COMMERCIAL

STANDARDS

MONTHLY

cy

A Review of Progress in

Commercial Standardization and Simplification

ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS OF THE

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE v v v v v WASHINGTON, D. C., U. S. A.

Vol. 6, No. 4 OCTOBER, 1929

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. See page 3 of cover for prices
Lyman J. Briggs

Assistant Director for Research and Testing

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

R. P. Lamont, Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

George K. Burgess, Director

COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY

S. F. Tillman, Editor

Ray M. Hudson

Assistant Director for Commercial Standards

DIVISIONS OF THE COMMERCIAL STANDARDIZATION GROUP

DIVISION OF SIMPLIFIED PRACTICE, Edwin W. Ely.

The division of simplified practice was formed in November,

1921, to provide a clearing house or centralizing agency through

which the manufacturer, distributor, and consumer groups

could meet to discuss their common problems and decide upon

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

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

recommendations that industry develops under the auspices

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

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

and who would be unwilling to cooperate, except through some

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

of all interested elements thereof, the project is then presented

to the entire industry by letter referendum for its approval and

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

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

users concerned. AMERICAN MARINE STANDARDS COM’TEE, A.V. Bouillon.

The American Marine Standards Committee was organized

to promote simplification of practice and elimination of waste

in the marine and allied industries. It is composed of indi- viduals, corporations, societies, Government departments, public bodies, or other organizations or groups engaged in building

or operating ships, port facilities, and related activities. It works in close cooperation with official agencies, but its activities are controlled by an executive board elected annually

by and from the membership. For further information, write

direct to the secretary, A. V. Bouillon, Room 713, Department

of Commerce, Washington, D. C. DIVISION OF TRADE STANDARDS, I. J. Fairchild.

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

of aiding those industrial and commercial groups desiring to

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

the commercial standard in writing before it is published by

the Department of Commerce. A certification plan is applied

DIVISION OF TRADE STANDARDS—Continued. on request as a means of increasing the effectiveness of such

standards. Provision is made for regular revision of the standard

through the appointment of a standing committee to consider

periodically any necessity for revision of the standard, in order

that it may be kept constantly compatible with progress in the

industry.

DIVISION OF SPECIFICATIONS, A. S. McAllister.

The duties of the division of specifications are to promote and

facilitate the use and unification of specifications. In doing so

it carries on activities involving cooperation with technical

societies; trade associations; Federal, State, and municipal

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

laboratories. The cooperation with technical societies and

trade associations includes ascertaining the standardization and specification promoting activities of these organizations,

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

producers involves the compilation of lists of manufacturers

who have expressed their willingness to certify to purchasers,

upon request, that material supplied by them on contracts based on certain Federal specifications or commercial standards comply with the requirements thereof. The division prepares

the directories of governmental and nongovernmental testing

laboratories; the Directory of Specifications; and is working on an encyclopedia of specifications, the first volume of which,

Standards and Specifications in the Wood-Using Industries, has been issued. It also aids in preparing the Standards Yearbook. BUILDING AND HOUSING DIVISION, J. S. Taylor.

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

building codes and to encourage improved standards for the

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

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

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

throughout the year, and to secure less fluctuation from year

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

the broad objective of buildings made more useful because

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

street system, and appropriate public works. Good city

planning and zoning likewise encourages stability in land

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

Except where otherwise indicated, for further information address

BUREAU OF STANDARDS

WASHINGTON, D. C.
COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY

A Review of Progress in

Commercial Standardization and Simplification

Volume 6 WASHINGTON, D. C., OCTOBER 15, 1929 Number 4

CONTENTS

FEATUREJAfiTICLES

Page

Department of Commerce aids industrj'Uthrough its motion-picture division 100

Scientific management 90

Simplified office procedure in the Government 102

Stories in November magazine 93 FOREIGN NOTES

An informative definition of rationalization 108

International standardizing bodies 102

Italy to standardize paper weights and measures 82

Official testing of Chinese exports and imports 107 Paper standardization in France 107

Standardization with respect to oil engines 81 BUILDING AND HOUSING NOTES

Department of Commerce building code committee now

in its ninth year of existence 110 SIMPLIFICATION NOTES

Development of skid and lift-truck simplification 94

Division of simplified practice has received two new

requests for simplification programs in past month 85

Increasing net profits through simplification 101

Results and benefits of applying simplified practice to loaded paper shot shells 104 The details that count discussed 109

Simplification program governing balloon tire sizes reviewed 92 Various trade magazines discuss simplification 84 RESEARCH AND TESTING NOTES

Bureau studies efficiency of street-car trucks 107 High precision voltmeter designed 101 Improved paper developed and new sources of fiber inves- tigated through Federal research 88

Materials for construction of aircraft tested and improved

in Government laboratories 80

RESEARCH AND TESTING NOTES—Continued Purified wood fibers suitable for making high-grade papers no

Qualities of rubber are studied to improve efficiency

and length of service of products 97 To make study of air safety 99 Uniformity in hardening metals is sought by bureau 105 World clock designed by Bureau of Standards man at- tracting attention at Ibero-American Exposition at

Seville, Spain 96 STANDARDIZATION NOTES

Activities in trade standardization 91 American marine standards committee report on four

proposals 86

A. S. T. M. report discusses new standards adopted 95 Development of textile mill and petroleum standards 108 How grades of fuel oil were standardized 93 For the sake of safety we need more education 83 Learning from the railroads 89

Telephone industry highly standardized 108 Uniform ships’ riding lights adopted 110 SPECIFICATION NOTES

Application of the certification plan 82 Bureau reports on a study made of fiber wall boards 98

Concrete handbook issued 93

Federal specification for lumber and simplified practice

recommendation for lumber do not conflict 109 WOOD UTILIZATION NOTES

Farmers interested in grade-marking data 100 Gang saws insure closer standardization and bigger

lumber savings, committee declares 106 Government, industries, and colleges find “Wood Construction” valuable 109 Merchants make wooden boxes good-will builders 110

Utilization of so-called “waste wood” aim of Department of Commerce committee 87

AN INVITATION TO VISIT THE BUREAU OF STANDARDS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

bureau in advance. The bureau’s illustrated Visitor’s Manual may be had for the asldng. This lists the work in progress and gives an airplane view of the ensemble and a brief statement of typical discoveries

and inventions which have been notable, basic contributions to radio, aviation, and other modern arts and industries.

George K. Burgess, Director.

73112—29- 1 (79)
MATERIALS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF AIRCRAFT TESTED AND

IMPROVED IN GOVERNMENT LABORATORIES

Congress Made Bureau of Standards the Aeronautics Testing and Research Arm of Department of Commerce; in Planning Research Programs the Motor and Fuel Industries Cooperate With Bureau

Air flight, like other new arts—radio, “ movies,”

television, motor transport—owes its origin to inventive skill but its far-reaching development depends

upon research. Modern aviation came from a longline of ingenious and daring dreamers. Its recent advance is by laboratory experiment. The place of

the Bureau of Standards in this aviation progress is well known to experts. A list of its researches alone

fills 60 pages. Its full story has not been written.

Results are of vital importance.

The results are vital in aeronautic science and practice to-day. On the supercharger (forced air feed)

the bureau’s data were basic in putting this device

into use. Congress made the Bureau of Standards the aero- nautics testing and research arm of the Department

of Commerce. An important present enterprise is

The bureau’s work on aircraft motors began with

the 50-hour continuity run of the first Liberty motor

near the bureau’s acoustical laboratory. The motor

then went to Pike’s Peak for a performance test at altitudes up to 7 miles. Meanwhile the bureau designed and built an altitude laboratory—the first of

its kind—in which are reproduced air pressures, temperatures, and wind speeds found at altitudes up

to 6 miles. Here the bureau has studied carburetion,

ignition, combustion, and lubrication, and how they

affect power and performance at ground level and

at altitudes up to 6 miles.

type testing new motors for use in licensed planes. If

they fail in a 50-hour endurance test, the bureau points

out the probable cause, and the maker may submit a

revised motor. Hazard is filtered out, but the door is open to mend flaws of design or construction to perfect

the motors for safe and efficient flight.

Almost every item of the art and science of flight is studied experimentally. The behavior of air trav- ersed by moving objects as a basis of the design of

anything which must encounter the air with accuracy,

efficiency, or speed; motor performance and how gas

may be turned into power with minimum loss of po-

( 80 )
81

tential energy ; the materials used in aircraft and their

useful properties; the instrumentation of flight, the

basic controls of aviation which make it safe, swift,

and sure; the airways and airway beacon and the

lights and telephony which aid the flier; and finally,

the code of good practice of flight in all its phases.

In all of these the bureau has aided fundamentally in

the evolution of aviation as it is to-day.

Research program planned jointly.

For motor designers, the researches cover fuel-air

ratios, volatility factors, starting, etc., the research

programs being planned jointly with the motor and

fuel industries. For aircraft designers volumes of

useful data flow from the bureau’s wind tunnels. Air

streams are produced here ranging from the highspeed air jets to those of the giant 10-foot tunnel. In

these air streams the behavior of aircraft parts are studied at rest in the moving air (giving the same

effect as if they moved through still air). Windtunnel researches on aircraft radiators form a classic

bureau monograph for the designer. Small models of

planes and plane parts are studied in wind streams to give designers the basis for effective design to promote speed, accuracy, and efficient flight.

Aircraft materials are studied from various angles.

The corrosion of duralumin was a menace to its uses in aircraft. The bureau showed that the cor- rosion might be controlled by a thin coat of aluminum.

Tests of duralumin are most ingenious. Strips vi- brate hundreds of times a second actuated and supported wholly by fine air jets, until some half-billion

vibrations are completed. This simulates the alter- nating stresses encountered in the aircraft where varying stresses cause strain, which gradually breaks down

the internal structure of the metal. Airplane wing

dopes, metal coatings for propellers, wing cloth, balloon fabrics, cord, and struts—aircraft materials in

great variety—have had intensive investigation in the

bureau’s laboratories.

New porcelain developed for spark plugs.

A new porcelain was developed for spark plugs,

having a suitable expansion under the high explosion

temperatures developed in the motor cylinders. When

linen sources failed, there was devised as a possible

substitute manila paper 50 per cent stronger than any

known. The bureau was represented on the international aircraft materials specifications board and

contributed notably to the formulation of these basic

documents.

An extraordinary discovery of basic importance to airships was the bureau’s new “ gold-beater’s skin,” an essential as gas-bag material. The natural source had been the outer coating of the large intestines of

cattle—the only known impermeable membrane suit- able for the purpose. Hundreds of thousands of

cattle were used to build the gas bags for a single

airship of the Shenandoah type. The synthetic membrane developed in the Bureau of Standards research

had distinct advantages over the natural product. It was one-half as permeable, twice as durable, half as expensive, and could be made in any desired length—

a

striking advantage since the small natural pieces

(taken from cattle) had to be pieced together and the seams made gas and water tight.

Research on the structural elements of aircraft was

most prolific. For airships the triangular sections

built up of duralumin were developed in the light of

bureau tests and successive redesign. A structural

girder built of trussed duralumin strips was finally

developed so light that a 16-foot length could be held

by the little finger, and so strong that it would support

16 men without collapse.

STANDARDIZATION WITH RESPECT TO OIL ENGINES

The Standardization Idea in This Direction is Developing Among Foreign Countries, Says Editorial Writer

in the Motor Ship, London, in a Discussion of the Subject

“ The idea of standardization in Diesel machinery is developing,” says an editorial writer in the Motor

Ship, London, adding that “ although there has apparently been greatest opportunity for it in Sweden and

Denmark, owing to the willingness of Scandinavian owners to adopt completely standardized plant, there

are indications of progress in this country (England).

For instance, there are eight ships being built all to have Kincaid B. and W. machinery with cylinder

dimensions 630 mm bore and 1,500 mm stroke. In all, there are 16 such engines, representing 100 cylinders

similar in every respect. Incidentally, according to our records, this firm appears to have 31 Diesel engines

under construction for installation in IT ships.”

The Evening News, London, tells of efforts made in

Germany to obtain cheaper oil engines by means of

standardization. “A German company, whose head is one of the foremost Diesel engineers in the country,”

says the article, “ has had an idea which may lead to a considerable reduction in costs. The makers of

Diesel engines must do their own fine work, but according to his theory, it is not at all necessary for them to trouble themselves about the host of small parts which

are inseparable from every Diesel, and which cost a lot of money when they are made in small quantities. “ Such things as silencers, oil reservoirs, purifiers,

starting reservoirs, valves and fuel pumps are worked

on the same principle in scores of different types of

Diesel engines, and the German engineer’s idea is to form a central factory at Stuttgart and turn out these

things in large numbers at a very much lower price

than the big engineers can contrive at their own works.

Two years’ experience in making standardized parts

for one particular type of Diesel engine has convinced

him that he is on the right road, and he is now

prepared to make numerous parts for Diesels of all sorts. “ In some of the types which are now at sea this will mean a slight alteration in their design, but nothing

that is material either to cost or efficiency. The German engineer is prepared to do this not only for

German engineers who are taking to the Diesel engines

with enthusiasm, but for those in any other country

where the import duty is not prohibitive, and he is convinced he can save money even in the face of high

tariff.”
82

APPLICATION OF THE CERTIFICATION PLAN

(Division of Specifications)

There have been compiled by the National Bureau

of Standards 267 lists of such firms as have expressed

to the bureau their desire to have their names placed on the lists of manufacturers, willing, when requested

to do so, to certify to purchasers that material supplied in accordance with the designated 267 Federal

specifications complies with the requirements and

tests of these specifications, and is so guaranteed by

them. These lists represent more than 7,800 requests

for listing from more than 2,000 firms.

The groups of commodities covered by the specifications to which the certification plan has been applied,

the number of Federal specifications in each group,

the number of requests for listing, and the number of

firms requesting listing in each group, are shown in

the accompanying table.

Statistical summary of unlling-to-certify lists

Total number of— Commodity groups

Specifi- cations Listings Firms

9 108 50

48 944 168

1 33 33

1 68 68

11 176 139

3 78 49

1 59 59

8 58 30

7 126 47

4 106 78

4 149 86

2 10 5

1 21 21

13 162 70

1 17 17 30 3, 004

459

305

29 96

7 86 60

3 107 57

3 94 36

7 123 45

16 571 105

i 15 15

i 3 3

i 7 7

1 13 13 13 563 149

1 7 7

36 598 207 Tubing, metallic . 4 61 49

Total 267 7,826 2,074

It is to be noted that the average number of manufacturers on the separate “ willing-to-certify ” lists is 29, and the average number of lists upon which the

individual manufacturer’s name appears is 3.8. It is noteworthy that the average number of firms on the

30 lists of “ willing-to-certify ” manufacturers of

paint and paint materials is 100. Every one of the

“ willing-to-certify ” lists which exceeds 100 is that

of paint manufacturers. The average number of

manufacturers on the 15 lists for mixed paints is 148. More than 300 manufacturers expressed their

desire to be listed as willing, when requested to do so, to certify to purchasers that paint and paint materials delivered on contracts based on certain designated Federal specifications do actually comply with

the specification requirements, as the result of sending to all known American paint manufacturers a

single circular letter—without any follow-up. Recent

investigations have shown that the Federal specifications for paint and paint materials which have been

formulated in thorough cooperation with the interested manufacturers and the agencies authorized to act for the paint industry, are satisfactory to a goodly

number of paint and varnish manufacturers desirous

of doing some of their business on a specification

basis.

Certification plan and trade standards.

The certification plan has also been applied to seven trade standards, 94 firms having expressed their

desire for 118 listings among the “ willing-to-certify ” manufacturers of the commodities covered by trade

standards for clinical thermometers, Stoddard sol- vent, all-clay porcelain plumbing fixtures, brass, steel,

and wrought-iron pipe nipples, and regain of mercerized cotton yarns. Application of the certification

plan to the above-noted trade standards has been

made in accordance with the formal requests of the

general conferences of the industries which adopted

the standards referred to. Similar formal requests

have been made by general conferences relating to trade standards for surgical gauze; standard-weight

malleable iron or steel screwed unions; plain and

thread plug limit gage blanks; builders’ template

hardware ; dress patterns ; boy’s blouses, waists, shirts,

and junior shirts; men’s pajamas; wall paper; and

diamond-core drill fittings.

Lists of manufacturers in circular.

The lists of manufacturers willing to certify to compliance with Federal specifications are contained in

Bureau of Standards Letter Circular, No. 256, entitled “ Sources of Supply of Commodities Covered

by United States Government Master Specifications.”

This circular is not published ; its distribution is limited to governmental and institutional purchasers,

Federal, State, county, and municipal, and it is sent

to others only upon specific request, or to officers of

interested associations and societies for comment and

criticism.

The lists of manufacturers willing to certify to compliance with commercial standards which have

been established by the various industries as the basis

for trade throughout the industry as a whole are given the widest possible distribution, use being made

of every available channel for such distribution.

ITALY TO STANDARDIZE PAPER WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

Steps are being taken in Italy to effect the standardization of weights and measures throughout the country, according to an announcement by the Fascist

Industrial Federation, transmitted from the American

consulate in Rome and made public by the Department of Commerce. In accordance with plans re- cently formulated in Rome, detailed questionnaires

have been sent to all paper manufacturers in the country and from the resultant data it is hoped to arrange

a definite program for effecting this standardization.

