COMMERCIAL

STANDARDS

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. 11 MAY, 1931

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. See page 3 of cover for prices
NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

GEORGE K. BURGESS, Director

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

R. P. LAMONT, Secretary

COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY, S. F. Tillman, Editor

The Commercial Standardization Group

DIVISION OF SIMPLIFIED PRACTICE

Edwin W. Ely

The division of simplified practice cooperates with industrial and commercial groups to reduce waSle, usually through

eliminating unnecessary variety of produCt, method, or

practice. Its function is to bring together all parties inter- ested in a projeCt of this character, and to coordinate their

work in developing a simplified practice recommendation.

Such work includes surveys of current practice, formulation of a simplified practice program, and presentation of

that program for aCtion by a general conference representing

all interests. The division then transmits to all concerned

a full report of the general conference, with a requeSl for written acceptance of the adtion taken. When the volume

of acceptances is sufficient to indicate initial success, the

Department of Commerce indorses the program and publishes

the recommendation. The division thereafter cooperates

with a Standing committee appointed by the industry concerned, in condudting periodic surveys to determine the

degree of adherence, to maintain and extend support of the

recommendation, and to secure data for reaffirmation or

revision. Simplified pradlice may be applied to any commodity or adlivity in which it will reduce

waSle. The division Stands ready to render

service in developing and making effedtive any application of simplified pradlice which

will reduce waSte, Stabilize business, or extend commerce.

BUILDING AND HOUSING DIVISION

J. S. Taylor

The division of building and housing,

formed in 1921, cooperates with business,

technical, and professional groups in furthering conSlrudlion adlivities. It works to modernize building codes and to encourage improved Standards for the quality of building conSlrudlion, and the practical application of the lateSt development in design and use of building materials.

It encourages home ownership through the development

of an enlarged. Steadier, more intelligent, and more discriminating demand for dwellings—the largeSl single class of

buildings which the construction industries provide.

The division also cooperates with other governmental

agencies and with many private business and professional groups in efforts to distribute building adlivity more evenly

throughout the year and to secure less fludluation from

year to year. The work on city planning and zoning has the broad

objedlive of making buildings more useful through proper

location with respedl to other Strudtures, Stabilizing of land

values and property uses, well coordinated thoroughfare

syStems, and well laid out public works.

STANDARDIZATION

..IS.. A CONTINUING PROCESS

(T+O ITS AIM IS NOT FIXITY OR STAGNATION

. . BUT.

.

TO ADD SERVICEABILITY

AS OFTEN AS THE

POTENTIAL GAIN

MAKES IT WORTH WHILE

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 adlivities involving cooperation with

technical societies; trade associations; Federal, State, and

municipal Government specifications making and using

agencies; producers, distributors, and consumers; and teSling

and research laboratories. It ascertains the Standardization

and specifications promoting adlivities of the associations and societies, and brings to their attention the work being

done by the commercial Standardization group. It brings the

Federal specifications and commercial Standards to the atten- tion of the maximum number of producers and users of commodities complying with these Standards and specifications.

It compiles and distributes liSts of sources of supply of materials guaranteed to comply with the Standards and specifi- cations. It shows both buyers and sellers the benefits from

handling nationally specified, certified, and labeled commodities. The division prepares directories of governmental and

nongovernmental teSling laboratories and the Directory of

Specifications, and is working on an encyclopedia of specifications, the firSt two volumes of which

have been issued, namely, “Standards and

Specifications in the Wood-Using Industries’’ and “Standards and Specifications for Nonmetallic Minerals and their Products.” It also

aids in preparing the Standards Yearbook.

DIVISION OF TRADE STANDARDS

I. J. Fairchild

The division of trade Standards, on requeSt,

assists industrial and commercial groups in the voluntary establishment of Standards

covering grades, quality, dimensional inter- changeability, or other acceptance criteria as a national

basis for marketing manufactured commodities.

The detail criteria are selected or determined voluntarily

by interested buyers or sellers, without any Government

dictation or domination, and adjusted at a general confer- ence of producers, distributors, and users so as to represent

the composite views of all branches. The division functions

chiefly as a neutral agency to see that all interested elements

are given full opportunity to be heard and satisfied; to

solicit and record acceptances; and to publish and promulgate

the Standard when a satisfactory majority of acceptances is obtained and provided there is no aCtive opposition.

Industries are encouraged to apply self-certifying labels to products meeting the commercial Standard requirements, as a means of protecting the consumer and the scrupulous seller from misrepresentation or unfair methods of marketing.

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.

Address NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS, Washington, D. C., for further information
COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY

A Review of Progress in

Commercial Standardization and Simplification

Volume 7 WASHINGTON, D. C., MAY, 1931 Number 11

SUBJECT

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

Page

Defective tires cause accidents (standardization briefs), 359

Development of drop-center rims for automobiles 355

Six-day summer meeting of S. A. E. (standardization

briefs) 359

Specifications needed for lubricating oils 358

PUBLICATIONS

Care and repair of the house (standardization briefs) 360

Commercial standard for plate glass mirrors 357

Publications of the National Bureau of Standards 353

Web steel joists (simplification briefs) 349

WOOD

Demand for grade-marked lumber 354

Grading rules recommended for plywood 344

Quality standard for red cedar shingles 336

PETROLEUM

Determining knock characteristics of fuels 357 Marketing code for petroleum industry (standardization

briefs) 360

Specifications needed for lubricating oils 358

Utilization of petroleum waste 355 PRINTING

Standardization of printed forms and paper sizes (standardization briefs) 361 Manual of typographical style suggested by book

manufacturers 358

Printing conference considers standardization of equipment 341

Printing industry active in standardization 337

PAPER

American and Norwegian shipping-tag standards 356

Australia to standardize paper sizes and commercial

forms 358

Federal specifications 348 Magazine accepts standard size (standardization briefs), 360

^Reducing wrapping and packing waste 358

FOREIGN

American and Norwegian shipping-tag standards 356

Australia to standardize paper sizes and commercial

forms 358

British steel industry adopts source label 338

Certified horticulturists cultivate medicinal plants

(standardization briefs) 361 French adopt British-American standard can sizes 357

International exchange of research workers 343

Pan American conference 350

Philippine marking of origin requirements (standardization briefs) ' 362

Standard for second grade wheat in Australia (stand- ardization briefs) 362

ANALYSES

AGRICULTURAL

Page

Consumers urged to read food and drug labels 356

Cottonseed oil (standardization briefs) 361

Identifying maple sirup products 357

Inspecting produce for maturity and defects 340

Labeling eggs (standardization briefs) 359

Marketing New England agricultural products 352 Proposed standards for canned fruit considered 341 Testing tenderness and texture of canned foods (stand- ardization briefs) 361 Standard for second grade wheat in Australia (stand- ardization briefs) 362

SAFETY'

Aircraft safety (standardization briefs) 362

Uniform law for licensing drivers 354

Uniforms for women workers 344

BUILDING

Bonding of brick and mortar in masonry units (stand- ardization briefs) 362

Building industry indorses certification plan 347 Care and repair of the house (standardization briefs) 360 Colored sanitary ware 354

Commercial standard for plate-glass mirrors 357

Demand for grade-marked lumber 354

Forms for concrete ribbed floor construction (simplifica- tion briefs) 349

How many exits does a building need? 354

Miniature house shows use of copper and brass 346

Preventing fire loss to life and property 348

Quality standard for red cedar shingles 336

Simplif}'ing building and construction (simplification

briefs) 349 Survey of low-pressure steel heating boilers 356 Web steel joists (simplification briefs) 349

GENERAL

American Society for Testing Materials 338

American Standards Association , 345

Commercial simplification 339

Federal specifications 348

“Four feet eight and a half inches” 342

International exchange of research workers. 343

Liquid helium 332 Pan American conference 350

Progress via simplification 347

Simplification briefs 349

Simplified practice in the South and Southwest 345

Simplifications for household goods 333

Standard fits and tolerances for cylindrical parts 335

Standardization briefs 359

Standard switching plan for telephone toll service 351 Standard-time service 356

State-wide simplification program 334

AN INVITATION TO VISIT THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

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

modem arts and industries.

53S79—31 1 331
Liquid Helium

^

On April 3, 1931, Liquid Helium, The Most Difficult

Of All Gases to Liquefy, Was Produced At The

A[ational Bureau of Standards

oSlQUID HELIUM was produced for the first time in the United

States in the low temperature laboratory of the National Bureau of

Standards on April 3, 1931.

Helium is the most difficult of all gases to liquefy, the boiling point

of the liquid being minus 452° F., or only 7-4 degrees above absolute

zero. The extremely low temperature which this represents will be

realised when one considers that it is approximately 142° below the

temperature of liquid air. The process used in the production of liquid helium is an extremely

complex and difficult one. It involves the progressive production of

lowered temperatures by brine, carbon dioxide, liquid air, liquid

hydrogen, and finally by expansion of the helium to produce liquid

helium. By “ boiling ” the helium under a high vacuum, a temperature of minus 456° F. was obtained. The establishment of fixed points on the temperature scale from the lowest to the highest attainable

temperatures is one of the basic functions of the National Bureau of

Standards. Naturally, the greatest difficulty is experienced in setting

up standards at the two ends of the scale. Such fixed points as the

freezing and boiling points of water and the “ freezing ” point of gold no longer present any particular difficulties. But in only three other

places in the world—Leiden, Holland; Toronto, Canada; and Berlin—

has helium ever been liquefied. The successful production of liquid

helium at the bureau will aid in the accurate establishment of another

low fixed point for the further extension of the International Temperature Scale.

The full significance of this accomplishment can not, of course, be . predicted at the present time, but there is no question that it is of the

highest scientific importance. Many of the phenomena of modern

physics, such as some of the postulates of EinStein and others, can be

Studied only at these extremely low temperatures.
MAY, 1931 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 333

SIMPLIFICATIONS FOR HOUSEHOLD GOODS

Labels Aid Consumer in Daily Purchases

By Faith M. Williams, Bureau of Home Economics 1

Women are interested in seeing standard grades

developed for brooms as well as for other types of

household equipment. If the manufacturers have

been considering the development of standard grades

primarily as a means for eliminating unfair competition within their own industry, they may not have

realized that women are very much concerned about

the construction of the everyday things they buy.

With the enormous development in the last 25 years

of new kinds of things for use in the household, every

housewife is under a great pressure to make her every

purchase satisfactory, to indulge in no mistakes.

Every month new toys are being put on the market

for both adults and children. The electric train in

the shop window creates an urgent demand in the

breast of the small boy who sees it in the same way that

a shiny new car makes his father feel that somehow

or other economies must be affected in the family’s

everyday purchases so that the “ old bus ” may be

replaced with a beautiful new model.

To the housewife is brought the problem of managing her buying in such a way that the needs of the

family for nourishing food, for warmth, for shelter,

for education, and for recreation may be met in the

most satisfactory wa}^. In order to solve some of her

problems in economy, she is beginning to ask that

standard specifications for staple household goods be

developed in such a way that her purchases may re- sult in more satisfaction for the money she spends.

She has heard that at the present time many farm products are graded for sale according to standards set up by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Manufacturers have for a long time been writing accurate

descriptions of the raw materials and partly finished

goods they purchase. The National Bureau of Standards has wy orked with industrial and commercial agencies in setting up simplification recommendations that

have limited the production of various articles to a given number of sizes and thereby cut down manufacturing costs. The Federal and State Governments

have worked out specifications for purchases for vari- ous Government institutions.

For some time the Bureau of Home Economics of

the United States Department of Agriculture has

been cooperating with the American Home Economics

Association and with manufacturers and distributors

under the auspices of the American Standards Association, in the development of standard tests and

specifications and of more satisfactory labels for different grades of refrigerators, bed blankets, and

sheets. There are some housewives, of course, who

will not take the trouble to learn anything about the

details of construction, and are satisfied with a label which simply guarantees quality, but there are many

more who want to know whether the construction of

the article about to be purchased fits their particular

needs, and the prices asked by their particular

retailers.

1 Abstract from speech delivered before Jan. 14, 1931, meeting of the Broom Institute, held in Washington, D. C.

Last year the Bureau of Home Economics and the

American Home Economics Association received so many requests for information on the subject of standard specifications for household goods that they

cooperated in the compilation and publication of a booklet entitled “ Household Purchasing ; Suggestions for Club Programs.” It outlines the material

available for club programs on “ difficulties the con- sumer meets in the present market,” “ food standards

and grades,” “ food containers, weights and measures,”

“ quality standards and grades for foods,” “ buying

textiles and clothing,” “ household equipment,” and

“ what the Government can do to help the consumer.”

This booklet will be revised from time to time to include information about new developments in the

standardization of grades for household goods, such

as the new grades which may be established for

brooms. The book is in very general use this year. Some of the leaders in the General Federation of

Women’s Clubs are using it in planning study programs, and it is being widely used in the home eco- nomics clubs established by the extension service of

the United States Department of Agriculture.

Another large group of women who . are using

specifications for household goods in as far as they

are available, are teachers of home economics in high

schools and elementary schools. They want to have

definite facts, definite measurements to use in their

classroom work. They want to have concrete material

to give their students which will help them to improve

the economy of the homes of which they are now a part and to organize effectively the homes of which

they will have charge in the future.

In 1928 the Federal Office of Education estimated

from figures then available that there were approximately 9,000 high schools throughout the country

where home economics was being taught and approximately 500,000 girls taking home economics courses

in these schools. More recent figures indicate that

the number is increasing. These high-school teachers

are constantly saying to those of us who are interested

in standard tests and standard specifications, “ What

things are there in the stores to-day which are adequately labeled so that we can say to our students,

‘ this piece of equipment should be constructed thus

and so for this purpose, and you should look for such

and such facts on the label ’? ” We hope that the broom industry will be able to develop standards for household brooms which will

really meet the needs of the women who use brooms,

and which will define the construction of brooms of

different grades in such a way that the standards can

properly be incorporated into courses which teach

the basis for selecting household equipment.

As I understand the needs of the woman who uses brooms, she is first concerned with the quality of the

broomedrn used in the construction of the brooms she

purchases. She wants brooms that will sweep

efficiently and will stand up under hard wear. Since

the Bureau of Agricultural Economics has developed
334 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY, 1931

standards for grading broomcorn, the problems

involved in securing satisfactory broomcorn must

have been greatly simplified. After she knows that

the broom corn is of the right quality, the housewife

wants to know that the brooms she buys are so made

that they will look neat and trim throughout the

period of their use; that the shoulders will not bulge

and break after a short period of wear. On this

account she is concerned with the methods by which

her brooms are constructed, the amount the handle

extends into the neck and body of the broom, the way

the ties and stitches are made, and the strength of the

twine and wire used. In addition, the woman who

does a great deal of sweeping, and thus uses several

brooms in a year is especially interested in brooms

having a light but strong handle. The weight of her

broom is of considerable importance to the housewife.

She wants to know that she is buying a firm, compact

brushing surface with no skimping of the quality or quantity of broomcorn, with a handle made of wood

which is as light as is consistent with service. I believe that the broom industry’s program of

standardization may be very helpful in getting the

housewife what she wants as well as in helping the

trade to eliminate unfair eompetion.

STATE WIDE SIMPLIFICATION PROGRAM

California State Chamber of Commerce Actively Engaged in the Elimination of Waste

In October, 1929, the California State Chamber of

Commerce indicated its readiness to serve as the contact agency in California for the division of simplified

practice of the National Bureau of Standards. This

arrangement afforded a direct avenue through which

the use of simplified practice recommendations could

be encouraged and by which suggestions for new

projects could be routed to the bureau.

This state-wide simplification program has been in operation for almost two years. Reports from the

California State Chamber of Commerce show that

favorable results have been achieved. As an out- growth of the general plan, many specific objectives

have been determined and committees appointed to attain these goals.

The cooperative simplification movement has developed through the customary three stages : (1) General education as to the philosophy of simplified

practice and the building of interest in local applications; (2) acceptance of existing simplified practice

recommendations; and (3) initiation of new simplified

practice recommendations. The first stage consisted

of the writing and publication of articles dealing with

simplification and standardization. Speeches were made by industrial leaders and executives of trade

associations before conventions, conferences, and other

meetings. This promotional work aroused general

interest by showing that simplified practice is an eco- nomic principle, the adoption of which results in direct

and tangible benefits. Several simplification committees were appointed to study safety codes, business codes, and other practices

•susceptible of simplification. Their initial efforts were necessarily confined to generalities, educational

programs, and promotional activities. The committees are now engaged in certain specific programs.

The simplification committees report that (1) 103

California firms are using the simplified invoice forms,

(2) 76 foundries have adopted standard specifications

for castings, (3) 74 foundries have adopted standard

patterns for castings, (4) 45 foundries have adopted

standard sales agreement and trade customs, and (5)

25 California manufacturers of common brick have

adopted one standard size. The California committee is also using its best ef- fort to gain additional support for simplified practice recommendation No. 26, steel reinforcing bars. This program, which was first proposed by the industry in 1924, recommends a reduction in the number

of cross-sectional areas of bars (from 32 to 11) in

accordance with normal demand as determined by a variety survey.

The committee, interested in the problems of steel reinforcing bar distributors, is also seeking information relative to the practicability of concentrating on

a single grade for new billet steel reinforcing bars. Under the head of new projects may be mentioned

the simplification of items of pole line hardware, used

principally by public utilities. The California group

is now conducting a variety survey and has requested

the cooperation of the National Bureau of Standards

in establishing a recommendation for these items. The

importance of this study will be realized when it is recalled that California ranks second in both the production and consumption of electricity.

