Evening star., 1915-03-07

" e1e campaigns TO promote export
eraoe to the South American republics
and other countries
oc1tluCdL1On American manufac-
of Produc+e turers have learned
that there is an urg-
ent demand for what is known as Ger
tincation of products" Official certifi-
cation OF a product is nothing more
than the governments guarantee of its
aoaity' and while this procedure is
somewhat new to American manufac-
eurers the practice has been establish
eo IN foreign countries, particularly
IN Germany and Belgium, for a number
of years.
Inc governmental agency in this
country to have charge of the work of
certif1cation of products is the United
,e1ates bureau of Standards which al
ready has been called upon many times
since the beginning of the war to give
information on materials which have
been tested in it's laboratories and
which manufacturers export in large
quantities to foreign countries,
An Illustration of the need of certif,-
cation of materials Is given in an in
stance of Michigan paper company
wnlch shipped to firm in Australia
a large quantity of vegetable parch-
house because Australian authorities
were not sure of the quality OF the
product. For time it looked as though
the Shipment would have to be return
ed. because Australia had no means of
making the tests. The Michigan COM
lpany appealed to the United States De-
partment of Commerce. however, and
samples OF the shipment which were
ootalned from Australia were sent to
the bureau of standards, where they
were examined and certified to- The
Shipment then went through without
further delay, and the paper company
was very grateful for the trouble and
expense saved to it by the government.
another notable instance of the help
gwen by the United States bureau Of
STANDARDS to an American manufacture
ceived by a large cement factory Of
New York several months ago. This
company asked the bureau to certify
| 70 the quality of certain cement which
had been shipped to the Argentine re-
public. The Argentine government re-
quired as a condition of admission to
the country that the testing laboratory
of the government from which the ce-
ment is shipped shall certify to its
chemical composition. tensile strength
| and fineness. by making test Of a
sample taken from one barrel out Of
each 100 which are shipped Tests to
meet this requirement were made for
1he New York cement company and
Iafer for several cement concerns Of
| pennsylvania and New JerSey.
With the United States as the onlv
great exporting country not engaged
IN war. many requests on the govern
ment to undertake the work of test
ing and certifying to the quality of
| products have come In to the federal
bureau of standards. Lack of funds,
however. has prevented compliance
| with most Of these requests, except to
a very limited extent in cases of ex-
treme urgency and in cases where the
| government has already made tests of
the product. Notable among the re-
cent REQUESTS which had to be refused
New York. which is one of this conn
| try.s most extensive manufacturers
ana exporters OF oils. paints. graphites
hna,nn,ns ana other lead products: Since the
has had repeated calls for reports on
official tests of articles which it manu-
1actures for export trade.
Visitors to the San Francisco exposi-
tion during the coming summer will
have an opportunity
government to learn more about
Gu;d, p,.l, the geologic history
and resources of the
UNITED States than persons ever have
mad in previous years during the course
OF travel to the Pacific coast Thanks
eXOertS
IN the United States geological survey
nave prepared four guides for the west
ern United States-one for each of the
principal older routes to the coast
which will explain to the traveller all
labout the country which he sees from
the car window from the time he
!changes cars at Chicago or Kansas
City until the Pacific coast is reached.
uncle Sans guide book for the cas-
ual traveller will be the first publfca-
ton of the kind in simple non-technical
language ever issued by the govern
ment. 1t will be a hand book Of natu-
raj resources along the lines of the
great railroads. sort Of geologic
Baedeker-which will be interesting
and entertaining as we'll as .educative
and informative, and which will give
accurate information about the coun-
try through which all of the trans
continental tours will be taken.
Persons get such a poor idea of much
of the western country from the car
windows that the need of such a pub
| lication has been felt for many years,
| but up until now the compilation and
publication of information in popular
form has never been attempted Look
ing from the cars out over some Of the
western country, persons from the east
will often wonder how settlers can
live on such land. The tenderfoot trav-
elers little realize that just over the
| railroad there may be a rich valley
watered by government irrigation
bitches, where the orchard land is SELL
ing for $1,000 an acre or more, or they
may little realize that the country
which appears SO unpromising to the
eye in various places may have untold
value In wealth underground in rich
deposits of coal, phosphates or other
| minerals. An uninteresting stream
| sometimes from the window means
very little, yet a half-mile or more
| from the railroad this same stream may
have a waterfall which will develop
electric power worth many thousands
| of dollars each year.
| Director George Otis Smith of the
| geological survey believes that the ex-
perts of his bureau who have prepared
the four guides or bulletins which will
be off the press during the early part
of the summer have succeeded in get
ting together much material which will
Interest the average traveller and make
the trip across the country informative
las we'll as entertaining. The aim
Throughout the publication is to de-
scribe and explain to the traveller the
country just as he sees it.
Although the guides will be published
by the geological survey the informa
tion will not by any means be alto
gether geologic In character, but, be-
sides detailing the scenic and material
resources in the country through which
the train is speeding, will also give in
lteresting information on the discovery
and settlement of the various commu-
nj Mans will accOmnanv the text