MR WARREN F. BLEECKER of Boulder. Colo.. was in New York recently.

MR. R. V. COOK, recently research engineer with the Koppers Co. of Pittsburgh, has joined the sales-engineering staff of the Brecht Co., St. Louis, Mo. He will have charge of the sales and erection of the new Brecht standard oilhydrogenating plant which has just been introduced.

MR. WILLIAM E. COREY, chairman of the Midvale Steel & Ordnance Co., has been elected a director of the Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corp.

DR. F. G. COTTRELL, chief metallurgist in the U. S. Bureau of Mines, has been named assistant director in charge of investigative and scientific work. Other changes in the Bureau are the appointment of the former chief clerk, MR. F. J. BAILEY, as assistant to Director Manning in charge of executive work, and MR. H. W. MEYER, chief clerk of the War Minerals Relief Commission, to be chief clerk of the Bureau, succeeding Mr. Bailey.

MR ALGERNON DEL MAR, milling and flotation engineer, has opened an office at 1424 Alpha St., Los Angeles, Cal., and will conduct a business in the design and operation of milling plants.

MR. R. C. GEMMELL, general manager of the Utah Copper Co., will become assistant managing director of that company and other interests of D. C. Jackling, effective Aug. 1. Besides the Utah Copper Co., Mr. Gemmell will assist in the direction of the Nevada Consolidated Copper Co., Ray Consolidated Copper Co. and Chino Copper Co. MR. LOUIS S. CATES, at present general manager of the Ray Consolidated Copper Co., will become assistant general manager of the Utah Copper Co. on Aug. 1, with offices in Salt Lake City.

MR C. W. HARE, director of sales, War Department, sailed for Europe July 21 with a party of 22 to ascertain European conditions for the disposal of surplus property now held by the War Department in the United States.

PROF. SAMUEL HOYT has resigned as assistant professor of metallography, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, to accept a position as metallographist for the National Electric Lamp Association, Nela Park, Cleveland.

Mr. D. S. MCAFEE, engineer of the Dorr Co., has returned from Chile.

MR GEORGE MESTA, president of the Mesta Machine Co., Pittsburgh, has sailed for Europe on a pleasure and business trip combined, to be gone until November.

MR LEWIS A. PARSONS has resigned from the International Nickel Co. of Canada and accepted a position on the Mining and Scientific Press as associate editor.

MR. WILLIAM C. POTTER, of Guggenheim Bros., is a member of the board of directors of the Mexican International Corporation, recently organized to finance new enterprises in Mexico.

MR. THOMAS T. READ, formerly associate editor of the Mining and Scientific Press, has joined the staff of the Bureau of Mines and will investigate the work of the Bureau in relation to public welfare.

MAJOR F. H. SCHOENFESS, lately discharged as metallurgical expert from the United States Ordnance epartment, where he had charge of the specifications for the heat-treatment of all parts of various types of guns, has become associated with John H. Brewster, 30 East 47th St., New York City, American representative of the Fagersta Steel Co., Fagersta, Sweden, maker of carbon and alloy steels.

MR. W. H. STAVER, mining and metallurgical engineer, of New York City, is on a business trip to Denver and other points in the West.

DR. SAMUEL A. TUCKER, formerly professor of electrochemistry at Columbia University, who served as Major in the Chemical Warfare Service, is now chief chemist for the Chemical Foundation, Inc.

MR. C. H. VOM BAUR has resigned as vice-president of the T. W. Price Engineering Co., Woolworth Bldg., New York, and will soon establish an office for the sale of the vom Baur electric furnace.

MR. M. W. VON BERNEWITZ has resigned as assistant editor of the Mining and Scient fic Press and has come to New York to collaborate with Walter H. Weed on the Mines Handbook.

MR C. M. WELD, consulting mining engineer, has returned from war work in Washington, and resumed practice with offices at 66 Broadway, New York.

MAJOR CLARENCE J. WEST, recently in charge of the editorial department, research division, Chemical Warfare Service, has joined the staff of Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, Mass., as director of the information department. While with the Chemical Warfare Service he prepared about fifty monographs on different phases of chemical warfare, dealing particularly with war gases, smokes, incendiaries, absorbents, etc. In his new position Major West will extend the library facilities of the organization and develop a special information service on technical and scientific subjects.

