THE

TECHNOLOGYREVIEW

t-

ROGERS BUILDING BY SAMUEL CHAMBERLAIN, '18

TULY 1927

RELATING TO THE

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

JOHNSON AUTOMATIC'HEAT CONTROL

TheDUALTHERMOSTATNight and Day Control

OPERATION of the John.son Dual Clock or a

wall switch by the engineerofthe building turns off theheat to a lower temperaturelevel in all rooms vacated forthe day, but leaves the heaton in those rooms to beusedat nif},ht. And next morningthe same clock or switchturns on the heat for allthe rooms in the buildingfor the day.

Automatic heat control is recog-nized B5 practical, efficient and es-sential in buildings of all kinds;and now with Johnson's DUALTHERMOSTAT (Night and Day)Control automatic regulationbe-comes totally complete and effi-cient - saving by its night andday operation ashigh as 40% nfuel per year: fuel otherwisewasted.

COMPLETE DETAILS,IF INTERESTED,CAN BE OBTAINED

ON REQUEST

IN TWENTYBUILDINGSOFCOLUMBIAUNIVERSITY

•

Twenty buildings of ColumbiaUniversity are now equipped withThe Johnson System of HeatControl: including Administra-tion Buildings, Library, Recita-tion Halls and Laboratories.

This is additionally significant, inthat one building followed an-other - The Johnson System, bycarefully kept records, provinghighly efficient, and effective inits economies over those build-ings not Johnson equipped.It isalso a noteworthy reference be-cause TheJohnsonSystem here isunder the scientific scrutiny ofthe school's engineers.

JOHNSONSERVICECOMPANYMain Office and Factory

MILWAUKEEWISCONSIN

AlbanyAdantaBostonBuffaloChicalloCt.ocinoatJClevelandDallasDenverDe. Molneo

DetroitGreeosboro, N. C.lodia.na:POlisKansas CityLos AngelesMlnneapoU.New YorkPhlladell>hlaPittsburghPortland

St. Loul8Salt LakeCItYSan FranclscoSeattleCalgary, Alta.

Montreal. Que.Toronto, OntoWinnipeg, Man.

Vancouver. B. C.

•

Look fOT the NameDUNHAM

This nameplate identifies agenuine DUNHAM

Radiator Trap

A modernapplication ofan oldprinciple

EVERY CAMPER who has visited the mountainshas discovered the natural law whichis utilizedin the Dunham Differential Vacuum HeatingSystem. He has discovered that water boils at alower temperature in high alritudes than is thecase at sea level.

There is no -new basic principle utilized in theDunham Differential System. Rather, itis thenew application of an old and well known prin-ciple.

Steam generated in the mountains at a [owertemperature than 2120 is identical with steamgenerated in this new Dunham System,where

mountain peak conditions of atmospheric pressureare produced bya vacuum pump. The steam thus generated in the Dunham Differ-ential Vacuum Heating System issub-atmosphere temperaturesteam. By this we mean that its temperatute may be anywherebetween 1330 and 2120 (or higher), depending on the vacuummaintained on the system. Such steam is adequate for heating dur-ing any but the most severely cold weather. Indeed, it has beenfound that on but very few days of the heating season is it neces-sary co fill the heating system with steam at or above 2120•

Savings in fuel with the Dunham Differential Vacuum HeatingSystem logically follow. Less fuel need be consumedco generatelow temperature steam, for, exactly as in the mountains, waterboils much more readily when a part of the weight of the atmo-sphere has been removed from its surface. And because this steamis not so hot as steam in ordinary heating systems, excessive "win-dow opening" is eliminated.

The Dunham Differential Vacuum Heating System is fully covered by patentsand pending applications for patents in the United States and Canada and

Foreign Countries. Any infringements will be vigorously prosewted.

c.A~DUNHAM CO~DUNHAM BUILDING

450 East Ohio Street, Chicago

Over sixty branch andlocal sales officesin the IUnited States and Can-ada bring DunhamHeating Service asclose to you cs yourtelephone.

Consult your telephonedirectory for the ad-dress of ou r offir-e byour city,

~~==================:=====:g..

