’s time, been a source of the greatest information to the Americans, was constantly and willingly acknowledged by our American colleagues. And I must express my thanks still further. You know that our society, under the leadership of our former president and present honorary member, Geh. Reg.-Rat Prof. Dr. C. Duisberg, decided, two years ago, in Stettin, to found a Jubliee Fund, by means of the first installments of which a number of German chemists were sent to the Congress in America. We fourteen chemists, to whom an opportunity was thus given to broaden our point of view in an unexpected degree-who, as chemists as well as men as technologists, as well as professors learned an infinite amount-owe lasting gratitude to the “Verein deutscher Chemiker,” and to the founders and donors of the Jubilee Fund. IMPRESSIONS OF THE EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF APPLIED CHEMISTRY IN NEW YORK AND O F CERTAIN FIELDS OF INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES‘ c
By PROF.DR. D. HOLDEOF ZEHLENDORF, BERLIK
The following report of my five weeks’ stay in the United States on the occasion of the Congress2 I shall preface with a description of my impressions of the general details, and of the organization of the Congress held in New York in September, 1 Translation made b y The Chemists’ Club Library from Cltemiker Zeitung, 37 (1913): 2, 53. 86, 129, 159. 2 Cf. Chem. Ztg., 36 (1912): 1069, 1129, 1181, 1213, 1269, 1301.
