Engineering and Science, Volume 10:2, February 1947

ALUMNI NEWS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS PRESIDENT A. L. Laws '26 SECRETARY D. S. Clark '29 TREASUREI V. R. Freeman "2 F. I. Schell '27 C. F. Friend '38 H. B. Lewis '23 BOARD OF DIRECTORS J. R. Bradburn '32 R. D. Andrews '15 H. M. Huston *29 C. W. Varney Jr: *22 ALUMNI CHAPTER OFFICERS New York Chapter: PRESIDENT Evan Johnson '38 969 Madison Ave., New York 21, N. Y., Tel. BUtterfield 84116 VICE-PRESIDENT H. E. Mendenhall *23 3 Oakridge Avenue, Summit, N. J. Tel. SU 6-2822 SECRETARY-TREASURER Richard Pond '39 174 North 19th Street, East Orange, N. J. Tel. OR 4-2164 San Francisco Chapter: PRESIDENT Maurice Jones '26 908 Curtis Street, Berkeley 6, California, Tel. THornewall 2893 Bechtel McCone Brothers Tel, DOuglas 4032 VICE-PRESIDENT Ted Vermeulen '36 2226 McGee Avenue, Berkeley 3, California Shell Development Company Tel. EXbrook 5400 SECRETARY-TREASURER Robert P. Jones '35 1431 Park Blvd., San Mateo, California, Tel. San Mateo 3-7634 Standard of California Tel. SUJtter 7700 The San Francisco Chapter meets weekly for lunch at the Fraternity Club, 345 Bush Street, on Mondays. D KENNETH S. PITZER '35 DOING GASOLINE RESEARCH R. KENNETH S. Pitzer '35, chemist at the octane but in order to accomplish a permanent change, he must alter the other parts of petroleum. the liqui Problem at present He is attacking by passing gasoline over hydrogen and cooling it to 400 degrees below zero, F. ROY E. MARQUARDT '40 OUTLINES RAM-JET PROGRESS FOR A.S.M.E. SPEAKING to a student.sponsored meeting of the Aviation Division of the Southern California Section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers on the U.S.C. campus early in December, Roy E Marquardt '40 outlined the progress that has been made in this country on ram jet propulsion. Roy is president of Marquardt Aircraft Company, Santa Monica, and during the war was in charge of the Navy Jet Propulsion Research Program at U.S.C., of which he is now consulting engineer. FEBRUARY, 1947 ALUMNI SEMINAR DATE SET THE TENTH Annual Alumni Seminar has been scheduled for Saturday, April 26. To be held a the Institute from 9 A. M. to 4:30 P. M., the yearly program under the direction of Chairman Nicholas D'Arcy '28 will feature talks by representatives of biology, the humanities, geology; of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering. Institute public relations will also be discussed. Speakers and subjects already promised are James F. Bonner, Ph.D., associate professor of plant physio-ogy, who will discuss "Some Developments in Plan Biology"; Arthur P. Banta, M.S., associate professo of sanitary engineering, "Case Histories of Some Air- 1eld Construction; Robert T. Knapp, Ph.D. save press a hydrauli edgineerin Cavitaion, illustrated with movies; Harvey Eagleson, Ph.D., associate professor of English language and literature, "An Insight into the Modern Novel"; and Gilbert to President DuBridge, will explain the Institute's public relations program. BAY AREA ALUMNI TO HEAR DUBRIDGE P SESIDENT Lee A. DuBridge will speak to the San Francisco Chapter of the Alumni Association on Friday, March 7, 1947. This will be the • first chance Northern California Alumni have had to hear the new president. Dr. DuBridge spoke to the New York Chapter in September on the changes taking place at the Institute. Graduates who have been away from Caltech for some time will be given the opportunity of meeting Dr. DuBridge and of learning some of the new plans for the future of the California Institute at this March stag meeting. The meeting will be held at the El Curtola Res-turant, 510 Seventeenth Street in Oakland, between San Pablo and Telegraph Avenues, opposite the Roxie Theater. Dinner, costing $2.50 including all expenses, will be served at 6:45 P. M. The upstairs dining room will be open early for pre-dinner mingl ing. Double postal cards will be sent out to Bay Area Alumni late this month for reservations. Alumni who have not received notification through omission from the membership list, or who plan to visit in the bay area on March 7, should contact Robert P. Jones 35, secretary of the San Francisco Chapter, 1431 Park Boulevard, San Mateo. ARMY AND NAVY ACADEMY *WHERE THE CAMPUS MEETS THE SURF" fetie in eatinedited mile academy your sone investigate accredited military West's oldest. the West located on the ocean. For Catalogue: Box ES Army and Navy Academy, Carlsbad, Calif. Page 17 ROBERT COX '40 SAILS TO FLORIDA TRAVELING from New York to Fort Lauderdale in his foating home-and-office, Robert Cox '40 has established winter headquarters in Florida waters for his new enterprise, Cox Industries, in which he serves as consulting engineer specializing in small gasoline engines and engineering for yachtsmen. Bob was formerly chief engineer and sales manager for Atlas Aircraft Products Corporation. The trip down the inland waterway along the Atlantic Coast was filled with adventures. Bob was accompanied by his wife, Cathleen, and one crewman. The voyage began early in November, their 83-foot motor sailer, Ungava, loaded to the limit with parts of old cars, boats and engines, tools, and on the back deck the Cox's Mercedes Benz automobile. According to their account, first night at sea was spent bumping against the municipal wharf at the Battery while the mast lights were being rigged. The second day they ran aground twice in the harbor at Atlantic City but continued the next day to Cape May and then through canals and up the Delaware to Chesapeake City. Originally intending to go on to Annapolis, a thick fog changed their plans and they headed for Baltimore, moving blindfold until they were stopped by Pratt Street, two blocks from the center of the city. imprese dwy nt a week at Bellhaven an were with the hospitality of the local people wh brought them home-cooked dishes and invited them to their homes. At Morehead City they attempted to Essich HUFACTURINC 05 ANGELES A Quarter Century of Leadership Ist In the manufacture of: Plaster Mixers All Steel Concrete Mixers Two-Man Suction Dredges Steel-Frame Contractors Hoists Leaders In the manufacture of: Evaporative Air Coolers Road Rollers ir-Power Weed Sprayin quipmer Portable Paint Sprayins Equipment Self-Priming Pumps ESSICK MANUFACTURING CO. TUcker 5144 1950 Santa Fe Ave. Los Angeles 21 Page 18 maneuver into a recently-dredged yacht basin recommended to them by a Marine major. After scraping bottom three times they gave up and headed for the Eity, became invulved in strong curtents could not the red guide light in the channels and went aground again. Invited to an oyster roast at Beaufort, S.C., the trio could find no available dock space for the Un-gava, finally began to pull in and tie up alongside a fishing boat when the engine quit. "Ahead of us was a long bridge; the current was running at seven miles and there we were, helpless! We straight for the bridge. We hit and hard were aiming whole bridge swayed way over ….. we broke through the wooden cross pieces and stopped. A few little gouges were (our) worst damages. We didn't discuss the bridge with anyone there." After futile attempts by a fishing boat to pull the bow off and the tide rising and threatening to cave in the deckhouse against the overhanging members of the bridge, came to the rescue. Some kind soul had raced wildly across the river to Herman's fishing boat and he came full blast while all the townspeople assured us we had no further worries: 'Herman is coming!' We gave him a rope and off he went. We heeled way over and off we came-it was terrific! Incidentally it rained and the oyster roast was off!" They went on down the Georgia coast past Sa-vannah, St. Simon and Brunswick to Mayport, Florida, on the St. John's River. From here the party ventured onto the high seas into what the Coastguard called "Moderate Southeast Winds." The Ungava began "rolling from rail to rail, plunging up and down and the water was coming over the deckhouse in sheets. We knew the boat was safe enough but wondered what the insurance company was going to "say if we reported the Mercedes Benz 'lost at sea.' "We staggered into Fort Pierce about 7:00 that night tired and hungry. The boat was a shambles-everything including heavy filing cases fell over, the refrigerator was filled with a sour mess of milk, coke and French salad dressing with pulverized glass." Bob spent the following day (his birthday and Thanksgiving) cleaning and repairing the boat's gen erator and the voyage eventually came to an enc in Port Everglades, nearest available parking place for 83-foot sailboats. Incidentally, a full-color picture of the Ungava in her prewar state is featured on the cover of the December issue of Yachting magazine. T. D. YENSEN '27 LECTURING ON SCANDINAVIA TD. YENSEN 27, manager of Westinghous • magnetics department in East Pittsburgh, Penn sylvania, spent a month in Europe last summer surveying the magnetic materials field. Since his return he has given a broadcast and several illustrated lectures on "Postwar Reconstruction in Norway" "The High Standard of Living in Sweden," and "The Russian Menace to Peace in Scandinavia-A Myth of an Actuality." He presented four more lectures in January. In addition to his chief occupation with magnetic research, from which he expects to retire in 1950, ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY he is chairman of the Technical Committee of the United Smoke Council which is working on methods of smoke elimination to be extended throughout Allegheny County during the next year. Through the Allegheny Civic Club, he also is actively engaged in projects concerning stream pollution and pure water supply. He is section chief of the National Ski Patrol and Wilderness Patrol in the Allegheny Mountains and serves as chairman of the finance committee of the Unitarian Church. FRANK STREIGHTOFF '40 BACK AT LILLY MINCE his graduation from California Institute ir 1940, Frank Streightoff has acquired further edu cation, two jobs, a discharge button and four new dependents. With his B.S. in biology in hand, Frank Streightoff entered the University of Chicago where he studied biology and pathology for one year. In November, 1941, he joined the firm of Eli Lilly and Company, pharmaceutical manufacturers, where he was employed in the Biological Research Department. In May, 1942, Streightoff entered the Army as food nutrician technician. Shortly after his entrance into service, Frank married Ann Mitchell of Indian-apolis. Streightoff served the Army until December, 1945, when he was discharged from the Vitamin Retention Laboratory he had set up for the Army in Washington, D.C. Mr. Streightoff is the father of two daughters and a very young son. He has reentered the employ of the Lilly company in Indianapolis. See Braun for * Electronic photometers * Fluorescence meters *Glass cell photoelectric colorimeters * Glass color filters * Gloss meters * Illuminators * Infrared spectrophotometers Magor ros Po ket-sir and table models, Microscopes: all types, to fit your needs Polaroid laboratory products * Reflection meters * Refractometers * Ultraviolet outfits (portable) Bring your problem to us! Call TRinity 6031 or write to: BRAUN CORPORATION 2260 EAST ISTH ST., LOS ANGELES, CALIE., U.S.A. San Francisco, Calitornia Seattle, Washington BRAUN KNECHT-HEIMANN-CO. SCIENTIFIC SUPPLIES CO. PERSONALS 1921 HAROLD O. FLETCHER has left Pasadena to take up residence at Lonely Valley Ranch, Saugus, California. WILLIAM C. DREYER is employed vice Department of the Westinghouse Corporation. 1925 DWIGHT O. SMITH, whose whereabouts have been unknown to the Alum-i Association for sometime, is with the American Baptist Mission in Rangoon Burma. Mrs. Smith is living in Redlands, California at present. 1927 RICHARD M. DODGE has recently moved to San Gabriel, California. The resignation of JOHN H. MAX-SON, Ph.D. 1947. position in the petroleum industry. ROLAND W. REYNOLDS is now living in Long Beach, California. 1929 RICHARD G. ROFELTY is now residing in Vancouver, Washington. FEBRUARY, 1947 WILLIAM LITTEL BERRY has moved to Sacramento where he is now employed by the Division of Water Re- sources, Department Public Works, of the State California. THOMAS H. EVANS, head of the Department Civil Engineering Georgia Tech. recently been at pointed chairman of the Athletic Coun cil of the faculty. HERBERT H. DEARDORFF visited Alumni Office recently while in ation Francipres halifornia At present Herberr is living JACK PRITCHETT is on temporary ransfer with the Western of the Engineer Board. ruary, he will go to Las Vegas, Nevada where he will take up the duties of chief engineer at the Army Airfield. ion of civil engineer with the Engineer Office at Sacramento, Califor WILLIAM BERGREN, Ph.D. in biology '41, is employed by U. S. C. as a research associate, working on nutrition at their Monrovia Clinic. He also main- tains a consulting practice on the side. LOUIS A. PIPES, M.S. '34 and Ph.D. in electrical engineering '36, , has ecently written a book matics for Engineers and Physicists, pub lished Mr. Pipes, Research and Electronics Division, Hughes ly assistant Aircraft Company, was foeme professor engineerin ciences and applied physics at Harvar University book has where the been material in the used in the Graduate School of Engineering during the past five years. 1934 JAMES R. CAMPBELL is employed with the Paul Henry Company of Los Angeles. PAUL KARTZKE has been transferred to Bakersfield. California as divi- sion manager for Shell Oil Company. RZA F. PORTER has taken a p tion in the Design Department of th C. F. Braun Company of Alhambra, California. ALFRED I. SWITZER has returned to his prewar position in the U.S. En-ineer Office in Los Angeles as assistan hief of the Civil Works Branch, Engi- neering Division. During the war he held the rank of major in the Corps of Engineers. From March, 1945, to June, 1946, he was in the Philippine Islands as chief of the Engineering Division of the General Engineer District, which was WILLIAM W. MOORE has elected president of the Structural En- gineers Association of Northern Cali- member of the en- formering first Dames & Moore. Page 19 ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE monthly Vol. X, No. 2 February, 1947 Management's Responsibilty for Discipline By H. W. ANDERSON The accompanying address was presented by H. W. Ander-son, Vice President in Charge, Personnel Staff, General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Michigan, on January, 27, 1947, at dinner-discussion meeting held in the Music Room of the Bilt-more Hotel, Los Angeles, under the auspices of the Industrial Relations Section. Reprints of this article Relations Section of the are available from the Industrial California Institute of Technology. HIS analysis of "Management's Responsibility for Discipline" covers the experience of General Motors over a period of many years in more than 100 plants, employing a large number of people, varying from 150,000 to half a million, supervised by some 20,000 foremen and supervisors. In view of discussion of some of the to the fundamental prin- ciples of our disciplinary policies, with a few case illustrations. It has become quite customary to pose the general subject of discipline and then talk about its roughet and rather minor manifestations. The subject is, of course, broader than such treatment would indicate. Discipline is a fundamental which makes it possible for folks to work together. Unless a group tecog nizes and observes the adjustments requisite for unity of purpose, the enterprise cannot succeed. First, I want to discuss the usual everyday plant disciplinary special prob Problems, and later I will go into em involved in dealing with wildcat strikes in violation of agreement terms. SHOP DISCIPLINE Much has been said and written about discipline in the shop. Unfortunately, the word "discipline" has for most persons a harsh connotation which is not justified by the actual application of the term to shop disciplinary situations. Shop discipline in General Motors does not mean strict observance of rigid rules and regulations. On the contrary, it means working, cooperating, and be- FEBRUARY, 1947 having in a normal way as anyone would expect an employee to do. For example, "discipline" means: Reporting for work regularly, on time, and without unnecessary absences; Doing a fair day's work; Respecting the prestige and authority of supervision; Obeying reasonable orders and carrying out job assignments; Cooperating with others; and, in general, Conducting oneself in a reasonable and orderly manner. The maintenance of discipline in a plant is a Man- responsibility. We in General Motors discipline to be a matter of Manage inalienable right or prerogative-it is sponsibility-st in a primary part of the job af man- the business. When Management vields this responsibiliti or agrees to share it with others, it has tailed in its duty to manage. I think this concept of the matter of responsibility for discipline was ver Taylor, well stated by Dr. George W. who enjoyed an enormous experience with the problem as impartial umpire and as Vice Chair man and Chairman of the National War Labor Board: Discipline as a Duty Instead of considering only the right to discharge, perhaps we should ponder briefly why management must undertake discipline at times as a duty. Management's job is to run a plant efficiently. Instead of viewing discipline and discharge as an unchallengeable right, I should like to suggest that it be conceived as a heavy responsibility that frequently cannot be avoided if the interests of the workforce and of the company are to be protected. Every progressive executive will recog Page 3 nize that the discipline function is not a license to be tough or capricious but a phase of maintaining an efficient working It is closely related selection of employees. Excessive use of disciplinary measures is often a symptom of a poor selection or assignment or of an inadequate training program. hinders the productive possibilities of other employees, man- If management retains not so much the right but the duty to discipline when the effective operation of the working force requires it, one need have no fears about the reviewability of In the earlier days of collective bargaining, some of the less experienced union leaders insisted upon negotiating shop rules and penalties with resisted the demand on the grounds that such a sharing of Management's responsibility would be unsound from Management's point of view and equally unsound from the Union's standpoint. We pointed out that the Union its proper function of representing the employee and protecting his interest if it assumed any part of Man. agement's function of setting disciplinary penalties. the Union should agree with Management as to what a proper penalty should be in a case, it would foreclose its right to protest the penalty. The Union should be in a position to protest any action taken by Management on the grounds that the discipline is unfair, unjust, dis-criminatory, lacks cause, which forecloses the right of an employee his case appealed to the highest authority in the grievance procedure is basically unsound. This has been our position every time a union insisted on negotiating rules and penalties. We believe the wiser heads of the Union realize that our position is sound and realistic, because we have not heard anything about this subject from the experienced Union lead- In General Motors, Management establishes the rules and it disciplines for violations. The Union is free to challenge the application of any rule in a given situation and it can "walk the last mile" with a disciplined employee without embarrassment. Several basic principles govern our application of shop rules. Some of these were hammered out the hard way! 1. The employee is entitled to know the rules. In every plant of General Motors the shop rules are posted in conspicuous places throughout the plant. Most plants also include the rules in handbooks given to employees. The rules are written in simple language which can be understood by all. Page 4 2. Management accepts the full responsibility for assessing discipline. It is the toreman's job to maintain discipline in his department. It is his job to assess penalties for infractions. He may consult his superiors for advice in some cases, but the final responsibility is his. He may discharge on the spot for very serious infrac tions. He often suspends the employee, pending : complete investigation. We have learned that a cas which appears to be simple can become very comples and involved by the time it goes through the various steps of the grievance procedure. It pays to have all the facts before the discipline is set. We have no mechanical formula for establishing disciplinary penalties. It cannot be done with a slide rule. We do have a penalty spread for viola tion of each posted rule. This specifies a minimun and a maximum within which the penalties are set. In arriving at the proper discipline within the spread, the foreman takes into consideration four factors: 1. Seriousness of the offense 2. Past record of the employee 3. Circumstances surrounding the particular case 4. Plant practice in similar cases 3. Management is willing to have its disciplinary actions reviewed, after the fact, by an impartial Umpire to determine in an impartial way whether the action was for cause and fair in the light of all the facts and circumstances. Our labor agreements provide for an impartial Impire as the terminal step of the grievance cedure. Under these agreements, Management Pro. gates to the Umpire full discretion in the case of shop rule violations. Any employee who is disciplined can file a grievance, and the Union has the right to po cess the a throug the grieva procedure u to the Umpire. the facts and circumstances, can decide whether Management's action was proper. He has the power to revoke the penalty and award reinstatement and full back pay for time lost, or he may modify the pen- alty and award We make no claim that this method of handling lisciplinary problems is perfect. But it does worl well; we continually learn as we go along The Umpire machinery under our agreement with the UAW has been functioning for more than five years. During this period, more than 50o disciplin ary cases have been decided by the Umpire. decisions deal with a wide variety of disciplinary situations and they stake out the guide posts for handling similar cases. This backlog of decisions forms a kind of common law which is used by both Management and the Union in appraising cases. We print more than 10,000 copies of the Umpire decisions and circulate them throughout our entire supervisory organization. The Union distributes copies to the Local Union officials. Needless to say, these decisions are of great value as educational material in the plants. Our discipline is for the purpose of correcting improper conduct and obtaining compliance with shop rules. It is not punitive in nature. ENGINBERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY Discharge is resorted to in two types of situations: 1. Where the offense is of such a serious nature as to make any other form of discipline inadvisable. For example: Assault on a