SUREAU OF STANDARDS

COMMERCIAL

STANDARDS

MONTHLY

A Review of Progress in

Commercial Standardization and Simplification

ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS OF THE

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A.

Vol. 7, No. 6 DECEMBER, 1930

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. See page 3 of cover for prices
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

R. P. Lamont, Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

George K. Burgess, Director

COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY

S. F. Tillman, Editor

DIVISIONS OF THE COMMERCIAL STANDARDIZATION GROUP

DIVISION OF SIMPLIFIED PRACTICE, Edwin W. Ely.

Tlie division of simplified practice was formed in November,

1921, to provide a clearing house or centralizing agency through

which the manufacturer, distributor, and consumer groups

could meet to discuss their common problems and decide upon

eliminations which would prove of mutual benefit to all concerned. The activities of the division are purely cooperative

in character. It orders nothing; it dictates nothing; the ini- tiative must come from business itself. It has no regulatory nor police powers to enforce adherence to the simplified-practice

recommendations that industry develops under the auspices

of the United States Department of Commerce. Its chief function is to serve as a neutral meeting ground for the purpose

of bringing together producers, distributors, and consumers, whose aims are sometimes divergent and possibly antagonistic,

and who would be unwilling to cooperate, except through some

unbiased central agency. Following the approval of the tentative simplified-practice recommendation by a general conference

of all interested elements thereof, the project is then presented

to the entire industry by letter referendum for its approval and

written acceptance, the publication and indorsement of the recommendation on the part of the Department of Commerce

being dependent upon acceptance of the program by at least 80 per cent, by volume, of the manufacturers, distributors, and

users concerned.

BUILDING AND HOUSING DIVISION, ,J. S. Taylor.

The division of building and housing cooperates with business, technical, and professional grouiis in practically all its undertakings on building and housing. Its work to modernize

building codes and to encourage improved standards for the

quality of building construction promotes the practical application of the latest development in design and use of building materials. This division was also formed in 1921. In furthering home ownership, an effort is made to develop an enlarged, steadier, more intelligent, and more discriminating

demand for soundly built dwellings, the largest single class of buildings which the construction industries provide. The

division also cooperates with many business and professional groups in efforts to distribute building activity more evenly

throughout the year, and to secure less fluctuation from year

to year. The work on city planning and zoning has in mind

the broad objective of buildings made more useful because

well located with respect to other buildings, a well-coordinated

street system, and appropriate public works. Good city

planning and zoning likewise encourages stability in land

values and property uses, and thereby contributes to the demand for durable structures.

DIVISION OF SPECIFICATIONS, A. S. McAllister.

The duties of the division of specifications are to promote and

facilitate the use and unification of specifications. In doing so

it carries on activities involving cooperation with technical

societies; trade associations; Federal, State, and municipal

Government specifications making and using agencies; producers, distributors, and consumers; and testing and research

laboratories. The cooperation with technical societies and

trade associations includes ascertaining the standardization

and specification promoting activities of these organizations,

and bringing to their attention the work being done by the commercial standardization group. The cooperation with

governmental agencies and other consumers includes the bringing of Federal specifications and commercial standards to the

attention of the maximum number of producers and the maximum number of users of commodities complying with these

specifications and standards, thereby assisting in broadening

the field of suppUu The cooperation with producers involves the compilation and distribution of lists of manufacturers who

have expressed their willingness to certify to purchasers, upon

request, that material supplied by them on contracts based on

certain Federal specifications or commercial standards comply

with the requirements thereof. The cooperation with distribu- tors involves bringing to their attention the benefits to be

derived by them as both buyers and sellers from handling

nationally specified, certified, and labeled commodities. The

division prepares the directories of governmental and nongovernmental testing laboratories; the Directory of Specifications;

and is working on an encyclopedia of specifications, the first volume of which, Srandards and Specifications in the WoodUsing Industries, has been issued. It also aids in preparing

the Standards Yearbook.

DIVISION OF TRADE STANDARDS, I. J. Fairchild.

The commercial standards unit, now known as division of trade standards, was created on October 1, 1927, for the purpose

of aiding those industrial and commercial groups desiring to establish standards of grades, quality, or measurements for their products or their purchases on a purely voluntary basis. The division functions only at the direct request of the in- dustry concerned. Its procedure is similar to that of the divi- sion of simplified practice, except that at least 65 per cent of the industry, by volume of annual production, must accept

the commercial standard in writing before it is published by

the Department of Commerce. A certification plan is applied on request as a means of increasing the effectiveness of such

standards. Provision is made for regular revision of the standard

through the appointment of a standing committee to consider

periodically any necessity for revision of the standard, in order

that it may be kept constantly compatible with progress in the

industry.

Except where otherwise indicated, for further information address

BUREAU OF STANDARDS

WASHINGTON, D. C.
COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY

A Review of Progress in

Commercial Standardization and Simplification

Volume 7 WASHINGTON, D. C., DECEMBEE, 1930 Number 6

CONTENTS

feature articles

Advocates uniform world standards for food “Canners’ bill” to establish new food standards

Industrial hazards studied for safety of worker

Standard contract forms

Standardized scales for livestock Standard milk ordinance and code

Standard radio-frequency services provided by the National Bureau of Standards

Standards for highway and traffic control Standardization activities of the Concrete Steel Reinforcing Institute Standardization in the Lighthouse Service

•Standardization in the marine field Standardization of export products in Haiti Standardization of oil and gas pipe lines •Standardization of steel mill auxiliary motors

Tennessee standardizes its highway equipment

The National Bureau of Standards

Why do shoes wear out? Wind pressure on large chimneys

Page 162

171 180

163

185

166

181 176

177

180

186

184

173

187 188

167 172

178 CERTIFICATION AND LABELING PLAN NEWS

Certification by lumber and brick manufacturers assured . TRADE STANDARD NEWS

Adherence to existing standard for brass pipe nipples

reaffirmed.* 187 Commercial standard for staple porcelain plumbing fix- tures reaffirmed 190

Printed pamphlet on standard for special screw threads now available 175

•Standard for feldspar now printed 191

SIMPLIFIED PRACTICE NEW'S

Page

Reduction in types of glass jars 164

Simplified practice valuable aid in purchasing 175 FOREIGN NEWS

Lumber simplification in Australia New British standards promulgated 191 Portuguese institute to make official tests in field of

electricity 172 STANDARDIZATION NEWS

A. S. T. M. now' has 427 formally adopted standards.: 187

A. S. T. M. revises seven standards and approves three

new' tentative standards 170 Current activities of the American Marine Standards

Committee 190 Current activities of the American Standards Association 174

Federal specifications 192 Measuring permanence qualities of paper 191 National standard for testing power-line insulators 175 New and revised publications issued by the National Bureau of Standards 192

Periodic revision of standard typewriter type would aid

in detecting frauds 170 Review of annual report of Bureau of Standards 165

Safety code for mechanical refrigeration 191

Stability of paper tow'els 188 Standardization briefs 182 Standard size holiday greeting cards urged 189

AN INVITATION TO VISIT THE BUREAU OF STANDARDS

An interesting fact in the growth of the bureau is the steady increase in the number of visitors. From all over the world experts come to see the work in progress in many specialties. Not alone the

experts but in growing numbers many of our people visit the bureau from a public-spirited desire to acquaint themselves with its research work. All visitors—from the newspaper men, who have called the

bureau a “ house of wonders,” to the specialists, who use its services—are welcome, for it is their bureau

in a very real sense. They are the owners of the business and its beneficiaries. The annual per capita

cost of 2 cents which the average citizen pays toward the operation of the bureau yields returns sometimes a hundredfold or a thousandfold. How science turns w’astes into profits, increases the useful life of materials, adds new efficiencies to industry, advances new arts, such as aviation and radio, by research

and discovery—these are to be seen first-hand in the scientific and technical laboratories of the bureau.

A cordial invitation is extended to all citizens interested in scientific progress to visit the laboratories

of the Bureau of Standards when in Washington. A personally conducted trip is organized at 2.15 p. m.

daily except on holidays. Special trips for groups may be arranged at other times by writing to the

bureau in advance. The bureau’s illustrated Visitor’s Manual may be had for the asking. This lists the work in progress and gives an airplane view of the ensemble and a brief statement of typical discoveries and inventions which have been notable, basic contributions to radio, aviation, and other modern

arts and industries.

George K. Burgess, Director.

26632—30 1 161
Advocates Uniform World Standards

for Food

Austrian Official Says Food Standards Is General

World Question of Highest Importance

HE subject of food standards has become a

general world question of highest importance,

in the opinion of a food official of the Austrian

Government, Dr. Adolf K. Schugowitsch, as ex- pressed to the Assistant Chief of the Bureau of

Chemistry and Soils of the United States Department of Agriculture, Dr. C. A. Browne.

There is immediate need for an international conference to

consider adoption of uniform world standards for at least some of

the foods that are shipped between countries, Doctor Schugowitsch, who is chairman of the Austrian board preparing an

official volume on food standards, stated to Doctor Browne,

according to a report of the latter’s tour to various foreign

countries which has been issued by the Department of Agriculture

in its Official Record.

Fundamental research along certain lines of agricultural

chemistry is further developed in Europe than it is in the United

States, according to Doctor Browne, who recently returned

(October 6) from a 17-month leave of absence spent in a general

study of some of the applications of chemistry to agriculture in

various foreign countries.

In Vienna Doctor Browne had an opportunity to discuss

pure-food questions with Doctor Schugowitsch, chairman of the

board of editors of the Codex Alimentarius Austriacus, the

official volume of food standards of the Austrian Government, a new edition of which is under preparation. Doctor Schugowitsch

expressed the opinion that because of the increased facilities of

commerce and intercommunication the whole world has now

become as one country, each nation exchanging its food products

for those of another.

The subject of food standards, therefore, has become a general

world question of the highest importance, and it is Doctor Schugowitsch’s belief that there is immediate need for an international

conference to consider the adoption of uniform world standards

for at least some of the foods that are constantly shipped from

one country to another.
DECEMBER, 1930 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 163

STANDARD CONTRACT FORMS

Adoption of Standard Contract Forms Has Promoted Economy and Efficiency in the Government Service

By Maj. E. W. Cushing, Assistant to the Chairman Interdepartmental Board of Contracts and, Adjustments

The importance of standardizing Government contracts will be appreciated when some of the conditions

found to exist at the time the Interdepartmental

Board of Contracts and Adjustments was organized

are mentioned.

Departments and independent establishments of the

Federal Government were requested by the board to furnish copies of their existing contract forms, and

several hundred were received. An examination of

these forms disclosed that they did not conform to any standard rules. They varied in size and appearance; there was a diversity of terminology and phraseology in clauses

of similar intent common to most contracts ; there was

lack of uniformity in type, arrangement of the clauses,

and of orderly sequence in stating the obligations to be

assumed. It was discovered that many of these contract forms contained provisions whereby the contractor W’as obliged to assume all risks, which tended to greatly increase the cost of Government work.

Defects in contracts. As an illustration of these defective provisions, a department of the Government in soliciting bids for

excavation work announced the result of borings made

at the site, indicating sand and gravel. Relying upon

this test a contractor submitted a bid expecting to use a steam shovel in the excavation work. However,

he found under the soil numerous trunks of great

trees deposited there by some ancient flood and was

unable to use the steam shovel, thereby increasing the

cost of the work to many times the price of his bid.

He endeavored to recover from the Government the

additional cost, but somewhere in fine print the contract contained a provision to the effect that the bidders were expected to examine the site and satisfy

themselves as to the nature of the material which the

Government did not guarantee. Because of this provision he could not recover and was forced into bankruptcy.

In another case it was disclosed that a contractor who had submitted a bid on a large construction project had estimated the cost, added a fair profit, and

had then included an extra $10,000 in his bid. When

asked by the contracting officer why he had added this

$10,000 he replied that the contract had 10 paragraphs

of fine print which he had not read and probably

would not have understood if he had read them, and

that he had added $1,000 for each paragraph in order

to play safe. Many such contracts contained a provision requiring the contractor to sign a full and complete release

of any and all claims arising out of the contract before

he should receive his final payment. This was a onesided provision whicli often prevented the contractor from receiving his final payment of a large sum that was admittedly due him because of some amount in

dispute. His only alternative was either to forego his

right to assert his claim for the amount in dispute or

to postpone the receipt of the final payment pending

adjudication of the disputed claim—a delay of a year

or more in some instances.

Another unsatisfactory provision found in some of

these contracts was one which reserved to the Government the right to suspend the whole or any part of

the work and required the contractor, without expense

to the Government, to protect the work properly during such period of suspense ivith the possibility of

increased cost of labor and material when work should

be ordered resumed, but denying him any damages

for the delay.

In order to remedy the conditions mentioned, the

Interdepartmental Board of Contracts and Adjustments was created by the Bureau of the Budget on. November 22, 1921 (and organized the following January), for the purpose of standardizing the forms of

contracts and methods of contract letting by the Government.

I The War Department Contract Board prepared n

j jB’oposed standard form of contract for construction

! and supplies, and after careful study and considera-

! tion of the form by the Interdepartmental Board it

I was concluded that it would be advisable to draft two

standard forms, one for the construction of public

works and the other for the procurement of supplies.

Tentative drafts of these forms were sent to contractors, architects, engineers, manufacturers, and dealers

for comment and constructive suggestions.

Legal questions.

In the course of the study the board discovered that

there were numerous statutes—an accumulation of

years of legislation—describing different formalities

and different methods of procedure to be complied

with by the various departments and independent es- tablishments of the Government, and a committee ivas

appointed to compile these statutes. Approximately

225 laws relating to public contracts were found and

these were published by the board in 1922 and distributed throughout the Government service. This

jiublication is entitled “ Compilation of the Principal

Federal Statutes Relating to Public Contracts.”

A study of these numerous statutes convinced the

board that there should be a new contract law enacted

that would establish uniform procedure in one short

act and repeal many of the existing statutes, some of

which were obsolete. Accordingly, the chairman apjiointed a committee of the board in 1923 to prepare

such a new public contract law, which is now before

the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives and is known as H. R. No. 5568.

Standard lease form.

In the meantime, tlie board proceeded Avith its work

of standardization. The first standard form drafted

by tlie board was tlic standard form of Government

lease, known as standard form No. 2, which was

approved by the President and issued pursuant to

Budget Bureau Circular No. 109 on June 1, 1923. One of the unfair ]iro visions contained in many

Government leases and omitted from this standard
164 COMMEKCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DECEMBER. 1930

form was a reservation by the Government of the

right to cancel the lease at any time upon a certain

number of clays’ notice. This was contrary to commercial practice, made the Government an undesirable

tenant, tended to increase rentals, and often prevented

the leasing of desirable premises. The stanclard form

of lease was drafted in cooperation with the National

Association of Building Owners and Managers, whose

members represented the owners of many of the large

office buildings of the country. It is a simple form

that is mutually fair and protects the interests of both

parties. It took the place of 75 or more dilferent

forms theretofore used. On January 12, 1924, a cir- cular letter was issued to the heads of the departments

and independent establishments giving information

relating to the use of this standard form of lease. Time consumed in drafting forms.

The drafting of the standard forms of contract for

construction work consumed a great deal of time as the members met onl}^ once a week and this work was

additional to their regular duties. Furthermore, it was difficult to harmonize the views of the contracting

officers because of different procedures existing in their

various departments.

On November 19, 1926, six standard forms for construction work were completed by the board and

approved by the President. In order to avoid duplication, three of these forms (the standard insti’uctions to bidders, standard form of bid bond, and standaj-d

form of performance bond) were so drafted as to be equally applicable for use with the contract for the

procurement of supplies. It was also provided that the invitation for bids, the

bid, and the instructions to bidders should not be in- corporated in and made a part of the construction contract, as they are the preliminary papers on the basis

of which the contract is prepared and executed. This

is a departure from previous practice and avoids en- cumbering the contract with unnecessary papers.

The various articles in the construction contract form relating to changes in the plans and specifications, unusual conditions at the site, inspections, delays, liquidated damages, and payments to contractors,

have all been carefully drafted to make them fair and

equitable both to the contractor and to the Government.

On June 29, 1927, the board comjoleted seven additional standard forms for the procurement of supplies,

which were likewise approved by the President. It was deemed advisable to have two forms of contracts

for supplies—one a short form to cover many of the

informal purchases and another to be used where a large amount is involved and deliveries cover a considerable period of time. It was the policy of the

board in drafting these forms to simplify the lanREDUCTION IN TYPES OF GLASS JARS

Recommendation Reduces 20 Sizes of Cottage-Cheese

Jars to 3 Instead of the existing 20 sizes and types of glass

jars for cottage cheese and sour cream, there will now

be 3, following the action taken by a general confer- ence of the industi-y, held October 23, 1930, in Cleveland, Ohio, in approving a proposed simplified practice recommendation.

guage, to make clear the exact obligations to be

assumed by the contractor, and to omit unnecessary

hazards and unfair provisions.

The next standard form promulgated was the contract for telephone service, which was issued on March

1, 1929. This form was prepared in the Office of the

Chief Coordinator in cooperation with representatives

of the telephone companies and of the General

Accounting Office. On the same date, March 1, 1929,

the board completed three additional standard contract foiTns for the procurement of coal. These were

developed after numerous conferences with the representatives of the Government who were engaged in

purchasing this commodity and in cooperation with numerous dealers in coal. All of these standard forms were issued by Budget

Bureau circulars which required their use without

deviation by all departments and independent establishments of the Government, with the proviso that

if it should be necessary to deviate from the forms

to meet statutory provisions or other conditions specifically applicable to any particular department or establishment the proposed deviation would be submitted to the contract board for consideration and

recommendation to the Director of the Bureau of

the Budget for his approval. There have been some

requests for deviations from these forms that have

been approved. There use has disclosed some desirable

amendments, and as a result the board is now engaged

in a revision of the forms which it is contemplated

will improve them for general use. The adoption of standard contract forms by all Government departments and independent establishments has promoted economy and efficiency in the

Government service. While the benefit to the Government can not be stated in dollars and cents, the

great value of this movement for standardization can

be appreciated by considering the excellent features

of the standard forms. The application of the principles of good design in forms, including the determination of size, style of printing, quality of paper,

and arrangement of text, has done much to reduce

the clerical work involved in their use. Their use has

also greatly facilitated the settlement of accounts in

the General Accounting Office. Other advantages in the use of standard forms are reduction in printing costs, making complete forms

available to Federal activities whose own forms were

deficient in some important respects, and facilitating

business between the Government and the commercial

world through the elimination of the varying and con- fusing conditions foi’merly existing.

The drafting of new contract forms, revising those

already drafted, and advising departments and establishments upon their contract problems is the work

upon which this contract board is now engaged.

The schedule, as recommended by the conference for

adoption by the industry, provides for the 8, 12, and

16 ounce jars as regular stock items in glass containers

for the marketing of these products. This simplified

list of containers will become effective March 1, 1931. The tentative recommendation, as submitted to the

conference, was drafted jointly by the standardization

committees of the International Association of Milk

Dealers and the Glass Containers Association of

America.
DECEMBER. 1030 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 165

REVIEW OF ANNUAL REPORT OF BUREAU OF STANDARDS

Notable Research Results Achieved During Past Fiscal Year

One of the most important developments during

the past fiscal year at the National Bureau of Standards was the realization, after many jMars’ effort, of

the Waidner-Burgess absolute standard of light which

may eventually supplant the carbon lamps now used

as standards of candlepower by the various nations,

according to the annual report of Dr. George K. Burgess, Director of the Bureau of Standards, to the Secretary of Commerce, covering the fiscal year ending

June 30, 1930. The brightness of the interior of a tube of fused

thoria immersed in a bath of pure iilatinum at its freezing point has been found equal to 58.84 candles

per square centimeter. The difficulties attending the

actual setting up of this standard have been very great,

but they have all been surmounted, so that the process

has been reduced to one of mere laboratory routine.