The federation is said to be seeking the collaboration

of not only the paper manufacturers, but also that of

the editorial and printing industries, with a view to organizing the supply of raw materials, unifying sales methods, and increasing paper consumption in Italy.
83

FOR THE SAKE OF SAFETY WE NEED MORE EDUCATION

Commissioner of Labor Statistics, Ethelbert Stewart, Discusses the Subject of Safety Codes in the United

States Construction Quarterly

“As is well known, the responsibility for accidents

in all industries is charged to the employers by the

employees, and to the employees by the employers,”

said Commissioner of Labor Statistics Ethelbert

Stewart, in discussing the subject of safety codes in

the United States Construction Quarterly, noting that

“ carelessness is the one word that covers all cases of

accidents when the employer is talking. ‘ Speeding

up and utter absence of safety facilities, utter neglect

of common safety equipment,’ is the one answer when

workmen are talking.

“ To those of us who view the matter entirely from

the outside and who are really trying to prevent in- dustrial accidents, the amount of truth, if any, in

either one of these stand-pat positions is very difficult to ascertain. When the employer says you can not

write into a safety code protection against the human

element in accident causation we who view the matter

from a purely dis- interest point of view known there

is just as much

human element on the employers’

side as on the

workers’ side. “No doubt ig- norance of what

constitutes

safety is a major

element in industrial accidents in

the case not only

of a vast majority

of the contractors, particularly

the smaller ones, but also of the

workers. Carelessness is equally

divided. It is all right to say that no contractor wants

to hurt his men physically, but it is just as apparent

to outside observers that no workman wants to get

hurt. The real effect of all the charges and counter- charges is to delay constructive accident prevention.

“ It is here proposed that the recognized national or

local safety codes, where there are such, be written

into every collective wage agreement as a part of the

wage contract. Where there is no national or local safety code, then a safety code which shall be agreed

upon between the employer or employers’ association

and the employees or the employees’ association shall

be developed and written into the contract. This ac- complished, the plea of ignorance can not be made.

( Carelessness ’ becomes a direct violation of the contract and can be handled as such.

“ This is just as applicable to company-union agree- ments as it is to trade-union agreements; and where

there is no agreement at all, the courts would probably

for the most part hold that such agreements written

into trade-union and company-union agreements were

indicative of the established custom of the industry

and were binding upon employers and workmen

whether or not there was any agreement.

“ In the building trades, where apparently a few

individuals, have been able to prevent any agreement

as to what shall constitute a building safety code,

the matter can be controlled through the architects.

The architects’ association has a safety code, probably

the most perfect one in existence for the construction

industry. Why it is kept locked up in their offices

it is extremely difficult for a man on the outside to understand. It seems reasonable to believe that this

code could be made acceptable and available to all. “ Once this is done, the architect, who after all is the

man who writes the contract between the builder and

the owner, can write the safety code into the contract asanintegralpart

thereof. And

while this does

not immediately

connect the building contractor up

with the workmen, it does give

the owner who

does not care to have his home or

his office building

erected at the ex- pense either of making widows

or of breaking

men’s arms and

legs, a direct means of attack

upon the careless

contractor

through the contract. Perhaps nothing would so quickly form a foundation for cooperative action on the part of the

contractors. “This method would likewise answer the objection

which the building contractors make to a national

code, which is that these codes would immediately

be written into the statutes of the various States and

made a part of the building inspection, possibly administered by trade-unionist appointees. However,

it would not be necessary for legislatures to enact building safety codes if such codes were written into

every contract, and could be handled by the courts

direct. “ One objection—and every man who does not want

to pay attention to safety methods will find some

objection—is that many of these safety codes are so long that it would be a serious inconvenience to write

them into agreements and that this would be particularly true of individual building contracts. The anEDUCAT1NG FOR UNIVERSAL SAFETY

With the highly geared industrialization oj the future there must be spread

throughout the world a new industrial philosophy—the gospel of safety. The subject is so important, industrially, that the Secretary of Labor, James J. Davis, discussed the subject in the periodical, National Safety News. “Before

this movement will become effective, however,” said the Secretary of Labor, “public

opinion must be educated to the point of branding the nonconforming employer

and the habitually careless employee as twin menaces not only to the American

civilization but to society as a whole. This educational process might be speeded

up by the injection of certain statistics into the public consciousness—figures

which tell of 24,000 men needlessly killed in industrial accidents during 1927

Surely in the time to come we can strive to eliminate at least those factors which

are of a human type, such items as faulty instruction, inattention, unsafe practices, poor discipline, and physical and mental unfitness.”
84

swer to that is that a fairly large percentage of these

safety codes can be secured from the Government free

of cost and that the contract itself need only refer to them, as, for instance, ‘ that Bulletin No. 436, Safety

Code for the Use, Care, and Protection of Abrasive

Wheels, published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics,’ be made in whole and in detail a part

of the contract.

“ It would be infinitely cheaper for the State to print and issue free a sufficient number of copies of

any code, to be made a part of individual contracts,

than would be to enact a State law with the attendant

legislative expense. It would be cheaper for the in- surance companies and the monopolistic State-fundcompensation States to issue these codes in sufficient numbers than it would be to pay the compensation cost of accidents. Besides, some of us are getting tired

of the question of cheapness if deaths or accidents

might be avoided.

“As a further step in this direction, if the insurance

companies could be induced to write the safety code

into the policy issued to every contractor, with the

understanding that any flagrant violations of that

code or any deliberate ignoring of the code would

forfeit the policy, much of the ignorance as to accepted safety methods and safety practices would

soon disappear.

“ If every agency forming contracts with employers or workers would make reasonable safety

codes an essence of that contract—in other words, if everyone would do as well as they know and really

make ‘ safety first ’ mean something, first in the labor

agreement, first in the contract, first in everything, some of us might live to see industrial accidents practically eliminated.”

In presenting this story by Doctor Stewart to the

readers of the Commercial Standards Monthly, the

editor would invite attention to the fact that in our

last number (September issue) there appeared an

article touching on the work accomplished by the

Bureau of Standards in developing the National

Electrical Safety Code, Handbook No. 3, of the bureau. Those interested in securing a copy of this

handbook, should communicate with the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. The price of the document is $1 per

copy.

A list of other publications of the Bureau of Standards relating to accident prevention and safety may

be secured upon request.

VARIOUS TRADE MAGAZINES DISCUSS SIMPLIFICATION

It has often been said that simplification and standardization are possible, to some extent, in every line of

manufacture, and that they do not halt progress in the

improvement of equipment, since individual initiative

is not stifled and the manufacturer is free to develop

his product to a maximum degree of performance,

durability, and utility.

In this statement there is pointed out the secret of

the success of the simplification movement, since it in no way interferes with improvement of the commodity. As a matter of fact, by reducing the variety of

the commodity, it affords the manufacturers greater

freedom for further research and improvement of

their product.

Expressions from trade press of interest.

In urging further simplification of farm equipment

parts, the Farm Implement News approaches this

subject editorially, with the observation that the standardization and elimination of waste movement is one

of the logical and inevitable results of modern production methods. No machine is suitable for assemblyline production methods, if it has, for example, 113

different sizes of nuts and bolts, where only 12 are

necessary, standardization junking the redundant 101

sizes and forms.

In a further comment on its own editorial recom- mendation, the magazine said that, should simplification and standardization be successfully applied, it would make for a new stage in industrial cooperation

and mutual understanding, the ultimate results of

which would be of tremendous importance.

Support for application of the principles of simplification and standardization in the production of

equipment and parts is also discussed by other publications. For example, in a recent number of The

National Builders’ Magazine, an editorial writer of

that publication expressed the belief that dealers

would like fewer sizes and types.

Simplifying building materials.

This editorial expression is based on the assumption

that “ too many variations in commodities involves

too much invested capital.” It is therefore natural

that the editorial writer should add that “ the application of simplified practice to the production of

building materials might be made to work a tremendous advantage to the distributors and most certainly

would be greatly appreciated.”

It was the expression of this magazine that “ to-day

there are altogether too many varieties of several lines

of commodities, and to carry them imposes upon the

dealers an investment burden out of all proportions

to the returns.” After discussing several instances where simplified

practice has been applied and favorable results obtained, the editorial writer made the observation that

“ there is room for considerably more simplification in

the building-material field, and the sooner the manufacturers of these materials recognize this and act accordingly, the better pleased the dealers will be, for

it will as well reduce their trials and tribulations.”

These magazines have presented their respective

stories on simplification and standardization. The

Commercial Standards Monthly would call attention

of its readers to the fact that industry generally has

already proposed and adopted many simplified practice recommendations, many of which are in the building materials field. In order to keep industry advised

as to these programs, the division of simplified practice issues a monthly list of active simplifications.

Complimentary copies of the lists may be secured upon

request from the division.
85

DIVISION OF SIMPLIFIED PRACTICE HAS RECEIVED TWO NEW

REQUESTS FOR SIMPLIFICATION PROGRAMS IN PAST MONTH

Suggested Programs Covering Asbestos Pipe Covering and Roofing Material Under Consideration. Division Presents Latest Report on Other Projects

f Buffing wheels.

At the request of the simplified practice committee

of the industry, the division of simplified practice

arranged for a general conference of manufacturers,

distributors, and users of buffing wheels to consider

the adoption of a simplified practice recommendation

for buffing wheel diameters. The investigations of the

committee established the fact that the adoption of 4,

5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 20 inches as standards would

greatly reduce the wasteful cutting of sheeting out of

which buffs are made, and that the economies thus

effected in manufacture and stocking would be applicable to all the grades of buffs required for various

buffing operations. The action taken by the conference, which was scheduled to be held at the Department of Commerce on October 7, will be reported in

the November issue of the Commercial Standards

Monthly.

Luggage.

A preliminary conference of representatives of the

luggage industry was held in New York City on August 16, to consider the simplification of luggage

sizes. The meeting was held in conjunction with the

midsummer convention and exhibition of the National

Luggage Dealers’ Association and was attended by

representatives from the Pullman, express, and rail- road companies, as well as the Retail Research Association and National Association of Retail Clothiers

and Furnishers.

The list of suggested sizes as proposed by the National Luggage Dealers’ Association was discussed and

practically all agreed that simplification of sizes of

luggage would be beneficial to all concerned. A reso- lution was unanimously adopted that a joint committee made up of representatives of the manufacturing and luggage retailer groups be appointed to draft

a tentative recommendation covering sizes to be submitted as soon as possible to the division of simplified

practice, with the request that a general conference of

manufacturers, distributors, and users be called to meet in conjunction with the November convention of

the Trunk, Luggage, and Leather Goods Manufacturers of America, for the purpose of considering the

adoption of a simplified practice recommendation

covering standard sizes for wardrobe trunks, dress

trunks, steamer trunks, women’s suitcases, tourists’

cases, Pullman cases, and round-edge hat boxes.

Carbonated beverage bottles.

The members of the joint simplified practice committee, which has been considering the proposed simplification of types and sizes of carbonated beverage

bottles, met in Washington on September 16, to review

the results of the recent survey to determine the variety in heights, diameters, capacities, etc., of different

types of carbonated beverage bottles now being produced. The survey revealed the fact that an excessive

variety is being manufactured and used, and the committee has worked out a tentative simplified list of

sizes for consideration and adoption at a general con- ference of manufacturers, distributors, and users to be

held in conjunction with the Atlantic City convention

of the American Bottlers of Carbonated Beverages

next month.

Can sizes (fruit and vegetable).

A tentative simplified-practice recommendation

covering sizes of fruit and vegetable cans has been

drafted. It is contemplated that a general conference

of all interests will be held in Chicago in January.

1930, during the annual convention of the National

Canners Association. At this time it will be possible to have a representative attendance from canners and can makers and wholesale, retail, and chain-store grocers. Masonry opening sizes.

A meeting of the committee on the simplification of

masonry opening sizes has been called for this month.

This committee, which was authorized at the June

12 preliminary conference on masonry opening sizes,

is composed of three representatives of the steel-window industry, one representative of bronze windows,

one representative of limestone interests, one representative each of the face brick and common brick interests, a representative of the structural clay tile in- dustry, one representative each of the terra cotta,

wood-sash and millwork groups, and one each of the

metal-trim and concrete-block industries. The function of this committee will be to act as a coordinating

agency in bringing about a simplification of related

materials going in and around windows.

Refrigerator ice compartments.

A simplified list of sizes of ice compartments and

door openings for domestic refrigerators was adopted

at the recent general conference held in Washington.

All refrigerator manufacturers, ice manufacturers and

dealers, and others interested were furnished with a report of the conference, together with the request of

acceptance of the simplified list. Acceptances have

been received from the majority of refrigerator manufacturers and are coming in steadily from ice manufacturers and dealers throughout the country. It is believed that the number of acceptances will shortly

represent a sufficient percentage of the volume of busi- ness to warrant publishing the recommendation in the

Elimination of Waste series. Industrial casters. Tabulation of sizes of industrial casters was sent out

last month to all manufacturers of casters and to a number of large representative users. Suggestions

as to suitable variety and dimensions have been re- ceived from a considerable number of firms and are being carefully recorded for the purpose of establishing a sound basis for simplification of principal dimensions. Some of the largest users of industrial casters are furnishing detailed figures not only as to their

present practices but as to sizes and other figures

which in their opinion will be most suitable for their

use.
86

Earphone batteries.

Several months ago a preliminary meeting of manufacturers of earphones and earphone batteries was

held in New York City to consider the simplification

of batteries used with earphones. At that time a committee consisting of representatives of manufacturers of earphones and earphone batteries was appointed to study the opportunity for simplification of

batteries and to prepare definite recommendations for

the consideration of all interests. This committee has

completed its preliminary work and has developed

recommendations covering sizes of batteries and ar- rangement of battery terminals. A meeting will be

held in the near future to consider the report of the

simplified-practice committee. Following a meeting

of manufacturers, a general conference of all interests

will be held to develop the final recommendation based on the committee’s tentative recommendation.

Paper shipping tags.

On April 26 a general conference of all interests was held in New York to consider the simplification of

paper shipping tags. The simplification program approved at the general conference has since received

the required volume of support by manufacturers, dis- tributors, and users, and announcement has been issued

to the trade by the Division of Simplified Practice to

this effect. The program will be in effect as of September 1, 1929.

Underwear hangers (labels).

The Associated Knit Underwear Manufacturers of

America have requested the cooperative services of the

division of simplified practice of underwear hangers

or labels. According to Roy A. Cheney, secretary of

the association, labels of this kind are at present made

in a great variety of different sizes, one manufacturer

alone is being required to furnish 23 different sizes. In his opinion a reduction in number of sizes of

labels would effect a considerable saving to all concerned.

The division will shortly communicate with the

manufacturers and others interested in the manufacture and use of labels, for the purpose of determining

their attitude toward the proposal. If, as a result of

this inquiry, it is determined that the industry is in- terested in undertaking a simplification program, the

division will call the necessary meeting of all con- cerned in an effort to develop a recommendation for

the sizes of this commodity which will be satisfactory

to all concerned.

Asphalt tiles. The manufacturers of asphalt tile are considering a simplification program, and have requested the division to cooperate in its development. A representative of the division met with the Asbestos Floor Tile

Manufacturers’ Association at their meeting, held last month in Baltimore. The purpose of the meeting was

to discuss the need for simplification of asbestos floor

tile and to explain how the division’s services could

be utilized in developing a simplified practice recom- mendation. The association will make a further study

of the need for simplification and will request the

cooperative services of the division in case they decide

to develop a recommendation.

New proposals received.

The division of simplified practice receives many

suggestions for simplification. Two of these are listed

below. Manufacturers, distributors, and users of these

commodities are invited to submit any comments

which will be helpful in determining the interested

industry’s attitude toward these suggestions.

A manufacturer of asbestos pipe covering has advised the division of the need for elimination of cer- tain thicknesses of pipe covering which are not satis- factory for the purpose intended.

A distributor of roofing material directs attention

to the need for simplification of this material. There

are, he says, about twice as many varieties made to-day

as there were a few years ago, and, in his opinion,

they are not all necessary. AMERICAN MARINE STANDARDS COMMITTEE REPORT ON FOUR

PROPOSALS

Report for Month Discusses Status of Proposed Marine Standards for Mooring Pipes, Mooring Bitts for

Docks, Ship Joiner Hardware, and Hinged Water-Tight Doors

The American Marine Standards Committee is an

organization national in scope, and is constituted of

representative interests of the marine and allied in- dustries. The Government is prominently identified

with it through representatives of the Navy and War

Departments, coast guard, and bureaus concerned

with shipbuilding and shipping. The committee’s

work is aided by facilities and services furnished by

the Department of Commerce, through the National

Bureau of Standards, and by the United States Shipping Board.

The purpose of the organization is to bring about

simplified practice and waste elimination in the marine and allied industries through standardization of

materials, fittings, and equipment for ships and port

facilities, and to enhance safety and effect economies

in their operation. It has so far promulgated 102

marine standards which are^published in the A. M.

S. C. series of publications of the Department of

Commerce. A list of these publications is available

by request to the secretary of the committee, Room

713, Commerce Building, Washington, D. C.

Technical activities are carried on by technical and

subject committees, which are recruited from the

Nation at large in order to secure high qualifications

and wide representation. The office of the organization’s secretary is the administrative center as well as the clearing house for the technical work. Contact is maintained with other standardizing bodies in order

to coordinate projects and avoid duplication of effort. New publications.

The following publications, which have been in rocess of printing for some time, are expected to be

istributed in the near future, viz, A. M. S. C. 60,

Chocks for Ships; A. M. S. C. 61, Rules for Design
87

and Construction of Marine Boilers and Pressure

Vessels.