member of supervision Leadership and direction of a strike in violation of the agreement Theft Sabotage 2. In cases of repeated violations where other efforts to bring about correction have failed. This is what the Umpires call "corrective discipline." It requires that some corrective action be taken in violations before the violations accumulate. It 1S definitely contrary to good practice to overlook violations until they pile up and then to discharge the offender as the first disciplinary effort. I hope that this discussion will not leave you with the impression that all we do in General Motors is to hand out discharges and disciplinary layoffs. On the contrary, our experience shows that a policy of firm, even-handed discipline creates respect and actually lessens the disciplinary problem. Fortunately, in shop operations the vast majority of personal adjustments are, because of the innate sense of fairness of the American workman, self-imposed and self-administered. If this were not so, we could not operate a single day. Employees prefer to work in a well-disciplined plant. The majority of employees want to do a good day's work and never get into trouble. It is the few in any large group who try to beat the rules of the game. In a group of more than 200,000 employees, there will naturally be a considerable number of situations vhich require discipline and over a period of a yea here will be a sizeable number of discharges. One might think that cases of this kind would overload an Umpire procedure. As a matter of fact, however, in more than 90 plants covered by the GM-UAW agreement, only 30 employees appeared before the Umpire protesting disciplinary action against them in the year 1946-and only nine of these were discharge The Union has knowledge of all the disciplinary cases, as the foreman informs the district committeeman of disciplinary actions within 24 hours after the action is taken. The disciplined employee has three days in which to file any grievance he may have as a result of the discipline. It seems a fair conclusion that our supervisory organization is doing a good job of handling shop rule disciplinary cases. STRIKES IN VIOLATION OF AGREEMENTS Strikes in violation of agreements present unusual disciplinary problems and require unusual treatment. Whenever we have a strike or stoppage in a local plant, it ceases to be a local matter-we treat it as a strike against the Corporation. We immediately telegraph the top officers of the Union, demanding that the strikers be ordered back to work. We be- lieve that it is the responsibility of the Union to live up to its agreements, but we do not leave it up to the Union alone. Our agreements specifically pro- FEBRUARY, 1947 vide that Management may discipline any employee for violation of the no-strike section of the agree-ment. During the war, there was considerable comment in the public press about the fact that General Motors had a much better strike record than the other automobile companies or the war production industries as a whole. There was some difference of opinion as to the exact reason for this. One of the obvious reasons for the small number of strikes was the existence of a comprehensive grievance procedure which verely with leaders of strikes in violation of agreements was an important factor in this record. Our experience with this problem began immediately after the first agreement was signed by the JAW ten years ago. At that time, the Union leader were new at the business and they had no concept of their responsibilities under a labor agreement. The local Union leaders were inexperienced and many of them felt no particular responsibility to the Inter- Consequently, the first few months of operating under an agreement with the UAW were hectic indeed. Daily wildcat strikes and quickie sit-downs were the usual thing. We decided then that the Union and its members must learn to respect the agreement. So, in April, 1937, General Motors notified the UAW that unless wildcat strikes were controlled there might as well be no agreement. The Union's demands for revision of agreement terms were met by a refusal into negotiations until the International Union took steps to get its own house in order. In September of that year, after the impasse had con-inued for three months, the Union took a public stand against wildcat strikes and acknowledged that it was Management's right to discharge or otherwise discipline any employee guilty of violating the no-strike clause in the agreement. From the outset, Management disciplined the leaders of unauthorized strikes. For example, on March 1, 193/, a group of employees stopped work ar anhandled an emplovee who refused to loin ti Union. Seven employees were disciplined, and this became our first Umpire case. Progress in controlling wildcat strikes during the early days was slow and it is difficult to point to any particular situation which could be said to have been a turning point; however, two cases at the Fisher Body plant in Flint, Michigan, are particularly sig-nificant: In September, 1940, a group of employees left their work and proceeded to another floor of the plant, where they attempted to physically eject a worker who was a leader of a rival Union group This demonstration naturally caused a stoppage of work. The Union at this plant had been through a bitter factional split and, although the group affiliated with the C.I.O. won a majority vote in an N.L.R.B election, there was still a considerable group who followed the UAW-AFL leaders. This was the plant where the 44-day sit-in strike occurred in 1937, and the local Union leaders were particularly recalcitrant and scornful of orderly agreement procedure. The demonstrators demanded immediate dismissal of the Page 5 rival unionists. Management refused to become in- volved in the factional fight and discharged 17 employees who were active in leading the demonstration. After a short strike, operations were resumed without the 17 leaders of the demonstration. The case of he 17 was appealed through the grievance procedure and out of it came a long strongly-worded statement by the International Union, denouncing unauthorized strikes. Incidentally, some of the 17 men were later given employment as new employees. Five months later, at the same plant, an employee was sent home for one day for "horse-play" in viola- rules. The other 82 men in the depart ost fused to war demanding the cancellation of the one-day penalty. The group crowded around the Superintendent's office, demanding action. Manage- ment discharged the entire group-the whole depart-ment. This action was severe enough to finally impress upon the local Union leaders the necessity for ending wildcat strikes as a means of attempting to force settlement of Union disputes. The plant re- sumed operation with a new crew in the department. Management later put most of the 82 men back to work in other parts of the plant as probationary em-ployees. Only one minor stoppage has occurred in that plant since. I am not suggesting that this is the easy way to curb wildcat strikes. It definitely is not the approach for the timid, for once you discipline for strike leader-ship, you must be prepared and willing to see it through. An experience we had in one of our key plants during the summer of 1945 will illustrate the point. The plant was covered by agreement with the JE-CIO. On V.I Day this plant had all of its war contracts cancelled The post-war program was put nto effect immediately and, although the conversior problem was considerable, the unemployment which resulted was limited to a temporary layoff of 295 women employees. The situation was fully explained to all of them and they understood the problem. Not one of them complained. Most of them said they were glad to get a couple of weeks off. Nevertheless, the Union filed a grievance, charging violation of the seniority agreement. Before the rievance could be answered by Management. th ring and a decting die materploye durin had been tried out before by the Union in some other plants not in General Motors. Management warned the local Union leaders that of the situation and put them on notice that if the plan went through we would treat it as a strike. At the appointed hour, the local Union officials began a demonstration and attempted to lead the ployees au of the plate the hing hail Ahes continued to work. After the Union meeting, Management was served with an ultimatum to immediately reinstate the employees who were on temporary lay-off; otherwise the Union would take further action. This was a challenge which could not be over-Looked. The alleged atch the he senorin agree. agreement was fully empowered to rule. If Manage- Page 6 ment was wrong, he could make it right. The ultimatum was a challenge not only to Management but also concept of peaceful relationships under a collective bargaining agreement. The five Union leaders who were responsible for the solation o the discharged leaders promptly organized picket lines and closed the plant. Management's position from the start was: (1) Return to the agreement, (2) go back to work, and (3) submit to the Umpire the seniority question and also he disciplinary cases. The top officials of the Union conceded the soundness of this approach to settling the strike, but they could not sell the idea to the local leaders. The strike continued for seven weeeks. This plant was a key supplier of all the car plants as well as many important customers outside General Motors. Naturally, there was great pressure on the Management to yield and get back to work. From Management's point of view, the issue was simply whether disputes were to be settled under the orderly procedure of the agreement or by a show of force. this issue, there was no room for compromise. Finally at the end of the seventh week, the Union empey is turn to son feet fer to e dischapire. Incidentally, the Umpire later ruled that there was no violation of the seniority agreement; the disci plined employees were reinstated by the Umpire be- • found a way legally to authorize the strike retroactively. We have not had any further trouble in that plant. The so-called "company security" plans have re-seived seational pabiled for the l disciplining of strike leaders. No matter how attractive such proposals may appear to be, we believe they are basically unsound. We had an experience in a case which may illustrate the point. At our Diesel Plant in Grand Rapids, three mem-rs of the Shop Committee organized a walkout or orning in March. 1944. in protest against the su press unless she were permitted to wear canvas gloves -a dangerous practice which could not be permitted. It later developed that the strike plan was all set and the glove incident just happened to be the first one, which could be used as an excuse to walk out The strikers set up picket lines and kept the plan closed for several days. The three members of the local Shop Committee were openly active in leading and directing the strike. They were promptly dis-charged. The International Union conceded we had an open-and-shut case against the three who were discharged; however, the Union argued that the real planner and instigator of the strike had remained behind the scenes and had escaped discipline. The Union offered to deliver to us a signed confession from the hidden leader. This offer sounded interesting, but closer examination revealed dangerous implications. It was an open secret that the real cause of the strike was a factional struggle for control of the local Union. Moreover, the Union's offer had a string on it. The ENGINBERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY three discharges would have to be reduced to long penalty layoffs. We offered to consider any evidence the Union was willing to deliver, but we refused to make any commitments regarding horse-mad" charges, nor would we make any one strike leader for another. We stuck to our policy of disciplining those whose guilt could be established by our own evidence, and the three stayed fired. The official who offered to deliver the secret leader, later admitted he was unable to obtain any signed con-fession. You have heard, no doubt, the argument that the nion should discipline its own members for strik violation or acreemen We tried that idea a few times but it did not work. One of our earliest experiments with this approach curred in one of our Pontiac plants in November 937, shortly after the sit-down episodes. In tha period of Únion development, the local leadership was not particularly noteworthy for deliberation or conservative action. Curtailed schedules necessitated the layoff of some employees in accordance with the seniority provisions of the agreement; but the Shop Committee succeeded in inducing the employees to pull a strike, unauthorized by the Union, demanding a restoration of full production, including the transfer of operations from our Linden plant to provide full schedules. he strike resulted in a full-sca izure with all the sit-down trimmings, which w terminated after five days by persuasion of higher Union officials. For organizing the incident, the Management discharged some 20 men and the Union requested per- mission to identify the ringleaders and participate in the setting of penalties. To this the Management agreed, but in a series of nine meetings over a period of several months the Union failed to agree upon or produce a single guilty member, and settlement was finally made on the basis of Management's ac- tion. It was impossible in a political organization such as the Union to fix the blame and perhaps unreasonable to expect any such result. The Union usually defends those we discipline for violation of the agreement. It does so on the grounds that the complainant is innocent or that the discipline is too severe. This is a proper function of the Union. On the other hand, the Union benefits lirectly from our policy. It assists the Union it naintaining some semblance of discioline over thi local Unions. In many cases, the wildcat leaders who defy the agreement also defy the International Union. In reducing the frequency of wildcat strikes, our policy builds the Union's reputation for contract observance. We have reason to believe the top leaders of the Union fully appreciate this fact. One indication of this appreciation was shown by Valei Reuther i nite intes Serote the Mead recall that the Meade Committee came out to Detroit to learn why certain plants were not producing war material. One of our competitors bore the brunt of investigation; however, the Unions were invited to testify and they blasted everybody in general, hoping the noise would divert attention from strikes as a major cause of the lag in production. Mr. Reuther in his testimony was asked about Gen- eral Motors. We consider his reply to be a fine, although perhaps unintentional, compliment. He said: FEBRUARY, 1947 "General Motors is tough. We don't agree with verything they do, but at least they have policie ind they know where they are going. It seems appropriate to quote from a speech made by the late Justice Brandeis in Boston at the conclusion of a long and bitter strike more than forty years ago. In speaking of what we now call collec- tive bargaining, he said: Men fail at times to see the right; and, indeed, what is ght is often in doubt. For such cases arbitration affor equently an appropriate remedy. This remedy deserves take its place among the honorable means of settling those questions to which it properly applies. Questions arise, how-ever, which may not be arbitrated. Differences are sometimes fundamental. Demands may be made which the employer, after the fullest consideration, believes would, if yielded to, destroy the business. Such differences cannot be submitted to the decision of others. Again, the action of the union may appear to have been lawless or arbitrary, a substitution of force for law or for reason. You may compromise a matter of wages, you may compromise a matter of hours if the margin of profit will permit. No man can say with certainty that his opinion is the right one on such a question. But you may not compromise on a question of morals, or where there is lawlessness or even arbittariness. Industrial liberty, like civil liberty, must rest upon the solid foundation of law. Disregard the law in either, however good your motives, and you have anarchy. The plea of trade unions for immunity, be it from injunction or from liability for damages, is as fallacious as the plea of the lynchers. If lawless methods are pursued by trade unions, whether it be by violence, by intimidation, or by the more peaceful infringement of legal rights, that lawlessness must be put down at once and at any cost. ¿If labor unions are arbitrary or lawless, it is largely because lalone have importing prie or ted to mirarin eliot as to their own immediate interests. As I said, Justice Brandeis made that statement over forty years ago. In conclusion, I would summarize our experiences as follows: I. We believe our experiences show beyond a doubt that discipline is necessary for efficiency. For with- military rule, but rather the smooth-running dis- cipline of teamwork and cooperation. I. Discipline is a responsibility and duty of Man gement which cannot be dodged or shared with others. It is a task of Management which must not be shirked. III. Voluntary arbitration, under rules and procedures agreed to in advance by the parties, is a fair and workable means of settling disputes arising under agreement terms. Our experience with the Umpire machinery in our labor agreements shows that impartial review of Management's action in disciplinary situations protects employees from errors r unfair treatment and provides a fair and peacefu neans of settling such dispute: IV. We in industry must continue to improve dis-chiline or of people at love co more at a prote This is the only road to prosperity and the fuller life in America. Page 7 C.I. T. NEWS TOURNAMENT PARK ON MARCH BALLOT A LUMNI living in the city of Pasadena are urged to vote in the municipal election March 13, when the question of selling Tournament Park to the California Institute will be included in the ballot. A two-thirds majority is required to "aban-don" the park in order to permit Caltech to purchase the 23 acres sorely needed for expansion. In 1940, with 900 students, the Institute was in serious need of additional facilities for teaching, research, student housing, athletics and recreation. Today the 1940 needs have not been met and the Institute now has an enrollment of nearly 1400 stu-dents, of which 80 per cent are World War II vet-erans, and its research activities have expanded great-A situation that was serious seven years ago has today become critical. Plans for Tournament Park include a gymnasium, with basketball courts and swimming pool, probably the first construction that will be undertaken when funds become available, and a student union build- ing. The northwest corner of the Park will be converted into a parking lot with facilities for from 500 to 800 automobiles. This will help to alleviate the serious parking problem in the vicinity of the Institute. A baseball diamond and a football field and track will be located in the central portion of the Park. Tennis and badminton courts are slated for early construction. The mound which crosses the Park from east to west will be leveled to accommodate these plans. As part of the program to improve student facili- ties on campus, a new dormitory, similar to and opposite the present student houses, is planned as a part of the construction program, which includes the gymnasium and student union. HOUSING ASSEMBLED FOR ELECTROSTATIC GENERATOR THE wartime ramblings of a housing for an elec. trostatic generator are finally at an end. signed and installed just before the war, the eight foot cylinder, 22 feet long, proved to be in the way when wartime research projects crammed Kellogg. Besides, another use was found for it. The tank, which will permit pressure and humidity control for the accumulation of high electrical poten-tials, was used as a pressure tank for launching air- craft torpedoes behind the San Gabriel Canyon dam during the war. Pressures up to 200 pounds per square inch sent torpedoes down an inclined tube, 300 feet long, into the San Gabriel reservoir behind the dam, under conditions simulating launching from an air- plane. In the spring of 1940 the pressure tank was installed in a third floor laboratory in Kellogg. The wartime research program was inaugurated before the Page 14 generating equipment could be completed, and it was moved into a corner of the laboratory out of the ay. Where the housing is she the escarch do the war when it was replaced by an especially made tank. Further research on electrostatic generation led to the changes in the design of the vessel made concurrently with its reconditioning by the Navy. Its makers, the Western Pipe and Steel Corporation, completed this work in December, and the tank was hoisted into the Kellogg laboratory in a week-long operation. Now being blled with generating apparatus, the machine will follow the design of R. G. Herb of the University of Wisconsin. An important feature of this design is controlled atmospheric conditions imposed on the orginal large-scale static electricity developed by R. J. Von de Graft of M.I.T. Charges are induced on a moving belt and deposited on metal sphere. A shield around the sphere aids in distributing the accumulating charge, which is expected to enteroupee dieletic, in mil cases, one potentials developed will accelerate protons and deuterons down a high-vacuum tube where they will attain energy in electron volts equal to the potential of the sphere. Velocities of the order of 10" centimeters per second will render these capable of disin-egrating other nuclei, when they impinge on targets of Lithium, Beryllium, and Carbon. Studies of nucleat fragments resulting from such collisions are expected to expand the knowledge of fundamental physics. BATEMAN RESEARCH FELLLOWSHIP PREATION of a research fellowship in pur -mathematics to be known as the Harry Bate man Research Fellowship was announced recently by the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology. The fellowship was created in honor of the late Harry Bateman, professor of mathematics, physics Candidates for appointment to the Bateman Fellowship should have obtained a doctorate, or expect to receive it, prior to the beginning of the academic year 1947-48. The appointment will be made on the basis of the promise shown of independent research in any field of pure mathematics. The recipient will devote the major part of his time to research, but will be expected to teach one upper-class course in mathematics. The appointment, which will carry a stipend of $3,000 for the academic year, will normally be for one year but may be renewed for a second year. Application blanks may be obtained from the Dean of the Faculty, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 4, California, and must be returned to that address before March 15, 1947. ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHIY RED CROSS FUND A book end hen in We Marcing Home has been shocked to find how badly the returned soldier, who has risked his life for his country and often been incapacitated for life through so doing, has been treated in all preceding wars. This must not happen in the case of the men who have risked their lives and been incapacitated in serving us in World War II. The American Red Cross is one officialy organized agency through which your contribution and mine helps most effectively in the rehabilitation of the eighty thousand hospital patients who served in both World War II and World War I. The fact that during the year 1945-46 the Red Cross was able to aid in one way or another more than a million veterans and their families who needed assistance is eloquent as to the magnitude of the service which it performs. I know of no other philanthropic agency has so strong and immediate an appeal for the sup-port, to the extent of his ability, of every man and woman in America as does the American Red Cross. Robert A. Millikan GUIDE SERVICE INAUGURATED SPONSORED by the Beavers, undergraduate ser. vice organization, a guide service has been inaugurated on the campus. A Beaver member is on duty weekdays and Saturday from 11 A. M. to 12, and weekdays from 3 to 4 P.M. Five Beavers have been detailed to the guide service: Joe Rosener, chairman, George Austin, Bob Dalton, Rube Kacha-doorian, and Leigh Sheriff. These guides are on duty in the Y.M.C.A. lounge in the basement of Dabney Hall of the Humanities. The functions of the guides are either to direct visitors to specific places on campus or to conduct general tours of the Institute to such places as the liquid air production equipment in Bridge Labora-tory, Guggenheim Aeronautics Laboratory, and the Optics shop where the 200-inch mirror for the Mt. Palomar Observatory is being ground. Information concerning the service or special tours may be obtained by contacting chairman Joe Rosener through the offices of the Dean or the Y.M.C.A. WINTER TERM ENROLLMENT ND of the first term of the 1946-47 school year showed small change in the undergraduate en rollment. The largest drop was among the graduate students, with numbers reduced from 581 to 564. The seniors have added two to their number to a total of 155. Five more men entered the junior class to boost its total enrollment to 212. Sophomore numbers were depleted by 15, from 252 to 237. The freshman class retained the 179 men who started the school year in October. FEBRUARY, 1947 INSTITUTE MEN AT AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY MEETING NSTITUTE faculty and research workers figured prominently in the recent meeting of the American Physical Society at Los Angeles, January 3 and 4 C.I.T.'s President Lee A. DuBridge, who was vice- president of the Society in 1946, presided at the last of the three sessions held Friday morning and afternoon and Saturday morning. Robert F. Christy, associate professor of physics, and Sylvan Rubin '39, National Research Council pre-octoral tellow, jointly presented a paper the ngular Distribution of Alpha-Particles from Li'+ Alone Mr. Rubin discussed the Angular Distribution of Long-range Alpha-particles from Excited Ne". Dr. Christy in collaboration with Mark M. Mills '40 of the Jet Propulsion Laboratories, gave Auger Showers Dr. Christy also presented a longer paper on the DeIgn of a Small Nuclear Reactor. Dr. Howard S. Se ert of JPL with Mr. Mills told of Problems in th Application of Nuclear Energy to Rocket Propulsion. Charles C. Lauritsen, Ph.D. '29, and Thomas Laur-itsen '36 Ph.D. '39, father and son, professor and assistant professor of physics, together with Dr. William A. Fowler Ph.D. '36, also professor in the Physics Department, presented two papers, A Device Introducing Short-lived Radioactive Samples into a Cloud Chamber, and Gamma-Radiation from Be'+ H. Dr. Robert A. Millikan, professor of physics, em- eritus, and vice-president of the Board of Trustees, considered The Interpretation of the East-West Effect. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the Institute received almost as much representation at the meeting as did the Physics Department, for besides Mr. Mills and Dr. Seifert, Dr. Jacob M. Schmidt presented the Atomization of Liquids, and Martin Summerfield M.S. '37, Ph.D. '41, dealt with Escape from the Earth by Multiple-Step Rockets. BASKETBALL VARSITY basketball to date, with 70 per cent of the season passed, shows a middle of the road trend with five wins and five losses. rue tree with fives payed tv does have the registered, over Occidental and Pomona. the outstanding players on the squad. As the score egistered to date show, most of the games playe this year have been hotly contested. There are three league games yet to be played; with Occidental, Redlands and Whittier, followed by a contest March 1 with the San Diego NTC in Sar Diego. Here are the season's scores: Caltech 32 Caltech 43 Loyola 40 Pomona 47 Chapman 48 Caltech 39 Redlands 46 Caltech 40 Whittier 69 Caltech 46 La Verne 27 Chapman 3: Caltech 39 Caltech 35 Caltech 46 Cecide 4l 33 Pomona 38 Caltech 36 La Verne 30 Page 15 FORTIFIED PAPER By J. A. VAN DEN AKKER APER in its ordinary forms is so commonplac and has been with us for so long that one 1 apt to overlook its very great importance in all phases of our economy. During the desperate days after Pearl Harbor, when industry was mobilized for total war, the pulp and paper industry was almost reinforced with modern resins, reacted to the emergency with a combination of zeal and ingenuity that proved to be remarkably prolific. During 1942 and 43, pulp and paper were considered "reasonably available," and many articles needed in the war effort and in the maintenance of civilian life were fabricated with various forms of "fortified paper," thus releasing large tonnages of steel and other critical materials to war industry. The growing substitution of paper for other ma-terials, together with inadequate allotment of manpower to the paper industry and to the cutting of pulpwood, eventually resulted in the paper shortage, which is still with us. The normal uses of paper accounted for huge tonnages. Some of the data are illuminating. During the later months of the war, 90 per cent of the 700,000 articles necessary for the maintenance of our troops overseas were packaged or protected by paper, and a majority of those articles included paper as an integral part. Thirty tons of blueprint paper are required in the construction and fitting of one battleship. Four billion more tabulating cards were used in 1943 than in the preceding year. A description of the normal uses of paper would require a "five-foot shelf" of books. The importance of a material is not, of course, always measured in terms of volume of production. The electrical industry requires various classes of dielectric and insulating papers ranging from dense condenser paper of thickness less than 0.0003 in. in certain grades (the decimal point is in the right place!) to heavy, porous high-voltage cable paper and vulcanized or impregnated fiberboard. Although the total tonnage of electrical papers is not inconsiderable, the technical value of such papers is far out of proportion with their listing in a tabulation of business statistics of the whole paper industry. One is prone to think of paper as something on which to write or print-there is very little publicity on the industrial applications Page 8 of the many grades of paper designed for specific applications. The technical reader may find interest, during the coming months, in making mental note of special applications which have hitherto escaped his attention. BONDING IN TYPICAL PAPERS It is an age-old fact that a strong sheet of paper cannot be formed unless the cellulosic fibers of which it is composed have been subjected, in the presence of water, to a mechanical beating action. The beater causes a partial disruption of the fibers, as manifested by the formation of microscopic and sub-microscopic fibrils (electron micrographs reveal that some of the finer filaments released from the fiber are of diameter less than 100 Angstroms), and, although the entwining of fibrils resulting from the beating contributes to the strength of the paper, it is erroneous to think of the papermaking process as essentially a felting together of the fibers. The important result of beating is believed to be a bonding together of the fibers at points of contact during the drying opera-tion. During the last stages of drying, contacting fbers are pulled together by large localized pressures of capillary origin, and, according to one theory, the hydroxyl groups of the cellulose molecular chains (exposed by the beating action) are brought sufficiently close together for their force fields to be ef-fective; this cohesive bonding is aided by the adhesive effect of a colloidal dispersion of cellulose and of the hemicelluloses formed during the beating process. In view of the fact that the strength of the fiber-to-fiber bonds is greatly inferior to the tensile strength of the fibers, the strength of paper is determined by (among other things) the number and nature of the bonds. The dry strength of paper, in the vast majority of uses, is more than adequate. However, the nature of cellulosic bonding is such that water produces a great weakening; the wet strength of untreated paper is a minute fraction of the dry strength. This unhappy but intrinsic weakness of untreated papers is well known through such common vexations as the paper towel which disintegrates while one dries his hands, the paper bag which fails in its job of carrying home a precious lot of eggs because one egg happens to break and leak, and the newspaper, left in the rain a moment too long, which falls apart if its reader ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY Impregnating machine for the treatment of paper to be used in laminates. Couttesy phene Consplicated the Consolidated Water Power and Paper Company. is imprudent enough to fling it open before the paper dries. For many years, a number of kinds of paper have been made with sizing agents (such as rosin and wax) added to the beater. Such papers resist penetration by water and, hence, display a measure of wet strength if not placed in contact with water for a long period of time. There is a surprisingly large number of uses of paper in which strength is required over short periods of contact with water or aqueous media and, in consequence, the generally employed sizing techniques have been fairly successful. It is obvious, however, that wet strength of paper towels and other absorbing papers cannot be achieved through the use of agents which act through imparting water resistance to the paper. During the decade before the war, the technology of adding low per- centages of polymerizing resins was developed. The resin (usually urea-or melamine-formaldehyde) is added to the fiber in a water soluble form (monomer or low degree of polymerization) and is subsequently cured on the driers of the paper machine. Paper fabricated by this process can be made both absorbent and adequately strong when wet. The better paper towels, in which the fibers are bonded together with a polymerized resin, can be used as wash cloths, and may be re-used a number of times. WARTIME DEVELOPMENTS Some of our earliest shipments of supplies to the South Pacific in domestic-type paperboard containers suffered tragic losses. In many instances the conditions of battle were such that cargoes could not be transferred in normal manner to lighters or docks. It was necessary for our supply ships to speed to a supply point, drop their cargoes into the sea, and make a hopeful dash for safety. Subsequently, our men on shore fished the supplies from the water. Containers of the domestic type simply disintegrated. It appeared that wooden boxes and crates would be required for all overseas shipping; however, analysis of the lumber supply showed that there would not be FEBRUARY, 1947 sufficient lumber to satisfy the needs of global ship-ping. The industry met the challenge of producing paperboard boxes of strength, rigidity, and durability at least the equal of nailed or wirebound wooden boxes in the so-called "V-board" boxes. The "solid-fiber" kraft board (so named to distinguish it from corrugated board) was comprised of laminations bonded together with waterproof glues such as the rather remarkable combination of urea-formaldehyde resin and starch. V-board, of thickness of about 0.1 in., was manufactured to a specification of more than 750 lb/in. dry bursting strength (pressure differential over a circular orifice of one square inch area) and more than 500 lb /in. after a 24 hour immersion in water. It was conservatively estimated in 1943 that the V box program was equivalent to conserving 1500 carloads of lumber per month. Improvements were made in the V boxes and, eventually, it was found that a number of classes of supplies could be shipped more satisfactorily in them than in wooden boxes. The conservation of steel during the war by substitution of paper products is noteworthy. The steel grommets employed for the handling and protection of bombs were replaced by laminated chipboard rings which, except for a thin outer band of steel, were made from waste paper; it has been estimated that the metal conserved by the paper rings was more than 50,000 tons per year. Cylindrical paper containers for oil and paint conserved about 90,000 tons; a variety of new folding and set-up boxes replaced about 125, 000 tons of metal per year, and large tonnages of pliofilm, rubber, and cellophane were also conserved. The molded fiber industry employed phenolics in the production of such items as flash-light cases, alarm-clock cases, walky-talky battery cases, special Page 9 cannisters, and instrument cases. Huge tonnages of steel (in the form of drums) and of burlap, cotton, and wood were released through the successful development of the multiwall paper bag, which has been used for the shipment of nany commodities formerly shipped in drums or slack wood barrels, such as cal. cium chloride, soda ash, bicarbonate of soda, ammonium nitrate, and rosin. These bags are used by the hundreds of millions for the shipment of chemical fertilizer, and a larger number is consumed by the cement industry. The complete list of wartime substitutions of paper for critical inaterials is impressive. One of the most interesting exhibits in Washington during the war years was that prepared by the Pulp and Paper Division of WPB's War Products Development Section, to which credit is due for an effective job in serving as a clearing house for the armed forces and industry and in co-ordinating the efforts of the paper industry. Great improvements had to be made in paper itself. Battles cannot be won if the maps and other vital papers carried by the troops fail to withstand repeated wetting by rain, mud, and swims in jungle streams or ocean water. It is necessary that such papers withstand, without danger of failure, the wip ing off of mud, blood, or grease. Papers for maps, charts, and manuals having amazing wet strength and durability were fortified with resins which were polymerized on the paper machines in a manner similar to that previously mentioned. Only small percentages of resins (just sufficient to produce strong, water-resistant bonds between the cellulosic fibers) were employed, so that the paper retained its essential physical and structural properties. Some people like to think of paper as a skeletal web, the voids of which may be filled with an opaci-fying agent such as clay, titanium dioxide, or other "fller," and the surfaces of which may be coated with the conventional "coating color" (essentially an aqueous slurry of casein and clay) to improve the printing quality-or the surfaces may be sealed with a continuous film of wax, asphalt, or moisture-impervious plastic to yield a moistureproof sheet. During the Page 10 war the manufacturers of rag-content map paper developed the technology of filling the voids of the paper with fluorescent pigments. The fluorescent map papers so produced were of considerable value in night military operations; by the use of small ultraviolet lamps equipped with filters which eliminate the visible radiation, the deleterious effect of map reading on the dark adaptation of the observer's eyes was mitigated, and the chance of attracting the enemy's attention was rendered negligible. When printed with two or more inks containing fluorescent pigments displaying different colors, fluorescent maps are beautiful to behold. (Needless to say, the choice of colors and pigments was such that the maps could be employed in ordinary light!) Lens paper was one of the tremendous trifles of the war. The pre-war rate of production of lens paper was, of course, completely inadequate for the job of cleaning the large number of optical devices and instruments used by the Navy and Army. Moreover, lens paper was composed of Mitsumata fiber, the supply of which was cut off by hostilities in the Pacific. A number of experts must have shuddered at the thought of wiping fine optical parts with tissues prepared from domestic fibers. However, one of the large tissue mills produced satisfactory, grit-free lens paper by the carload on huge, high-speed equipment. Paper has long been employed as a base for Bakelite and other plastics. During the war a considerable amount of developmental research was done on resin-impregnated paper which, in the form of many layers, could be cured at low pressure to produce a dense, hard, and strong plastic laminate*. Used on a limited scale by war industries, the new paper-base plastics were not sufficiently well developed early in the war for widespread use in aircraft, marine craft, and ma-teriel. However, their mechanical and physical prop-erties, some of which are presented later, indicate numerous, interesting peacetime applications. "LOW-PRESSURE" PAPER-BASE LAMINATES In a general way, it was expected that the strength of a laminate would depend upon the elastic constants angel of the con in are ed it Fee ca ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY "Consoweld" Galvin and ammunition boxes. Courtesy of the Consolidated Water Power and Paper Company. of both the resin and fiber (but not on the strength characteristics of the unimpregnated paper), and that the moduli of elasticity of the resin should be comparable with those of the fiber. The fiber-resin system is not amenable to mathematical analysis and, therefore, the successful development of papreg involved numerous experiments of the typical "experi-ment station" variety. At length, optimum factors relative to sheet composition and characteristics were found. Research on resins was, of course, vitally con-commitant with the work on paper. In the manufacture of papreg, a continuous web of suitable paper is impregnated with resin (usually phenol- or urea-formaldehyde) in soluble or depoly-merized form. After passage through the impregnating bath and squeeze rolls, most of the solvent is driven from the web in a drying operation. The product obtained-now ready for any one of a variety of hot pressing operations-contains a substantial percentage (usually 30 to 40 per cent) of incompletely polymerized resin; it is fairly hard and is not tacky of sticky, so that it may be shipped and stored in rolls or in the form of packages of cut sheets. In the production of flat stock, a number of sheets of the resin-impregnated paper are placed between the platens of a hydraulic press, and the pressure and temperature are elevated in accordance with a definite schedule. During the initial stages the resin is thermoplastic and the sheets, then quite flexible, become intimately bonded together. The pressure employed de-pends, of course, on the type of product employed, but is relatively low, being less than 250 lb /in. and, in certain types, less than 100 lb/in. In a short time the molecules of the resin polymerize (as a result of the elevated temperature) to produce the desired hardness and mechanical properties in the papreg; the material, no longer thermoplastic, may then be removed from the press without cooling. As in the production of resin-bonded plywood, the only limitation on the thickness of fat stock obtainable with steam-heated platens is that associated with the conduction of heat to the central plane. Without doubt slabs of considerable thickness could be produced with presses equipped for dielectric heating. A most important advantage of the new plastic laminates is the fact that they can be formed with bag-molding operations like the Vidal and Duramold pro-cesses, using low-pressure equipment. As is well known, bag-molding of plastic laminates eliminates the need, in many operations, of employing large and excessively expensive dies. Large, curved bodies of complex shape FEBRUARY, 1947 (such as the hull of a rowboat) are formed in an auto-clave. Although there are several bag-molding tech-niques, the general principle may be illustrated by two methods. In one procedure, the sheets of resin-impreg-nated paper are laid over a wooden die (the process of cutting and laying on is something of an art), the whole is enclosed in a rubber bag and placed in an autoclave, and steam of the desired pressure and temperature is admitted to the autoclave. The other method utilizes a semi-cylindrical autoclave resembling a Quonset hut. In this case, the bottom surface of the wooden die is flat and is placed in contact with the floor of the autoclave. A rubber bag occupying the space between the die and the inner surface of the autoclave is then inflated with steam, thus being made to exert pressure against the laminations. In these operations the small thickness of the resin-impregnated paper permits the latter to be bent around sharply curved surfaces. In a qualitative manner a phenolic laminate may be described as being hard, stiff, strong, wear-resistant (in the presence of water as well as when dry); its color, usually light brown, is dependent upon the color of the resin and fiber and may be adjusted, through the use of dyestuffs, in an appreciable area of chromaticity; its density is about twice that of ordinary paper, but only half the density of aluminum. It is not ductile and cannot be formed in dies, but it can be machined. The brittle nature of phenolic resins is offset by the toughening action of the cellulosic fibers and, although the impact resistance of phenolic laminates (Charpy or Izod) leaves something to be desired, ruptures are not readily propagated by cracks. The material is an-isotropic, exhibiting different mechanical properties in the three principal directions if not cross-banded (the fact that the fibers in a paper sheet are not randomly oriented accounts for a "grain" effect); how-ever, in building up a laminate, the individual sheets may be cross-banded, as in the fabrication of plywood, to yield equality of mechanical properties in the two principal directions parallel with the laminations. Some of the important characteristics of phenolic Page 1t "Kimpreg" surfaced plywood tables in the "Quonseteria. Courtesy of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation. the time of writing, of the commercial construction in Milwaukee of a 19-ft cabin cruiser in which the hull, cabin, decking, flooring, and