A recommendation has been made by the bureau that

this standard be accepted by the International Committee on Weights and Measures as a new international standard of light.

An event of great significance in the engineering

world was the signing of a bill by the President on May 14 creating a national hydraulic laboratoi'y to be located at the bureau, said the director in his re- port. (A sketch entitled “ National Hydraulic Laboratory,” by H. N. Eaton, appeared in the June, 1930,

issue of the Commercial Standards Monthly.) This

laboratory will study fundamental problems of hydraulics, including flow of rivers and open streams,

and will test all kinds of hydraulic machines and in- struments. A committee to draw up plans for the

laboratory has been appointed.

Continuing, the report of the director states that

developm'ents in the radio field require the highest at- tainable precision in measurements of frequency. By

means of a special installation of four quartz oscil- lators and auxiliary machinery, including automatic

photographic apparatus, it is now possible at the bureau to measure radio-frequency with an error of only

1' about 2 parts in 10,000,000.

I To aid the aeronautic industry a special laboratory

I has been set up at Arlington, Va., in which each new

I type of commercial airplane engine is subjected to an

I endurance test for the aeronautics branch of the Deli partment of Commerce. Certificates are granted by

the department only for those engines Avhich meet

the bureau requirements. Three engines can be tested

at one time at present and equipment for a fourtli test stand will soon be installed.

The development of radio aids to air navigation is briefly touched upon. These have been described

in recent publications of the National Bureau of

Standards. Methods of lighting the aiiuvays and

landing fields have also been studied and many tests have been made on the special light alloys used in

constructing airplanes and airships. To determine

the effect of repeated vibration on duralumin, a special

machine is in use in which the specimen is floated on

air and is caused to vibrate by a high-speed air stream

at a rate of 210 cycles per second. Through the use

of this machine it is possible to carry tests to 200,000,000 cj'cles or over. Researches.

Through an extensive cooperative investigation on

the properties of railroad rails during the period of

fabrication it has been found that, owing to the low

ductility of certain kinds of steel at the temperatures

at which rails are rolled, there is a tendency for the

formation of nuclei i within the rails from which

transverse fissures may later develop in service. Certain changes in the manufacturing procedure are suggested as a means of correcting the evil. Experiments on the tanning of sole leather have

shown that chrome-tanned leather retanned with vegetable material will wear from 25 to 27 per cent longer than ordinary vegetable-tanned leather. The

effect of sulphuric acid on leather and paper has been

studied and it has been shown that acid, in amounts

commonly present in the atmosphere of large cities,

has a very serious deteriorating effect. The importance of using thoroughly purified fibers in paper intended for permanent records has been

brought out. A study of old newspapers has shown

that with the substitution of raw wood pulp for the more highly purified materials a marked decrease in

the permanence of the paper took place. Many papers

issued 30 or 40 years have almost completely deteriorated. In the semicommercial plant maintained by the

National Bureau of Standards and Iowa State College

at Ames, Iowa, wallboard one-half inch thick and

twice as strong as any on the market has been produced from cornstalks. The process is now being used

commercially.

Xylose has been successfully manufactured in an

experimental plant at Anniston, Ala., and possible uses

for this new sugar are being studied. The experimental sugar refinery at the bureau has been operated on the first stage of the process of producing levulose

from Jerusalem artichokes, and the next step, the

actual cr3^stallization of the sugar from its water solution, will be undertaken very shortly.

Under the auspices of the American Society for

Testing Materials, a cement reference laboratoiA" lias been established at the bureau to standardize testingprocedure and methods in the numerous cement laboratories throughout the country. Inspection tri[;s are made by the personnel of this laboratory, and their

services have been in constant demand.

In the field of optics progress is recorded on the

mapping of spectral lines and in particular in search

for a new and better fundamental standard of wave

length. A series of filters has been developed bj'

which the character of artificial, light sources can be

changed to that of sunlight, and one of these has

been recommended for adoption as an international

standard by the Seventh International Congress on Photography.

A continued investigation on which progi-ess is recorded deals with the development of methods for

the fractionation of petroleum and the identification of
166 COMMEECIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DPCEMBEE, 1930

its constituent hydrocarbons. This Avork involves

laboratory technique of extreme difficulty, but good

progress has been made and several publications issued.

Cooperation with other organizations.

In cooperation with the American Petroleum Institute, the American Gas Association, the Underground

Pipe Products Institute, and the Cast Iron Pipe Kesearch Institute, a beginning has been made of an extensiA^e field investigation of protective coatings for

underground pipe lines. This work supplements similar work which has been in progress for several years on the corrosive effect of soils on underground pipe.

The investigation which the National Bureau of

Standards has been conducting in cooperation with the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers and other

organizations on the determination of the properties of

steam has formed the basis for a revision of the steam

tables by international conferences in London and Berlin.

The Post Office Department is a branch of the Government which is making increasing use of the bureau’s facilities. Considerable time has been spent in

studies of automatic machines which have been proposed to the department for adoption in its mechanization program. Among these were mail meters,

where safeguards against fraud are of importance.

During the period under consideration, as covered

by the report in question, an interesting extension of

the bureau’s simplified practice work has taken place.

In the past this has been confined almost entirely to production, but recently simplified practice methods

have been extended in the fields of distribution and

consumption and important progress is being made

on the simplification of containers and packing methods. Satisfactory progress is also recorded in the

fields of specifications and commercial standards,

standards having been adopted for a Avide range of

products from dress patterns to fuel oils. The division of building and housing has cooperated

with the new construction division of the Department

of Commerce on many problems connected Avith the

GoA^ernment’s program of public construction.

STANDARD MILK ORDINANCE AND CODE

Four Hundred Cities in Twenty-three States Adopt Code—Majority of Cities use Degrading Method

to Uphold Code

By Leslie C. Pkank, Bureau of the Puhlic Health Service

Centralized organization of a giA^en project accomplishes more and costs less than an unorganized sys- tem. The plan of decentralized, local milk control

has been tried in the United States without national

organization for the past generation. It has not

given all the people of the United States as clean, or as safe milk supplies as they should have.

A survey of 430 American cities conducted by the

Public Health Service in 1929 and in 1930, discloses

the fact that American municipal milk supplies comply to an average extent of only about 61 per cent with advisable public health requirements for raAV and pasteurized milk. Some municipalties have excellent milk ordinances and splendid milk supplies,

while others have nonstandard milk ordinances.

There are almost as many different types of

ordinances as there are cities. It may, therefore, be held that the cheapest and

most effective way for the citizens of the United States

to secure clean, safe milk might be to set up an adequate Federal milk law and to enforce it rigidly with

Federal milk inspectors. HoAvever, this country is dedicated to the principle of the maximum practicable

degree of self-government. In this countiy Ave believe, and rightly so, that we should foster local

self-dependence.

The Public Health Service belieA^es that, so far as

possible, every municipality should control its own

milk supplies, but that all municipalities should at- tempt to secure the effectiA-eness of centralized administration, and at the same time the advantages of

local self-gOA^ernment, by a A'oluntary program of

standardization of legislation and method.

Standard milk ordinance.

To assist in realizing this ideal, the Public Health

Service has formulated a standard milk ordinance and

code, which it recommends^or adoption and enforcement by municipalities. This ordinance contains generally accepted specifications for grade A raw and

grade A pasteurized milk, and provides that Avhen

either of these specifications is violated by a giA^en

milk supply the local health officer shall either require

that milk supjily to be labeled with one of the number

of lower grade labels, depending upon the nature of

the violation, or as an alternative, shall bar it from

the market by revocation of permit.

Either of these two enforcement methods, if properly executed, will yield a high quality milk supply.

It is someAvhat easier to use the first method than the

second, because it frequently is difficult for the health

officer to convince a jury that the offender should cease

selling milk altogether because he has Auolated some

one of the less important items of sanitation. Therefore, the majority of the cities adopting the standard

milk ordinance use the degrading method of punishment. This method is just as effectiA'e as the other.

It owes its effectiveness to the sales resistance introduced by the loAver grade label. During the past seven years the standard milk ordi- nance has been enacted by nearly 400 American cities located in 23 States. The Public Health Service has

recently completed surveys of 247 of these cities and

has found that the average degree of compliance Avith grade A requirements in these standard ordinance

cities is 88 per cent as comiDared Avith an aA^erage fig- ure of 61 per cent for 183 nonstandard ordinance cities. The total milk-drinking population, embraced in the

survej^s thus far, is more than 13,000,000 and the data

secured constitute such conAuncing evidence of the

effectiveness of the plan of voluntary standardization

of milk control that it seems reasonable to believe

within the next 10 years the vast majority of American

municipalities will have affected a voluntary standardization of the public health control of milk supplies.
DECEMBER, 1930 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 167

THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

The Congress of the United States Has Organized the Bureau for the Benefit of the Government and the

Nation; Scientific and Technical Divisions Outlined

By Dr. George K. Btjrgess, Director, National Bureau of Standards

The act, Be it enacted l>y the Senate and House

of Representatives of the United States of America in

Congress assembled^ That the Office of Standard

Weights and Measures shall hereafter be known as the National Bureau of Standai’ds,” establishing the

bureau in 1901 thus defines its functions : That the functions of the bureau shall consist in the custody

of the standards ; the comparison of the standards used in

scientific investigations, engineering, manufacturing, commerce, and educational institutions with the standards adopted

or recognized by the Government ; the construction, when necessary, of standards, their multiples and subdivisions; the

testing and calibration of standard measuring apparatus; the

solution of problems which arise in connection with standards ; the determination of physical constants and the properties of materials, when such data are of great importance to scientific or manufacturing interests and are not to be obtained of

sufiiclent accuracy elsewhere. The bureau is authorized to exercise its functions

for the Federal, State, or municipal Governments,

scientific societies, educational institutions, firms, cor- porations, or individuals within the United States. Fees are charged for services except to the Federal or State Government.

The Congress of the United States has interpreted

the organic act very liberally in making appropriations for work it desired to have done at the bureau

for the benefit of the Government and the Nation. It might be well to emphasize here that Congress has

conferred upon the bureau no police powers. Its findings thus stand on their own merits and are accepted

by voluntaiy cooperation. It follows that the bureau’s responsibility is thus increased to make sure

its results are trustworthy, but it can issue no orders,

and its findings are in no sense mandatory or binding on any one. The total bureau personnel, including all persons

officially connected with it was 1,180, August 22. 1930.

Of these, there were 712 engaged in the scientific and

standardization work, which includes 50 emploj^ees on a part-time basis, and 100 research associates sta- tioned here by 45 industries.

The bureau is organized for administrative purposes

into nine scientific and technical divisions, a standardization group of four divisions, together with the

office, plant, and shop units.

Scientific divisions.

The scientific divisions embrace the subjects of

weights and measures; electricity (including radio),

heat and power, optics, chemistry, mechanics, and

sound. The technical divisions include organic and

fibrous materials—paper, rubber, leather, ancl textiles

;

metallurgy; clay and silicate products—glass, cement

and concrete, refractories, stone, ]iotter5b etc. In the standardization group are the nonlaboratory

divisions of simplified practice, building and housing,

specifications, and tracle standards.

On the weights and measures division the country

depends for uniformity and exactness in instruments

and devices based on the fundamental units of length, mass, and time. The standards maintained at the

bureau are the official standards of the country. This

division tests great quantities of apparatus for the

Federal and State Governments, as well as for manufacturers and users. The work ranges in scope from

the smallest measurable quantities up to railroad test cars of 100,000 pounds capacity—for the calibration

of which the bureau maintains a master track scale at Chicago and three test cars, with weights in 10,000-

pound units, which cars travel about the country

testing railroad and shippers’ weighing scales. A uniform basis of measuring freight schedules, totaling over $4,500,000, is thus maintained. The mechanical

industries manufacturing interchangeable parts, such

as for automobiles and typeAvriters, are greatly helped

by the work of this diAusion, Avhich is compelled in some cases to be able to measure lengths as closely as one-millionth of an inch (tAventy-fiA'e one-millionths

of a millimeter) for gages used by these industries.

In the various branches of the electrical industry, the

manufacture of instruments and machines, poAver generation and distribution, communication, and illumination, the demands for accuracy are no less exacting.

For example, the requirements of radiobroadcasting

have increased a thousandfold in the last fiA^e j^ears,

and the bureau has noAV to maintain its standard fre- quencies constant to at least 1 part in 1,000,000, an accomplishment requiring the most elaborate scientific research. It is perhaps a surprising fact that

as an industry becomes more highly developed, be- cause of scientific research, its demands on the Government bureau for aid become greater than those of

less highly cleA^eloped industries. As a consequence our largest diAusion is that devoted to electricity.

The heat and power cliAusion maintains the temperature scale for the countiy, testing thermometers and

pyrometers reading from the loAvest to the highest at- tainable temperatures used in scientific research and

by industry; carries out investigations on heat in- sulating ancl fire-resisting properties of materials;

and tests of automotive and airplane engines, the lat- ter in the laboratory under conditions simulating

flight at altitudes up to 30,000 feet, as Avell as lubri- cants and fuels. The optics cliA'ision controls the testing of all imported sugars, the largest single source of customs

reA^enue, studies optical instruments, and problems in

photography, atomic physics, sjiectroscopy, radiation,

and applies optical methods in constructing and measuring the most exact length standards used in scientific

iiiA^estigations.

The Avork in chemistry is largely testing supplies

for the GoA’ernment departments, but there is also a great deal of research Avork, particularly relating to petroleum, soaps, inks, cement, illuminating gas, and

electroplating.

The heaA-y engineering Avork I’clating to bridges,

masonry, and building construction is carried oTit by
168 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DECEMBER, 1930

the division of mechanics and sound, which divisions

also concerns itself with airplane design, aeronautical

instruments, the characteristics of soundproofing materials, and the acoustics of auditoriums. If a new

building material, for example, is submitted for ex- amination, the bureau is in a position to carry out almost any test one can suggestj including not only

a chemical or microscopic examination, but also determinations of specific weight, porosity, effect of

heat and cold on permanence, fire-resisting and soundresisting qualities, expansion properties, electrical conductivity, magnetic behavior, as well as its strength

under any load up to 10,000,000 pounds.

In the metallurgical division attention is being

given to methods of combating or eliminating the

harmful effects of corrosion, but, perhaps, the most

important problem now before this division is the

study of the cause of the rupture of wires in the sus- pension cables of two large bridges that had to be

comiffetely dismantled, fortunately before the bridges were actually put into service. Some of the clay industries of the United States are in a serious condition, partly on account of foreign

competition, and partly because of a dearth of competent technologists in these industries. The bureau’s

clay and silicate products division, in addition to helping these industries all it can, has become in effect a school for the industry, a fact which indicates another

important role of the Government laboratory, namely,

to train men in methods of scientific researcli for the

industry.

Concrete and cement are used in the United States

in enormous quantities, and there are about 300 in- dustrial laboratories testing these products. During

the past year there has been established at the bureau,

in cooperation Avith the American Society for Test- ing Materials, a cement reference laboratory, financed

half by the industry and half by the Government, for

the purpose of standardizing the work of these 300

industrial establishments, with most gratifying results. The clay and silicate products division has also

shown manufacturers of optical glass how to make

large disks, by producing a disk TO inches (117.8

cm) in diameter for an astronomical observatory, a contract no American manufacturer would undertake

to fill. A division of particular interest is that charged

with the study of rubber, textiles, paper, and leather. Here the bureau has small manufacturing plants for

all but leather, where any desired variations in the

processes of manufacture can be tried out one at a time, a procedure Avhich is often prohibitive on a mill

in operation in an industrial plant.

A determination of the fundamental properties of

materials is largely a matter of research, and the

practical application of knowledge thus obtained to the development of industrial standards constitutes an important part of the bureau’s work in cooperation

with industry.

The bureau’s work in the field of standardization

has been favored by the close cooperation of manufacturers and technical societies, with the result that numerous standards of quality and performance have come into general use. These standards furnish a

Ijractical means of control • for industrial processes with I'espect to quality of product and serve as an

equitable and definite basis for commercial transactions. Aside from the obAdous desirability of securing

commodities of standard and uniform quality, the use

of standard specifications has been found to introduce

a marked economy, particularly Avhen purchases are made on a large scale. As an example of standardization affecting the rubber industry may be mentioned the case of pneumatic

tires for automobiles. Here the bureau, in cooperation Avith the Rubber Association of America, undertook a practical investigation of tires Avith respect to

material, design, and performance. The result has

been a very decided increase in the efficiency, durability, and uniformity of tires, and the development of

a Federal specification according to Avhich all Government purchases are made, and Avhich has been adopted

by numerous States and other consumers as a basis- for the aAvard of contracts. The experimental Avork

involved in the development of this specification re- quired special endurance machines designed to simulate roacl conditions. These machines, operating under

conditions that have been standardized, are being used

both for routine performance tests (in connection Avith

contracts) and for experimental testing (in cooperation Avith manufacturers) to determine the effect of

change in design and construction.

The rubber industry is one Avhich especially requires

the services of a variety of well-trained scientists. This is partly due to the fact that the process of making rubber products from raAv rubber is complex, and^

further, that the Avhole rubber industry of the world

is in a state of change and development. Consider, for

illustration, the manufacture of the tire, Avhich is the

largest single rubber product; the mileage and life of tires have increased remarkably in the past decade.

This development has been the result of concerted

efforts and studies of many skilled scientists, both in

pure and applied fields. Tavo types of scientific Avorkers are required for the successful development

and maintenance of the rubber industry^—one type in- cludes those concerned with the control of production

and manufacture, who are necessarily employed

directly by the various industrial concerns; the other

type includes those trained in fundamental sciences,

Avho are concerned with the broader problems of the

rubber industry, with research on rubber, and with the

practical applications of the results of research.

These latter can best be employed by the Government

for the benefit of the industry as a Avhole. The development of the rubber industry stimulates

the groAvth of other industries Avhich furnish products

used in rubber manufacture, such as cotton, carbon

black, mineral fillers, resins, and waxes. The building up of the rubber industry directly

affects the production of raAV rubber. Not only are

larger quantities required, but the production is also

influenced to change from a forest industry to a plantation industry, in the interests of greater

efficiency, concentration of production at desired

points, and greater uniformity of raAV material.

The study of rubber by Government scientific laboratories affords opportunity for research on gums re- lated to rubber, such as guttapercha, balata, and

chicle. A broader loiowledge of these materials

Avould probably lead to their increased production and

cultivation on plantations and to their Avider and more

extensive use in industry.

With respect to leather, laboratory research has

shown that a cheap material derived from the waste

liquor of sulphite pulp mills has definite tanning
DECEMBER, 1930 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 169

properties. Tanning investigations showed that sul- phite cellulose extracts could be blended with ordinary

vegetable tanning materials and used to produce heavy

leathers with satisfactory physical and chemical

properties.

The commercial significance of the application of

this work in the tanning industry is indicated by an

estimated saving in tanning costs of from 10 to 20

per cent. Other factors of importance are that its use will conserve material now largely wasted and

help to solve stream-pollution problems caused by tlie dumping of the WMSte liquors into the rivers. Its use

will also make the tanning industry less deiiendent

upon imported tanning materials and tend to compensate for the loss of domestic chestnut wood extract,

the source of which is being depleted by blight.

