The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-09-01
Scientific Experiments By
No Means Confined to In
stitutiOns of Learning
ARE SEARCHING FOR
PERFECT STEEL RAIL
Great Laboratories Are Maintained by
Pennsylvania Railroad-Electrici-
ty May Revolutionize the
Mixing of Metals
by HOLLAND


| through the benefactions OF men oil
wealth. In the business world research
along very expensive lines, involving
the patience which characterizes the
true man of science, is now in prog
ress throughout the United States to
an extent of which the public has lit
| tie knowledge. Theodore n. Vail said
recently in an informal conversation
that as soon some embarrassing
questions which cannot be answered
till the Sherman antitrust law Is in
terpreted by the courts are out of the
way the corporation with which he is
identified will have an open and free
field for the utilization of the extern
sive and expensive work of research
and experiment, some of it along orig
inal lines, which is being carried on
by that corporation.
In the field of electricity and its
utilization as a commercial aid a very
exhaustive and almost wizard working
series of experiments and tests is now
in progress at Schenectady, at Pitts
burg, in one or two places in New
York city, and possibly elsewhere
The late Henry o. Havemeyer. presi-
dent of the so-called American Sugar
trust, confessed that for years he was
| constantly apprehensiye lest in some
of the great research laboratories OF
| Europe or of this country some dis
covery would be made which would
| revolutionize the making of refined
sugar and make 1t possible for pow
erful and successful competitor of his
own company to be established. Mr..
| Hayemeyer used to say that as long as
he controlled the American Sugar Re-
| fining company the corporation would
maintain research and laboratory de-
partments so that if there were 20 he
discoveries which would be of value
| to those who refine sugar the chances
were that his company wouIo be the
| first to make them. The expense Of
maintenance of the research and lab
| oratory work conducted by this COM
pany las been very large. Some in
cidental discoveries have been made by
the men of science there employed
which have not been of any advantage
to the sugar people, but have been
passed along to the other channels of
trade.
A day or two ago it was stated snat
as one result of research work it has
been discovered that it is no longer
necessary to employ indigo for the
whitening of fine sugar. When Mr..
Havemeyer organized the American
Sugar Refining company the factor of
indigo was regarded as absolutely es-
| sential for refining properties.
One of the men of science in this
city whose achievements in perfecting
telephone apparatus have been re-
markable was speaking a day or two
ago of indigo and of what science had
done to impair this once very valuable
agricultural product. 1t was research
work in one of the great laboratories
of the world which taught business
men how to utilize one of the by
products of petroleum or coal tar so
that dye stuff could be obtained
which would make 1t no longer neces-
sary to use the indigo plant. for se-
curing blue dyes. This triumph of re-
search and experiment was an almost
accidental discovery.
In the Big Corporation
The Pennsylvania railroad has for years
set the pace for other railroad COM
panies so far as research work is con-
cerned. It's great laboratories at Altoona
have, after long experimentation, shown
the way by which chemistry and physics
| may improve the equipments, tracks and
all the paraphernalia which enters into
+. II.
! Dudley, now recognizedw as the worlds Q
! foremost expert authority upon steel
| rails, stated to the present writer that
after a series of experiment and long
maintained research work, he was be-
| ginning to feel assured that the perfect
steel rail, one in which there lurked no
dangers, would be turned out by the
steel rail mills of the United States. Now
as a result of very expensive research
! work, which has been for asgood while in
progress at Schenectady, they expect so
i to utilize newly discovered laws of
| science for a rail. scrutinizing evry in
terror part of it, as thoroughly as they
would do If the insot was made of plate
glass. George Westinghouse recently
said that he was convinced that the re-
searches and experiments conducted by
men of the highest scientific attachments
| in the field of electricity, would result
| in revolutionizing the mixing of metals
so as to form alloys. That this may be
followed by radical and far reaching
change in manufacturing, Mr.. Westing-
house regarded as practically inevitable.
But the expense of maintaining research
work of this kind is very great. The
individual or the little corporation With
small capital could not undertake to do
it, 1t involves not only great capital,
but also the employment of the ablest
experts to be found anywhere In the
world.
In the Madison Square Tower
Patiently and with the enthusiasm and
devotion characteristic of the true men
of science. DR.. Peter Cooper Hewitt lin
the Madison Square Garden tower, is
carrying on a work of research and ex-
pertinent. especially In electricity, along
lines which caused Lord Kelvin to speak
with great enthusiasm when he called
upon DR.. Hewitt in his laboratory upon
his last visit to the United States Some
of DIR. Hewitt's experiments resulted in
phenomena which astonished Lord Kel-
win and which caused him to say, "Oh
II only Helmholz were here he would
study this phenomenon and might dis
cover the law which Is behind itp'
Fortunately for his own zeal and en-
thusiasm, DR.. Hewitt Is man of great
wealth. He can afford to expend a con-
siderable part of his yearly income in
carrying on his work of research and
experiments even though the expense
amounts to many thousand dollars Mr..
Westinghouse is convinced that some day
DR.. Hewitt's work of research will be
followed by the commercial utilizing of
some Of the discoveries made by him
which will be of az great benefit to the
world AZ was Sir Henryl Bessemer's dis
covery Of the process by which steel
could be made SO economically a. to
cause It to be substituted for many uses
for iron.
Abram 8. Hewitt once made I calcula-
tfon which he laid before Sir Henry Hes-
'0emer which showed that Sir Honrh's
pearch nd experiment. which wofp
1Ik t8.'<..FH ~. Is