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Jan 1, 1913

By Louis Ware

A leading executive finds this a bad time to "cry" about taxes. Needed reforms must cede to emergency demands.

Jan 7, 1951

By J. Lemish

Considerable research has been conducted in Iowa in recent years on carbonate aggregate reactions in concrete. Groups outside the state have become active in the past few years after recognizing that certain carbonate aggregates are reactive in concrete. The paper reviews the nature and extent of the problem and a summary is given of research by the author and his associates. In recent years considerable research has been conducted in Iowa on carbonate aggregate reactions in concrete. The research is part of a general study on the behavior of carbonate rocks as concrete aggregates sponsored by the Iowa State Highway Commission. Research on carbonate aggregates has not been extensive in the past. Laughlin1 published one of the first papers on carbonate aggregates in 1928 and was followed by others, notably H. S. sweet,' B. Mather et al.,3 and K. Mather4 who emphasized the petrographic and physical aspects of carbonate aggregates. The recognition that certain carbonate aggregates are reactive in concrete has led to increased participation in research in the past few years by groups outside of Iowa. Significant contributions have been made by Swenson and Gillot,5 Hadley,6 and Chaiken and Halstead7 in work which emphasizes the expansion of carbonate rocks in alkaline environments and the reaction of carbonate minerals or dedolomitization with alkalies. It is the purpose of this paper to review briefly the nature and extent of the problem and present a summary of the research by the author and his associates. EXTENT AND NATURE OF THE PROBLEM The problem is the deleterious behavior of certain carbonate aggregates in concrete. It was first recognized in Iowa over 20 years ago when poor service records of certain highways were correlated with aggregates produced from the Glory and LeGrand quarries. Deleterious behavior of carbonate aggregates have been reported in Canada and, more recently, in New York and Virginia. As more knowledge is gained concerning the problem, distress in concrete related to carbonate aggregates may be recognized over a widespread area. The problem may potentially exist in the Midwest, the Northeast, and other parts of the country underlain by thick sections of carbonate rocks readily available for utilization as aggregates. The nature of distress in Iowa highways is a general weakening and deterioration of concrete characterized by progressive cracking and spalling away from joints and edges (Fig. 1). The distress generally occurs after 15 years of service and becomes progressively worse. Specimens of such concrete lack the toughness of sound concrete and break easily under the hammer in the manner of a soft brick. The matrix is generally highly carbonated and dark borders, or reaction shells or rims outline the argillaceous carbonate aggregate fragments (Fig. 2). Cracks observed in cores cut across the aggregates and concrete matrix. Although localized volume change (expansion) is associated with spalling, there is no definite field evidence in Iowa that excessive growth of concrete slabs has occurred. The experience with carbonate aggregates in Iowa indicates that the concrete deterioration is not the same as that induced by the alkali-aggregate reaction associated with siliceous aggregates. The principal difference is that in Iowa the distressed concrete is weakened throughout the slab. In concrete affected by the alkali aggregate reaction, the

Jan 1, 1961

By William M. Bowron

Thirty years ago, when I stood on the cliff of red fossil iron-ore, on Red mountain, Jefferson county, Ala., I asked what were the geological relations of this remarkable deposit. In reply I was told that it was a limestone, colored and saturated by some unknown but wholly external influences, and that at a reasonable distance from the surface the color would disappear. I could find no satisfactory explanation, either of the nature of this wonderful external permeating influence, or of the cause of such a ferrous impregnation selecting this one particular bed of limestone, to the exclusion of the higher and lower beds of the same material which are not even stained. I. The Present Theory. Referring to this subject, Dana says :' "The clays, clayey sandstones and limestones of the Clinton epoch, through New York and the Appalachians, show that the mud-flats and sand-banks, and hence the shallow seas of the coast region, still continued.... The beds of argillaceous iron-ore, which spread so widely through New York and some of the other States, west and south, could not have been formed in an open sea; for clayey iron-deposits do not accumulate under such circumstances. They are proof of extensive marshes, and, therefore, of land near the sea-level. The fragments of crinoids and shells found in these beds are evidence that they were, in part at least, salt-water marshes, and that the tides sometimes reached them." At first, this explanation seemed satisfactory, but the more I studied the ore the less satisfying the explanation became. 1. In the ore itself, I found associated with the small particles of rounded matter (now consisting of iron oxide in which organic structure, if ever present, has become lost, though the