It Avas demonstrated in another investigation at the bureau that chrome-tanned sole leather Avears approximately tAvice as long as vegetable-tanned sole leather, but has certain disadvantages as to firmness

and Avater resistance. An investigation is now under

way to overcome these disadvantages b}^ retanning

chrome with vegetable extracts and by the use of waxes and mineral fillers. Vegetable tanning materials are now largely imported from South America.

Textiles ai’e an important item of commerce in all American countries. Most of the countries produce

one or more of the textile fibers, manufacture fabrics

from them, and import or export textiles. In the

United States the producers of textile fibers and the

users of finished textiles, as Avell as the manufacturer,

are benefited by the Avork of the textile section of the

Xational Bureau of Standards. Scientific studies at the bureau of the relationship betAveen construction

of yarns or fabrics and the properties of the articles

made from them aid the manufacturer in his effort to produce the most serviceable articles and insure to the

user the quality of the textiles that he buys. The development of a reliable test method for such special

properties of textiles as color and the permanence of

color, thermal transmission, air permeability, stiffness,

and resiliency is another contribution of the textile

section. Important improvements in the maintenance

of textiles, including laundering and dry cleaning,

haA^e been Avorked out. The work of the textile sec- tion is directed toward a solution of those broader

problems Avhich usually are not studied by the manufacturers, but on Avhich the future of the industry

largely depends.

The paper section of the bureau is constantly

studying the possibilities of different plant fibers as paper-making materials. An extensive study of caroa

fiber from Brazil showed that this material has

unusual possibilities as a raAV material for the manufacture of high-grade writing papers. Again, at the

request of the Siamese Government, tests Avere made

of rice straAv, lalang grass, and banana trees, all of

AA’hich are abundant in Siam. The results Avere so satisfactory that a commercial paper mill Avas built

there to utilize these materials. The results of similar tests are constantly furnishing information to the

industry. A great amount of Avood pulp for neAVS- print is im2iorted. The discovery of a neAV source of

raAA’ material for neAvsprint in abundant quantities or

the develojiment of p>rocesses for making newsprint

from the materials noAV unused Avould be of inestimable value and it is likely that these and other

services to the industry can be accomplished by

GoA’ernment research laboratories.

There is another imiiortant field of industrial re- searcli in Avhich the bureau is active, namely, the util- ization of Avaste-land ^Droducts. Wastes from the corn and sugarcane jDlants are similar in nature in that they invoh^e the stalks and

leaA'es, and the cob in the case of corn. At least 100,000,000 tons of these jjroducts are commercially

available annually in the United States, but are wasted

and await the call for conA^ersion into valuable products. The cornstalk consists of a very light inside

liith and an outside fibrous shell. The ^Dith is readily

se^Aarated by a siiecial machine and is being conA’^erted in semicommercial studies into insulating materials

resembling cork jAi’oducts. The fibrous shell is being

made into a A^ariety of crude and refined cellulose

jDroducts. By sinijile maceration a gel is formed

Avhich, on drying, yields a tough, horny jAroduct called

maizolith. It is suitable for making gears, bushings,

electrical fixtures, and other jAroclucts requiring toughness, strength, and electrical insulating jAi'operties.

By means of chemical and distintegrating methods,

the shell fibers are sejAarated and somewhat jAurified.

The puljA is run o\"er screens and separated from the

Avater in continuous felts from one-fourth to 1 inch

thick. These are dried in the form of loose boards

which are cut to size to form wall board for insulating the Avails and ceiling of houses. They may be

wateiqAroofed and firejAroofed. They may be jAainted

and can also be coA^ered Avith jAlaster for interior finish. The thick boards may be used to insulate the interiors

of refrigerator cars, household refrigerators, and ice- houses. The wet, loose ^Aorous sheets may be steam

heated under pressure to form a strong cornstallc lumber. Similar jAroducts made from bagasse have

Avide markets.

The cornstalk fibers give good grades of jAulp with

pro^Aer chemical and i^^^ysical treatments. NewspajAers and book jAa^Aers have thus been made. As side

jAroducts, xylan adhesives and carbon black are

obtained.

When further refined, the pul^A yields a high-grade,

2Aure al^Aha cellulose, which has been used to make trans2Aarent glassene pajAers, viscose, and rayon textiles. The cotton [Alant is the source of millions of tons of

wastes, such as the stalks, burrs, leaves, seed hulls, and

their adhering short fibers or fuzz. Only the cotton- seed hulls find use; namely, as a low-grade cattle feed

or roughage. Over 1,500,000 tons of cotton seed hulls are jAroduced annually in this country. AYork by the

bureau has develojAed commercial jAossibilities for

sejAaration and utilization of the fuzz and the broken

shells called cottonseed bran. The fuzz or very short

cotton fibers can be readily ^Aurified by chemical treat- ments to form 2iure aljAha cellulose suitable for manufacture into rayon, nitrocellulose films and j^lastics,

lacquers, cellulose acetate, and high-grade jiaper.

The hull bran has been found to contain about 40

per cent of jAentose sugars, especially xylose. Although

this sugar has been sold for $100 a jAound, laboi’atory

and semicommercial Avork by the bureau has shoAvn

that it can be made on a jM’Rctical scale for less than

25 cents a jAound. Work is under Avay to conA'ert the

xylose into sugar alcohol and acetone, furfurol, and

other }Aroducts by chemical and fermentation methods.

Its lAossible use in human and animal foods is being

26632-30-
170 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DEJCEMBER, 1930

investigated in cooperation with medical and animal

experimenters.

The simple processing of the cottonseed bran into a palatable sweet roughage for mixture with the cotton- seed protein cake as a cattle feed, offers attractive

possibilities.

The bran can be converted directly into plastic

resins by treatment with phenolic bodies and used in

manufacturing many kinds of molded products, such

as electrical fixtures, rollers, chair backs, table tops,

and the like. The protein cake from the cotton seed is used largely

as a cattle feed and fertilizer. It offers attractive possibilities for purification into high-grade nitrogen

products suitable for use in human food, plastics, and

adhesives.

Straws and hulls from wheat and oats and other

cereals are wasted annually to the extent of tens of

millions of tons. Work is under way to convert the

straw into high-grade pulp and paper products. Already they are used in low-grade papers and box

board. Oat hulls are the source of the new and widely

used commercial chemical furfurol entering into plastics and binders for abrasive wheels and electrical

apparatus. The straws offer possibilities for production of producer gas for household use by fermentation, combustion, and distillation methods.

These new industries, which are converting the

waste iiroducts of the farm into useful articles, are

the direct results of laboratory research. They are bringing increased returns to our farmers, providing

employment for labor in new local factories, and providing the great mass of consumers with things not

heretofore readily available.

Finally, the divisions having to do with business

management of industry, carry on their work wholly

through voluntary cooperation. Thus the division of

simplified practice, concerned with aiding industry

to reduce the numbers, varieties, dimensions, and

styles of enginering and industrial commodities has

issued 113 simplification projects with an adherence

to them of over 86 per cent by the interested parties

resulting in savings of several hundred millions of

dollars. The specifications division is codifying and

trying to simplify the multiplicity of specifications

extant, and encouraging the buying at least by public agencies, of commodities certified as to quality by

the manufacturers. The desires of industry for new

commercial standards are being handled by the division of trade standards, and the division of building

and housing is concerned with building codes, eco- nomical small house construction, zoning problems,

and other matters important to the home owner and

builder.

The bureau also, in cooperation with national associations, is active in problems relating to safety codes,

rules, and regulations in the several industries and in relation to the public.

A. S. T. M. REVISES SEVEN STANDARDS

AND APPROVES THREE NEW TENTATIVE

STANDARDS

Seven A. S. T. M. tentative standards have recently

been revised and three new tentative standards have

been approved, according to information received

from the American Society for Testing Materials.

These standards are listed below

:

Revisions.

Specifications for brass ingot metal, graded and

ungraded, for sand castings.

Specifications for aluminum-base alloy sand castings.

Specifications for aluminum-base sand casting al- lo5

='s in ingot form.

Specifications for concrete aggregates.

Methods of sampling and testing lacquer solvents

and diluents.

Specifications for soluble nitrocellulose.

Specifications for amyl alcohol (synthetic).

The new specifications for copper-base alloys result- ing from the revision of the tentative specifications

for brass ingot metal have also been adopted by tbe

Non-Ferrous Ingot Metal Institute. It is expected

that the new specifications will result in considerable

simplification of the specifications now used in the

industry.

Tentative specifications.

Methods of compression testing of natural building

stone. Methods of flexure testing of natural building stone. Test for absorption and apparent specific gravity

of natural building stone.

PERIODIC REVISION OF STANDARD TYPEWRITER TYPE WOULD AID IN DETECTING

FRAUDS

Information has come to the National Bureau of

Standards that numerous documents have been declared fraudulent because they were written on typewriting machines that did not carry a certain style

of t3q9e before a definite known date. It would no

doubt contribute to the interests of justice if the vari- ous typewriter manufacturers would make slight

changes from time to time, perhaps once in five years. This would mark a definite date in the typewriting

of that j^articular machine. It is understood that

most typewriter manufacturers now make type by the

plate system, and changes can be effected without a

sacrifice of mateiual and at a small cost. Some manufacturers, the National Bureau of Standards is informed, have made these changes in the

process of improving machines and in some instances

for the definite purpose of marking a date. It can

easily be understood that a change in even one character in an inconspicuous part would accomplish the

purpose. The National Bureau of Standards will co- operate in connection with this matter in any way that

is practical that will contribute to the interests of

justice.

When changes are made, if specimens properly

authenticated, are deiiosited with the bureau, they

will be dated and put on file and made available in

photographic form for future use. The bureau can

not undertake to enter into any litigation except in cases when the interests of the Government are in- volved, but will simply be a custodian for certain ref- erence material.
DECEMBER, 1930 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 171

“CANNERS’ BILL” TO ESTABLISH NEW FOOD STANDARDS

McNary-Mapes Bill Authorizes Conspicuous Label for Substandard Products

By W. G. Campbell, V. S. Department of Agriculture

The McNary-Mapes bill, which amended the Federal food and drugs act and which was passed by the

last session of Congress, authorizes the Secretary of

Agriculture to determine, establish, and promulgate

from time to time a reasonable standard of quality,

condition, and/or fill of container for each generic

class of canned food, except meat and its products,

and canned milk. It also authorizes the Secretary of

Agriculture to prescribe a form of a statement which

must appear in a conspicuous manner on each package

or label of canned food falling below the standard

and which will indicate that such canned food falls below such standard.

The word “ class ” means, and is limited to, a generic product and does not mean a grade, variety, or

species of the generic product. By “ canned food ” is meant food hermetically sealed in containers and ster- ilized by heat.

Since the passage of the amendment, the food and

drug administration of the Department of Agriculture

has been formulating standards for some of the staple

products. Material progress has been made in preparing tentative drafts of standards for the following

canned products : Tomatoes, corn, peas, string beans,

peaches, apricots, aj)ples, pears, cherries, and salmon.

Before these standards can be put into form suitable

for public hearings, a large amount of laboratory work

will be necessary to determine certain physical and

chemical constants essential to enforce the standards.

The food-control laboratory of the administration

is devoting much attention to this work. Some of the

factors being considered are : Size, texture, color, consistency, blemishes, and the presence of extraneous

material. The aim, so far as practicable, is to devise

simple and accurate methods of measurement that can

be aiiplied readily by the canner and distributor and

interpreted readily by the consumer. Existing commercial grades are of little value in formulating standards under the McNary-Mapes amendment, because

they are based largely on individual and expert judgment of qualities which do not lend themselves to accurate measurement and which are frequently local

in scope. The standards under the McNary-Mapes

amendment must be national in scope, must be equally

applicable in all localities, and must be sufficiently ac- curate to withstand possible court action.

Due consideration to trade practice.

Consideration will be given to trade practice and

consumer understanding as to what constitutes a standard product. Public hearings will be held at which the tentative standards will be discussed. Announcements of these hearings will be made, giving

sufficient time to those interested to arrange to be

present or represented. If additional information is brought out at the hearings, the standards will be

revised when necessary and submitted to the Secretai’y

of Agriculture for adoption and promulgation. At

the present rate of progress it is anticipated that

hearings on some of the standards will be held before

the end of the year. The amendment provides a period

of 90 days after the promulgation of each standard

before it becomes effective. The amendment, as passed, in no way relaxes the

enforcement of the Federal food and drugs act. It actually widens the scope of that law. Foods which

fall below the established standard may not violate

the act in any respect. Like standard products, they

must be honestly labeled, must be pure and wholesome,

and, in addition, must bear a label clearly announcing

their substandard quality.

The food and drug administration is devoting much

time to determining the form of this statement. It was obviously the intent of Congress that the required

labeling shall clearly inform the purchaser that the

product does not conform to the standard, but it is also apparent that the designation should not be of

such a stigmatizing character as to convey the impression that the product is unfit for food. The

amendhient recognizes that there are classes of cannedfood products which, while not of a quality entitling

them to be sold as U. S. Standard, are none the less legal under the food and drugs act if sold under an informing type of label. All interests cooperating.

The food and drug administration has sought from

many sources—including manufacturers, distributors,

and consumers—suggestions as to the proper designation for substandard goods to be recommended for

adoption by the Secretary of Agriculture. Numerous

suggestions have been received. Although no official decision has been reached, many of those who have

been consulted believe that the simple statement “ Below U. S. Standards,” conspicuously displa5^ed on the

label, will meet the requirements of the law. It is urged that this statement has the merit of brevity.

Those who propose it believe that, as the result of

the interpretation which the Department of Agriculture will make public, it will be accepted promptly

by the consumer and used intelligently in purchasing canned goods. Although the suggested designation has not been acted upon by the department, it is undoubtedly one of those that will be advanced for

discussion at the public hearings.

From the standpoint of the housewife, the enact- ment of this amendment should be advantageous in

that she will be able to buy canned foods ivith a much

more definite knowledge of their quality than has

heretofore been possible. If her means are limited

she can select goods of substandard quality at a re- duced price, witli a full knowledge of their character

but with assurance that they are pure and wholesome

and have satisfactory food value.

If, on the other hand, her means permit a more

expensiin article, she is assured, through the label,

against the unwitting purchase of a substandard

article.
172 COMMEEOIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DECEMBER. 1930 WHY DO SHOES WEAR OUT?

Leather Quality Depends on Breed of Animal, How It Lived, When Killed, How Stored and Tanned

By Henky D. Hubbakd, National Bureau of Standards

Leather is made from skin. Skin toughness built to withstand the stress of active life is translated into

similar service for man in the form of leather. The

Persian saying, “ The world is clad ivith leather to him who wears a shoe ” is the basis of a great industiy—shoemaking. The wearing quality is a primary

trait of sole leather, on which a billion-dollar industry

is built. The National Bureau of Standards aims to improve

leather, make shoes last longer, find out why they wear out, cheapen leather costs by new methods and

materials, enable leather makers to use each part of

the hide for its most appropriate purpose, study the

useful properties of leather, embody them in quality

standards defining basic requirements for each use, and develop reliable tests and devices—in brief, to place the manufacture and use of leather on a new

scientific basis with the fullest cooperation of the

leather industry and its technical association.

Why do shoes wear out?

The leather laboratory of the National Bureau of

Standards is answering the question “ Why do shoes wear out?” One sole of a pair of shoes may Avear out

faster than another, not because the walker has bad

walking habits, but because it is cut from a different

part of the hide and the two do not match in wearing

quality. If the sole is cut from the back of the steer it will outlast one cut from the flank because it is stronger, tougher, and more durable. The back section may

last twice as long as the flank leather. Shoemakers

are being told to match their soles for a given pair of

shoes to gi\"e the wearer equalized Avearing quality.

In view of the Avide variation in the Avearing qualities of leather from different parts of the hide, complete data were obtained. Leather from the portion

over the kidney showed the best wear Avhile on the

belly edge the Avearing quality was found to be only

73 per cent. If the best service is required, it is thus

shoAvn to be important to specify from Avhat portion of

the bend soles shall be cut. Hides Avere completely cut up into sole shapes and

the test results reported numerically and topographically, giving a most interesting and Amluable scientific analysis of the dependence of Avearing quality upon

location on the hide.

A notable aspect of the biu’eau’s leather research is that it stimulates the entire leather industry to co- operate on its basic problems; to promote progress; to reduce costs ; and to improve its product.

The response of the industry is shoAvn by the co- operation of the Tanners’ Council, in the study of the

effect of acids on leather; the American Belting

Association, in the work on leather belting; the Calf

Tanners’ Association, in the study of the methods of

curing as Avell as the properties of calf leather; and

the American Leather Chemists Association’s co- operation on measuring the useful properties of

leather. Breed of animal important.

Leather quality depends on breed of animal, how it lived, when killed, hoAV stored, and tanned. Many

factors require investigation. Since the finished

leather integrates these factors, the study of leather

in actual service is an important kind of research^—the

service test. Tests of sole leather by actual Avear in Avalking, hoAVever, take a long time. A laboratory apparatus was,

therefore, developed to duplicate actual service. The

National Bureau of Standards’ “ walking machine ” simulates the wear which a pedestrian gives the soles of his shoes. Such a laboratory test speeds up the

Avear as measured by the volume of leather lost by

abrasion.

The sole leather testing machine imitates the abrasive friction to which sole leather is subjected in walking. It permits accelerated testing. The equivalent

of several months of actual Avear of shoes is obtained

in 21 hours’ operation or 40,000 revolutions of the

machine.

On request of a State government the bureau in- vestigated devices and methods for measuring the area of skins and hides. Inspectors of weights and

measures had given little, if any, attention to these

instruments.

No standard test of leather-measuring devices had

been devised; tolerances had not been established:

and no comparative study of the various types of

such devices had been made; although hundreds of

millions of dollars’ Avorth of hide and skin products

are involved annually.

A bureau technologist studied the principle of

leather-measuring devices and sources of error. He

found that such errors usually favored the buyer.

A suggestive design Avas worked out and a procedure

for performance tests Avas devised. The test results on 3-wheel measuring machines Avere published with

tAq^ical calculation of essential factors.

PORTUGUESE INSTITUTE TO MAKE OFFICIAL

TESTS IN FIELD OF ELECTRICITY

By a decree of the Portuguese Government, issued

in February, 1930, the Institute Superior Tecnico, of

Lisbon, has been assigned the function of making all

official tests and calibrations in tlie field of electricity.

This Avill include tests of electrical instruments, machines, and apparatus.

The Instituto Superior Tecnico is a school of engineering, but the laboratories for carr5dng on official tests Avill be completely independent of the present lab- oratories used for purposes of instruction. The testing

laboratories will be installed in new buildings and

Avill have modern equipment. Some sections of the

laboratory are already outfitted; others are being

planned for establishment in the near future.
DECEMBER, 1930 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 173

STANDARDIZATION OF OIL AND GAS PIPE LINES

Standardization Means Economic Installation and More Efficient Operation

By E. L. Rawlins, Natural Gas Engineer, United States Bureau of Mines

Standardization of pipe lines for the transmission

of oil and gas implies more economic installation

and more efficient operation. Such standardization is now in an early state of development. Facilities for

transmission of oil and gas in their relation to each

other are dependent upon many complex factors, and

standardization at this time is primarily a process of

eliminating nonefficient and uneconomic practices

rather than of recommending particular equipment

and methods for construction and operation. Present

codes relating to oil and gas transmission refer more

particularly to the pipe than to pipe-line construction

methods ; however, these codes are flexible and permit

the recognition of development in the science of pipe

manufacture.