Obituary

MR. CLARENCE W. HATHAWAY, metallurgist for the last eight years for the Granite City Steel Works Branch of the National Enameling & Stamping Co., met his death by drowning while swimming with a party of friends in the Mississippi River on July 19 at Granite City, Illinois. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886, and was educated in the schools of that place and at the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. He had previously been employed with the U. S. Steel Corporation at Gary, Indiana, before accepting his last position. He leaves a wife, father and mother, one brother and four sisters. Mr. Hathaway was a member of the Masons and Elks; and of the American Chemical Society, Metallurgical Society of America, and the American Ceramic Society.

Current Market Reports

Tuesday, July 29.-The general rise in prices noted in the last report has continued during the past fortnight, due to an increase in both the export and the domestic demand.

Lead: The price has advanced to 5.85-6.00c. for New York delivery and 5.50-5.75c. for East St. Louis shipment.

Tin: London prices have advanced almost daily, Straits, spot, being now quoted at £272 per ton. The general New York quotations on Straits, spot, is 71c.; electrolytic, 99 per cent, 661-68c. Tin ore is arriving in ever-increasing amounts. During the week of July 14-21, 1850 tons were received from Bolivia.

Zinc: Spot spelter continues to advance. East St. Louis, 7.70-7.80c.; New York, 8.25c.

Aluminum:-The market is reported quiet and 98-99 per cent ingots are now quoted at 33c. lb. Scrap continues to advance: Cast, 23-24c.; sheet, 24-25c.; clippings, 26-27c.

Antimony:—It is reported that considerable export trade to Europe has developed and the market has therefore assumed a much firmer aspect. The present quotation for spot regulus ranges from 91-91c.

Copper:-The rapid rise in the copper market during the past few weeks has brought the price for spot delivery to 23 c. Buyers who have bought copper for a rise now see enough profit to let go of some of their holdings, and this has stopped the further upward movement for the time being. Quotations are: Spot and July, 231-231c. August, 231-23 c.; September, 24c.

When the seasonal correction is applied to the reading given by the order books of the steel mills a very favorable showing is made of the strength of the market. July and August are normally very dull months in the steel trade, but this year the volume of domestic business is showing for July a slight gain over June. In export business this is not the case, there being somewhat less activity, but that is undoubtedly due to causes other than the season, and beyond the control of the steel trade.

The trends of steel mill activity are well shown by proportioning the ingot production, reported monthly, to an estimated capacity of 49,000,000 gross tons per annum. This gives the following percentages of activity, as averages for the months: January, 87 per cent; February, 85; March, 77; April, 65; May, 54; June, 67. The low point fell in May, which, with an average of 54 per cent for the month, must have had a low point at about the middle of the month of approximately 50 per cent. June, with a sharp increase in total production, must have had a rate of about 70 per cent at the close of the month. The rate has probably not increased materially since the first of July. The July average, when reported, will probably lie between 70 and 75 per cent.

STEEL TRADE CONDITIONS BECOMING MORE NORMAL Conditions affecting the steel trade have altered toward the normal by a sufficient amount to justify a long-range scrutiny to determine when and how full activity in the industry may be developed. Early in the year the tonnage turned out by the mills constituted no index to the future, as the industry seemed to be running on momentum to an extent. Just why it operated as well as it did cannot readily be explained, nor if the explanation were available would it be of particular value as a foreshadowing of what should be expected for the future. The fact that the low point in steel production fell six months after hostilities were terminated by the signing of the armistice indicates very plainly that what occurred in the fore part of the intervening six months could not be indicative of what would occur in the trade later.

Assuming that the steel industry has operated in July at a rate of producing 35,000,000 tons of ingots a year, which is 70 per cent of an estimated capacity of 49,000,000 tons, this 35,000,000 tons is equal to what may be estimated as the entire capacity in 1914, there having been a 40 per

cent increase in steel producing capacity, though hardly in steel finishing capacity, during the war. In both 1912 and 1913, easily the best pre-war years from a tonnage standpoint, ingot production was about 30,280,000 tons. Thus production in July was 16 per cent in excess of the best sustained average before the war. Exports of steel and steel manufactures, reduced to an ingot basis, represented about 3,000,000 tons a year in 1912 and 1913, and represent about 5,500,000 tons at present, and thus one has it that production of ingots for purely domestic consumption is now at about two and a quarter million tons a year, or about 8 per cent, more than in 1912-13.