Among its objectives for 1931, the California committees have listed the following: (1) To secure ac- ceptance of 50 foundries of standard sales agreement

and trade customs; (2) to collaborate with the California Industrial Accident Commission in drafting standard safety regulations; (3) to formulate standards for

12 items of pole line hardware, thereby increasing the

number of standards from 8 to 20. Still other objectives will be developed in the course of the year. For 1931, it is proposed to draw attention to the

effective simplified practice recommendations cover- ing the following commodities : (1) Reinforcing steel

secure state-wide adoption by reinforcing steel companies; (2) Common brick—secure adoption by 17

additional companies, the support of 25 firms having

already been secured; (3) bank checks, drafts, etc.

obtain adoption by 10 leading California printing firms.

The progress made by the California group in promoting the elimination of waste through simplified

practice and standardization has attracted the atten- tion of groups in other parts of the United States,

and it is probable that similar state-wide programs

will be inaugurated in those areas. Moreover, this regional1 activity, in the interest of programs national

in scope, has given renewed impetus to the present

simplification and standardization work of trade as- sociation an 1 other groups.
MAY. 1931 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 335

STANDARD FITS AND TOLERANCES FOR CYLINDRICAL PARTS

Proposal for Internationally Uniform System of Fits Being Considered

By John Gaillard, American Standards Association ,

Standard tits between cylindrical parts determined

by definite values for the allowances between the in- ternal and external parts and for the tolerances on

these parts are of fundamental importance to the

mechanical and other industries. In fact, standard

manufacturing limits are indispensable in any scheme

of mass production where parts made in large quantities must be interchangeable.

Special attention was paid to standardization of

fits in all industrial countries of the world after the

World War. Production of war material had re- quired strict application of the principles underlying

interchangeability, and the economic pressure of the

postwar period emphasized the importance of limit

gaging in mass production as a means of increasing

the efficenc}7 of manufacturing processes and of lowering production cost. In 1920 a technical committee^—a so-called sectional

committee—was established under the auspices of the

American Standards Association (A. S. A.), then

still called American Engineering Standards Committee, to deal with the above subject. Its work was

sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical

Engineers (A. S. M. E.). After making a canvass

of the tolerance systems in use with a number of

manufacturing concerns in the United States, the

technical committee established a standard entitled

‘‘ Tolerances, Allowances, and Gages for Metal Fits ” which was approved in 1925 by the A. S. A. as a tentative American standard.

In spite of the fact that the interest in, and the

art of establishing and standardizing fits had considerably increased in recent years, the tentative American standard has not been widely adopted in practice

by American industry. Apparently there are three

main reasons for this condition.

Limit gaging is still being applied by only a fraction of the manufacturing concerns that could apply

its principles with advantage. Furthermore, a number of industrial concerns that are well aware of this

advantage had a system of fits of their own at the

time the American standard was adopted.

Transition to a new standard requires some time,

under these circumstances, due to the investment in

tools, gages, and other equipment, and the responsibility for supplying replacement parts for products

made to the old company standard which are still in

operation in industry.

Finally, criticism has been raised against the tentative American standard, some of which, in the writer’s

opinion, is well founded, while other objections are not compatible with the basic principles underlying

a national standard system of fits, as will be seen in

the following.

Reviewing the several fundamental features of the

American standard, it will be found that the refer- ence temperature for limit gages of 68° F. has been

generally adopted in this country. No objection to

I this value has been raised. The adoption of standard holes with plus tolerances on the nominal size had

been criticized because of the fact that such holes can

not be finished economically with commercial stock reamers as now commonly supplied by the tool

manufacturers.

In fact, these reamers are made with a small plus

tolerance on nominal size, and consequently wear down

rather quickly to the point where they begin to produce undersize holes, that is, holes smaller than nominal size. American standard holes not being allowed

to be smaller than the nominal size, the reamers must

then be rejected even though they have still more

“ wear life ” left. Evidently this difficulty is due to a lack of harmony

between the present manufacturing limits of reamers—which were established before the standard holes were adopted—and the limits of the standard holes. Maintenance of the nominal size as the low limit of

standard holes being of fundamental importance in a national standard, it would seem logical to adjust the reamer limits to those of the standard holes. This

step has already been taken, for example, in Germany,

where a national system of fits giving entire satisfaction to all major branches of industry, has been generally adopted.

Another objection voiced by some concerns is the

lack of a series of fits in the “ basic shaft ” system

that is, a system where the shaft is kept nominally

constant while the hole diameters are varied to give

the desired fits. Concerns able to use to advantage

bar stock supplied bj7 the mills in cold finished or ground condition—such bar stock not requiring a machine finish in the shop—could use in principle a basic shaft system to greater advantage than a basic

hole system, as now exclusive^7 given in the American

standard. Although the basic hole system is the one

preferably to be used by the majority of manufacturing

concerns, the percentage of cases where the basic shaft

system should be applied, appears to be large enough

to call for addition of this system to the existing

standard.

It has also been shown that the number of standard

fits might well be increased in order to make the sys- tem more flexible in the hands of the designer. In

fact, the most important foreign national systems give more than 20 different combinations of a standard

hole and shaft, each of these combinations representing a complete fit, whereas only 8 of such complete

fits are specified in the American standard.

Some firms in this country have used the tentative

American standard with entire satisfaction, but have

found it desirable to reduce the number of steps in the

range of diameters, the steps as given in the standard

being unnecessarily small, in their opinion.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, as sole sponsor for the project, decided in the fall of

1930 to reorganize the original technical committee in
336 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY, 1931

order to have the existing standard reviewed with

regard to the desirability or necessity of revisions or

additions. The first meeting of the reorganized committee on Allowances and Tolerances for Cylindrical

Parts and Limit Gages, was held on December 5, 1930,

in New York.

The present situation in the United States and

abroad was reviewed by the writer, and some of the

points which have been subject to criticism from in- dustry were discussed in the meeting.1 Consideration was given also to the international situation. Under

the auspices of the International Standards Association (I. S. A.), a federation of 18 national standardizing bodies of which the A. S. A. is a member, the

1 For details see Tolerances and Tools, by D. W. Ovaitt, Arrerican

Machinist, June 5 and 12, 1930 ; and the writer’s discussion of these

articles in American Machinist, Nov. 6, 1930. The discussion held at

the meeting was along similar lines as given in these articles.

project “Fits between cylindrical parts” has been

taken up in a preliminary way by a subcommittee of

5 members representing the national standardizing

bodies of Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Sweden,

and Switzerland, which is developing a proposal for an internationally unified system of fits. 2 This proposal will be submitted to all national

standardizing bodies for criticism and comment. The

A. S. A. having been invited to cooperate in this work,

the question was laid before the new A. S..A. technical

committee at its reorganization meeting. It was

unanimously decided that the committee would co- operate with the I. S. A. technical committee and give

due consideration to the international proposal when

circulated by the American Standards Association.

2 See International Unification of Standard Fits, by the writer, Mechanical Engineering, October, 1930.

QUALITY STANDARD FOR RED CEDAR SHINGLES

Industry Certifies Adherence to Standard Through Use of Quality Labels

One of the most representative groups of the shingle industry ever assembled, met at the Olympic

Hotel, Seattle, Wash., on March 27, 1931, and recom- mended the adoption of a high commercial standard

of quality for western red cedar shingles.

The conference was called by the division of trade

standards of the National Bureau of Standards at the

request of the Red Cedar Shingle Bureau, and practically all the more important red cedar shingle manufacturers, as well as many staining companies, dis- tributor, and consumer representatives, were present

to offer their advice and comment.

As set forth in the proposal, which was unanimously approved by the conference, the purpose of

the standard is as follows : This quality standard is recommended for western red cedar shingles as a basis of common understanding between

manufacturers, distributors, and users. By its general ac- ceptance, use, and certification by labels, it is hoped that in- terest may be increased in the manufacture, sale, and use of high-grade wr cod shingles which should redound to the mutual

advantage of all concerned. Manufacturers fully realize that protection and service afforded by wood shingles and, consequently, the success of

their industry, is in direct proportion to the quality of shingles used and, therefore, offer the following recommended

commercial standard of quality for guidance in the manufacture, sale, and use of their product.

The requirements of the commercial standard

shingle cover the highest class product of the cedar

shingle manufacturer comprising only those shingles

with 100 per cent edge grain and 100 per cent clear

heartwood and include other exacting requirements

that reflect serviceability of the shingles, such as specific natural defects in the wood as well as defects of

manufacture, uniformity of size, etc. In general, this

commercial standard grade is the same as the “A”

grade shingles described in the American Lumber

Standards and published in Simplified Practice Recommendation No. 16.

It is the intention of the Red Cedar Shingle Bureau to initiate a campaign in which self-certifying,

quality-guaranteeing labels may be applied to those

shingles which meet the requirements of the commercial standard and in this manner provide a simple

method of identifying those shingles, the durability

and service of which can be fully guaranteed by the

Red Cedar Shingle Bureau and the mill that produced them.

This plan, when in satisfactory operation and upon

general acceptance of the commercial standard, will

provide a definite and unmistakable basis for the

specification of high-grade cedar shingles by architects, contractors, and home builders, as well as building and loan associations, insurance companies, and

banks who are desirous of differentiating between

cedar shingles of ordinary grade and those of commercial standard quality—the highest grade produced.

One of the incidental' features of the conference,

which well illustrates the progressive attitude of all those in attendance, was the recommendation for the

elimination of the “ thousand pack,” as applied only

to shingles of the commercial standard grade. The

thousand pack is a remnant of the days when wood

shingles were cut to even widths of 4 inches, and as used to-day it has no bearing on the number of shingles

to the bundle and constitutes an element of confusion

in the minds of many shingle distributors and prospective users. In addition to facilitating the procurement of the required number of shingles for any particular job, the simplification of the packing methods

comes as an answer to the request of hundreds of

retail distributors who were desirous of a ready means

of comparison between wood shingles and other forms

of roofing.

Those interested in red cedar shingles may obtain

mimeographed copies of the recommended commercial

standard by addressing the division of trade standards, National Bureau of Standards, Washington.
MAY, 1931

l COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 337

PRINTING INDUSTRY ACTIVE IN STANDARDIZATION

International Need for Uniform Printing Equipment and Nomenclature

Realizing the need for definite standards in the

manufacture of printing plates, the International

Association of Electrotypers of America, through

its standardization committee, has for some time

been trying to determine what standards would best meet the needs of the industry. Through the cordial

cooperation of similar committees from the American

Newspaper Publishers Association and the American

Association of Advertising Agencies, it was found

that the points involved were relatively simple, al- though there were wide differences in practice in

various electrotyping establishments. These differ- ences often proved expensive and annoying, particularly when plates from different electrotypers were

used at the same time in a given issue of a

publication.

A number of practical tests were made, and a series

of experiments undertaken, before final recommendations were made, so that as finally adopted at the

1930 annual convention of the International Association of Electrotypers, these recommendations represented the consensus of opinion of all the interested

parties. In setting up the recommended standards,

it was recognized that the commercial manufacture

of electrotypes, particularly under the hurried conditions which often seem unavoidable, and the quantity production necessary, would make it exceedingly

difficult to maintain standards of perfection. Hence,

an allowable “ tolerance ” in thickness was included

and specified. The standards are as follows

Thickness of unmoimted electrotypes.—When made

for use as “ad plates,’’ 0.105 inch in thickness; toler- ance, plus or minus, 0.002 inch ; when made for

“ patent bases,” and recognizing as a standard base

height, 0.759 inch, plates are to be 0.154 inch thick,

with 0.002 plus or minus tolerance. For regular

book printing this will allow an underlay of 0.005

inch, and in case the pressman does not wish to place

underlays between plate and base, he can slip a sheet

of 0.005-inch tympan paper under the entire form.

Because there are “ patent bases ” in use that vary

quite materially from the suggested standard, plates

of special thickness must of necessity be manufactured, but it is the thought to build for the future

in the manner suggested.

Thickness of curved electrotypes.—Naturally, with

rotary presses of many differing cylinder diameters

in use, the electrotyper must continue manufacturing

curved plates to the specifications of his customers,

but it seemed desirable to set up a standard of thick- ness to enable the press designers to intelligently

cooperate with the electrotypers in the future. Variations in cylinder diameters there will alwa}r s be, of

necessity, but the suggested standard of plate thick- ness is 0.187 inch, with a plus or minus tolerance of

0.002 inch, for cylinders of usual diameter; and a thickness of 0.250 inch for very large cylinders, also carrying the same tolerance.

Bevel of edges of “ patent base ” plates,

—The

makers of patent bases have apparently pretty well

standardized the “ hook ” angles, so patent base plates

should be so beveled that the “ hook ” will engage

exactly with the edge of the plate. A bevel of 20°

(which is 70° from the horizontal) is recommended

as standard.

Thickness of shell.—While it is undoubtedly true

that within certain limitations, the thicker the shell,

the more durable the electrotype, it is equally certain

that for many other conditions a shell which is “just

heavy enough to cast ” will be just as serviceable.

And because these widely varying conditions are constantly met with, it was almost useless to attempt set- ting up a prescribed thickness as a “ standard.”

There is also to be considered that the quality of the

shell, as to toughness and hardness is quite as important as mere thickness. In actual practice, furthermore, it is found that the plates are many times

condemned for “ not wearing well ” when the I'eal trouble is maladjustment of the printing press. It was, therefore, the belief that when the electrotyper is definitely advised as to the service his plates are expected to give, he will provide a shell that will be

thoroughly adequate.

Formula of electrotype backing metal.—Having in

mind that deterioration through “ drossing ” begins as soon as backing metal is melted, and that what is termed as standard metal shall have certain welldefined characteristics, the recommendation for backing metal is 4 per cent tin, 3% per cent antimony,

and 92% per cent lead. Since the 1930 convention of the International Association of Electrotypers of America approved the

foregoing recommendations, they have been accepted

by the American Newspaper Publishers Association,

the American Association of Advertising Agencies,

and the United Typothetae of America. The second

conference of the technical experts in the printing

industry (see Commercial Standards Monthly for

April, 1931) held March 1G to 17, 1931, at Washington, considered the recommendations of the International Association of Electrotypers of America, and

recommended that they be considered by the committee of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers

for adoption.

The subject of standardization of printing equipment is a world-wide one. In Germany there has

been organized a standards committee for the graphic

arts (Nonnenausschuss fur das Graphische Gewerbe,

briefly called “ Nagra ”) to standardize paper, jirinting inks, types, and machinery for the printing industry of that country. This standardization, of course,

will be based upon scientific research as a necessary

preliminary.

Standards of paper sizes (“ normals ”) have al- ready been adopted there and are being used by a number of other countries. The master printers of

Holland have established “ normal ” (standard) sizes

for their products. Standard testing methods for

printing inks have been set up by the German committee, which aims to standardize printing inks, particularly for color work, on the basis of these testing

methods, taking into consideration the ingredients and
338 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY. 19:U

shades of colors. Other German standards include

type cabinets and cases, proofreader’s marks, composing sticks, galleys, chases, locking-up devices, pressroll'er diameters, and cylinder packing. It is proposed

also to develop a German standard printing press. Another organization to recognize the importance

of scientific research and standardization is the International Bureau of Federations of Master Printers.

The bureau was organized in compliance with a reso- lution adopted by the International Congress of Master Printers at its London meeting, which was held

in 1929. Its membership at present includes the federations of master printers of Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, and Switzerland, whose representatives constitute the council of administration.

One of the main objects of the international bureau is the standardization of type, paper, machinery, and

inks, and the investigation of new printing materials,

inventions, and technical processes. Results of a research completed at the National

Bureau of Standards will aid in determining the cause and remedy of failure of electrotypes to exactly

match in color printing. The studies at the bureau

were made in cooperation with the International

Association of Electrotypers and the Government

Printing Office. The United States Government uses thousands of

electrotypes annually in official reports, pamphlets,

maps, and a wide variety of governmental publications. In addition, there were 12,657 book and job

printing plants in this country in operation during

1929, and outside of these there were 221 plants in the

country engaged in electrotyping and stereotyping

work.

Difficulty is sometimes experienced by electrotypers

in making plates for color printing that have exactly

the same corresponding dimensions. In conducting

the investigations at the bureau a special steel meas- uring device was designed for determining dimensions on the curved plates, as the “ routing out ” of

the surface of the plates made a special curved gage

necessary. Practically every printing press has differ- ent sized cylinders, for which different sized gages will be required. The results of the studies showed that

the operations that must be most closely regulated are

the casting of the electrotype metal and the final curv- ing of the plates. The results will be applicable to any color printing by electrotypes.

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING MATERIALS

The following current information relating to

activities of the American Society for TestingMaterials has been supplied by that association

:

Normalized and tempered alloy steel forgings.—

A

tentative specification for normalized and tempered

alloy steel forgings for locomotives has been prepared

by the subcommittee on steel forgings and bullets. The specifications for physical properties are more

severe than those now in use. Data are given on

types of alloy steel which will meet the requirements.

The specifications also contain methods of inspection

and test. Valves and fittings.—The subcommittee on valves,

fittings, piping, and flanges for high-temperature

service has recommended a number of revisions in

the standard specifications for alloy-steel bolting material for high-temperature service which will provide

for bolting stock material as much as 7 inches in

diameter.

Grain sizes.—A new subcommittee is beingorganized to study grain sizes in steels and to prepare

photomicrographs to be used as standards of comparison. These will be a companion set to the micrographs that were issued a year or more ago covering

grain size in nonferrous alloys, such as brass, bronze,,

nickel, and silver. Gray iron castings.—A new subcommittee has been

formed to consider specifications and problems per- taining to automotive gray iron castings. It is recognized that there is a need for a logical classification of

gray iron castings. The new subcommittee will

attempt to work out such a classification and then

develop specifications accordingly.

Fabricated pipe.—One of the most important

developments of the many projects under consideration by the committee on steel is the progress that

has been made in the development of specifications for

various types of fabricated pipe. Through the subcommittee on steel tubing and pipe, there have now

been prepared specifications for five different types of

piping ; namely, riveted pipe, lock-bar pipe, hammerwelded pipe, electric-resistance-welcled pipe, and elec- tric-fusion-welded pipe. The substance of these specifications has now been agreed upon by the subcommittee, and after review by a harmonizing committee,

it is expected that the specifications will be in suitable

form for recommendation to the society for approval some time early in the summer.

