Edited by A. A. Send items to Ed. F.

The L. S. O . G. Exchange Ashdown, Ed. F. Degering, J. E. Hawkins, andS. L. Redman Degering, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind.

Τ Ν ADDITION to the problems of other sec­tions, the New York Section has respon­

sibilities that come with its location and a large membership, now more than 2,800.

There are the problems of planning meetings that will appeal to a membership of widely diverse interests, bringing some members many miles from the outside re­search centers and institutions into the city, and keeping others downtown at night in spite of other numerous and seem­ingly compelling demands on their time.

To meet these requirements, programs are based in part on the proved common desire to see and hear famous men. Single programs often present three or four dis­tinguished chemists, any one of whom alone would honor any platform. Such programs fill the meeting hall at the Penn­sylvania Hotel. The programs are planned also on the belief that the meetings should provide not only information but also inspiration and renewed encourage­ment to each one who attends.

The Indicator, published in collabora­tion with the New Jersey and Western Connecticut Sections and edited by F. W. Zons, is a several thousand dollars a year business and returns a profit that, though small in percentage of the gross, is very helpful.

The Membership Committee is active and has obtained 280 members in the past two years under the chairmanship of William F. O'Connor. Secretarial work of the section is necessarily heavy but is handled ably by Cornelia T. Snell with the help of a part-time stenographer.

Another feature that has been found successful is the annual students' program which precedes a regular section meeting. A well-planned session with students pre­senting, listening to, and discussing papers achieves several objectives. The speak­ers gain the valuable experience of pre­senting technical papers to an eager, re­ceptive audience. In addition to the in­formation and inspiration it provides, the meeting marks for many the beginning of that professional contact and association which form the basis of the SOCIETY. I t also affords the New York Section the op­portunity of acquainting a large number of student affiliates, junior, and prospec­tive members with the sort of symposia that they soon will endeavor to attend not only locally but, we hope, at the national meetings. The interest of chemistry teachers in the project is apparent.

Although the speakers present the re­sults of experimental research, the con­tent and presentation must not ignore the limited specialization of the audience.

Senior research, a bachelor's, master's, and occasionally a Ph.D. thesis supply most of the material. An attempt is made to have all schools in the area represented on the program as well as in the audience. The meeting is held a t 5:00 p. M. Three divisions, physical-inorganic, organic, and chemical engineering, simultaneously offer

three papers each. The papers are sched­uled for 15-minute presentation. Presid­ing at each section is a member of the faculty of a school not presenting a student speaker. Questions and discussion are encouraged. The proximity of the three meeting halls facilitates attendance at papers in different divisions. Following the divisional programs, a general paper is presented to the combined groups. The Chairman of the section then invitee all to the regular evening meeting at which distinguished speakers provide the proper inspiration in addition to being helpfully informative.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 1 6 8 6

RECISION SlMPL ICITY

DEPENDABILITY ^BfiUSTS/# in p u s c k a s e s for

your i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n war-t ime p r o d u c t i o n !

A l l three are an integral part of your purchase when you buy "Engelhard11 Industrial Precision Instruments. For these qualities and many new and. special features are "built i n " by skilled workmen w h o have spent their lives on precision instrument work. Simplicity has been, achieved only through careful and extended tests. Precision and depend­ability — under the most severe service condit ions — result from the fine tolerances reqoired i n Engelhard construction and in close attention to even the most minute details.

Manufacturers of Precision Instruments for Over 40 Years!

Indicating Automatic

and Recording Pyrometers Temperature Control

Thermocouples and Accessories Pack-ess Solenoid Valves

Industrial, Automotive Fuel Gas Analyzers

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V O L U M E 2 0, N O . 2 4 . D E C E M B E R 2 5, 1 9 42 1685

CHARLES ENGELHARD, INCORPORATED 90 CHESTNUT ST.; Ν Ε WARK; 1Ν EW iJ ERSE Y

Securities and Exchange Commission has made public the second of a new series of advance releases of the Survey of American Listed Corporations. The four corporations comprising this group are manufacturers of fertilizers and include the American Agricultural Chemical Co., (of Del.), Davison Chemical Corp., In­ternational Minerals & Chemical Corp., and Virginia-Carolina Chemical Corp.

These reports give data for net sales, net profits, net profit as a per cent of sales, total dividends, and total assets for 1941 and 1942 for individual companies and for the group as a whole. Remunera­tion data for 1942 are shown for the re­cipient of the highest, second highest, and third highest individual amounts paid by these corporations and the total which each company paid to all its officers and directors. These data are presented in advance of the complete industry reports released by the Survey of American Listed Corporations and are compiled from an­nua! reports for companies with fiscal years ending in the same calendar year.

For the four corporations, the combined sales amounted to $82,000,000 in 1942 against $67,000,000 in 1941. Net profit

after all charges totaled S5,6OO,00O in 1942 compared with $2,500,000 in 1941, equivalent to Θ.8 and 3.8 per cent of sales, respectively. Total dividends paid amounted to SI,500,000 in 1942 against $1,100,000 in 1941. The combined assets of these corporations totaled $100,000,000 at the end of 1942 compared with $88,000,-000 at the end of 1941.

For 1942 t h e highest remuneration re­ported was ^>100,476, second highest $60,000, and third highest S50,5OO. The total remuneration reported paid by these companies to all officers and directors amounted to S766,480 during this year.

For the year ended September 30, 1942, the Illinois Zinc Co. and subsidiaries report net income of S464.763 after depreciation, interest, federa.1 income taxes, and reserve of $60,000 for contingencies. This is equal to $4.8S a share on common and compares with $396,310 of S4.16 a share in the preceding year. Federal income taxes for the year amounted to S 160,000, compared with* $76,000 in the preceding year. During the year the company re­duced its bank loans $100,000, reducing the total outstanding to $300,000, and as

of November 30, 1942, paid §132,000, while current bank borrowings of sub­sidiaries aggregated $50,000. Three ad­ditional smelter blocks being erected at the Dumas smelter, leased to the American Zinc Co., are expected to be in operation shortly.

The Canadian Industrial Alcohol Co. for the fiscal year ended August 31, 1942, shows net profit of S554v860 after deprecia­tion, income, and excess profits taxes of $556,879 and contingent reserve of $100,-000. This is equal to 50 cents a share on combined voting and nonvoting capital stock, and compares with $383,658 or 35 cents a share in the preceding year.

Commercial Solvents Corp. has declared a 30 cent year-end dividend, bringing the total for 1942 to 60 cents, compared with 55 cents for 1941. This is one of the few companies to declare larger dividends in 1942 than in 1941.

Consolidated net income of the Dow Chemical Co. and subsidiaries for the three months ended August 31, 1942, was $2,147,705, equivalent to $1.66 per share on common. This compares with $2,104,282 or SI.79 per share in the third quarter of 1941.

The A. O. Smith Corp. and subsidiaries for the fiscal year ended July 31, 1942, show net income of $3,703,114 after de­preciation and amortization of properties, reserve for taxes, etc. This is equal to $7.42 a share, and compares with S2,734,-657 or S5.49 in the preceding year.

B. R. Squibb & Sons and subsidiaries report for the quarter ended September 30, 1942, net profit of S455,279 after charges and provision of $509,059 for federal and Canadian income and excess profits taxes. This is equal to 90 cents a share on common and compares with $520,236 or 95 cents per share in the September quar­ter of 1941.

Hiram Walker-Gooderham Worts, Ltd., has discontinued distilling for beverage purposes in its United States and Canadian plants and manufacturing facilities are now utilized 100 per cent in the production of alcohol. U. S. plants have a distilling capacity of approximately 22,000,000 wine gallons of 190-proof alcohol per year. For the fiscal year ended August 31, 1942, the net profit reported is $7,123,579 or $9.07 per share, compared with $6,921,969 or $8.78 in the preceding fiscal year. Sales set a new high at $150,492,421, com­pared with $102,156,227 in the previous year.

L. S. O . G . Exchange CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 6 8 5

Another feature of the program which is received with enthusiasm is the group dinner, moderately priced at less than a dollar. This, taking place prior to the evening meeting, contributes to the con­tinuity of the whole program.

Last year's meeting attracted well over 300 students from 12 schools. One meeting of this type is included on the section's yearly agendum.—RALPH H. MULLER, New York Section.

1686 C H E M I C A L A N D E N G E N E E R I N G N E W S

THE WALL STREET Of CHEMISTRY

Fiber Conduit Has W i d e Field of Potential Use

T N view of the metal shortage great interest has been shown in the possibili­

ties of fiber conduit such as Bermico, a product of Brown Company, manufactur­ers of wood cellulose products.

In the production of Bermico, wood cellulose fibers are scientificahy built up and heat-treated to form rugged tubes with a solid homogeneous wall structure. These tubes are then impregnated by a special process to produce a chemically inert, light weight pipe with high me­chanical strength and water resistance. Significantly, Bermico is made 100 per cent from noncritical materials.

Millions of feet of Bermico are put under ground each year for the installation of electrical cables. Lately Bermico fiber conduit has been used in place of critical metal conduit. Another new application is for inside drain pipe to carry off rain water. Bermico is also now being used as a protective jacket to prolong the life of metal pipe exposed to corrosive action of liquids or gases.

In addition to the uses already men­tioned, certain types of Bermico seem to offer possibilities as a soil pipe, as well as for drainage lines and as casing in shal­low oil wells. Other private experiments arc being conducted to determine the adaptability of Bermico as a war time alternate for specialized applications. Samples of Bermico and complete infor­mation may be obtained from Brown Company's General Sales Office at 500 Fifth Avenue, New York City.

Farm Product Used by du Pont Λ CARAVAN of 50,000 five-ton trucks,

" ^ bumper to bumper, stretching over 236 miles of highway from Washington, D . C , to New York would be needed to haul the farm products purchased by du Pont in one pre-war year.

Today even larger tonnages of crops grown on American farms have been added to the colossal procession needed to meet wartime demands for chemicals. Vege­table oils, turpentine, cotton, cotton lin-ters, and wood pulp, to name but a few, go daily to chemical factories in various sec­tions of the United States, to be con­verted into products essential for peace— and war.

FERDINAND A. KERTESS, of the Chemi­cal Marketing Co., Inc., New York, N. Y., and three others were accused on November 6 before a Federal Grand Jury of scheming to send to Germany strategic metals of the platinum group—rhodium, iridium, and palladium. During 1940 and 1941 it was said, the group had smuggled to Germany more than $14,000 worth of these metals. Dr. Kertess pleaded not guilty and was freed in $7,500 bail.

Swedish-Finnish Trade Pact HPERMS of the Swedish-Finnish trade

agreement for the first six months of 1943, recently concluded, provide that Swedish exports to Finland are to be maintained at the 1942 level. In addi­tion Sweden is to grant credit of 10,000,-000 kronor (about $2,500,000 at par) for Finnish purchases from Sweden, as well as credit of 5,500,000 kroner (about $1,375,000) for financing Finnish import? of Danish butter. Under a trade agree­ment concluded in May and valid to December 31, this year, Sweden was to export goods to Finland in the amount of

35,000,000 kroner, or about $8,750,000 at par. In addition Sweden allowed Finland a credit of 35,000,000 kronor with which to purchase foodstuffs from Denmark. Finland, in return, was to export goods to Sweden to the extent her supplies per­mitted.

A HE French Kali-Chemie A.-G. reports that sales showed a substantial increase in 1941, above the average of the last three years before the war. The com >any is negotiating for the purchase of an electro­lytic plant in Alsace and a salt pit and chemical plant in Lorraine.

. . . . .by α New Process

In response to the considerable demand for an economical source of d-ribose, Schwarz Labora­tories, Inc., has developed a new and improved process for the production of this rare pentose.

For industrial purposes, Schwarz Laboratories, Inc., is prepared to discuss bulk product ion of d-ribose, in several grades of pur i ty and physical state to meet specific requirements.

d-ribose of exceptional purity is available for research purposes

inquiries are invited

I N C O R P O R A T E D

202 East 44th Street

V O L U M E 2 0, N O . 2 4 « D E C E M B E R 2 5, 1 9 4 2 1687

LABORATORIES

New York, Ν. Υ.