INDIVIDUAL CASES OF STEEL CONSUMPTION

With this general guide as to total tonnages, one may readily compare individual cases of consumption. The automobile industry is consuming much more steel than ever before, and so is the petroleum industry, for the lap weld departments of the pipe mills are filled with orders for practically the remainder of the year, although their orders outside the petroleum industry have been distinctly light. Dwelling house construction is, or soon will be, fully up to a normal rate. Construction work involving large projects, skyscraper hotel and office buildings, bridges, power plants and factories is far below normal, although steadily increasing. Shipbuilding is at the rate of about 500,000 tons deadweight a month, and that may prove to be the normal rate for several years, but lately shipbuilding has been largely with steel accumulated during the war as a factor of safety, so that later on the shipyards wil! be calling for more steel from the mills. Railroad buying is completely absent. The normal proportion of railroad consumption of steel to total steel poduction has usually been exaggerated, some estimates having been as high as 30 or 40 per cent. A liberal estimate seems to be 20 per cent, with a 5 per cent leeway in either direction.

From this rough sketch it is readily seen that demand has opportunity to grow from its present volume by an amount easily sufficient to take up the slack between the present 70 per cent operation and a full operation, and that without any increase in export demand.

EXPORT DEMAND

It would be quite unsafe to count upon an increase in export demand, particularly as the export bookings in July ran below those of June. The purchasing power in foreign countries is limited and in Great Britain and on the Continent exchange rates are very unfavorable. The condition is one that the steel industry itself can do little to rectify, but one that the United States, or the American people, can and should entirely rectify. We have been expecting financially impoverished nations to buy goods from us because we have goods, ignoring the fact that when we have much more money than they we should also buy from them. As a matter of self-interest the steamship companies, desiring return hauls, will probably do much to encourage an import trade, and the divergence in exchange rates will also have a favorable influence.

There is little likelihood that steel prices will change much during the remainder of this year. It is now practically assured that there will be no declines in important commodities, with the possible exception of plates, where there is so great an excess of capacity. The market has successfully stood the test of there being a period of price cutting, in which the mills with the leanest order books bought their way into the market and then resumed quoting full prices. As to advances, there is less sentiment among steel mills in favor of making advances than there was a month ago. With a larger volume of business they are better satisfied with existing prices, which are those that became effective March 21, and they have come to realize that advanced prices, perhaps of doubtful benefit. in themselves, would probably precipitate labor unrest and might easily lead to advanced wages. The advanced wages would be permanently fastened on the industry, while the advanced prices might yield at any time. Here and there an independent steel producer has advanced prices on one product or another, but these advances have not taken hold generally and are not especially popular.

The Chemical Market

New York, July 28, 1919. The increasing foreign demand has stiffened and stabilized the entire line of heavy chemicals. Among those most urgently sought are sodium bichromate (by England and South America), and caustic soda (by Japan and South America). In addition to this, it is reported that a number of domestic contracts have been placed for these two products, covering the balance of the year. Sodium bichromate is probably the strongest item on the list, having advanced 37 per cent since last writing, present price being 11-12c. Not long ago it was selling below cost.

Caustic soda continues to mount, under the guidance of the United States Alkali Association, which has just boosted the export price from $3.30 up to $3.50 per cwt., f.a.s., New York. Muriatic acid has risen 1c., because of curtailed production and short stocks. As for potassium prussiate, there are only two tons on the market to-day, with the price 55-65c. against 40-50c. two weeks ago. It is expected that stocks will shortly be repleted, with relief to the buyers and sellers alike.

Copper sulphate (blue vitrol) reflects the present higher price of copper. However, although the price for moderate quantities is $9.15-$9.25 and quoted at $9 for carloads, it is possible to obtain the latter at $8.75 per cwt.

NAVAL STORES

Except during the Civil War, turpentine and rosins were never higher than at present. Both are selling heavily in foreign markets as well as in the domestic, with the result that spot stocks here are scarce. At this writing spirits of turpentine is quoted at $1.27 per gal., against $1.05 two weeks ago. During the war, Europe produced practically no naval stores, so is now buying heavily in this country. Another factor of importance in explaining high prices is the tie-up of coastwise shipping, which affects the ports of New York, Boston, Savannah, New Orleans, Galveston and Norfolk.

VEGETABLE OILS

The speculative feature, which for many weeks has characterized the vegetable-oil market, is beginning to disappear. What little oil there is, is in the hands of manufacturers and wholesalers who, under present conditions, are in no hurry to sell. It is believed in some quarters that vegetable oils have attained the apex. No advance

is expected unless a heavy buyer enters the market. This opinion is substantiated by the fact that the purchase of only 660 bbl. of soya bean oil last week sent the price up a cent.