BRITISH STEEL INDUSTRY ADOPTS SOURCE

LABEL

Ih the future users of British-made steel will be

able to distinguish domestic steel from steel made in

other countries by a national mark or label recently

adopted by the British steel industry. This self-identifying label is being fostered by the British Steel

Work Association.

The association, in making public the adoption of

the new label, pointed out that foreign steel is fre- quently purchased in Great Britain with the belief

that it is British made. This confusion appears to have arisen largely because of the fact that some

foreign steel is marked with the letters “ B. S.,” which

purports to showT that the steel was up to British

specifications, but was frequently interpreted by the

users to mean British-made steel. The national self- identifying label adopted consists of the words ‘‘Brit- ish steel ” divided by a cross.
MAY, 1931 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 339

COMMERCIAL SIMPLIFICATION

Elimination of Needless Variety Essential to Efficient Management

By Edwin Wf Ely, National Bureau of Standards 1

Industrial management is concerned not onl}* with

proper operation of factories and efficient distribution of their products, but also with profits. This

implies much more than simply selling the products

for more than it costs to make them. Properly applied, it means actually lowering the selling price

as a direct result of reducing production and dis- tribution costs. To-day it is recognized that one of

the surest ways of reducing costs is through the

elimination of avoidable waste, and we now find cor- porations contemplating the appointment of vice

presidents in charge of waste elimination.

One important method of eliminating waste is by

applying the principles of simplified practice, which means reduction in unnecessary variety. Such reduction may apply to sizes, styles, dimensions, or any

immaterial differences in commodities of a given

kind. To-day simplified practice is recognized as an

essential part of successful management. Industry

is constantly improving the technic of its attack upon

costs of production and distribution, largely by

reason of its growing reliance upon simplification and

standardization as two of its most powerful tools. The effective use of these tools is producing tangible

results in the nation-wide effort to reduce the spread

between the prices of raw materials and those of

finished products.

The terms “ simplification,” “ simplified practice,”

and u reduction in variety,” have become definitely

recognized as synonymous with waste elimination.

As such, they have found a definite place in the

vocabulary of industry. Applications of the principles of simplified practice are apparent on even*

hand. Many of them have come about through the

initiative of individual firms or groups; in addition,

there are those brought about through the concerted

activities of entire industries working with the cooperation of the division of simplified practice of the

National Bureau of Standards.

There is an industrial axiom that it costs less to make things alike than to make them different.

Every manufacturer knows that it costs less to make

100,000 articles all alike than to make 1,000 each

of 100 different kinds. It also costs less to account

for them, to handle them, to store them, and to dis- tribute them. Any manufacturer can determine

from his own records the particular kinds or sizes of

product which are in greatest demand by consumers. When a single manufacturer analyzes his market and

then discontinues the production of certain items or

sizes that are seldom called for—that is commercial

simplification.

In a large number of industries, however, a single

producer can not carry this process to its logical conclusion. He may feel that he must continue to carry

certain unprofitable items because bis competitors

make them. Those competitors may be producing

1 Abstract of radio talk made Mar. 30, 1931, over station WRC,

Washington. D. C„ under auspices of the Vocational Guidance Committee of the Kiwanis Club of Washington.

55879—31 2

many other items, the more profitable of which help

absorb losses caused by those which sell in small quantities. This condition is one of the causes of overdiversification- of unnecessary variety. Another cause

is the cpiite natural desire of freshly graduated col- lege students and others newly associated with a manufacturing concern to impress their individuality

upon the product. They are firmly convinced that

their best services to their employer will consist in the

creation of something new. If the new creation is actually something better than has heretofore existed,

it may, in fact, represent the best service that could

be rendered. Too often, however, it is merely something different, in no way better than that which it is intended to replace, and an economic waste may

result from its adoption.

Of course, this creative desire, carrying as it does

the vital principle of growth, must not be wholly suppressed. At the same time a clear distinction should

be made between actual improvement of product and

mere added diversity. The ultimate consumer can

help materially in deciding when improvement stops

and needless diversity begins. Usually, however,

knowledge of the consumer’s preference travels slowly, over a devious route to the manufacturer. Furthermore, it is not sufficient for one or two manufacturers

to know a little about a fraction of the total market.

The entire market, with its host of distributors and

legions of consumers, should be sufficiently articulated

to reach the attention of those who supply its needs.

In order to provide for the essential spread of

knowledge and ideas, some form of clearing house or general meeting place is of first importance. Such

agencies have existed for hundreds of years in con- nection with the marketing of securities, and of cer- tain basic commodities, such as grain and cotton. With the establishment of the division of simplified

practice within the National Bureau of Standards a

similar agency, though wider in scope, became available in the industrial field. Industries acting singly

or in groups can utilize the facilities of the division,

and cooperate with each other in solving their problems. When they can analyze the data that has been

brought out by studies and surveys it will be possible

to approach more nearly the desired balance of the

forces of production, distribution, and consumption.

Any plan with this objective can only be worked out

to its full possibilities when all interests act in concert. It should also be national in application if the

widest benefits are to be realized.

Anj'one connected with an industrial establishment,

whether as an officer or even in a relatively minor

capacity, can be of inestimable value to his employers

if he equips himself with a knowledge of the principles of simplification. He can then apply these

principles on every appropriate occasion in conducting his own part in the affairs of his company and can

also bring to the attention of his employers the great

quantity of valuable information and services that

are available in Washington for their use.
340 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY, 1931 INSPECTING PRODUCE FOR MATURITY AND DEFECTS

California Fruits and Vegetables Meet Certain Standard Specifications Before Being Marketed

By H. W. Paulsen, Department of Agriculture, State of California

California’s standardization work has been built

up during the past 15 years from a very small undertaking when only half a dozen commodities were

covered by law, and involved the shipment of a rela- tively few thousand carloads. The law at that time

did not have any direct bearing on the sales which

were made in our local markets.

At each session of the legislature more commodities

have been added, and shipments covered by law have

increased until now the enforcement work involves

the inspection of about 285,000 carloads of produce

annually. This figure does not include the produce

which is sold in local markets within the State. The

enforcement work is now conducted by 300 or more

inspectors in practically all counties of the State. The enforcement of the standardization act is dele- gated to the county agricultural commissioners and

inspectors under the direct supervision of the bureau

of fruit and vegetable standardization of the State

department of agriculture. There are, at this time,

agricultural commissioners in 51 counties who employ

an all-year force of more than 350 men. Many of these regular men are delegated to the

enforcement of the standardization act during the

shipping season, but this force is supplemented by a large crew of temporary men employed only for that

purpose. The duties of the bureau of fruit and vegetable standardization staff include the supervision of

the work in all counties for the purpose of bringing

about a uniform and efficient inforcement.

Grapes.—This work can be illustrated by referring

to some of the individual counties. In Tulare County,

for example, where 10,000 carloads of grapes are shipped annually, the commissioner employs 25 or 30

men during the grape shipping season to inspect the

grapes for maturity requirements and defects. These

grapes are then packed in standard containers and

loaded from about 75 packing sheds scattered over

the entire county, involving considerable activity to police such shipments properly.

Citrus fruits.—Citrus growing is also an important

industry in Tulare County. Citrus fruits being

shipped from at least 50 different packing houses.

Each lot of citrus fruits must be tested for maturity

as it arrives at the packing house. Considerable time

is required to check over every grower’s lot. One man

at a packing house may have to run 75 to 100 tests in a day.

Cantaloupes.—The cantaloupe is another commodity

about which little can be told by the novice from

outside appearance. In Imperial County, where a large cantaloupe growing section is located, from 400

to 600 carloads of cantaloupes are loaded and shipped

in one day. The entire crop of from 12,000 to 15,000

carloads must move in a period of a few weeks.

Therefore, the 12 to 150 inspectors who are ordinarily

employed must work rapidly and for longer periods in

order to cover as many of the shipments as possible.

In the same valley, the lettuce crop moves in quantities of from 200 to 400 carloads a day. Again, this

work involves many daily inspections.

Point-of-ongin inspection.—The specific enforcement problems are slightly different in every county

of the State because some counties have a few crops

which are moving in large quantities and the men

can more or less specialize in those particular commodities, while in other counties there are many deals

of a much smaller size which involve practically all of the commodities covered by the standardization

law. For this reason, all standardization inspectors

must have a working knowledge of the various commodities and be familiar with the defects and conditions affecting them. In the point-of-origin inspection, it is necessary for the inspectors to look over

several packages selected at random in the various

carloads or truckloads being shipped and to examine

them very carefully.

Another important type of inspection involved in

the enforcement of the standardization law is the

policing of local wholesale markets. Los Angeles,

San Francisco, and Oakland have exceptionally large

markets where several men are continually inspecting

the produce offered for sale on the street. If any of

the packages are found to be below the requirements of

the law, they are rejected and must be reconditioned

before being allowed to be sold. There are several

other very important wholesale markets in the State

and in each case these are carefully watched.

Highivay inspection.—During the past few years, the movement of produce by automobile trucks has

increased tremendously. Highway inspection sta- tions have been established at advantageously situated

locations in the State for the inspection of produce

moving in this manner. The three most important

of these are located at Lebec on the Ridge Route highway; at Tracy on the main highway from the San

Joaquin Valley to San Francisco; and at Buellton on the coast route from the coast vegetable producing areas to Los Angeles.

At the peak of the season, about 15 carloads move

daily from the San Joaquin Valley to Los Angeles

and about 18 to 20 carloads from the same valley to the Oakland and San Francisco markets. In the

coast district, from 7 to 9 carloads move daily at the

peak of the season to the San Francisco markets.

Similar stations which are maintained for a short

period or at irregular intervals are set up in various

parts of the State where sufficient produce is moving

to warrant them. The results of such inspection

have been very gratifying.

All enforcement officials have authority to enter every place where fruits, nuts, or vegetables are

stored, packed, offered for sale, or sold; and to stop

automobile trucks for the purpose of inspecting the

produce. While it is not compulsory for growers or shippers to have each shipment inspected, the responsible party is directly violating the provisions of the
MAY, 1931 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 341

law if the produce does not conform to the requirements of the standardization act. When the inspector finds a lot, truckload, or carload

of produce not in conformance with the law, he makes

a rejection of that produce under authority delegated

to him by the act and gives the owner or responsible

party a chance to recondition and sell it in a legal

condition.

Oftentimes the produce is so defective that it can

only be sold to a legitimate by-product concern, and

then only under special permit or under observance

of the inspector. It is often necessary to cause the

arrest of individuals when they persist in violating

the law. This is rarely done, unless it has been determined that the violation was done intentionally or repeated violations have been observed. Fines range

from $50, part or all of which is sometimes suspended,

to $400 or $500, or a jail sentence, depending upon the

seriousness of the offense. It is not the intention of the enforcing officials to cause the arrest of any individual or concern unless it is absolutely necessary. The enforcement work is done as efficiently as possible and excellent results are obtained, as evidenced by the fact that the majority of

the industries are continually asking for stricter provisions and a more thorough enforcement organization.

PRINTING CONFERENCE CONSIDERS STANDARDIZATION OF EQUIPMENT

Papers on Research and Standardization Read to Washington Meeting

The second conference of the technical experts in the printing industry, held March 16 and 17, at the

Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., was

featured by standardization and research group conferences on subjects of vital concern to the industry.

The conference was sponsored by the printing industries division of the American Society of Mechanical

Engineers.

It was brought out by the several speakers attending

the conference that the application of science in in- dustry is ever receiving greater recognition. The

constantly increasing knowledge which research has

brought to bear on industrial problems is producing

a higher degree of standardization in equipment and

materials, as well as improved methods and processes. The work of the engineer is paving the way for greater

efficiency in the printing industry, and will help to meet the constantly increasing demand for greater

production.

Group conferences were held on “Air Conditioning

Data for Printing,” “ The Need for Standardization

of Sizes, Quality, and Permanence of Paper,” “ Standardization of Thickness of Plates (Engraving, Electrotyping, Stereotyping, Off-set) and Patent Bases

and Cylinder Diameters,” and “ Establishing Color

Standards for Printing.”

The conference on “ Need for Standardization of

Sizes, Quality, and Permanence of Paper ” recom- mended that the addition of generally accepted commercial sizes of bristol, cover paper, post card and

rope bristols, blotting and carboard, in simplified

practice recommendation No. 22, Paper, be referred

to the standing committee in charge of the simplification, for consideration at the time of its next

revision.

The conference on “ Standardization of Thickness

of Plates and Patent Bases and Cylinder Diameters ” recommended that the committee of the American

Society of Mechanical Engineers, take the subject

under consideration. It was brought out in the conference that the International Association of Electrotypers of America, through its standardization committee, has recommended a standard thickness of un- mounted electrotypes for “ ad plates,” of 0.105 inch

with a tolerance, plus or minus, of 0.002 inch. When

made for “ patent bases,” a thickness of 0.154 inch,

with 0.002 plus or minus tolerance.

PROPOSED STANDARDS FOR CANNED FRUIT

CONSIDERED

Numerous changes in the tentative standards for

canned peaches, cherries, and tomatoes formulated

by the United States Department of Agriculture were

suggested April 13, 1931, at a hearing in Washington

called by the Food and Drug Administration of the

department, to ascertain views of the trade on the

proposed standards.

The requirements that tomatoes should carry no more than 1.5 square inches of peel to a pound of

the canned product brought out suggestions for

changes ranging from an increase to 3 square inches

to a reduction to 1 square inch. Dr. W. G. Campbell,

chief of the Food and Drug Administration, who pre- sided at the meeting, pointed out that there was no

disposition to attempt to attain an ideal condition

at prohibitive costs for removal of the peel, and added

that there Avould be no manifestations of such “ zeal ” on the part of Federal inspectors as would result in

the seizure of a large quantity of tomatoes because a can or two was found to contain more than 1.5 square

inches of peel.

Suggestions were presented in the requirements

“ that there be no more than one unsightly blemish in each 8 ounces of tomatoes ” be changed to an area

basis; for instance, that there should be not more than

one-fourth of a square inch of such blemishes. Numerous recommendations for minor changes in the proposed standards for cherries were presented, and there was brief discussion of the peach standards. The

recommendations were taken under advisement.
342 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY, 19.31 “FOUR FEET EIGHT AND A HALF INCHES”

History of the Railroad-Track Gage

By Homer H. Shannon 1

In overlooking the question of why the majority of

railroad track mileage of the world has been standardized at a width between rails of 4 feet 8 % inches,

detective story writers have passed by one of the great

mysteries of modern life. After more than 100 years

of railroad construction in this country, no one knows

clearly why the “ standard ” track width is what it is, rather than something else. Some chapters of the

story have been written, but there are large gaps in

the manuscript.

Few unwritten transportation stories are more potentially rich with interesting side lights on the development of the railroads than that of track gages.

Such a story would not only set off to striking advantage the long distance traveled in general transportation policj^ and railroad management since the first clumsy steam horse bumped along its uneven track

of rails, but would, as well, serve as a particularly

good vehicle for the drama in railroad construction

at the time that construction was greatest.

There are many contradictions in what has been

written on the question of gage standardization, and

no one seems to have displayed the necessary zeal or energy to demonstrate conclusively just what the ele- ments were in the plot that ultimately made “ 4 feet 8^2 inches ” the hero of the piece.

Nothing better than the whim of the builders is credited with having set the gage of the first track

laid in this country. There were at least a half dozen

different widths represented by the railroad construction of the first decade, and there was no improvement

in the situation for at least the first 30 years of rail- road building.

Of 11 roads begun by 1836, the track gage of 4 was

that now called “ standard,” or 4 feet 8 y2 inches.

English influence is generally credited for that. The

English gage is said to have been set by the Stockton

& Darlington, the first steam railroad in that country.

Construction on it began in 1822. Its track had an

inside width of 4 feet 8 inches, the additional half

ince since added remaining unaccounted for. As a number of early engines used in this country were

constructed in England, and English experience was

largely drawn on for our first railroads, it was natural

that an influence should be reflected across the

Atlantic.

Going back beyond the first English railroad, however, there is little more than conjecture and myth to suggest why the particular gage that won out was as well represented in early construction as was the case. Some commentators profess to find the explanation

in the fact that early rail equipment was an adaptation

of liighwa}’ equipment. Carts and other horse-drawn

equipment, on the scene when railroads were built, had

a width between wheels of 4 feet 8 % inches, it is said.

The explanation of that, according to one writer,

is that it was roughly adequate to obtain suspension,

1 Member of the editorial staff of Uie Traffic World.

between the wheels, of a carriage wide enough for

two individuals abreast. Wheels of early horsedrawn vehicles had been standardized at that distance

apart, since the chariots of early Roman times, it is said. But the evidence does not seem to be conclusive on the point. If there were any such standardization

of the Roman chariot, the fact is in sharp contrast to the condition that existed at the beginning of rail- road construction in this country.

The first railroad constructed in New York, the

line connecting Albany and Schenectady, had a width

between tracks of 4 feet 9 inches. New Jersey’s

first pretentious railroad, the Camden & Amboy, had

a gage of 4 feet 10 inches. For more than a generation the roads of New Jersej7 were principally of that

gage. Selection of a gage of 5 feet by the Charles- ton & Hamburg, the first southern road, set a prece- dent that was followed below the Mason & Dixon line until after the Civil War. When the Erie tracks were given a width of G feet, it was followed in that

gage by other roads as far west as the Mississippi, some of which maintained that gage for nearly 50

years. At least one authentic instance, in which the gage

of a track was taken from the wheels of an engine,

which had been constructed prior to the beginning

of construction of the railroad, is recorded. That

historic engine was the “ Sandusky,” the first to be

operated west of the Allegheny Mountains. It had

been built for a small New Jersey railroad with a gage of 4 feet 10 inches, but subsequently was purchased by the Mad River & Lake Erie, on which con- struction between Sandusky and Springfield, Ohio, was begun in September, 1835. Before that, however, the “ Sandusky ” arrived on the scene, and the

tracks were made to accommodate it. The track

width that resulted was made standard in that State

for many years by an act of the State legislature.