Mooring pipes.

The proposed standard for oval-shaped mooring

pipes referred to in a previous issue of the Commercial

Standards Monthly, as having been submitted to the

membership, has been generally approved, but criti- cisms have been made that the castings as proposed

are unnecessarily heavy and that a standard should be

developed also for^circular mooring pipes. Sketches

of proposed revised standards are in course of preparation for submittal to the Technical Committee on Hull

Details for final recommendations to the executive

board.

Mooring bitts for docks.

A proposed standard for a type of bitt which is a combination of bitt and cleat, used on the new docks

at Mobile, Ala., has been proposed for standardization.

A preliminary sketch is being made to cover sizes 8, 10, and 12 inch, for consideration by the Technical

Committee on Port Facilities.

Ship joiner hardware.

Proposed standard specifications for door locks, door

bolts, and sash hardware have been approved by the

Technical Committees on Hull Details and on Ship

Operation Details with suggestions for improvements

and for additional types. Revised preliminary drafts

are in course of preparation for submittal to the

membership.

Hinged water-tight doors.

Preliminary drafts of proposed standards for

heavy and light service doors are nearing completion.

These are to be submitted to the Technical Committee

on Hull Details.

UTILIZATION OF SO-CALLED “ WASTE WOOD,” AIM OF COMMERCE

DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE

National Committee on Wood Utilization Discusses Survey Made in North Carolina on Nonutilized Wood

In the elimination of waste and the utilization of

waste products the first requisite is to have an accurate

report showing where the waste occurs, and the land,

character, and quantity of waste products available

for future manufacture.

Heretofore, the lumber and wood working industries

have lacked these data, and the National Committee

on Wood Utilization is undertaking a series of surveys

of wood waste and wood-waste materials, in order to obtain them. The first survey of this kind was made

in Virginia. Before it was completed the committee

had received applications for similar surveys in seven

or eight other States. The report of the survey made

in North Carolina has just been released. It shows

that 33,000 railroad cars or a train 265 miles long,

could be filled with the wood which now goes to waste

annually in the sawmills and woodworking plants of

North Carolina.

Waste material in North Carolina.

A better conception of what this quantity of waste

material available in North Carolina means may be

obtained when it is understood that if it were in the

form of lumber it would represent the production from

about 113,000 acres of standing timber and, if suitable

for construction, would build nearly 50,000 average

small dwellings.

With the compiling of accurate data as to the quantity of waste wood available in a State, however, the

committee’s work is only begun. The determination

of an outlet for this nonutilized wood is its most important problem, and a large part of the North Carolina survey report is devoted to this subject. As background for the committee’s North Carolina report,

all of the factors contributing to waste of wood are

discussed and measures for the elimination of these

factors are suggested. For instance, the report shows

that small logs now wasted because of their size may

be profitably converted into lumber by the Scandinavian gang saw, which is being tested by the committee in Pacific coast sawmills. Even under the

high-wage conditions prevailing in the West these

saws have brought about remarkable economies in the

cutting of logs.

Defective seasoning causes waste.

Much of the waste in wood occurs, also, as a result

of defective seasoning. Therefore, the committee has

prepared and published four bulletins which give constructive suggestions on seasoning and handling lumber, and correct information concerning the best woodseasoning methods.

In every sawmill and woodworking plant may be

found thousands of pieces of small lumber, useless

for most purposes. It was to develop ways by which

these odd pieces could be utilized profitably that the

committee collected more than 1,200 suggestions showing how they could be transformed into interesting

and useful articles, by boys of manual training age. As a part of this project the committee has issued a booklet, You Can Make It, containing 100 of these

suggestions, which has been widely distributed to

schools, boys’ organizations, and industrial concerns

interested in the project.

Nonutilized wood.

The most important use to which nonutilized wood

developed in the committee’s survey may be put, is in the production of pulp and fiber products. In

North Carolina mills producing such products are already making good use of waste wood from sawmill

and woodworking industries. “ One man’s meat is another man’s poison,” and one industry’s waste often

becomes another industry’s raw material. To secure a coordination of the raw material policy of woodworking industries, is one of the principal objects of

the committee’s work.

The North Carolina nonutilized wood survey was

conducted by the committee in cooperation with the

industries concerned, and the division of forestry of

the North Carolina conservation and development

commission. Illustrative of the interest attaching to the survey is the fact that replies were received to 85 per cent of the 1,780 questionnaires sent out in con- nection with it. 73112—29 2
88

IMPROVED PAPER DEVELOPED AND NEW SOURCES OF FIBER

INVESTIGATED THROUGH FEDERAL RESEARCH

Research Developed the Fact That Properties of Paper Are Responsive to Treatment; Bureau Developed

Microscopic Methods of Determining Fiber Composition of Paper

That paper making is an industry still in the making may surprise many who recall the ancient papyrus

of Egypt, the felted fiber papers of old China, the

highly developed Shidzuoka vellum of Japan, and the

modern paper-making arts of the western world.

Scientific research is re-creating the art of making

paper. The Bureau of Standards affords many strik- ing examples to sustain this statement. Paper strength and other desirable properties depend upon processing the pvdp. This is the basis for

developing new types of papers. Progress here is not

accidental but systematic. Desired results are now

sought and found by research as deliberately as we

plan and build a house.

The properties of paper are responsive to treatment,

and it is the task of the Bureau of Standards experts

to find out how to enhance any desirable characteristic

of paper. For example, they developed a manila

paper of unprecedented strength as a war-time substitute for airplane wing linen. They built high fold- ing endurance into a new type of currency paper.

This unique achievement is worth a brief mention.

On request of the Treasury Department and the

Bureau of Efficiency, the Bureau of Standards produced b}r research development a paper for makingpaper currency of double the strength previously obtained. Requisites for currency paper are good printing quality and the strength required for long life. These were attained in the bureau’s paper mill. The

research covered all the practical paper-mill operations. The bureau’s new paper could be folded double

8,000 times without a break.

High printing quality obtained.

With this superior endurance a high printing quality was obtained. High fiber strength gave long life, and

a softness was secured particularly suited to the wet

intaglio process of printing our paper currency.

Measured control and record throughout, with study

of the printing tests, brought the desired result.

The bureau’s technique was found essential to the

production of the best paper. Such technique was

shown to be applicable to mill practice without in- creasing the cost of production. To double the

strength of currency paper seems a satisfactory re- search achievement. This becomes the more surprising when the new technique developed by the Bureau

of Standards is found applicable also to the manufacture of commercial bond papers and high-grade

ledger papers.

For printing paper currency durability is of notable

economic value because of the cost of engraving the

bills and safeguarding their issue. To cut this cost

in two, therefore, saves more than half of the paper

cost. A million dollars a year is the lowest estimated

saving resulting from the bureau’s currency paper

research. The durability of the new currency paper

seems adequate at present since surface effacement is the chief cause of withdrawal of used bills. A second request from the Treasury Department

resulted in a research on the improvement of postage

stamps, which is now in progress, and in which valuable data have already been obtained.

Bureau studied optical properties.

Of great interest to paper makers and users is the

measurement of the optical properties of paper opacity, gloss, and color. The basic instrument is a device

for comparing light intensities. The bureau has

studied 20 of these for paper testing laboratories, gaining data for suggested improvements. With the advent of super-thin papers to economize paper stock, conserve shelf space, and permit pocket-size editions

of books, came the importance of opacity measurements. The standard device used in the paper industry for

measuring opacity was designed by a bureau expert.

The trend from gloss to matte surface papers has

made gloss measurements of concern as a matter of

visual hygiene. Color measurements are of growing

importance because color is a rated asset in modern

uses of paper, and where colors are significant, as in

business forms and art papers, continuity of hue and

shade demands reliable measurement to control mill

production.

Mechanical paper testers research.

A research study of mechanical paper testers has re- sulted in suggestions to improve these instruments

and the development of special devices for paper

testing. These have been embodied in a commercial

type of electric tester, making it as satisfactory in- strument for paper testing.

Commercial organizations deeply concerned with

paper making have made is possible to maintain five research workers investigating the chemical reactions

of paper-making fibers to supplement the bureau’s

extensive researches on the physical aspects of paper

and paper making.

To classify paper products and develop specifications for paper quality for the many uses of paper
89

requires dependable test methods. The increase in

commercial paper testing since the bureau was established, makes the development of test methods very

important. Such standardization of tests is done in

close cooperation with the industrial and technical

organizations concerned. A leading group is the

Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, known by code name as TAPPI, in which some

800 paper technicians are united to promote progress

in the industry.

Methods of determining fiber composition of paper

by microscopic methods were developed by the bureau, and its published color atlas of stained speci- mens of typical fiber compositions has facilitated the

introduction of quantitative fiber analysis in the

industry.

A chief factor in the bureau’s successful paper re- search has been the unique facilities—an experimental

paper mill in which every detail of the paper-making

process may be conducted; apparatus controlling the

temperature and humidity of the laboratory where

tests can be carried out under standard conditions,

temperature 70° F., humidity 65 per cent. Testing apparatus has been acquired or designed and made for

measuring the physical properties of paper—burstingstrength, tensile strength, uniformity of thickness,

tearing strength, folding endurance, wear factor, ancl other significant aspects.

Once a useful property is developed in a paper

it may be reproduced under the measured conditions

which first produced it. Research production may be

made in the experimental paper mill on relatively

small quantities of raw materials under conditions

measured and recorded throughout.

Standard newsprint paper defined.

For the Treasury Department, standard newsprint

paper was defined by specifications to guide the Customs Service in judging what was newsprint paper in

pursuance of the law permitting newsprint paper to enter duty free. Specifications and experimental production of metal-free paper for use in electrical con- densers constituted another bureau research, valuable

because of the importance of this use of paper. The

bureau mill technique reduced the metal particles to

one-fifth. Aid has been given many specification-preparing bodies through advice and data. Quality specifications for paper are no longer guesswork. They sum up paper progress and are controls of industry.

They are the users’ demand and the producers’

promise. They are improved by research upon the

criteria by which quality is rated. The bureau is well

equipped for its part in such work.

Laboratory research on paper-making materials in- cludes studies of paper filler clays which showed that

domestic clays are equal to those imported. Glue was

studied to aid makers of coated papers to use glue

for casein when market conditions warrant. Waste

plant materials have been studied as to paper-making

possibilities. The potential use of caroa fiber was

found to be full of promise in view of steadily mounting price of paper-making rags. A single study of

writing paper made from condemned mail pouches in- creased the Government’s revenue from their sale $17,000 annually. Old papers and sawdust were found usable for roofing felts, and deinking systems were studied which showed that reuse of certain used

papers was technically possible.

Improved paper quality.

Improvements in paper quality and suitability are of great economic importance in view of the extraor- dinary uses of paper. Its vast use in books and

journals for diffusing the world’s knowledge and news

alone makes it of commanding interest. As a vehicle

of communication it serves all human relations. It

is the vehicle of the graphic arts, is used as currency,

as a universal wrapping and container material, as household articles, such as towels, napkins, dishes, wall

paper, wall board, boxes, and roofing paper, and in a thousand forms for objects of art and utility of

great diversity.

All these offer unlimited fields for research full of

possibilities. For each there is a measurably best composition, texture, and finish-—fiber proportions, fiber- felted structure, and surface texture. As a basis for

improving paper for its countless uses, it must be possible to measure its desirable characteristics. This the

bureau is helping to make possible as a visit to the

paper laboratories will make clear to the interested

visitor.

LEARNING FROM THE RAILROADS

“ In spite of the fact that the railroads of the country touch industry at a thousand points every day,”

says an editorial writer in Factory and Industrial

Management, “ industrial executives have paid too

little attention to the intensive campaign carried on by the railroads to cut costs of operation and improve

the quality of their service through more intelligent

management.

“ Speaking before the tenth annual convention of

the mechanical division of the American Railway

Association in Los Angeles, R. H. Aishton, president

of the association, said : To-day, the railroad systems

are one gigantic laboratory in which millions of per- sons are engaged in an intensive war on waste. Practically every phase of railroad operation is being

placed under the microscope, in an effort to detect means of bringing about improvements in operation.

“ In the past 10 years the railroads have largely

concentrated their attention from the extension of

their lines to the more intensive utilization of their

existing facilities, thereby bringing about increased

efficiency and economy in operation. This development has been in line with the increasingly intensive

commercial development of this countx-y, especially

since the war, and has also resulted from increased

operating and construction costs. To meet the

changed conditions, science has been recruited in

greater degree than ever before.

“ Science has been recruited in greater degree than

ever before—herein lies the crux of the matter. Expei’imentation has resulted in better locomotives, rails,

and car wheels. Steel cars have replaced wooden cars. Terminals and shops have been rearranged. Standardization and simplification have not only reduced

repair costs, but have resulted in lower inventories of

materials and supplies. The railroads are not alone

in this excellent campaign; many industries have done

similar work. There is every reason, however, why

each should learn fi-om the other. Science and re- search are available to both.”
90

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

Fourth International Congress Held in Paris. General Keynote of Congress Dealt with Balancing Consumption with Production

“We, in France, do not seek to create new wants

in order to satisfy them, but to adequately satisfy

those which already exist.”

The above statement, by M. Charles de Freminville,

strikes the keynote of the Fourth International Congress of Scientific Management, which was held in

Paris this past summer.

“ In scientific management,” M. de Freminville continued, “ lies the solution of the problem, not alone in

the improvement of methods of manufacture and control, but in the balancing of production with

distribution.”

H. P. Kendall, president of the Taylor Society,

expressed much the same thought when he said that

scientific management alone can overcome the present

“ profitless prosperity ” from which so many busi- nesses seem to be suffering. To-day we have an over- production of goods, but as wages remain high this

gives increased purchasing power to workers and thus

sales are stimulated. In referring to Europe’s present

economic dilemma, the speaker said : “ Europe must

find a way to higher wages and yet lower costs in

industry, or else there is no future.”

The general keynote—balanced consumption and

production.

William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, in a letter to the Congress said : “ Labor

has an interest in increasing production, because only

out of increased output can come sustained raises in

the standard of living—The American Federation of

Labor recognizes that the interests of wage earners

are interdependent upon the interests of all other

groups associated together in production enterprises

and that progress for labor is interrelated with

progress for the Nation.

“ With industrial progress and technical advances,

responsibilities resting upon management grow

heavier. Upon management rests the major responsibilities for eliminating wastes in production, for as- suring steady employment for those employed, for

steadily increasing wages as productivity increases, for

planning in advance for workers displaced by machinery and technical changes. Workers also have

a responsibility for these problems which they can undertake through their trade unions when the channels of cooperation have been established.”

W. J. Donald, secretary of the American Management Association, also said : “ The greatest prosperity

to American business will come only if European busi- ness is prosperous and economically sound, and if the European-consuming public has sufficient purchasing power to absorb a large part of her own prodducts as well as America’s surplus.”

The general keynote then seemed to be the balancing of production with distribution and consumption—a very complex problem which the congress

sought to attack. The congress opened in the grand

amphitheater of the Sorbonne, with great ceremony

and under the highest patronage. The president of

this session was INI. Andre Tardieu, Minister of the Interior, and guests of honor were M. Gaston Doumergue, president of the Republic of France, and M.

Raymond Poincare, president of the cabinet. There

were between 1,300 and 1,400 delegates present from

36 countries. It would be impossible, of course, in

the space available even to catalogue the papers pre- sented which numbered considerably more than 100. Six sections into which the work of the congress was

divided.

The work of the congress was divided into six sec- tions—administration, commerce, industry, agriculture, domestic economy, and education. A short resume of a few of the outstanding papers from European sources may interest American readers.

M. Chayron, of France, submitted a paper on scientific purchasing methods, the buyer comparing all articles submitted for purchase with standard samples. The author quoted a number of cases where this

method is in effect in France and Belgium. Dr. Ludwig Jablonski, of Berlin, described a set of rules

drawn up by the commission on conditions of delivery

for the leather-belting industry. This commission

aimed to standardize this commodity into three main

classes, and described the conditions of manufacting,

tests that could be made, and so forth. Prices are

fixed in accordance with qualities as defined in the

manual. This is a remarkable example of cooperation

between suppliers and consumers. European papers of outstanding interest to Americans. Dr. Raymond Sachot, of France, presented an able

paper upon the scientific analysis of markets and the

development of sales quotas as practiced by a manufacturer of implements. The necessity for business

forecasting was urged by Lucien March, professor

of the Institute of Statistics, University of Paris. He

This story is a report by W. H. LeffingWell, which appeared in the August

issue of System, on the activities of the meeting held this past summer in Paris. The congress gave the leaders in the field of scientific management an opportunity

to exchange observations on progress made in other parts of the world. The

Commercial Standards Monthly is glad of this opportunity to present

LeffingWell’s story to its readers.
91

stressed its importance as a guide to buying, selling,

and publicity. Dr. Heinz Gruenbaum, of Berlin, told

of the preparation of adequate business statistics by

an association of German merchants. These statistics show (1) sales in different districts, (2) total working expense classified in order of the importance

of the firms and districts, (3) number of turnovers

obtained, and (4) average sales per sales person. The

object of compiling these statistics was to give to smaller stores the advantages now enjoyed by larger ones able to employ their own statistician. Karl Hackl told of certain psychological tests for

determining the adaptability of salesmen, while M. E.