Jan 1, 1906

By John G. Koert, Koert D. Burnham, John G. Broughton

Wollastonite in Essex County, New York, occurs as a typical contact mineral in a series of rocks metamorphosed by anorthosite. Sole current use is in various types of electric welding fluxes. Its uniform lathlike shape suggests its use as a specialized filler. Introduction Wollastonite (CaSiO3) was first noted in the vicinity of Willsboro, Essex County, New York, about 1810 by Dr. William Meade, and described from the same locality in 1821 by Lardner Vanuxem.' Recent exploration and development indicate that the deposit is of adequate size for continued exploitation on a larger scale than the present operations. The only other known occurrence of like magnitude in this country is in Kern County, California.* Wollastonite has been reported from Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Lewis County, New York, but these are little more than mineral localities. Geology The Essex County wollastonite has been found outcropping at numerous separate localities in a belt of contact metamorphosed sediments, 1/4 mile wide, which begins 2 miles southwest of the village of Willsboro and trends N. 70" W. for approximately 6 miles (Fig. I). In this belt, the pre-Cambrian Grenville has been injected and partially replaced by the more liquid portions of an anorthositic magma. Bud-dington and Whitcomb3 have described the rock in this contact metamorphosed belt as "Mixed gneisses: Grenville mafic, pyroxenic and garnetiferous gneisses and skarns* with local nearly uniform garnet or pyroxene layers and with gabbroic anorthosite sheets. A few limestone layers." These rocks are underlain, presumably at no great depth, by gabbroic anorthosite gneiss, the typical Whiteface border facies of the Adirondack anorthosite massif. The occurrence of wollastonite in large quantities was discovered during the quarrying of the garnet-rich layer that overlies the wollastonite at one opening. Further prospecting revealed its presence elsewhere in the belt, overlain in most places by the garnet. Accurate tracing of the wollastonite is difficult, owing to the glacial cover and to the fact that the weathered surface of the mineral has a dark, dirty brown color, and that the wollastonite itself has been dissolved more or less completely along the outcrops. It has, however, been noted at 10 localities within the skarn belt in the first 2 1/2 miles from its southeastern end. It has not been found in the northern half of the belt and therefore may be limited to the southern half. At the Fox Hill quarry, which is the main opening, 150 ft. have been exposed, showing an aggregate thickness of 30 to 35 it. Of