The diversity of railroad-track gages prior to the

Civil War brought about a number of expedients to overcome operating difficulties when through traffic over a number of lines developed. They ranged all the

way from the laying of a third rail to lifting the

bodies of the cars from one set of wheel trucks to another.

By 1860 there were at least a dozen different gages

represented by the railroads of the country. Many

lines in Missouri, and in the Southwest, had track with

a width of 5y2 feet. Canada was laying its track

with that width. California had adopted the 5-foot

gage of the southern roads by State enactment.

No approach toward a national rail system with

uniform interchange of cars had been made. It was

on this scene that construction of the Union Pacific was projected.

“ Some strong influence was imperatively needed to rectify conditions,” says Seymour Dunbar, in his “ History of Travel in America.” Creation of the

transcontinental road was “ destined to become that
MAY, 1031 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 343

influence," he says. A political storm of modern di- mensions was stirred up by the question of what

should be the gage of the Union Pacific. Finally, by

act of the national legislature, in 1862, President

Lincoln was authorized to settle the question. The

President, when informed of his responsibility, said

he would be very glad to fix the gage, ‘"if I only knew

which was the best gage.” He finally determined on

the 5-foot gage of the California lines and issued a proclamation to the effect, but the quarrel went back

to Congress, and after eight months more of wrangling, that body decided on 4 feet 8y2 inches.

That decision, more than any other single factor,

it is generally agreed, ultimately determined what was

to become “ standard ” gage in this country. Physical

transformation of other lines began at once, but it was

a good many years before the job of bringing them

into line with that width approached completion.

There was still life in the gage controversy in 1872,

when a National Narrow Gage Conference was called

in St. Louis, “ in view of the fact the gage question,

as applied to railways, is attracting a large share of

attention, and that there is a general desire in the

public mind to arrive at an intelligent conclusion

in relation thereto.”

At that conference the necessity for a national sys- tem of railroads with a 3-foot gage was advocated, on the theory that operating expenses on such a sys- tem would not be so great as on the systems of a

wider gage. The gage question offered a solution,

it was thought, for the high freight rates of the day.

As late as 1876, the Chicago Board of Trade adopted

a resolution declaring that " the best interests of

Chicago demand the early completion of said railway

(the Chicago, Millington & Western, a 3-foot gage

line projected from Chicago to the Mississippi), as the initial link connecting this city with the rapidly

developing narrow gage system of the West.”

Few people would now deny that width of rail- way track is at least one thing that calls for standardization. The enormous transportation waste that

inhered in the old medley of gages would be multiplied a hundredfold in this day of 120-ton cars and

100-car trains. But differences of track j?age, in both

this country and England, held over almost into this

generation. One of the important English lines, the

Great Western, maintained a 7-foot gage against all opposition up to 1892. In this country, the 6-foot

gage of the Erie had not been replaced by " standard ” gage until about 1880.

The principal railroads of France, Germany, Italy,

Canada, and a number of central European countries

operate on the same gage as the lines in this country.

But Indian railways have a gage of 5% feet; Russian,

5 feet; and Japanese, 3 feet. At least the great

majority of the railway mileage of the world now

conforms to the “ standard ” of 4 feet 8i/

2 inches, but

still one wonders why “ standard gage ” is standard.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE OF RESEARCH WORKERS

National Bureau of Standards and Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt Compare Notes on Technique

Closer international scientific cooperation is manifested in a recent exchange of scientists between the

United States and Germany.

The arrival of Dr. F. Henning, chief of the division

of heat and pressure of the Physikalisch-Technische

Reichsanstalt of Germairy, as an exchange guest at the

National Bureau of Standards, and the detailing of

G. W. Vinal, of the bureau’s electricity division, to the Reichsanstalt and other national standardizing

institutions, marks an important step in the development of closer cooperation between the leading

national laboratories.

Doctor Henning will spend a considerable portion

of his time in the bureau’s high temperature section,

where it is planned to repeat the work so successfully

completed during the past year on the WaidnerBurgess standard of light, using a black-body radiator

at the freezing point of platinum as the primary

standard of light. By repeating this work, an opportunity will be given to Doctor Henning to study the

methods used at the bureau and take back with him

to Germany a personal knowledge of the technique

employed, in this manner arriving at a better and probably quicker international agreement concerning this

basic standard. It is planned also to extend this

work, within a short time, to include iridium and

rhodium, and Doctor Henning will become an active

collaborator and participant in this additional program. Accordingly, both the bureau’s personnel and

the guest representative will have the benefit of an

immediate and mutual exchange of ideas concerning

the technique to be followed.

Mr. Vinal’s visit to the Reichsanstalt and later to the national laboratories of France and Great Britain

is rendered very timely by the recommendations

adopted last year by the advisory committee on elec- tricity of the International Committee on Weights

and Measures that direct comparisons on certain

electrical standards be made between the national

laboratories.

In 1910 a very thorough international comparison

of voltameters and standard cells was carried out at the National Bureau of Standards by representatives

of three national laboratories abroad working with

members of the bureau's staff. As a result of that

comparison the electrical units used in the several

countries were brought into exact agreement, but during the past 20 years some small discrepancies have

developed. The present international comparisons

are intended to find the explanation of these discrepancies and to determine what steps may be desirable in

order to remove the differences between the laboratories.

In general, the settlement of such questions is greatly facilitated by direct personal contact between

the research workers concerned which makes possible

the detailed discussion of methods, apparatus, and re- sults of measurements. It is hoped, therefore, that the

interchange of workers now bein<r made will establish

a precedent to be followed in the future, when other

technical questions of international importance arhe.
344 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY, 1931 UNIFORMS FOR WOMEN WORKERS

Various Occupations for Women Necessitates Uniforms to Insure Sanitation, Safety, and Comfort

Increasing interest is being evidenced by employer

and worker alike in the many advantages inherent in

the use of uniform dress for certain industrial and

occupational work for women, according to information received from the Women’s Bureau of the United

States Department of Labor. While the need for

uniforms varies with the kind of work performed in

many industries or occupations, a special work dress

may be essential for any one of a number of reasons

sanitation, safety, comfort, the protection of clothing,

the identification of the worker in a group where the

public is also present, and the creation of a desirable

work morale among emploj^ees.

The public, in general, is most interested in uniforms for women workers from the angle of the safeguarding of the food it consumes from possible impurities originating from the street clothing of the

workers who prepare it for consumption. A large

number of plants handling food products have ac- cordingly introduced standard caps and aprons for

all employees. A few of the States have gone to the

length of prescribing through legislative acts that

such protection be taken.

Safety, comfort, and the protection of clothing

constitute the most important advantages of uniform

dress to the worker. Where women are operating

machines, there is often the risk of their clothing and

hair becoming entangled in the cogs and wheels.

Neat overalls and caps remove the hazard of billowing skirts and the danger of fly-away hair. Sensible

heels on shoes in industrial work involving greasy,

slippery, or oily floors are wise precautions against

injuries and consequent loss of working time induced

by falls. Proper shoes are also of great importance

in those factory duties requiring walking and standing as a preventive of early fatigue.

The Women’s Bureau investigation of pineapple

canning in Hawaii disclosed the universal use of rubber gloves among women workers, which, while adding to the general sanitary effect, were worn chiefly

because of the protection they afforded to the hands

of workers on which the acid in the juice of the fruit

had a most unpleasant effect. Other bureau cannery

investigations noted the stress laid on proper shoes

because of cannery floors, which at times become

quite slippery.

For women exposed to oils, chemicals, or excessive dust, the protection or replacement of street clothing comes as a boon to the meager budgets of

many workers in such occupations. Few pay

envelopes provide adequate sums for women to purchase for themselves proper protection for their gar- ments against the harmful atmosphere in which they

work.

In addition to public confidence which the employer

gains through safeguarding his products against con- tamination from workers’ street clothing, and in- creased production on the part of workers who feel that the management through supplying uniforms is looking after their interests, employers have found

other advantages in the utilization of uniform clothing. The managers of many department stores stipulate dresses of a single color for the women clerks. It has been characteristic of theaters, hotels, and res- taurants, and similar enterprises to require uniforms.

Employees are easily identified and their work is facilitated. While in some plants, the suits are furnished by the firms and the laundering is also borne

by them, this is not the general rule, as is illustrated

by the Women’s Bureau study of women in Oklahoma

industries, which reports that of 567 employees re- quired to wear uniforms, 73.5 per cent had to supply

their own and 56.6 per cent were expected to provide

for the laundering. On the other hand, the Hawaiian

pineapple canneries exhibited to the bureau investigator an ideal system of fresh uniforms supplied by

the concern to any worker at any moment of the day

when the need was indicated.

GRADING RULES RECOMMENDED FOR

PLYWOOD

In order to provide a definite grading basis for the

manufacture, sale, and use of plywood a general con- ference of all interests of the industry was held at Chicago, 111., April 9, 1931, to consider the commercial standard proposed by the Plywood Manufacturers Association.

The acceptance and use of the standard grade rules, as unanimously apjiroved by the conference, will

bring about a more general knowledge of the product

and facilitate the procurement of the proper grades

by furniture designers, cabinetmakers, architects, and

other purchasers of plywood.

The commercial standard applies to plywood such as used in the furniture industry, for interior panels, and

in the cabinet trade as made from the commonly used

hardwoods and eastern red cedar.

Certain general requirements of workmanship, gluing, and packing, apply to all species, while specific

detailed requirements are set forth for the several

grades of each particular species. The different kinds

of cores and crossbands are also classified in several

grades according to their quality, and standard sizes and quantities, as well as dimensional tolerances are provided.

The effective date for the commercial standard was

fixed at 30 days after announcement by the Department of Commerce of general acceptance of the

project.

Those interested in any phase of the plywood industry may obtain copies of the recommended standard

by writing to the Division of Trade Standards, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C.
MAY, 1931 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 345

SIMPLIFIED PRACTICE IN THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST

Interest in simplified practice has been steadily

increasing among the industries and commercial enterprises in the Southern and Southwestern States. In

March, two representatives of the division of simplified practice of the National Bureau of Standards

completed tours to cities in these regions. The dual

purpose of these trips was to respond to requests

from groups who wished to hear first-hand talks on

the simplification movement, and to crystallize the

evidenced interest into tangible programs.

Eighteen cities in 10 different States were visited.

An aggregate of more than 1,200 producers, dis- tributers, and consumers attended 34 meetings held by

organized groups. A total of 525 students were

addressed in seven universities. Both the students

and those attending all other meetings engaged in

lively discussions following the talks on simplified

practice. These discussions were helpful alike to the

speakers and the audience.

One preliminary conference was held, and several

local simplification committees were appointed. In

addition, committees are being appointed in two

States for the purpose of conducting state-wide elimination-of-waste and simplification programs. Three

of the chief functions of these committees will be

1. Stimulate interest in simplified practice as a philosophy of modern management.

2. Promote adherence to existing simplified practice recommendations.

3. Originate suggestions for new simplified practice projects.

Ten new projects were proposed to the division of

simplified practice, and many questions were asked

during the meetings and interviews, about the work

of the Government departments and establishments.

It was necessary to refer 12 of the specific inquiries

to the testing and research divisions of the National

Bureau of Standards for complete reMy.

The district offices of the Department of Commerce

served as headquarters for the bureau’s representatives, and the managers of these offices assisted in

arranging the schedules of appointments in their

respective areas. The cities visited are as follows : Birmingham,

Ala.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Atlanta, Ga. ; Louisville,

Ivy. ; New Orleans, La.; St. Louis, Mo.; Cincinnati,

Columbus, Dayton, and Springfield, Ohio ; Oklahoma

City and Tulsa, Okla. ; Chattanooga, Tenn. ; and

Dailas. Fort Worth, Galvestion, Houston, and San

Antonio, Tex.

AMERICAN STANDARDS ASSOCIATION

Scope of Current Standardization Projects Reviewed

Information on certain standardization projects,

under the auspices and procedure of the American

Standards Association, has been furnished as follows

Screw threads. —An investigation which is intended

to show the state of screw-thread standardization in

the United States, the range of accuracy desirable for an acceptable product of a given class, and the range

of accuracy commercially attainable, is being made

by the sectional committee on screw threads for bolts,

machine screws, nuts, and commercially tapped holes. The committee will visit approximately 125 plants,

selected as being representative manufacturers and

consumers of bolts, screws, and nuts. The committee

members wdll call at each of these plants and select from the stock bins samples of screws, bolts, nuts,

and certain small threaded parts made to the American standard or other screw-thread standards. For

the purpose of this survey these parts may be either

purchased or made on the premises. They are to be

tagged and sent direct to the National Bureau of

Standards where they will be measured for all the

elements of a screxv-thread fit. The results of these

tests will be published, but in such a way that no one

except the officials at the bureau and the individual

manufacturer will be able to identify the samples.

Insulators for electric 'power lines. —The scope for

the A. S. A. project on standardization of insulators

for electric power lines has been approved by the

standards council as follows : Specifications, including

rating, dimensions for interchangeability, and tests for line insulators of all types except those used for

communication lines. Industrial sanitation safety code. —A tentative

draft of the proposed safety code for industrial sanitation has been prepared for the consideration of the

sectional committee by the sponsor for the project, the

United States Public Health Service. The scope is as follows : General sanitary requirements of industrial plants, construction operations, and temporary

labor camps, including water supply, drainage, sanitary conveniences, disposition of refuse and waste. Coal-mine cars. —The work of the sectional committee on specifications for coal-mine cars will include

the design and materials of construction for certain car details. It has been estimated there are more

than $200,000,000 worth of coal-mine cars in operation, and are manufactured in a great variety. Lack

of standardization causes more waste here than in any

other item of equipment used underground in coal

mines. Although the sponsor of this project, the

American Mining Congress, believes that complete

standardization of these cars is not possible, it does

feel that a start should be made in the standardization

of details of design and materials of construction

which will ultimately fit into and form a basis for

complete standardization.

Pneumatic coal-cleaning plants. —The American

standard regulation for the prevention of dust ex-
346 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY, 1931

plosions in pneumatic coal-cleaning plants, approved

as American standard in December, 1930, has been

published and is available from the offices of the asso- ciation, 29 West Thirty-ninth Street, New York, N. Y.

Box wrenches and socket wrenches.—The Detroit

Edison Co. has recently brought to the attention of

the association the desirability of standardizing box

wrenches and socket wrenches. Since this subject is closely related to the work of the subcommittee dealing with wrench head bolts and nuts and wrench

openings, of the sectional committee on bolt, nut, and

rivet proportions, the question has been referred by

the association to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Although there are certain difficul- ties involved which are recognized by the subcommittee, it has stated its willingness to give the subject

consideration.

Electric arc welding apparatus.—A single committee to develop standards for electric arc welding ap- paratus and electric resistance welding apparatus has

been approved by the standards council. The scope

of the work of the committee will be as follows

:

The formulation of standards for electric welding ap- paratus, including definitions of terms, classification,

rating, heating, efficiency, testing methods, dielectric

test, standard values of current and voltage and nameplate data.

Wood poles —Lodge-pole pine and Douglas fir will

be included in the standardization of wood poles,

work on which has been going forward under the

sponsorship of the A. S. A. telephone group. Specifications and uniform dimension tables for poles of

these types will be developed along the lines established in the work on western ' red cedar, northern

white cedar, chestnut, and southern pine, which is now

nearing completion.

Fire hose.—A revision of the specifications for cot- ton rubber-lined fire hose has been approved by the

association. This revision increases the permissible

organic acetone extract from 3 to 4 per cent of the

rubber compound by weight. The use of various antioxidants and accelerators in rubber compounding has

been brought about by developments in modern rubber manufacture for the purpose of insuring longer

life and better wearing qualities in finished rubber

products. The use of these compounding agents in- creases the organic acetone extract and the revision

brings the specifications in line with the modern

practice.

MINIATURE HOUSE SHOWS USE OF COPPER AND BRASS

In order to indicate the many possible uses of copper and brass in dwellings, the Copper and Brass

Research Association has constructed a miniature

house which is on display at the National Bureau of

Standards, and is shown in the accompanying illustra- tion. It is completely equipped as a larger house might

be, even to the electric lights, and demonstrates the

use of copper roof, copper gutters, downspouts, copper screens, tubes of copper in the electric refrigerator, a copper coil in the hot-water heater, and copper

wires for electric light connections.

The bathroom fixtures are representative of copper

alloys, either plated or otherwise. The water pipes

throughout the house are of brass. Many articles of

household use, such as andirons, screens, and basket

for the fireplace, ash tray, clock, desk set, teakettle,

and boiler are also of brass. The lanterns and door

knocker and even the tiny fastenings on the doors and

shutters illustrate further uses of this metal.
MAY, 1931 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY' 347

PROGRESS VIA SIMPLIFICATION

Knitting Mill Reviews Benefits Derived from Simplifying Products

By Irwin S. Adams, Jantzen Knitting Mills

What has the Jantzen Knitting Mills accomplished

as the result of simplification \ The most natural place

to begin is in the factory.

The usual knitting mills have a host of products,

such as, sweaters, coats, caps, stockings, etc., with

swimming suits as one of the lesser items. Swimming

suits are a seasonable item, yet we manufacture them

the year ’round. In contrast with the sometimes

thousands of styles, size, and color combinations of

the usual knitter, we have but one product, 29 styles, 17 colors, 15 combinations of these colors, and a range

of 17 sizes. Investment in specialized equipment has meant not

only greater productivity, but also has made it possible to get along with a minimum investment in such

assets. Our savings in production have increased considerably, as is indicated by the following figures on garments produced per operator: 1,503 in 1922; 1,841 in

1923; 2,204 in 1924; 2,575 in 1925; 2,715 in 1926; and

3.500 in 1929. It must not be supposed that our pres- ent program was inaugurated without a struggle.