Rachinel told how the great department store Printemps, of Paris, recruited and educated its sales staff. Major Urwick, director of the International Management Institute, presented a paper outlining the re- organization of the sales office of Rowntree & Co.

(Ltd.), of York, England. The main object of the

paper was to point out the pitfalls which must be

avoided. Dr. Jean Phillipe Lugrin, of Switzerland,

described the principles of the German Industrial

Standard (Deutsche Industrie Normung) for the

standardization of paper sizes. In this system, which

is popularly known as the Din system, the various

sizes are multiples of each other, each being one-half

of the larger preceding size. The ratio between the

side measurements is always 1 : 2 and the superficial area is a simple fraction of the square meter. Doctor

Lugrin’s paper was a plea for the international use of this system.

Fifteen papers were contributed by Americans to

this large international program. American participation was handled by a joint committee representing

the American Management Association, the American

Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Industrial Engineers, and the Taylor Society.

M. Charles de Freminville was elected president of

the international committee. The next congress will

be held at Amsterdam in 1932.

ACTIVITIES IN TRADE STANDARDIZATION

(Division of Trade Standards)

Mirror Manufacturers Association Favors Commercial Standards Covering Quality for Mirrors, Reports

the Division of Trade Standards in a Discussion of Activities for Past Month. Manufacturers of Mohair

Upholstery Plush Also Propose Commercial Standard. Commercial Standard for Builders’ Template

Hardware Accepted By Industry

Any analysis of our present economic situation is bound to reveal certain facts and obvious trends in

the commerce of to-day. With increased leisure our

people are devoting more time and energy to careful

and judicious expenditure. There is more shopping

around for better values and better bargains not only

among the women who buy for the individual family,

but among the professional purchasing agents, who

contract for the materials used and fabricated by our

large industrial organizations and institutions. With

more leisure, increased travel, and speedier means of

communication, our people are becoming better judges

of value, and are demanding higher quality. Every

known article possessing outstanding or unusual

quality is enjoying a large and highly profitable

business.

In the present perplexing market of novelties and

color the consumer-buyers, and even the professional

purchasing agents are finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish between items of real merit and the

“ gyp ” products built for appearance only. It is natural, therefore, that the buyer and the purchasing

agent are both seeking authoritative and dependable

criteria of quality, such as commercial standards, and

are welcoming certificates from reputable producers

that the quality of the goods equals or exceeds the

commercial standard specification.

Among the producers, competition was never keener

than to-day. In the ever-widening arena of strife for

a share of the consumer’s dollar, companies are merging and individual producers are forming associations to wage the battle of industry against industry,

as being more significant than the private battle of

producer against producer. The alert trade association seeks a means of assuring the buyer and the

professional purchasing agent alike of the inherent

quality of the proffered goods. Individual trademarks and trade-association labels are helpful, but

are not sufficient to satisfy the skepticism of the

modern purchaser, who demands to be shown with

laboratory analyses and tests, sponsored by an

unbiased and unquestioned authority, the quality of

goods delivered.

The commercial standard, developed and established

by industry itself, under the watchful and impartial

eye of the Federal Government; accepted in writing

by producers, distributors, and consumers alike

printed and promulgated by the Department of Commerce after the most severe scrutiny, satisfies all of

the ramifications of the situation, and offers an

authoritative and dependable basis for marketing and

purchase by all elements directly concerned.

Mirror manufacturers desire quality standards.

To many of us there is not much difference in the

quality of mirrors. However, if we reflect a little in

the mirror of our minds we recall some of the oldfashioned looking glasses that painlessly put a car- buncle on our head or flattened out our noses according to the way we stood before them. These distortions, of course, were due to gross defects in the glass,

such as ripples and bubbles, and although improvements in the art of glass making have greatly reduced

these defects, they have never been entirely eliminated

in all glass from which mirrors are made.

Under most approved conditions of manufacture

there will occur in certain quantities of glass, little bubbles, seeds, scratches, and other defects that are
92

not so apparent on casual inspection, but after sil- vering will show up very readily in a piece of furniture when scrutinized by the discerning eye of the

woman purchaser.

Several designations are used to distinguish the

grades of mirrors in use, but unfortunately they are interpreted differently in various parts of the country and by different dealers so that no purchaser is sure just what he will get upon specifying a certain

grade. In order to clear up the misunderstanding

as to grades, the Mirror Manufacturers Association,

at a recent meeting, went on record as favoring commercial standards of quality for several grades of

mirrors, and requested the cooperation of the bureau

in this progressive undertaking.

Interchangeable joints for glassware.

The manufacturers of laboratory glassware have enlisted the cooperation of the National Bureau of

Standards in the establishment of a standard for

diameter length and taper for interchangeable ground

joints. The use of such joints would greatly facili- tate the setting up of complicated pieces of laboratory

apparatus and would result in great economies in the

event of breakage, since with interchangeable joints one part could be readily substituted for that broken

without having to dispose of the entire piece of

apparatus.

Mohair upholstery plush.

The manufacturers of mohair upholstery plush, at a conference with representatives of the Bureau of

Standards and George T- Willingmyre, of the Department of Agriculture, held at the Pennsylvania Hotel,

New York, on September 10, adopted a proposed commercial minimum standard for plain mohair upholstery plush.

The specification establishes a minimum quality to provide satisfactory service based on material, color

fastness, weight of pile, construction of fabric, and

treatment to prevent attack by moths, and is designed

to apply to mohair fabrics used for furniture upholstery.

The manufacturers have set 0.70 pound of pure

mohair, exclusive of seizing, per linear yard of 51

inches fabric as one criterion for minimum quality.

They are also recommending that “ material which

measures not less than 53% inches nor more than 55

inches wide shall be considered a commercial delivery

for 54-inch material.”

The proposed commercial minimum standard will

be submitted to the furniture manufacturers and other

important users and distributors for comment and

criticism at a general conference of all interests to be

held some time next month. The formulation of a minimum standard was undertaken at the suggestion

of the National Association of Furniture Manufacturers. Builders template hardware.

Announcements have been issued to interested producers, distributors, and users that the recommended

commercial standard for builders template hardware

has received the necessary acceptances to make the

project successful and that the commercial standard

will become immediately effective. It covers all the

necessary dimensions and tolerances to provide complete interchangeability of template lock fronts and

strikes, as well as the leading varieties ox template

butts, su'.h as full mortise, half surface, full surface,

and half mortise.

It also includes standard template identification

symbols and minimum allowances on butt hinges designed for painting. It will materially assist the hollow metal door manufacturers and building contractors in obtaining earlier delivery, complete interchangeability and will facilitate replacement of these

items regardless of source of manufacturer.

SIMPLIFICATION PROGRAM GOVERNING BALLOON TIRE SIZES REVIEWED

Because of the great interest taken in the proposal

looking to the simplification of balloon tire sizes, on

the part of tire manufacturers and dealers, and even

tire users, the division of simplified practice has been

watching the progress of this program with keen

interest. As far back as 1925 extensive surveys were made among passenger-car manufacturers, truck and

commercial-car manufacturers, tire makers, wheel

and rim manufacturers, a number of tire-accessory

manufacturers, interested trade papers, automotive

trade associations, etc., to determine the possibilities

of applying simplification to this commodity.

Following the completion of this survey, Ray M.

Hudson (then chief of the division) stated that there

“ is in the proposal for fewer tire sizes a further opportunity to demonstrate the tremendous power that

is in cooperative action by all interests, for the elimination of waste in typical American industries. It

is through the elimination of such wastes, as this

example affords, that the automotive and related in- dustries will find their greatest opportunities for fu- ture growth and development.”

It was not until March, 1928, that success attended

the efforts of the various groups that had been working toward the development of the program, when a

list of 18 sizes was approved. In August of the same

year this list was adopted by the Society of Automotive Engineers, and was later published in their 1929

handbook. The following year the program was re- vised, at which time two sizes were dropped and one new size added.

The magazine Tires, in editorially discussing the

program, said that there were then being manufactured 43 sizes of balloon tires. This standard list, therefore, if followed, would mean the ultimate elimination of at least 26 balloon sizes. A simplification program based on the present 17

standard balloon tire sizes would, in the short average

life of rubber tires, effect a worth-while elimination

in excessive size variations, which would be attended

by many economies to the manufacturers, distributors,

and users. Complete tables of data pertaining to this subject

are included in the mimeographed bulletin of which

this story is an abstract. Copies can be secured without cost by addressing the Editor, the Commercial

Standards Monthly, National Bureau of Standards,

Washington, D. C.
93

HOW GRADES OF FUEL OIL WERE STANDARDIZED

Harry H. Steidle, Bureau of Standards

The use of fuel oil for domestic and industrial purposes has had a phenomenal increase within the past

few years. Engineering development has made possible the use of more efficient oil-burning equipment,

and, in fact, the burners have received much more at- tention than the fuel which they were designed to burn.

Oils were designated almost entirely by their density or heaviness, commonly referred to as “ gravity.”

This, however, is not a true criterion of the qualities

of a fuel oil. For one kind of oil, a certain gravity

might give entire satisfaction, while another of the same gravity might be unusable in the same burner.

Manufacturers and distributors of oil-burning

equipment have encountered numerous complaints

which investigation proved to be attributable to the

use of oil unsuited to the burner on hand. Color was

sometimes referred to in connection with gravity, but

this added nothing but confusion to the purchaser’s

dilemma of securing satisfactory fuel oil. The situation was somewhat embarrassing for the

burner manufacturers and the oil refiners likewise

sensed the necessity of assuring satisfactory and effi- cient service to prospective users of oil as a heating

medium.

Under the auspices of the trade standards division,

Bureau of Standards, and at the request of the American Oil Burner Association, a general conference was

held, which was attended by all branches of the fueloil industry, including refiners, distributors, consumers, and manufacturers of oil-burning equipment. A

tentative standard prepared by that association, with

the cooperation of the American Society for Testing

Materials and the American Petroleum Institute,

covering six grades of oil was very carefully considered, and after certain changes, to make it consistent with the best commercial practice, it was approved by the conference and recommended for general adoption as a commercial standard.

Specifications sent out for approval.

To ascertain the attitude of those not represented

at the general conference, the specifications were mimeographed and mailed to a large list of refiners,

distributors, users, and burner manufacturers with a

request for their approval of the standards as their

guide for production, sale, or use. The standard grades met with splendid response,

the list of acceptors embracing practically all the oil- burner manufacturers, many oil refiners, distributors,

and users. The commercial standard grades thus be- came effective as of July 15, 1929, as the basis for

everyday trade in the industry and the specification

will shortly be available in printed form as a Government publication entitled “ Domestic and Industrial Fuel Oils, Commercial Standard CS12-29.”

It may be said that a satisfactory fuel is one which

may be conveniently handled and stored, which will

ignite readily without being a fire hazard, which will

atomize freely, and burn completely without clogging

the jets of the burner.

Requirements covered in specifications.

These requirements are covered in the standard

specification by limitation of the following characteristics. Flash •point.—Minimum flash point is usually controlled by law to govern fire hazard while the maximum flash point insures ease of ignition.

Viscosity.—A measure of the resistance of oil to flow and the degree to which atomization may be

secured.

Distillation.—The 10 per cent point is an index of

the ease of ignition while the 90 per cent point and

the end point govern the completeness of combustion.

Pour point.—The lowest temperature at which an

oil will flow under prescribed conditions, included in

order that oil may cause no difficulty in handling or in use at the lowest temperature to which it may be

subjected.

Water and sediment.—The impurities that reduce

the efficiency of fuel oil, the latter of which may cause

serious trouble by clogging the burner.

Six grades provided for in specifications.

Under the commercial standard six grades with

numerical designations have been established that will cover the needs of practically all domestic and industrial equipment. Burner manufacturers will desig- nate the grade adopted to their particular equipment

and will recommend it for greatest efficiency. The

consumer, following the manufacturer’s instructions, can secure the most satisfactory oil merely by purchasing according to number. Distributors of fuel

oil will find their problems simplified and oil refiners

may proceed with confidence knowing there will be a steady demand for the several well-defined grades.

The general adoption of these standards of quality

will tend to stabilize the fuel-oil industry and dispel

the confusion and misunderstanding that accompanied

the vague quality designations of the past.

CONCRETE HANDBOOK ISSUED

The Concrete Reinforced Steel Institute, Tribune

Tower, Chicago, has recently distributed a handbook

on Reinforced Concrete Construction, containing information of value to the architect and engineer.

This handbook contains a general chapter on Reinforced Concrete, Code of Standard Practice, chapters on Building Code, Design, and Specifications.

STORIES IN NOVEMBER MAGAZINE

Believing that the readers of the Commercial

Standards Monthly will find much of interest in the

several articles by Henry D. Hubbard, assistant to the

Director of the Bureau of Standards, we will have

several more in the November issue.
94

DEVELOPMENT OF SKID AND LIFT-TRUCK SIMPLIFICATION

Official of the United States Daily Tells of “ How the Simplified Practice Recommendation For Skids and

Lift Trucks Was Developed”

A little more than a year ago a small group of men

met in a mid-western city to discuss certain significant

trends in methods of shipping commodities. Out of

this meeting grew a simplified practice recommendation (S. P. R. No. 95) which has already had farreaching effects on the cost of distributing goods

throughout the country. This program was based on

no new discovery or invention, but on a new use for one of the oldest transportation devices in the world.

“ The sled, or sledge,” declares Victor Whitlock, vice

president of the United States Daily in a recent radio

address, “ has been used for thousands of years to transport goods. Essentially it is just a flat platform

supported on ‘ runners,’ or legs of some sort. But the

usefulness of the old sled was distinctly limited. It took too much muscle power to move it except over snow or ice. About 20 years ago some one conceived

the idea of applying a lifting device to the sled to get

it on wheels. The necessary device was already at hand, in the lift truck that had been used for some

years previous to move heavy objects that had legs or

‘ runners ’ under them.

Lift truck resembles garage jack.

“ The lift truck resembles the familiar garage jack.

It runs on four wheels, can be slipped under one of

these sledlike platforms and its platform can be lifted

by bearing down on the handle. The skid platform,

having thus acquired mobility, found its way into a thousand new uses. It is easy to build, requires practically no repairs, and will carry any kind of objects

that are not too large to go on it. Yet with a lift truck available, one man can take it and its load anywhere. Consequently its use has spread until several

million skids, as they are commonly called, are doing

active service in manufacturing, warehousing, and

other establishments, often saving their entire cost in

a few months by enabling goods to be handled in bulk.

Lack of recognized standards.

“ So long as skid platforms were used only in an

individual plant, it did not matter whether they were

the same size as those used in other plants. But from

the moment when the first skids left one plant to travel by rail, water, or highway to another, differ- ences in size presented an immediate problem. Each

user had heretofore selected skids and lift trucks of a size which suited his particular needs. There were no recognized standards, except such as had been

developed as a matter of convenience by lift-truck

manufacturers, and those were numerous.

“ This diversity in size was a most serious handicap

to the further spread of the profitable practice of skid

shipment. A similar situation would exist in railroad

transportation if each railroad had a different track

gage. No interline shipments or car exchanges would

be possible. The men who met one year ago to discuss

this question already recognized the need for basic

standards. Each of them had come prepared with

specific information as to the possibilities for saving

money throughout the whole field of physical dis- tribution of goods. At their request a representative

of the division of simplified practice of the Bureau of

Standards was in attendance, and he offered the

services of the bureau as a centralizing agency to get

the project of simplification and standarization

under way.

Bureaus’ aid accepted.

“ Less than three months later, a conference of

shippers, carriers, and warehousemen was held in

Washington, under the joint auspices of the Bureau

of Standards and the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. The Bureau of Standards was re- quested to organize and carry through a definite project for establishing dimensional standards for skid

platforms and lift trucks. The following week the

manufacturers of the equipment met in Washington

and formulated definite recommendations. Two weeks

later a general conference of all interested elements

of the industry adopted the recommendations. Within a short time the Bureau of Standards had received a sufficient number of signed acceptances to warrant

publishing the recommendation.

Interchangeability of equipment sought.

“ No attempt was made to standardize details of

truck construction. The essential result sought was

interchangeability in use, not duplication in details. Again citing railroad practice, lift trucks may be compared to locomotives and skid platforms to railroad

cars. Both locomotives and cars differ greatly in

design and construction, but any standard locomotive

will handle any standard car, of its own or any other

railroad.

“With the handicap of diversity removed, skid

shipment began to grow and ex}i>ancl at a still faster

rate. The surface has hardly been scratched as yet,

but shippers of hundreds of different commodities are studying the possibilities. One industry after another

has found ways to pack and ship its products on skid

platforms. Plain skid platforms are used to carry

paper, hides, rubber, machinery, sacked goods, such

as coffee, flour, sugar, and cement, boxed, crated and

barrelled goods, and numerous other products. Such

commodities as glass and ceramic containers, plate

glass, machine parts, certain food products, and a great variety of articles in small containers, are car- ried on skids which have special permanent or removable attachments. These include box sides, racks,

shelves, crates, end posts, and various other kinds of

bodies put on the skid chassis.

Methods of packing.

“ Methods of packing goods for skid shipment vary

with different commodities, but handling methods are similar throughout. Flat sheets of paper, for example,

are loaded on a skid at the paper mill, covered with

waterproof paper, and strapped or clamped in place.