Jan 1, 1948

By Koert D. Burnham, John G. Broughton, John G. Koert

Wollastonite in Essex County, New York, occurs as a typical contact mineral in a series of rocks metamorphosed by anorthosite. Sole current use is in various types of electric welding fluxes. Its uniform lathlike shape suggests its use as a specialized filler. Introduction Wollastonite (CaSiO3) was first noted in the vicinity of Willsboro, Essex County, New York, about 1810 by Dr. William Meade, and described from the same locality in 1821 by Lardner Vanuxem.' Recent exploration and development indicate that the deposit is of adequate size for continued exploitation on a larger scale than the present operations. The only other known occurrence of like magnitude in this country is in Kern County, California.* Wollastonite has been reported from Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Lewis County, New York, but these are little more than mineral localities. Geology The Essex County wollastonite has been found outcropping at numerous separate localities in a belt of contact metamorphosed sediments, 1/4 mile wide, which begins 2 miles southwest of the village of Willsboro and trends N. 70" W. for approximately 6 miles (Fig. I). In this belt, the pre-Cambrian Grenville has been injected and partially replaced by the more liquid portions of an anorthositic magma. Bud-dington and Whitcomb3 have described the rock in this contact metamorphosed belt as "Mixed gneisses: Grenville mafic, pyroxenic and garnetiferous gneisses and skarns* with local nearly uniform garnet or pyroxene layers and with gabbroic anorthosite sheets. A few limestone layers." These rocks are underlain, presumably at no great depth, by gabbroic anorthosite gneiss, the typical Whiteface border facies of the Adirondack anorthosite massif. The occurrence of wollastonite in large quantities was discovered during the quarrying of the garnet-rich layer that overlies the wollastonite at one opening. Further prospecting revealed its presence elsewhere in the belt, overlain in most places by the garnet. Accurate tracing of the wollastonite is difficult, owing to the glacial cover and to the fact that the weathered surface of the mineral has a dark, dirty brown color, and that the wollastonite itself has been dissolved more or less completely along the outcrops. It has, however, been noted at 10 localities within the skarn belt in the first 2 1/2 miles from its southeastern end. It has not been found in the northern half of the belt and therefore may be limited to the southern half. At the Fox Hill quarry, which is the main opening, 150 ft. have been exposed, showing an aggregate thickness of 30 to 35 it. Of

Jan 1, 1948

By E. Buehler, R. H. Willens

A Hew melting technique has hem adapted to the rapid quenching of- alloys from the liquid state. The inelting method has no limitations on the alloys investigated for there is no reaction with crucible materials and the most refractory materials are easily melted. The vate of heating is so rapid that alloys which have a high vapor pressure constituent can be melted with a minimal loss in material. Several new superconductovs have been discoveved by vapid quenching of lolten alloys. THE rapid quenching of alloys from the liquid state has led to the discovery of many new metastable phases. The methods initially used were limited to alloys which did not react with crucible materials.1,2 There was also the unmentioned limitation in tem- perature. Alloys with melting points much greater than 2000°C could not be melted in the rapid-quench apparatus. Recently, there have been successful attempts to rapidly quench reactive alloys by Moss et at. and Matthias Moss et al. injected powdered material (325 mesh) into a high-temperature plasma and the high-velocity molten droplets impinged on a cooled copper plate. The technique innovated by Matthias was to melt the alloy in an arc furnace and splatter it against a copper plate by means of a high-velocity gas jet aimed at the melt. I) FAST COOLING APPARATUS The creation of a metastable phase in a given alloy system by rapid cooling from the melt is contingent on the quenching rate. Some alloys require very slow rates while other alloys require the ultimate in quenching rate. At the present time, the vertical-gun technique of Duwez and willens' has demonstrated, in practice, the highest quenching rates and thus the best

Jan 1, 1967

By Thomas J. Ferree

The principle mineral concentration practices today can be divided into three basic process categories: magnetic separation, flotation and gravity separation. The basic processes have been in use for many years with only limited changes occurring in equipment design or process technique. In general, equipment and process techniques have been altered only after a need for change has developed. With exceptions for changes necessitated by new environmental laws, most equipment and process improvements have evolved in accordance with the desire to concentrate larger quantities of material at lower costs. The basic result has been the development of larger capacity equipment, to wit: larger flotation cells, larger blast furnaces, larger haulage equipment and larger chemical process equipment. However, there has been practically no changes in the size of spirals, tables, jigs, or-within limits- magnetic separators. (The exception being high-intensity magnetic separators). Consequently, a "new" device has entered the scene which may fill a void in the gravity separation field. It is called a Reichert cone concentrator.