many other parts are fabricated from paper-base laminate. It is said that the weight of the finished cruiser, 900 lb, is more than 50 per cent less than that of a conventional wooden cruis. er of the same size. An advantage claimed in the announcement is the avoidance of caulking through the use of the new water-proof resin glues. The company making the announcement states that a number of row, sail, and outboard boats have been built with the paper-base laminates are presented in Table I. The values given are not exact, but are intended only to give the reader the orders of magnitude of the properties. Of special interest is the high ratio of strength to weight of papreg. To be comparable on this basis, a light-metal alloy having twice the density of papreg should have a tensile strength in the range of 50,000 - 70,000 lb/ in.2. The stiffness of bar or plate of papreg is especially noteworthy. It is well known that the flexural rigidity of a plate or curved member increases with the cube of its thickness; that is to say, for the same weight, the stiffness of members of different materials should be compared on the basis of the ratio of the modulus of elasticity to the cube of the dens-ity. As an illustration, a light-metal alloy of density twice that of papreg would not be comparable on this basis unless its modulus of elasticity were of the order of 20,000,000 lb / in. This underscores the value of paper-base laminates in stressed - skin and monocoque structures where weight is an important considera-tion, as exemplified by prefabricated houses, mobile craft of all sorts, household and business ar-ticles, concrete forms, etc. This advantage is recognized in ply-wood, which was used extensively in the production of high-speed aircraft in England during the war. Announcement is made, at Page 12 TABLE Some Properties of Phenolic Paper-Base Laminate Parallel Laminated Cross Laminated Pressure, 75 75 Temperature, 'F 325 325 Time (1/8 in. thick), min 12 Specific gravity 1.4 1.4 Tension, Ib/in. Ultimate, with grain 36,000 25,000 Ultimate, across grain 18,000 Modulus of elasticity, with grain 3,000,000 2,200,000 Modulus of elasticity, across grain 1,500,000 Compression, Ib/in. Ultimate, flatwise 40,000 40,000 Ultimate, edgewise with grain 19,000 18,000 Ultimate, edgewise across grain 17,000 Flexure, Ib/in. 32,000 26,000 Modulus of rupture, across grain 20,000 Modulus of elasticity, with grai 3,000,000 2,000,000 Modulus of elasticity, across grai 1,500,000 Shear, Johnson double, Ib/in Edgewise, across grain 15,000 14,000 Edgewise, with grain 13,000 Flatwise, across grain 15,000 14,000 Flatwise, with grain 13,000 Impact, Izod, ft Ib/in. notch Flatwise, with grain 5.0 4.0 Flatwise, across grain 2.0 Hardness, Rockwell M100 M100 Water absorption, per cent 1/8 in. x 2 in. x 2 in. specimen, 24 hr 3 3 ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY plastic laminate, and that "high reports on their durability under severe usage" have been received. Another advantage of papreg lies in its internal friction or damping capacity, which is high, relative to that of metals of the types employed in structures. Vibrations originating in engines, for example, are readily transmitted throughout metal structures, and stresses may rise to perhaps dangerously high values where a condition of resonance or near-resonance ex-ists. These undesirable phenomena are greatly reduced in plastic structures. Of course, a structural element which is directly linked with a strongly oscillating member, and is thereby subjected to intensive vibrational stress, should be of a metal alloy having high fatigue endurance—a property ordinarily associated with low internal friction. Plywood surfaced with paper-base laminate is attractive in both appearance and technical properties. In the production of this interesting material, the plywood is sandwiched between layers of the partially cured resin-impregnated paper, and the combination is bonded together between the heated platens of a hydraulic press. In the case of woods (like Douglas fir) used in the manufacture of plywood having excellent strength properties but poor appearance, the surfacing with the paper-base laminate greatly extends the range of application. In all cases, however, surface layers of the strong laminate (applied in optimum thickness) greatly increase the flexural strength of the material —the laminate is applied at the greatest possible distance from the neutral plane of the combination, where it can do the most good. Recalling our considerations of density, we note that we are here dealing with a material having a core of quite low density and, hence, for a given weight, great stiffness. Plywood surfaced with paper-base laminates is avail. able from a number of plywood manu-facturers, and is finding wide application in such diversified fields as air-craft, automotive vehicles, boats, box-es, trunks, building construction (in- cluding a variety of farm structures), furniture, freight and passenger cars, and refrigerators. It is greatly superior to ordinary plywood in the follow- "Kimpreg" surfaced plywood used for the manufacture of pre-cast stone. forms will withstand in of These 100 cast. ing operations. Courtesy of the Kimberly- Clark Corporation. FEBRUARY, 1947 ing properties: water absorbtion (very low), abrasion resistance, resistance to weathering, water-vapor permeability (considerably lower than that of asphalt-laminated building paper), hardness, strength, chemical stability, resistance to termites, fungus, etc., and appearance. It is sometimes helpful, in appraising a new develop-ment, to obtain an overall picture of what has been done. The industry starts with wood (pulpwood-much of which is not suitable for lumber), in which the cellulosic fibers are bonded together with lignin. In the chemical pulping process, the lignin is taken into solu-tion, and the fibers are separated, screened and washed, and built into a web of paper. Resin is then added to bond the fibers together to form a paper-base laminate. What has been gained in obtaining a product more expensive than wood? The trend in the process is somewhat analogous to that in the manufacture of plywood. The cost of producing plywood is balanced by the advantages gained, some of which are greatly improved uniformity of the material (resulting from the multiplicity of plies), greater strength, more nearly uniform strength in all directions of the material, and elimination of warping and splitting. In the production of pa-per-base laminate, these improvements are intensified. Uniformity of the product is much greater, because the fibers from tons of wood pulp are mixed, and because all steps in the process are controllable. Most import-ant, however, is the fact that lignin, which is water-sensitive, has been replaced by a bonding agent which is stronger and does not lose its strength in the presence of water. Plywood surfaced with paper-base laminate is an excellent example of the application of engineering economics to the optimization of factors involved in the combination of products of substantially different cost to obtain an excellent material which can be feasibly employed in a wide variety of applications. he is chairman of the Technical Committee of the United Smoke Council which is working on methods of smoke elimination to be extended throughout Allegheny County during the next year. Through the Allegheny Civic Club, he also is actively engaged in projects concerning stream pollution and pure water supply. He is section chief of the National Ski Patrol and Wilderness Patrol in the Allegheny Mountains and serves as chairman of the finance committee of the Unitarian Church. FRANK STREIGHTOFF '40 BACK AT LILLY MINCE his graduation from California Institute ir 1940, Frank Streightoff has acquired further edu cation, two jobs, a discharge button and four new dependents. With his B.S. in biology in hand, Frank Streightoff entered the University of Chicago where he studied biology and pathology for one year. In November, 1941, he joined the firm of Eli Lilly and Company, pharmaceutical manufacturers, where he was employed in the Biological Research Department. In May, 1942, Streightoff entered the Army as food nutrician technician. Shortly after his entrance into service, Frank married Ann Mitchell of Indian-apolis. Streightoff served the Army until December, 1945, when he was discharged from the Vitamin Retention Laboratory he had set up for the Army in Washington, D.C. Mr. Streightoff is the father of two daughters and a very young son. He has reentered the employ of the Lilly company in Indianapolis. See Braun for * Electronic photometers * Fluorescence meters *Glass cell photoelectric colorimeters * Glass color filters * Gloss meters * Illuminators * Infrared spectrophotometers Magor ros Po ket-sir and table models, Microscopes: all types, to fit your needs Polaroid laboratory products * Reflection meters * Refractometers * Ultraviolet outfits (portable) Bring your problem to us! Call TRinity 6031 or write to: BRAUN CORPORATION 2260 EAST ISTH ST., LOS ANGELES, CALIE., U.S.A. San Francisco, Calitornia Seattle, Washington BRAUN KNECHT-HEIMANN-CO. SCIENTIFIC SUPPLIES CO. PERSONALS 1921 HAROLD O. FLETCHER has left Pasadena to take up residence at Lonely Valley Ranch, Saugus, California. WILLIAM C. DREYER is employed vice Department of the Westinghouse Corporation. 1925 DWIGHT O. SMITH, whose whereabouts have been unknown to the Alum-i Association for sometime, is with the American Baptist Mission in Rangoon Burma. Mrs. Smith is living in Redlands, California at present. 1927 RICHARD M. DODGE has recently moved to San Gabriel, California. The resignation of JOHN H. MAX-SON, Ph.D. 1947. position in the petroleum industry. ROLAND W. REYNOLDS is now living in Long Beach, California. 1929 RICHARD G. ROFELTY is now residing in Vancouver, Washington. FEBRUARY, 1947 WILLIAM LITTEL BERRY has moved to Sacramento where he is now employed by the Division of Water Re- sources, Department Public Works, of the State California. THOMAS H. EVANS, head of the Department Civil Engineering Georgia Tech. recently been at pointed chairman of the Athletic Coun cil of the faculty. HERBERT H. DEARDORFF visited Alumni Office recently while in ation Francipres halifornia At present Herberr is living JACK PRITCHETT is on temporary ransfer with the Western of the Engineer Board. ruary, he will go to Las Vegas, Nevada where he will take up the duties of chief engineer at the Army Airfield. ion of civil engineer with the Engineer Office at Sacramento, Califor WILLIAM BERGREN, Ph.D. in biology '41, is employed by U. S. C. as a research associate, working on nutrition at their Monrovia Clinic. He also main- tains a consulting practice on the side. LOUIS A. PIPES, M.S. '34 and Ph.D. in electrical engineering '36, , has ecently written a book matics for Engineers and Physicists, pub lished Mr. Pipes, Research and Electronics Division, Hughes ly assistant Aircraft Company, was foeme professor engineerin ciences and applied physics at Harvar University book has where the been material in the used in the Graduate School of Engineering during the past five years. 1934 JAMES R. CAMPBELL is employed with the Paul Henry Company of Los Angeles. PAUL KARTZKE has been transferred to Bakersfield. California as divi- sion manager for Shell Oil Company. RZA F. PORTER has taken a p tion in the Design Department of th C. F. Braun Company of Alhambra, California. ALFRED I. SWITZER has returned to his prewar position in the U.S. En-ineer Office in Los Angeles as assistan hief of the Civil Works Branch, Engi- neering Division. During the war he held the rank of major in the Corps of Engineers. From March, 1945, to June, 1946, he was in the Philippine Islands as chief of the Engineering Division of the General Engineer District, which was WILLIAM W. MOORE has elected president of the Structural En- gineers Association of Northern Cali- member of the en- formering first Dames & Moore. Page 19 GARFORD GORDON is now resid- ing in Los Angeles, California. HUGH M. O'NEIL recently an- nounced the establishment of his and, the trengineer Compan tion, the H. M. Con- sulting Engineers, of Oakland, Califor nia will continue in the business of designing industrial plants and commercial DR. R. W. DODSON, assistant pro- fessor of chemistry, has DR. SIMON RAMO, research direc-cor of Hughes Aircraft Company, ciate in electrical engineering MAURICE SKLAR has been the Midland, Texas office of ROBERT B. VAILE, lost for time to the Alumni Association, is living at present in Western Springs, Illinos. EUCLID V. WATTS has been named general chairman for the spring meet- tute's Pacific Coast Division of Produc He is employed with the General JOSE PULIDO ORTIZ reports from Mexico that as of December last year, he has been appointed as director of the Maritime Works, Sec- DAVID H. SCOTT is now located in Bakersfield, California. ALEXANDER F. BREWER recently moved from Hollywood to Wilmington, ROBERT W. WAYMAN is chief de sion Division of General Motors, manufacturers of the Hydra-matic transmis- Oldsmobile and Cadillac sions used in During the war his divi vehicles including and M24 light tanks and the General Pershing heavy tanks. CHARLES H. WILTS, M.S. '41, Na- Fellow, has received ssistant professor of applied mechanic He is employed with the Southern Counties Gas Com- ROSS ALTON BUCHANAN was re- cently married to Miss Marion Doherty of San Francisco. couple is living in the bay city IS employed with the HERBERT J. CABRAL is working its East Pittsburgh plant. LEWIS LEROY GRIMM is now liv- ing in Temple City, California. JAMES G. KERR has a new job with University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. JOSEPH STEWART MARTIN has moved from Monterey to South Pasa- JOHN NELSON is taking graduate HANS NEUTZEL has left the Los Angeles City Department of Water and to accept employment with U. S. Department of Commerce, Tech-After receiving instructions in Washing- with headquar sad in echoe ded anglese dy e man advances in hydraulics, old daughter reside in Los Angeles. WALTER L. MOORE, recently a re- search engineer with Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, has been appointed asso- ciate professor of hydraulics at the University his of Texas. He will take up new duties in In 1944, Moore was awarded the February Collingwood Prize of the American Society of Civil Engineers for the best paper presented by a junior member in the preceding RICHARD B. FOR WARD is now living in Santa Barbara, Forward was awarded the Distinguished HENRY T. NAGAMATSU recently moved to West Los Angeles, California. VERNER F. H. SHOMAKEL granted leave of absence for the 1947-48 School er is an assistant professor of chemistry Naval Supply Center, Sup Marians Corporation of America. Jhe Unitedhitates. time he will return to ROBERT B. LEIGHTON, M.S. '44 National Research Council Predoctoral Fellow in Physics, has been made a research fellow in physics. ROGER BRANDT recently Pennsylvania, to Weatogue, Con-STEWART DAVIS is presently em- with the Western pany in Allentown, Pennsylvania. wart was married on July 20, 1946. JOHN A. DRAKE has moved to Bal-boa, California. FRANK A. FLECK is now working at Aircraft Company WILLIAM B. HICKS works as sales engineer for U. Rubber Company and is living in Pasadena. Field, California is back home in Los moved to Rosemead, California. WILLIAM S. TATLOCK returned to the beginning of December. Squadron Three, which operated in the He is planning to re-enter col- lege in the fall for work on a Master's degree in chemistry. DONALD GUY FURST is now resid- ing in Whittier, California. MARCUS HALL is now working with the Brown Bevis Equipment Company. NORMAN H. HOROWITZ, fellow senior in research at the Institute, was recently appointed associate protessor of biology. Professor Horowitz came to the Institute After in July graduating from Stanford. of Pittsburgh, from University the Dr. Horowitz held fellow- ships at both the California Institute and Stanford prior to his recent ap pointment. DAVID R. ARNOLD recently mov. ed from Menlo Park, California to Los Altos, California. EDWARD I. BROWN is now residing in Ocean Park, California. STANLEY SAYE is the father of a baby girl, Marilyn, born CHARLES P. STRICKLAND, JR. has a position in the sales division of the York Corporation, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, WILLIAM C. THOMPSON, JR. is Test Station at Inyokern, California. by North American Aircraft in wood, California. ROGER CLAPP reports that he is working at Hughes Aircraft Company in Culver City along SON with TECK WIL- DICK LAGERSTROM JOHN TABER. and cently clayed at North American who is em-nearby. BENJAMIN S. HALNE IIl is employed by General Petroleum Company. J. R. JACOBSEN is working with the Radioplane Company at the Metropoli an Airport in Van Nuys, California ALLEN MACHINE & TOOL CO. Designers and Builders of Special Machinery and Tools Also General Machine Work 13409 S. Alameda Street Compton, California Phones: NEvada 6-2707 • NEwmark 1-8190 Process Industries Steam Plants Municipal Works MERRILL BERKLEY INSTRUMENTS AND CONTROLS Recording PRospect May" PRospect 9136 Integrating Indicating Regulating 1151 SOUTH BROADWAY LOS ANGELES 15 Page 20 ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE FEBRUARY, 1947 UBLISHED BY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ALUMNI ASSOCIATIO! GOOD NEWS from General Electric FOR CAR OWNERS ... a new lifetime finish FOR TRAVELERS ... peacetime radar Radar is being used both on ships and planes to cut down the hazards of traveling in the dark, in fog, or in storms. For planes, the General Electrie Electronics De- partment will soon produce a radar unit weighing only about 100 pounds, signed to increase the effi-clency of "all-weather" airline operations. For ships there is the G-E"electronie navigator," which uses radar to detect the position of above-water obstacles. FOR FARMERS ... a stock drinking cup A finish that will retain its original brightness and gloss as long as your car lasts that is the goal which General Electric chemists hope to reach with silicone resins, the new materials derived from sand. They predict that the finish will be perfected within five years. The paint is already under test. It has proved highly resistant to severe weather condi- tions, chemicals and heat. Immersed in acid and alkali solutions that would cause today's finishes to deteriorate, silicone-treated panels have remained unmarred. FOR SMOKERS ... leakproof cigaret paper A new G-E fault detector makes possible the production of a cigaret paper that is virtually leakproof- free of those pesky little holes that sometimes cause a cigaret to draw improperly. Not only holes but minute imperfections in the paper are detected electronically by the instrument. In addition to adding to smokers' pleasure, the new device will be used industrially for inspecting paper, sheet rub-ber, sheet mica, plasties and other materials. GENERAL - 1844 FOR G-E EMPLOYEES ... life incomes after retirement A steady life income after retirement is offered all G-E employees under provisions of a hundred-million-dollar pension plan recently announced by General Electric. For the average employee this will mean a retirement income several times as large as the annuity he could ordinarily buy. Income at retirement, when added to Social Security payments, will amount to about 50% of average pay for the employee who has spent his working years with the Company. Other G-E "job dividends," those extras that employees get in addition to wages, in-clue ins rene, vacaten with ELECTRIC One of the latest direct applications of electricity to the farm is an electrically heated automatic stock drinking cup. A clean, fresh, year-round, outdoor water supply for livestock is now possible with this drinking cup. Designed for use in sub-zero weather, it consists of a Calrod-heated drinking cup, enclosed in a durable metal housing, and fed from the farm water supply system by an electrically heated water pipe. Livestock simply nose down a treadle in the base of the cup, causing water to flow automatically. A thermostat automatically maintains the water in the cup and pipe at a temperature safely above freezing. FOR HOMEMAKERS ... the Circline lamp The Circline lamp is a circular fluorescent lamp. A 32 watt bulb of this type gives as much light as a 100-watt incandescent lamp. These lamps, which set a new style in lighting, shed a soft, cool light from a diffused area instead of a single lighting BY-LINES HARRY W. ANDERSON Harry derson, W. vice An- dent of presi-General Motors in charge of personnel, was graduated from the Detroit Col- lege of Law in 1913. After work- ing for the Union Title & Guarantee Company he served with the United States Air Force World War I. In 1919 he joined the legal department of United Motors Service, a subsidiary of General Motors. Since that time he has had a variety of service with the Corporation, in its legal department serving and as assistant to Mr. C. E. Wilson, then vice president of the Corporation. Mr. Anderson was transferred to the labor relations staff of the depart- ment in 1934, assumed charge of the Personnel Staff in December of 1941, and has been vice president since January 5, 1942. J. A. VAN DEN AKKER Dr. J. A. Van den Akker gradu- ated from the In- stitute with the class of '26 in physics and engi-neering. After fin- ishing his doctoral work in 1930 he became instructor in physics at Washington University, St. Louis, where he carried on teaching and research activities until 1935. that year he was appointed head of the physics department at The Institute of Paper Chemistry, Appleton, Wis- consin, where his work is graduate school teaching and research in applied physics. activities of During the war, the the physics department were confined largely to the physics of materials of interest to the Quartermaster Corps and the War Production Board. COVER CAPTION South entrance to the Charles Arms Laboratory Sciences. of the Geological Gift of the late Mr. and of Mrs. for invertebrate paleontology are in Arms, as well as laboratory facilities for minerology and petrology. Arms Laboratory was built in 1938 as one of two units for the study of geological sciences at the California Insti-tute. The other building, the Seeley W. Mudd Laboratory, was constructed n the same year, and houses admin-strative offices, the entire meteorol- ogy department, and facilities for study and research in vertebrate paleontology. FEBRUARY, 1947 ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE monthly The Truth Shall Make You Free CONTENTS FOR FEBRUARY, 1947 Management's Responsibility for Discipline By H. W. Anderson Fortified Paper By J. A. Van den Akker C.I.T. News Alumni News 3 8 14 17 ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY Published at the California Institute of Technology EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Hugh Colvin, '36, Chairman; J. E. Wallace Sterling, Professor of History and Government, Richard H. Jahns, '35, Associate Professor of Geology; Langdon Hedrick, President of the Associated Student Body. Editorial Consultant: George R. MacMinn, Professor of English STAFF: Editor-in-Chief-Hugh F. Colvin, '36 Business ManagerWesley P. Bunnelle Managing Editor-Wesley P. Bunnelle Circulation Manager-W. D. Sellers, '25 Associate and News Editor-Jean Barker without written authorization. Page 1 What is Profit? 