OF"C <>L""'~D"US, <> :E-IIO

ATTWENTY EAST BROAD

July 1, 1927Dear Alumni:

Technology Club of Central Ohio has been in actionagain. At a recent meeting Dean Burton was our honored guest.His Dormitory Project was backed by our unanimous vote.

I notice that Dean Burton carries with him severalpictures showing the proposed dormitory quadrangle and its re-lation to the other buildings. Thus we can visualize the plan inan instant more clearly than pages of words could tell. I guesswe are all picture readers. There is a popular expression inadvertising circles that "your story in pictures leaves nothinguntold."

H-P-M Presses play an important part in the making ofprinted pictures of all kinds. You are all, no doubt, more or lessfamiliar with the photo-engraving process for making the mastercuts, i. e., half-tones or etchings from the original photo ordrawing. Our presses come in on the reproduction of these originalengravings in making electrotypes which are the printing plates.A quantity of these may be reproduced from a single original.

This photo shows a typical H-P-MElectrotype Press 9f 1000-tons pressurecapacity. It produces molds of the originalengraving by pressing it into a sheet of waxor lead. Copper is electrically deposited inthe mold, forming the electrotype. The leadmolds give the most perfect reproduction andrequire the most pressure to form. This amountsto about 10,000 pounds per square inch of en-graving surface.

I have a complete story of this in the current issueof our magazine, liTHEHYDRAULIC PRESS. II Are you receiving thisregularly? You can, for the asking. It's full of pictures, too.

\ ~ours for~Ch.~\.. \\\\_

~o~ J.'f{\ .O~_~\.Howard F. MacMillin,Vice-Pres. in charge of Sales,The Hydraulic Press Mfg. Co.

The TECHNOLOGY

REVIEWRelating to the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology

PUBLISHED MONTHLY. FROM NOVEMBER

TO MAY INCLUSIVE, AND IN JULY

AT CONCORD, N. H.

EDITORIAL OFFICE, ROOM 3-2°5. MASSACHUSETIS

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

Vol. XXIX No.8

Contentsfor July, I927COVER DESIGN BY SAMUEL CHAMBERLAIN, '18

The Trend of Affairs . . . . . . .

Henry Paul Talbot, '85: 1864-1927 .

By 'JamesF. Norris

The Convention Gazette .

The Architectural Bulletin

DEPARTMENTS

Undergraduate Affairs

News from the Alumni Clubs

News from the Classes ...

H. E. LOBDELL, '17 .E. F. HODGINS, '22 •.

J. R. KILLIAN, JR., '26 .R. E. ROGERS lJ. J. ROWLANDS f

. Editor

. . . Managing EditorAssistant Managing Editor

. . . . Contributing Editors

PUBUSHED AT THE RUMFORD PRESS, 10 FERRY ST.,CONCORD, N. H., FOR THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

ELISHA Lss, '92, PresitJeni

S.ucUEL C. Paasecrr, '94tn P 'doHENRY F. BRYANT, '87 ICe- res, enlS

ORVILLE B. DENISON, 'II, Secretary-Treasurer

Entered as Second Class Mail Matter at the Post Office atConcord, New Hampshire

Copyright, 1927,by The Technology Review

TERMS,-$3.S0 a year, in advance; a aingle copy, So cents, Canadian,and Foreign poatage,50 cent. per year additional. Back numbers overthree month. old, 60 cents each. Three weeks muat be allowedto effectchange. of address, Both old and new addresa ... hould be given.

491

494

497

FIBREXTREE WIRE

Where treesmust not he trimmed

A typical Fibrex installation in New England

Where hazards are greatest - places where treesmust not be trimmed and where wires are rubbedand chafed by swaying limbs - splice in a piece ofFibrex Tree Wire.

Central Stations find that Fibrex creates good willby eliminating the short circuits and swinginggrounds that interfere with the maintenance ofsteady voltage.

Short pieces of Fibrex spliced into the line willafford ample protection where overhead lines mustrun through trees.