Specifications have been prepared jointly by the

Special American Petroleum Institute Committee on

the Standardization of Specifications for Steel and

Iron Pipe for Oil Country Tubular Goods and the

Technical and Research Committee of the Natural

Gas Department of the American Gas Association for

line pipe which satisfy the requirements of both the

petroleum and the natural-gas industries. These

specifications apply to welded and seamless steel and

welded iron tubular goods for pipe-line purposes, and

include manufacture of pipe, chemical properties and

tests, physical properties and tests, standard weights

and lengths, workmanship and finish, inspection and

rejection, and gages for screw pipe.

Research is an important factor in the development

of pipe manufacture and pipe-line construction equipment. Some research projects contributing to this

development are

1. Welding research is contributing much to better

standards for welded line construction, especially to the development of the technique for welding highcarbon steel.

2. The use of electric welding for pipe lines in reI Tent years has aroused considerable interest, and its further application is being studied by manufacturers

and individual jiipe-line companies.

3. A study of the effect of high phosphorous steel for welded line pipe is now being conducted by the

National Bureau of Standards for the American Society of Testing Materials and the American

Petroleum Institute.

4. In both oil and gas transmission, thought is being directed toward definite specifications of pipe and

other equipment for withstanding higher pressui’es

than in the past.

6. Experimentation by individual companies, as- sisted by manufacturers, relating to the use of different

kinds of joints has not only resulted in a better understanding of such usage, but has also I’esulted in the

development of more efficient joints. The selection of

a particular type of joint, or a combination of types

for a pipe-line installation, depends upon the conditions of the installation and the preference of the

designing engineers.

6. The American Petroleum Institute and the

National Bureau of Standards are cooperating in an

intensive research program on protective coatings to

resist corrosion. This work is helping, first, to develop a code on the application of hot bituminous

coatings, which is being followed to a large extent by

many pipe-line companies, and second, to permit a more intelligent selection of sections of pipe-line

requiring protection.

The practices of individual companies in their construction work on the transmission of oil and gas shoA

definitely the trend toward the elimination of uneco- nomic and nonefficient practices.

In the oil and gasoline industries, pipe-line construction methods are practically standardized ; that is, all lines recently constructed have been solidly welded

from one end to the other. On the other hand, the oil and gasoline pump stations are not so definitely

standardized ; they are subjected to personal prefer- ence as to types of pumps and methods of operation.

An automatic oil-pump station, which is a permanent

exhibit at the International Petroleum Exposition in

Tulsa, Okla., is an example of research which tends to evolve more efficient and reliable equipment.

It is debatable as to whether standardization has

had any direct effect on the construction of long-dis- tance transmission lines for petroleum products and

natural gas. Long pipe lines for the transmission of

oil were constructed and used before any definite

standardization of the pipe was considered; and the

construction of long distance pipe lines for transmission of natural gas has been due mainly to the discovery of large natural-gas fields and the assurance that

sufficient reserves of natural gas exist to warrant this

construction.

The nature of standardization in construction for

natural-gas transmission lines is somewhat diffel’ent from that for the transmission of other petroleum

products because of the many dissimilar problems

which are peculiar to natural-gas transmission. Pipe

lines, compressor stations, and other facilities are

subjected to personal preference of the engineers who

design them. Standardization is limited to the equipment which is used to build the pipe line rather than

to any method of construction. Onerating companies,

however, maintain certain standards, but these standards vary so much among different companies that

they can not be used as a collective unit. These standards include such items as types of weld and methods

of making welds; drip construction and location, dependent upon particular needs; meter installations

which, in general, embody the standards advocated

by the Technical and Research Committee of the Natural Gas Department of the American Gas Association ; length of joints of pipe, the longer joints being

considered an advancement for many installations;

leakable determinations and elimination; and protection against corrosive action. All of these factors are, of course, subject to research, and more definite and
174 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DECEMBER, 1930

useful standardization is possible only with continued

research and the correlation of research already made.

At present, it is not considered practical to attempt

definite recommendations of standardization practices

in the construction and operation of natural-gas trans- mission lines, and to some extent oil transmission lines,

that would be applicable under all conditions; there

are too many varying factors that have to be considered. Certain basic practices, however, can be and

are being standardized, and the applicability of such

basic principles is a distinct asset when used by competent engineers in designing pipe-line installations

for the transmission of natural gas and other petroleum products.

CURRENT ACTIVITIES OF THE AMERICAN STANDARDS ASSOCIATION

A. S. A. Announces Approval of Several New American Standards

The following current information relating to developments in certain standardization projects under

the auspices and procedure of the American Standards

Association has been furnished by that association.

Symbols for radio communication.

A proposed revision of the Graphical Symbols for

Use in Kadio Communication has been prepared and

is now in the hands of the Institute of Radio Engineers for their consideration and approval. The revision consists entirely of changes proposed for the purpose of making the radio symbols uniform with those

under consideration and those previously adopted by

the general sectional committee on scientific and engineering symbols and abbreviations.

This revision was prompted by questions raised in a letter to the A. S. A. which reads in part as follows

:

Our people, wlio are very much interested in the abbreviations and symbols, are opposed to the adoption of the radio symbols as they are, pending con-elation by the sectional committee with the work of the other subcommittees so as to elimi- nate duplications of symbols or terms for the same thing. We

are particularly concerned about the radio symbols and those

for electric power and wiring because, being a manufacturer

•of both, and using radio devices in connection with electric control, and vice versa, using electric control in connection

with radio, particularly the transmitting, we are faced with

the necessity of making new prints whenever one of the devices is used which employs a different symbol for radio than it does for electric-power work.

After approval by the Institute of Radio Engineers

the revised symbols will be considered by the sectional

committee in accordance with the usual A. S. A. pro-

•cedure. Pipe flanges and fittings.

A subcommittee appointed by the sectional committee on pipe flanges and fittings has completed a proposed standard on pipe plugs of cast iron, malleable iron, cast steel, and forged steel, Avhich is being

widely distributed to industry for comment and criti- cism.

The proposed standard is based on material originally cleA'^eloped by the Manufacturers’ Standardization Society of the Valve and Eittings Industry, and

adopted by that society in April, 1929, as a standard

practice for use in connection Avith the American

standard for 125-pound and 250-pound cast-iron

screwed fittings and the American standard for 150-

pound malleable iron screAved fittings.

A draft standard on steel pipe flanges and flanged

fittings has been completed by another subcommittee

appointed by the same sectional committee. This

standard is not complete irrdtself, but must be treated

as a supplement to, and used in conjunction with, the

American standard for steel pipe flanges and flanged

fittings.

Replies to a questionnaire sent out in December,

1929, by a subcommittee of the sectional committee on

pipe flanges and fittings have resulted in a draft of a proposed standard on steel companion flanges. The

draft is now being circulated to industry for comment

and criticism.

Methods of laboratory analysis of coal and coke.

A revision of methods of laboratory sampling and

analysis of coal and coke, consisting of minor changes

in some of the methods of test, has been approved as an American standard by the American Standards

Association.

The changes are the result of investigations of the

methods of analysis Avith a view of increasing their

accuracy. Many of the determinations made in ana- lyzing coal and coke are in part empirical in nature

and methods of this character require close standardization to secure agreement between different laboratories. The standards just adopted are recognized and used

by most of the large consumers of coal in the United

States and are extensively used in purchasing coal

under specifications for poAver production. They are

also used by large coal producers Avho process their

coal before marketing to impx'ove its quality. The

methods of coke analysis are principally used for

evaluating coke for metallurgical purposes.

The reAusions were submitted to the American

Standards Association by the American Society for

Testing Materials, which is the propriety sponsor for

the project under A. S. A. procedure.

Analysis of white pigments.

A revision of the method of routine analysis of

white pigments recently approved by the American

Standarcls Association, clarifies the method of cal- culating and expressing the results of the analysis in

terms of metallic lead and zinc, lead oxide, zinc oxide,

and lead sulphate. The revision was proposed by the

American Society for Testing Materials.

Prevention of fires in metal mines.

A code for the preA^ention of fires in metal mines,

providing for fire-fighting equipment, fire-fighting

personnel, and for Avarnings of fire has just been approA^ed as an American recommended practice by the

American Standards Association.

The code includes detailed requirements for sur- face-Avater supply and hose equipment and underground-Avater and Avater-sup2ily equipment. Amer-
DECEMBER, 1930 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 175

ican standard hose and American standard screw

threads are specified.

Under the section entitled “ Fire-Fighting Equipment ” the code also covers the use of fire extinguishers and sprinkling systems, oxygen-breathing apparatus, and provides for the frequent testing of this

equipment. It makes provision for at least one comjietent man in each mine, especially trained as leader

in the use of the oxygen-breathing equipment, and

recommends that at least 5 per cent of the underground personnel be trained in the use of the breathing apparatus.

Fire-resistant housing for electrical equipment,

testing of circuit breakers at regular intervals to insure

cutting off of power in case of a short circuit, the

establishment of fire breaks or fire-resistant areas, and

fire-resistant shafts or compartments carrjdng power

lines are included in the requirements.

A telejihone system, a series of bells, flashing of

lights, and the introduction of a stench fluid into the

ventilation air lines are provided as fire signals.

Code for mechanical refrigerators.

Domestic refrigeration and refrigerating apparatus

used in the manufacture and processing of materials.

such as in ice-making plants, cold-storage warehouses,

ice cream and dairy plants, packing houses, and

chemical jilants, and also the cooling systems of

theaters and other buildings, are covered in the

provisions of a national safety code for mechanical

refrigerators which has just been approved by the

American Standards Association. For details of this

standard see Safety Code for Mechanical Eefrigeration

contained elsewhere in this magazine.

Radio engineers join association.

The Institute of Radio Engineers, which has been

active in national standardization work for some time,

has joined the American Standards Association as a member body. The institute is represented on the

sectional committee which revised the standard specifications for dry cells and batteries, and on the sectional

committee which developed the American standard

table of preferred numbers. It is also represented on

the sectional committees on scientific and engineering

symbols and abbreviations, and standards for drawing

and drafting room practice, and is joint sponsor with

the American Institute of Electrical Engineers for the

sectional committee on radio.

PRINTED PAMPHLET ON STANDARD FOR

SPECIAL SCREW THREADS NOW AVAILABLE

The printed pamphlet entitled “American National

Special Screw Threads^ CS25-30 ” has been released

by the Government Printing Office, and was distributed to the acceptors of record on October 22. The commercial standard makes available for convenient shop use the most important screw-thread

dimensions and tolerances for classes 1, 2, 3, and 4

fits of the American National 12-Pitch Thread Series, as well as other screw threads of special dimensions, pitches, and lengths of engagements. The

tables given therein comprise the essential dimensions

as adopted by the National Screw Thread Commission and are recommended primarily for shop use. The pamphlet includes a brief history of the project as cleveloped by the National Screw Thread Commission, which body is to serve as the standing committee. It also includes a list of acceptors of the

standard. Copies of the pamphlet may be purchased

from the Superintendent of Documents, Government

Printing Office, Washington, D. C., for 15 cents per

copy.

LUMBER SIMPLIFICATION IN AUSTRALIA

An improved product and reduction in costs of

manufacture of native lumber are being sought after

by Australian sawmillers, according to information

received from James E. Peebles, American trade commissioner at Sydney, Australia.

It is reported that Australian millmen are going

over their production methods and making a careful

study of dry-kiln methods. An effort is also being

made to arrive at a simplification of sizes of com- monly used stock and to eliminate all unnecessary

handling and intermediate marketing charges.

Heretofore, it is reported by the trade, native lumber used in buildings has shown marked tendencies

to warp due to improper manufacture and seasoning.

This is quite evident, states Trade Commissioner

Peebles, in native flooring.

NATIONAL STANDARD FOR TESTING POWERLINE INSULATORS

Permits Authoritative Testing to Determine the Reliability of Insulators A further step in the nation-wide protection of

high-voltage electrical transmission lines which have

been put into service throughout the country during

the past several years to carry power at voltages as high as 220,000 was taken on October 15, with the

approval by the American Standards Association, of

a national standard for testing power-line insulators.

This standard, prepared through the cooperation

of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the

National Electrical Manufacturers Association, the

National Electric Light Association, the National

Bureau of Standards, and other organizations con- cerned with high voltage transmission assures against

insulator failure the lines carrying an increasing per- centage of the Nation’s power supply.

The standard will enable laboratories in New York

and California to use the same authoritative tests ta determine the reliability of insulators. In several of

the laborator}" tests voltage applied to the insulator

is increased at the rate of 10,000 volts every 15 sec- onds until failure occurs. The final voltage must be

far above the greatest voltage which the insulator

either singly or in series with other insulators will

be requirecl to withstand.

It is pointed out that the suspension insulators used

for cross-country transmission lines must be tested

not onl}" for their resistance to high voltages but also

to the tremendous stresses set up by wind and by the

ice which may cover the lines in winter, especially

since tlie transmission towers, from which the lines are suspended by means of the insulators, are in some

places as much as a mile apart.
176 COMMERCIAL, STANDARDS MONTHLY DECEMBER, 1930 STANDARDS FOR HIGHWAY AND TRAFFIC CONTROL

Uniform Laws and Regulations Proposed by National Conference on Street and Highway Safety Will Stem

Tide of Traffic Accidents

By C. W. Stark, Assistant Manager, Transport ation and Commxmication Department, United States Chamber of Commerce

Standardization of highway and traffic control has

been the subject of intensive study during the past

six years, and much progress has resulted. The development of these standards has been effected largely

by the National Conference on Street and Highway

Safety under the chairmanship of the Secretary of

Commerce, with the cooperation of the national asso- ciations directly interested in the traffic problem, and

the service in committee work of public officials and

private citizens from every part of the country and

representing every interest affected. The National

Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws

has collaborated in the preparation of the Uniform

Vehicle Code, and that body and the American Bar

Association have indorsed the code.

From a general statement of desirable uniform

principles adopted by the First National Conference on Street and Highway Safety in 1924, the plan of

standardization has resolved itself into three parts

uniform State motor vehicle legislation, uniform

municipal traffic ordinances, and uniform street and

highway traffic signs, signals, and markings.

The first of these standards, the Uniform Vehicle

Code, was drafted in 1926. It consisted of four acts—

a uniform motor vehicle registration act, a uniform

motor vehicle antitheft act, a uniform motor vehicle

operators’ and chauffeurs’ license act, and a uniform

act regulating traffic on highways. This subdivision

of the code recognized widely varying degrees of control of motor-vehicle operations or need therefor in

the different States, and made it possible readily to

adoiit parts of the code for which a given State was

ready.

Act IV, that regulating traffic on highways, in- cluded certain basic rules of the road necessarily applicable to cities and towns as well as to the open

country, but left the details of urban traffic control

mainly to the individual municipalities.

The model municipal traffic ordinance Avas developed by a committee of the conference in 1928. The

model ordinance repeated certain provisions of the

State code applicable particularly to municipalities,

but embraced mainly matters not covered in Act IV of

the code, such as parking regulations and details of

pedestrian control. It defined tlie meaning of traffic signs and signals and laid down certain conditions

under Avhich they might be erected, but did not proAude engineering specifications for them.

Standard markings.

In 1926-27 the American Association of State Highway Officials and the United States Bureau of Public

Roads, recognizing the need for uniformity in highway signs and markers, through a joint committee

prepared a manual for such signs and markers. Late

in 1926 the American Engineering Council undertook

the preparation for the national conference of a manual on street traffic signs, signals, and markings, and

this Avas developed in harmony on the one hand with

the above-mentioned manual for rural highway signs

and markers and on the other hand Avith the requirements regarding signs and signals of the Model Municipal Traffic Ordinance. This manual, which in- volved study of installations and operations in more

than 100 cities, Avas completed early in 1929. In 1929-30 a committee of the national conference,

organized for the purpose, reviewed all of these standards and submitted them with recommended revisions

to the Third National Conference on Street and HighAvay Safety held in May, 1930. These were approved

by the conference with other revisions, and the

amended Uniform Vehicle Code was approved by the

National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform

State Laws and the American Bar Association at their

annual meetings in August, 1930. Changes in codes.

A notable change made in Act IV of the Uniform

Vehicle Code was the incorporation therein of a large

part of the Model Municipal Tariffic Ordinance. In

the four years from 1926 to 1930 prevailing sentiment

advanced from a belief that each municipality, large

or small, must be allowed to control its traffic in ac- cordance with its peculiar conditions, with a minimum

of interference by State laAv, to one that the basic

considerations in virtually all traffic matters except

the details of parking restrictions and prohibitions

are essentially the same in all communities and should

be standardized by State law. The New Jersey legislature took the lead in this direction in 1928 in its State law, and Wisconsin and New York did the same

in 1929.

Twenty-five States have adopted at least, one act of

the Unifoi’in Vehicle Code or have revised their existing laws to bring them into closer harmony therewith. Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Arizona have

adopted the entire code with slight modifications in some particulars. North Carolina, Virginia, North

Dakota, Idaho, and New Mexico have adopted all but

the Operators’ and Chauffeurs’ License Act. Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Louisiana, and South

Dakota have adopted the Act Regulating Traffic on

HigliAvays.

California, by successiA^e revisions of its existing

laAvs, has brought them into substantial harmony with

the code. All of the NeAv England and North Atlantic

States, Avith the exception of Maine and Delaware,

had operators’ license laAvs with mandatory examinations, in substantial harmony Avith the code, prior to the drafting of the code, and Delaware has since

adopted the code. Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Washington, and Oregon have brought their rules

of the road into closer harmony Avith those of the code.. Maine, West Virginia, South Carolina, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Washington, and Oregon

have adopted license laws for drivers, but without the
DECEMBER, 1930 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 177

mandatory examination feature deemed essential to the

full effectiveness of the law. Numerous other States

require licenses without examination for chauffeurs

only.

In addition to all municipalities in New Jersey,

New York, and Wisconsin, which are brought under

the Model Municipal Traffic Ordinance by State law, some 30 or 40 cities have remodeled their traffic ordi- nances in substantial harmony with the model ordi- nances. The traffic authorities of an equal or greater

number of cities have adopted the manual on street

traffic signs, signals, and markings, while practically

all of the State highway departments have adopted

the manual for rural highways.

The National Conference on Street and Highway

Safety has constantly emphasized the great importance of uniform standards for highway and traffic control, both from the standpoint of safety and that of

expediting traffic. The motor vehicle has wijied out

local and State boundaries, and variations in traffic rules inevitably result in misundei’standing, disrespect

for the law, accidents, and chaos.

Uniformity, with enforcement, means assurance and

respect for the law for every motorist desiring to operate properly; it means orderly flow and the ex- pediting of traffic, and it certainly offers promise of

a stemming of the tide of traffic accidents with their

appalling destruction of property and loss of life.

STANDARDIZATION ACTIVITIES OF THE CONCRETE STEEL REINFORCING

INSTITUTE

Institute Formed to Carry on Promotional, Research, and Standardization Activities in Behalf of Industry

By R. W. Johnson, Engineer, Concrete Reinforcing Steel Instihite

The Concrete Steel Reinforcing Institute was

organized for the purpose of carrying on promotional

and research work and of standardizing materials

used in reinforced concrete construction.