One man with a lift truck takes the skid with its load

of perhaps 2 tons of paper from the shipping room

directly into a freight car and sets it down. From 12

to 18 skid loads are put in one car. When the car reaches its destination, the skids are unloaded by lift
95

trucks and taken to a motor truck, which carries two

or three at a load to a printing plant. There other

lift trucks take them off and carry them to the warehouse, or directly to the pressroom. Only when the

paper actually reaches the press is it unstrapped.

“Another interesting example in a wholly different

field is the handling of brake shoes for railroad cars. A standard brake shoe weighs 23 pounds. One hundred and fifty of them are loaded in a skid box, which

is simply a plain skid with box sides on top. They

are counted and loaded at the foundry which makes

them, put into a car, and taken to the general store- house of a western railroad. Lift trucks take the

3,500-pound unit load into the storage rooms. When

a branch storehouse 1,000 miles away orders some

brake shoes, the required units are put on a supply

car, from which they are unloaded at the branch store. Finally the skid loads go to the car shops and for the

first time since they left the foundry the individual

brake shoes are taken out for actual use. From 4 to

10 rehandling and counting operations have been

saved, meaning from 50 to 95 per cent of former costs. Money saved in labor cost. “ The particular railroad which has gone farthest

in handling its own stores and supplies on skids is al- ready saving an average of 65 per cent in labor cost, and has saved thousands of cars used in its supply

service. Other railroads have shown similar savings

by this method of handling hundreds of the different

items used daily. In many cases the manufacturers

of these goods have been taught by the railroads how

to save themselves money by shipping on skids, and

are applying the lessons to shipments for other cus- tomers. Wherever skid shipment is feasible it has

resulted in savings out of all proportion to the cost of the equipment.

“ Furthermore, every dollar thus saved is clear gain.

Unnecessary handling of material adds to its cost, but adds nothing to its value.”

A. S. T. M. REPORT DISCUSSES NEW STANDARDS ADOPTED

June Meeting of American Society for Testing Materials Adopted 32 New Standards and 19 Revisions of

Standards Already in Effect—Adoptions Will Be Issued as a Supplement to the 1927 Book of the

A. S. T. M. Standards, Which is Issued Triennially

At the annual meeting of the American Society for

Testing Materials, held in June, a number of actions were taken relative to the adoption of new standards

and the revision of existing standards. According to the society’s standardization procedure such actions

must be referred to letter ballot vote of the society,

and this has since been taken, resulting in the adoption

as of September 3, 1929, of 32 new standards advanced

from a tentative status and the adoption of 19 revisions of existing standards, as indicated below.

The standards specifications for structural steel for bridges (A7-29) and specifications for structural

steel for buildings (A9-29) were revised by the addition of a requirement for copper when copper steel is specified. The standard specifications for structural

nickel steel (A8-29) and structural silicon steel (A94—29) were also revised and continued as standard.

The specifications for structural steel for locomotives

and cars (A113-29), consisting of a complete revision

and combination of the former specifications for struc- tural steel for locomotives and structural steel for

cars was adopted as standard.

As a result of an extensive investigation on the

necessary reduction from ingot to bloom, the standard

specifications for carbon-steel and alloy-steel blooms,

billets, and slabs for forgings (A17-29) were revised

by requiring that billets be made from ingots of at

least three times the cross-sectional area of the billet instead of four times.as heretofore.

The standai'd specifications for wrought solid carbon-steel wheels for steam railway service (A57-29)

were slightly revised in order to bring them into agreement with the specifications of the A. R. A.

As a result of careful consideration during the past

two years of the requirements in the specifications for

carbon-steel castings for valves, flanges, and fittings

for high-temperature service (A95-29) relating to process of manufacture and chemical composition, the

society adopted certain modifications in these specifications and adopted them as standard. The revised

specifications require the steel to be made by the elec- tric-furnace, open-hearth, or other process approved

by the purchaser and the chemical composition

requirements are rejection limits.

The specifications for lap-welded and seamless steel pipe for high-temperature service (A106-29) were

adopted as standard.

The specifications for the arbitration test-bar and

tension-test specimen for cast iron (A124-29) were

adopted as standard. These specifications were originally developed as a result of a long-felt desire on

the part of those who test cast iron that the arbitration

test bar should be more sensitive to deflection. With

the adoption of the new arbitration bar, corresponding

revisions in the standard specifications for gray-iron

castings (A48-29), high-test gray-iron castings

(A88-29) and cast-iron soil pipe and fittings (A74—29) were necessary. The specifications for bronze trolley wire (B9—29)

developed in cooperation with the American Electric

Railway Association were adopted as standard. Specifications for rolled zinc (B69—29), aluminum ingots

for remelting (B24—29), aluminum sheet (B25—-29),

silver solders (B73—29), and nonfei'rous insect screen

cloth (B50—29) were also adopted.

Revisions in the standard specifications for free- cutting brass rod for use in screw machines (B16—29),

cartridge brass (B19—29), cartridge brass disks

(B20—29) naval brass rods for structural purposes

(B21—29) and seamless admiralty condenser tubes

and ferrule stock (B44—29) were adopted and the

specifications continued as standard.
96

The test for resistivity of metallic materials for re- sistors (B63—29) was adopted as standard as well

as the recommended practice for radiographic test- ing of metal castings (E15—29).

In the field of nonmetallic materials, specifications

for building brick (made from clay or shale) (C62

29), gypsum molding plaster (C59—29), and gypsum

pottery plaster (C60—-29) were advanced to standard and methods of chemical analysis of limestone,

quicklime, and hydrated lime (C25—29) were adopted.

Standards in road-materials field cited.

Of interest in the road materials field are the specifications for sand for sheet asphalt and bituminous

concrete pavements (D162—29), broken stone for

water-bound macadam surface course (D191—29),

broken stone for bituminous macadam (D192—29)

and broken stone for bituminous concrete surface

(D194—29) which were advanced to standard.

Slight revisions in the specifications for asphaltroll roofing and asphalt shingles surfaced with mineral granules (D225—29) were adopted in order to make these specifications conform more closely to present practice.

A completely revised test for coarse particles in dry

pigments and coarse particles and skins in mixtures

of pigments and vehicles (D185—29) was adopted.

Revisions were adopted in the routine analysis of

titanium pigments (D186—29) in order to make these

methods applicable to titanium-calcium pigments.

The standard methods of routine analysis of dry red

lead (D49—29) were revised and continued as standard. Routine analysis of dry cuprous oxide

(D283—29) and dry mercuric oxide (D284—29) were

adopted as standard.

A revision in the form of separate methods for the

determination of sulphur in coal and coke by the bombwashing and sodium-peroxide fusion methods (D271

27T) was added to the standard methods of laboratory

sampling and analysis of coal and coke (D271—29)

and the methods continued as standard. The recently

developed methods of test for cubic foot weight of

crushed bituminous coal (D291—29), test for cubic

foot weight of coke (D292—29) test for sieve analysis

of coke (D293—29) and tumbler test for coke

(D294—29) were adopted as standard.

The standard methods of testing molded insulating

materials (D48—29) were completely revised and con- tinued as standard.

Standards of interest in textile field. Of interest to the textile field are the tolerances and

test methods for certain light and medium cotton

fabrics (D274r—29), specifications and tolerances for

23/5/3 carded American tire cord (D298—29), and

tolerances and test methods for asbestos yarns

(D299—29) which were adopted as standard.

These newly adopted standards are being issued as a supplement to the 1927 book of A. S. T. M. standards. The Book of Standards is issued triennially,

and standards adopted in the intervening years are published as a supplement to the Book of Standards.

WORLD CLOCK DESIGNED BY BUREAU OF STANDARDS MAN

ATTRACTING ATTENTION AT IBERO-AMERICAN EXPOSITION

AT SEVILLE, SPAIN

That the “ world clock,” designed by R. E. Gould,

of the bureau, is attracting unusual attention at the

Ibero-American Exposition at Seville, Spain, is the

report of Capt. Sidney Morgan, in charge of the Commerce Department’s section at the exhibition. The

timepiece, constructed by a large international clock

company in this country, is the source of numerous

favorable comments from the heads of the visiting

school delegations, as well as from officials of the

Spanish Government, continental tourists, and all of

the exposition visitors who see it, Captain Morgan

stated in his report.

Standing nearly 7 feet high in one of the most

prominent parts of the Commerce Department exhibition, the clock itself, of mahogany, is supported by

a huge mahogany table, thus enabling the crowds to

see the entire face of its handless dial, set flush in the

large, close-fitting circular frame, and bearing the

24 hours of the day on its rim. The circular frame,

painted flat white like the face of a clock, bears on its inner rim the world’s longitudinal subdivisions.

The normal “ 12 o’clock ” position on this frame is not the usually recognized 12 o’clock, but is the ref- erence point for the time in Seville, and incidentally,

Greenwich. When the moving inner dial brings the

figure 1 to the vertical position, or 12 o’clock on the

ordinary timepiece, it is 1 o’clock in the morning in

Seville. At the same moment the other 24 hours

spaced around the dial in their relative positions show

the places of exact hourly variations of their time

with that of Seville and Greenwich. The time of

any of the various countries may be seen by glancing

at the longitude that governs their time, and by reading the scale of the hours on the inner dial as it matches against the scale of longitude on the frame.

A clock that rewards one glance with so much in- formation naturally attracts great attention, Captain

Morgan reported. The numerous schools that visit the exposition get a better idea of how the hours of

the day are distributed around the globe. Tourists

are immediately concerned with what the time is “ back home.” The dignified Spanish visitors read the

label slowly, check their watches and then explain the

machine at great length to their accompanying families. An interesting moment to all visitors is the

checking of the huge clock for accuracy by radio

signals from the well-known Big Ben, in London, at midnight.
97

QUALITIES OF RUBBER ARE STUDIED TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY

AND LENGTH OF SERVICE OF PRODUCTS

Rubber Used in Countless Forms and U tility, Forming the Basis of Many Industries ; Many Specifications

Are Based Largely on Bureau Investigations

Rubber with amazing versatility enters into countless articles of the most diverse form and utility. On

these uses many industries are based. The properties

of rubber are so responsive to measured processing

milling, chemicals, solvents, shaping devices, and

heat—that industrial research finds in the uses of

rubber a fertile field. The Bureau of Standards is concerned with research

in this field, relating, for example, to composition,

analysis, test methods, testing devices, specifications,

composition, aging, wear endurance, electrical properties, deterioration, storage, and performance characteristics. Published researches include such subjects as endurance tests of tires, puncture-sealing compounds for

measured tests which insure the wearing qualities or behavior desired. In its experimental rubber mill

almost all kinds of rubber products may be made. Its experts experiment and test, and develop new knowledge of wear and how to measure the useful properties

of rubber.

Many specifications of direct interest to all who buy

and sell rubber products are based largely upon

bureau investigations, comprising, for example, such

varied articles as rubber gloves, aprons, bandages,

tape, hot-water bottles, packing, pillowcases, ring

cushions, sheeting tubing, tires, and the like. These

itemize what the buyer wants, what the maker is to

deliver, and form a common meeting ground as to

their useful characteristics.

pneumatic tires, aging of soft rubber goods, density

and electrical properties of rubber-sulphur compounds,

temperature and humidity control in rubber testing,

measurement of tread movement of tires, methods of

physical tests and chemical analysis of rubber goods,

and numerous technical specifications for rubber

goods.

Gas tubing studied.

Flexible gas tubing was studied as to effectiveness

and safety. Methods were devised to measure the

sulphur, barium sulphate, barium carbonate, free car- bon, cellulose, glue, antimony, and other ingredients

in rubber and rubber goods.

The Bureau of Standards is especially concerned

with the behavior of rubber in service and with the

Have many uses for rubber.

The uses of rubber are manifold. The world rides on rubber. It softens the impact of walking and stops

the jar of the motor. It makes balloons possible. Its properties may be molded almost at will by the technical expert. Its electrical insulating power as measured in bureau research may be made a maximum by

mixing in 10.5 per cent of sulphur. The bureau found

it most useful for making cores for metal castings.

Being impervious to moisture it has a host of uses. It may be made softer than a sponge, lighter than

cork, harder than wood. The measured control of its properties and uses is a fertile field for research.

A bureau study of rubber sources and a test of

rubber from the Guayule shrub showed that, properly
98

processed this rubber compares favorably with plantation Hevea rubber and suggests this shrub as a potential source of commercial rubber. Other researches cover rubber stretching properties permeability, oxidation, and suitability of rubber soles and heels for

shoes.

The flying time of high-flying balloons, used to study winds and air currents at high altitudes, was

found to be limited by the permeability. Experiments

disclosed that if dipped in a solution of glue and

glycerin these balloons remained afloat several times

longer than when undipped.

The deterioration rate of rubber was found to be

decidedly reduced by commercial antioxidants and the

life of thin rubber goods increased on dipping in

antioxidant solutions.

Tire-endurance machine devised.

A tire-endurance machine was devised, built, and

put into service in the bureau laboratories. Checked

against road service, it afforded a method of testing

tires cheaper and quicker than actual road test. The

conditions of the test may be accurately reproduced.

The test is now part of the Federal specification for

tires. Delivery tests of automobile tires for the Government involve a laboratory run of 1,300 miles in the

Bureau of Standards tire laboratory, the tire running

on a flywheel turning at a rim speed of 30 miles an

hour, encountering three bumps at each turn—two and

a quarter million in all. This severe test must not

cause any sign of weakness in the tire. It is a tribute

to tire-making enterprise that practically all tire makers are now able to make a grade of tire meeting

Federal requirements.

In another laboratory research it was found that

rubber hydrocarbons of diverse origin possess the same properties. Rubber mixtures in various proportions are being studied to correlate composition and

temperature with behavior. A bureau investigation on the effect of reclaimed rubber on the wearing quality of tire treads showed that the loss in resistance to abrasion is roughly proportional to the per cent re- claimed rubber used. This fact is available for tire experts who wish to use reclaimed rubber in making

tires without undue impairment of the tires. BUREAU REPORTS ON A STUDY MADE OF FIBER WALL BOARDS

Report Describes Fiber Wall Boards and Their Strength; Test Methods Are Explained for Benefit of

Public; Manufactured Products From Ten Different Domestic Concerns Used in Test

A study of fiber wall boards, undertaken by the

paper section of the Bureau of Standards, has revealed

information that will assist in the formulation of

purchase specifications for this product. The study was conducted by two members of the bureau staff, B. W. Scribner, technologist, and F. T. Carson, associate scientist. The information was desired for fiber boards used

as interior finish only, therefore other classes of struc- tural boards, used primarily for insulating or other

purposes, were not considered in these tests. The

term “ fiber,” as applied to wall boards, embraces

vegetable fibers only.

Description of fiber wall boards.

Of the two general types of wall boards, termed

laminated and homogeneous, the former consists of

boards made up of several sheets of thin fiber board

bound together with an adhesive, such as sodium sili- cate. The latter are boards made in one piece either on a cylinder-board machine or by molding in steamheated platens.

The lower grades of vegetable fibers, wood fibers for

the most part, compose all or the greater part of the

boards. Of recent years waste fibrous materials from

the production of cane sugar and licorice have been

extensively used, especially in the homogeneous type

of boards.

In common with all vegetable-fiber materials, the

tendency of the fibers of wall boards to absorb moisture and thus cause the board to warp is one of the

most exacting problems with which the manufacturer

has to contend. The force exerted by the expansion

of a heavy piece of fibrous material such as this, unless the expansion is largely prevented by specific

treatment of the material, is almost unbelieveable.

Untreated board might warp enough to pull away

from its fastenings. All wall boards are affected more or less in this respect by changes in moisture

content brought about by changes in atmospheric

humidity from day to day and from season to season. The extent of these changes depends upon climatic

conditions and upon the degree of resistance of the

board to these conditions.

Fortunately wall-board manufacturers fully appreciate the importance of adequate water resistance in

relation to minimizing warping of the board after its erection, particular attention is generally given the

sizing of the board to give it satisfactory water resist- ance. The incorporation of rosin sizing throughout

the board is considered necessary. In some cases the

resins and gums contained in the fibrous raw material

assist in making the fibers water repellent. Experience has shown that no difficulty is ordinarily occa- sioned by logs of moisture from the board after its erection. For this reason effort is made in the manufacture of the board to finish it with a fairly high content of moisture—around 10 per cent. Of course, an

excessive amount of moisture left in the board would

no doubt be harmful. A certain amount of contraction is beneficial, however, as this causes the board to draw tightly to its support.

Strength of boards.

The strength of wall boards is important mainly

in relation to the handling of them. If they are strong

enough to withstand the handling incident to their

finishing, shipment, and erection, no doubt they will

be strong enough to endure the service strains to which they are exposed after being secured in position. In the laminated boards there is a distinct

grain, as is the case with most paper products formed
99

on a paper machine, which runs in the long direction

of the board. This is due to the tendency of fibers on a paper machine to remain parallel to their for- ward travel on the machine. This effect is generally

absent in the homogeneous boards. Naturally, when

there is a distinct grain in a board, it has greater

strength with the grain than across the grain.

Although fiber wall board has considerable value

as insulation as well as serving as finishing material,

it was found in the previous study that the insulating

value of a given thickness of various kinds of fiber wall boards is much the same. No further study was made of insulating value in the present investigation.

Study of test methods.

A survey of the information available at the time

the further development work was undertaken showed

that there was considerable question of the suitability

of the water-immersion test and the bursting-strength

test. Both of these methods of testing were in quite

common use. There was doubt, however, as to whether the water-immersion test had a direct rela- tion to the expansion value of a board, and whether

the bursting strength actually indicated the probable

lesistance of a board to service stresses. Further

laboratory study of the estimation of these properties

were, therefore, made.