Fibrex consists of a rubber insulated copper con-ductor protected by successive layers of tape, tarredjute, non-metallic Fibrex armor anda wear-resistingweatherproof braid.

An immediate check-up along the line and theearly installation of Fibrex at danger points willsave the repair gang many annoying and expensiveemergency calls.

SIMPLEX~RE & CABLE @MA..""lUf'ACTURERS

201 DEVONSHIRE ST .. BOSTON

CHICAGO SAN FRA1"CISCO NEW YORK

CLEVELAND JACKSONVILLE

S TEA M POW STATIONS

BUILDINGS

RECENT WORK

1. Bennings Station, Potomac Electric Power Co.,Washington, D.C, 75,000 Kw. Extension

iZr Long Beach Station, Southern California Edison Co.,Los Angeles, Cal.

3. Bartlett's Ferry Development, Columbus Electric &Power Company, Columbus, Ga.

4. Baker River Development, Puget Sound Power &Light Co., Seattle, Washington

.5. Twin Cities Plant, Ford Motor Company, St. Paul,Minnesota

6. The First National Bank of Boston, Buenos AiresBranch, Buenos Aires, Argentine

STONE· & WEBSTERINC 0 R P 0 RAT E D

BOSlon, 49 FederalStrt~tNew York, .120 Broadway

Chicago, Fint National Bank Bldg.

San Francisco, Holbrook Bldg.

[468J

Piu.sbutgh, Union Trust Bldg~Philadelphia. Real Estale -:rrust Bldg.

The TECHNOLOGY

REVIEWVOLUME 2.9 f

'j

The '~~Tre'nd'of Affairs

2\lUMBER 8

graduation

EIGHT Doctors of Philosophy, four Doctors otScience,one Doctor of Public Health, six Mastersof Architecture, 145 Masters of Science, and409

Bachelors of Science, or a total of 573 degree holdersstepped down from the rostrum during the Institute'sgraduation exercises on June 7. For this year as for thepast two years, weather permitted the exercises to beheld successfully in du Pont Court and sufficient calmprevailed to permit an orderly and unruffled academicprocession from the facade of the main building to theplatform - an impressive march, dignified and colorful,silhouetted against the white limestone.

Leading the procession was President Samuel W.Stratton, with his escort,Alexander Macomber, '07.John E. Aldred, later todeli ver the Commence-ment Address, followedwith Professor Charles M.Spofford, '93, Chairman ofthe Faculty. Then marchedBishop William Lawrenceescorted by Pr'ofessorH. M. Goodwin, '90, Deanof Graduate Students; ColCharles D. Roberts, Chiefof Staff of the First CorpsArea, by Col. Harold E.Cloke, Head of the De-partment of MilitaryScience and Tactics, andAdmiral Philip Andrews,Commandant of the Bos-ton Navy Yard, by. Pro-fessor JamesR. Jack, Headof the Department ofNaval Architecture. TheClass of 1877 which hadbee~ holding its ~ftiethanmversary was given aplace of honor in the aca-demic procession. Twenty-one members of the Classled by their Presiden t,Charles A. Clarke, andtheir Secretary, Richard A.Hale, with Professor Sam-uel C. Prescott, '94, acting

as Class Marshal, marched behind the Corporation andFaculty, Candidates for degrees from Doctorates toBachelors followed.

Ceremonies were opened by the invocation of BishopLawrence and this was followed by the CommencementAddress of John E. Aldred of New York. Col. Robertsaddressed the members of the Reserve Officers Corpsand Major Lewis E. Goodier administered the oath ofoffice to the budding second lieutenants.

President Stratton then announced a score or more ofspecial awards and honors. These awards included thefollowing: Guggenheim Memorial Fellows: Philip Frank-lin, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and ManuelSandoval Vallarta~':2I, Assistant Professor of Physics.Traveling fellowships for study abroad: John B.

Drisko, '27, Traveling Fel-low in Hydraulic Engi-neering; Robert C. Dean,'26, Traveling Fellow inArchitecture; Eli Lurie,'22, Moore Traveling Fel-low in Chemistry.