Is the present price of linseed oil too high? Well, it was never higher-even during the stress of war. Shortage of seed is the reason given, but there are dealers who admit that inflation is a still better reason. In the first week of June raw in 5-bbl. lots sold for $1.59 per gal.; second week, $1.83; third week, $1.90; first week of July, $1.90; second week $2.15; third week, $2.20-an increase of 38 per cent in less than two months. It would seem that linseed oil has succumbed to the speculative fever that has been ravaging the vegetable-oil market for some time.

As a result of increased domestic consumption soya bean oil has advanced in price, which now is 18c. per lb. in tank cars, f.o.b. Pacific Coast, as compared with 161-171c. at the last writing. It is expected to go even higher, due to lax buying in the Orient. Domestic demand is quickening.

Castor oil should advance sharply in the near future, owing to the usual fall demand by the textile mills and tanners. No castor beans are being grown in the United States this year, necessitating entire dependence on Brazil. Brazil has already shipped large quantities of seed to France.

St. Louis, July 23, 1919. The fertilizer manufacturers, who started the original heavy demand for 60 per cent sulphuric acid, have kept up their demands so insistently that the price is expected to rise within the next few weeks. One local producer put a new plant in operation the first part of the month and

already is swamped by orders. The price holds steady at $12 a ton.

The 66 per cent sulphuric is normal, demands being steady but not heavy, the price remaining at $18 a ton. The demand for oleum also is normal and the price remains the same.

Muriatic acid is in immense demand. Producers are frankly at a loss to know where the supply is going and why orders should be so heavy. One producer believes that a shortage of tank cars is being felt, which is causing buyers to place numerous orders in the hopes of getting through the amount of muriatic they desire. Prices hold steady at $22 a ton for 18 per cent.

Sodium bisulphate (niter cake) is reported oversold. Orders are being refused by some local producers who have their supply contracted for until Jan. 1. The price is $2.50 a ton. Steel manufacturers are still buying heavily for pickling purposes.

Zinc chloride is extremely active. One local producer reports sending a million pounds in July to a customer who formerly bought only 1,500,000 lb. in a year. The price is 3 c. a lb. on contract and 4c. on the open market for 50 per cent.

Zinc oxide continues very strong with the demand greater than the supply. Production has been increased locally, but orders are still hard to fill. The demand for low-leaded and lead free is strong, but not quite as strong for high-leaded. Prices remain the same.

Barytes continue in heavy demand at same prices, but an ultimate advance is declared inevitable, by local producers. Unusually heavy business by paint manufacturers is reflected strongly in the barytes field. Prices for waterfloated barytes remain at $23 to $25 a ton, including barrels; $21.50 to $23.50 in bags, extra charge being made for the bags; all prices f.o.b. mills in carload lots.

Chicago, July 28, 1919.

Marked advances in a few items of heavy chemicals and circus stunts on the part of most items in the line of naval stores have made the Chicago market interesting for the past two weeks. High prices seemingly have no deterrent effect on sales, all dealers reporting business far in excess of normal.

Heavy Chemicals-Caustic soda and soda ash are holding firm at quotations established three weeks ago, solid caustic bringing 3c. to 31c., and granulated 4c., soda ash 2c. The threatened advance in bleaching powder (calcium hypochlorite) has not occurred, price remaining firm at 2c. with good demand.

Niter cake (sodium bisulphate) shares in the prosperity of sulphuric acid, quantities having been placed under contract by the steel interests at about $4 a ton. Spot sales in small lots are bringing a considerably higher price. Sodium bichromate has advanced from 7c. on the first of the month to 11tc. today, with apparently the end not yet in sight.

Potassium carbonate is still being quoted by some dealers as high as 22c., though several lots have changed hands at a much lower figure; but 17c. should probably be considered actual price today. Yellow potassium prussiate is another article that has gone up to a surprising degree, sales being effected this week at 65c. against an easy market of 35c. three weeks ago.

Vegetable Oils -Linseed oil struck a record high figure in Chicago about ten days ago of $2.73 in barrels, this figure holding but a short time, however. It is now quoted at $2.48. The very complete tie-up of building operations now in effect here may cause some reduction, as local consumption will be seriously reduced. Other vegetable oils have remained steady, quotations of July 9th letter still holding good.

Flotation Oils, Naval Stores.-There seem to be no limits to the price heights which have been or may be reached in these lines. Turpentine heads the list with plenty of sales being effected at 1.36, and its habit of jumping not less than one cent a day seems to have become confirmed. Rosin is also high, grade WW being quoted at 21.60, F at 17.70, E at 17.45 and B at 16.50, delivered Chicago. Pine tar in barrels brings 35c. to 37c. and pine tar oil 38c to 40c.