1. Before people can have such things as shoes and gasoline and vacuum cleaners, at least two things are necessary. Someone has to provide the "tools" and raw materials you need to make those products. And someone has to perform the labor of turning them out. 2. Now if you're going to ask a man to put all his labor into the production of gasoline and petroleum products for other people-instead of expending it on things for his family and himself-you obviously have to compensate him in some way. Under our American economic system we do this with wages. 3. By the same token, if you're going to ask a man to put his money into "tools" and raw materials that will produce gaso line for other people-instead of spending it on things for his family and himself-you have to compensate him in some way. So we offer the "tool-provider" a chance to make a profit. 4. Ar Union Oil, for example, 34,970 individual Americans have put up varying amounts of money to provide the refineries, drilling rigs, service stations, etc., that we need to make and distribute petroleum products. If the company makes a profit these people-called shareholders-are rewarded with cash dividends. 5. As a rule, about half the profits are olowed back into more "tools" and half are paid out in cash dividends. But the total profits each year are much smaller than most people think. In 1945, for ex-ample, they amounted to only 5.9% on the capital invested in the company - less than 6¼é out of each dollar the company took in. 6. It seems to us that this is certainly not an unfair reward for the contribution these "tool-providing" people have made to the company. And without this profit incentive we Americans could never have achieved the high productivity and efficiency that have made this country great. UNION OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA Page 2 This series, sponsored by the people of Union Oil Company, is dedicated to a discussion of how and why American business functions. We hope you'll feel free to send in any suggestions or criticisms you have to offer. Write: The President, Union Oil Company, Union Oil Bldg., Los Angeles 14, Calif. AMERICA'S FIFTH FREEDOM IS FREE ENTERPRISE ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE monthly Vol. X, No. 2 February, 1947 Management's Responsibilty for Discipline By H. W. ANDERSON The accompanying address was presented by H. W. Ander-son, Vice President in Charge, Personnel Staff, General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Michigan, on January, 27, 1947, at dinner-discussion meeting held in the Music Room of the Bilt-more Hotel, Los Angeles, under the auspices of the Industrial Relations Section. Reprints of this article Relations Section of the are available from the Industrial California Institute of Technology. HIS analysis of "Management's Responsibility for Discipline" covers the experience of General Motors over a period of many years in more than 100 plants, employing a large number of people, varying from 150,000 to half a million, supervised by some 20,000 foremen and supervisors. In view of discussion of some of the to the fundamental prin- ciples of our disciplinary policies, with a few case illustrations. It has become quite customary to pose the general subject of discipline and then talk about its roughet and rather minor manifestations. The subject is, of course, broader than such treatment would indicate. Discipline is a fundamental which makes it possible for folks to work together. Unless a group tecog nizes and observes the adjustments requisite for unity of purpose, the enterprise cannot succeed. First, I want to discuss the usual everyday plant disciplinary special prob Problems, and later I will go into em involved in dealing with wildcat strikes in violation of agreement terms. SHOP DISCIPLINE Much has been said and written about discipline in the shop. Unfortunately, the word "discipline" has for most persons a harsh connotation which is not justified by the actual application of the term to shop disciplinary situations. Shop discipline in General Motors does not mean strict observance of rigid rules and regulations. On the contrary, it means working, cooperating, and be- FEBRUARY, 1947 having in a normal way as anyone would expect an employee to do. For example, "discipline" means: Reporting for work regularly, on time, and without unnecessary absences; Doing a fair day's work; Respecting the prestige and authority of supervision; Obeying reasonable orders and carrying out job assignments; Cooperating with others; and, in general, Conducting oneself in a reasonable and orderly manner. The maintenance of discipline in a plant is a Man- responsibility. We in General Motors discipline to be a matter of Manage inalienable right or prerogative-it is sponsibility-st in a primary part of the job af man- the business. When Management vields this responsibiliti or agrees to share it with others, it has tailed in its duty to manage. I think this concept of the matter of responsibility for discipline was ver Taylor, well stated by Dr. George W. who enjoyed an enormous experience with the problem as impartial umpire and as Vice Chair man and Chairman of the National War Labor Board: Discipline as a Duty Instead of considering only the right to discharge, perhaps we should ponder briefly why management must undertake discipline at times as a duty. Management's job is to run a plant efficiently. Instead of viewing discipline and discharge as an unchallengeable right, I should like to suggest that it be conceived as a heavy responsibility that frequently cannot be avoided if the interests of the workforce and of the company are to be protected. Every progressive executive will recog Page 3 nize that the discipline function is not a license to be tough or capricious but a phase of maintaining an efficient working It is closely related selection of employees. Excessive use of disciplinary measures is often a symptom of a poor selection or assignment or of an inadequate training program. hinders the productive possibilities of other employees, man- If management retains not so much the right but the duty to discipline when the effective operation of the working force requires it, one need have no fears about the reviewability of In the earlier days of collective bargaining, some of the less experienced union leaders insisted upon negotiating shop rules and penalties with resisted the demand on the grounds that such a sharing of Management's responsibility would be unsound from Management's point of view and equally unsound from the Union's standpoint. We pointed out that the Union its proper function of representing the employee and protecting his interest if it assumed any part of Man. agement's function of setting disciplinary penalties. the Union should agree with Management as to what a proper penalty should be in a case, it would foreclose its right to protest the penalty. The Union should be in a position to protest any action taken by Management on the grounds that the discipline is unfair, unjust, dis-criminatory, lacks cause, which forecloses the right of an employee his case appealed to the highest authority in the grievance procedure is basically unsound. This has been our position every time a union insisted on negotiating rules and penalties. We believe the wiser heads of the Union realize that our position is sound and realistic, because we have not heard anything about this subject from the experienced Union lead- In General Motors, Management establishes the rules and it disciplines for violations. The Union is free to challenge the application of any rule in a given situation and it can "walk the last mile" with a disciplined employee without embarrassment. Several basic principles govern our application of shop rules. Some of these were hammered out the hard way! 1. The employee is entitled to know the rules. In every plant of General Motors the shop rules are posted in conspicuous places throughout the plant. Most plants also include the rules in handbooks given to employees. The rules are written in simple language which can be understood by all. Page 4 2. Management accepts the full responsibility for assessing discipline. It is the toreman's job to maintain discipline in his department. It is his job to assess penalties for infractions. He may consult his superiors for advice in some cases, but the final responsibility is his. He may discharge on the spot for very serious infrac tions. He often suspends the employee, pending : complete investigation. We have learned that a cas which appears to be simple can become very comples and involved by the time it goes through the various steps of the grievance procedure. It pays to have all the facts before the discipline is set. We have no mechanical formula for establishing disciplinary penalties. It cannot be done with a slide rule. We do have a penalty spread for viola tion of each posted rule. This specifies a minimun and a maximum within which the penalties are set. In arriving at the proper discipline within the spread, the foreman takes into consideration four factors: 1. Seriousness of the offense 2. Past record of the employee 3. Circumstances surrounding the particular case 4. Plant practice in similar cases 3. Management is willing to have its disciplinary actions reviewed, after the fact, by an impartial Umpire to determine in an impartial way whether the action was for cause and fair in the light of all the facts and circumstances. Our labor agreements provide for an impartial Impire as the terminal step of the grievance cedure. Under these agreements, Management Pro. gates to the Umpire full discretion in the case of shop rule violations. Any employee who is disciplined can file a grievance, and the Union has the right to po cess the a throug the grieva procedure u to the Umpire. the facts and circumstances, can decide whether Management's action was proper. He has the power to revoke the penalty and award reinstatement and full back pay for time lost, or he may modify the pen- alty and award We make no claim that this method of handling lisciplinary problems is perfect. But it does worl well; we continually learn as we go along The Umpire machinery under our agreement with the UAW has been functioning for more than five years. During this period, more than 50o disciplin ary cases have been decided by the Umpire. decisions deal with a wide variety of disciplinary situations and they stake out the guide posts for handling similar cases. This backlog of decisions forms a kind of common law which is used by both Management and the Union in appraising cases. We print more than 10,000 copies of the Umpire decisions and circulate them throughout our entire supervisory organization. The Union distributes copies to the Local Union officials. Needless to say, these decisions are of great value as educational material in the plants. Our discipline is for the purpose of correcting improper conduct and obtaining compliance with shop rules. It is not punitive in nature. ENGINBERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY Discharge is resorted to in two types of situations: 1. Where the offense is of such a serious nature as to make any other form of discipline inadvisable. For example: Assault on a member of supervision Leadership and direction of a strike in violation of the agreement Theft Sabotage 2. In cases of repeated violations where other efforts to bring about correction have failed. This is what the Umpires call "corrective discipline." It requires that some corrective action be taken in violations before the violations accumulate. It 1S definitely contrary to good practice to overlook violations until they pile up and then to discharge the offender as the first disciplinary effort. I hope that this discussion will not leave you with the impression that all we do in General Motors is to hand out discharges and disciplinary layoffs. On the contrary, our experience shows that a policy of firm, even-handed discipline creates respect and actually lessens the disciplinary problem. Fortunately, in shop operations the vast majority of personal adjustments are, because of the innate sense of fairness of the American workman, self-imposed and self-administered. If this were not so, we could not operate a single day. Employees prefer to work in a well-disciplined plant. The majority of employees want to do a good day's work and never get into trouble. It is the few in any large group who try to beat the rules of the game. In a group of more than 200,000 employees, there will naturally be a considerable number of situations vhich require discipline and over a period of a yea here will be a sizeable number of discharges. One might think that cases of this kind would overload an Umpire procedure. As a matter of fact, however, in more than 90 plants covered by the GM-UAW agreement, only 30 employees appeared before the Umpire protesting disciplinary action against them in the year 1946-and only nine of these were discharge The Union has knowledge of all the disciplinary cases, as the foreman informs the district committeeman of disciplinary actions within 24 hours after the action is taken. The disciplined employee has three days in which to file any grievance he may have as a result of the discipline. It seems a fair conclusion that our supervisory organization is doing a good job of handling shop rule disciplinary cases. STRIKES IN VIOLATION OF AGREEMENTS Strikes in violation of agreements present unusual disciplinary problems and require unusual treatment. Whenever we have a strike or stoppage in a local plant, it ceases to be a local matter-we treat it as a strike against the Corporation. We immediately telegraph the top officers of the Union, demanding that the strikers be ordered back to work. We be- lieve that it is the responsibility of the Union to live up to its agreements, but we do not leave it up to the Union alone. Our agreements specifically pro- FEBRUARY, 1947 vide that Management may discipline any employee for violation of the no-strike section of the agree-ment. During the war, there was considerable comment in the public press about the fact that General Motors had a much better strike record than the other automobile companies or the war production industries as a whole. There was some difference of opinion as to the exact reason for this. One of the obvious reasons for the small number of strikes was the existence of a comprehensive grievance procedure which verely with leaders of strikes in violation of agreements was an important factor in this record. Our experience with this problem began immediately after the first agreement was signed by the JAW ten years ago. At that time, the Union leader were new at the business and they had no concept of their responsibilities under a labor agreement. The local Union leaders were inexperienced and many of them felt no particular responsibility to the Inter- Consequently, the first few months of operating under an agreement with the UAW were hectic indeed. Daily wildcat strikes and quickie sit-downs were the usual thing. We decided then that the Union and its members must learn to respect the agreement. So, in April, 1937, General Motors notified the UAW that unless wildcat strikes were controlled there might as well be no agreement. The Union's demands for revision of agreement terms were met by a refusal into negotiations until the International Union took steps to get its own house in order. In September of that year, after the impasse had con-inued for three months, the Union took a public stand against wildcat strikes and acknowledged that it was Management's right to discharge or otherwise discipline any employee guilty of violating the no-strike clause in the agreement. From the outset, Management disciplined the leaders of unauthorized strikes. For example, on March 1, 193/, a group of employees stopped work ar anhandled an emplovee who refused to loin ti Union. Seven employees were disciplined, and this became our first Umpire case. Progress in controlling wildcat strikes during the early days was slow and it is difficult to point to any particular situation which could be said to have been a turning point; however, two cases at the Fisher Body plant in Flint, Michigan, are particularly sig-nificant: In September, 1940, a group of employees left their work and proceeded to another floor of the plant, where they attempted to physically eject a worker who was a leader of a rival Union group This demonstration naturally caused a stoppage of work. The Union at this plant had been through a bitter factional split and, although the group affiliated with the C.I.O. won a majority vote in an N.L.R.B election, there was still a considerable group who followed the UAW-AFL leaders. This was the plant where the 44-day sit-in strike occurred in 1937, and the local Union leaders were particularly recalcitrant and scornful of orderly agreement procedure. The demonstrators demanded immediate dismissal of the Page 5 rival unionists. Management refused to become in- volved in the factional fight and discharged 17 employees who were active in leading the demonstration. After a short strike, operations were resumed without the 17 leaders of the demonstration. The case of he 17 was appealed through the grievance procedure and out of it came a long strongly-worded statement by the International Union, denouncing unauthorized strikes. Incidentally, some of the 17 men were later given employment as new employees. Five months later, at the same plant, an employee was sent home for one day for "horse-play" in viola- rules. The other 82 men in the depart ost fused to war demanding the cancellation of the one-day penalty. The group crowded around the Superintendent's office, demanding action. Manage- ment discharged the entire group-the whole depart-ment. This action was severe enough to finally impress upon the local Union leaders the necessity for ending wildcat strikes as a means of attempting to force settlement of Union disputes. The plant re- sumed operation with a new crew in the department. Management later put most of the 82 men back to work in other parts of the plant as probationary em-ployees. Only one minor stoppage has occurred in that plant since. I am not suggesting that this is the easy way to curb wildcat strikes. It definitely is not the approach for the timid, for once you discipline for strike leader-ship, you must be prepared and willing to see it through. An experience we had in one of our key plants during the summer of 1945 will illustrate the point. The plant was covered by agreement with the JE-CIO. On V.I Day this plant had all of its war contracts cancelled The post-war program was put nto effect immediately and, although the conversior problem was considerable, the unemployment which resulted was limited to a temporary layoff of 295 women employees. The situation was fully explained to all of them and they understood the problem. Not one of them complained. Most of them said they were glad to get a couple of weeks off. Nevertheless, the Union filed a grievance, charging violation of the seniority agreement. Before the rievance could be answered by Management. th ring and a decting die materploye durin had been tried out before by the Union in some other plants not in General Motors. Management warned the local Union leaders that of the situation and put them on notice that if the plan went through we would treat it as a strike. At the appointed hour, the local Union officials began a demonstration and attempted to lead the ployees au of the plate the hing hail Ahes continued to work. After the Union meeting, Management was served with an ultimatum to immediately reinstate the employees who were on temporary lay-off; otherwise the Union would take further action. This was a challenge which could not be over-Looked. The alleged atch the he senorin agree. agreement was fully empowered to rule. If Manage- Page 6 ment was wrong, he could make it right. The ultimatum was a challenge not only to Management but also concept of peaceful relationships under a collective bargaining agreement. The five Union leaders who were responsible for the solation o the discharged leaders promptly organized picket lines and closed the plant. Management's position from the start was: (1) Return to the agreement, (2) go back to work, and (3) submit to the Umpire the seniority question and also he disciplinary cases. The top officials of the Union conceded the soundness of this approach to settling the strike, but they could not sell the idea to the local leaders. The strike continued for seven weeeks. This plant was a key supplier of all the car plants as well as many important customers outside General Motors. Naturally, there was great pressure on the Management to yield and get back to work. From Management's point of view, the issue was simply whether disputes were to be settled under the orderly procedure of the agreement or by a show of force. this issue, there was no room for compromise. Finally at the end of the seventh week, the Union empey is turn to son feet fer to e dischapire. Incidentally, the Umpire later ruled that there was no violation of the seniority agreement; the disci plined employees were reinstated by the Umpire be- • found a way legally to authorize the strike retroactively. We have not had any further trouble in that plant. The so-called "company security" plans have re-seived seational pabiled for the l disciplining of strike leaders. No matter how attractive such proposals may appear to be, we believe they are basically unsound. We had an experience in a case which may illustrate the point. At our Diesel Plant in Grand Rapids, three mem-rs of the Shop Committee organized a walkout or orning in March. 