Since the water-immersion test does not measure

adequately the likelihood of warping, an actual ex- pansion test was developed. The expansion behavior

of various wall boards was studied by means of an

extensometer, a device for measuring the actual ex- pansion of the boards in per cent when the boards were

subjected to the action of a standard moist atmosphere after having been dried to a definite condition.

It was found that the shorter direction of all boards

expands more than the longer direction. Since trouble

is most likely to arise from warping in this direction

the subsequent study of expansion was confined to this

direction. It was found that it is necessary to observe the behavior for two or three days before the different kinds

of boards settle down to any constant interrelation.

A comparatively simple test was finally determined

upon, which consists in measuring the distance on the

wall board specimen between two fine marks about

10 inches apart. A measurement is made after the

board is dried to a definite state and again after subjecting it to a standard moist atmosphere for a period

of 72 hours.

Bursting test. The bursting test is generally used to measure the

strength of fiber wall boards. This test is made with an instrument in which the board is clamped against

a rubber diaphragm through which pressure is applied

to the board. The force required to break a board in

this manner is registered on a pressure gauge. A flex- ural strength test appears to be more in line with the

service stresses to which wall boards are normally subjected. Such a test is commonly used for plaster

boards, gypsum boards, and heavy boards made for

various other purposes. The form of test finally determined upon consists of laying a strip of wall board

3 inches wide flatwise on two metal rods 12 inches

apart.

Weights are added to a third metal rod lying across the board halfway between the other two until the

board bends down and breaks. The necessary weight

to break the board under these conditions is a measure

of the relative flexural strength. As a matter of

general information and to obtain test values for use

in fixing specification requirements, fiber wall boards

manufactured by 10 different domestic concerns were

used in these tests.

TO MAKE STUDY OF AIR SAFETY

Many scientists of the Government are at work to make commercial aeronautics so safe that the public

will gain confidence and like flying. Officials agree

that safety is prerequisite to building up commercial

aeronautics and they cite the successful round-theworld tour of the Graf Zeppelin as an example of

what can be accomplished by careful planning and

efficient management.

The Bureau of Standards is leading the drive to remove danger hazards. In the use of the visual

radiobeacon system scientists believe a long step to- ward beating hazardous night and fog flying has been

taken. This system is not only sufficient to guide a

ilot along a given course, by means of the directive eacon ; and to inform him how far on a given course he has traveled by means of the marker beacons lo- cated along the route, but when specially arranged, it offers possibilities toward assisting a pilot in landing

at a given airport during fog. The best arrangement

for this purpose has not yet been determined, but

several promising methods ai’e being investigated.

An installation has been made at College Park, Md.,

to test their practicability.

To develop methods of landing in a fog.

A cooperative program has also been undertaken

with the Guggenheim fund for the promotion of

aeronautics, to develop methods of landing in a fog.

A low-power visual beacon installation has been made

at Mitchel Field, Long Island, where these experiments will be carried out. A reed-type visual indicator has been developed by

the bureau which is intended to keep the pilot on his course. The device is rugged and simple. When

beacon signals are received the two reeds vibrate—

when the two white lines developed on vibration are equal in length the airplane is on its course, a deviation increasing the deflection of one reed and decreasing that of the other.

To render the beacon system more flexible and make

it suitable for use at sites located at the junction of a large number of airways, a new type has been developed capable of serving 12 courses simultaneously. A

12-course beacon has been set up at College Park,

where it is giving satisfactory results. The directive beacons successfully guide a pilot along

the course, but give him no information as to the dis- tance traversed. This lack has been supplied through

the installation of nondirective beacons along the air- ways at strategic points. These marker beacons will

tell the pilot when he is passing over a specified plane,

so that he can locate himself and always know his

position. In addition, the pilot may gage wind conditions and note changes in wind direction or velocity

as he proceeds during the flight.
100

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AIDS INDUSTRY THROUGH ITS

MOTION-PICTURE DIVISION

North, Chief of Motion-Picture Division of Department, Discusses the Service That His Division is Ready

to Give Industry

C. J. North, Chief Motion-Picture Division, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of

Commerce

The American motion-picture industry must keep

itself closely informed as to film conditions in every

foreign country. This type of information includes

all facts relating to foreign production (more than

1,200 feature pictures were made by our competitors

abroad in 1928) ; the type and extent of competition

in the distribution of pictures in each foreign market

the number of theaters in each country with seating

capacities, admission prices, also new theaters built;

the rules and regulations of foreign censorship boards

with the number of pictures from each country cen- sored; the volume and value of our film exports to each country; the extent of entertainment taxes and

revenues derived therefrom; and much more commercial information of a like nature. In addition to this,

however, there are certain special problems of even

greater importance which may be described herein.

Industrial education section.

This section is acting as a clearing house for approximately 475 concerns who are actively engaged

in the actual production and distribution of nontheatrical films for exhibition before educational, re- ligious, social, commercial, and civic institutions in

the United States. Recognizing the film as a media to promote trade

and to increase the consumption of American manufactured products both at home and abroad this sec- tion is conducting surveys designed to develop pertinent information which will increase the demand for

this product (films), thus assisting both the nontheatrical exhibitors and the producer-distributor at the same time. As an example of this service at the

present time more than 65,000 questionnaires are awaiting the opening of schools in the United States. A national surve}^ will be made to develop data which

will guide producers in the protection of educational

films and will incidentally assist the average school

to secure films more adequately adapted for educational purposes, and will, in general, enumerate such

facts as to determine the actual value of the motion

picture in education.

During the last year 4,000 forms were mailed to

schools, more than 30 per cent being returned with

FARMERS INTERESTED IN GRADE-MARKING

DATA

Extending its activities in behalf of the grade marking of lumber ; that is, the stamping of lumber at the

mill with the symbol of its grade and quality—to the

farm field, the National Committee on Wood Utilization of the Department of Commerce, is now asking

the lecturer of each local grange in the United

States to make grade marking the subject for discusrequests for information as to the sources of films on certain subjects. As a result of this service the

section has been advised by the trade that numerous

requests have been received by them which has resulted

in the actual sale and distribution of these films. Many of the requests mentioned were answered by

sending out a Composite List of Nontheatrical Film

Sources, a publication issued by this section, giving

the names of over 425 concerns who are distributing

films. While definite strides are being made in the domestic field to develop this industry, even greater efforts have been made to increase the present exploitation

of their films abroad. The first work done in this

respect was to issue a trade information bulletin,

Markets for Industrial and Educational Films Abroad.

Closely following this voluminous correspondence has

resulted in our foreign representatives contacting numerous foreign organizations with the view of developing this market. As a result of this effort tan- gible requests for American films have been received

and are now to be issued in a series of trade opportunities. The trade is kept advised as to foreign,

developments in this industry through the medium

of foreign market bulletins and a semimonthly press

release on this subject. In addition, the division

contributes articles for each number of Commerce

Reports, the weekly publication of the Bureau of

Foreign and Domestic Commerce. These articles consist of market information of value to the industry.

Annual and semiannual statistics of motion-picture

exports generally appear in Commerce Reports.

The American-Ibero Exposition.

The section is frequently called upon to render cer- tain special services. At the request of the Spanish

Government this section secured more than 100 films

and negotiated with the Industrial Motion Picture

Producers for the retitling of these pictures for showing at the International American-Ibero Exposition in

Seville, Spain. These films were all furnished by

large manufacturing companies, and describe their

respective plants and manufacturing processes.

sion at grange meetings. L. J. Taber, who is Master of

the National Grange and represents that organization on the National Committee on Wood Utilization, says

that the “ farmers will save millions of dollars an- nually by insisting upon grade-marked lumber in

their purchases.” It was Taber who recommended to the committee that lumber grade marking be made

a subject for discussion at grange meetings, and who

is making arrangements to assure the scheduling of

these discussions.
101

INCREASING NET PROFITS THROUGH SIMPLIFICATION

Simplification, By Reducing or Eliminating Unnecessary Varieties of Staple Products, Reduces Investments

as Well as Manufacturing and Distribution Costs, Says Chief of the Division of Simplified Practice

Edwin W. Ely

In these days of keen competition, rising costs of

doing business, and shrinking profit margins, executives in nearly every line of business are searching out

every possible avenue or means for strengthening net

profits.

Among the several means being employed to this

end are simplification and standardization. Though

the meaning and application of these terms is widely

understood, it is important to note the difference between them. Simplification usually means the elimination of the unnecessary. In the simplified practice

program of the Bureau of Standards, it means eliminating superfluous or unnecessary variety in sizes,

dimensions, etc., of commonly used commodities, as a means of eliminating waste. The resulting concentration of manufacturing, sell- ing, or purchasing effort on the varieties remaining

after simplification brings economies, such as smaller

inventory, less cost to carry or maintain it; less idle

investment, and less obsolescence. This same standardization may lead to the adoption of the varieties

remaining as “ standards.” To this extent, simplification is the forerunner of standardization. There are other ways of determining and establishing standards,

but simplification affords quicker approach and, therefore, often yields immediate savings and benefits. Simplification calls for concentration on varieties

in most common or general use. This makes it fairly

easy for manufacturers, distributors, and consumers;

that is, for buyers and sellers to come together and

concur upon programs of mutual benefit and saving.

Simplification originates sometimes with the manufacturers; sometimes with the distributors; and other

times with the purchasers or the consumers of the

commodity.

All must cooperate in the program.

No matter at which source the program starts, the

best results are gained through the cooperation of all three; and it is in the development of this cooperation that our Bureau of Standards endeavors to be

of service. One major advantage of simplification is expressed in the statement “ if you can not apply it to things you sell, you can at least apply it to things

you buy.”

In our eight years’ experience with the development

of the simplification movement, we have come across many interesting instances of its application in vari- ous fields. These examples are furnished by superintendents of stores or supply departments, by purchasing agents; and others cover railroads, public utilities, factories, shops, and retail stores. In each case, the program has been definitely linked up with the

“ service of supply,” and the reader of the Commercial Standards Monthly knows the importance and

value of that service or function to the success of

a business.

Examples of reduction given.

For example, a well-known eastern railroad cut its

list of stores or supply items from 140,000 to 78,000,

eliminating 44 per cent of its former variety and

reducing the value of its inventory nearly 40 per cent. A western road cut its supply inventory from $38,-

000,000 to $20,000,000, thereby releasing $18,000,000

of otherwise idle capital for production purposes.

Another company reviewed its printed forms, and

found it had 16,000. It made changes in color or

paper, of 500, discontinued 72, revised 9, consolidated

45 into 22; cut its variety of letterheads from 161 to

27, and so on. This simplification enabled the com- pany to buy fewer varieties in large quantities, at better prices and with improved service.

A typical department store simplified the size

variety of its price tickets from 47 to 19, and thereby

cut its average cost per thousand by 24 per cent and

its inventory or stock of those tickets by 271/2 per cent. Bureau of Standards offers aid.

Those illustrations represent savings that range

from hundreds to millions of dollars, show that

simplification is being applied with benefit to store

supplies. The writer can not tell the practical limits

of its application in any one field. He (the reader)

must determine that; but it is reasonable to assume

that there are opportunities for simplification existing

in all fields. The Bureau of Standards is ready to

assist industry in gaining the most from its waste

elimination efforts. In conclusion, may the writer again emphasize

simplification and standardization as sources of new

profit. If one can save $100 a month for his store, by

their use, he will have saved $1,200 a year, and that is 5 per cent on $24,000 worth of sales. If one can save

$1,000 a month, or $12,000 a year, that is 5 per cent net on $240,000, or nearly one-quarter of a million dollars

of sales. The reader knows how hard he has to work

to add that much to his present volume of sales, and

it is a gamble all the way as to whether or not he will

make 5 per cent net when he is through. Savings

made from simplification are usually clear net gain.

They are a direct contribution to better net profits.

HIGH PRECISION VOLTMETER DESIGNED

The development of a precision voltmeter, which

will measure alternating voltage between 20 and 300

volts with an error of only 0.01 per cent, is announced

by the Bureau of Standards. In any ordinary instrument of the deflecting type, a small error is introduced

into the readings because the springs used in the mechanism are not perfectly elastic. In the instrument designed by the bureau, this error has been suppressed,

and an ojitical magnifying system used which is equivalent to a pointer more than 60 feet long. Thus, very

small deflections are easily read with high precision.
102

INTERNATIONAL STANDARDIZING BODIES

Bletz, of Commerce Department, Says N ational Standards Committees of Eighteen Countries Have Made

Notable Endeavor to Establish International Standards Organization Upon a Permanent Basis

N. H. Bletz, Chief Foreign Standards S cction, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of

Commerce

International scientific organizations have given

the world most of the existing international standards.

These are standards of time, length, weight, color, and

temperature, as well as basic standards for chemical,

mechanical, physical, and electrical elements. While

the exigencies lof international commerce required

these standards, science or science in industry has

usually been a few steps ahead of the demand. On

the other hand, competition for world industrial

supremacy, or, at least, the desire for leading positions

in world commercial or industrial accomplishments,

appears to act as a drawback to greater international

uniformity in specifications for commodities. Apparently until there is greater equality in the producing methods in the different countries, industrial ri- valry between nations will continue to delay a larger

development of international commodity standards.

The national standards bodies of 20 countries have

made notable endeavor in recent years to establish a permanent international standards organization. As

a result of this activity, organizations of 16 European

countries now have agreed to the establishment of the

International Standards Association and have elected a president and secretary. As there is no limit to national standardization and likewise no limit to the

future possibilities for international uniformity, re- strictions to the scope of this body have been avoided

by the prime movers in this undertaking. Early activities of the association will be directed toward defi- nite cooperation between the separate national bodies,

standardization of methods and procedure, comparison of experience and results of investigations, and

the coordination of activities wherein possible.

Oldest international standards body.

One of the oldest international standardizing bodies

in a specific field is the International Bureau of

Weights and Measures whose headquarters are at Sevres, France. This bureau and its international

committee were established in 1875 by international

treaties, the governments of 31 countries now being

parties to the convention. The bureau has custody of

the standard meter and kilogram to which all prototypes of the world are referred for verification. General conferences are held each six years.

The International Electrotechnical Commission,

London, England, was organized in 1906. It has a council of the commission, 26 national committees, and

18 advisory committees. An idea of the scope of its activities in standardization is shown by the studies

it has undertaken with respect to rating of electrical machinery, prime movers, voltages, transmission lines,

radio communication, rating of rivers, measuring in- struments, lamp bases and sockets, symbols, and no- menclature. Plenary meetings of the council are held

regularly.

The International Commission on Illumination,

Teddington, England, was formed in 1913. While

this body is not a standarizing agency primarily, it is interested in international standardization in the illu- mination field. The organization has a number of

national committees and holds international meetings

now,, triennially.

The International Union of Pure and Applied

Chemistry was organized in 1919 and its headquarters

are at Paris, France. Fifteen committees, two permanent commissions, and one bureau carry on the work

of the union, the scope of which is too broad to summarize in a short space. Notable accomplishments

have been made by this body. The council of the

union and the committees hold meetings regularly.

Important bodies.

Three important bodies which are developing standards useful to science, and likewise to commerce, are the International Astronomical Union, the International Geodetic and Geophysical Union, and the

Geodesy Section of the International Geodetic and

Geophysical Union.

In 1927 representatives from 17 countries participated in a meeting called to reorganize the Inter- national Association for Testing Materials. This

body had its beginning in 1882, and was organized

formally in 1897. Meetings were held regularly up to 1912. Unification of standard methods of testing,

examination of technically important properties of

materials, and the perfecting of apparatus for testing

purposes, are the objects of the body. Questions re- lating to standardization of materials are regarded

as without the scope of the association.

SIMPLIFIED OFFICE PROCEDURE IN THE GOVERNMENT

Maj. A. H. Erck, U. S. A., Assistant to the Chief Coordinotor, Executive Chairman Interdepartmental Board

on Simplified Office Procedure

With a view to promoting economy and efficiency

in routine office procedure in departments and establishments of the Federal Government through simplicity and uniformity of practice as to matters not

already allocated elsewhere by law or by Executive

order, an Interdepartmental Board on Simplified

Office Procedure was created within the Federal Coordinating Service in 1924. The Federal Government is by far the largest and

most intricate organization in the world. Before an

interdepartmental standard can be promulgated it has to be made the subject of exhaustive study to pre-
103

vent injury to any of the multitude of operating units.

Each activity must have its day in court in the case of

each proposal for standardization and simplification

of Government procedure. This requirement makes

accomplishment in this important field very slow, but

avoids the adoption of any incomplete or defective

project.

The interdepartmental board acts as a coordinated

investigating agency. Through its subcommittee as- signments, its numbered memoranda, and through

cooperation and assistance of other coordinating

board, the board secures the data on which are based

the necessary recommendations to the Chief Coordinator on matters pertaining to the simplification of

routine administrative business.

Objectives of board.

At this point it might be well to pause a moment

and give the general objectives of this board, which

are grouped in the following manner

(a) To classify, simply, and standardize routine

administrative functions common in two or more

departments or establishments.

(5) To develop a standard form to meet the needs

of each routine administrative function in two or more executive branches of the Government (except

those accounting forms promulgated by the Comptroller General).

(c) To prepare complete, simple, and elastic working methods in such routine matters as preparing, dispatching, and filing correspondence and other papers.

( d

)

To investigate and recommend a uniform plan

for the constant and regular destruction of useless

correspondence and other papers.