The germ had well begun work in 1920, and since then

progress has been rapid; but it was not until 1926 that we decided to throw out the one remaining line in

addition to swimming suits. When our business was smaller and conducted differently, it was necessary for employees to work on

different machines, make different products, and, in

general, be on the alert to undertake another task as the occasion might arise. When an operator was

shifted from one job to another she achieved a standard of 9 seams an hour. To-day, an apprentice operator shortly reaches this figure, and in due time turns

out 45 seams an hour with ease. We find real economies in purchasing, storing, and

using material. It is possible to buy our comparatively few dyes in large lots and this means a saving.

Also we have been able to get j^arn spun under a different system and “ dyed in the wool.” To “ dye

in the wool ” means faster color, something especially

necessary in swimming suit dyes, which must stand

hard usage.

The elements which make up our overhead have

also been favorably affected. For instance, supervision is better and costs us less per unit of product

now than formerly. Superintendent and foreman

alike have more time for constructive work that pays

dividends in the form of a higher and more uniform

standard of product. The increased efficiency of in- direct employees for the past few years is measured

b}^ a per garment output of 16,470 in 1924 as compared with 17,832 in 1926. From the sales angle the benefits of simplification

may not be as easily discerned, but they are nevertheless real and appreciable. In the first place a sales- man can not concentrate on a big line. Also the

buyer’s attention is diverted by an imposing array of

samples with the result, oftentimes, that he picks what

looks like the bargain. With a simplified line the

salesman needs no sample room. He knows that

under his company’s plan of manufacture, niceties of

fit, appearance, and style are developed first as a re- sult of focal point for all the thinking of the organization. National and international preference for a type of garment unknown except on the coast in 1920

speaks volumes for such selling.

Our line is restricted to the most fashionable and

fast-turning numbers as determined b}r our sales rec- ords. We add a new number only when we are con- vinced that sales will result in sufficient volume to justify it. On the other hand, a number is dropped

if the demand for it does not equal a certain minimum.

As a consequence, we now produce only one quality.

Administrative efficiencies also result from simplification. One of the greatest advantages to us has been

the ability to do a larger volume of business on a given amount of capital than would otherwise be

possible. This means additional profit. Under this

simplification plan, small savings on production re- sult in comparative reduction in our selling price.

Our accounting system is much simpler and more

accurate now than previously. Since most of our

business is necessarily booked months in advance, we

find our tabulating machine very helpful. As orders come in, cards are punched and from these tabulations, we know what styles, sizes, and colors of swimming

suits are required for shipment on a certain date. We manufacture against these records, based on bona

fide orders. The merchant helps to promote a speedy,

efficient, fill-in service from an easily accessible balanced stock, by estimating in advance the number of

suits he might sell. To summarize, simplification means that each dollar

works harder, which, after all, is the aim of progressive management.

BUILDING INDUSTRY INDORSES CERTIFICATION PLAN

Desire to cooperate with the National Bureau of

Standards in making the certification and labeling

plans effective has been expressed by several associations interested in various types of building materials,

including roofing, lumber, brick, metal lath, plaster,

and structural tile.

On March 17, 1931, the Associated Metal Lath

Manufacturers voted to request the bureau to include

metal lath in its certification plan. The significance of

this action will be appreciated when it is known that

the association (and also the Concrete Reinforcing

Steel Institute) had expressed some hesitancy in
348 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY, 1931

carrying forward such standardization because of the

supposed possibility of opposition on behalf of the

Federal Trade Commission. This commission (see

Commercial Standards Monthly for April, 1931)

stated recently that it regards the work of the Department of Commerce in encouraging standardization of

commodities as important and beneficial to the public,

and that it regards the promotion of standardization

of commodities among the members of an industry as peculiarly the work of this department. In no case has the commission ever held standardization of commodities by the members of an industry to be a violation of any of the statutes which the commission is required by law to inforce.

The Structural Clay Tile Association, which has

been basing its quality labels on the standards of the

American Society for Testing Materials, has expressed

a desire to include a suitable reference to the Federal

specifications, and to act as an inspection agency in

“ policing ” the labels. In cooperation with the trade association department of the Chamber of Commerce of the United

States, the bureau has been collecting copies of labels

or their equivalent used b3

r various organizations for

identifying commodities complying with the requirements of the specifications or standards of these as- sociations. The chamber of commerce is arranging

both a “ stationary exhibit ” and a “ loan exhibit ” of

the association labels. At the present time the National Bureau of Standards is preparing to supply the purchasing agents of

the Federal, State, county, and municipal governments

and individual public institutions with lists of lumber

manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers who have

expressed willingness to supply hardwood or softwood

lumber guaranteed to comply with the Federal specification requirements.

The work is part of the bureau's certification plan,

designed to obtain the broadest possible use and effec- tiveness of Federal1 specifications. In supplying all national and local governmental purchasers with lists of manufacturers and distributors willing to guarantee

compliance with nationally recognized specifications,

impetus is given to the popularization of the use of

specifications.

PREVENTING FIRE LOSS TO LIFE AND

PROPERTY

Bureau Report on Building Regulations Suggests Require- ments to Minimize Fire Loss Government scientists and nationally known ex- perts in the field of construction join hands in fighting the fire menace, through a series of recommendations just issued by the National Bureau of Standards, showing how loss of life and property from this

hazard can be materially reduced.

Hundreds of architects, fire chiefs, building offi- cials, and others, have been consulted by the committee

of experts, who were responsible for the preparation

of the report, in order to arrive at a well-balanced

and generally acceptable body of advice and suggestions. In this investigation the National Bureau of

Standards has given the benefit of the experience it has gained, by many years of study, dealing with

relative fire hazards and means of meeting them.

The report includes such topics as classifications of

buildings into groups according to use and type of

construction ; delineation of fire limits and the struc- tures permissible with them; protection needed for

columns, beams, and other structural members, and

miscellaneous requirements, all tending toward lessening the fire hazard. Recognition is given to the fact

that each material now in use has a legitimate place

according to its demonstrated capacity to resist fire, and economy in construction is given weight

throughout.

The report is the sixth of a series prepared by the

Building Code Committee of the Department of Commerce, with the object of providing recommended

minimum requirements that may be made available

to States and municipalities engaged in preparing

building regulations. These reports have found wide

acceptance. The committee is proceeding with studies

of other matters taken up in building codes and it is expected that further recommendations will be

issued from time to time.

Copies of this report, which is entitled “ Recommended Minimum Requirements for Fire Resistance

in Buildings,” National Bureau of Standards Building and Housing Publication No. 14, may be obtained

from the Superintendent of Documents, Government

Printing Office, Washington, D. C., at 10 cents each.

FEDERAL SPECIFICATIONS

Status of 22 Projects Announced

Revision of 17 Federal specifications and 5 proposals were submitted during the month of April

for criticism and comment. Copies of these specifications and further information can be obtained from

the Federal Specifications Board, National Bureau of

Standards, Washington, D. C.

New designation

Specifications revised F. S. No.

T-R-601 . 61b

Pipe, water, cast-iron 537 Apples, evaporated (or dried) 634a FF-T-311 Thumb tacks 600 GG-S-776 599 GG-T-671 „ Triangles. 601 GG-T-71I 602 TT-W-261 white lead, basic sulphate (dry and paste in oil) 6 TT-Z-321 Zinc oxide, leaded, dry and paste in oil 9 UU-B-561 589 UU-P-226 Paper, drawing 595 TJU-P-231 Paper, drawing, printed 596 UU-P-236 Paper, drawing, ruled. 597 ZZ-H-541 Hose, steam 49b ZZ-H-601 Hose, water, braided 588 CCC-C-531-

.

Cloth, tracing. . 591 DDD-C-481

.

500

PROPOSED SPECIFICATIONS

JJ-U-531
MAY, 1931 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 349

SIMPLIFICATION BRIEFS

Welded chain.—S. P. It. No. R100 has been reaffirmed by the standing committee, without change, for

another year, according to the National Bureau of

Standards.

Forms for concrete ribbed floor construction .

S. P. R. No. R87-29 has been reaffirmed by the standing committee, without change, for another year. This recommendation reduces the variety of widths

from 7 to 2, or 71 per cent.

Vitrified pavifug brick S. P. R. 1-29.—Simplification for vitrified paving brick (S. P. R. 1-29) has

been reaffirmed by the standing committee, without

change, for another year. This recommendation has

been instrumental in reducing the varieties from 66

to 6, or 91 per cent.

Cotton Duck S. P. R. 27.—It has just been an- nounced by the National Bureau of Standards that

Simplified Practice Recommendation No. 27, Cotton

Duck, has been reaffirmed by the standing committee

of the industry, without change, for another year. This recommendation has been instrumental in re- ducing the numbers and widths of wide and sail cot- ton duck from 460 to 90, or 80 per cent.

Block Sizes for Calcimine Bnishes S. P. R. R121-

31.—The National Bureau of Standards has just an- nounced that Simplified Practice Recommendation

R121-31, Block Sizes for Calcimine Brushes (Dutch,

Semi-Dutch, and Baby Dutch), has received the re- quired degree of acceptance and may now be con- sidered as in effect. The simplification program, as recommended, is responsible for reducing the number of sizes of block widths from 47 to 10, thicknesses

from 34 to 8, and an actual combination of 70 sizes to 16.

Simplifying building and construction.—As a result of the twentieth annual convention of the National

Association of Builders Exchanges at San Antonio,

Tex., in February, 1931, a simplified practice committee was appointed to act in liaison between the asso- ciation and the National Bureau of Standards for

the purpose of increasing adherence to simplified practice recommendations in the building and construction industry, and to develop new opportunities for

simplification as a method of eliminating avoidable

waste.

Paperboard shipping cases for canned goods.—The

National Bureau of Standards has arranged for a general conference of all interests, on May 27, 1931, in

Washington, D. C., concerning the simplification of

paperboard shipping cases for canned foods at the

request of the Paperboard Industries Association.

These cases will accommodate the cans mentioned in

the recent simplified practice recommendation cover- ing fruit and vegetable cans. The latter program

brought about a reduction in sizes and varieties, from

an indefinite number to 27.

Web-steel joists.—Simplified Practice Recommendation R94-30 covering open web-steel joists is now

available in printed form, and may be obtained from

the Superintendent of Documents, Government

Printing Office, Washington, D. C., for 5 cents a copy. This recommendation is confined to joists between 8 and 16 inches in depth and not longer than

24 times their depth, and specifies properties and

allowable loads in pounds per linear foot. In establishing this simplified list of definite depth dimensions, it was necessary to include designations,

stresses, resisting moments in inch-pounds, and maximum end reaction in pounds.

Idle time in delivery-tmick operation reduced.

Bjr the simple expedient of instructing his salesmen

to turn in their orders on hand at 1.30 p. m. instead

of waiting until 4, a food wholesaler found that he

could greatly reduce idle waiting and delays in truck

operations. By this change 5 porters and helpers were able to do the work formerly done by 7, and 5 trucks were reduced to 4. Thirty per cent of the as- sembling formerly done at 8 a. m. was reduced to 18

per cent, with the remainder spread more evenly over

the day. An estimated saving of $3,000 during the

first year is reported to have resulted from this in- creased efficiency. A survey revealed that 41 per cent of the working day Avas spent in idle waiting and

delays, 34 per cent in loading and unloading, and

only 25 per cent of the time in actual running.

Delays in assembling and loading and delays at the

point of delivery were the two major sources of lost time.

National drug-store survey.—Active field work on

the national drug store survey was begun the last week in March, 1931, according to Domestic Commerce. Under the guidance of a group of trade

specialists of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic

Commerce, Washington, D. C., the recording machinery was set in motion for what is expected to be one of the most comprehensive studies of retail merchandising ever undertaken in any field. Inventories

of 11 drug stores will be taken, as of April 1, 1931,

and regular inventories will be taken for a period

of one year. The work of the survey will be carried out along the general lines of the Louisville grocery

survey, which has had such widespread effect in

modernizing the methods of retail grocery distribution, and the results obtained are expected to find

application to the retail drug trade on the same

nation-wide scale as in the case of the grocery survey.

Final reports from this survey will not be available

until after its completion in 1932, but progress reports

will be published from time to time.
350 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY. 1931 PAN AMERICAN CONFERENCE

Conference to Be Held October 5 to 12, 1931, Featuring Standardization of Commodities

By L. S. Rowe, Director General, Pan American Union

The Fourth Pan American Commercial Conference, which will meet in Washington from October

5 to 12, 1931, under the auspices of the Pan American

1 nion, will mark one more step in the development

of commercial relations between the 21 American

republics.

Originating in 1911, when the First Commercial

Conference was held, and followed by the Second and

Third Conferences in 1919 and 1927, respectively, the

gatherings have on each succeeding occasion been

widened in their scope and influence. The Fourth

Conference represents the most ambitious attempt

yet made in the history of the Union of American

Republics to bring together official and unofficial ele- ments for a frank discussion of the problems affect- ing inter-American commerce, and the steps that may

be taken to solve them in the most satisfactory manner. At the Third Commercial Conference the prece- dent established at former gatherings of inviting in- dividuals to take part in the discussions was changed,

and calls were issued to chambers of commerce and

other commercial organizations, as well as to the

Governments of the several republics. This change

in policy permitted a much more representative as- semblage of delegates than had been possible at the

two previous meetings, and its success was not only

borne out by the results accomplished at the conference, but at the Sixth International Conference of

American States in 1928 a resolution adopted at the

Fourth Pan American Commercial Conference in- cluded the suggestion that this policy be continued.

To give the work of the conference an even wider

scope, however, invitations for this gathering were not

only issued to the Governments and commercial entities of the various countries, but for the first time to those colleges and universities maintaining schools of commerce or foreign trade. It was felt that the rapid

growth of this type of institution warranted the pres- ence of their representatives, who could make not only

material contributions to the more theoretical phases

of the discussions, but take away with them stimulating ideas of inter-American commercial problems as presented from the angle of the business man. It may

be mentioned in passing that the response of these

colleges and universities to take part in the conference

has been most enthusiastic.

The Second Pan American Standardization Conference, held under the auspices of the Inter-American

High Commission, met in Washington a few days

after the close of the Third Commercial Conference

in 1927. The importance of close cooperation between

the two gatherings was evident, and the interest in the

discussions of the latter meeting, which many of the

commercial conference delegates attended, caused the

subject of standardization to be given serious consideration by the committee formulating the program

of the Fourth Commercial Conference. As no standardization conference has been held since that time,

the subject “ Standardization of commodities as an

aid to commerce and the protection of producer and

consumer,” was placed on the program. It was also intended by the committee that the various phases of

standardization having a relation to other topics on

the program would be included in the discussions of

these subjects, in order to further the results already

accomplished and to consider recent developments in

the field. That the questions to be discussed at the commercial

conference might comprise those subjects in greatest

demand for consideration, a draft of program was drawn up and submitted to the Governments and

various commercial organizations of each republic

early in 1930. with a request for suggestions looking

to additions to, or modifications of, the subjects out- lined therein. On the basis of the responses received

by the Pan American Union, the program, as it ap- pears below, was finally drawn up.

The next step in the preliminary work of the con- ference called for the preparation of memoranda on

each of the topics of the program, with the object

of setting forth the antecedents of each topic, together

with relevant data upon which might be based suggestions as to the particular phases of each question

which might most profitably be considered by the conference. This material has been compiled and issued

try the Pan American Union to all the organizations

invited to the gathering and, on the basis of the replies

received, a schedule of specific questions will be pre- pared for presentation to the delegates.

It is proposed at the forthcoming conference, in

view of the length of the program and the wide scope

of the subjects contained therein, to divide the dele- gates into six committee groups, according to the general divisions of the subjects on the program. With

adequate representation on each committee, both by

countries and by the specific fields of activity of the

members, it is felt that their round-table discussions

will be productive of more practical and efficient results than if general sessions were held, attended by

all the delegates. The question of language interpretation will be solved by the use of a telephone

reporting system, which has met with signal success

at past conferences.

Perhaps the most important function of a gathering,

such as the commercial conference, is the carrying

into effect of the steps advocated at the conference.

In this role, the position of the Pan American Union

is unique, in that its character as the international or- ganization of the American Republics provides an opportunity for following up the work of the conferences, placing the adopted resolutions and draft con- ventions before the International Conferences of

American States, whose delegates have plenipotentiary

powers, and later working for the ratification of the

action taken by these international conferences.

There is given below the program of the Fourth

Commercial Conference

:

Trade barriers. —Consideration of inter-American

trade barriers with a view to their elimination.
MAY, 19.31 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 351

Trade promotion.—(1) Development of interAmerican commercial relations by means of general or

special economic agreements, (2) means of developing closer relations between chambers of commerce

and analogous associations of the American Republics.

(3) standardization of commodities as an aid to commerce and the protection of producer and consumer,

(1) uniformity in the definition of customary trade

terms, and (5) the development of tourist travel as an aid to commerce.

Transportation and communication.—(1) Highway

construction and finance in the American Republics;

relation to other means of transportation; the Pan

American highway; (2) the Pan American Railway;

(3) the development of ocean steamship services between the American Republics; (4) the development

of national and international commercial aviation on

the American Continent; (5) creation of free ports

to facilitate the distribution of merchandise; and (6)

the development of international cable, wireless, and

telephone communication on the American Continent.

Consular procedure and customs regulations. —(1)

Uniformity of consular fees in the American Republics, (2) progress in the simplification and standardization of consular procedure, and (3) consideration of the results of the Pan American Commission

on Customs Procedure and Port Formalities.