1944. in protest against the su press unless she were permitted to wear canvas gloves -a dangerous practice which could not be permitted. It later developed that the strike plan was all set and the glove incident just happened to be the first one, which could be used as an excuse to walk out The strikers set up picket lines and kept the plan closed for several days. The three members of the local Shop Committee were openly active in leading and directing the strike. They were promptly dis-charged. The International Union conceded we had an open-and-shut case against the three who were discharged; however, the Union argued that the real planner and instigator of the strike had remained behind the scenes and had escaped discipline. The Union offered to deliver to us a signed confession from the hidden leader. This offer sounded interesting, but closer examination revealed dangerous implications. It was an open secret that the real cause of the strike was a factional struggle for control of the local Union. Moreover, the Union's offer had a string on it. The ENGINBERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY three discharges would have to be reduced to long penalty layoffs. We offered to consider any evidence the Union was willing to deliver, but we refused to make any commitments regarding horse-mad" charges, nor would we make any one strike leader for another. We stuck to our policy of disciplining those whose guilt could be established by our own evidence, and the three stayed fired. The official who offered to deliver the secret leader, later admitted he was unable to obtain any signed con-fession. You have heard, no doubt, the argument that the nion should discipline its own members for strik violation or acreemen We tried that idea a few times but it did not work. One of our earliest experiments with this approach curred in one of our Pontiac plants in November 937, shortly after the sit-down episodes. In tha period of Únion development, the local leadership was not particularly noteworthy for deliberation or conservative action. Curtailed schedules necessitated the layoff of some employees in accordance with the seniority provisions of the agreement; but the Shop Committee succeeded in inducing the employees to pull a strike, unauthorized by the Union, demanding a restoration of full production, including the transfer of operations from our Linden plant to provide full schedules. he strike resulted in a full-sca izure with all the sit-down trimmings, which w terminated after five days by persuasion of higher Union officials. For organizing the incident, the Management discharged some 20 men and the Union requested per- mission to identify the ringleaders and participate in the setting of penalties. To this the Management agreed, but in a series of nine meetings over a period of several months the Union failed to agree upon or produce a single guilty member, and settlement was finally made on the basis of Management's ac- tion. It was impossible in a political organization such as the Union to fix the blame and perhaps unreasonable to expect any such result. The Union usually defends those we discipline for violation of the agreement. It does so on the grounds that the complainant is innocent or that the discipline is too severe. This is a proper function of the Union. On the other hand, the Union benefits lirectly from our policy. It assists the Union it naintaining some semblance of discioline over thi local Unions. In many cases, the wildcat leaders who defy the agreement also defy the International Union. In reducing the frequency of wildcat strikes, our policy builds the Union's reputation for contract observance. We have reason to believe the top leaders of the Union fully appreciate this fact. One indication of this appreciation was shown by Valei Reuther i nite intes Serote the Mead recall that the Meade Committee came out to Detroit to learn why certain plants were not producing war material. One of our competitors bore the brunt of investigation; however, the Unions were invited to testify and they blasted everybody in general, hoping the noise would divert attention from strikes as a major cause of the lag in production. Mr. Reuther in his testimony was asked about Gen- eral Motors. We consider his reply to be a fine, although perhaps unintentional, compliment. He said: FEBRUARY, 1947 "General Motors is tough. We don't agree with verything they do, but at least they have policie ind they know where they are going. It seems appropriate to quote from a speech made by the late Justice Brandeis in Boston at the conclusion of a long and bitter strike more than forty years ago. In speaking of what we now call collec- tive bargaining, he said: Men fail at times to see the right; and, indeed, what is ght is often in doubt. For such cases arbitration affor equently an appropriate remedy. This remedy deserves take its place among the honorable means of settling those questions to which it properly applies. Questions arise, how-ever, which may not be arbitrated. Differences are sometimes fundamental. Demands may be made which the employer, after the fullest consideration, believes would, if yielded to, destroy the business. Such differences cannot be submitted to the decision of others. Again, the action of the union may appear to have been lawless or arbitrary, a substitution of force for law or for reason. You may compromise a matter of wages, you may compromise a matter of hours if the margin of profit will permit. No man can say with certainty that his opinion is the right one on such a question. But you may not compromise on a question of morals, or where there is lawlessness or even arbittariness. Industrial liberty, like civil liberty, must rest upon the solid foundation of law. Disregard the law in either, however good your motives, and you have anarchy. The plea of trade unions for immunity, be it from injunction or from liability for damages, is as fallacious as the plea of the lynchers. If lawless methods are pursued by trade unions, whether it be by violence, by intimidation, or by the more peaceful infringement of legal rights, that lawlessness must be put down at once and at any cost. ¿If labor unions are arbitrary or lawless, it is largely because lalone have importing prie or ted to mirarin eliot as to their own immediate interests. As I said, Justice Brandeis made that statement over forty years ago. In conclusion, I would summarize our experiences as follows: I. We believe our experiences show beyond a doubt that discipline is necessary for efficiency. For with- military rule, but rather the smooth-running dis- cipline of teamwork and cooperation. I. Discipline is a responsibility and duty of Man gement which cannot be dodged or shared with others. It is a task of Management which must not be shirked. III. Voluntary arbitration, under rules and procedures agreed to in advance by the parties, is a fair and workable means of settling disputes arising under agreement terms. Our experience with the Umpire machinery in our labor agreements shows that impartial review of Management's action in disciplinary situations protects employees from errors r unfair treatment and provides a fair and peacefu neans of settling such dispute: IV. We in industry must continue to improve dis-chiline or of people at love co more at a prote This is the only road to prosperity and the fuller life in America. Page 7 FORTIFIED PAPER By J. A. VAN DEN AKKER APER in its ordinary forms is so commonplac and has been with us for so long that one 1 apt to overlook its very great importance in all phases of our economy. During the desperate days after Pearl Harbor, when industry was mobilized for total war, the pulp and paper industry was almost reinforced with modern resins, reacted to the emergency with a combination of zeal and ingenuity that proved to be remarkably prolific. During 1942 and 43, pulp and paper were considered "reasonably available," and many articles needed in the war effort and in the maintenance of civilian life were fabricated with various forms of "fortified paper," thus releasing large tonnages of steel and other critical materials to war industry. The growing substitution of paper for other ma-terials, together with inadequate allotment of manpower to the paper industry and to the cutting of pulpwood, eventually resulted in the paper shortage, which is still with us. The normal uses of paper accounted for huge tonnages. Some of the data are illuminating. During the later months of the war, 90 per cent of the 700,000 articles necessary for the maintenance of our troops overseas were packaged or protected by paper, and a majority of those articles included paper as an integral part. Thirty tons of blueprint paper are required in the construction and fitting of one battleship. Four billion more tabulating cards were used in 1943 than in the preceding year. A description of the normal uses of paper would require a "five-foot shelf" of books. The importance of a material is not, of course, always measured in terms of volume of production. The electrical industry requires various classes of dielectric and insulating papers ranging from dense condenser paper of thickness less than 0.0003 in. in certain grades (the decimal point is in the right place!) to heavy, porous high-voltage cable paper and vulcanized or impregnated fiberboard. Although the total tonnage of electrical papers is not inconsiderable, the technical value of such papers is far out of proportion with their listing in a tabulation of business statistics of the whole paper industry. One is prone to think of paper as something on which to write or print-there is very little publicity on the industrial applications Page 8 of the many grades of paper designed for specific applications. The technical reader may find interest, during the coming months, in making mental note of special applications which have hitherto escaped his attention. BONDING IN TYPICAL PAPERS It is an age-old fact that a strong sheet of paper cannot be formed unless the cellulosic fibers of which it is composed have been subjected, in the presence of water, to a mechanical beating action. The beater causes a partial disruption of the fibers, as manifested by the formation of microscopic and sub-microscopic fibrils (electron micrographs reveal that some of the finer filaments released from the fiber are of diameter less than 100 Angstroms), and, although the entwining of fibrils resulting from the beating contributes to the strength of the paper, it is erroneous to think of the papermaking process as essentially a felting together of the fibers. The important result of beating is believed to be a bonding together of the fibers at points of contact during the drying opera-tion. During the last stages of drying, contacting fbers are pulled together by large localized pressures of capillary origin, and, according to one theory, the hydroxyl groups of the cellulose molecular chains (exposed by the beating action) are brought sufficiently close together for their force fields to be ef-fective; this cohesive bonding is aided by the adhesive effect of a colloidal dispersion of cellulose and of the hemicelluloses formed during the beating process. In view of the fact that the strength of the fiber-to-fiber bonds is greatly inferior to the tensile strength of the fibers, the strength of paper is determined by (among other things) the number and nature of the bonds. The dry strength of paper, in the vast majority of uses, is more than adequate. However, the nature of cellulosic bonding is such that water produces a great weakening; the wet strength of untreated paper is a minute fraction of the dry strength. This unhappy but intrinsic weakness of untreated papers is well known through such common vexations as the paper towel which disintegrates while one dries his hands, the paper bag which fails in its job of carrying home a precious lot of eggs because one egg happens to break and leak, and the newspaper, left in the rain a moment too long, which falls apart if its reader ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY Impregnating machine for the treatment of paper to be used in laminates. Couttesy phene Consplicated the Consolidated Water Power and Paper Company. is imprudent enough to fling it open before the paper dries. For many years, a number of kinds of paper have been made with sizing agents (such as rosin and wax) added to the beater. Such papers resist penetration by water and, hence, display a measure of wet strength if not placed in contact with water for a long period of time. There is a surprisingly large number of uses of paper in which strength is required over short periods of contact with water or aqueous media and, in consequence, the generally employed sizing techniques have been fairly successful. It is obvious, however, that wet strength of paper towels and other absorbing papers cannot be achieved through the use of agents which act through imparting water resistance to the paper. During the decade before the war, the technology of adding low per- centages of polymerizing resins was developed. The resin (usually urea-or melamine-formaldehyde) is added to the fiber in a water soluble form (monomer or low degree of polymerization) and is subsequently cured on the driers of the paper machine. Paper fabricated by this process can be made both absorbent and adequately strong when wet. The better paper towels, in which the fibers are bonded together with a polymerized resin, can be used as wash cloths, and may be re-used a number of times. WARTIME DEVELOPMENTS Some of our earliest shipments of supplies to the South Pacific in domestic-type paperboard containers suffered tragic losses. In many instances the conditions of battle were such that cargoes could not be transferred in normal manner to lighters or docks. It was necessary for our supply ships to speed to a supply point, drop their cargoes into the sea, and make a hopeful dash for safety. Subsequently, our men on shore fished the supplies from the water. Containers of the domestic type simply disintegrated. It appeared that wooden boxes and crates would be required for all overseas shipping; however, analysis of the lumber supply showed that there would not be FEBRUARY, 1947 sufficient lumber to satisfy the needs of global ship-ping. The industry met the challenge of producing paperboard boxes of strength, rigidity, and durability at least the equal of nailed or wirebound wooden boxes in the so-called "V-board" boxes. The "solid-fiber" kraft board (so named to distinguish it from corrugated board) was comprised of laminations bonded together with waterproof glues such as the rather remarkable combination of urea-formaldehyde resin and starch. V-board, of thickness of about 0.1 in., was manufactured to a specification of more than 750 lb/in. dry bursting strength (pressure differential over a circular orifice of one square inch area) and more than 500 lb /in. after a 24 hour immersion in water. It was conservatively estimated in 1943 that the V box program was equivalent to conserving 1500 carloads of lumber per month. Improvements were made in the V boxes and, eventually, it was found that a number of classes of supplies could be shipped more satisfactorily in them than in wooden boxes. The conservation of steel during the war by substitution of paper products is noteworthy. The steel grommets employed for the handling and protection of bombs were replaced by laminated chipboard rings which, except for a thin outer band of steel, were made from waste paper; it has been estimated that the metal conserved by the paper rings was more than 50,000 tons per year. Cylindrical paper containers for oil and paint conserved about 90,000 tons; a variety of new folding and set-up boxes replaced about 125, 000 tons of metal per year, and large tonnages of pliofilm, rubber, and cellophane were also conserved. The molded fiber industry employed phenolics in the production of such items as flash-light cases, alarm-clock cases, walky-talky battery cases, special Page 9 cannisters, and instrument cases. Huge tonnages of steel (in the form of drums) and of burlap, cotton, and wood were released through the successful development of the multiwall paper bag, which has been used for the shipment of nany commodities formerly shipped in drums or slack wood barrels, such as cal. cium chloride, soda ash, bicarbonate of soda, ammonium nitrate, and rosin. These bags are used by the hundreds of millions for the shipment of chemical fertilizer, and a larger number is consumed by the cement industry. The complete list of wartime substitutions of paper for critical inaterials is impressive. One of the most interesting exhibits in Washington during the war years was that prepared by the Pulp and Paper Division of WPB's War Products Development Section, to which credit is due for an effective job in serving as a clearing house for the armed forces and industry and in co-ordinating the efforts of the paper industry. Great improvements had to be made in paper itself. Battles cannot be won if the maps and other vital papers carried by the troops fail to withstand repeated wetting by rain, mud, and swims in jungle streams or ocean water. It is necessary that such papers withstand, without danger of failure, the wip ing off of mud, blood, or grease. Papers for maps, charts, and manuals having amazing wet strength and durability were fortified with resins which were polymerized on the paper machines in a manner similar to that previously mentioned. Only small percentages of resins (just sufficient to produce strong, water-resistant bonds between the cellulosic fibers) were employed, so that the paper retained its essential physical and structural properties. Some people like to think of paper as a skeletal web, the voids of which may be filled with an opaci-fying agent such as clay, titanium dioxide, or other "fller," and the surfaces of which may be coated with the conventional "coating color" (essentially an aqueous slurry of casein and clay) to improve the printing quality-or the surfaces may be sealed with a continuous film of wax, asphalt, or moisture-impervious plastic to yield a moistureproof sheet. During the Page 10 war the manufacturers of rag-content map paper developed the technology of filling the voids of the paper with fluorescent pigments. The fluorescent map papers so produced were of considerable value in night military operations; by the use of small ultraviolet lamps equipped with filters which eliminate the visible radiation, the deleterious effect of map reading on the dark adaptation of the observer's eyes was mitigated, and the chance of attracting the enemy's attention was rendered negligible. When printed with two or more inks containing fluorescent pigments displaying different colors, fluorescent maps are beautiful to behold. (Needless to say, the choice of colors and pigments was such that the maps could be employed in ordinary light!) Lens paper was one of the tremendous trifles of the war. The pre-war rate of production of lens paper was, of course, completely inadequate for the job of cleaning the large number of optical devices and instruments used by the Navy and Army. Moreover, lens paper was composed of Mitsumata fiber, the supply of which was cut off by hostilities in the Pacific. A number of experts must have shuddered at the thought of wiping fine optical parts with tissues prepared from domestic fibers. However, one of the large tissue mills produced satisfactory, grit-free lens paper by the carload on huge, high-speed equipment. Paper has long been employed as a base for Bakelite and other plastics. During the war a considerable amount of developmental research was done on resin-impregnated paper which, in the form of many layers, could be cured at low pressure to produce a dense, hard, and strong plastic laminate*. Used on a limited scale by war industries, the new paper-base plastics were not sufficiently well developed early in the war for widespread use in aircraft, marine craft, and ma-teriel. However, their mechanical and physical prop-erties, some of which are presented later, indicate numerous, interesting peacetime applications. "LOW-PRESSURE" PAPER-BASE LAMINATES In a general way, it was expected that the strength of a laminate would depend upon the elastic constants angel of the con in are ed it Fee ca ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY "Consoweld" Galvin and ammunition boxes. Courtesy of the Consolidated Water Power and Paper Company. of both the resin and fiber (but not on the strength characteristics of the unimpregnated paper), and that the moduli of elasticity of the resin should be comparable with those of the fiber. The fiber-resin system is not amenable to mathematical analysis and, therefore, the successful development of papreg involved numerous experiments of the typical "experi-ment station" variety. At length, optimum factors relative to sheet composition and characteristics were found. Research on resins was, of course, vitally con-commitant with the work on paper. In the manufacture of papreg, a continuous web of suitable paper is impregnated with resin (usually phenol- or urea-formaldehyde) in soluble or depoly-merized form. After passage through the impregnating bath and squeeze rolls, most of the solvent is driven from the web in a drying operation. The product obtained-now ready for any one of a variety of hot pressing operations-contains a substantial percentage (usually 30 to 40 per cent) of incompletely polymerized resin; it is fairly hard and is not tacky of sticky, so that it may be shipped and stored in rolls or in the form of packages of cut sheets. In the production of flat stock, a number of sheets of the resin-impregnated paper are placed between the platens of a hydraulic press, and the pressure and temperature are elevated in accordance with a definite schedule. During the initial stages the resin is thermoplastic and the sheets, then quite flexible, become intimately bonded together. The pressure employed de-pends, of course, on the type of product employed, but is relatively low, being less than 250 lb /in. and, in certain types, less than 100 lb/in. In a short time the molecules of the resin polymerize (as a result of the elevated temperature) to produce the desired hardness and mechanical properties in the papreg; the material, no longer thermoplastic, may then be removed from the press without cooling. As in the production of resin-bonded plywood, the only limitation on the thickness of fat stock obtainable with steam-heated platens is that associated with the conduction of heat to the central plane. Without doubt slabs of considerable thickness could be produced with presses equipped for dielectric heating. A most important advantage of the new plastic laminates is the fact that they can be formed with bag-molding operations like the Vidal and Duramold pro-cesses, using low-pressure equipment. As is well known, bag-molding of plastic laminates eliminates the need, in many operations, of employing large and excessively expensive dies. Large, curved bodies of complex shape FEBRUARY, 1947 (such as the hull of a rowboat) are formed in an auto-clave. Although there are several bag-molding tech-niques, the general principle may be illustrated by two methods. In one procedure, the sheets of resin-impreg-nated paper are laid over a wooden die (the process of cutting and laying on is something of an art), the whole is enclosed in a rubber bag and placed in an autoclave, and steam of the desired pressure and temperature is admitted to the autoclave. The other method utilizes a semi-cylindrical autoclave resembling a Quonset hut. In this case, the bottom surface of the wooden die is flat and is placed in contact with the floor of the autoclave. A rubber bag occupying the space between the die and the inner surface of the autoclave is then inflated with steam, thus being made to exert pressure against the laminations. In these operations the small thickness of the resin-impregnated paper permits the latter to be bent around sharply curved surfaces. In a qualitative manner a phenolic laminate may be described as being hard, stiff, strong, wear-resistant (in the presence of water as well as when dry); its color, usually light brown, is dependent upon the color of the resin and fiber and may be adjusted, through the use of dyestuffs, in an appreciable area of chromaticity; its density