Jan 3, 1973

The following letter has been received from the Chairman of the United States Shipping Board. August 1, 1918. American Institute of Mining Engineers, New York, N. Y. GENTLEMEN: I am going to call upon your organization for some teamwork. The time has come for Americans everywhere to put themselves solidly behind American ships. Our railroads must no longer stop at the ocean. We are building an American merchant fleet of twenty-five million tons-three thousand ships. We are backing modern ships with modern port facilities, establishing our bunkering stations all over the globe and will operate with American railroad efficiency. We will carry American cargoes at rates corresponding to our railroad rates-the cheapest in the world. Fast American passenger-and-cargo liners will run regularly to every port in Latin America, the Orient, Africa, Australia. Are you taking steps to use these ships to increase your own prosperity? Do you realize that American products of factory, farm and mine can be delivered to customers in foreign countries on terms which will build lasting trade? Do you realize the possibilities for bringing hack raw materials to extend your products and trade? We must all take off our coats and work to bring these American ships home to the people of every American interest and community. The manufacturer must think of customers in Latin America as being as accessible as those in the next state. The farmer must visualize ships carrying his wheat, cotton, breeding animals, dairy products and fruit to new world markets. The American boy must think of ships and foreign countries when he chooses a calling.

Jan 9, 1918

By J. M. Vetter, W. F. Bowman

The Gulf Coast area of Texas and Louisiana produced a total of 47,070,650 bbl. of oil during 1928, a decrease of 7,401,173 bbl. from the previous year. Of this amount Texas produced 39,353,950 bbl., or a decrease of 9,689,296 bbl. from the 1927 output. The Louisiana Gulf Coast produced 7,716,700 bbl., which is an increase of 2,288,123 bbl. over 1927. The decrease in the Texas Coastal area is due principally to the decline at Spindletop. Production at the beginning of the year in this field averaged 53,400 bbl. daily. At the end it had declined to 35,850 bbl. The increase in Louisiana was due to development in new fields at Kelso Bayou (East Hackberry), Sulphur, Sweet Lake, Bayou Boullion and Sorrento. This production was maintained by the drilling of 984 wells. Of this number 736 were located in Texas and 248 in Louisiana. Of the 984 wells drilled, 571 were reported as producers. Distribution of the various completions is listed in the accompanying tables compiled by Oil Weekly. New Developments New developments of particular importance in Texas were the finding of a 5000-bbl. well in formations of Cook Mountain age in the Clay Creek field located in northern Washington County by the Sun Oil Co. ; the discovery of oil at Dewalt in Fort Bend County by the Humble Oil & Refining Co.; the development of commercial production at Raccoon Bend in Austin County by the same company; and the finding of oil in formations of Oligocene age in the Refugio gas field of Refugio County. The most important development in Louisiana was the finding of oil at Sorrento, east of the Mississippi River, by the Gulf Production Co. The importance connected with these finds is not so great in that they opened up new fields, but in the new territories which they open as possibly productive of oil. Eastern Louisiana has been looked upon with considerable doubt on account of the theory which has prevailed among most geologists that the nature of the formations was not such as to produce oil. The actual finding of oil in that area upsets this theory and

Jan 1, 1929

INTERNAL The year 1976 was another outstanding year in the operation of the Institute and in the success of its varied activities. Total AIME membership reached 59,773 for a gain of. 6.4 percent. Total revenue increased to $5,111,2 10, up 22.4 percent, and balance sheet assets increased to $8,479,612, up 12.2 percent from the previous year. AIME and its constituent units conducted 30 technical meetings during the year, and attendance was up at most of them. Publications issued by the Constituent Societies continued a healthy growth. During the year 9 new local Sections were established, and at the end of the year the Institute had 150 Sections, with 19 of them overseas. Details on all of these operations are on pages 2 and 3 of this report.

Jan 4, 1977

THE Woman's Auxiliary now has its own publica-tion, a monthly news letter that is mailed direct to all its members. It is a lively and readable sheet. Any member of the Auxiliary failing to receive it should communicate with Mrs. J. E. Johnson, Jr., 49 Church Lane, Scarsdale, N. Y., and get on the mailing list. The detailed reports of the meetings will hereafter ap-pear in the News Letter rather than in MINING AND METALLURGY. The regular Board meeting held on March 3, with Mrs. Barron presiding, was well attended and the re-ports of the committees, and from local sections, showed a keen interest in the work. of the organization. Steps are being taken to endow a "Mary Young Westervelt Scholarship," libraries are being built up in mining towns, and interesting reunions .are being held by the members in the various local sections. The Auxiliary is filling an important place and doing it well. Women of the families of Institute members not already affili-ated with it would find it pleasant to get in touch.

Jan 4, 1927

R. Dawson Hall, who has long been a member of the editorial staff of Coal Age, has been appointed managing editor. Increase the Promise of the future. Buy W. S. S.

Jan 7, 1919

By Frank Schrader

J. DANA SPERR, Jerome, Ariz. (communication to the Secretary*).¬Very little accurate information has been published about this district. Most of the geological data appearing in the technical press are based on "careful observations" made from an auto stage and a casual glance through the U. S. Geological Survey Bulletins, No. 340 of 1908 or No. 397 of 1909, both by F. C. Schrader. Mr. Schrader's report is still the best publication on the district. A really careful study of this report will uncover only a very few statements which have since proven questionable. This is a remarkable record when it is considered that only a short time was spent by Mr. Schrader in the field and that there was very little development work done at that time. The mining world and especially Mohave County, Ariz., will feel a sense of gratitude to Mr. Schrader for revising his early report. on this

Jan 3, 1917

By Francis Foley

Small cracks in a plane normal to the axis of steels are found to be prevalent around the water hole of drill steels that have been in service for an unknown period of time. Cracks are not found on the exterior surface of the steels nor to any noteworthy extent even in the water holes of new drill steels. Undulations and serrations are found in the surface of the water hole in new steels; it is in the bottom of such defects that cracks appear to develop in used steels. The occurrence of the more serious of these cracks at the point in the steel to which it has been heated for forging or hardening is thought to account to a great extent for failures in that region. DURING the past, year, we have investigated the cause of 88 per cent, of the failures by breakage near the bit end of some 1-in. hollow, hexagon, drill steel used in a metal mine. This breakage in the region of the bit end of the steel was peculiarly interesting because we have been led to believe that breakage is most prevalent at the shank end of drill steels near the place where the steel is gripped in the chuck of the machine. Records from the mine showed, also, that the breakage was much more frequent in the short lengths of large gage than in the longer steels; this is shown graphically in Fig. 1. Because the shorter lengths of steels are usually those that have been made from broken pieces of long steels or from steels that have worn down in service, rarely being made from new stock, those who are wont to suspect steel of tiring and crystallizing in its old age through fatigue are quite apt to see in this instance an argument in favor of their idea. As usual, a careful examination of these steels reveals defects of a character hardly to be overlooked in favor of such a cause. The steel in question was rolled with a sand core and was of the usual drill steel composition: Carbon 0.85 per cent., manganese 0.60 per cent., silicon 0.25 per cent., phosphorus 0.02 per cent., and sulfur 0.02 per cent., with the exception that in some specimens there was vanadium, not exceeding 0.20 per cent.

Jan 3, 1924

By David J. Mack

A survey and critical appraisal of published information about Young's modulus was originally made by the writer because of a complete lack of information about this very important quantity in works on. mechanics, physical metallurgy, physics, and other sciences. It was felt that a comprehensive summary of such information about Young's modulus might be of general interest and may suggest new problems or lines of attack on other problems that involve E. Hence this paper has been prepared even though it is only a review, with no new ideas or experimental data. The references are only those used in assembling the paper. No attempt was made to compile a complete bibliography on the subject of Young's modulus. CalculatioX oP YouNg's Modulus from Theoretical or Empirical CoNsidera-tions Many attempts have been made to compute E from theoretical considerations. The earliest calculations were probably those of Tomlenson (1883) and Souther-land (1891), but Fess'enden4',~ made extensive calculations a few years later and arrived at the relationship: £ = 78.TOw(i)* where V is the atomic volume. In 1923, Peczalski, working from the same standpoint but with more information available on atomic structure, arrived at an identical relationship, which he expressed as: where B is a constant of value about 8 . 107, p is density and mis atomic weight; the atomic volume, of course, being ml p. Portevind4 immediately pointcd out that while the equations of Fessenden and Peczalski were true of the common metals, they gave low values for the refractory metals with high moduli (Fig. I). He showed (Fig. 2) that much better concordance was obtained by means of an empirical equation of the form: F- KT" where K is a constant; T the absolute melting point; V, atomic volume, and a and b constants of value approximately I and 2 respectively. This constant K in the Portevin equation is not necessarily the same for all elements, as shown by Thompson. Other equations for E based upon theoretical considerations have been derived by Honda and Yamada49 and Lasareff.50 The most recent calculations of elastic moduli based upon quantum mechanics are probably those of Fuchs He extended the method of Wigner and Seitz for calculating the lattice energy and compressibility of monovalent metals and computed the elastic constants of lithium, 18

Jan 1, 1946

By Frank C. Green

Drilling for oil and gas in Missouri in 1935 was mostly confined to proven areas, but was marked by the completion of one of the largest oil wells, 53 bbl., and one of the largest gas wells, 2,000,000 cu. ft., drilled in recent years. A new oil pool, discovered in southern Cass County late in 1934, was further developed; a new pool in southern Platte County is possibly indicated by the completion of a single small well, which flowed naturally; and a deeper sand was developed in the Marota gas pool in Jackson County. Completions dropped to a lower level than in any recent year. A total of 73 wells, which included the deepening of 8 old wells, was drilled. In Bates County, there was one gas well with an open flow of 100,000 cu. ft., and one dry hole. Cass County had six oil wells with about 100 bbl. initial production; one gas well with an open flow of 500,000 cu. ft., and three dry holes. In Jackson County there were seven oil wells with 25 bbl. initial production; 24 gas wells with 7,358,968 cu. ft. open flow, and 27 dry holes. Platte County had one oil well, one small gas well and one dry hole. The oil well flowed naturally about 4 or 5 bbl. per day. It is rather difficult to obtain production figures on either oil or gas leases, but in cases where the figures have been given to the writer in confidence, they disclose conditions comparable with many other regions. One oil lease of 32 acres has produced 125,000 bbl. in four years, or nearly 4000 bbl. per acre. Another lease has made 50,000 bbl., or about 3000 bbl. per acre. It is probable that the total daily production at the end of 1935 was close to 200 hill. per day. A gas pool covering less than one square mile has made 110,111,000 cu. ft. in about 18 months. In this period, the open-flow capacity has been reduced from about 10,500,000 cu. ft. per day to about 3,500,000.

Jan 1, 1936

By Frank C. Green

Drilling for oil and gas in Missouri in 1935 was mostly confined to proven areas, but was marked by the completion of one of the largest oil wells, 53 bbl., and one of the largest gas wells, 2,000,000 cu. ft., drilled in recent years. A new oil pool, discovered in southern Cass County late in 1934, was further developed; a new pool in southern Platte County is possibly indicated by the completion of a single small well, which flowed naturally; and a deeper sand was developed in the Marota gas pool in Jackson County. Completions dropped to a lower level than in any recent year. A total of 73 wells, which included the deepening of 8 old wells, was drilled. In Bates County, there was one gas well with an open flow of 100,000 cu. ft., and one dry hole. Cass County had six oil wells with about 100 bbl. initial production; one gas well with an open flow of 500,000 cu. ft., and three dry holes. In Jackson County there were seven oil wells with 25 bbl. initial production; 24 gas wells with 7,358,968 cu. ft. open flow, and 27 dry holes. Platte County had one oil well, one small gas well and one dry hole. The oil well flowed naturally about 4 or 5 bbl. per day. It is rather difficult to obtain production figures on either oil or gas leases, but in cases where the figures have been given to the writer in confidence, they disclose conditions comparable with many other regions. One oil lease of 32 acres has produced 125,000 bbl. in four years, or nearly 4000 bbl. per acre. Another lease has made 50,000 bbl., or about 3000 bbl. per acre. It is probable that the total daily production at the end of 1935 was close to 200 hill. per day. A gas pool covering less than one square mile has made 110,111,000 cu. ft. in about 18 months. In this period, the open-flow capacity has been reduced from about 10,500,000 cu. ft. per day to about 3,500,000.