One of the important accomplishments in the field of standardization and simplification has been the

establishment of a simplified list of sizes of steel reinforcing bars and spiral rods and the formulation of

standards for the various grades of steel. This move- ment was sponsored by the institute with the cooperation of the division of simplified practice of the

National Bureau of Standards, and resulted in the

adojition of the simj)lified practice recommendation

relating to these commodities. In line with the re- quirements set forth in the recommendation, the insti- tute is continuing work with its members and other in- terested bodies to help maintain the new adopted standards and to improA^e present conditions in the industry.

Following the simplification of sizes for bars and

rods, the institute adopted standard weights for billing

bars sold on theoretical weights, thereby enabling all

its members to bill on the same basis. It is now considering the adoption of two or more standard types

of deformed bars replacing many different standards now in use Avhich will assist rolling mills to decrease

the cost of manufacture with a resulting benefit in

savings to the members of the institute. Through promotional Avork the institute is urging

the uniA'ersal observance of its Code of Standard

Practice, including the standai’d bar contract, in eliminating causes for dispute Avhich haA'c heretofore

arisen betAveen buyei’s and sellers. Adopted building code.

In cooperation with the American Concrete Institute, this organization adopted a joint building code,

allowing economical concrete design. This code has

already been adopted or jiermitted by special ruling in

many cities. The institute is directing its efforts to secure the adoption of the joint building code in

many other cities, among Avhich are New York, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, and Boston,

as well as in smaller cities and in seA'eral States. This

code has become the standard for reinforced concrete

throughout the industry and has been found satis- factory where it has been adopted.

The institute is rendering a real serAuce to its members by means of lecture courses, by disseminating

facts concerning the technical development of reinforced concrete. These courses coA^er the design of

both large and small buildings, costs, and other topics.

The institute also arranges group meetings from time

to time to discuss marketing problems.

A special committee of the institute has devoted

months of study to a proposed quality mark for certi- fied new billet steel. This quality mark, rolled into

each bar, will assist purchasers in obtaining reinforcing bars made in accordance Avith recognized specifications. The institute has also in the course of preparation a form of licensing agreement for its members, permitting them to use the quality-certification

trade-mark on steel which measures up to the required

standards of grade and quality.

To make trade-mark effective.

For the purpose of making the quality trade-mark

effectiAn. the institute is inaugurating a campaign to educate the users of reinforced steel to insist on quality marked bars in their purchase specifications.

The institute initiated the trade practice conference

conducted for the industry by the Federal Trade Commission, under Avhich trade practice rules were adopted

to eliminate unfair trade practices and to stabilize

methods Avhich are legally proper.

The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute is actiA’ely

cooiierating with the American Concrete Institute,

American Society for Testing Materials, Portland

Cement Association, Rail Steel Bar Association, and

other technical societies in the development of standards and specifications for use in the reinforcing concrete industry.

It has issued several publications dealing with reinforced concrete building design, a bar card shoAving

standard Aveights for bars, and other literature for

promotional Avork. The institute has now in course

of preparation other publications dealing Avith designs

for tall buildings, quality marking of reinforcing

steel, and fireproof construction building.
178 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DECEMBER, 1930 WIND PRESSURE ON LARGE CHIMNEYS

A Major Element in Determining Cost of a Large Chimney is the Amount of Wind Pressure Which the

Chimney is Likely to Withstand

By Hugh L. Dkyden and G. C. Hill, National Bureau of Standards

One of the major elements determining the cost of a large chimney, such as those used in connection with

steam power jilants, is the amount of wind pressure

which the chimney is to withstand.

Many specifications are drawn up in which the

chimney is required to Avithstand a Avind of 100 miles

per hour, but since there are many opinions and little knoAAdedge as to the Avind pressure imposed by a wind

of this speed, the different bidders often design for

different loads and, therefore, do not bid on structures of the same strength. Because of industrial traditions, the builders of concrete chimneys, for example, assume a different wind pressure than do those of

brick chimneys for the same AA'ind speed. In many

instances it is felt that the Aualues of Avind pressure

used are too high, thus increasing the cost AA’ithout corresponding benefit. Wind-tunnel measurements.

For several years, an investigation of the wind

pressure on chimneys and other cylindrical structures has been in progress at the National Bureau of Standards. Measurements have been made on cylinders 8

inches and 12 inches in diameter in the large Avind

tunnel in winds up to 70 miles per hour. The pres- sures at many points on the surface of the cylinder

have been measured by drilling small holes through

the walls and connecting the holes through tubes in

the interior of the cylincler to a pressure gauge in the

observation room of the wind tunnel. The wind blowing past the cylinder exerts the same pressure on the

air column in the hole and tubing as on the surface near by. The pressures are measured by balancing

them against the weight of a column of kerosene.

Suction effects on chimneys.

The manner in which the pressure is distributed

around the cylinder is very interesting but puzzling to the layman. The pressure is increased above the nor- mal atmospheric pressure over less than one-quarter

of the total surface. Over the rest of the surface the

pressure is decreased below the normal atmospheric

pressure. This decrease in pressure is sometimes

spoken of as a “ suction ” or “ vacuum,” but it should

be remembered that the air still presses on the cylinder to a smaller degree than the normal pressure. We

live at the bottom of an ocean of air and its weight

presses on us continually with a pressure of OA-er 2,000

pounds per square foot. The suctions encountered

in Avindstorms correspond to a reduction of this nor- mal pressure by a feAv tens of pounds per square foot. These comparatively small pressure changes cause

large forces when acting on large areas. Type of distribution changes with wind speed.

The measurements on large cylinders at high speeds

shoAv a change in the manner of the distribution of

pi'essure. The amount of the reduction in pressure on the rear of the cylinder becomes less, and that at the sides greater than would be inferred from meas- urements on smaller cylinders or at lower speeds.

The chimney tends to be squeezed in on the AvindAvard

side and drawn out at the sides to an elliptical form

with the long axis cross wind.

Such deformations are sometimes observed on thinAA’ ailed steel stacks in high Avinds, and in the design

of such structures it may be necessary to consider

tlie distribution of wind pressure around the

circumference.

Model tests not reliable in this case. The changes referred to are shown graphically in the chart. The direction of the Avind is shown by the arrow and the regions of increased and decreased pres- sures are designated by plus and minus signs. The

pressures are plotted radially outward from the base i circle ; the dotted line for a speed of 40 ft./sec. ; the

j solid line for a speed of 80 ft./sec. In order to facili- tate the comparison of the shapes of the diagrams, the | actual pressures in pounds per square foot have been ; divided before plotting by the pressure exerted at j each speed in the open end of a tube facing the wind. | Because of the readjustment of the flow around the I chimney indicated by this chart, model testing in the

j Avind tunnels does not give reliable information on

| the pressure on large chimne5^s 10 to 20 feet in I diameter. It has been necessary, therefore, to supple- I ment the model testing by measurements on large I structures in natural winds. j Special stack built for outdoor measurements. i As a preliminary to measurements on an actual

j chimney, an experimental stack 10 feet in diameter and j 30 feet high of light construction Avas erected on the i' roof of one of the buildings at the National Bureau of

Standards. i,
DECEMBER, 10:!0 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 179

Experimental stack, 10 feet in diameter, 30 feet high, erected

for measurements of iV'ind pressure in natural winds

The pressures at 24 stations aroiinJ the circumference at a single elevation Avere measured. The wind

speed was determined by an instrument mounted on

top of the stack. In addition, the entire stack was supported on four pressure capsules connected to pressure

gauges so that the overturning movement could be

directly measured. The stack remained in place and

observations were made at intervals over a period of

several years, but as a residt of continual racking it

The power plant chimney of the iSational Bureau of Standards

Avas finally bloAAm from the roof in a Avind exceeding

GO miles an hour.

Power-plant stack used for measurements.

When a new power plant Avas constructed at the

National Bureau of Standards, provision Avas made

for measurement of the Avind pressure at a single ele- vation. A vieAV of the stack and its surroundings looking toAvard the nortliAvest—the direction of the most

frequent high Avinds—is shoAvn in the illustration.

'Idle dark line running cloAvn the stack is a group of

24 pipes leading to the pressure gauge and the holes are located about 2 feet above the top of the pipes.

The stack at this point is 11.8 feet in diameter. The

Avind vane on the roof of the building to the left carries a Avind velocity instrument, but the A'elocities are more accurately obtained from the distribution of

pressure on the stack.

The observer's station on the power-plant chimney

The 24 pipes lead to the observation station shoAvn

in illustration. Each of the 24 pipes ends in a A^alve and the handles of the 24 Auilves are connected to a

single operating lever. The outlets of the valves are connected to the pressure gauge on the table by rubber tubing. The valves whose outlets point doAvnAvard are tor draining Avater from the pipe lines. The

operator may observe the pressures continuously and

shut off the 24 lines Avhen the Avind is fairly high and

steady. The gauge may then be read at leisure. Tests indicate effect of length-diameter ratio.

A comparison of the results of the measurements

on the slender poAver-plant stack Avith those made on

the relatively short experimental stack shows that the

AA'ind pressure on a chimney at a given Avind s])eed in- creases as the ratio of the height to the diameter

increases. Further experiments Avill be necessary to determine the Avind pressure on a chimney of any

length-diameter ratio satisfactorily.

HoAvever, in the case of chimneys having an exposed

height Avhich does not exceed ten times the diameter,

it is safe to assume that at a Avind speed of 100 miles

]>er hour the Avind pressure is not greater than 20

pounds per square foot of projected area.
180 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DECEMBER, 1930 INDUSTRIAL HAZARDS STUDIED FOR SAFETY OF WORKER

Enormous Growth in Development of Industries Creates New Problems for Health Workers

By Asst. Surg. Gen. L. R. Thompson, United States Public Health Service

The United States Public Health Service through

the Office of Industrial Hygiene and Sanitation, con- ducts investigations of health hazards in industry.

Problems under consideration at the present time re- late to dust, ventilation, illumination, smoke pollution, industrial poisons, and allied questions.

Measurement of the effect of particular conditions on the health of the worker has involved several differ- ent approaches, including the physical examination,

X rays, sickness records, and mortality. In certain

cases differential blood counts, electroscopic findings,

etc., are also employed. In each of these cases standardization is of first importance. In the case of sick- ness, it is necessary not only to have standard forms

and jirocedure for classifying disabling sickness, but

to have an idea of the normal sickness experience of

industrial workers. The latter is being obtained

through current reports of sick benefit associations and

through special investigations. These methods are supplemented in special studies by observations on a group of comparable workers, who are not exposed

to the specific hazard under consideration. In the

case of physical examinations, a standard form and

technique have been developed, extending to the physiological determinations and the record of impairments. Instruments used in special determinations,

such as the photoelectric cell for illumination readings, and electroscopes for finding the amount of ra- dium in the body, are calibrated with the help of the

National Bureau of Standards.

In connection with studies of the effect of dust on

the health of a worker, an effort has been made to establish limits of dustiness below which no harmful

results are noted. These data are made available for

the use of industrial concerns. Standard methods of

ventilation for dusty processes, such as that of sandblasting, are being worked out, including determinations of the most efficient rates of air flow. The work has already proven its worth to industry

in this country. Especially since the war there has

been an enormous growth in the development in this

country of industries, such as new artificial silk factories, new dye processes, and more extensive mass

production in older types of industries, such as the

steel mills and motor factories. In many cases processes are developed using various chemical gases, and

humidity and atmospheric conditions under which

man has not been employed before. It is necessary

for the health of the worker and the success of the

industry to know what dangers may develop, what the

safe limits of atmospheric pollution are, and the most

advantageous method of securing safe working conditions by ventilation and air conditioning or selection

of employee.

STANDARDIZATION IN THE LIGHTHOUSE SERVICE

Service Has Adopted Standard Buoys, Coloring, and Other Items of Equipment

By G. R. Putnam, Commissioner of Lighthouses, Department of Commerce

It is probable that no organization has under its jurisdiction more diversified engineering activities

than are found in the Lighthouse Service and in none

is the need for uniformity more essential, for to the

Lighthouse Service is delegated the task of safe- guarding the water routes over which the ships of commerce travel, with the responsibility for human

lives and merchandise.

Since the organization of the American Marine

Standards Committee for standardizing various marine construction details, the work has progressed

steadily and about 100 different publications for

standards of ship construction details and fittings

have been promulgated with the cooperation of the

various shipyards and marine industries.

These standards and others which are now in process of adoption will be of great economic benefit to the marine field. While their use is not mandatory,

their adoption will simplify specifications and enable

vessel owners to obtain the same class of construction

or replacement in widely different localities, thereb}'

producing uniformity in details which does not now

exist generally.

The Lighthouse Service has found it increasingly

evident that standardization has received the approval

of many shipyards and the classification societies in

that they are offering to use these standards in their

designs. The Lighthouse Service desires to cooperate

in furthering this work which will eventually result

in better and safer methods of construction. There

are many other ways in which the Lighthouse Service

has found it possible to standardize its work. Several

examples will be cited. Standards effected.

Certain types and sizes of buoys for use in all locations have been adopted, for the manufacture of which

standard specifications are used. This results in a

uniformity of design which is necessary, if confusion

to shipping is to be avoided, and provides a standard

of quality of workmanship for all contractors to follow, and with which all inspecting officers are

familiar. Drawings are made on standard size sheets

with standard title, standard forms of advertisement,

proposal, instructions to bidders, and contract.
DECEMBER, 1930 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 181

The distinctive coloring of buoys according to a prescribed standard has been in practice for many

years, that item of standardization having been

authorized by an act of Congress in 1850, so that

passing up the coast or entering a bay, harbor, or channel, red buoys with even numbers will be passed on the starboard (right-hand), black buoys with odd

numbers on the port (left-hand). On lighted buoys

the light on the red buoys is red, and on the black

buoys white. It is desirable that reasonable uniformity in buoyage eventually be extended to embrace all maritime countries of the world, and an international

conference on this subject is to be held within the near

future.

In the field of radio, marked progress toward

standardization has been made by this service.

Standardization of tube type transmitters is being

continued and has resolved itself into three major

channels—the use of three general power ranges, the

adoption of master-oscillator-power amplifier circuits,

and the clock control of apparatus.

Power ranges have been divided into local lowpower transmitters with output ratings not exceeding

10 watts, intermediate poAver stations Avith ratings

from 100 to 200 watts, and primary stations rated at 500 watts. The use of master oscillator poAver-amplifier circuits is becoming more general, all new equipment being so designed, and considerable progress has

been made in replacing and modifying other circuits

in older equipment. Transmitters for such circuits are being built Avith all keying and control apparatus

incorporated in the same frame and panel, greatly

facilitating the replacement and duplication of apparatus.

Clock control of radiobeacons is in operation at a large proportion of the stations maintained by the

Lighthouse Service, and, in addition, group synchronization of radiobeacons for conservation of frequencies and the reduction of interference has made much

progress, about 40 per cent of the stations being so controlled.

When electric lamps in lighthouse lenses fix’st came

into general use, many different shapes and sizes were

purchased. The Lighthouse Service has now eliminated many of the sizes originally tried out and is confining its purchases to a small group which coA^er

all the needs of the service so far as navigational purposes are concerned. This procedure follows closely

the program of standardization carried out by the

lamji manufacturers, Avho liaA-e discontinued many

types and sizes. Lighthouse lenses have also been standardized. All

lighthouse lenses are classified according to orders

or sizes, and a moderate number of different sizes supplies all the needs of the serAuce. The steel towers for

minor lights throughout the serAuce are standard,

and it is noAV possible to procure such a skeleton tOAver for the height required, using the same drawings and

siiecifications for all. The benefits from the use of the standards already

adopted are important. Not only are substantial econ- omies in the initial cost and future maintenance of

engineering equipment effected, but the efficiency is materially increased.

STANDARD RADIO-FREQUENCY SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE NATIONAL

BUREAU OF STANDARDS

Bureau Will Furnish Information on How Signals May Be Used in Checking Frequency Meters, Piezo

Oscillators, or Other Frequency Measurement

By E. L. Hall, National Bureau of Standards

Among the standards for electrical measurements

which are maintained by the National Bureau of

Standards are the standai’ds of radio-frequency.

These standards are the basis of the maintenance of

broadcasting stations upon their assigned frequencies.

This application is but one of a number of their uses. The purchase and exchange of A^arious commodities

can not be carried on without standards of weight

and measure, and money standards. The need of a standard for something like radio, Avhich can not be

seen, may not be so clear. In the case of radio it happens that standards are indispensable, for without

them men talking and seeing by radio in one country

Avould interfere Avith men similarly engaged in another country.

While radio-transmitting equipment at one place can interfere with radio-receiving equipment at such

great distances, the need is even greater for shorter

distances. The problem is not only of national interest, but of international importance.

The standards of radio-frequency are made available in two Avays—first, by the testing of instruments

sent to the bureau’s laboratories in terms of these

standards; second, by the broadcasting of frequencies

of known A^alue from a radio-transmitting station

located at the bureau.

The frequency standards submitted to the bureau

for test are knoAvn by various names, such as frequency

meters, waA^e meters, and piezo oscillatoi’s. The first two names are applied to the same instrument, Avhich

usually consists essentially of a variable air condenser

and a carefully constructed coil of Avire, Avith an indicating device to determine Avhen the instrument is in resonance Avith radio-frequency current. The piezo oscillator is a more recent and more

accurate device, the frequency of Avhich is determined

primarily by the dimensions of a small plate or disk

cut from a quartz crystal. The quartz plate is associated with the circuits of a vacuum tube, forming a source of constant frequencA’.

Testing service limited.

Either of the aboA-e devices can be calibrated at the

bureau and then be set up in a testing laboratoiy and

used as a reference standard of radio-frequency. The

bureau has to limit the amount of such testing A\diich
182 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DECEMBER, 1930

it undertakes. Its radio tests are limited to special

tests for the Government, tests of instruments which

are in turn used as standards for testing considerable

numbers of other instruments, tests of importance to the bureau as a matter of research, tests of piezo

oscillators for transmitting stations, and a few other

tests for which special reasons arise. The bureau does

not, in general, make radio tests which can be obtained

from commercial or other testing laboratories. The

majority of radio tests made by the bureau are upon

frequency standards intended for use in transmitting

.stations and testing laboratories or for manufacturers’

standards, because reliable standards are especially

needed for such tests. It is of importance that radio stations operate accurately upon their assigned frequencies, as otherwise one station interferes with another, causing difficulty at the receiving station in getting the desired signals.

This difficulty is well known to all broadcast listeners. However, when interference is obtained, it does not

necessarily follow that the broadcast stations are not operating on their assigned frequencies.

It is of course essential that a radio-testing laboratory have suitable frequency standards available in

order that tests may be made for other parties.

Manufacturers of radio equipment also must have

suitable frequency standards so that their products

may operate within the frequency tolerances required.

Standard frequency signals.

The second method by which the frequency standards are made available is by means of transmitted

signals on previously announced radio-frequencies.

The bureau’s service of this kind began in 1923 ; standard frequency signals were sent twice a month until

July, 1926, when the transmissions were reduced to once a month. Eight frequencies are transmitted on

a specified night, usually about the 20th of the month,

beginning at 10 p. m. and closing at 11.32 p. m.

These transmissions are announced in the newspapers

and in technical magazines.

Twenty-three different frequencies are transmitted

in three groups. These frequencies extend from 550

to 7,600 kilocycles. These signals can, in general, be

received east of the Mississippi River, and are available to anyone caring to make use of them. The bu- reau will furnish information as to how the signals

may be used in checlring frequency meters, piezo

oscillators, or other frequency-measuring equipment.