Gerard Swope Fellow-ships: Frank Massa, '27,Departmen t of ElectricalEngineering; Elwood A.Church, '27, Departmentof Physics. AutomotiveEngineering Fellowships:Charles S. Draper, '26,Electrochemical Engineer-ing; Harold Heins, '27,Physics; Augustus R. Ro-gowski, of the Senior Class,Sheffield Scientific School,Yale University; Victor C.Smith, '24, Research As-sistant, Department ofChemical Engineering.

Fellowships awarded tograduate students: JulianW. Hill, Susan H. SwettFellowship; Robert J.Horn, Fuel and Gas En-gineering Fellowship;Ralph B. Johnson, VergesFellowshi p; Hans O.Kundt, Edward AustenFellowship; Campbell R.McCullough,J ames Savage

From a litJw,lra:ph drawn forTIle Review by Ken11elh Reid. '1$

ERIC F. HODGINS, '22

Since 1922, the Managing Editor of The Review, he resignson 'july I to take a similar position with tbeYouth's Com-

panion. See page 118

47° THE TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

FIFTY YEARS OUTM~mhers of tbe Class of1877on Jun~6, celebratedtbeir Fiftieth Anniversary hy a luncheon with the President of tbe Institute, an eoent now wellestablishedfor fifty-yearclasses,President Samuel W. Stratton is seated in tbe center with tb« President and the Secretaryof the Class, CharlesA.Clark« and Richard A. Hale, seated on bis right andlejt resp~ctively.Below: President Clarke proffersfelicitations to James A.Lyles, whofollows

him in the Senior Class Presidency, fifty years afterward

Fellowship; WilliamJ.Sweeney,du Pont FeUowship; Ralph F.Tefft, Richard Saltonstall Fel-lowship; William A. Zisman,Malcolm Cotton Brown Fellow-ship. Rotch Prizes: Ira D.Beals, for the best academicrecord throughout the fouryear course in Archi tee-ture; Thomas H. Dreihs,'22, for the best aca-demic record of a specialstudent in architecture.

Immediately after theclose of the ceremoniesPresident Stratton heldthe customary recep-tion at Walker Me-morial for the degreeholders, their friendsand parents. In thereceiving line withhim were Mr. andMrs. Aldred, Mr.and Mrs. Munroe, Dr. and Mrs. Prescott, Dr. and Mrs.Goodwin and Professor Spofford.

The promotions were as follows:W. H. McAdams, '17, Professor ofChemical Engineering; H.R. Kur-relmeyer, Professor of German;H. B. Phillips, Professor of Mathe-

matics; I. H. Cowdrey, '05,Associate Professor of Test-ing Materials; J. L. Gillson,'21, Associate Professor ofPetrography; W. P.Ryan, '18, AssociateProfessor of ChemicalEngineering; H. O.Forrest, '20, AssistantProfessor of Chemi-cal Engineering;P. K. Frolich, '23,Assistant Professorof Chemical Engi-neering; F. W.Adams, '21, Assist-ant Professor ofChemical Engineer-ing; T. H. Frost,

'21,Assistant Professor ofPhysics; James Holt,"; 9,Assist-ant Professor of Heat Engineering; 1\. S. Jenney, '8], As-sistant Professor of Architecture; W. H. Newhouse, '2],Assistant Professor of Mineralogy; P. W. Norton, '08,Assistant Professor of Architecture; F.J. Robinson, '08,Assistant Professor of Architecture;A. L. Russell, '18,Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering; D. C.Stock barger, '19, Assistant Professor of Physics.

Cooptations

AT A meeting of the Corporation on June ], two~ candidates, John E. Aldred and Frank W. Love-

joy, '94, were accepted for life membership inthat body. The three nominees for term membershipfrom ·the Alumni Association, Roger W. Babson, '98,Elisha Lee, '92, and William Z. Ripley, '90, were likewiseelected. The list of Faculty promotions included threeto the grade of Professor, three to the grade of Associ-ate Professor, nine to the grade of Assistant Professor,ten to the grade o~ Instructor.