Finance.—(1) Currency stabilization as a factor in

the development of inter-American trade, and (2)

the compilation and dissemination of financial and

economic statistics. National and international juridical questions. —(1)

Inter-American commercial arbitration; (2) uniform

legislation on bills of exchange, checks, and other commercial paper in the American Republics; (3) treat- ment of commercial traveling agents and means of

facilitating the introduction of samples; and (4) the

protection of trade-marks and patent rights.

STANDARD SWITCHING PLAN FOR TELEPHONE TOLL SERVICE

Efficiency Increased Through Improved Coordination in Planning, Designing, and Arrangement of the

Toll Plant

By II. S. Oseorxe, American Telephone <£• Telegraph Co.

One of the more important engineering problems

before the Bell system in recent years has been that

of providing adequate service conditions for the very

rapidly growing toll business represented at the pres- ent time by considerably more than 1,000,000,000

messages annually. This large growth in toll traffic has been felt in practically all sections of the country,

a particularly marked feature being the development

of the longer hauls; that is, toll messages between

the more widely separated areas. Accompanying this growth there has naturally

been a correspondingly rapid and extensive development of each component of the toll plant. These

rapid developments have resulted generally in a tendency toward the establishment of many welldefined routes along which the heavy growth in cir- cuit facilities might be concentrated with a suitable

degree of liberality and over which the large volumes

of traffic might be directed. In addition, a myriad

of lesser routes and branches have been required to reach into all sections of the country, including, of

course, the smaller communities.

With the realization of these changing conditions,

the improving standards of service, and the increasing

vastness and complexity of the toll plant, it had

become evident that there were both an increased

need and an increased possibility for closer coordination in the planning, designing, and arrangement

of the toll plant. It was apparent that this was particularly essential for those portions of the plant

which might be involved in long haul, countrywide

connections, as this part of the business, because of

its scattering nature, offers the greatest difficulty in

furnishing a high-grade service. A large step forward has been taken toward meeting these needs in

the Bell system by the recent adoption of the general

toll switching plan, a plan which is essentially a new

fundamental arrangement to provide systematically

for the layout of the plant and the routing of toll messages to allow the interconnection of toll centers

in a manner most suitable from both traffic and

transmission standpoints.

The essential features of this plan may be summarized as

1. The reduction in the number of intermediate switching

points by concentrating all switching at a limited number of important offices.

2. The establishment of improved design standards pro- viding adequate over-all transmission for all cases involving

the interconnections of toll circuits.

3. The provision of improved methods of introducing voice frequency amplifiers at intermediate switching points, assur- ing faster and more reliable performance.

Briefly, the general plan may be described as a comprehensive countrywide network of toll circuit

facilities connecting important switching offices over which practically all traffic, not handled by direct cir- cuits, will be routed. The toll business of any part of

the country is handled at a point termed a

£i toll center.” Each toll center may serve one or several

small communities or in the case of multioffice cities,

may be the concentration point for all local central

offices. Under the plan, each of the toll centers of

the country will be directly connected to at least one

of about 150 selected switching offices, termed “ primary outlets.” Within limited areas, the primary

outlets will be directly interconnected. These small

groups of interconnected primary outlets will handle

the switched business originating and terminating

within their respective areas. Also each primary outlet will have connections to at least one of a countrywide group of eight interconnected key switching

points, termed t; regional centers.” The countrywide

group offers suitable routings for the interconnection

of toll messages originating in any area and terminating in a different area.
352 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY, 1931 By this complete arrangement, a connection between

any two toll centers within an area of interconnected primary outlets may be completed with a max- imum of two switches, and any primary outlet may

be connected to any other primary outlet in the entire country with a maximum of two switches.

The extent of the interconnection of the primary

outlets is largely on the basis of State areas, as these,

in general, represent areas of closely interrelated communities of interest; the individual selection of the

outlets being the result of careful study of the present

plant layout and operating conditions having also in

mind the probable future development within that

area. The regional centers were selected from among

the primary outlets, being chosen chiefly because of

their strategic locations and their importance from

traffic distribution standpoints.

The basic network of circuits and switching offices, outlined above, is supplemented by a limited number

of secondary type offices, termed “ secondary outlets ” and “ secondary switching points.” These latter offi- ces do not have strict requirements as to their connections, but by convenient “ tie ins ” with the basic

network, they serve principally to furnish greater

flexibility in route selection by providing alternate routes and reducing the possibilities of large back

hauls. The general plan is further supplemented by

the provision of direct circuits where the volume of

business is sufficient to justify them. In addition,

further interconnection of the various switching offices beyond the strict requirements of the plan is pro- vided where justified by normal development.

Of equal importance in the development of the plan was the determination of the proper transmission re- quirements so that any toll connection established in accordance with the plan would have satisfactory

transmission efficiency. Studies were made of the

most economical distribution of the transmission losses of the various circuit links, including the necessary

portions of local plant, which would furnish satis- factory over-all transmission for connections involving different numbers and types of the individual

links. The classification of all circuits involved in the

plan into distinct classes to which similar transmission requirements could be applied, simplified this

problem materially.

A further important requirement of the plan is the

provision of suitable methods of introducing trans- mission gain on all connections switched at the se- lected offices. Under the plan, this will be accomplished by an improved switching arrangement which

provides for the automatic introduction of transmission gain when two toll circuits are switched to- gether.

Although the adoption of the plan is scarcely a year

old, considerable progress has been made in placing

it into effect, and the results to date have substantiated the expected service advantages. It is anticipated that the complete application of the plan will

effect a substantial advancement toward the ideal of

universal service.

MARKETING NEW ENGLAND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

Rhode Island Farm Marketing Program Outlined

By Hakky R. Lewis, Commissioner of Agriculture, State of Rhode Island

For many years prior to 1926, agricultural leaders

throughout New England considered that some

change should be made in the existing marketing

structure in handling New England farm products.

This culminated in the New England Farm Marketing Conference, held in Boston December 9 and 10,

1926.

For many years prior to that time products from

various sections of the country had been constantly

increasing in volume in our New England markets

and in many cases replacing the native grown products. The principal reason that the distant products

received such a ready welcome was their attractive

appearance, neat packages, and uniform good quality.

The farm-marketing conference brought together the

various agricultural leaders, and a definite program

was recommended for the New England States, to improve marketing conditions. This program consisted of definite steps, briefly as follows

:

To set up standards and grades for farm products

in each State to protect the grades; to disseminate

knowledge pertaining to the grades and to study marketing methods; to bring about such improvements

as were needed. It can not be said that Rhode Island

did not need products from outside areas because all realize that a State having only about 3,500 farms

can not be expected to supply all the food needs of

a population of approximately three-quarters of a million, but what products the State 'did produce

should be of the best and should meet the exacting

demands of a consuming public who could and was

willing to pay for quality.

Since this farm marketing program has been in

iffect, the Rhode Island bureau of markets has promulgated grades for apples, eggs, dressed turkeys, potatoes, baby chicks, hatching eggs, and numerous

vegetables.

To date more than 1,019,000 dozen of Rhode Island

special eggs have been sold. All of these eggs have

been identified with the New England quality label,

and returns obtained from market reports show that

approximately 5 cents more per dozen has been re- turned to the farmers for this grade of egg. Thus

at least $50,000 has been returned to the poultry men

Avho are grading Rhode Island specials as compared

with those poultry men who are not grading them.

The farm marketing program is recommended by

the agricultural department of the State of Rhode

Island and recognized by farmers as the best means

of farm relief of that State. It is a program which

helps the farmer to help himself by becoming ac- quainted with the existing conditions and acting

accordingly.
MAY, 1931 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 353

PUBLICATIONS OF THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

Printed Results of Research and Standardization Distributed the World Over

By Henry D. Hubbard, National Bureau of Standards

Two thousand publications have been issued by the

National Bureau of Standards since its establishment

in 1901. About 60,000 printed pages in the fields of

physics, chemistry, engineering, and technology have

thus been the outlet for results of bureau researches,

investigations, and compilations. Printing broadcasts such scientific results to the world. A radiobroadcast ends when spoken, but the printed pages

endure for the life of the paper which bears it. We still consult printed science a century old, and

bureau publications will doubtless be read a century

hence.

Congress, in establishing the National Bureau of

Standards, gave it authority commensurate with the

bureau’s scope, to publish “ such information as may

be of value to the public or facilitate the bureau in

the exercise of its functions.” That scope has been

broadened by the newer arts of radio and of motor

transport by land and by air, and also by the great

increase in accuracy demanded by modern industry,

and by the new types of measurement made possible

by scientific research. After 30 years the bound

volumes of bureau publications fill eight library shelf

units.

Publication and a restricted official distribution of

its research results are functions of the bureau; the

sale of its publications is not restricted in number or

time. A recent report shows sales equal to about

four-fifths of the bureau’s' annual printing and binding appropriations. By a revolving fund recouped

from sales, the Public Printer continues to reprint

for sale at nominal prices all bureau publications in

demand, and does so without taxing the public funds.

The published results of the bureau’s work find

their way all over the world—to 110 points in England; 68 in France; 20 in Japan; and so on. There

is a restricted official distribution to several hundred

Government depository reference libraries, to certain

scientific departments of universities and research

institutions, technical and scientific journals, and

finally exchange copies for institutions which publish results of value to the bureau in its work.

Through this system of exchange the bureau is now

receiving about 800 American and foreign scientific and technical journals.

The bureau’s five periodical publications comprise

two annuals—the annual report of the director, and

the Standards Yearbook; three monthlies—the Bureau of Standards Journal of Research, the Technical

News Bulletin, and the Commercial Standards

Monthly'.

The annual report of the director summarizes re- search findings by bureau appropriations (about 30

in all), giving an interesting narrative of discovei’y,

invention, and other research results. The Standards Yearbook is an annual review of

world-wide progress in standardization movements,

now touching ever}7 human activity with stimulating

effect.

The Bureau of Standards Journal of Research gives

the results from active projects, of which there are

several hundred continually in progress. The arti- cles in the journal are reprinted in a series of re- search papers for sale by the Superintendent of Documents. These research papers, of which 267 have

been issued, together with the scientific and technologic papers whicli were issued prior to the advent of

the journal (over 1,200 in all), represent a large

output of results in the service of science and industry.

They tell narratives of discovery and inventions of

unusual interest. They have made history for sci- ence and industry.

The Technical News Bulletin is a concise monthly news coverage of the bureau’s scientific and technical

work, with announcements of new publications, both

in the bureau’s series and outside journals.

The Commercial Standards Monthly is a review

of world-wide progress in simplification and standardization, with feature articles by experts in their fields on active phases of standardization. It reports

monthly progress of leading standardizing associations and the four divisions of the bureau which

specialize in commercial standardization—simplified

practice, trade standards, specifications, and building

and housing.

Bureau circulars (388 have been issued) give in- formation on tests, units, standards, measurements,

and important data for industry. These circulars are diverse in subject. Some announce test fee schedules and regulations affecting tests of weights, measures, measuring instruments, and materials. More

often they contain master specifications for materials

or useful data compiled for some science or technology.

Light Metals and Alloys is a notable example, which

is most useful in bringing a new era of light metals.

Circulars may run to 200 pages of highly technical

matter; as, a comprehensive text on polarimetry;

standard methods of gas testing; instruments and

measurements of radio, etc. The last is a basic refer- ence text for radio experts ; the others are classics in their respective fields. The publications of the National Bureau of Standards are, in general, for the

expert.

A letter from a national business organization re- ceived as these lines were being written expressed the

belief that “ every manufacturer in the Nation should

be kept progressively informed on the results of the

work being done by the National Bureau of Standards.” This is the purpose of the bureau’s publications. However, some popular publications are pre- pared for the average citizen, including experts who

are laymen in subjects other than their own field. Some circulars are full of data from bureau re- searches. The National Standards Petroleum Oil

Tables serve as a basis for the sale of gasoline in this

country. Others appeal directly to the household, as, Measurements for the Household ; Safety for the

Household; and Materials for the Household. A
354 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY, 1931

famous publication widely circulated by the industry

pointed out a million-dollar-a-day waste of natural

gas in domestic gas appliances and showed how to prevent the loss of an amount exceeding by many

times the total bureau budget.

Many articles by the bureau staff are published in

outside technical journals where the subject or mode

of treatment make it more suitable.

Forty industries maintain about 60 research workers stationed at the bureau. The results are published either by the bureau or the supporting organization. Some of the results are of the utmost importance, reporting new processes for industry, neiv

COLORED SANITARY WARE

A report of the general conference held in Washington, D. C., on January 23, 1931, of producers, dis- tributors, and users of colored sanitary ware, including a revised draft of the recommended commercial

standard and a brief history of the project, has been

circulated to all interests of the industry for written

acceptance.

The recommended commercial standard covers six

colors, namely, green, orchid, ivory, blue, light brown,

and black. These colors are to be used as a guide in the production of sanitary ware, which includes

plumbing fixtures and allied products, made of vit- reous china, porcelain (all-clay), enameled iron, metal,

wood, or glass. The method of making color comparisons is briefly described.

Abundant interest in this project is shown by the

large number of signed acceptances that have been re- ceived in the comparatively short time since the re- commended standard was circulated. This interest is further apparent in the heavy demand for the standard color reference samples.

HOW MANY EXITS DOES A BUILDING NEED?

The Department of Commerce Building Code Committee has been making a study of exit facilities provided in various buildings, in cooperation with the

Building Exits Code Committee of the American

Standards Association.

Various methods of determining mathematically the

necessary number and size of exits in relation to population of a building have been proposed, but it has

been difficult to prove whether these will accomplish

the desired result. It has been felt that experience

and good judgment necessarily play a large part in the solution of the problem and that by assemblingexamples of current practice light would be thrown on

the whole matter. Accordingly, plans have been reviewed, stairways

measured, and architects and building officials consulted. Much helpful information has been obtained.

Safety considerations are paramount and at the same

time attention must be given also to the economics

involved, for to subtract a large amount of area from

useful floor area in order to provide stairwells presents

a serious problem for architects and owners.

results in aeronautics or automotive researches, and

numerical data on the properties of materials or the

controls of industry.

The descriptive catalogue of the bureau's publication is the most comprehensive of its kind and contains a synopsis of every publication and a geographic

list of the Government depository libraries maintaining files of bureau publications for public reference

use.Scientists refer to scientific journals issued a century

ago and it is quite certain that the bureau’s publications will be consulted by experts a century hence.

UNIFORM LAW FOR LICENSING DRIVERS

Active campaigns are in progress in a number of

States, according to the National Conference on

Street and Highway Safety, to bring about the en- actment of a uniform law covering the licensing of

all drivers of motor vehicles, by examination as to

traffic rules and regulations, essentials of physical

condition, such as eyesight, and demonstrations of

ability to drive and control an automobile under

normal traffic conditions.

Automobile accidents, measured by the records

of the last two years among the country’s population,

have claimed, in each of these years, the life of one

person in every 3,968 and injured one in every 123. It is reported that States that have laws which provide for licensing of drivers through examination,

have eliminated at least 25 per cent of traffic deaths, on the average, as compared with their respective ac- cident records before the adoption of these license

laws.

Among the States conducting these campaigns are

:

Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Idaho,

Oregon, Utah, Nevada, Virginia, North Carolina,

Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.

DEMAND FOR GRADE-MARKED LUMBER

There can no longer be any question about the

permanence" of grade marking as a practice among

mills whose grading is supervised by the regional

associations of lumber manufacturers, according to the Southern Pine Bulletin. The past six months

have witnessed such a decided demand from all classes of buyers for “ officially ” grade-marked lumber that countless letters have been received by the

Southern Pine Association from mills not in the asso- ciation inquiring about grade marking, and how this

privilege might be obtained.

Much of this is doubtless traceable to the persistent

trade-promotion work that has been carried on by the

Southern Pine and other lumber trade associations,

according to the item in the Bulletin. It is also true that many consumers, particularly the highway

departments of a large number of States, have been

scrutinizing the grades of lumber purchases, in keeping with the economic demands of the times, and have come to the conclusion that the best assurance of

getting what they order is through the specification

of a branded product.
MAY, 1931 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 355

UTILIZATION OF PETROLEUM WASTE

Petroleum Industry Transformed from an Illuminant Basis to One of Gasoline Fuels and Oil Lubricants

Since the inception of the American petroleum re- fining industry in Pennsylvania in 1861, refiners constantly have been facing changing situations, and the

present is no exception. It was changing conditions

that actually brought the American petroleum refining

industry into being, records show.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century civili- zation relied upon candles and sperm oil for illumination. Candles were unsatisfactory, sperm oil lacking in quantity. Scientists had been experimenting

in the hope of finding substitutes, producing, among

other compounds, a mixture of turpentine and alcohol, called “ camphine.” Around 1847, James H.

Young obtained an illuminating oil from the coals

and shales of Scotland by a crude refining process. In 1854, Dr. Abram Gessner, an American chemist,

patented an improved illuminating oil obtaincl from

coal, calling it “ kerosene.” When in 1859 the Drake

oil well came in. there were more than 50 companies

in operation in this country producing illuminating

oils from coal and shale. In 1861 the first American

commercial petroleum refinery began operation in

Pennsylvania.

Dr. Samuel Kier, experimenting in the hope of

transforming his “ rock oil ” medicinal products into

something more valuable, had evolved “ carbon oil,” an illuminant, before the Drake well came in. It was

produced in quantity from petroleum, but it was unsatisfactory tor burning in lamps. Its odor was

disagreeable, it quickly turned black, and it carbonized

lamp wicks, interfering with the flame. Distillation

being unable to cope with the difficulties, refiners ex- perimented with chemical treatments and found that

processing crude oil with solutions of alkali and acid overcame much of the trouble.