is about twice that of ordinary paper, but only half the density of aluminum. It is not ductile and cannot be formed in dies, but it can be machined. The brittle nature of phenolic resins is offset by the toughening action of the cellulosic fibers and, although the impact resistance of phenolic laminates (Charpy or Izod) leaves something to be desired, ruptures are not readily propagated by cracks. The material is an-isotropic, exhibiting different mechanical properties in the three principal directions if not cross-banded (the fact that the fibers in a paper sheet are not randomly oriented accounts for a "grain" effect); how-ever, in building up a laminate, the individual sheets may be cross-banded, as in the fabrication of plywood, to yield equality of mechanical properties in the two principal directions parallel with the laminations. Some of the important characteristics of phenolic Page 1t "Kimpreg" surfaced plywood tables in the "Quonseteria. Courtesy of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation. the time of writing, of the commercial construction in Milwaukee of a 19-ft cabin cruiser in which the hull, cabin, decking, flooring, and many other parts are fabricated from paper-base laminate. It is said that the weight of the finished cruiser, 900 lb, is more than 50 per cent less than that of a conventional wooden cruis. er of the same size. An advantage claimed in the announcement is the avoidance of caulking through the use of the new water-proof resin glues. The company making the announcement states that a number of row, sail, and outboard boats have been built with the paper-base laminates are presented in Table I. The values given are not exact, but are intended only to give the reader the orders of magnitude of the properties. Of special interest is the high ratio of strength to weight of papreg. To be comparable on this basis, a light-metal alloy having twice the density of papreg should have a tensile strength in the range of 50,000 - 70,000 lb/ in.2. The stiffness of bar or plate of papreg is especially noteworthy. It is well known that the flexural rigidity of a plate or curved member increases with the cube of its thickness; that is to say, for the same weight, the stiffness of members of different materials should be compared on the basis of the ratio of the modulus of elasticity to the cube of the dens-ity. As an illustration, a light-metal alloy of density twice that of papreg would not be comparable on this basis unless its modulus of elasticity were of the order of 20,000,000 lb / in. This underscores the value of paper-base laminates in stressed - skin and monocoque structures where weight is an important considera-tion, as exemplified by prefabricated houses, mobile craft of all sorts, household and business ar-ticles, concrete forms, etc. This advantage is recognized in ply-wood, which was used extensively in the production of high-speed aircraft in England during the war. Announcement is made, at Page 12 TABLE Some Properties of Phenolic Paper-Base Laminate Parallel Laminated Cross Laminated Pressure, 75 75 Temperature, 'F 325 325 Time (1/8 in. thick), min 12 Specific gravity 1.4 1.4 Tension, Ib/in. Ultimate, with grain 36,000 25,000 Ultimate, across grain 18,000 Modulus of elasticity, with grain 3,000,000 2,200,000 Modulus of elasticity, across grain 1,500,000 Compression, Ib/in. Ultimate, flatwise 40,000 40,000 Ultimate, edgewise with grain 19,000 18,000 Ultimate, edgewise across grain 17,000 Flexure, Ib/in. 32,000 26,000 Modulus of rupture, across grain 20,000 Modulus of elasticity, with grai 3,000,000 2,000,000 Modulus of elasticity, across grai 1,500,000 Shear, Johnson double, Ib/in Edgewise, across grain 15,000 14,000 Edgewise, with grain 13,000 Flatwise, across grain 15,000 14,000 Flatwise, with grain 13,000 Impact, Izod, ft Ib/in. notch Flatwise, with grain 5.0 4.0 Flatwise, across grain 2.0 Hardness, Rockwell M100 M100 Water absorption, per cent 1/8 in. x 2 in. x 2 in. specimen, 24 hr 3 3 ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY plastic laminate, and that "high reports on their durability under severe usage" have been received. Another advantage of papreg lies in its internal friction or damping capacity, which is high, relative to that of metals of the types employed in structures. Vibrations originating in engines, for example, are readily transmitted throughout metal structures, and stresses may rise to perhaps dangerously high values where a condition of resonance or near-resonance ex-ists. These undesirable phenomena are greatly reduced in plastic structures. Of course, a structural element which is directly linked with a strongly oscillating member, and is thereby subjected to intensive vibrational stress, should be of a metal alloy having high fatigue endurance—a property ordinarily associated with low internal friction. Plywood surfaced with paper-base laminate is attractive in both appearance and technical properties. In the production of this interesting material, the plywood is sandwiched between layers of the partially cured resin-impregnated paper, and the combination is bonded together between the heated platens of a hydraulic press. In the case of woods (like Douglas fir) used in the manufacture of plywood having excellent strength properties but poor appearance, the surfacing with the paper-base laminate greatly extends the range of application. In all cases, however, surface layers of the strong laminate (applied in optimum thickness) greatly increase the flexural strength of the material —the laminate is applied at the greatest possible distance from the neutral plane of the combination, where it can do the most good. Recalling our considerations of density, we note that we are here dealing with a material having a core of quite low density and, hence, for a given weight, great stiffness. Plywood surfaced with paper-base laminates is avail. able from a number of plywood manu-facturers, and is finding wide application in such diversified fields as air-craft, automotive vehicles, boats, box-es, trunks, building construction (in- cluding a variety of farm structures), furniture, freight and passenger cars, and refrigerators. It is greatly superior to ordinary plywood in the follow- "Kimpreg" surfaced plywood used for the manufacture of pre-cast stone. forms will withstand in of These 100 cast. ing operations. Courtesy of the Kimberly- Clark Corporation. FEBRUARY, 1947 ing properties: water absorbtion (very low), abrasion resistance, resistance to weathering, water-vapor permeability (considerably lower than that of asphalt-laminated building paper), hardness, strength, chemical stability, resistance to termites, fungus, etc., and appearance. It is sometimes helpful, in appraising a new develop-ment, to obtain an overall picture of what has been done. The industry starts with wood (pulpwood-much of which is not suitable for lumber), in which the cellulosic fibers are bonded together with lignin. In the chemical pulping process, the lignin is taken into solu-tion, and the fibers are separated, screened and washed, and built into a web of paper. Resin is then added to bond the fibers together to form a paper-base laminate. What has been gained in obtaining a product more expensive than wood? The trend in the process is somewhat analogous to that in the manufacture of plywood. The cost of producing plywood is balanced by the advantages gained, some of which are greatly improved uniformity of the material (resulting from the multiplicity of plies), greater strength, more nearly uniform strength in all directions of the material, and elimination of warping and splitting. In the production of pa-per-base laminate, these improvements are intensified. Uniformity of the product is much greater, because the fibers from tons of wood pulp are mixed, and because all steps in the process are controllable. Most import-ant, however, is the fact that lignin, which is water-sensitive, has been replaced by a bonding agent which is stronger and does not lose its strength in the presence of water. Plywood surfaced with paper-base laminate is an excellent example of the application of engineering economics to the optimization of factors involved in the combination of products of substantially different cost to obtain an excellent material which can be feasibly employed in a wide variety of applications. C.I. T. NEWS TOURNAMENT PARK ON MARCH BALLOT A LUMNI living in the city of Pasadena are urged to vote in the municipal election March 13, when the question of selling Tournament Park to the California Institute will be included in the ballot. A two-thirds majority is required to "aban-don" the park in order to permit Caltech to purchase the 23 acres sorely needed for expansion. In 1940, with 900 students, the Institute was in serious need of additional facilities for teaching, research, student housing, athletics and recreation. Today the 1940 needs have not been met and the Institute now has an enrollment of nearly 1400 stu-dents, of which 80 per cent are World War II vet-erans, and its research activities have expanded great-A situation that was serious seven years ago has today become critical. Plans for Tournament Park include a gymnasium, with basketball courts and swimming pool, probably the first construction that will be undertaken when funds become available, and a student union build- ing. The northwest corner of the Park will be converted into a parking lot with facilities for from 500 to 800 automobiles. This will help to alleviate the serious parking problem in the vicinity of the Institute. A baseball diamond and a football field and track will be located in the central portion of the Park. Tennis and badminton courts are slated for early construction. The mound which crosses the Park from east to west will be leveled to accommodate these plans. As part of the program to improve student facili- ties on campus, a new dormitory, similar to and opposite the present student houses, is planned as a part of the construction program, which includes the gymnasium and student union. HOUSING ASSEMBLED FOR ELECTROSTATIC GENERATOR THE wartime ramblings of a housing for an elec. trostatic generator are finally at an end. signed and installed just before the war, the eight foot cylinder, 22 feet long, proved to be in the way when wartime research projects crammed Kellogg. Besides, another use was found for it. The tank, which will permit pressure and humidity control for the accumulation of high electrical poten-tials, was used as a pressure tank for launching air- craft torpedoes behind the San Gabriel Canyon dam during the war. Pressures up to 200 pounds per square inch sent torpedoes down an inclined tube, 300 feet long, into the San Gabriel reservoir behind the dam, under conditions simulating launching from an air- plane. In the spring of 1940 the pressure tank was installed in a third floor laboratory in Kellogg. The wartime research program was inaugurated before the Page 14 generating equipment could be completed, and it was moved into a corner of the laboratory out of the ay. Where the housing is she the escarch do the war when it was replaced by an especially made tank. Further research on electrostatic generation led to the changes in the design of the vessel made concurrently with its reconditioning by the Navy. Its makers, the Western Pipe and Steel Corporation, completed this work in December, and the tank was hoisted into the Kellogg laboratory in a week-long operation. Now being blled with generating apparatus, the machine will follow the design of R. G. Herb of the University of Wisconsin. An important feature of this design is controlled atmospheric conditions imposed on the orginal large-scale static electricity developed by R. J. Von de Graft of M.I.T. Charges are induced on a moving belt and deposited on metal sphere. A shield around the sphere aids in distributing the accumulating charge, which is expected to enteroupee dieletic, in mil cases, one potentials developed will accelerate protons and deuterons down a high-vacuum tube where they will attain energy in electron volts equal to the potential of the sphere. Velocities of the order of 10" centimeters per second will render these capable of disin-egrating other nuclei, when they impinge on targets of Lithium, Beryllium, and Carbon. Studies of nucleat fragments resulting from such collisions are expected to expand the knowledge of fundamental physics. BATEMAN RESEARCH FELLLOWSHIP PREATION of a research fellowship in pur -mathematics to be known as the Harry Bate man Research Fellowship was announced recently by the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology. The fellowship was created in honor of the late Harry Bateman, professor of mathematics, physics Candidates for appointment to the Bateman Fellowship should have obtained a doctorate, or expect to receive it, prior to the beginning of the academic year 1947-48. The appointment will be made on the basis of the promise shown of independent research in any field of pure mathematics. The recipient will devote the major part of his time to research, but will be expected to teach one upper-class course in mathematics. The appointment, which will carry a stipend of $3,000 for the academic year, will normally be for one year but may be renewed for a second year. Application blanks may be obtained from the Dean of the Faculty, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 4, California, and must be returned to that address before March 15, 1947. ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHIY RED CROSS FUND A book end hen in We Marcing Home has been shocked to find how badly the returned soldier, who has risked his life for his country and often been incapacitated for life through so doing, has been treated in all preceding wars. This must not happen in the case of the men who have risked their lives and been incapacitated in serving us in World War II. The American Red Cross is one officialy organized agency through which your contribution and mine helps most effectively in the rehabilitation of the eighty thousand hospital patients who served in both World War II and World War I. The fact that during the year 1945-46 the Red Cross was able to aid in one way or another more than a million veterans and their families who needed assistance is eloquent as to the magnitude of the service which it performs. I know of no other philanthropic agency has so strong and immediate an appeal for the sup-port, to the extent of his ability, of every man and woman in America as does the American Red Cross. Robert A. Millikan GUIDE SERVICE INAUGURATED SPONSORED by the Beavers, undergraduate ser. vice organization, a guide service has been inaugurated on the campus. A Beaver member is on duty weekdays and Saturday from 11 A. M. to 12, and weekdays from 3 to 4 P.M. Five Beavers have been detailed to the guide service: Joe Rosener, chairman, George Austin, Bob Dalton, Rube Kacha-doorian, and Leigh Sheriff. These guides are on duty in the Y.M.C.A. lounge in the basement of Dabney Hall of the Humanities. The functions of the guides are either to direct visitors to specific places on campus or to conduct general tours of the Institute to such places as the liquid air production equipment in Bridge Labora-tory, Guggenheim Aeronautics Laboratory, and the Optics shop where the 200-inch mirror for the Mt. Palomar Observatory is being ground. Information concerning the service or special tours may be obtained by contacting chairman Joe Rosener through the offices of the Dean or the Y.M.C.A. WINTER TERM ENROLLMENT ND of the first term of the 1946-47 school year showed small change in the undergraduate en rollment. The largest drop was among the graduate students, with numbers reduced from 581 to 564. The seniors have added two to their number to a total of 155. Five more men entered the junior class to boost its total enrollment to 212. Sophomore numbers were depleted by 15, from 252 to 237. The freshman class retained the 179 men who started the school year in October. FEBRUARY, 1947 INSTITUTE MEN AT AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY MEETING NSTITUTE faculty and research workers figured prominently in the recent meeting of the American Physical Society at Los Angeles, January 3 and 4 C.I.T.'s President Lee A. DuBridge, who was vice- president of the Society in 1946, presided at the last of the three sessions held Friday morning and afternoon and Saturday morning. Robert F. Christy, associate professor of physics, and Sylvan Rubin '39, National Research Council pre-octoral tellow, jointly presented a paper the ngular Distribution of Alpha-Particles from Li'+ Alone Mr. Rubin discussed the Angular Distribution of Long-range Alpha-particles from Excited Ne". Dr. Christy in collaboration with Mark M. Mills '40 of the Jet Propulsion Laboratories, gave Auger Showers Dr. Christy also presented a longer paper on the DeIgn of a Small Nuclear Reactor. Dr. Howard S. Se ert of JPL with Mr. Mills told of Problems in th Application of Nuclear Energy to Rocket Propulsion. Charles C. Lauritsen, Ph.D. '29, and Thomas Laur-itsen '36 Ph.D. '39, father and son, professor and assistant professor of physics, together with Dr. William A. Fowler Ph.D. '36, also professor in the Physics Department, presented two papers, A Device Introducing Short-lived Radioactive Samples into a Cloud Chamber, and Gamma-Radiation from Be'+ H. Dr. Robert A. Millikan, professor of physics, em- eritus, and vice-president of the Board of Trustees, considered The Interpretation of the East-West Effect. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the Institute received almost as much representation at the meeting as did the Physics Department, for besides Mr. Mills and Dr. Seifert, Dr. Jacob M. Schmidt presented the Atomization of Liquids, and Martin Summerfield M.S. '37, Ph.D. '41, dealt with Escape from the Earth by Multiple-Step Rockets. BASKETBALL VARSITY basketball to date, with 70 per cent of the season passed, shows a middle of the road trend with five wins and five losses. rue tree with fives payed tv does have the registered, over Occidental and Pomona. the outstanding players on the squad. As the score egistered to date show, most of the games playe this year have been hotly contested. There are three league games yet to be played; with Occidental, Redlands and Whittier, followed by a contest March 1 with the San Diego NTC in Sar Diego. Here are the season's scores: Caltech 32 Caltech 43 Loyola 40 Pomona 47 Chapman 48 Caltech 39 Redlands 46 Caltech 40 Whittier 69 Caltech 46 La Verne 27 Chapman 3: Caltech 39 Caltech 35 Caltech 46 Cecide 4l 33 Pomona 38 Caltech 36 La Verne 30 Page 15 Hollywood Wholesale Electric Co. istributohe Matrical Supplied and Appliance The Mark Phone HOllywood 7221 6820 Romaine Street Hollywood 38 Pacific Manufacturing Co. 1918 East Colorado Street :: Pasadena 8, Calif. SYcamore 6-8579 PATENT DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL INSTRUMENTATION L. FAIBISH H. M. LIGHTBURN VROMAN'S Sy: 3-1171 Ry: 1-6669 Books & Stationery 469 E. Colorado St. Office Equipment 1271 E. Colorado St. SMITH-EMERY COMPANY Since 1910 Chemical and Physical Testing Laboratories 920 Santee Street Los Angeles 15, California ENGINEERS BOOK STORE Textbooks Reference Books Handbooks Drafting Equipment Slide Rules 713 W. Jefferson Blvd. Los Angeles 7 PRospect 1695 "Largest stock of higher math. books on Coast" HOLLYWOOD TOOL AND DIE "One of the Best Equipped Job Shops in the West" Tools Special Machinery Fixtures - Gages — Metal Stamping Experimental Work Also Tooling Development of New Product. 6765 Romaine St., Hollywood 38 Phone HOllywood 3588 FOR SALE U.S. PATENTS FOR AIRCRAFT FLAPS AND CONTROLS Re 20075; 2005965, 2041688. 