By means of these transmissions the national fre- quency standard is made available to a large number

of persons who could not possibly be served by the

limited laboratory facilities and personnel at the bureau. Experiments are now in progress to increase

the extent of the standard frequency transmission

service.

STANDARDIZATION BRIEFS

The Millwork Institute of California is cooperating

with the architects in California in the interest of a

certified woodwork program.

The Japanese Standards Association is noAV operating under the new Bureau of Rationalization, which is a division of the Department of Commerce and

Industry,

A code of ethics outlining the proper methods to be employed by members in their business relations

with each other has been adopted by the National Engineering Inspection Association.

The German Standards Association has announced

that up to September 22, 1929, a total of 4,121 standards had been finally approved by the national body

and 1,291 were in the course of development.

The Russian Standards Committee announces the

organization of an International Standardization Bureau, which will act as the official channel for the co- operation of that committee with the national standardizing bodies in other countries.

Standard trade customs to govern transaction between buyers and producers of steel castings have been

formulated and adopted by the Steel Founders’ Society of America. These standards were issued in

booklet form together with replicas of standard sales contract, order acceptance form, and quotation sheet.

The bag, case, and strap leather group of the Tanners Council of America has requested the cooperation of the National Bureau of Standards in

establishing standards as the basis of everyday trade.

Several standards for pipe fittings to be promulgated shortly, if no objections are raised, have been

announced by the machinery standards commission

of France, according to information received from

American Trade Commissioner Thomas Butts, at Paris, France. These standards form part of a senes on pipe construction.

Radiations from the heavier rare gases are being

investigated at the National Bureau of Standards for

their suitability as wave-length standards. Most of

the xenon lines appear to be simple and narrow, but

a few of them are complex ; the latter are being studied

in detail with the hope that the cause of this hyperfine structure can be established.

In an effort to standardize the size and quality of

several different kinds of tape, and manufacturers of

this commodity have enlisted the cooperation of the

National Bureau of Standards in their desire to establish and promulgate standards for the tape industry

covei’ing the following : Shoe tapes, notion tapes,

tailoring tapes, and untreated electrical tapes.

The National Bureau of Standards has just

announced that Simplified Practice Recommendation
DECEMBER, 1930 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 183

No. 35, Steel Lockers, has been reaffirmed, without

change, by its standing committee, for another year. A survey of production, conducted prior to the

revision meeting, indicated the degree of adherence to

this recommendation to be approximately 78 per cent.

It has just been announced by the National Bureau

of Standards that Simplified Practice Recommendation No. 53, Steel Spiral Rods, has been reaffirmed,

without change, for another year. A survey of

production, conducted prior to the revision meeting,

revealed that approximately 92 per cent of this

product is being made in accordance with the recommendation.

It is estimated that 45,000,000 pounds of casein,

which is made from skim milk, were consumed in the

United States during the past year, in providing the

smooth coating that adds to the attractiveness of

printing papers. Improved methods of manufacture,

together with many labor-saving devices and better

process for better products, has brought about a new

interest in the production of casein.

Standardization of highway materials and methods

of construction has been accomplished during the past

few years by the American Association of State Highway Officials. The American Society for Testing

Materials has also accomplished much along the line of

standardization of highway materials and methods of

tests. Many of the State highway departments are following the standards set up by these two agencies.

On January 17, 1931, a research conference on elec- troplating will be held in Chicago under the auspices

of the research committee of the American Electroplaters Society and the Chicago branch of the society.

The principal subject for discussion will be the formulation of standards for electroplating, including

the material used in plating and the plated products.

All persons interested in this field are invited to attend this conference.

The committee on insulating materials of the American Society for Testing Materials met in Washington, D. C., on November 12 and 13. The committee

appointed a subcommittee under the chairmanship of

Dr. Dean Harvey of the Westinghouse Electric &

IManufacturing Co. to make a survey of the field of

insulating materials of commercial importance, which

are now being considered by the committee. Suggestions will be gladly received.

The Clay Products Association is conducting a co- operative investigation of sewer-pipe joints at the

University of Illinois where it maintains a research

fellowship, the efforts of which are directed toward

the processes of manufacturing vitrified clay products, wall coping, and flue lining. It is also carrying- on another line of research at the Iowa State College on the effect of wide and V-shaped trenches on trench

loads.

In France, the procedure followed in establishing

national standards has been considerably reorganized.

The permanent committee on standards has now been

succeeded by a main committee on normalization. Its function will be to formulate rules to be followed in

establishing national standards, to arbitrate among

the different French standardizing bodies, to give offacial sanction, if necessary, to standards prepared by

the French Standards Association, and to make national standards. This committee will include representatives from the different Government departments, and industrial and technical bodies.

A meeting on the simplification of textile machinery

parts was held by the simplified practice committees

of the textile machinery industry in New York on November 12. These committees were appointed in

1929 following a general meeting of manufacturers to discuss the need for undertaking a project in this

field. The program being developed by the committees,

includes taper and parallel paper cones, spools, bobbins, shuttles, spindles, etc. Excellent progress is being made with the work. It is expected that the

preliminary investigation will be comjDleted in the near future, and that a general conference of all interests will be called before the end of the current fiscal year.

The committee on insulation of the National Research Council held its annual meeting at the National

Bureau of Standards on November 7 and 8, with about

100 engineers and scientists present. Several papers,

describing researches now in progress in various Government, college, and commercial laboratories were

presented. In some of these papers the results of

researches on the fundamental properties of insulating materials were reported; while others described

tests on engineering structures, such as high voltage

cables, in which insulation is the most important factor. The next meeting of the committee will be held

at Harvard University in November, 1931.

At the October 9 meeting of the standards committee

of the A. I. E. E., there Avas received a report constituting a rcAusion of recommended practice for elec- trical installations on shipboard, section 45 of the

A. I. E. E. standard series. These reAusions, while

extensh'e as to material affected, inAmlve no fundamental changes. The recommendations, originally

called the marine rules, appeared in their first edition

in 1920 and in revised form in an edition of 1927,

Avhich the present edition will supersede. The standards committee approved the revisions as submitted to them and, on their recommendation, the board of di- rectors acted likeAvise on October 15, 1930. The Avork

of issuing the new edition Avill begin at once.

Recent comparisons of resistance coils shoAV the

National Bureau of Standards ohm to be slightly

smaller than the corresponding unit as maintained at the National Physical Laboratory and the Physikalisch-Technischc Reichsanstalt. The British “ international ” ohm is about 23 parts in 1,000,000 larger

than the bureau’s; AA'hile the German unit is about 14
184 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DECEMBER, 1930

parts in 1,000,000 larger. The bureau’s volt lies between the British and the German, being larger

than the German unit by about 60 parts in 1 000,000,

and smaller than the British by about 20 parts in

1,000,000. Combining the values for the two basic

units gives a value for the watt 2 parts in 100,000

larger in Great Britain, and 13 parts in 100,000 smaller

in Germany than in the United States. These values

agree within 1 part in 100,000 with those estimated on

the basis of previous comparisons.

A large fire loss results annually from ignition of

combustible walls, partitions, and ceilings from stoves and their flues. Building codes of different cities vary greatly in the required spacing of such appli- ances from walls and ceilings and in the protection

required for the combustible construction exposed.

The National Bureau of Standards was requested to make investigations and to conduct tests to serve as a

basis for recommended requirements. A stud}^ was made of conditions of buildings where fires have re- sulted from stoves, furnaces, and their pipes, and compilations were made of current building-cocle I’equirements. During the past year experimental set-ups were assembled to determine temperatures on exposed

surfaces from stoves and furnaces and measurements

were taken of temperatures obtained with actual in- stallations in buildings.

The National Bureau of Standards has announced

that the required degree of acLCptance has been re- ceived to the revised Simplified Practice Recommendation No. 95, Skid Platforms, and that this revision

may, therefore, be considered as in effect. According

to the revised simplification program, as approved by

the industry, the over-all dimensions of platforms for

No. 1 skids uesed for shipment will be not less than

32 inches wide by 54 inches long, nor greater than 33

inches wide b}'^ 5'4 inches long. Further, the over-all

dimensions for platforms of No. 2 skids used for

shipment will be 42 inches wide by 60 inches long.

It is recommended that the clear height from bottom

of runner or other supports to under side of platform

be either 8 inches or 12 inches, and that the minimum

horizontal distance between inside of runner or other

supports be 29 inches.

STANDARDIZATION OF EXPORT PRODUCTS IN HAITI

Standardization Commission Created to Grade Export Products; Specific Government Grade Marks

Compulsory

By Robekt F. Maetin. Formerly Director, Department of Markets, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

In 1929 the Haitian Government took note of the

serious losses being incurred in its export trade due

to a lack of recognized specific standard grades for

its products.

A detailed survey of the situation showed that the

exporter had been sending year after year specimens

of the various products he expected to ship during

the following season to foreign importers. The importer, upon receipt of the sufeequent shipment, compared it with the sjiecimen and generally found the

shipment inferior. In order to overcome this defi- ciencjq a group of foreign importers endeavored to establish a guide for the exporters, asking them to try

to conform to certain indefinite and vague classifica- tions in use at their local market, but this was not

accepted.

The outcome of this endeavor was (1) the exporter was restricted from shipping to those to whom he

had iDreviously sent samples, (2) trade disputes were

a common outcome of all transactions (almost a third

of all coffee shipments in one year resulted in dis- putes), (3) the foreign importers had established

themselves as sole judges in these disputes and withheld part of the payment due each shipment to assure prompt collection of any disputed discount in price,

and (4) very little general trade development work

could be done as each exporter had a different kind of

product to offer. In view of this situation, efforts were made to have

all the exporters adopt uniform standard grades.

After considerable discussion the general opinion was

found that in order to be effective the various grades

would have to be established by the Government, and

their application made compulsory. Accordingly, a proposed law was drawn up and offered to the trade

for criticism and discussion. This was finally recom- mended, with few minor changes, and offered to the

Government for adoption.

Standards law adopted.

On June 12, 1929, the Haitian Government adopted

a comprehensive law, making the grading of export

products compulsory in accordance with Government specifications or standards. A standardization

commission was created to study the best grades for

each jDi’oduct and upon the recommendation of this

commission, the President was empowered to put into

effect by a decree, the specific grades for a particular

product.

It Avas then provided that export declarations and

containers were to be marked Avith a specified GoA^ernment grade mark. This grade Avas to be verified in

the customhouse and if it did not conform Avith the

official grading of the product, it Avould not be passed

for shipment, but would be Avithdrawn for remarking

at a loAver grade or further preparation to bring it up

to the declared grade.

Coffee, being the most important product, the commission focused its attention on this product. Hearings Avere held in all ports. Finally it was decided to recommend, for the first few years, a system of grading

based solely upon the degree of freedom of the product

from foreign matter, such as stones, and from visible

specific defects, all of which should be definitely

determined.
DECKMBER, 1930 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 185

On September 7 the President issued a decree putting into effect, October 1, 1930, seven specific grades

for coffee, and providing for the grade marks ivhich

had to be applied to each bag by the exporters before entering their coffee at the customhouse for verification and export.

Immediately, instructions were given the customhouse graders who were charged with checking the

actual grade of samples drawn in the customhouse

with the grade declared by the exporter in his export

declaration and in the marks on the bags. Instructions were also given by demonstrations to the importers. Sets of standard grades were made up and

deposited in the customhouses and at the Haitian consulates in all important foreign market centers. There was a little confusion at first, to which was

added the early attempts of some exporters to prepare

their coffee so that it would barely fulfill the requirements of a certain grade, with the result that it was

usually found deficient and had to be taken back and

marked at a lower grade or further prepared. These

difficulties soon subsided. In the meantime both the

foreign importers and Haitian expoiders became convinced that the Goveimment verification of the grade was effective and could be relied upon.

Results of standardization.

Only one year’s experience with the coffee grades

has been sufficient to cause the program to be considered a success by the trade. It has resulted in the

practical disappearance of the unprofitable trade dis- putes, there having been only two or three cases during the year compared with hundreds the year before.

Because of the improved preparation of the coffee, the

standardization program has been responsible for a large share in an increase of 17 per cent in the comparative price of the coffee, which added $1,400,000

during the year to the rather restricted purchasingpower of the country.

The planned expansion of the application of standard grades to the other export products is progressing

as rapidly as possible under the existing conditions.

By presidential decree, upon the advice of the standardization commission, official grades for cacao Avere established and made effective on October 20, 1930.

thus adding the second product to the list.

STANDARDIZED SCALES FOR LIVESTOCK

Accuracy and Reliability of Weights Obtained for Livestock Improved where Recommended Scales Were

Installed

By C. A. Briggs, Livestock Weight 8ui)ervisor, Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture

Scales for livestock, approved by rhe Bureau of

Animal Indirstry and offered for sale by the manufacturers, have been standardized. Scales are now cata- logued and selections can be made to obtain equipment

suitable in character and capacity for different kinds

of weighing done at public stockyards. This was not

previously the case. In 1923, shortly after the packers and stockj-ards

act went into effect, an examination of the scales used

for Aveighing livestock at the principal markets in the

country showed that scales of large capacity and old

design Avere in general use for Aveighing all classes of

liA’estock. For instance, a scale of 120,000 pounds capacity was

used for lots of lambs, ranging from a single lamb

AA-eighing 60 pounds or less, to carload lots of 22,000

pounds. The smallest step in the indication on this

scale Avas 10 pounds. The beam capacity was greatly

in excess of the largest loads Aveighed over the scale and had a vastly more disproportionate relation to the

smaller loads weighed.

Study of the subject disclosed that at one time, in

the development of the liA^estock industry, most animals Avere consigned and weighed in carload lots. The

habits and methods used in the early days persisted

until they no longer met the neAv requirements. The

average draft of liA^estock Aveighed dropped from

about a carload to an aA'erage of four heads per draft

at many of the large representative markets.

Frequently the animals Avere Aveighed singly. In

only a feAv instances Avas this change in the character

of Aveighing considered in choosing and installing neAV

scales. When these matters received Government at- tention, as a result of the passage of the packers and

stockyards act, the scales in use did not correspond

with the drafts of livestock weighed.

Fixing standards.

A study Avas made of weighing requirements.

Through the cooperation with stockyard companies

and scale manufacturers, data Avere secured covering

the A’arious points that had a bearing on the matter. A series of scales AA-ere set up covering the various

requirements of liA^estock Aveighing. The platform

dimensions Avere chosen and the beam capacities asso- ciated Avitli them were fixed. It wms found possible

to include scales capable of meeting all ordinary re- quirements in a list of about eight scales; three of

Avhich consisted of the same scale parts Avith differences

in the platform dimensions corresponding to the differ- ent areas needed for carloads of cattle, hogs, and sheep,

and in the beams chosen.

In order to maintain maximum simplicity and re- duce the cost of the scales to a minimum, a guiding

idea in setting up the list of liA^estock scales Avas to choose them, if possible, from designs already manufactured, and adapt them to livestock Aveighing. A

series of liA'estock scales Avas set up Avithout necessitating an entirely neAV series of scales in the manufacturers’ designs and catalogues.

The list established in 1924 has proA^ed excellent,

and the accuracy and reliability of the weights obtained for livestock have been improved Avhere scales Avere installed in accordance Avith the recommendations. The only change made Avas soon after the issu- ance of the first list, in the addition of a scale designed

for Aveighing single cattle. This Avas the result of

the experience of a Avestern stockyard in Aveighiug
186 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DECEMBER. 1930

large, refractory bulls where the need developed for

a slightly larger scale than that used for hogs and

sheep.

Recommended scales.

The list, of livestock scales recommended by the

Bureau of Animal Industry, which administers the

packers and stockyards act, is as follows

:

Service Species Beam

capacity

Mini- mum

division

of beams

Platform dimension

\ Hogs and calves

Pounds

40, 000 Pounds5 Feet26 by 14. Carload 30, 000 5 30 by 14. [Sheep 20, 000 5 30 by 14.

1 Cattle, calves, hogs. 4, 000 1 10 by 6. Small drafts < and sheep. [Large cattle - 4, 000 1 14 by 8. Drive-in scale for livestock All species-- 10, 000 2 16 by 9. received by truck. Cripple scale do-- - 2, 000 1 6 by 4.

With new scales installed, stockyard companies

in some instances have used beams with 2-pound minimum graduations where 1-pound minimum graduations are recommended. However, it is believed time

will eventually bring about the use of the 1-pound

minimum graduation provided in the list. The platform dimensions may be regarded as approximate; individual manufacturers may supply the same platform areas with slight changes in the di- mensions and yet be regarded as meeting the

recommendations.

The standardization of livestock scales represented

in the foregoing list is an example of the present-day

idea of securing standardization through simplification and with a minimum of trade disturbance. New

and special scale designs limited to livestock weighing were avoided, and scales were selected from those

which had otlier regular uses in industry.

STANDARDIZATION IN THE MARINE FIELD

American Marine Standards Committee Formed to Assist Marine Industry to Bring About Collective

Standardization

By A. V. Boxullion, Secretary American Marine Standards Committee

The movement to bring about collective standardization in the marine field was initiated at a conference

held at the Marine Exposition in November, 1922,

under the auspices of the American Marine Association. Prior thereto standardization of shipfittings

and equipment had been practiced only by individual

shipbuilders, ship owners, and manufacturers, al- though attempt was made by the Emergency Fleet

Corporation to establish some national standards in

carrying out the w’ar shipbuilding program.

The conference was suggested by the Department of

Commerce to discuss the possibility of simplification

of practice and elimination of waste in the marine in- dustry with the idea that Avaste in construction, maintenance, and operation of ships could be reduced

through unification of design and specifications for numerous fittings, materials, and items of equipment

susceptible to standardization.

A committee was appointed, which met at the Department of Commerce in December, 1922, and tentatii^ely

planned steps to form a iiermanent organization.

Subsequent meetings resulted in the organization in

June, 1923, of the American Marine Standards Committee, as a national association of marine and re- lated interests, to be self-governed through the annual

election, from and by the membership, of an executive

board.

The field of activities comprises design, construction, and manufacture of hulls, machinery, equipment,

and fittings for ships and port facilities and their

maintenance and operation, particularly in relation

to the merchant marine of the United States. The

objects are {a) to encourage, promote, adopt, and

promulgate standards, rules, or recommendations, to bring about simplified practice in the marine field; (&) to cooperate with any individual or group engaged in the study or promotion of simplified practice in fields of engineering, commerce, and industry

here and abroad on projects affecting the marine

industry.

At the outset the marine industry was at a low ebb

and inclination was lacking to undertake the work at

its expense. This was OA^ercome through cooperation

of the United States Shipping Board and the Department of Commerce. The former supplied a secretary

and the Department of Commerce furnished office facilities, assistance, and incidental expenses for or- ganization and administration. This arrangement

has since prevailed and the results achieved have been

made possible only through this governmental cooperation. However, all concerned have liberally re- sponded to requests for data, technical service, travel

expenses to meetings, and, in some cases, staff members

of A^arious organizations have devoted much time to the Avork. Most of the members of the original committee have

been repeatedly elected to the executiA^e board. This

has made possible a continuity of policy conducive to good progress. The technical activities are carried on under the

direction of technical committees. The secretary’s office is the clearing house and correlating center for

the administrative and technical activities. Four

technical divisions have so far been organized

adz,

hull details, engineering (machinery) details, ship

operation details and supplies, port facilities—each of

Avhich is headed by a technical committee, the members of Avhich are recruited at large independently of

the membership. The governing rules are flexible and

permit simple procedure under all circumstances.

