Arizona republican., 1920-07-06
By Frederic J. Haskin

PITTSBURGH, Pa, July 5.-If you think that the solving of million dollar mysteries is conmined 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 baffle and obstruct the path of Ameri- can industry. That is what the Mel Ions, Andrew w. and Richard B., the well-known Pitt burgh 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 univer- sityfs buildings, it really leads on in dependent life, with it's own separate bank account, it's own board of direc tors and it's own fellowship system.
 Working in it's 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 oleomargar- inc and glue, is exhaustively studied here, often with million dollar results.
 Each manufacturer pays for his own p3fllCulaE line or eNDeflDlGnl8L4OU By endowing a fellowship sometimes two or three) in the institute upon the un- derstanding that she shall receive ex- elusive title to any results obtained. That is, any new processes invented by the scientist selected for the fel- lowship are the property of the manu- factureT- It is also agreed that the nature of the reasearch shall be kept absolutely quiet. unless the manufac- turer or corporation interested permits it to be made public. Hence. many of the most interesting problems being worked out at the institute are clothed in darkest secrecy. and the visiting public is merely permitted to smell the 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 inquisitive1y about the various laboratories of the institute the other day, the reporter came upon young man bending tenderly over a box containing numerous glass jars of peanut butter. Upon questioning 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 a fiber board fellow.
 It seems that some years ago the fiber board industry was losing money because it could not prove that it's 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-tha is, the fiber board used in their construction had to have q certain minimum thickness. and it had to pass a specified bursting test This bursting test was made with a machine called the Mellon Paper Tester" which was not particularly designed for testing corrugated board hut which was used for lack Of any, thing better. The results were m satisfactory. and consequently the rail roads refused to permit anything weighing more than go 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