Jan 1, 1936

By Edwin Ludlow

THERE has been so much misinformation sent out through the newspapers, and I find so few people who are really acquainted with the true facts in regard to the coal strike, that I feel it would be advan-tageous to present the facts as I have been able to gather them. One of the great points that the miners are now mak-ing is the fact that the operators of the central competi-tive field, consisting of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, have refused to meet them in a joint conference such as has been customary in previous years. There are two reasons why the operators de-clined to hold such a meeting. In the first place, the last time they held a meeting of this kind they were all indicted under the Sherman Act for making an agree-ment in restraint of trade. In the second place, the miners at their convention did not authorize their dele-gates to negotiate a new contract, but instructed them that nothing less than a scale based on the present wage, with the addition that there should be a six-hour day, a five-clay week, time j and a half for over time, and double time for Sundays, would be accepted. These additions would very much increase the cost of coal over the present wage scale. The operators could not consider renewing a contract on the present scale, as it would mean ruin for them, and as the miners were not authorized to negotiate a new scale on a fair basis that would enable the operators to mine coal in competi¬tion, with the open-shop mines the operators did not feel that there was any use in meeting the delegates. Thirty per cent. of the output of bituminous coal comes from the open-shop mines of West Virginia, Alabama and Pennsylvania. During the strike, in 1919, this 30 per cent. was increased to 50 per cent. and it has affected the operations of the union mines to such an extent this year that they have been able to run only 15 to 30 per cent. of their time, while the open shop mines have run from 60 to 80 per cent. as the wages in these mines had been reduced to the 1917 scale.

Jan 5, 1922

On the map of Europe the shield-shaped area included in the boundaries of Rumania appears too small to constitute a very important factor in the wold's oil production. The country has a total area of 122,000 square miles of territory, about one-fifth of 1 per cent. of the world's surface, from which about 21/2 per cent. of the world's oil was produced in 1929. This relatively small area also constitutes one of the known billion-barrel reserves of the world. Oil has been found in various localities in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, extending more than 100 miles in length at their base. It is rather unusual that, while the extent of prospective territory seems to be large, the area of the commercially productive pools is comparatively small. Oil accumulation in Rumania is closely associated with salt stocks. Shows of oil are encountered from the Pliocene down to the Cretaceous. Most of the production, however, comes from the Pliocene, the chief producing sands of which are the Dacic and the Meotic, although some oil is produced from the Levantic and the Pontic. The Meotic as a source of oil was known for many years, but the intensive output from this sand series is a comparatively recent development and accounts in a big measure for the steady increase in Rumanian production. In the early part of the summer of 1929 the Astra-Romano (Royal Dutch) completed a well at Moreni in what is thought by some to be a fourth Meotic sand (a new sand series) at a depth of 5200 ft. with an initial production of 2000 bbl. a day of 41" gravity oil. The development of this new horizon has been somewhat retarded by the disastrous fire which occurred at Romano-Americana's well No. 160 in Moreni, but its discovery adds materially to the future life of the Moreni area, one of the country's oldest fields. Rumania's production for 1929 is estimated at 35,556,000 bbl., a daily average of 97,400 bbl. This compares with the total of 31,542,000 bbl. for the previous year, a daily average of 86,180 bbl., or an increase of 12.73 per cent. Rumania now occupies seventh position in the world's oil picture, it having been replaced as the sixth in importance by the Dutch East Indies in 1929. Table 1 shows a comparison of production by districts and fields.

Jan 1, 1930