The subjects dealt with are greatly diversified.
(DECEMBER, 1930 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 187

STANDARDIZATION OF STEEL-MILL AUXILIARY MOTORS

Multiplicity of Standards for Direct-Current Magnetic Controllers

By John F. Kelly, Managing Director, Association of Iron and Steel Electrical Engineers

Great strides have been made in the standardization

•of steel-mill auxiliary motors, and to-day motor manufacturers have available a few frames, all of uniform

design, and each frame with a fixed horsepower and

speed to take care of the entire field. Manually

operated controller applications are likewise taken

-care of by a few standard sizes of controllers.

In the case of d. c. magnetic controllers, however,

there is no such thing as a standard rating nor a standard line of equipment ; that is, one manufacturer

may have a standard for a certain application, but the

equipment involved is usually considerably different

from another manufacturer’s standard for the same

job. As a result, there are a multiplicity of standards,

any of which can meet the conditions of the application. Controllers are designed to take care of the

functions not incoi’porated in the motor design in

order to enable the latter to operate under the specified

conditions of the load.

It has been said that with the proper application of

control, motor troubles and mill delays are few.

Control is said to be the heart and brain of any electri- fication, and if the brain does not or can not function

properly, how then may we expect satisfactory results

out of the very best motors ? We may even go further

and say that, with proper control, almost any motor

can give better performance with lower maintenance.

Of all the industiual applications of electric controllers, none involve more severe service than steel-mill

auxiliary controllers. Motors are started and stopped

frequently, usually under heavy loads, and in most

cases must respond to quick acceleration.

Drafting specifications.

In making up specifications for auxiliai-y steel-mill

drives, it is relatively easy to cover the motor characteristics required so as to enable any motor manufacturer to quote intelligently on a motor suited for the

intended application. It is a different situation, however, when requisitions are being prepared for the cl.

•c. magnetic-control apparatus. There are so many

details involved that very often incomplete information or specifications are issued, Avhich not only

necessitate considerable correspondence between the

control manufacturers and the purchaser, but in a great many cases apparatus is furnished that does not

adequately meet the requirements, nor is the apparatus what the purchaser intended it should be when

planning the installation.

In preparing requisitions for the purchasing department for d. c. magnetic control apparatus it is neces- sary to state whether the control is for rei^ersing or

nonrei'ersing, plugging, or dynamic braking sendee.

Then, again, it is necessary to state the required number of accelerating points, Avhich depend on the application, and likewise to determine the types and number of protectives features, such as oi^erload and

undervoltage protection. Also in applications in- volving shunt or compound wound motors, it is neces- sary to decide whether shunt-field failure and shuntfield protectii’e relays should be used. These possible

variations are great, and unless detailed information is gii^en, a ivicle selection of equipment must be furnished, which may or may not properly meet the

desired operating conditions.

Control guide forms.

For this reason some of our larger steel mill plants

have control guide forms ai^ailable, which they use in

specifying new control equipment, but this is by no means universal ei^en in the larger plants. In the

majority of cases, however, operating men hai’e rather

limited ready-reference guides to follow in writing

control specifications, with the result that many a motor is operating with a control that is imsuitecl to the application, or the drh-e is equipped with inadequate means for proper protection.

For the convenience of the purchasing agents, steel mill engineers, and their assistants, the Association

of Iron and Steel Electrical Engineers has compiled

a set of guide forms which will be of material assist- ance in preparation of requisitions for cl. c. magnetic

control apparatus.

A. S. T. M. NOW HAS 427 FORMALLY ADOPTED

STANDARDS

With the adoption to date of a total of 46 new standards and 55 revisions of existing standards, the American Society for Testing Materials now has 427 standards that have been formally adopted. In addition,

it has 155 classified as “ tentatAe standards.”

With the total number noAV aggregating 582, the

lists of standards prepared annually should be of

considerable assistance to the society’s members, aside

from the annual index, in locating any standard desired. The list appears in the curi’ent A. S. T. M.

Yearbook, in botli parts 1 and 2 of the book of

A. S. T. ]\I. standards and in the book of A. S. T. IM. tentative standards.

ADHERENCE TO EXISTING STANDARD FOR

BRASS PIPE NIPPLES REAFFIRMED

As a result of a recent survey among the manufacturers to determine adherence to the Commercial

Standard for Brass Pipe Nipples, CSlO-29, a summarized report tvas issued on October 21, indicating

that among reporting manufacturers 100 per cent of

production, as regards grade of pipe stock, conforms

to the commercial standard, and 96.3 per cent as re- gards stock sizes and lengths.

In accordance with recommendation of the standing committee, the existing standard was reaffirmed,

without change, for another vear beginning July

1, 1930.
188 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DECEMBER. 19.30 STABILITY OF PAPER TOWELS

Paper Towels Tested for Loss of Absorbency during Storage

Some difficulty has been experienced by the Government in purchasing paper towels that will prove

satisfactory for use after a period of storage. The

purchase specification generally used is similar to that

suggested in Bureau of Standards Circular No. 294. The difficulty in most instances is found in towels

that have complied with the specifications when re- ceived, but have deteriorated to such an extent after a short period of storage, that their absorbency is so reduced as to be unsatisfactory. The tests of

weight, bursting strength, and absoiffiency do not seem

sufficient to assure the purchaser that a paper towel

will prove satisfactory if not used within a period of

four months or so. Little is known at the present

time of the effects various storage conditions have

upon the rate of absorption, or the influencing factors

which tend to produce a change in the absorbency.

Further results in study of this problem have been

obtained.

To study the effects of storage conditions upon paper towels, 17 different samples of towels, representative of the different types, were obtained from

vai'ious manufacturers. The towels were tested for

weight, bursting strength, tensile strength, and absorption as received. Samples were then stored in the

paper section of the National Bureau of Standards

for periods of 1, 2, and 4 months, respectively. At the

comjiletion of each period the samples were tested for

bursting strength, tensile strength, and absorption.

Four sets of towels were selected from each lot for a heat-treatment test. The periods of heat treatment

for the different sets were 3, 24, 48, and 72 hours,

respectively, and the temperature used was 100° C. The heat-treatment tests were made to determine the

effect of heat upon the rate of absorption and strength,

and to find which period of heat treatment woidd

approach the effect of natural aging during storage for

4 to 6 months. In this manner it was hoped to develop

an accelerated aging test that would indicate the behavior of a paper towel when stored under natural

conditions.

It was found that the values for bursting strength

and tensile strength did not change appreciably for

any period of natural aging up to 4 months or for heat

treatment up to 72 hours. This would indicate that

the strength is not appreciably affected during normal

storage periods. The absorption values show clearly

that some towels changed rapidly in absorbency over

a period of four months natural aging, while other

towels did not change appreciably within this time of

storage. The differences in absorbency of different

towels on aging were not related to the fiber composition in any respect. A low initial rate of absorption seems quite advantageous, for as a rule such towels were the most stable. There is a fair relation in the order of grading be- tween the artificial aging and natural aging. In

general, the most stable towels under natural aging were the most stable under the heat treatment. The

3-hour period of heat treatment seems more drastic

than the four months natural aging period and is probably commensurate with some time greatly in excess of any normal storage period. Possibly a

shorter heating time would more nearly approximate

the effects of natural storage.

In general, rosin and acidity are low in the samples

having the better absorbency values and increase as the absorbency decreases. This relation of rosin and

acidity to absorbency also gives an approximate indication of ‘the stability of the towels, for acidity and

rosin are highest in the least stable samples.

The results obtained so far in this investigation are

sufficient to justify further study of the relation of

the rosin content, acidity, and heat treatment tests to the loss of absorbency, and additional tests of this kind

are in progress.

TENNESSEE STANDARDIZES ITS HIGHWAY EQUIPMENT

Amount of “Replacements” Carried in Stock Reduced Through Standardization

By E. L. CoiLE, Assistant Maintenance Engineer, Tennessee State Iliglncay Department

We are in an age of standardization Avhich may be

applied to equipment, machines, signs, pavements, and

methods. There may be danger of carrying it too far

in design, making the standards do where individual

design would be more successful, but in maintenance

there are many places where standardization will

effect great economies and produce the needed re- sults in a very satisfactory manner. The following

two examples illustrate the advantages of standard

parts in maintenance equipment.

In 1928 the Tennessee State highway department was servicing 10 makes of blade graders doing maintenance and carried a stock of 6 different lengths of

blades, namely, 6 foot, 7 foot 3 inch, 8 foot, 9 foot,

10 foot, and 12 foot. The different makes required

in most instances a different blade because of either

its shape or the spacing of holes for attachment.

Thirty-seven types of blades differing in lengths,

bores, and shapes were carried in stock to service two

thirds of the graders in use. The other third were

serviced by special orders as new blades were needed.

Headquarters garage carried at one time seven car- loads of blades and two division garages a corresponding suppljq making a total of $250,000 worth of blades on hand to service two-thirds of 427 graders in use. At best, the service was not complete and there were

necessary delays in getting blades for more than 100

pieces of equipment. Had there been no change in

methods, the trouble would have been greatly augmented when the number was increased to 555 in 1930.
DECEMBER, 1930 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 189

Standardization began in 1929.

Standardization was begun in 1929 and ivas completed in 1930, and the department is now carrying

six sizes as follows : 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 foot lengths,

and only six sizes of blades are necessary for 100 per

cent service.

The weights are standard, sizes are standard, and

the borings are standard, conforming to those adopted

by the National Association of State Highway Officials. Four carloads of blades are distributed to four

division garages in the State, and the total cost of

stock is $66,000. The needed supply is servicing 100

per cent of the graders in use. Headquarters garage,

instead of carrying seven carloads of blades, carries one carload, and the other garages have cut their

supplies in proportion. The change from 37 types of

blades to the 6 now carried is not only a saving in

time and money invested, but in storage space and

ability to render immediate service to the field. Additional standardization is possible, making the blades even more serviceable.

At the present time, the 10 and 12 foot blades are made in two sections and are bevelled on one end,

which is unnecessary from a working standpoint, making them rights and lefts. Were the ends identical

there would be no rights or lefts, and since one side

usually wears more rapidly than the other, the blade

could be shifted, getting more even wear and longer

services from each one. This change would in no way decrease the usefulness of the blade, but it would

increase their useful life. Work of standardization on this piece of equipment

has shown what can be done and with the application

of time and study, similar standardization may be

made of other machines. During the last few months, we have been studying the rock crusher and making

changes toward standardizing this equipment.

Crushers.

At the present time, the maintenance department

is operating 76 rock crushers throughout the State.

They are equipped with individual bucket and eleva- tor chains carrying in pitch with each model and

size. As a consequence, when a break occurs, the garages can not furnish immediate repairs without car- rying an excessive amount of chain in stock. It is an

individual matter for each few pieces of equipment.

In the near future, it is the hope of the department

to standardize on one or two sizes of chains for all portable crusher equipment, to standardize on bucket

sizes and types so far as possible and to standardize on screens so that equipment will be interchangeable

and can be serviced with a small stock of parts on

hand.

The 76 crushers are equipped with 17 different sizes and weights of chains to operate the buckets and

screens. This department does not suggest that chain

manufacturers make only one type of chain, but it does suggest that manufacturers of portable equipment adopt standard sizes of chain and standard

buckets and bucket attachments for crushers of approximate like capacity! It is also suggested that

such equipment as head and tail shafts, idlers, idler

shafts, and take-up boxes be standard for similar sizes. At the present time, screens have been standardized

to a 30-inch diameter, using three sections which separate the stone into two sizes and take out the dust.

This size screen will separate the particles from a crusher having a capacity of 150 cubic yards or maximum 11/2 -inch material per 10-hour day. When a larger capacity crusher is used, a larger diameter

screen can be obtained, but preferably the length of

the standard can be increased by additional standard

sections.

Since the servicing of the equipment is as important

an item as first cost and adaptability to use, it is essential that the equipment be as easily serviced as possible. This can be done by limiting the number of

parts to a minimum and making these parts as nearly

standard as their functions will allow.

STANDARD SIZE HOLIDAY GREETING CARDS

URGED

Post Office Service Discourages Use of Nonstandard Sizes

Every effort is made by the Post Office Department

to discourage the use of nonstandard-size greeting

cards and envelopes, which tend to retard the smooth

flow of the work in post offices. The use of such nonstandard cards and envelopes necessitates special

handling, and should be discontinued in the interest

of speeding up the service, especially during holiday

seasons. Attention is called, said a recent announcement from

the Post Office Department, to the campaign carried cn by the department to discourage the use of small

and irregular-sized greeting cards and envelopes in

the mail. Postmasters are urged to make every en- deavor to secure the cooperation of manufacturers,

dealers, and the public in the elimination of such cards

:and envelopes, in order that the Postal Service may

be relieved of the burden of handling them and the

mails thus speeded U2i.

The small cards and envelojies seriously retard and

interfere with the smooth flow of the work in jjost

offices. Frequently they can not be run through the

cancelling machines, thus requiring the cancelling

of the stamps by hand and other extra handlings in

the course of their facing, distribution, etc. Moreover, the addresses are likely to be obliterated by the

cancellation mark ; they do not fit the sejiarating cases

in use throughout the Postal Service, and can not be

tied securely Avith letter j^^ickages. Furthermore,

there is not sufficient sjiace for dii-ections for forwarding in cases where forwarding is necessary. An attemiit is being made to aAmid the use of large

greeting cards and their eiiA'elopes, because if they

exceed the standard size, esjiecially in Avidth, Avhich

is ajiproximately 4 inches, they can not be coiiA^eniently

handled in the sejiarating cases and are likely to be

cut by the ^lackage strings and thus become mutilated.

The Post Office Department suggests that in no case should cards or envelojAcs be smaller than 2% by 4

inches. A larger size, such as that of the GoATrnment jAostal card, is considered jjreferable, but they

should not exceed apjiroximately 4 by 9 inches. It

is also desirable that the cards and eiiA’eloiDes be made

of Avhite or light-colored jiaper.
190 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DECEMBER, 1930 CURRENT ACTIVITIES OF THE AMERICAN MARINE STANDARDS COMMITTEE

Recent Changes in Status of Marine Standards Reviewed; New Members Approved; Proposed Standards

Submitted

The folloAving current information relating to cle- velojunents in certain standardization projects under

the auspices and procedure of the American Marine

Standards Committee has been furnished by that

committee.

Fire-hose couplings.

A suggestion was recently received that a type of

fire-hose coupling be adopted for ships, similar to that

specified by the British Board of Trade, which re- quires only a quarter turn to tightly connect the hose.

This type of connection was advocated as being far

superior to the American threaded type, especially

when hooking up a hose at night. After due consideration, it was deemed advisable to adhere to the American (national) standard fire-hose coupling screw

thread, approved by the American Standards Association in May, 1925, and indorsed by the American

Marine Standards Committee for use on ships, in order

to cooperate in its universal use in the United States.

It was concluded, however, that a standard type of

coupling as to external design should be adopted in

order to accustom ship crews to its use and avoid the

confusion or delay in emergencies apt to result from

the prevailing variety of types. Efforts will be made

accordingly to develop a standard coupling and span- ner for ships.

New publications.

Publications of the committee relating to the fol- lowing standards were distributed during the month

of November, 1930 : Metal frame berths and accessories for ships; locks and accessories for ship doors;

bolts and catches for ship doors; sash hardware for

ships; fair-water caps for propeller hubs, and

diatemaceous earth.

New members.

At a recent meeting of the executive board of the

committee, the following new members were approved : Alaska Steamship Co., Seattle, Wash.; American

Car & Foundry Co., Wilmington, Del.; Atomite Corporation, Portland, Oreg. ; Boston & Lockport Block

Co., East Boston, Mass. ; Boston Port Authority, Boston, Mass.; Allan Cunningham, manufacturer, Seattle, Wash.; The Dravo Contracting Co., Pittsburgh,

Pa.; Ingersoll-Rand Co., New York, N. Y. ; The

Thomas Laughlin Co., Portland, Me. ; Maritime Offi- cers’ Club, Seattle, Wash.; The Maryland Dry Dock

Co., Baltimore, Md. ; J. W. Millard & Bro., consulting naval architects. New York, N. Y. ; Port of Seat- I

COMMERCIAL STANDARD FOR STAPLE PORCELAIN PLUMBING FIXTURES REAFFIRMED

The commercial standard for Staple Porcelain (AllClay) Plumbing Fixtures CS4-29 was reaffirmed without change for another year beginning July 1, 1930,

by the standing committee appointed to consider

annually any comment or suggestions as to changes.

tie. Wash.; The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn.;. Yale University, Sheffield Scientific School, New

Haven, Conn.

Proposed standards.

The following proposed standards were submitted

during the past month to technical committees:

Deck drain with stop valve.—This type of drain is- intended for decks close to the water line. The valve- permits closing of the drain in rough weather to prevent inflow. It is fitted in lieu of or with a check

valve on the drain pipe.

Hinged water-tight doors.—Tentative standards

comprising alternative welded and nonwelded construction with common standard fittings. A simplified list of standard widths and heights of doors of

this type is included in the proposal. The typical

construction covered by the alternative designs per- mits unlimited stiffening and is therefore adaptable

to doors for all likely conditions, from light to heavy

duty.

Pipe -flanges and fittings.—These comprise steel flanges and flanged pipe fittings for three different zones of pressures as follows : First zone, steam up to 125 pounds per square inch, liquids up to 150 pounds

per square inch; second zone, steam from 126 to 250’ pounds per square inch, liquids from 151 to 300 pounds

per square inch; third zone, steam from 251 to 400

pounds per square inch, liquids from 301 to 450

pounds per square inch. The principal features, di- mensions, and bolting are generally in accordance with

industrial standards now in effect, but differences are under consideration as to facings for joints. Various

optional methods for attachment of flanges to pipes

are included in the proposal. The purpose of these

standards is to concentrate in simple form the essential requisites for unified practice in installation of

piping (especially pressure piping) on ships, and to establish common dimensions and features affecting*

interchangeability of flanges and fittings in general.

Lubricants for ship machinery.—A preliminary

draft of proposed standard specifications comprising*

general information for users and purchasers and defining the characteristics and tests of oils and greases. Thirteen grades of oil and three grades of grease are provided in order to meet various conditions on ships

of the merchant marine. The specifications are appended by notes relative to lubricants and their uses, intended for general information and guidance of

those concerned in the operation of ship machinery.

in order that it may be kept continually in accord with

the desires of the industry and advance in the art. This reaffirmation followed a survey to determine

the adherence to the standard for the year ending June

30, 1930. The survey showed that 95 per cent of production conformed to the requirements of the standard

as to regular selection grade ; that 100 per cent of the

culls had been marked in accordance with the rules;

and that 85.8 per cent of the production reported con- formed to standard types and sizes.
DECEMBER, 1930 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 191

SAFETY CODE FOR MECHANICAL REFRIGERATION

Rapid Advancement in Art of Refrigeration Necessitates

Standing Committee to Revise Code Periodically

The Safety Code for Mechanical Refrigeration, under the sponsorship of the American Society of Refrigerating Engineers, was approved as an American

standard by the American Standards Association on

October 31, 1930.

The code has been in preparation for a number of

years by a committee consisting of technical experts.

Government and labor officials, individual representatives from engineering societies, trade associations,

manufacturers, and fire and casualty insurance

interests. The code as originally drawn up has been subjected

to repeated changes due to rapid advancement in the

are of refrigeration which has taken place in the past

five or six years. It is expected that the present code

will need revision with advancements in the refrigerating industry and for this purpose a standing committee is provided to formulate new rules for new

types of refrigerating equipment and uses of new

refrigerants as the demand requires.