'Fwo 0tCeetings

SINCE the last issue of The Review two meetings ofthe 1926-27Alumni Council have occurred. Both ofthese drew small attendances; the optimistic min-

utes of the Secretary credited thirty-four to the first and

Vol. XXIX No.8 THE TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

thirty to the sec-ond. The averagefigure for the yearwas sixty-one andthe attendance atthe last two meet-ings of 1925-26were seventy-oneand fifty-six. Thissharp decrease iscommonly ascribedto the scheduling ofmeetings on Fridayinstead of on Mon-day evening..'The 127th Meet-

ing had a salad ora-tor, the last of theyear. He wasCharles C. Smith,'27, who describedthe then forth-coming Open Housenight. One otherspeaker from theoutside was on theprogram, ThomasC. Desmond, '09, ofNew York, whoadded to his thrice-told tale of the Convention of theTechnology Clubs Associated and the plans for theNational Technology Center.

The remaining part of the meeting was a businessroutine. President Elisha Lee, '92, announced that theExecutive Committee, prior to the Council Meeting, hadre-appointed Orville B. Denison,'II, tohis fifth year as Secretary-Treasurer of theAlumni Association. He also announcedthe result of the election of officers for1927-28 as follows: President for one year,Samuel C. Prescott, '94; Vice-Presidentfor two years, George E. Merryweather,'96; Executive Committee for two years,Frederick Bernard, '17, and Allan W.Rowe, '01; representatives at large, fortwo years, Prescott V. Kelly, '13, CharlesW. Loomis,.'16, NealE. Tourtellotte, '17,Paul M. Wiswall, '09, and Harry H.Young, '91. (See The Technology Reviewfor March, 1927.)

Classes, the numerals of which ended inthree. or eight, had chosen new represen ta-tives for five-year terms. They were: 1868,Robert H. Richards; 1873, Francis H. Wil-liams; 1878, James W. Rollins; 1883,Horace B. Gale; 1888, John C. Runkle;1893, George B. Glidden; 1898, ElliottR.Barker; 1903, John W. Howard; 19°8,Herbert T. Gerrish; 1913, Ellis W.Brewster; 1918, JulianC. Howe; 1923,E. E. Kattwinkel.

In the Committee appointments wereJohn E. Burchard, zd, '23, succeeding

Frank H. Bourne, '95, on the Committee on As-semblies; Henry D. Jackson, '97, succeedinghimself on the Committee on Historical Collec-tion; and Frank A. Merrill, '87, succeeding him-self on the Committee on Permanent Funds.The report of the Special Committee to Nomi-nate.Representatives for Alumni Advisory Coun-cils, all for a term of three years, was accepted,with its nominations as follows: Athletics, AllanW. Rowe, '01, and H. S. Wilkins, '14; TechShow, Frederick Bernard, '17; Boat House,John L. Batchelder, '90; Walker MemorialBuilding, Arthur L. Shaw, '09; Musical Clubs,William P. Lowell, Jr., '26. To take the place ofHenry A. Morss, '93, on the Alumni DormitoryFund Committee, President Lee appointedMerton L. Emerson, '04.

I28th 0'rCeeting r

THE meeting, May 27, aside from a d s-cussion of the Convention of the Teth-nology Clubs Associated by Paul M.

Wiswall, '09, was a succession of reports, severalof which were read by the Secretary-Treasurerhimself in the absence of committee chairmen.The annual election of members of the Nominat-ing Committee for a three-year term was held at

the beginning of the meeting with the result that GeorgeL. Gilmore, '90; PercyR. Ziegler, '00; and Edward L.Moreland, '07,were chosen. The report of Frederick A.Hannah, '95, on the Walker Memorial Building precipi-tated a discussion of the necessity of enlarging this build-ing to give activities more officespace and students more

THE FATE OF THE MAJOR'S GRASSPresident Samuel W. Stratton, with Drs. George.W. Morse, Medical Director, Lewis W. Croke,Assistant Medical Director, and Benjamin E.Sibley of the Institute's Department oj Hygiene,preside at the breaking oj groundfor the new Hom-

berg Memorial Infirmary, June 9

AN EYE FOR COLORTb« accurate new colorimeter, deoelopedin the Institute laboratories, here shown clani-

fying the color oj an apple. Assistant Professor Arthur C. Hardy, 'r8, (kjt) and Fred.erick W. Cunningham,'25, are operating the apparatus. See the story on page 472