( e ) To standardize in the use of the latest improvements in office materials, supplies and equipment, with

special attention to the use of time-saving devices in

routine business.

(/) To plan for the efficient and economical management of personnel.

The approved recommendations of the board on

matters within the objectives stated are promulgated

by the board as United States Government Inter- departmental Standards. They establish the procedure to be followed in matters of routine administration by all activities of the executive branch of the

Government. Many very promising studies have been

undertaken by the board since its establishment, and

these are now in various states of completion. Several are in the final stage of development and a number have already been adopted.

Standard No. 1.—Envelopes.

A special committee of the board cooperated with a committee of the Permanent Conference on Printing,

to study the size and quality of envelopes for the

various services of the Government other than those

purchased by the Public Printer. The standard

adopted accomplished the reduction from 116 items

heretofore purchased to 64 items, and proposed the

general substitution of Kraft envelopes of the same

or greater strength for cloth-lined and rope envelopes.

A standard pay envelope and a standard window en- velope for check payments were provided. This

standard for envelopes was instrumental in enabling

the Government to purchase more than 5,000,000 more

envelopes in 1928 for $17,000 less money for its total envelope bill than in 1927.

Standard No. 2.—Twine, wrapping.

This standard reduced the vai’ieties of twine purchased from 35 or more items t© 15. The effect of this

standard is to increase the quality required of each

item so that it is sufficiently large to be attractive

to bidders and command a better price. Industry has

developed two simplified practice recommendations

for twine—one, S. P. It. No. 92, for hard-fiber twines

(ply and yarn goods) and the other, S. P. R. No. 110,

for soft (jute) twine. The Federal specification and

the simplified practice recommendation for soft-fiber

(jute) twine, are now being brought into agreement

by the Federal Specifications Board.

Standard No. 3.—Books (stock), blank and memorandum.

An investigation disclosed that blank books procurable under contracts in effect in 1928 were of 6 different dimensions, 5 different styles of ruling, 3 different styles of indexing or paging, and of various

numbering of pages from 150 to 500. In other words,

books of 6 different dimensions varied in specifications

so as to permit 357 different books to be ordered. The

standard adopted carries a listing of 5 general types of

books with specified variations in total of 17 books.

This permits the Government Printing Office to manufacture or procure each of the 17 kinds of books in

quantities large enough to permit standardized operations and low costs. Telephone listings.

A fourth standard establishing uniformity in the

listing of Government activities in commercial tele- phone directories throughout the country is nearly

ready for promulgation. Its principles have already

been applied to the commercial telephone directory in • Washington, D. C., and are proving very satisfactory

in use. Documents and other proposals.

The board has standardized or proposed for standardization 16 blank forms, which have replaced several

hundred individual forms at a considerable reduction

in printing costs and increased service efficiency.

The board has provided a clearance for translations

of documents written in foreign languages and thus

enabled many Federal activities without translators

in their own employ to have this work done without

expense for commercial translations.

The board has conducted tests of many office appliances—both new, and old ones suggested for new

uses—and is taking steps to facilitate the adoption of

those deemed meritorious.

After investigation by the board, a system was

developed and placed in effect which has been completely successful in safeguarding the delivery of

money for Government pay rolls against any attack

by bandits.

The committees of the board are actively engaged in

the assembling of data relative to the proposals before

them, hearing and evaluating every objection raised,

and preparing to offer workable solutions of the complicated problems involved. The very vastness and

intricacy of the machinery of the Government makes

it imperative that the board, in carrying out its mission to simplify Government office procedure, be careful and thorough in its studies and “ make haste

slowly.”
104

RESULTS AND BENEFITS OF APPLYING SIMPLIFIED PRACTICE

TO LOADED PAPER SHOT SHELLS

McNeil, of the Division of Simplified Practice, Discusses the Findings of a Survey Made Among Acceptors

of Simplification Program Covering Loaded Paper Shot Shells to Determine the Value of Program

By J. F. McNeil

Five years ago, there were being manufactured

4,067 different loaded paper shot shells. The requirements of the hunter were, no doubt, simple—a few

loads to which he was accustomed and had used for

many seasons. Perhaps a prescription of his own

or one suggested by others. His fellow sportsmen,

likewise, were easily satisfied, yet collectively, they were being offered more than 4,000 varieties, from

which to meet their individual ideas as to what comprised a good load for the pursuit of various kinds

of game.

It is easy to see how such a condition could come

about. In the days of the muzzle-loader, a gunner

carried two flasks, one for shot and the other for

powder. From these flasks, he compounded no end

of loads. Every man had his own ideas as to just

what was the right charge for any given set of conditions. Came the center-fire breechloader.

With the introduction of the center-fire breechloader came the forerunner of the modern paper shell and into the paper shell went all the “ ideal ” loads. At first many gunners loaded their own shells, others

had their pet powder and shot prescriptions filled by local loaders who sprang up in many localities. Eventually the local distributor passed most of these

combinations on to the loading companies doing a nation-wide business. New powders were developed,

the number of loads doubled, tripled, quadrupled, until in 1924, manufacturers, jobbers, and dealers were

handling the unnecessary variety named in the first paragraph of this article. Of course, not many of these loads were widely

popular. The majority of them were shelf warmers,

and in quite a few cases were produced in a limited

quantity to fill some fanciful formula. This meant

frequent readjustments of the manufacturer’s production schedule. The dealer was burdened with too many slow-moving items, and the low turnover

threatened to absorb everybody’s profits. The cus- tomers were no better off, because no one needed

4,000 loads from which to select a few sizes. In fact, one of the leading companies in summarizing game

conditions in the United States showed that every

purpose for which a shotgun is used can be adequately provided for by less than 200 loads.

Of course, the customers must have been helping to pay the expense of producing and distributing the

shells then being offered for sale. At the request of the National Hardware Association of United States, the Southern Hardware Jobbers’ Association, and the National Retail Hardware

Association, a preliminary conference of manufacturers of loaded shells was held on June 19, 1924, at the New York office of the United States Department

of Commerce, under the auspices of the division of

simplified practice.

Representatives from five companies present.

Representatives from five of the six loading companies were present, and after a discussion of the

desirability of applying simplified practice to the

loaded shell industry, a committee of two was appointed to make a survey covering the sizes and varieties of loaded shells then produced. Five leading

manufacturers who attended the meeting of June 19,

submitted data from which such a survey was made,

and a second meeting of the manufacturers was held

at Atlantic City on October 13 and 14, to consider the

survey. Representatives of five manufacturers were

present and a sixth indicated by letter that his com- pany was wholly in sympathy with the movement and

would support the simplified practice recommendation

which might be developed by the entire industry.

Out of 4,067 loads 1,747 retained as standard.

At this meeting, the data compiled from the survey were carefully studied, item by item, with the result

that out of the 4,067 loads reported, 1,747 were

retained on the standard load list. The 2,320 loads

(57 per cent of the total), which were eliminated, represented only 5 per cent of the total sales. The recommendation was adopted and the Department of Commerce was requested to hold a general

conference to which the simplification program might

be presented. This general conference was held in

Atlantic City on October 14, 1924, and the recommendation presented by the manufacturers and representatives of the powder companies was unanimously

approved.

Program went into effect on January 1, 1925.

January 1, 1925, was selected as the date upon which

the recommendation should become effective, to remain

in force for a period of one year. A standing committee was appointed, representing all the interested

groups to secure general adherence to the recommendation, to effect a greater degree of contact and cooperation between the Department of Commerce and the

various manufacturers and organizations in the industry, and in the light of facts developed by periodic

surveys, make constructive revisions or substitutions.

The standing committee met on October 31, 1925,

and added 8 loads to the schedule making the new

list total 1,755. Another meeting of the standing committee on October 19, 1926, resulted in a further

elimination of 996 loads, making the present recom- mended list 759, the percentage reduction to date

being 81 per cent. Replies received from survey.

The following excerpts are taken from replies to an

inquiry recently made by the department to determine

the benefits that have accrued to the acceptors of this

particular recommendation. One large manufacturer

said
105

“ Our experience shows that a simplified line ( a

)

does not reduce sales; ( b ) speeds up service to customers; (c) reduces carrying charges of finished stocks

and work in process; ( d) releases floor space for other

use ; (e) effects a material reduction in manufacturing

costs due to (1) larger production lots, (2) fewer

machine adjustments, (3) larger production per employee; (/) less clerical help required, due to reduction in paper work, fewer items, etc; ( g) helps in forecasting sales, resulting in better balanced stocks of

finished merchandise and raw materials.”

“ I am unable to express these savings on a dollar

and cents basis,” he wrote, “ but I am positive they

amount to a great many thousands of dollars a year.”

Another manufacturer wrote : “ In so far as savings

are concerned, there is no question but that the saving

is a factor well worth consideration, for through the

plan of simplification we, from the manufacturers

standpoint, are enabled to carry less stock than we

formerly did and because of this we are able to get a better turnover on our merchandise. However, we

can assure you that we are strongly in favor of this

simplification program, and, in fact, we are working

with a view of another reduction of combinations to take effect in the near future.”

The replies which were received from distributors

in this field also indicate that they are finding this

simplification program to be of real benefit.

A hardware jobber, who is located in the state of

Iowa, said in his communication : “ On loaded paper

shot shells alone, our stock has been cut two-thirds

and we do just as large a volume of business. We are saving the money that we formerly lost in cleaning up

obsolete goods, odds and ends, and remnants at the

close of the season. It also results in less confusion

to the salesmen and trade, and, therefore, reduces the

selling cost.” “We estimate that it has reduced our inventory

and capital invested about 50 per cent,” wrote another

wholesale dealer in hardware, “ and has increased our turnover and profit correspondingly. We would

like to see the simplified practice extended to many

similar styles and numbers.”

“ We feel,” wrote a third distributor of shells, “ that we have been greatly benefited by this action. We

find that we are now able to carry in our stock without any additional inventory, practically a complete

line of loaded shells. We are now getting a faster

turnover on our stock.”

“ One of the most striking examples of simplified

lines of goods,” wrote another, “ is loaded shells and

ammunition. We now have our stock made up of

this simplified line, and we find that our turnover is much better and we are also able to do the same, or even an increased volume of business with less stock.”

UNIFORMITY IN HARDENING METALS IS

SOUGHT BY BUREAU

Certain Inexpensive Liquids Suggested for This

Purpose

An investigation into the present-day practice of

hardening metals is being conducted by the Bureau of

Standards in an effort to provide a more closely

graded set of the characteristics of coolants for

quenching steel and other metals. The results of the

experiments will shortly be made public in the

Bureau of Standards Journal of Research.

Present-day practice in hardening metals is based

largely upon the use of oils, water, and the aqueous

solutions producing the more rapid cooling, such as sodium chloride brines, sodium hydroxide solutions,

and water sprays at ordinary temperatures. There

is a large gap between the cooling rates obtained in

the customary quenching oils and in water, and this

is now usually taken care of by tempering subsequent

to hardening or by interrupted quenching.

Such procedure is entirely satisfactory for many

practical purposes, but simplification and economy,

and possibly also technical advantages, would result

if coolants were available to provide a more closely

graded set of coolant characteristics. For this rea- son the Bureau of Standards has investigated cooling

media for quenching steel and will soon publish

its findings in the Journal of Research.

To Use Hot Aqueous Solutions.

The practical solution of this problem is not solely one of obtaining certain prescribed cooling rates, but

this is one of the important requirements. Study of

the surface and center cooling curves, hardnesses and

structures of small high-carbon steel cylinders

quenched in water, sodium hydroxide, sodium chloride

solutions, and oils at different temperatures suggested

the possibility of using some of the hot aqueous solutions to bridge the gap between the cooling rates obtained with water and oils at atmospheric temperatures. Expei'iments with carbon and alloy steel tensile-test

specimens and gages seemed to justify the view that

hot aqueous solutions can provide a useful group of

coolants with graded cooling characteristics for the

hardening of small steel pieces. Final selection must

depend upon additional experimental work, but the

most promising of the group already studied are given

below in order of decrease in the speeds, or increase in

the times, of cooling : 5 per cent caustic soda at 20° C.

5 per cent salt at 20° C. ; water at 20° C. ; 5 per cent

caustic soda at 60° C. ; 5 per cent salt at 60° C.; water

at 60° C. ; 5 per cent caustic soda at 80° C. ; 5 per cent

caustic soda at 85° or 90° C.

The difficulty of I’eproducing results in quenching

should increase as the temperature of the aqueous solu- tion approaches the boiling point of water for reasons

discussed in the report, but under suitably controlled

conditions it should be practicable to make use of hot

aqueous solutions in practical heat treatment. There

is, however, a possibility of gaining advantages by

decreasing the temperature and changing the concentration and rate of circulation of the -liquid in individual cases, but evidence has been given of useful

properties in a group of liquids which are inexpensive

and generally available for the heat treatment of

steels.
106

GANG SAWS INSURE CLOSER STANDARDIZATION AND BIGGER

LUMBER SAVINGS, COMMITTEE DECLARES

Wood Utilization Committee Discusses Gang Sawing, as It Relates to Standardization, and the Resultant

Savings

As a result of the establishment of American Lumber Standards a few years ago through the efforts of

the Department of Commerce, radical changes have

taken place in lumber merchandising. A further development of this movement has led to important

improvements in the manufacturing, seasoning, and

handling of lumber, in order to bring the stocks up to established standards of sizes and grades.

Of late years, increasing quantities of European

lumber have entered our eastern markets and American lumbermen have become interested in investigating the European manufacturing practices which

saws principally differ from other types of gangs in

that they cut round logs of small diameter without

previous squaring of the logs.

A new sawmill, especially designed for these gang

saws, was built in Olympia, Wash., and through committee efforts, Scandinavian gang-saw manufacturers were induced to furnish the machines for test purposes. The mill began operation in April, 1929, and

the committee has just finished its tests, from which

it has been learned that small logs, such as tree tops

and timber cut under the thinning process—heretofore

considered as waste—can now be cut into lumber at a

evidently enable the European lumbermen to overcome

certain difficulties that have hampered the progress of

standardization in this country. This European lumber is cut from small trees, but is nevertheless very

well manufactured to standard sizes. Ever since 1916 the Department of Commerce has

investigated European sawmilling methods, and has

published several technical reports on this subject.

As a result of these investigations abroad, the National

Committee on Wood Utilization established in 1925 a subcommittee under the chairmanship of A. Trieschmann, a Chicago lumber manufacturer, for the purpose of testing the so-called Scandinavian types of

gang saws in this country. The tests were conducted

under the direction of Roy F. Morse, lumber manufacturer of Longview, Wash. Scandinavian gang

profit. In fact, the Scandinavian gang saws enabled

the operator in Olympia to secure a materially in- creased output from a given quantity of raw material

compared with the output of sawing methods heretofore followed. The lumber cut was absolutely true

to size and no miscuts occurred. For this reason, an

important saving could be effected through the elimination of the so-called sizing process, the process b}? which sawn lumber is put through a surfacer and one edge and one side planed off to insure uniformity of

dimensions.

Gang-sawn lumber valuable.

This gang-sawn lumber has in actual use proved its value; an export market is also being developed for

this stock, due to the fact that the foreign consumers
107

are paying more attention to accuracy of manufacture

than to freedom from knots.

The committee makes the statement that if this

Scandinavian gang-sawing system were applied in the

box and crating industry, it would save many than

100,000,000 feet of lumber a year which is now beingwasted in the form of planer chips. This manufacturing method constitutes an important aid in the

production of standard dimensions, and it appears

now that these saws will, to a large extent, replace

inefficiently operated circular saws, which usually produce inaccurately cut lumber, and which have hampered the progress of the standardization program.

It is a noticeable fact that within a few weeks after

the installation of the machines, a company was established in Seattle, Wash., for the purpose of manufacturing these machines in this country. The committee has, therefore, not only made a valuable contribution toward better manufacturing practices, but

it has also been instrumental in developing a new

machinery industry. It is reported that several of

the largest lumber manufacturers in the country have

placed orders for these gang saws, and they will be

tested on a large scale by the committee in different

parts of the United States within the coming 12

months.

The committee’s object is to make reforestation

commercially profitable and this, it is believed, can

be done only by a closer utilization of the raw material. Both the standardization of lumber and the

introduction of Scandinavian gang saws have proved

to be material aids in this direction.

BUREAU STUDIES EFFICIENCY OF STREETCAR TRUCKS

Bureau Makes Investigations to Determine the

Relative Power Losses Between the Motors and

Wheel Rims in Street-Car Trucks

A progress report has recently been presented to the American Electric Railway Engineering Association, on a current investigation at the bureau, the

object of which is to determine the relative power

losses between the motors and wheel rims in various

types of street-car trucks.

In this day of the modern motor car the problem

of the transportation engineer lias grown to be not

only to carry passengers from place to place in a minimum amount of time, but to do it with a minimum of discomfort to all. Following this trend, the

past few years have seen the experimental development of several types of electric street-car trucks with

the idea of riding comfort as one of the factors of

design. However, another phase of the transportation engineer’s problem is to do the work with a minimum of waste ; thus one of the important factors in

the choice of a driving mechanism for a street car

is its efficiency.

The test method used is to measure the losses separately in the various parts that make up the truck

rather than test the complete truck as a unit. The

results reported so far are confined entirely to the

reduction gear units. These include determination of

losses and efficiencies under various operating conditions for three types of units, a single-reduction, a double-reduction, and a worm-gear type.