Kerosene became an accepted illuminant, displacing

whale oil, coal oil, shale oil, rape seed, sesamun, and,

of course, the candle. But it had its drawbacks. Accidents and fire were caused by kerosene lamps. A

serious study of the situation lead to the conclusion

the source of danger was in the “ waste” products

DEVELOPMENT OF DROP-CENTER RIMS FOR

AUTOMOBILES

The objective method of problem analysis which

aims to replace “ I think ” with “ I know,” should be

applied to the solution of the automotive industry’s

rim riddle, states the editors of the S. A. E. Journal

(March) in a review of “ Tires and the Rim Riddle ” by B. J. Lemon, of the United States Rubber Co.

During car life, tire costs average more than 30

times rim costs. This makes rim design a major tire problem. High speed, safety, appearance, and service focus present attention on automobile rims, wheels,

and tires. The English pioneered the well-base rim, and decided that its success depends on the nice adjustment

of rim dimensions to the requirements of the tire. English and American international standards of

55S79—31

gasoline, naphtha, and benzine incompletely removed

from the illuminant. Improved lamp construction

produced the u safet}r ” lamp. Improved and more

careful refinery processing removed the explosive

lighter fractions of the crude oil, while development

of a market for these " wastes ” encouraged their

thorough separation.

Meanwhile, markets were developing for other petroleum products, notably the fuels and lubricants.

The internal combustion engine created a hunger for

gasoline. Increasing use of machinery caused a demand for lubricants. The coming of the self-propelled vehicle enormously augmented the demand for

both. At the same time the growing use of the electric light reduced the demand for kerosene. Within

a few years the petroleum industry was transformed

from an illuminant basis to one of gasoline fuels and

oil lubricants.

Statistics best show how rapid was the change. In

1880 from a 42-gallon barrel of crude oil there were

obtained, roughly, 32 gallons of kerosene, and 5 gallons of gasoline. Ten years later the proportion of

kerosene had decline to 28 gallons, and by 1900 fell to 20 gallons. Another 10 years found the kerosene

output down to 10 gallons, while the gasoline proportion, comparatively stationary all this time, had moved

up to 8 gallons. In 1920 the gasoline proportion in- creased to 11 gallons and kerosene dropped to 6. Last year the production of gasoline from a barrel

of crude oil exceeded 17 gallons, while the kerosene

output was less than 3 gallons.

The trend now is toward a higher output of gasoline and a smaller proportion of other products, such

as gas and fuel oils, kerosene and lubricating oils. However, none of these products to-day suffer the

fate of gasoline in the early days—waste. Domestic

and industrial oil heaters and gas manufacturing

plants now absorb much of the gas and fuel oil not

used for “ cracked ” gasoline. There is still a large

market for kerosene. The demand for gasoline and

lubricants steadily is growing.

drop-center rims seem likely to be adopted. German

drop-center rims resemble the English standard and

include a safety type of rim. The French drop-center rim and tire are not interchangeable with other

European or with American equipment.

In his article, Mr. Lemon advances two factors con- sidered essential for the prolonged success of the

drop-center rim in America. One factor is that tires shall mount and dismount with the same or with

greater ease than that for flat-base rims. The other

factor is that tire service and car-operating safety on drop-center rims shall be comparable with or

better than past performance.

For light cars the public appears to have accepted

the drop-center rim as a step in advance. The j^ears

1931 and 1932 will record car-owner reactions to the

rim for larger cars.

-4
356 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY, 1931 SURVEY OF LOW-PRESSURE STEEL HEATING

BOILERS

A summary report of a survey of a variety of lowpressure steel heating boilers, recently conducted by

industry under the auspices of the National Bureau

of Standards, has been mailed to those interested.

Twenty-one firms representing more than 90 per

cent of the 1930 output reported total shipments of

7,805 boilers, of which approximately 76 per cent were

of the welded combination type. Of the total shipments, 3,036 boilers were to be mechanically fired. Eighteen different kinds of boilers were reported, each

made in from 6 to 132 different capacity ratings. The

total variety aggregated 1,072. An analysis of the

two most popular kinds of boilers showed that more

than 81 per cent of the sales were made in 20 per cent of the capacities produced, and that no shipments were made in more than 28 per cent of the capacities

produced.

A detailed report of the survey is in the hands of

the simplified practice committee of the industry and

is being used as a basis for the development of a

simplified practice recommendation on the capacities

of low-pressure steel heating boilers, in an attempt to eliminate the waste prevalent in this field.

CONSUMERS URGED TO READ FOOD AND

DRUG LABELS

“ The public will not get the fullest benefit from

the enforcement of the national pure food law until

it has a fuller understanding of what food and drug

labels mean,” said W. R. M. Wharton, of the United

States Department of Agriculture, in an address before

the Tea Association of America.

“ In order to understand what labels mean,” Mr.

Wharton said, “ the consumer must know how to read

them; must be aware of the significance of words used

to name and describe products; and must know defi- nitions and standards. The consumer must know

kinds, varieties, and grades of foods and drugs, and

weights and measures equivalents. The consumer must also know the requirements of regulatory laws

as they affect labeling. Consumers have a right to know the composition, quality, efficiency, and limitations ; in fact the Avhole truth about the products they

buy. If they will insist upon exercising and holding

this right, the manufacturers of the country can do

nothing less than comply with their demands.”

Mr. Wharton expressed the belief that the manufacturer should always play fair and label his products so that the consumer will have a full understanding of their nature, quality, condition, and rela- tive value. He believes that if a proper conception

of the label’s purpose is held in mind, and if the manufacturers will look upon the labels on his products as representing his personal representations, his pledged

word, his written contract with his customers, then

that manufacturer will get what he is rightfully entitled to receive in buyer confidence and increased

profits. “ It is also the tradesman’s duty to assist the buyer

to learn what labels mean,” Mr. Wharton said, adding

that “ it is likewise his obligation to know how to

read labels himself in order that he may properly

interpret them for his customers. Moreover, in every

retail store, there should be a ready, truthful, and

agreeable response to any question regarding the kind,

quality, grade, and relative value of any product on

sale. A retail dealer may properly be expected to furnish such essential information to his customers on

request.”

AMERICAN AND NORWEGIAN SHIPPING-TAG

STANDARDS

In Norway a large variety of shipping tags is in

use, varying both in size and typography. To effect a more simplified use of tags and the resultant economies, the Norwegian Standardization Committee has

proposed two standard tags. One standard is for tags

in ordinary use and the other for goods on which there

is a standard freight rate. Tags used for express

freight would be bright red, and those used for slow

freight bright blue in color. In the United States the great diversity existing for

shipping tags led the industry to promulgate a simplified practice recommendation, under the auspices of

the National Bureau of Standards, which resulted in reducing the number of sizes of tags from 16 to 8, the

grades of stock from 21 to 8, the number of thicknesses

from 7 to 5, and the colors from 32 to 15. This recom- mended simplification became effective September 1, 1929. Like the proposal advanced in Norway, the

American schedule for tags provides a definite standard tag each for freight, express, and parcel-post shipments, and five standard tags for inside or city

delivery use.STANDARD TIME SERVICE

The Naval Observatory, Washington, D. C., has developed plans for assuring the accuracy of the standard time service which it operates, contemplating in- stallation of new clocks of great precision in a new

vault of special design. The vault will be embedded

in the ground below the frost line, and will be

equipped with a periscope which will permit visitors to the observatory to see the clocks that “ keep the

Nation’s time ” without exposing the sensitive mechanism to vibration.

The new vault in reality will be two vaults, one

within the other. The inner compartment will be

made of hollow tile, while the outer will be constructed

of either stone or concrete. Hot-water heat will be used

in maintaining a constant temperature of 85° F. An

air space of at least 18 inches will be provided between

the inner and outer Avails, thus giving opportunity for

inspection, cleaning, and other activities. Air locks

will be provided so that access to the vault may be

made Avithout exposing the timepieces to atmospheric

changes. Illumination of the inner vault will be ac- complished by a system similar to that employed in

lighting magazines on board naval vessels. This Avill permit the observatory staff to change globes, polish

and clean reflectors, and make repairs to wiring without entering the chamber.

The periscope will extend through the roof so that

the interior of the vault in which the clocks will be

situated can be inspected from the record room above.
MAY, 1931 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 357

COMMERCIAL STANDARD FOR PLATE GLASS

MIRRORS

The printed pamphlet entitled “ Plate Glass Mirrors, Commercial Standard CS27-31 ” has been re- leased, and was distributed to acceptors of record on

April 9, 1931.

The standard provides for five distinct grades of

quality which follow closely the existing grades of

plate glass. The defects allowable in the several

grades are plainly indicated, and a common understanding of the several qualities will provide a more

intelligent basis of comparison which should work to the mutual advantage of manufacturer, distributor,

and purchaser. Various colored labels have been

designated for use on the face side of the mirror to represent each of the five grades established. The

use of these labels is left optional with the manufacturer.

The pamphlet includes a list of acceptors and the

membership of the standing committee which was

appointed to consider any comment or suggestions as

to changes in the standard in order that it may be

kept in accord with the desires of the industry and

the advance in the art. Copies of the pamphlet may be purchased from the

Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C., for

5 cents per copy (stamps not accepted).

DETERMINING KNOCK CHARACTERISTICS

OF FUELS

The progress made toward the establishment of a standardized method of measuring the ability of

commercial gasolines to overcome detonation or the

knocking tendency of automobile engines was

described before a meeting of the American Petroleum

Institute’s division of refinement, April 15, 1931, at

St. Louis, Mo., by Dr. H. C. Dickinson, of the

National Bureau of Standards.

For the purpose of establishing this standard there

has already been adopted a scale for rating the knock

characteristics of different fuels. This is based on the

blend of two pure hydrocarbons, normal heptane and

iso-octane, used as standards of knock rating. Ratings are expressed in octane numbers, the octane number of a blend of the two standard substances being

numerically the percentage by volume of iso-octane

which it contains. The octane number of the fuel

is that of the blend of the two standards which it matches in knock value when tested by an approved

method. This standard has already been generally

accepted in the United States and Europe.

The second step in the program is the adoption of

a standard test engine which, Dr. Dickinson explained,

has developed to the point where an experimental

engine is now undergoing final check tests and will

probably be adopted as standard. This is a singlecylinder engine of normal motor-vehicle size. It has

a cooling system which automatically keeps the temperature constant, a variable compression ratio, and

a special carburetor which permits instantaneous

change to any of four fuels. The final step in realization of this standard will

be the adoption of a standardized test procedure.

Such procedure has been prepared in tentative form

and is being developed and refined by means of tests carried on in 15 cooperating laboratories, to determine the degree of accuracy with which the various

factors involved in engine operation must be controlled. These factors include, for instance, engine

speed, spark timing, mixture ratio, air and jacket

temperatures, air humidity, and general engine conditions, all of which have an important bearing upon

the results obtained.

FRENCH ADOPT BRITISH-AMERICAN

STANDARD CAN SIZES

British-American net standards for mushroom cans must be employed by members of the Syndicate of

French Mushroom Canners, according to a recent decision of the syndicate. The net weight must be indicated on each can. The new standards adopted are as follows

4/4 460 grams approximately 1 pound.

1/2 230 grams approximately % pound.

1/4 115 grams approximately % pound.

1/8 58 grams approximately % pound.

The American assistant trade commissioner at Paris, George W. Berkalow, has been informed that

the decision of the syndicate provides that the manufacturers are to be permitted to sell or manufacture

on the basis of former net weights within a period

of one year, dating from the adoption of the new regulations; that wholesalers and retailers will be per- mitted to sell merchandise manufactured on the basis

of former standards for a period of two years.

IDENTIFYING MAPLE-SIRUP PRODUCTS

Alert and progressive to new ideas in merchandising, and convinced of the necessity of quality and

standardization, maple-products producers have

adopted labels, quality grades, and color standards.

New England. —The three and a half million dollar

maple-products industry in New England is rapidly

adopting the New England quality farm products

label. For example, Vermont has used 249,000 labels on maple products, and there are 232 producers using

the label in that State. One producer who used 1,000

labels last year as an experiment, has ordered 9,000

for this season. In 1929, the last year for which

figures are available, New England produced 12,-

109,000 pounds of maple products, expressed in pounds

of sugar, and this amounts to about 54 per cent of the

annual maple crop of the country. The two largest

producing States outside of New England are New

York, which produced 5,255,000 pounds, or 23.4 per

cent ; and Ohio, 1,983,000 pounds, or 8.9 per cent. Pennsylvania. —The bureau of markets of the Pennsylvania department of agriculture has promulgated

color standards and grades for maple sirup, based on

the official Vermont grades, which are: Fancy, grade

A, B, and C.

Canada. —Producers of Canadian maple sugar and

maple sirup are now required to label their products,

according to a new regulation which became effective March 1, 1931.
358 COMMERCIAL, STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY, 1031 SPECIFICATIONS NEEDED FOR LUBRICATING

OILS

Transmission and rear-axle lubricants frequently

have small quantities of soap or other material added

to decrease the tendency of the lubricant to leak

from the housings. Although these additions may

increase the apparent viscosity of the oil, they may

have little or no effect on the load-carrying properties at high temperatures or on the tendency of the

lubricant to make gear shifting harder at low temperatures than with the straight oil. On account of the many different conditions under

which transmission and rear-axle lubricants are used,

and because of the many different methods of manufacture, no one detailed specification is applicable as an indication of the performance characteristics of a lubricant.

Therefore, said C. M. Larson, supervising engineer

of the Sinclair Refining Co., in an article “ Classifying Transmission and Rear Axle Lubricants,” in

the March S. A. E. Journal, consumers must necessarily depend upon the individual1 oil companies to produce a quality lubricant, using for their guidance

a viscosity, consistency, and film-strength classifica- tion to be determined upon and subsequently published in the car manufacturers’ instruction books.

AUSTRALIA TO STANDARDIZE PAPER SIZES

AND COMMERCIAL FORMS

The Standards Association of Australia has formed

a committee to prepare recommendations for the

standardization of sizes of commercial papers and the

simplification of related practices, according to in- formation received from Assistant Trade Commissioner H. P. Van Blarcom, at SjYlney, Australia.

The committee is the outcome of a conference of

representatives of New South Wales Government departments and business associations, including the

Federated Master Printers Association; Chartered Accountants of Australia ; Institute of Incorporated Secretaries; several banks; New South Wales mines,

lands, public work, agricultural, labor, and taxation

departments; New South Wales Government printer;

and a number of other groups.

Recommendations are to be prepared on the simplification of the following: Letter paper, envelopes, in- voice forms, statement forms, order forms, delivery

forms, receipt vouchers, credit vouchers, debit vouchers, paper stampings and perforations, and such other

subjects as considered advisable.

REDUCING WRAPPING AND PACKING WASTE

Four types of wrapping and packing materials were approved by a general conference of interested

elements of the industry, held February 7, in New

York. N. Y., in the program to reduce cost of distribution. The recommended simplified schedule covers

set-up boxes, folding boxes, corrugated boxes, and notion and millinery paper bags used by department

and specialty stores. Prior to the holding of the general conference to consider the recommended simplified schedule, the

National Bureau of Standards, at the request of the

National Retail Dry Goods Association, conducted a survey of 34 typical department and specialty stores

to ascertain the diversity of wrapping and packing

materials in use. The findings of the survey were

used as the basis for the simplified schedule. Thcrecommendation, as approved by the general conference, will reduce the variety in wrapping and packing

materials as follows: Notion and millinery paper bags

from 188 to 28, set-up boxes from 1,035 to 194, folding

boxes from 262 to 59, and corrugated boxes from 325- to 75. MANUAL OF TYPOGRAPHIC STYLE SUGGESTED BY BOOK MANUFACTURERS

At a meeting of the National Book Manufacturers

Association, Composition Group held in New York,

N. Y., on April 8, 1931, four standards were discussed,

namely, (1) a standard method of preparing copy,

(2) a standard house style, (3) a standard set of basic

specifications, and (4) a standard set of trade cus- toms. Problems of the book manufacturers were

reviewed.

Henry D. Hubbard, chairman of a subcommittee on

the revision of the Government style manual, and

assistant to the director, National Bureau of Standards, was requested to make the opening address of

the national meeting. He spoke of the work of the

Government Printing Office, and the efforts of Hon.

George H. Carter to revise the Government style

manual. Mr. Hubbard pointed out the principles

that he and his subcommittee were working on, namely, to present a manual of style based upon

logical principles rather than mere usage arbitrarily

fixed by each printer or publisher. E. W. Palmer, president of the National Book

Manufacturers Association, Composition Group, is primarily responsible for the concerted action evi- denced by competitive manufactures to eliminate the

most obvious evils now rampant in the composing- rooms. A truly national manual of style would solve

a large portion of this problem, is the opinion of E.

J. Triebe, of Kingsport Press (Inc.).
MAY, 1931 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 359

STANDARDIZATION BRIEFS

Cotton fabric tents, tarpaulins, and covers.—Having been accepted by a majority of the industry, the

commercial standard for cotton fabric tents, tar- paulins, and covers will be considered effective

January 1, 1932.

Committee on technical standards for maps and

'charts.—At a recent meeting of the Board of Surveys

and Maps, Washington, I). C., a committee on technical standards was proposed to investigate and report on subjects relating to the standarization of conventional signs and symbols used on all types of maps

and charts, and such other technical matters as may

be assigned to it by the board.

Revised definitions for aviation lighting terms.

A list of definitions covering the entire field of aviation lighting is being prepared by a subcommittee

of the aviation lighting committee of the Illuminating Engineering Society. A paper summarizing

aviation lighting research will be presented at the

fall meeting of the International Commission on

Illumination.

Lightning arresters.—The American Institute of

Electrical Engineers has issued a second revised

report on Standards for Lightning Arresters, which

is being circulated for criticism before final adoption.

It deals with definitions, classification of arresters,

ratings, tests, etc. It prescribes an operating cycle

and recommends a specified surge as typical for

testing purposes.

