The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-07-03
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HASxIN, Director.
Washington, D. c.
THE MELLON MYSTERIES.

lar mysteries is confined entirely to de-
tective stories and the movies. you
should visit the Mellon institute of
Pittsburgh, and see how it is done in
real life.
That is the institutes business
solving the various mysteries which
BATTLE and obstruct the path of
American industry. That is what the
MELONS, Andrew W. and Richard B.,
the well known Pittsburgh bankers,
founded and endowed it for. While
the institute is operated as a part of
the University of Pittsburgh, and is
often mistaken for one of the uni
versity's buildings. it really leads an
independent life, with its own separate
bank account. its own board of direc-
tors; and its own fellowship system.
Working in its many splendidly
equipped laboratories are experts, sent
| to it from all parts of the country by
manufacturers and corporations who
are anxious to improve the quality of
their products, or to discover newer
/ and cheaper processes for making
| them. Every kind of commercial
| product, from soap and cement to
/ oleomargarine and glue, is exhaustive
ly studied here, often with million
| dollar results.
| Each manufacturer pays for his own
particular line of experimentation by
/ endowing a fellowship sometimes two
1
understanding that he shall receive ex-
elusive title to any results obtained
That is, any new processes invented by
the scientists selected for the fellow
ship are the property of the manufac-
turer. It is also agreed that the ma
ture of the research shall be kept alb
solutely quiet, unless the manufacturer
or corporation interested permits it to
] be made public. Hence, many of the
I Interesting Tofn er
worked Nut at the institute are clothed
in darkest secrecy, and the visiting
public is merely permitted to smell tn :
experiments that are going on. To
most of the Laboratories, however, one
is given free access and graciously al
lowed to ask as many questions as one
likes.
Wandering thus inquisitively about
the various laboratories of the insti-
tute the other day, the reporter came
upon young man bending tenderly
over box containing numerous glass
jars of peanut butter. Upon question
ing him, we found that the box and
not the peanut butter was the cause
of his solicitude. The box was made
OF fiber board, and the young man was
d. fiber board fellow.
1t seems that some years ago the
fiber board industry was losing money
because it could not prove that its
fiber board product made just as
strong a >container as wood. The rail-
roads held that all corrugated fiber
board boxes used as containers for
freight shipments must meet certain
specifications that is, the fiber board
used in their construction had to have
a certain minimum thickness, and it
had to pass a specified bursting test
This bursting test was made with a
Tester" which was not particularly
designed for testing corrugated board
. but which was used for lack of any
thing better. The results were un-
satisfactory, and consequently the rail
roads refused to permit anything
weighing more than 80 pounds to be
shipped in fiber board containers.
So the fiber board industry founded
a fellowship at the Mellon Institute
: with directions to prove, If possible
that fiber board would stand up under
much heavier loads.
He Found the Answer.
land we have" said the young man
running a finger over the heavy cor
rugated lining of the fiber board box
| '-altho we had to invent new ma
chine to do it." He pointed to a queer
| looking apparatus on a nearby table
That's our new Webb paper tester
endorsed by the United States bureau
, of standards" he explained. 81
shows that fiber board can easily
stand up under 100 pound shipments
and even heavier ones''
Besides contributing this important
invention, the fiber board research
men at the institute have discovered
: several substitute materials to be uset
in the manufacture of fiber board
: which are cheaper and just as good a!
the ones originally used. For in
: stance, in place of the former expen
l sive cambria tape used in sealing thu
joint of a corrugated fiber box. a new
tape, half paper and half cloth, ha
been devised which costs just abou
: a fraction as much and answers thu
: purpose equally as well.
Sometimes the results obtained from
r the research at the institute are no
= so satisfactory to manufacturers, blu
at least they are gratified to know
r the truth. For example, not long age
the manufacturers of butter SubSu
2 tutes endowed a fellowship at the IN
I stitute, in the hope of proving falls
l the charge of physicians concerning
: oIeomargarine and other vegetabl
2 butters-namely, that they did no
= possess the important vitamines con
tanned in butter. The scientists en-
gagged on this work have not beel
t able to refute this charge. but the
e have proved that butter substitutes ar
= as good as butter, if the lost vita mine
e are replaced by some other item il
: the diet, such as milk and green vege
/. tables 1t is also possible that befor
= they finish their work they may sue
e coed IN capturing an elusive VltaHnlh
= or two and injecting it into the recip
: for butter substitutes.
t The quest for important industria
: secrets is a long and tedious business
d often requiring years of research wor
: to demonstrate what, in the end ap
e pears as a simple, common sense fac
t Months of preliminary investigator
!, must often go by before the researc
|. man even starts his work on ne'
process. Thus. as one OF the director
| Of the institute points out, patienc
is a cardinal virtue in the manufae
S turer who wants to profit as much a
s possible from research work. tn
:. | world was not made in a day. alth
: to look at it anyone might think 81
and industrial mysteries are not solve
/ TSX.te 4aFn ant