OFFICIAL TESTING OF CHINESE EXPORTS

AND IMPORTS

In order to increase export trade and to maintain

and elevate the credit of Chinese products and to protect the interests of both native and foreign merchants, there has been organized, under the authority

of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Labor of

the National Government of the Republic of China, a bureau known as the Shanghai Bureau of Inspection

and Testing of Commercial Commodities.

The purpose of this bureau, and similar bureaus

which are now in process of organization at Tientsin,

Tsingtao, Canton, and other ports, is to make tests and inspection of both imports and exports. Heretofore, goods exported from China to a foreign country

without export certificates were subjected to the risk

of being confiscated or returned upon arrival at the

port of entry. Likewise, goods imported into China

were not tested and inspected in order to determine

whether or not they were fit for consumption.

To protect interests of Chinese industries.

It is expected that the establishment of Government

inspection bureaus in China will have a tendency to extend the market of Chinese products as regards ex- ports by showing that the goods have been inspected

befoi'e leaving the country, and at the same time protect the interests of the Chinese industries with respect

to importation of goods which are both unsatisfactory

and harmful.

Several departments of the bureau with a competent

personnel are now fully equipped to carry on test and

inspection work of ham, lard, casings, canned goods,

hair, wool, leather, hide, eggs, and raw milk.

PAPER STANDARDIZATION IN FRANCE

“ Much has been heard from time to time about the

standardization of paper sizes in Germany. France

is about to start a similar war on wasteful fancy sizes,”

says the Advertisers Weekly of London, noting that

“ the Association Francaise de Normalisation presided over by M. le general Girardeai has dealt with numerous industrial standardization problems. Its

efforts are now being directed toward the printing

industries.

“ In its first report the difficulty of filing, resulting

from too many sizes of letter headings and printed

matter, and of making standard desks and cabinets to take these documents, is given as the most important

‘ secondary ’ source of waste. Then the International

Standards Association issued a request to the French

association to accept the normal sizes already agreed

to by 11 European countries. A committee and a number of subcommittees are now being organized at the

Association Francaise de Normalisation to specialize

in printing problems, to inquire about the most efficient standardization and about the means of having these

generally adopted by the trade and the public.”
108

DEVELOPMENT OF TEXTILE MILL AND PETROLEUM STANDARDS

Recent Report of the American Standards Association Presents Information Concerning the Development

of Two Standards, Covering Textile Safety Code, Petroleum Products, and Lubricants

A final draft of the Textile Safety Code has been

submitted for approval as American Tentative Standards by the sponsor, the National Safety Council.

Before approval by the sponsor organization, the code was unanimously approved by the technical committee, which included 26 representatives of 20 organizations. Textile manufacturers, finishers, safety or- ganizations, and governmental departments were

represented on the committee.

The code covers requirements for plants operating

textile machinery and equipment, such as pickers,

cards, combing machinery, drawing frames, shrubbers,

roving frames, ring spinning frames, spinning mules,

spoolers, twisters, warpers, slashers, looms, inspection machines, folding machines, baling presses, sew- ing machines, cloth singers, washing machines, kiers,

mercerizing and tenter frames, mangles, winders, dry

cans, dyeing pedders, jigs and vats, color mixers,

printing machines, soapers, aging boxes, pasters, dampeners, calendars, hookers, doublers, extractors, bottles

and other machinery and equipment used for similar

purposes. Charles H. Eames, of the Lowell Textile

Institute, is chairman of the committee, and W. Dean

Keefer, of the National Safety Council, is secretary.

AN INFORMATIVE DEFINITION OF RATIONALIZATION

“ Perhaps the most informative, and at the same

time most widely drawn, definition of rationalization

which has yet been formulated is that of Sir Mark

Webster Jenkinson, who has been intimately associated with the recent working out of the process in the

British heavy steel trades,” remarks a writer in The

Bankers Magazine.

“ In a paper read at Leeds on March 7 last,” continues the writer, “ Sir Mark declared that ‘ rationalisation ’ is the mobilization of the fighting forces of an industry. It is accomplished by the fusion of

manufacturing capacity and closing down of redundant units to eliminate waste and loss, production being concentrated in the best-equipped shops, under the

most favorable output conditions. It implies not

merely a reconstruction of capital, a reorganization of

management, a reshuffling of plant, but a revolution in our ideas, in our mentality, in our outlook on the

industrial situation.”

This statement deserves close examination by all who are interested in one of the most crucial of pres- ent-day problems. Its author describes at one and

the same time the nature of rationalization, and the means by which it is to be brought about. He insists that its ultimate basis is not technical but psychological ; in other words, that its success can not be assured

by the taking of formal steps to reorganize an industry, but demands peculiar attitude of mind on the

part of all those approaching the question.

These lines or thoughts, indeed, are all important if a true understanding of the problem is to precede acMethods of tests for petroleum products and lubri- cants. The American Society for Testing Materials, sponsor for an American Standards Association project

for the development of methods of testing for

petroleum products and lubricants, lias submitted additional methods of test for approval by the A. S. A.

Approval as an American Standard, has been re- quested for “ Standard Method of Test for Saponification,” and as an American Tentative Standard, for

“ Method of Test for Detection of Free Sulphur and

Corrosive Sulphur Compounds in Gasoline.”

Sixty-three members of the sectional committee

voted their approval of the standard method of test for saponification, three members of the committee

not voting. Sixty-one of the committee members approved the method of test for detection of free sul- phur and corrosive sulphur compounds in gasoline,

two members casting negative ballots and two not

voting. The first of these methods was adopted as standard by the American Society for Testing Materials in 1928. The second was adopted as a tentative

standard in 1922, and revised in 1927.

tion on the part of the individuals and interests chiefly

concerned. It may be well, therefore, to discuss their

implifications more fully before describing what has

been accomplished in the United States and certain

countries of continental Europe, and tracing recent developments in Great Britain itself. TELEPHONE INDUSTRY HIGHLY STANDARDIZED

According to L. L. Elden, of the Edison Electric

Illuminating Co., of Boston, in the telephone industry one will find the most highly standardized undertaking in the electric-utility field anywhere in the

world. He expresses this view in his article, Practical Aspects of Standardization, which appeared in

the Electrical World. He said that this status of the

telephone industry had been reached only by successive steps as the result of intensive research and experimentation by a highly trained organization, without

which, the present-day perfection of communication

facilities could never have been attained.

Insistence on special designs and failure to adhere

to the use of existing standard apparatus have materially retarded efforts toward standardization in

many directions, said the writer in his article, adding

that the present-day incandescent lamp is perhaps

one of the best known examples of accomplishment

through standardization. Progress in this work from

the days of the carbon lamp has been reflected, in so far as public is concerned, in a steady improvement

in efficiency accompanied by heavy reductions in sell- ing prices. Selling prices have been reduced 53 per

cent since 1914.
109

FEDERAL SPECIFICATION FOR LUMBER AND SIMPLIFIED PRACTICE RECOMMENDATION FOR LUMBER DO NOT CONFLICT

A recent check of Federal Specification No. 533a,

“ Softwood lumber,” disclosed the fact that there is no conflict existing between the Federal Specification

and Simplified Practice Recommendation No. 16, “ Lumber.” The former provides that lumber bought

under the current grading rules of the various lumber

associations where such grading rules are approved by

the Central Committee on Lumber Standards as in

conformance with “American lumber standards.”

The simplified practice recommendation gives such

standards.

The Federal specification also provides that specifications for lumber prepared by the Government shall be based on “American Lumber Standards,” and calls attention in a footnote to Simplified Practice Recommendation No. 16. The Federal Specifications Board has promulgated

the following specifications: A revision of Federal

Specification No. 107a, for semimetallic packing.

This revision is intended to cover a type of packing

which will give excellent service, has excellent characteristics, and can be easily obtained. The revision

of Federal Specification No. 242a, for wrought-iron

pipe, uncoated and zinc coated (galvanized), was

primarily intended to admit either mechanically puddled iron or Aston-process iron as well as hand-puddled iron. It is believed that changes, including also chemical limits for carbon and manganese and other

changes, will materially improve the purchase qualities under the specification. The revision of Federal

Specification No. 269a, for nonferrous welding rods for

gas welding changes the chemical composition of type

“ e” aluminum allo}^. It is believed that this will

materially improve this particular type of metal for

the purposes intended. The revision of Federal Specifications Nos. 574b, and 576b, for frankfurter-style

and Yienna-style canned sausage, respectively, provides for stuffing in artificial casings as well as sheep

casings. It is believed this is an improvement and

brings the specification abreast progressive changes in

the industry.

The other two specifications promulgated are a revision of the jam specification (F. S. No. 635a) and

a new Federal specification for crash towels, mixed

linen and cotton (F. S. No. 633). Copies may be

obtained by addressing the Secretary, Federal Specifications Board, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C.

GOVERNMENT, INDUSTRIES, AND COLLEGES

FIND “ WOOD CONSTRUCTION ” VALUABLE

Government departments, industries, and educational institutions are finding Wood Construction, the new handbook of the National Committee on Wood

Utilization, of the Department of Commerce, a valuable aid. Those departments of the Government concerned

with the purchasing of supplies are now using this

volume as a guide in checking up on their orders and

specifications for lumber and also on their ultimate

purchases. - A widespread interest in the use of the manual as a

reference and textbook was found by Axel H.

Oxholm, director of the National Committee on Wood

Utilization, during a recent trip to Western States. At least one California municipality plans its use as

a basis for building codes. In the words of an authority in the lumber industry, Wood Construction is a work in the preparation of which it would have been

impossible for those in the industry to have agreed

upon, owing to the difference in the properties of the

prospective wood they represent. Only a cooperative

organization, such as the National Committee on Wood Utilization, composed of representatives of

both Government and industry, could have prepared

such a publication.

THE DETAILS THAT COUNT DISCUSSED

“ These are days when the head of the business or

of a department is digging into details in search of

simplifications that will make profits possible under

readjusted conditions,” observes one of the editorial

writers of the magazine, System, noting that “ he

is turning into every department his broad viewpoint

of the necessities of the business as a whole; in effect he is temporary sitting at the desk of each executive.

And if he is wise, he is going about this task thoroughly, keeping at it until even minor executive re- sponsibilities have been given first-hand attention.

“ This is to-day a characteristic of good management. Yet with it goes a very real danger, for it is a fundamental concept that the manager should be

free from routine concern with departmental details. His should be a detached, supervisory position. If,

during the necessary personal scrutiny of every ramification of routine, he so beclouds his vision with detail that he loses sight of this basic principle of good

management, he will soon find himself merely picking up pennies with one hand and dropping dollars

with the other.

“ Let the scrutiny of routine extend to the minutest

detail, but give time and thought only to those details

which are symptomatic of conditions worth managerial attention. The balanced viewpoint so necessary to executive leadership enables a manager to watch the

flow of detail without becoming tangled up in it; this viewpoint permits him to pick the danger signals.

Periodic reports, if carefully planned, assist in this

direction, also. “ This is one of the sound ways for the business man

to prospect for savings—to select these symptomatic

happenings and to concentrate on them. Often this

is enough ; sometimes, of course, thorough reorganization of the work is necessary without waiting for each

symptom to appear.”
110

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE BUILDING

CODE COMMITTEE NOW IN ITS NINTH YEAR

OF EXISTENCE

The Building Code Committee of the Department

of Commerce has entered upon its ninth year of exist- ence with a record of six completed reports and with

a seventh in process. The confidence shown in its recommendations by municipalities throughout the

country appears to be due to two reasons. One is the

plan of organization of the committee and the other

the manner in which its work has been carried on. The committee is made up entirely of architects and

engineers. In this respect it differs from many other

committees composed of representatives of various in- dustries. No member of the committee is under any

obligation to any particular industry, so that each is free to exercise his expert professional judgment. The

safety of the public is the primary consideration.

The work of the committee proceeds in three stages.

The first takes the form of research into all available

test data and examination of code requirements in

actual use. The second involves preparation of tentative recommendations in which the committee’s judgment is brought to bear upon the accumulated research

material and interprets it for actual use. The third

consists of a widespread invitation to architects, engineers, building-material industries, building officials,

and others to criticize the tentative recommendations

in the light of their experience. This last process

affords an opportunity to test the recommendations in

advance of actual use by subjecting them to analysis

of those most competent to judge.

Out of this threefold procedure comes a final printed

report which is made available at nominal expense

through the Government Printing Office. It is generally conceded that meaningless difference

in building codes should be eliminated as soon as possible and that substantial uniformity in regulations

will be of much benefit to all concerned. The reports

of the Building Code Committee provide a medium

for bringing this about.

PURIFIED WOOD FIBERS SUITABLE FOR

MAKING HIGH-GRADE PAPERS

As a result of an investigation now in progress at the bureau, it is indicated that certain types of highly

purified wood fibers, which are commercially obtainable at the present time, are suitable for conversion

into high-grade bond and permanent record papers,

as well as any other types of papers where the qualities of durability and permanence are essential. Such

papers have hitherto been made only from the best

grades of rag fibers, which are considerably more

expensive than the purified wood fibers. Pui'e cellulose, commonly called alpha cellulose, has

a high degree of permanency. The cotton fiber is the purest form of cellulose found in nature. For

this reason papers carefully prepared from high-grade

cotton rags have hitherto been used exclusively where

permanence extending over hundreds of years is desired. The ordinary wood fibers, even those of the

best grades, have impurities and degraded forms of

cellulose present which seriously affect their permanence. By a series of chemical treatments these objectionable impurities can be removed, leaving a fiber similar in its chemical composition to the cotton fiber and having the desired paper-making characteristics.

In order to find out how the purified wood fibers would endure as compared with other commonly used

paper-making fibers, tests are being made at the

bureau of the various types of paper-making wood

fibers and of several grades of rag fibers. These tests include chemical purity, whiteness, and microscopical

structure. A thorough investigation of the strength

and durability of a series of representative commercial

papers prepared from fibers similar to the above is also being made.

The relative durability of the various paper-making

fibers is studied by means of accelerated aging tests, whereby a few hours’ treatment simulated the effect of

natural aging over a long period of years. The samples are baked in dry form at 212° F., are cooked with

steam, and are exposed to intense light rays from an

artificial sun. After all these severe treatments, the

samples are again subjected to searching tests to find

how much they have deteriorated, both chemically and

physically.

UNIFORM SHIPS’ RIDING LIGHTS ADOPTED

The general direction in which a lightship is heading gives an approaching vessel a good idea of the

directional set of the current in the vicinity of the

lightship. As most lightships now show but one masthead light, the Lighthouse Service of the Department of Commerce has adopted a uniform system

of displaying a fixed white light on the forestay of

lightships to assist vessels in determining the direction in which the ship is heading. It is believed this

will be of material assistance to navigators as well

as to tenders making a lightship after nightfall.

The Lighthouse Service now maintains 37 lightships on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts, 29 of

which are equipped with such riding lights, and the

work of installation on other ships will continue as occasion requires. Such riding lights, with some variations, have been in service for some years on certain

lightships, but only recently has a uniform system

been adopted.

MERCHANTS MAKE WOODEN BOXES GOODWILL BUILDERS

Capitalizing on the box and crate utilization project of the National Committee on Wood Utilization

of the Department of Commerce, department stores,

grocery stores and other merchandising establishments which have boxes to dispose of, are building

good will by advertising that these boxes may be obtained by those desiring to use them.

Hardware and paint stores, on the other hand, are

benefiting by the increased demand on the part of

boys and adults who are making the articles described

in the committee’s booklet, “ You Can Make It,” for

such things as bolts, tools, screws, screen wire, nails,

and similar items.

o
SCIENTIFIC, TECHNICAL, AND COMMERCIAL

PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS ISSUED BY THE

national bureau of standards

BUREAU OF STANDARDS

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH

The new Journal describes the bureau’s re- search results in science and technology. The

union of science and its applications in one

journal shortens the lag between discovery

and application.

All engaged in industry and commerce should

have available for current use and permanent

reference, the Bureau of Standards Journal of

Research.

Early in its 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. . . . Price, $2.75 per year

TECHNICAL NEWS BULLETIN

The Bureau of Standards periodical with a WAR RECORD! Started during the dark

days of 1917 to keep the Army and Navy and

other branches of the Government informed

of progress in scientific war research at the

bureau. Upon urgent request this publication was continued and expanded to serve the

Government, science, and industry.

The TECHNICAL NEWS BULLETIN will

keep you informed of current progress in the

scientific and technical work of the bureau’s

laboratories, and gives each month a 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. Subscription price, 25 cents per year

COMMERCIAL STANDARDS MONTHLY

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

STANDARDS YEARBOOK FOR 1929

The new Standards Yearbook for 1929 is the

third annual issue of a publication devoted to the great and growing field of standardization

in its broad aspects. It is a 400-page 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 publications send your order, with remittance, addressed: Superintendent

of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. Foreign prices (countries other than the United

States, Canada, Mexico, Newfoundland, Cuba, and Republic of Panama) are: Journal, $3.75; 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, June 10, 1929.

THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

R. P. LAMONT, Secretary of Commerce

AERONAUTICS BRANCH, Clarence M. Young, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics. 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;

and publication monthly of Survey of Current Business. BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE,

William L. Cooper, Director. The collection of timely information concerning world market

conditions and openings for American products in foreign countries, through commercial attaches, trade commissioners, and

consular officers, and its distribution through weekly Commerce

Reports, bulletins, confidential circulars, the news and trade

press, 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, certi- fication 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: 1929