Labeling eggs.—Leading Massachusetts poultrymen

are forming an organization to advertise and market

Massachusetts eggs. The product will be known by

the brand name of “ Minute Man Eggs ” and will

bear a label depicting a minuteman and incorporating in the design the New England quality farm products label. Owners of more than 100,000 birds have

already agreed to market their eggs through this

organization.

Standard television apparatus.—Experimenters in

television development are getting together with the

idea of standardizing television apparatus, according

to a news account appearing in the Washington Star

of March 26, 1931. A 60-line picture of sufficient clarity to be seen over an average sized room is the

objective. Since several different scanning systems

are now employed, each transmits a different sized

picture.

Steel bone plates. —A tentative draft of a proposed

commercial standard for steel bone plates used by some hospitals in the reduction of bone fractures, has

been prepared for consideration by a committee of the

American College of Surgeons. The tentative draft

covers physical and chemical requirements of the

steel, dimensions and tolerances for the plates, and

self-tapping screws, means of identification and certification .of quality from the manufacturer to the

surgeon.

Six-day summer meeting of S. A. E

—The six-da}' summer meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers will be held this year from June 14 to 19, at the

Green Brier Hotel, White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.

Programs which are being arranged by the eight professional departments of the society as well as by the

standards, research, and meetings committees will

comprise 15 technical and professional sessions dealing with motor cars, motor trucks, coaches, airplanes,

fuels, Diesel engines, and the minutiae of standards

and research work.

Recording the evenness of raw silk.—A very ingenious machine which measures the variation in thick- ness of a filament passing through it and records these

variations on a chart, was described by Dr. W. F.

Edwards, director of research, U. S. Testing Co., at a recent meeting of the American Society for Testing

Materials. It is a decided step toward the satisfactory estimation of evenness in silk by mechanical

means, thus eliminating the human factor.

International trade council.—The formation of the

International Trade Council of Washington County,

Me., and Charlotte County, New Brunswick, made up

of two delegates each from the local chamber of com- merce and boards of trade, is the first case of organized international cooperation for the development of

a region. This council meets every six weeks, and

lias already established committees working on agriculture, forestry, fisheries, industries, recreational development, and transportation.

Defective tires cause accidents.—Manufacturers of

automobiles or automobile parts and accessories are

actively interested in the safety characteristics of their

products. This is especially true in connection with

tires. While the time may not yet have come when

one who wilfully operates with a defective tire can

be found legally negligent, it seems clear that such an act does constitute negligence. With increasing

road speeds it is desirable that the tires be as safe

as other parts of the car, since serious accidents are

possible from tire failure.

Purchasing walk-way materials by specifications.

Specifications of materials used for walk-way surfaces

are now being compiled by a technical committee of

the Federal Specifications Board. It is proposed in

these specifications to divide the materials into a num-
360 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY, 1031

ber of general classes such as: (1) Gratings, (2) precast material, (3) terrazzos, (4) linoleums, and (5)

rubber compounds, etc. This classification will, no

doubt, be of great assistance to the Government architects, as well as purchasing agents. It will also assist the manufacturers of these materials in making bids.

Cost accountants considering standardization.—The

most modern ideas of management will feature the

Twelfth International Cost Conference of the National

Association of Cost Accountants to be held in Pittsburgh, Pa., June 15 to 18, 1931, at the William Penn

Hotel. A plan of standard costs, which has been developed by the cost accountants, will be presented for

consideration. The plan involves the determination of a comprehensive sales budget as the basis for determining standards for labor, materials, and burden

costs.

Measuring the thermal transmission of textiles.

An apparatus for measuring thermal transmission of

textiles was devised at the National Bureau of Standards. The apparatus is compact, inexpensive, portable, and automatic in operation. A test is completed

in a short time (approximately one-half hour), and

the results are shown to be reproducible. Like other

textile tests, thermal transmission tests of fabrics are made in a room where the temperature and humidity

are controlled.

Utilizing shim milk.—Profitable utilization of milk

by-products is ' now more important than usual, ac- cording to the Bureau of Dairy Industry, United

States Department of Agriculture. Cottage cheese

offers a dairy-products plant a profitable outlet for

its skim milk. The bureau has, by experimental work

both in the laboratory and on a commercial scale,

demonstrated a method for making the low-acid

rennet-type of cottage cheese which has consistently

produced excellent results. A mimeographed circular

which tells how to make this type of cottage cheese

may be obtained free by writing to the Bureau of

Dairy Industry, Washington, D. C.

Crazing.—The resistance of glazed ware to the development of hair-like cracks, commonly called crazing, when subjected to unusually large changes in

temperature may not always be as high as is desired.

This lower resistance is generally attributed to a

differential in expansion of the glaze and body.

Although this is an important cause, it has been dis- covered at the National Bureau of Standards that the

failure of such ware may also be caused from cracks

which develop in the body and extend to the surface.

The importance of selecting the proper bodies as well

as the proper glazes is therefore evident.

Marketing code for petroleum industry.—Realizing

the need of a code of marketing practices, the petroleum industry will ask the Federal Trade Commission

to perpetuate the present National Code of Practices

for Marketing Refined Petroleum Products. Sixteen

thousand marketing units have approved the code and

agree that its abandonment would result in great confusion. Besides preventing fraud and deception by

prohibiting misbranding and the unfair substitution

of products, the code also requires each marketing

company to post publicly the price at which it offers

its products for sale, thus promoting fair and honest

competition.

Magazine accepts standard size.—Starting with the

February, 1931, issue the Music Trade Review ap- peared in the standard size approved by the Associated

Business Papers (Inc.) and recommended by the Department of Commerce. The type size of the page

is 7 inches wide and 10 inches deep, and the all-over

size 9 inches wide and 12 inches deep. The change,

which is in accord with modern business paper practice, not only makes possible a more attractive publication as well as one which will be more convenient to handle, but at the same time effects a distinct saving

for advertisers.

Radio exhibit.—A permanent exhibit of the latest types of radio transmitting and accessory equipment

will be opened in the National Press Building in

Washington by the National Radio Equipment Exhibitors. It is planned to maintain the exhibit primarily for the benefit of broadcasters and other users of radio, which will afford these interests an opportunity to view at a convenient location a comprehensive

display of the latest developments in radio art. Besides its generally instructive features, the exhibit will

provide a means to keep informed of equipment designed to meet the continually increasing rigid

engineering standards of the Federal Radio Commission.

Staple seats for water-closet bowls.—Signed accept- ances for commercial standard covering staple seats for water-closet bowls have been received from a number of manufacturers, distributors, and users, esti- mated to represent a satisfactory majority. The National Bureau of Standards has therefore announced

that the recommended commercial standard may be

considered effective for new production and clearance

of existing stocks as of October 1, 1931. Types, shapes,

materials, construction, color finishes, hinges, and general practices applying to the manufacture of seats for water-closet bowls are covered by this recommended

commercial standard.

Care and repair of the house.—Desirable details on how to keep up and repair the average home, with

subsequent savings to the home owner, is contained in

a manual, The Care and Repair of the House, just

compiled by the National Bureau of Standards. The

manual endeavors to present in handy form explicit

directions for dealing with problems, such as doors

that stick or jamb, leaking faucets, painting the walls or trim, reroofing, and scores of other repairs and improvements about which inquiries have come to the

bureau. Copies may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office,

Washington, D. C., price, 20 cents per copy.
MAY, 1931 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY 361

Cotton yarns and fabrics A systematic, quantitative study of constructions and properties of yarns

and fabrics is being made at the National Bureau of

Standards. One lot of 1-inch staple good ordinary

cotton was carded and spun into 10s yarn in a variety

of twists from twist multipliers 2*4 to 9 inch in- crements of !4 to twist multiplier 5, thereafter in

increments of 1. Both right and left hand twists were used. The strengths of these yarns, determined

by the single strand, multiple strand, and skein tests, and the stretch, diameter, and angle of twist as affected by the twist were discussed at a recent meeting

of the American Society for Testing Materials.

Testing tenderness and texture of canned foods.

Tenderness and texture of canned fruits and vegetables are of major significance in the commercial grading of these products. Accordingly, official standards,

under the McNary-Mapes amendment, for canned peas, peaches, and pears, announced by the United States

Department of Agriculture February 16, 1931, and

to go into effect May 18. exactly define the meas- urements for tenderness for these canned foods, as established by tests with a machine perfected by

United States food experts. The use of the device

by the trade will make it relatively simple for manufacturers of certain canned foods to comply with

Government standards, so far as tenderness of the

foods is concerned.

National Conference on Weights and Measures.—The

Twenty-fourth National Conference on Weights and

Measures will be held at the National Bureau of

Standards in Washington, D. C., on June 2 to 5, in- clusive. These meetings will be attended by State and

local weights and measures officials from all1 sections

of the country and by representatives of manufacturers of weighing and measuring devices and others

interested in some phase of weights and measures

supervision. The conference considers questions of

standardization along weights and measures administrative lines, including the development of methods

of test for commercial devices and codes of specifications and tolerances which are recommended for

State adoption.

Installation of proper highway lighting.—Declaring

that it takes approximately 10 years from the time

that a- new idea is conceived to the time it becomes

commonplace to the public, W. M. Johnson, an engi- neer of the General Electric Co., speaking before the

recently organized Baltimore section of the Society

of Automotive Engineers stated that the installation

of proper highway lighting was one of the greatest

public aids to safety that could be considered by a municipality. A striking instance of what proper

lighting will accomplish is found in experiments made

on St. Claire Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. Before the

installation of the new lights, fatal accidents aver- aged sjx per year on this highwajR The new lighting system has reduced this figure to an average of

two.

Standardization of printed forms and paper

sizes.—Standardization of printed forms and quantity printing, two or more in the same press-run, were

offered as economies which any advertiser can practice

without disadvantage, by M. G. Dunnagan, of the D.

S. Warren Co., speaking before the Technical Publicity Association of New York, March 11, 1931. Mr.

Dunnagan urged hearty support of the National

Bureau of Standards in its effort to reduce the costs of manufacturing and handling paper by the adoption

of 10 standard sizes, because in this direction lies a real opportunity for saving.

Certified horticulturists cultivate medicinal plants.

The Italian Minister of Agriculture and Forests has

recently published a decree, the purpose of which is to control and stimulate the cultivation of medicinal

plants, according to advices received in the Department of Commerce from Trade Commissioner Elizabeth Humes of Rome. The decree makes it obligatory that those engaging in the cultivation and processing of medicinal plants be certified horticulturists.

The sale of such plants is reserved entirely to phamacists having a degree in horticulture. A central committee of official horticulturists under the supervision

of the Minister of Agriculture has been created to supervise activities in connection with plant culti- vation. A fund of 500,000 lire has been established to carry on this work.

Automatic radio volume control.—An automatic

volume-control device has been developed at the National Bureau of Standards for use in the reception

of visual type radio-range-beacon signals whereb}r the pilot is relieved of the need for constantly adjusting the receiving set output volume as the distance

between airplane and the range-beacon station is varied. In the course of a flight on a radio range

beacon, it has heretofore been necessary for the pilot to make frequent volume adjustments, particularly

within the last 10 or 15 miles from the station in

which region the received signal varies most rapidly.

Since the pilot has numerous other duties, these

adjustments have proved troublesome. The new

device will materially assist the pilot in his use of

the range beacon.

Cottonseed oil.—Transformed by chemists into a

snow" white, sweet smelling, pleasant tasting hard fat

from an unsightly, ill-smelling, offensive by-product,

cottonseed oil is a spectacular example of progress

made in utilizing the crop wastes of farmers, ac- cording to the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

Farmers may anticipate the farm b}r -products or crop wastes such as cornstalks, straw, and cotton

stalks to help pay for their production, Dr. W. W.

Skinner, of the Department of Agriculture believes.

He points out that the advances which have been

made are the result of steady and persistent research

which has uncovered, step by step, some of the possibilities latent in these by-products which are composed chiefly of cellulose, lignin, and carbohydrates.

The utilization of cottonseed lias been one of the most

spectacular examples of progress in the disposal of

what was once a crop waste.
362 COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY MAY, 193.1

Standard for second-grade wheat in Australia.—

A sample officially described as of milling quality,

bleached, and free from any commercially objectionable odor is called second-grade wheat in Australia.

The standard weight of second-grade wheat in bags was fixed at 56 V2 pounds per Imperial bushel by the

grain trade section of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce, on February 9, 1931, according to a report

from F. E. McFadden, American Vice Consul in

Sydney, Australia. Trading in wheat below “ f. a. q.” (fair average quality), the weight of which has

been fixed at 59!/2 pounds a bushel, should now be

able to proceed smoothly. At the Chamber of Commerce, a representative sample of second quality was

agreed upon, and this will be distributed in the same manner as f. a. q. samples. The second quality will

include practically all the wheat kept in good order

by its owners.

Aircraft safety.—Carrying of pets (animals or

birds) in passenger cabins will be barred on airliners,

and only children in arms under 2 years of age will

be carried free on domestic routes, as a result of

conferences of the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce held in Detroit, April 15, 1931, in connection

with the National Aircraft Show. These regulations, together with a number of other agreements

reached by chamber committees representing the air- craft industry, were announced as the culmination of a series of conferences lasting nearly a week. Adoption of a code of standard practices to insure safety

in the manufacture and operation of aircraft, development of a uniform system to aid the interchange of traffic between air transport lines, and

authorization of a study of maintenance methods to reduce operation costs were numbered among committee agreements.

Philippine marking of origin requirements.—The

Philippine customs authorities have announced that

within four months there would be put into operation a strict enforcement of the marking of origin

requirements on imported articles, according to a radiogram received in the United States Department of Commerce from Trade Commissioner E. D.

Hester, at Manila. Section 1272 of the Administrative Code states, in substance, that all articles of

foreign manufacture such as are usually or ordinarily marked, stamped, branded, or labeled, and all packages containing such or other imported articles,

must, respectively, be plainly marked, stamped,

branded, or labeled in legibile words in a conspicuous

place so as to state the country of their origin and

the quantity of their contents; and until so marked,

stamped, branded, or labeled, will not be delivered to the importer. “Foreign” means any place other

than the Philippine Islands, so that the marking-oforign requirements apply to manufactures of the

United States also.

“ Fluidity ” of metals.—One of the current projects

at the National Bureau of Standards is the development of a method which can be used in a practical way

by the foundryman for determining the relative

“fluidity” of metals, and the effect of variations' in pouring temperatures, and in molding practice upon

this property. What appears to be a very feasible

and useful test has been developed. This consists in

pouring into a sand mold a long spiral strip of metal,

the length of which is an index of the fluidity of the

metal—in the sense that the foundryman uses this term. It is easy to show by this means the pronounced difference in the apparent fluidity of the same

metal poured in green and in dry-sand molds; like- wise, the marked increase resulting from a relatively

small increase in the temperature of the metal when

poured. The method was described before the American Foundrymen’s Association at its meeting held

during the current month.

Bonding of brick and mortar in masonry units.

Tests made at the National Bureau of Standards have

shown that 50 freezing and thawing cycles in some

cases failed to disintegrate brick and mortar in masonry units. The results show that strength and

durability are not necessarilv related in brick masonry

construction. The degree of adhesion between mortar and brick may be relatively great (measured in

pounds per square inch necessary to pull the brick

apart) and yet under severe weathering conditions

this high strength of bond may not insure that the

bond itself will last. All other things being equal,

the most durable bond would be obtained if the mortar and the unit expand and contract simultaneously

and to the same extent during different weather conditions. It is likely that the proper adapting of ce- menting materials to masonry units has from this

standpoint not received the attention it deserves. A

report of this work was published in the March 1931

issue of the Bureau of Standards Journal of Research.

Hydraulic laboratory section.—The Director of the

National Bureau of Standards has created a hydraulic

laboratory section in the division of mechanics and

sound of the bureau, as announced April 30, 1931,

with H. N. Eaton, of the bureau staff, as acting chief.

The President approved the bill creating the National

Hydraulic Laboratory at the bureau on May 14, 1930,

to cost $350,000. (See Commercial Standards

Monthly, June, 1930.) A laboratory of this type

will inevitably bring about enhanced efficiency in the

construction of large hydraulic projects. Mr. Eaton

recently completed a study of similar research laboratories abroad.
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 firSt year the Journal developed a

liSt 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

COMMERCIAL STANDARDS

MONTHLY

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 liSt 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. Issued monthly

Subscription price, 25 cents per year

STANDARDS YEARBOOK

FOR 1931

This new governmental periodical is a review

of progress in commercial simplification and

standardization. It is the only journal of its kind. It covers the national movement initiated by President Hoover for the reduction

of needless sizes and varieties of products and

the promotion of voluntary commercial

Standardization by industry.

The Secretary of Commerce in the firSl 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 1931 is the

fifth 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 interest 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 suggeStive

and Stimulating value. To business men it discloses trends which deeply concern their

interest.

NOW READY Price, $1 ORDER AT ONCE

“Standardization is becoming an aspect of all well- ordered activity rather than an incidental

activity supplemental to others.”

To obtain regularly the above-described monthly Periodicals send your order, with 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, $1.20
“ * * * 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, J une 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. Establishment of civil airways and maintenance 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 Survey.)

BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, William M. Steuart, 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 weekly.

Compilation quarterly or monthly of statistics on cotton, wool, leather, and other industries; annually of forest products.

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

press, the monthly Survey of Current Business, and district and

cooperative offices in 65 cities. The maintenance of commodity,

technical, and regional divisions to afford special service to American exporters and manufacturers. The compilation and distribution of lists of possible buyers

and agents for American products in all parts of the world and

publication 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 properties of materials; researches and tests on materials and processes; 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. Establishment 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 study of mine hazards, and

safety methods and of improved methods in the production

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 tables, current tables, and special publications.

BUREAU OF NAVIGATION, Arthur J. Tyrer, Commissioner.

Superintendence of commercial marine and merchant seamen.

Supervision 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: 1931