The code consists of five sections as follows: (1)

Definitions, (2) classification of refrigerating systems,

(3) industrial and commercial systems, (4) unit sys- tems, and (6) apartment dwelling systems. Each

section is complete in itself except where reference is made to other sections.

The intent of the code is to provide reasonable safety

for life, limb, health, and property, and applies to the

safe installation, operation, and inspection of every

refrigerating system employing a fluid which is ex- panded, vaporized, liquified or compressed in its refrigerating cycle.

The code classifies equipment according to the total weight of the refrigerant contained in or required for

the proper operation of the equipment, ranging from

class A, 1,000 pounds or more of refrigerant, to class E, 6 pounds or less of refrigerant.

Limitations are made with respect to the various

systems employed, type of machinery room, kinds of

refrigerant, design and construction of every part of

the refrigerating system, including safety devices,

pressure and hand-relief valves, stop valves, and

gauges, rupture members and fusible plugs, piping,

tubing, and fittings to withstand the test pressures

prescribed for the refrigerant used.

As most of the refrigeration-producing equipment

for the requirements of both the home and the commercial establishment is produced by companies en- gaged in a nation-wide business, it is hoped that this

code may be universally adopted, or its provisions so incorporated in any ordinances or laws that refrigerating machines everywhere may be similar; thereby per- mitting their manufacture in quantities to supply

mechanical refrigeration at a minimum cost. NEW BRITISH STANDARDS PROMULGATED

Explanation of the tests to determine the perfor- mance of certain features of desk-type fans is contained in a new standard for electric fans recently

announced by the British Engineering Standards Association. In this standard the dielectric tests and

limits of temperature rise are also given.

In a standard for Leclanche cells, as announced by

the association, the standard dimensions are given for

various classes of cells of the dry, inert, and wet tjmes,

together with the appropriate connecting wires and

terminals. Standard requirements for the zinc and

electrolyte are also given, as well as tests for neutral

internal resistance. Polarization and output are given to insure compliance with the standard. One

of the features of this new standard is an index dealing with an optional storage test. A third British standard announced, deals with

steel forgings (blooms and castings), and is a revision

of an earlier standard. The revised schedule provides for four qualities of material ; and embodies

certain modifications Avhich experience with the pre- vious standard has shown to be desirable.

STANDARD FOR FELDSPAR NOW PRINTED

Classification Based on Particle Size and Chemical Composition The printed pamphlet entitled “Feldspar, Commercial Standard CS23-30,” has been released by the

Government Printing Office, and distributed to the

acceptors of record. The commercial standard makes

available a definite basis of classification for this

important constituent of most ceramic products. The

standard establishes a definite classification for

production and sale based on particle size and chemical

composition.

Under chemical classification, three groups are provided based on composition as it influences use. The

three groups comprise:

1. The commonly accepted ceramic or body grades

based on silica content and alkali ratio and containing

less than 4 per' cent soda content.

2. The spars used chiefly for glazing purposes are based on soda content, containing 4 or more per cent.

3. The spars used for glass-making purposes are based on silica, alumina, and iron content. Standard methods of analysis are given for both

chemical and physical properties, and in the latter case the use of sieves of the United States standard series

is required. It is anticipated that the standard

classifications will clarify much of the misunderstanding within the industry and substitute accurate chemical control for the loose, hit-or-miss methods pre- viously in use. Adherence to the standard methods

of analysis will also assist the chemists for both buyer

and seller to obtain comparable results. The pamphlet includes a brief history of the project, a list of acceptors of the standard, and the personnel

of a standing committee which was appointed to consider the need for revision in order to keep it abreast

with current developments.

Copies of the pamphlet may be purchased from the

Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing

Office, Washington, D. C., for 5 cents per copy.

MEASURING PERMANENCE QUALITIES OF

PAPER

External Deteriorating Influences on Paper Studied at the National Bureau of Standards

Considerable progress has been made in measuring

the permanence qualities of the current pajier-making raw materials and papers. The tests used for this
192 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY DECEMBER, 1980

piu’iiose are based primarily on consideration of paper

as a cellulose material. Apparently a high degree

of cellulosio purity, with a minimum of active chemical components, and sufficient strength for the intended

use are the prime requirements in paper for resistance to deterioration. The tests show that commercial

liapers are available, made from both rag and Avood

fibers, Avhich meet such requirements satisfactorily.

Systematic collection and testing of old publications

has also shoAvn the importance of cellulosic purity as the papers composed of fibers refined by chemical

treatment are generally in good condition, while those

containing crude fibers, such as grouncl avoocI, are generally badly deteriorated.

Through surveys of library storage conditions, acid

pollution of the atmosphere, light, high temperature,

dampness, and dust are indicated as the leading ex- ternal deteriorating influences. The effects of light

and of atmospheric components on paper and papermaking materials are undergoing further study in the

laboratory.

Studies of the relation of the various paper-making

materials to permanence qualities of papers are being

made in a practical Avay by paper-making trials in

the bureau paper mill. This Avork so far has dealt

largely Avith wood fibers having a high degree of cel- lulosic purity and these haA^e given very satisfactory

test values. Studies of paper sizing materials have

shoAvn the desirabilitj^ of limiting, as far as possible,

the amounts of alum and rosin used in rosin sizing

the papers. On the contrary, glue and starch used for

surface sizing the papers appear to give them added

protection against chemical cleterioration.

The improvement and standardization of test methods used for determination of alpha cellulose, copper

numbfer, and acidity, all of Avhich appear to have an

important bearing on permanency, are receiving at- tention and progress in this direction is reported.

NEW AND REVISED PUBLICATIONS ISSUED

BY THE BUREAU OF STANDARDS

Terms of the Arc and Spark Spectra of Chromium. RP. 229.

Price, 5 cents. Thermometric Lag of Aircraft Thermometers, Thermographs,

and Barographs. RP. 222. Price, 10 cents. Wind Pressure on Circular Cylinders and Chimneys. RP. 221. Price, 15 cents. Send orders for publications under the above heading Avith remittance only to the Superintendent of

Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington,

D. C. ^ 5 fa > FEDERAL SPECIFICATIONS

Twelve Promulgations, Thirteen Proposals, and Twenty-four

Revisions Announced

Tweh'e Federal specifications have been promulgated

during the past month, 13 proposals submitted for

criticism and comment, and 24 specifications submitted

for reAusion, according to the Federal Specifications

Board. These specifications are now before the Government departments and others interested for com- ment and criticism.

The specifications submitted for revision also bear

the new designation in accordance with the system

used in the Federal Standard Stock Catalogue.

Copies of the specifications and further information

relating thereto, can be obtained from the Federal

Specifications Board, National Bureau of Standards,

Washington, D. C. SPECIFICATIONS PROMULGATED

F.S. No. Commodity New desig- nation

470 Calcium-carbide O-C-101.

586 Sodium-sulphite, anhydrous (for) photography O-S-606.

554a Ultramarine blue; dry, pasle-ln-japan, paste-in-oil TT-U-451.

554a Mucilage JJJ-M-791.

538 Receptacles, waste paper, fiber, office, and lobby LLL-R-191.

412 N-P-101.

Fire-extinguishing liquid, carbon-tetrachloride base O-F-380.

428 Matches, safety (full-size, in boxes) EE-M-101.

413a Padlocks FF-P-101.

Bone-black, dry, paste-in-japan, paste-iu-oil— TT-B-601. Chrome, green, pure, dry, p'aste-in-japan, paste-in-oil TT-C-236.

389 Beans, dry JJJ-B-106. PROPOSALS SUBMITTED FOR CONSIDERATION

Ahsorption Measurements of the X-Ray General Radiation. RP. 212. Price, 10 cents. Addition Agents in Copper Electrotyping Solutions. RP. 228. Price 5 cents. A New Crystalline Calcium Chloride Compound of a-d-Gulose and Its Rotation and Mutarotation in Aqueous Solution. RP. 226. Price, 10 cents. An Improved Victor-Meyer Molecular-Weight Apparatus. RP.

215. Price, 5 cents. Apparatus for the Detennination Aboard Ship of the Salinity

of Sea Water by the Electrical Conductivity Metlicd. RP.

223. Price, 10 cents. Change of Electrical Properties of Rubber and Gutta-Percha

During Storage Under Water. RP. 213. Price, 10 cents. Chloroplatinate-Chloroplatinite Electrode. RP. 225. Price, 5

cents. Compressive Tests of Bases for Subway Columns. RP. 218. Price, 10 cents. Feldspar. CS23-30. Price, 5 cents. Loaded Paper Shot Shells. R31-30, 4th ed. Price, 5 cents. Note on the Individualities of Anhydrofructose and Difructose Anhydride. RP. 224. Price, 5 emits. Resistance of Steel to Abrasion by Sand. RP. 214. Price, 15

cents. Review of Calorimetric Measurements on Thermal Properties

of Saturated Water and Steam. RP. 210. Price, 10 cents. Seams for Copper Roofing. RP. 216. Price, 15 cents. Specifications for the Manufacture and Installation of Railway

Track Scales for Light Industrial Service. C. 386. Price, 5 cents. Standards and Specifications for Nonmetallic Minerals and

Their Products, 1930. Price, 32A5. (Foreign, $3.05.)

Oysters, canned

Shrimp, canned Crab meat, canned

Olives - Cereals (breakfast foods)-- Soups, canned

Thread, silk.- Brooms, fiber Mushrooms, canned Mustard, prepared Bread and rolls Lantern slide mats

Negative preservers, paper.

V-T-301.

SPECIFICATIONS UNDER REVISION

138 365a

365a

365a 365a

365a

365a

365a

365a 365a

501 502

503

551 609 615a 637a

638a

639a 640a

645a

648a 650a

651

Ferromanganese

Fish (flaked), canned

Fish, fresh Clams, fresh Salmon, canned

Fish, salted, and fish, smoked

Sardines, canned Crab meat, fresh Oysters, fresh-- Tuna, fish, canned - Carpets and rugs, velvet, plain Carpets and rugs, axminister Carpets and rugs, AVilton Laundry appliances

Pineapple, canned

Ticking, mattress and pillow

Biscuit (hard bread), or biscuit, canned Corn meal (white or yellow) Cornstarch--- - Crackers, soda Hominy grits Macaroni, spaghetti, and vermicelli Cocoa - Chocolate

QQ-F-161.

DDD-C-61.

DDD-C-51.

DDD-C-71.

OO-L-131.

Z-P-351. CCC-T-351.

N-B-351.

N-C-521.

N-C-541. N-C-561. N-H-521. N-M-51.

JJJ-C-501.

JJJ-C-271. o
SCIENTIFIC, TECHNICAL, AND COMMERCIAL

PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS ISSUED BY THE

national bureau of standards

BUREAU OF STANDARDS

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH

The new Journal describes the bureau’s re- search results in science and technology. The

union of science and its applications in one

journal shortens the lag between discovery

and application.

All engaged in industry and commerce should

have available for current use and permanent

reference, the Bureau of Standards Journal of

Research.

Early in its firil year the Journal developed a

li^t of paid subscribers double the anticipated

maximum.

This Journal is full of interest to executives

and technicians controlling industries and

commercial enterprises. It enables them better to promote efficiency by determining the

scientific measured controls ofprocess through

experimental and theoretical research.

Issued monthly

Subscription price, $2.75 per year

TECHNICAL NEWS BULLETIN

The Bureau of Standards periodical with a WAR RECORD! Started during the dark

days of 1917 to keep the Army and Navy and

other branches of the Government informed

of progress in scientific war research at the

bureau. Upon urgent request this publication was continued and expanded to serve the

Government, science, and industry.

The TECHNICAL NEWS BULLETIN will

keep you informed of current progress in the

scientific and technical work of the bureau’s

laboratories, and gives each month a li^t of

the publications of the bureau. A complete

cross index is published with the December

issue.

You can not afford to be without the TECHNICAL NEWS BULLETIN. Every article is short and to the point. The busiest executive can afford the time to read it. Oft

COMMERCIAL STANDARDS

MONTHLY

Issued monthly

Subscription price, 25 cents per year

STANDARDS YEARBOOK

FOR 1930

This new governmental periodical is a review

of progress in commercial simplification and

^landardi2,ation. It is the only journal of its kind. It covers the national movement ini- tiated by President Hoover for the reducTtion

of needless siz,es and varieties of producfts and

the promotion of voluntary commercial

^tandardiz,ation by industry.

The Secretary of Commerce in the firit issue

of this new journal said: “Certain standards,

such as those used for weights and measures,

* * * have been fixed by legislative enactment. Mandatory standards of this character, however, are few in number when compared with the large and steadily growing

volume of standards developed by industry

and commerce and voluntarily maintained.

* * * The activities of the Commercial

Standardization Group of the Bureau of

Standards are concerned with standards

adopted by voluntary agreement.’’

Subscription price, $1 per year

The new Standards Yearbook for 1930 is the

fourth annual issue of a publication devoted

to the great and growing field of standardization in its broad aspects. It gives a summary

of progress.

Standardization is a world-wide movement.

It covers all industries. It is part of the application of scientific methods to induStry. Its achievements are of intereSl and concern to

business men and manufacturers as well as to

engineers. To the technician it is full of

example of methods and results of suggeSlive

and Stimulating value. To business men it discloses trends which deeply concern their

interest.

NOW READY Price, 75c. ORDER AT ONCE

“Standardization is becoming an aspect of all tvelL ordered activity rather than an incidental

activity supplemental to others.”

To obtain regularly tbe above-described monthly Periodicals send your order, witb remittance, addressed: Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. Foreign prices (countries other

than the United States and its possessions, Canada, Mexico, Newfoundland, Cuba, and Republic of Panama) are; Journal, $3.50; Bulletin, $0.40; Monthly, $1.25; Yearbook, $0.90
“ * * * this department * * * is devoted solely to aiding and fostering the development of higher standards of living and comfort of our people * * * its ideals are clear: That by cooperation and not by compulsion it should seek to assist in maintaining and giving the impulse of progress to commerce and industry in a nation whose successful economic life underlies advancement in every other field.” —President Hoover, at the laying of the corner stone of the new building

of the U. S. Department of Commerce, June 10, 1929.

THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

R. P. LAMONT, Secretary of Commerce

AERONAUTICS BRANCH, Clarence M. Young, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics.

M" Establishment of civil airways and maiittenance of aids to air navigation; inspection and registration of aircraft and licensing

of pilots; enforcement of air traffic rules; investigation of acci- dents; encouragement of municipal air ports; fostering of air commerce; scientific research in aeronautics; and dissemination of information relating to commercial aeronautics. (Some

of these functions are performed by special divisions of the Lighthouse Service, the Bureau of Standards, and the Coast and Geodetic Surveju)

BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, William M. Steuaet, Director. Taking censuses of population, mines, and quarries, water

transportation, and religious bodies every 10 years; censuses of agriculture and electrical public utilities every 5 years; and a

census of manufactures every 2 years. Compilation of statistics of wealth, public debt and taxation, including financial statistics of local governments, every 10 years; annual compilation of financial statistics of State and municipal governments.

Compilation of statistics of marriage, divorce, births, deaths,

and penal and other institutions annually, and of death rates in

cities and automobile accidents weekl.y.

Compilation cjuarterly or monthl.y of statistics on cotton, wool, leather, and other industries; annually of forest jiroducts;

and ])ubhcation montlhy of Survey of Current Business. BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE,

William L. Cooper, Director. The collection of timely information concerning world market

conditions and openings for American products in foreign countries, through commercial attaches, trade commissioners, and

consular officers, and its distribution through weekly Commerce

Reports, bulletins, confidential circulars, the news and trade

jiress, and district and coojierative offices in 65 cities. The

maintenance of commodity, teclinical, and regional divisions to afford special service to American exporters and manufacturers. The compilation and distribution of lists of possible buyers

and agents fdr American products in all parts of the world and

jmblication of weekly lists of specific sales opportunities abroad. The publicity of statistics on imports and exports. The study of the processes of domestic trade and commerce. BUREAU OF STANDARDS, George K. Burgess, Director. Custody, development, and construction of standards of measurement, quality, performance, or practice; comparison of standards used by scientific or other institutions; determination

of physical constants and projierties of materials; researches and tests on materials and jirocesses; and publication of scientific and technical bulletins reporting results of researches and

fundamental technical data. Collection and dissemination of information concerning

building codes and the planning and construction of houses. Estalihshment of simplified commercial practices through

cooperation with business organizations in order to reduce the wastes resulting from excessive variety in commodities.

BUREAU OF MINES, Scott Turner, Director. Technical investigations in the mining, preparation, and

utilization of minerals, including the stud}^ of mine hazards, and

safety methods and of improved methods in the jiroduction

and use of minerals. Testing of Government fuels and management of the Govern- ment Fuel Yard at Washington. —

Research on helium and operation of plants producing it.

BUREAU OF MINES—Continued.

Studies in the economics and marketing of minerals and col- lection of statistics on mineral resources and mine accidents. The dissemination of results of technical and economic

researches in bulletins, technical papers, mineral resources series, miners’ circulars, and miscellaneous publications.

BUREAU OF FISHERIES, Henry O’Malley, Commissioner.

The propagation and distribution of food fish and shellfish, in order to prevent the depletion of the fisheries; investigations

to promote conservation of fishery resources; the development

of commercial fisheries and agriculture; study of fishery methods,

improvements in merchandising, and collection of fishery statistics; administration of Alaska fisheries and fur seals; and the

protection of sponges off the coast of Florida. BUREAU OF LIGHTHOUSES, George R. Putnam, Commissioner. Maintenance of lighthouses and other aids to water navigation. Establishment and maintenance of aids to navigation

along civil airways. Publication of Light Lists, Buoy Lists, and

Notices to Mariners.

COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY, R. S. Patton, Director. Survey of the coasts of the United States and publication of charts for the navigation of the adjacent waters, including

Alaska, the Philippine Islands, Hawaii, Porto Rico, the Virgin

Islands, and the Canal Zone; interior control surveys; magnetic

surveys; tide and current observations; and seismological investigations. Publication of results through charts, coast pilots, tide tallies, current tables, and special publications.

BUREAU OF NAVIGATION, Arthur J. Tyrer, Commissioner.

Superintendence of commercial marine and merchant seamenSupervision of registering, enrolling, licensing, numbering,

etc., of vessels under the United States flag, and the annual

publication of a list of such vessels. Enforcement of the navigation and steamboat inspection laws,

including imposition of fees, fines, tonnage taxes, etc. STEAMBOAT INSPECTION SERVICE, Dickerson N. Hoover, Supervising Inspector General. The inspection of merchant vessels, including boilers, hulls, and life-saving equipment, licensing of officers of vessels, certifi- cation of able seamen and lifeboat men, and the investigation of violations of steamboat inspection laws. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE, Thomas E. Robertson,

Commissioner.

The granting of patents and the registration of trade-marks,

prints, and labels after technical examination and Judicial proceedings.

Maintenance of library with public search room, containing

copies of foreign and United States patents, and trade-marks. Recording bills of sale, assignments, etc., relating to patents

and trade-marks. Furnishing copies of records pertaining to patents. Publication of the weekly Official Gazette, showing the patents and trade-marks issued. RADIO DIVISION, W. D. Terrell, Chief. Inspection of radio stations on ships; inspection of radio

stations on shore, including broadcasting stations; licensing radio operators; assigning station call letters; enforcing the terms of the International Radiotelegraphic Convention; and

examining and settling international radio accounts.

U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: