Page F our ARMOUR TECH NEWS Tuesday, November 22, l933 By EUGENE WORCESTER THE AMERICAN railroads eval— uate themselves to the extent of up— wards of twenty-six billion dollars. They represent perhaps, the greatest single investment in the country. Their equity is held greatly by in— surance and banking firms which are in turn owned by individuals. They employ over a million people and pay wages amounting to almost two billion annually. Yet this colossus of industry is in an economically unhealthy condition. Burdened with extremely high fixed and operating costs, depreciation and competition further add to the railway’s problem of trying: to make ends meet. It were well to state that not all rail— roads are in the same bad con- dition; a few are making good profits, but on the whole their con— dition is weak. SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT factors are contributory to the present pre- dicament facing the nation’s railroad executives. First, the low business level and contingent decreased volume of production has reduced the transportation demand. This fac- tor is applicable to most every in— dustry. With less production, there is less goods to transport. Further, with the immense drop in exports and imports there is little demand for the railroad and its facilities at the nation's wharvcs. A decade or two ago, when the railroads had a virtual monopoly of transportation facilities, their high rates forced the decentralization of large indus- tries into district plants to cut down the price of the delivered product, of which the manufacturer felt too great a part included transit costs. This movement in industry greatly lessened the former transportable volume of produce and the number of railroad miles over which it was formerly carried. THE INCREASED use of oil and gas instead of coal, and the trans- portation of both by pipe lines be- tween the field and the consumer has left a large number of oil tank cars to rust in freight yards. It is more economical today for the manufac- turer to distribute from district fac- tories with trucking facilities than to operate from a large base and pay high railroad rates on long distance hauling. The tax, pension, and in- terest burden is of no small magni» tude in the railroad budget either. WHAT THEN can the railroads do to restore themselves to a finan- cially healthier condition? One plan suggested, but presently abandoned due to union pressure and the re- port of the Federal Facthinding Board, is to cut all wages fifteen The fixed costs of railroads are high. The army of executives and experts, operators and main- tainence men which they employ, draws a large bi«weekly pay check. The capital frozen in equipment and property is tremendous. Undoubted~ ly, a 15% wage slice would reduce operating costs, but it would reduce the spending and purchasing power of a million families equally. Inci- dentally, $1700 a year, the average railroad employee’s salary, is far be- low the income quoted by Washing- ton’s experts as that necessary for a comfortable and normal being. The railroad brutherhoods threaten striking in the event of recourse to this policy, although their actually doing so is unlikely. ANOTHER SURE aid would be an increase in business handled by the railroads. But how, is the question. The railroads are now operating far below their point of diminishing re— turns. Every extra car loaded is an added profit to them. Their lines and operators could handle considerably more traffic with little added effort or expenditure. An empty train is just as expensive to move as a loaded one, while' road beds depreciate as quickly when not in use as when trains operate over them. A ques- tion of economics then arises as to whether an increased volume at a reduced rate of carriage would yield a greater income and consequent profit, than the present smaller volume at high freight rates. A drastic freight rate slash would win Big news of last week was the an- into that Armour nual initiation of frosh the ’Twas a gala great fraternal body, Architectural Society. occasion, just like all of the other Arx social events—we like ourselves, anyway, eh Arx? Firstly, there was a sketch compe— tition, which was very neatly done with juniors and sophs giving the sketches that certain umphl . . . Blue— stein took off his pants and put on a very fancy red skirt under the gaze of a fellow female fresh. Stat-es pro- ceeded to take his pants off in front of the same female Arx and when informed jumped backwards and away. . . . Big-shot Salzman took over the meeting when all ye Arx were outside. . . . Wheel—barrow race was very interesting, wasn’t it, frosh'.’. . . Biedermann‘s team won. . The fresh practiced up on their swinging, Piper was some flat foot floogie; Bluestcin in his skirt cut quite a fig— urc with the boys. . . . The boys were very nimble in fountain jumping, suc- ceeding in splashing onlookers. . . . Crowds on State Street were fascin- ated by the froshs‘ doings. . , . The paper rolling feat was very interest- ing and to look at the countenanccs of the citizens, I could see that this was their high spot of the day. Many a weary soul was, I suppose, spirited and able to carry on as a result of seeing our merriment. . . . At the banquet the sketches were given critics by some sophs in the best fac‘ ultish manner. . . . Bledermann was Mr. van der Robe; Miller, Rodgers (he says: “100”); Mann, Dornbusch (very good except . . . the isometric doesn’t show construction); Stowcll, Mell (well, son); Pointek, I-Iil'ber- schcimer; Alschuler, Petcrhans; Blum, Harper; Salzman, Kreihhicl. . . . It was the high spot of the entire banquet. . . . Spcyer was presented his prize in the Scarab sketch com- petition. . . . lie was asked to say a Word by Rea; he was very gracious and, said four words: “Thank you very much!” . . . One of the profs began his Speech: “I don’t know I think!” is zat so? . . . Toastmaster Mandel read a list of the new Scarab program of their activities for the mutual benefit of the entire student body of Arx. . . . Singing and beer topped the banquet off. Overheard: “Who called that shoe- leather a steak; why insult the cows, they have enough to worry about." BOZ—ARTS. senger rates as well, where bus lines and now the airplane are dividing the profits. THE THEORIST offers a broad reorganization plan whereby all the railroads would be consolidated, and under Federal jurisdiction and man- agement, somewhat as they were during the war, and would be in the event of another war (which we all hope will not present itself). A plan would, of necessity. needs be devised to equally distribute the equity of the consolidated roads among the present bond and stockholders of the individual roads. Excess roadbeds between terminals would be retired, thus reducing the reader’s overhead now plaguing competing companies between cities where one road bed would suffice. Chicago and St. Louis make an excellent example. Trains would not run empty one way and half empty on return. Old employees would be at once retired and sup~ ported with a pension from federal funds. Rates would be stabilized and equalized. Such a plan as this is out- right socialization of the railroads. There are objectors to this plan and they have numerous supporters in the banking and insurance interests. THE RAILROAD problem is a very present and great one, and whether the government intends to subsidize them With a very low rate loan of a billion or two, is still to be seen. No doubt, an increase in back much of the trade lost to truck- ing, but the return per loaded car would, of course, be less. One can’t both have his cake and eat it. This principle might be applied to pas- ,business activity and an advisable i rate reduction price policy by agree- ! ment of the unions and the railroads, , will offer a temporary easement to i the situation. Vugrborg lourneys "lo Eastern Cities; Visits Many Firms Carrying its members throughout the country during the past month, the business and activities of the Re- search Foundation show clearly the nation-wide scope of its contacts. The cast and middle west have figured most prominently in the dealings of the Foundation, but concerns as far west as California have shown a dc- sire to become associated with it. Confers will: Mellon Institute A good deal of the traveling has been done by Mr. Vagtborg, who in consulting with firms, attending con— forences, and visiting various schools and institutes has gone to New York, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Detroit within the last month, The New York trip concerned a possible new sub- scriber, the Continental Carbon Com- pany. The problem of where to obtain new personnel of 21 caliber high enough to meet the demands of the long term projects to be conducted, led him to Pittsburgh where be com fer-red with the Mellon Institute of In~ dustrial Research, a contemporary or— ganization which has been doing re- search work for twenty-five years, and with Carnegie Tech. From there he went to Columbus, Ohio, where a similar discussion took place with the Batelle Memorial Institute and Ohio State University. In Detroit Mr. Vagtborg attended a meeting of the American Engineerv ing Council which was conducting a forum on “Research Inventions and the Engineer." The purpose of this gathering was to get the views of en— gineers, research men, and patent at— torneys on the proposed changes in the patent laws and to give these views to the government as an opinion on the matter. Peebles Attends A.5.T.M. Mr. Peeblcs, head of the insulation laboratories of the Foundation, is go- ing east to Pittsburgh next week to attend a meeting of the insulation committee of the American Society for Testing Materials at the Mellon Institute. Dr. Jakob, heat transfer laboratory head, goes to Lafayette, Ind, on Nov. 31 and Dec. 1 to give a series of special lectures to the fac— ulty and students of Purdue. Dr. Poulter talked before a large audience of WHSE members on the subject of “Research In Extreme Pressures.” He explained the results and problems connected with the work and described the experiments he has performed. Harvester Co. Shows Deise/ Film to Mechs Following a short business meeting last Friday at 10:30 in Science Hall, a three rcel movie was shown to the A.S.M.E. The movie, loaned by the International Harvester (30., was com- posed of the following parts: the first, “Earth Moving" depicted man’s struggle against the forces of nature in moving earth from place to place. It dealt chiefly with the difficulties encountered in road building and the hazards overcome in land leveling. Be- fore a road is built the land must be cleared and leveled. Powerful trac— tors arc used to clear a path through wood, across plains, and over hills and mountains. The road bed itself is leveled off and the excess dirt and rock is carried away in large trucks. The second part, “Profitable Pow- or” showed how power may be used to lighten man’s burden. The chief means of power were Diesel engines. Some of the things for which they were used were, running amusement units, refrigeration units, for purvey- ing water for irrigation purposes, and for propelling boats and locomotives. The third reel, “Power for Oil Wells,” was the story of the source of mod« crn heat, light, and power. It show- ed the work which must be done in order to obtain oil. First of all, the land must be cleared and slush pits must be dug. Then the shaft for the well must be drilled through hun— dreds of feet of limestone and bed rock before reaching the oil. Finally, the well is “blown” and the oil is ready to be pumped. The oil is pumped from the wells and is shipped across the continent in pipe lines which are buried beneath the surface of the earth. The trenches for these pipe lines are dug by vari— ous earth moving machines. Most of the machines used for furnishing this power are run by Diesel engines and are an economical means of accom- plishing wonders. Before. the movie was shown, presi- dent P. F. chriksen announced that a smoker was being,r arranged by the juniors. “This smoker,” he said, “will take place before the holidays, as is the custom for the A.S.M.E.” A call was made for student speakers, and any one who is interested in me senting a short talk should make ur- rangements with H. C. Soukup. The inspection trip to the Hot- Point Co. last Thursday was attended by thirty seniors. ALEE. Visits Wisconmn Steel Company {in inspection Trip; Last Friday, Mr. J. H. Miller of the Wisconsin Steel Company delivered an address to the A.I.E.E. in prepara- tion for the inspection trip in the afternoon. Equipped with complete blue prints of the mill, Mr. Miller was able to give the electricals a good idea of the layout of the plant. He also discussed the engineering problems of the rolling mills and their solutions at the Wisconsin plant. The inspection trip in the afternoon was attended by practically all of the junior and senior electricals. The faculty was represented by Dr. Reed. The trip started promptly at 1:30 and lasted almost four hours. Techawks were first shown through the coking plant where Pennsylvania coal is converted into blast furnace coke. The lay-product recovery plant was the next subject of interest. Even the callouscd elec- tricals then admitted there were some points to chemistry. The blast furnaces were then shown the visitors. At this point some senior found a “constant torque” motor and proceeded to mystify the more ignor- ant members of the electrical class with a discussion of this piece of ma~ chinery. A blooming and rolling mill proved to be the most interesting part of the trip. The 3000 k.w. mo— tors and their crackling relay racks made all gasp in astonishment. The payoff came when the large motors were brought up to full speed and then reversed in a few seconds. These motors were used in the plant to drive the rollers which move three to five ton ingots down the mill. The last half of the group was treated to a special show when a two ton, $1500 roller broke. The half hour necessary for repairing the dam- age was well spent in examining the mill. Examine fiontrols In the blooming mill the large in- gots are reduced to a size suitable for rolling into usable forms. The ingots average two feet square and eight feet long and must be brought down to the thickness of one or two inches. Rollers which perform this operation are water cooled and work at tremendous pressures. The pres- sures are so great that only five or six trips through the rollers are re- quired to reduce an ingot. Another feature of the blooming mill is the set of shears which seem to cut thick steel like putty. In the rolling mill, where the roller accident occurred, the product of the blooming mill is changed into a use- able form. This is perhaps the most spectacular process because of the noise which occurs under the rollers. Directly from this mill the steel is loaded on freight cars for transporta- tion to the consumer. UNHON—m (Continued from page one) Knotted pine walls are to be a fea- ture of the new faculty grill. The boards are all in place and fixtures are waiting for installation. This un- usual finish is as a result of a gift by the faculty club. Since most of the institute’s important visitors are entertained in the faculty club and faculty grill, the new grill will ccrc tainy aid in giving any such visitor an excellent impression. Furniture for the commons room has been ordered from Marshall Fields and Should be delivered in a few days. All of the decorating has been finished and the lighting equip- ment is ready for installation. Sev- eral floor lamps will be placed around the room to provide reading faciities for any student who wishes to get studious in an off hour. Stoopbrnin Super—Stars In Opera and Auto Show; lint Ises Curves of Models By An'r Deer Sally, Happy I-Ialfwit, eminent goon, wonce asked of Apollia Corn, :1 like ditto, quote—«who wuz that tunnel I saw yew withe lustc nits?” “That wuz know tunnel,” shea replied, “that wuz my husband—he’s a bore." Wel, the oughto show was 1:15 weak and I had a god tyme thiz yeer as I did laste ycer. I stil remember those graceful bodies withc well- rownded curves, shining lamps, swel paint jobs and surging- power of“ those gals hoo demonstrated at sum of the exhibits. They were keen, and thee knew models thiz ycer ought to bea kecncr——the cars mean. Sumthing know this your in overdrive and drive over. I think that the overdrive iz on the cars, he- kause the girls owr the wons that say—~“tlrive over and sea me sum» time. Brink the Cadillaccard." There new hairdress iz shure crazy «on the womins haids, I refer to. Anyway, its aw] crazy—but nice work if yew can get it. We], withe the long awaited Stu- dent Union almost completed, the lunch rume wil boa shifted frum itz skyskraper Blue Rumc down to the lower level of the Ynion building". I hope their policy is slightly altered, bekause I heard sum follows mutter— ing that wonce a toasted chceze sand- which had cheeze in it, but now—. Also, the phrase “tissue-thin” orig- inated in the Armor-e Tech lunch- rumc wear it iz incorporated in its policy. Anuthcr fellow exclaymed that the milk mutate hav just cum frum the cow, it wuz stil warm. An- uther sad that hea wished they wuld just put labels on the tee and cofee spouts, so hea could to] wich wuz wish, but that it didn’t really matter ukilsuu az hca culdn’t tel won from anuthcr anyhow. Wel, wca live and . . . The champyonship skool touchhall ltcem is going tcw play the U. of Chicago champap—but I sugcst they play their regular football teem, The Armorc touchbawl teem blocks and passes. So do the Chicago Maroons. The .Armore teem scores. So does Chicago. Armore wins games. But Chicago ?l?l Wei, deer little wild mountain rose, Thanksgiving wil sunc boa hear ——ncxt weak in fact. Wonce agin wea honor our forefathers, giv thanks fore owr blessings of the past year, and as usual, stuff owrselves withe stuff. Tcw bad thousands of inocent little turkeys musto bea slawg'htcred. And ducks, and geese. Gosh, geescs owr funny little ani- mals. Reminds men of the olde days won I used tew goa hunting withe yew and Ethebalda. Wait a sweet girl Shea wuz. She reminds mca of that poem~—"A woodland dell, a. maiden bare; no wonder Old Sol likes to glare, unquote. However, moste womin are more like—“Ashes to ashes, dust tow dust; If it weren’t for paint, womin would rust.” Among other things, my latest fad iz super-mg all the opera. They cawl us supers cause wea are super, I guess. The other nite I wuz on stage at the Chicago Civic Opera. Suddenly, the whole house started to upland. And then darned if sum guy naymed Torrencc Bibbett didn’t stand in front of mea and start to sing. Of course the audience reaL izcd my excellent performance and although I wur. hidden by thiz guy they continued to clap. (Hm-m-, kum tew think of it, those Philadelphia bailey dnnzers weren‘t bad). 'Wel, must close, Yures, Stoopbrain Bliss. Opening at ‘Eourney‘s End’ Announced for annually 6 Final date for the production of Journey’s End has been set for Jan- uary 6 by M. G. Christophcrson, di- rector of the Armour Players. Since the play has a running time of two hours it will be presented in the eve— ning, rather than at 10:30, Friday, as were productions of the past. Tickets will go on sale at a moderate price, following the Thanksgiving va~ cation. The dramatists were fortunately able to cast characters to type and also obtain many good actors. Sev- eral men cast in leading roles are new to the stage of Armour and are showing their merit at the many re- hearsals that have been held. While the acting end is progressing very rapidly, stage construction has been delayed since the stage is not available as yet. Most of the work in this direction has been done in the way of collecting properties and dis— cussing layouts. LEGZTURESM (Continued from page one) general determinants. The only non- trivial applications were discovered by Dr. Oldenburgcr, and were pub- lished in various mathematical jour- nals, in particular, the last issue of. the Transactions of the American Mathematical Society. Recently he found that three dimensional deter- minants arise automatically in a sim- ple way in a study of ordinary de- terminants. He is giving a report on these results in a paper to the American Mathematical Society on November 25, in Cleveland, Ohio. An extensive study 01’ these determin‘ ants is now being made at the Uni- versity of Kiev, U.S.S.R. in his second lecture on November 17, Dr. Oldenburger discussed the “Geometric Aspects of Symbolic Dynamics" and showed how the mathematical physicist treats the word “motion.” The modern study of dynamics was started by Poincare, brother of the French Premier and, one of the greatest mathematicians; the world has ever known. It wasi continued by Birkhoif of Harvard,;‘ Morse of the Institute for Advanced‘ Study, and others. The most; recent, point of View was developed by,l Morse. a All of the lectures in the series? are open to all students in the in-f stitute, and they are invited to attend. , hcnlor Committees to Discuss lb s This Week The announcement committee composed of R. l3. Dixon, R. I. J'af- fee, C. V. Peterson, W. A. Wagner, C. W. Itch, ‘W. A. Ryan, and R. A. Winblad met last week for the porn pose of electing a chairman. After several trial ballots R. )3]. Dixon was elected. A list of possible manufacturers for the announcements were sug- gested by the members of the com- mittee. These. manufacturers will be contacted by the members in about two weeks. Another meeting will be held today at 12:20 in Room B Main where the specifications from which the manufacturers will present their bids will be be tentatively outlined. The. jewelry committee, composed of A. M. Zarcm, chairman, R. B. Boortitz, S. P. Finnegan, D. W. Jacobson, B. F. Oswald, J. J. Ratto and JR. KR. Tullgrcn, held several meetings last week to discuss the different samples submitted by the various firms. The rings will be sim- ilar to last year’s rings due to the fact that Armour’s ring has been standardized. The plan of the com- mittee is to improve the quality, if not the design, over previous years. Keys will also be on sale this year, as has been the practice in former years. Student preference for a ring: or a key seems to be split about evenly, so the both are being made up for approval. NEW SGCIETYm— (Continued from page one) be gained is through technical publi- cations or public lectures of this sort. The broadened purpose of the West- ern Society of Engineers would in no way conflict with the workings of the present societies. As suggest- of the present societies. As suggest» ed by one of the speakers, the slight expenses of an enterprise of this sort could be covered by an assessment on each of the cnainccring societies at Armour. In addition to these points. the various advantages of supplanting’ the W.S.E. by the A.S.C.E. were diS- cussed at length. One of the advan‘ tages mentioned was the fact that the most important schools in the United States are numbered in the student chapter roll of the latter oxu ganiza‘tion. These schools include MIT” C.I.T., Purdue. and Case School of Applied Sciences.