2158686 Non-exclusively licensed to 1974407, 070705, 1 S. Government 2026727, 2026728, GEORGE E. BARNHART 425 E. Green St., Pasadena PRESIDENTIAL SILVER CO. "Research and Development Machine Shop" 223-227 West Redondo Blvd. Inglewood. Calif Call ORegon 8-2555 Page 16 TECHNICAL DESIGN COORDINATOR CO. Complete Mechanical Electrical Hydraulic Automotive and Aircraft Engineering Service Consulting-Research-Design and Development 16218 Ventura Boulevard STate 4-4905 Encino, Calif. ANgelus 0580 Life Insurance Annuities LYLE H. CHENEY New York Life Insurance Company RYan 1-6191 Security Building SYcamore 2-7141 Pasadena 1, Calif Phone PRospect 7271 1956 So. Figueroa Los Angeles 7 Research Welding Company Magnesium Aluminum Stainless-steel Hastaloy SPECIALISTS Jet Assemblies Components 101 West Sprevad So, Song Beach ATKINSON LABORATORY LOS ANGELES Photographic CALIFORNIA Photographic Research Chemicals RALPH B. ATKINSON '30 BLEITZ CAMERA COMPANY "The West's Largest Photo Supply House" A CHaple Sure for one Protessnal and Aywate hone Hillside: 820 DON BLEITZ SPECIAL TOOLS AND MACHINERY CO. 4625 Pacific Boulevard, Los Angeles KImball 3246 - 3247 PAUL F. VOKAL Owner Manager Since 1924 sPecient and Bung ery ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY ALUMNI NEWS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS PRESIDENT A. L. Laws '26 SECRETARY D. S. Clark '29 TREASUREI V. R. Freeman "2 F. I. Schell '27 C. F. Friend '38 H. B. Lewis '23 BOARD OF DIRECTORS J. R. Bradburn '32 R. D. Andrews '15 H. M. Huston *29 C. W. Varney Jr: *22 ALUMNI CHAPTER OFFICERS New York Chapter: PRESIDENT Evan Johnson '38 969 Madison Ave., New York 21, N. Y., Tel. BUtterfield 84116 VICE-PRESIDENT H. E. Mendenhall *23 3 Oakridge Avenue, Summit, N. J. Tel. SU 6-2822 SECRETARY-TREASURER Richard Pond '39 174 North 19th Street, East Orange, N. J. Tel. OR 4-2164 San Francisco Chapter: PRESIDENT Maurice Jones '26 908 Curtis Street, Berkeley 6, California, Tel. THornewall 2893 Bechtel McCone Brothers Tel, DOuglas 4032 VICE-PRESIDENT Ted Vermeulen '36 2226 McGee Avenue, Berkeley 3, California Shell Development Company Tel. EXbrook 5400 SECRETARY-TREASURER Robert P. Jones '35 1431 Park Blvd., San Mateo, California, Tel. San Mateo 3-7634 Standard of California Tel. SUJtter 7700 The San Francisco Chapter meets weekly for lunch at the Fraternity Club, 345 Bush Street, on Mondays. D KENNETH S. PITZER '35 DOING GASOLINE RESEARCH R. KENNETH S. Pitzer '35, chemist at the octane but in order to accomplish a permanent change, he must alter the other parts of petroleum. the liqui Problem at present He is attacking by passing gasoline over hydrogen and cooling it to 400 degrees below zero, F. ROY E. MARQUARDT '40 OUTLINES RAM-JET PROGRESS FOR A.S.M.E. SPEAKING to a student.sponsored meeting of the Aviation Division of the Southern California Section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers on the U.S.C. campus early in December, Roy E Marquardt '40 outlined the progress that has been made in this country on ram jet propulsion. Roy is president of Marquardt Aircraft Company, Santa Monica, and during the war was in charge of the Navy Jet Propulsion Research Program at U.S.C., of which he is now consulting engineer. FEBRUARY, 1947 ALUMNI SEMINAR DATE SET THE TENTH Annual Alumni Seminar has been scheduled for Saturday, April 26. To be held a the Institute from 9 A. M. to 4:30 P. M., the yearly program under the direction of Chairman Nicholas D'Arcy '28 will feature talks by representatives of biology, the humanities, geology; of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering. Institute public relations will also be discussed. Speakers and subjects already promised are James F. Bonner, Ph.D., associate professor of plant physio-ogy, who will discuss "Some Developments in Plan Biology"; Arthur P. Banta, M.S., associate professo of sanitary engineering, "Case Histories of Some Air- 1eld Construction; Robert T. Knapp, Ph.D. save press a hydrauli edgineerin Cavitaion, illustrated with movies; Harvey Eagleson, Ph.D., associate professor of English language and literature, "An Insight into the Modern Novel"; and Gilbert to President DuBridge, will explain the Institute's public relations program. BAY AREA ALUMNI TO HEAR DUBRIDGE P SESIDENT Lee A. DuBridge will speak to the San Francisco Chapter of the Alumni Association on Friday, March 7, 1947. This will be the • first chance Northern California Alumni have had to hear the new president. Dr. DuBridge spoke to the New York Chapter in September on the changes taking place at the Institute. Graduates who have been away from Caltech for some time will be given the opportunity of meeting Dr. DuBridge and of learning some of the new plans for the future of the California Institute at this March stag meeting. The meeting will be held at the El Curtola Res-turant, 510 Seventeenth Street in Oakland, between San Pablo and Telegraph Avenues, opposite the Roxie Theater. Dinner, costing $2.50 including all expenses, will be served at 6:45 P. M. The upstairs dining room will be open early for pre-dinner mingl ing. Double postal cards will be sent out to Bay Area Alumni late this month for reservations. Alumni who have not received notification through omission from the membership list, or who plan to visit in the bay area on March 7, should contact Robert P. Jones 35, secretary of the San Francisco Chapter, 1431 Park Boulevard, San Mateo. ARMY AND NAVY ACADEMY *WHERE THE CAMPUS MEETS THE SURF" fetie in eatinedited mile academy your sone investigate accredited military West's oldest. the West located on the ocean. For Catalogue: Box ES Army and Navy Academy, Carlsbad, Calif. Page 17 ROBERT COX '40 SAILS TO FLORIDA TRAVELING from New York to Fort Lauderdale in his foating home-and-office, Robert Cox '40 has established winter headquarters in Florida waters for his new enterprise, Cox Industries, in which he serves as consulting engineer specializing in small gasoline engines and engineering for yachtsmen. Bob was formerly chief engineer and sales manager for Atlas Aircraft Products Corporation. The trip down the inland waterway along the Atlantic Coast was filled with adventures. Bob was accompanied by his wife, Cathleen, and one crewman. The voyage began early in November, their 83-foot motor sailer, Ungava, loaded to the limit with parts of old cars, boats and engines, tools, and on the back deck the Cox's Mercedes Benz automobile. According to their account, first night at sea was spent bumping against the municipal wharf at the Battery while the mast lights were being rigged. The second day they ran aground twice in the harbor at Atlantic City but continued the next day to Cape May and then through canals and up the Delaware to Chesapeake City. Originally intending to go on to Annapolis, a thick fog changed their plans and they headed for Baltimore, moving blindfold until they were stopped by Pratt Street, two blocks from the center of the city. imprese dwy nt a week at Bellhaven an were with the hospitality of the local people wh brought them home-cooked dishes and invited them to their homes. At Morehead City they attempted to Essich HUFACTURINC 05 ANGELES A Quarter Century of Leadership Ist In the manufacture of: Plaster Mixers All Steel Concrete Mixers Two-Man Suction Dredges Steel-Frame Contractors Hoists Leaders In the manufacture of: Evaporative Air Coolers Road Rollers ir-Power Weed Sprayin quipmer Portable Paint Sprayins Equipment Self-Priming Pumps ESSICK MANUFACTURING CO. TUcker 5144 1950 Santa Fe Ave. Los Angeles 21 Page 18 maneuver into a recently-dredged yacht basin recommended to them by a Marine major. After scraping bottom three times they gave up and headed for the Eity, became invulved in strong curtents could not the red guide light in the channels and went aground again. Invited to an oyster roast at Beaufort, S.C., the trio could find no available dock space for the Un-gava, finally began to pull in and tie up alongside a fishing boat when the engine quit. "Ahead of us was a long bridge; the current was running at seven miles and there we were, helpless! We straight for the bridge. We hit and hard were aiming whole bridge swayed way over ….. we broke through the wooden cross pieces and stopped. A few little gouges were (our) worst damages. We didn't discuss the bridge with anyone there." After futile attempts by a fishing boat to pull the bow off and the tide rising and threatening to cave in the deckhouse against the overhanging members of the bridge, came to the rescue. Some kind soul had raced wildly across the river to Herman's fishing boat and he came full blast while all the townspeople assured us we had no further worries: 'Herman is coming!' We gave him a rope and off he went. We heeled way over and off we came-it was terrific! Incidentally it rained and the oyster roast was off!" They went on down the Georgia coast past Sa-vannah, St. Simon and Brunswick to Mayport, Florida, on the St. John's River. From here the party ventured onto the high seas into what the Coastguard called "Moderate Southeast Winds." The Ungava began "rolling from rail to rail, plunging up and down and the water was coming over the deckhouse in sheets. We knew the boat was safe enough but wondered what the insurance company was going to "say if we reported the Mercedes Benz 'lost at sea.' "We staggered into Fort Pierce about 7:00 that night tired and hungry. The boat was a shambles-everything including heavy filing cases fell over, the refrigerator was filled with a sour mess of milk, coke and French salad dressing with pulverized glass." Bob spent the following day (his birthday and Thanksgiving) cleaning and repairing the boat's gen erator and the voyage eventually came to an enc in Port Everglades, nearest available parking place for 83-foot sailboats. Incidentally, a full-color picture of the Ungava in her prewar state is featured on the cover of the December issue of Yachting magazine. T. D. YENSEN '27 LECTURING ON SCANDINAVIA TD. YENSEN 27, manager of Westinghous • magnetics department in East Pittsburgh, Penn sylvania, spent a month in Europe last summer surveying the magnetic materials field. Since his return he has given a broadcast and several illustrated lectures on "Postwar Reconstruction in Norway" "The High Standard of Living in Sweden," and "The Russian Menace to Peace in Scandinavia-A Myth of an Actuality." He presented four more lectures in January. In addition to his chief occupation with magnetic research, from which he expects to retire in 1950, ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY he is chairman of the Technical Committee of the United Smoke Council which is working on methods of smoke elimination to be extended throughout Allegheny County during the next year. Through the Allegheny Civic Club, he also is actively engaged in projects concerning stream pollution and pure water supply. He is section chief of the National Ski Patrol and Wilderness Patrol in the Allegheny Mountains and serves as chairman of the finance committee of the Unitarian Church. FRANK STREIGHTOFF '40 BACK AT LILLY MINCE his graduation from California Institute ir 1940, Frank Streightoff has acquired further edu cation, two jobs, a discharge button and four new dependents. With his B.S. in biology in hand, Frank Streightoff entered the University of Chicago where he studied biology and pathology for one year. In November, 1941, he joined the firm of Eli Lilly and Company, pharmaceutical manufacturers, where he was employed in the Biological Research Department. In May, 1942, Streightoff entered the Army as food nutrician technician. Shortly after his entrance into service, Frank married Ann Mitchell of Indian-apolis. Streightoff served the Army until December, 1945, when he was discharged from the Vitamin Retention Laboratory he had set up for the Army in Washington, D.C. Mr. Streightoff is the father of two daughters and a very young son. He has reentered the employ of the Lilly company in Indianapolis. See Braun for * Electronic photometers * Fluorescence meters *Glass cell photoelectric colorimeters * Glass color filters * Gloss meters * Illuminators * Infrared spectrophotometers Magor ros Po ket-sir and table models, Microscopes: all types, to fit your needs Polaroid laboratory products * Reflection meters * Refractometers * Ultraviolet outfits (portable) Bring your problem to us! Call TRinity 6031 or write to: BRAUN CORPORATION 2260 EAST ISTH ST., LOS ANGELES, CALIE., U.S.A. San Francisco, Calitornia Seattle, Washington BRAUN KNECHT-HEIMANN-CO. SCIENTIFIC SUPPLIES CO. PERSONALS 1921 HAROLD O. FLETCHER has left Pasadena to take up residence at Lonely Valley Ranch, Saugus, California. WILLIAM C. DREYER is employed vice Department of the Westinghouse Corporation. 1925 DWIGHT O. SMITH, whose whereabouts have been unknown to the Alum-i Association for sometime, is with the American Baptist Mission in Rangoon Burma. Mrs. Smith is living in Redlands, California at present. 1927 RICHARD M. DODGE has recently moved to San Gabriel, California. The resignation of JOHN H. MAX-SON, Ph.D. 1947. position in the petroleum industry. ROLAND W. REYNOLDS is now living in Long Beach, California. 1929 RICHARD G. ROFELTY is now residing in Vancouver, Washington. FEBRUARY, 1947 WILLIAM LITTEL BERRY has moved to Sacramento where he is now employed by the Division of Water Re- sources, Department Public Works, of the State California. THOMAS H. EVANS, head of the Department Civil Engineering Georgia Tech. recently been at pointed chairman of the Athletic Coun cil of the faculty. HERBERT H. DEARDORFF visited Alumni Office recently while in ation Francipres halifornia At present Herberr is living JACK PRITCHETT is on temporary ransfer with the Western of the Engineer Board. ruary, he will go to Las Vegas, Nevada where he will take up the duties of chief engineer at the Army Airfield. ion of civil engineer with the Engineer Office at Sacramento, Califor WILLIAM BERGREN, Ph.D. in biology '41, is employed by U. S. C. as a research associate, working on nutrition at their Monrovia Clinic. He also main- tains a consulting practice on the side. LOUIS A. PIPES, M.S. '34 and Ph.D. in electrical engineering '36, , has ecently written a book matics for Engineers and Physicists, pub lished Mr. Pipes, Research and Electronics Division, Hughes ly assistant Aircraft Company, was foeme professor engineerin ciences and applied physics at Harvar University book has where the been material in the used in the Graduate School of Engineering during the past five years. 1934 JAMES R. CAMPBELL is employed with the Paul Henry Company of Los Angeles. PAUL KARTZKE has been transferred to Bakersfield. California as divi- sion manager for Shell Oil Company. RZA F. PORTER has taken a p tion in the Design Department of th C. F. Braun Company of Alhambra, California. ALFRED I. SWITZER has returned to his prewar position in the U.S. En-ineer Office in Los Angeles as assistan hief of the Civil Works Branch, Engi- neering Division. During the war he held the rank of major in the Corps of Engineers. From March, 1945, to June, 1946, he was in the Philippine Islands as chief of the Engineering Division of the General Engineer District, which was WILLIAM W. MOORE has elected president of the Structural En- gineers Association of Northern Cali- member of the en- formering first Dames & Moore. Page 19 GARFORD GORDON is now resid- ing in Los Angeles, California. HUGH M. O'NEIL recently an- nounced the establishment of his and, the trengineer Compan tion, the H. M. Con- sulting Engineers, of Oakland, Califor nia will continue in the business of designing industrial plants and commercial DR. R. W. DODSON, assistant pro- fessor of chemistry, has DR. SIMON RAMO, research direc-cor of Hughes Aircraft Company, ciate in electrical engineering MAURICE SKLAR has been the Midland, Texas office of ROBERT B. VAILE, lost for time to the Alumni Association, is living at present in Western Springs, Illinos. EUCLID V. WATTS has been named general chairman for the spring meet- tute's Pacific Coast Division of Produc He is employed with the General JOSE PULIDO ORTIZ reports from Mexico that as of December last year, he has been appointed as director of the Maritime Works, Sec- DAVID H. SCOTT is now located in Bakersfield, California. ALEXANDER F. BREWER recently moved from Hollywood to Wilmington, ROBERT W. WAYMAN is chief de sion Division of General Motors, manufacturers of the Hydra-matic transmis- Oldsmobile and Cadillac sions used in During the war his divi vehicles including and M24 light tanks and the General Pershing heavy tanks. CHARLES H. WILTS, M.S. '41, Na- Fellow, has received ssistant professor of applied mechanic He is employed with the Southern Counties Gas Com- ROSS ALTON BUCHANAN was re- cently married to Miss Marion Doherty of San Francisco. couple is living in the bay city IS employed with the HERBERT J. CABRAL is working its East Pittsburgh plant. LEWIS LEROY GRIMM is now liv- ing in Temple City, California. JAMES G. KERR has a new job with University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. JOSEPH STEWART MARTIN has moved from Monterey to South Pasa- JOHN NELSON is taking graduate HANS NEUTZEL has left the Los Angeles City Department of Water and to accept employment with U. S. Department of Commerce, Tech-After receiving instructions in Washing- with headquar sad in echoe ded anglese dy e man advances in hydraulics, old daughter reside in Los Angeles. WALTER L. MOORE, recently a re- search engineer with Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, has been appointed asso- ciate professor of hydraulics at the University his of Texas. He will take up new duties in In 1944, Moore was awarded the February Collingwood Prize of the American Society of Civil Engineers for the best paper presented by a junior member in the preceding RICHARD B. FOR WARD is now living in Santa Barbara, Forward was awarded the Distinguished HENRY T. NAGAMATSU recently moved to West Los Angeles, California. VERNER F. H. SHOMAKEL granted leave of absence for the 1947-48 School er is an assistant professor of chemistry Naval Supply Center, Sup Marians Corporation of America. Jhe Unitedhitates. time he will return to ROBERT B. LEIGHTON, M.S. '44 National Research Council Predoctoral Fellow in Physics, has been made a research fellow in physics. ROGER BRANDT recently Pennsylvania, to Weatogue, Con-STEWART DAVIS is presently em- with the Western pany in Allentown, Pennsylvania. wart was married on July 20, 1946. JOHN A. DRAKE has moved to Bal-boa, California. FRANK A. FLECK is now working at Aircraft Company WILLIAM B. HICKS works as sales engineer for U. Rubber Company and is living in Pasadena. Field, California is back home in Los moved to Rosemead, California. WILLIAM S. TATLOCK returned to the beginning of December. Squadron Three, which operated in the He is planning to re-enter col- lege in the fall for work on a Master's degree in chemistry. DONALD GUY FURST is now resid- ing in Whittier, California. MARCUS HALL is now working with the Brown Bevis Equipment Company. NORMAN H. HOROWITZ, fellow senior in research at the Institute, was recently appointed associate protessor of biology. Professor Horowitz came to the Institute After in July graduating from Stanford. of Pittsburgh, from University the Dr. Horowitz held fellow- ships at both the California Institute and Stanford prior to his recent ap pointment. DAVID R. ARNOLD recently mov. ed from Menlo Park, California to Los Altos, California. EDWARD I. BROWN is now residing in Ocean Park, California. STANLEY SAYE is the father of a baby girl, Marilyn, born CHARLES P. STRICKLAND, JR. has a position in the sales division of the York Corporation, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, WILLIAM C. THOMPSON, JR. is Test Station at Inyokern, California. by North American Aircraft in wood, California. ROGER CLAPP reports that he is working at Hughes Aircraft Company in Culver City along SON with TECK WIL- DICK LAGERSTROM JOHN TABER. and cently clayed at North American who is em-nearby. BENJAMIN S. HALNE IIl is employed by General Petroleum Company. J. R. JACOBSEN is working with the Radioplane Company at the Metropoli an Airport in Van Nuys, California ALLEN MACHINE & TOOL CO. Designers and Builders of Special Machinery and Tools Also General Machine Work 13409 S. Alameda Street Compton, California Phones: NEvada 6-2707 • NEwmark 1-8190 Process Industries Steam Plants Municipal Works MERRILL BERKLEY INSTRUMENTS AND CONTROLS Recording PRospect May" PRospect 9136 Integrating Indicating Regulating 1151 SOUTH BROADWAY LOS ANGELES 15 Page 20 ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY THE MARCH OF SCIENCE 1 FIRE.• THE DIFFICULT THING ABOUT FIRE IS THAT IT'S HOT! IT BURNS! BUT PRIMITIVE MAN LEARNED TO USE THIS HEAT TO WARM HIMSELF COOK * HARDEN CLAY. SOFTEN AND MELT METAL. THE 4*h AND LATEST CONQUEST OF FIRE 2 FIRE WATER-STEAM-PISTON-SHAFT FIRE COULDNT BURN WATER-INSTEAD IT CHANGED IT TO STEAM. SO MAN HARNESSED STEAM, USING FIRE INDIRECTLY TO PUSH A PISTON - TURN A WHEEL AND SHAFT.... FIRE-PISTON-SHAFT.. INVENTION OF THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE ELIMINATED STEAM AS A LINK BROUGHT FIRE CLOSER TO THE CRANK..-BUT THE FRICTION OF RECIPROCAT ING MACHINERY STILL LOSES POWER... CAUSES WEAR. THE GAS TURBINE•• NOW, IN THE GAS TURBINE, FIRE IS APPLIED DIRECT TO THE SHAFT. A COMPRESSOR SUPPLIES AIR TO THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER. FUEL BURNER HEATS AIR, GREATLY INCREASING ITS VOLUME. HEATED AIR RUSHES THROUGH TURBINE AND TURNS SHAFT. SOUNDS SIMPLE BUT MANY TOUGH PROBLEMS OF DESIGN AND METALLURGY HAD TO BE SOLVED TO MAKE IT PRACTICAL. MILWAUKE NEIN ALLIS-CHALMERS HAS MADE MORE INDUSTRIAL GAS TURBINES THAN ALL OTHER COMPANIES COMBINED! WORK IS NOW GOING FORWARD FOR THEIR USE IN POWER PLANTS, LOCOMOTIVES, FAST SHIPS, PLANES, JUST ONE MORE EXAMPLE OF A-C LEADERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT OF BETTER MACHINERY FOR ALL INDUSTRY ALLIS CHALMERS ONE OF THE BIG 3 IN ELECTRIC POWER EQUIPMENT BIGGEST OF ALL IN RANGE OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS POSTMASTER: Return postage guaranteed Inomas Va Navis 178 Blacker House Calife Inste of Teche Pasadena 4 Calif The Main Line "Motoring to California via the South-advertisements headed 'Next time, FEBRUARY, 1947 dent occurred during the war. You may remember it. A freight train was ahead. "Next time, try the train" has been in innumerable newspapers magazines, and on radio pro-It has appeared in several motion pictures. We think this friendly invitation has persuaded a good many motorists to let the engineer do the driving, for a change. Not that we have anything against motoring. Most Southern Pacific think there are times when the train has very definite advantages. The big thing about train travel is that somebody else does the work while you relax and take it easy. No traffic to fight. No worries about tires. You arrive really rested. On long trips there's a big saving night and day. Hundreds of miles Next time you go somewhere, try the train. We think you'll enjoy an occasional vacation from your steer- Good Neighbors You may have read about it in the papers not long back. A two year old girl had been blind from birth with congenital cataracts. Ernest Hiehle, Southern Pacific tele-grapher, took up a collection among his fellow railroaders and raised $400 to pay for the operations necessary to restore the little girl's sight. It was just an act of human kindness that anyone might do, but it reminded us that Southern Pacific men and women have performed unusually large number of such acts through the years. Perhaps the most dramatic inci- Such deeds make us think that by and large, Southern Pacific people are pretty good neighbors-nice to have around in emergencies. Railroad Slang Like men who go to sea, railroad men have a salty, picturesque language of their own. Railroad slang varies from one line to another, and it's hard to get railroaders to agree on what's in current use and what isn't. So the following digest of railroad terms must be regarded as strictly unofficial. A locomotive is a "hog", "calliope" or "jack". If it is of ancient vintage, it may be called a "teapot" A freight train is a "drag", and a fast freight is a "hotshot". Passenger "varnish". (The boys ir- reverently call our streamlined Daylight the "circus train" because of its bright colors). A switch is a "gate" and a tor- 'crummy" or "parlor". The engineer is a "hogger", ', "hoghead" or "eagle eye", and the fireman is an "ashcat". The conductor is "captain" or "skip-per". The brakeman is a "shack". A switch engine is a "goat". Refrigerator cars are "reefers". A train on a siding is "in the hole" and the dispatcher who put it there is the "delayer". A telegraph operator is a "brass "lightning slinger" or sim- ply "Op "DS" means dispatcher, and "YM" yardmaster. A railroad official is a "brass hat" and a division superintendent is "whiskers". Demerits are "brownies" everybody tries not to get any of those, thanks. "Highball" is the signal to start, and the "smoky end" is the front end of a train (only our locomotives don't smoke much because they burn oil). These aren't all the railroad slang terms by any means, but they'll give you the general idea. Our Nat'l Park Collection When the Big Bend National Park was created in Texas, we started tot-ting up the national parks we serve and discovered-somewhat to our surprise-that we now serve seven. No other railroad has a collection quite that big. Here they are, reading from north to south: Crater Lake National Park in Ore-gon; Lassen Volcanic, Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia in Cali-fornia; Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico (via El Paso); Big Bend in Big Bend National Park, incident-ally, is named after the Big Bend of Rio Grande, which forms its southern boundary. See Twice As Much Sometimes we wish that Southern Pacific had only one route to the East. It would certainly simplify the advertising problem. As it is, we have four. Our Sunset Route goes east via the Southwest, Texas and New Orleans. Our Golden State Route follows the Sunset Route as far as El Paso, then heads northeast through Kansas City to Chicago. Our Overland Route is the shortest, fastest route between San Francisco and Chicago, and our Shasta Route between the Pacific Northwest and California forms a transcontinental route by connecting with northern U.S. and Canadian lines. You can add variety and interest to your journey by going east on one of these S. P. routes and returning on In other words: "Go one way, return another. See twice as much " -H. K. REYNOLDS SoP The friendly Southern Pacific