THE TECHNOLOGY REVIEW July, 19'27

<Urfatching <Urfachine

M EASUREMENT of color,,"hitherto a tedious process

depending upon the skill ofthe observer, has been reduced to anautomatic operation through the de-velopment of a colorimeter by As-sistant Professor ArthurC. Hardy,'18, and Frederick W. Cunningham,'25, of the Department of Physics. This new deviceentirely eliminates the element of human judgment andoperates mechanically. Where it was possible to makeonly a few observations a day under old methods, thiscolorimeter makes accurate records as rapidly as colorspecimens can be placed in the instrument.

Not only does it measure a color accurately, but itmakes a record by which it is possible to match thatshade at any future time. Thus all possibility of fadingof a standard color is eliminated and any color can bereproduced indefinitely. The fact that the new instru-ment records on paper means that a color sample can beexamined in Cambridge, the record transmitted acrossthe continent bywire, and the 'originalcolor accurately re-produced in SanFrancisco within afew hours.

The specimen colorplaced in the holder islighted by a tungstenfilament lamp which givesan illumination of morethan fifty times the inten-sity of bright sunlight.Water filters are used to pre-vent the light from setting fireto the specimens. In makingthe measurement, magnesiumcarbonate is used as the stand-ard of comparison. Lightis alternately reflected fromthe specimen and the mag-nesium carbonate and actsupon a photoelectric cell inwhich it sets up an alter-nating current. This cur-rent is fed to a vacuum tubeamplifier which increases thepower ten quadrillion* times

lounging room. Definite action wasdeferred. This meeting lasted onehour longer than did the precedingone; adjournment sine die came at9:45 P.M.

Seismological Society

ANTICIPATING and preparing.r-\... for earthquakes were the

major subjects discussed atthe meetings of the eastern section of the SeismologicalSociety of America, in session at the Institute, May4and 5. A general awakening to the obligation and fore-thought the structural engineer must assume in prevent-ing disastrous building destruction was made evident atthis meeting with its emphasis on the engineering aspectsof the problem.

That the seismologist with his seismographic recordshas doneIittle to aid the engineer in constructing quake-proof buildings was brough t to the surface very poin ted!yby John R. Freeman, '76, when he stated that his studyof earthquake data on the Pacific coast and his generalexperience had forced him to the conclusion that' the

seismograph is merely a plaything forthe super-scientist and not a practicalinstrument for structural engineers.

Professor Charles M. Spofford, '93,Head of the Institute's Departmentof Civil Engineering, gave a paper on"Types of Structures Best Fitted toResist Earthquakes." "The engineer-ing question," read he, "is not merelythat of determining an earthquake-resisting type of construction, sincethis is a problem which in itself pre-

~

sents no serious difficulty. The oceantraveler who rides with safety over

great seas in the giganticLeviathan11/ travels in a structure which would be asI safe in time of earthquake as in time of

storm. The steel-framed buildings oflower Broadway, founded on solid rock and

riveted securely together, would be equallysafe, if walls, doors and parti tions were to be

made of steel plates as is the ship, or of re-inforced concrete. As in other engineering ques-tions, economy must, however, playa leadingpart in the solution. It is necessary not only to

build securely, but also with due regard toeconomy of construction, to the customsand tastes of the people, and to the naturalresources of the country."

Following these papers on the engineeringaspects of the problem, the ReverendFrancis C. Tondorf, S. J., of GeorgetownUniversity, queried if engineers could buildan earthquake-proof building at a cost not

* 10,000,000,000,000,000 is commonlycalled ten quadrillion in the numericalnotation of France and the United States,In the English and German system thisnumber would be called ten -thousandbillion.

/

Co"rltsy of the Christian Science Monitor

JOHN R. FREEMAN, '76Fonner consulting engineer for the ChineseGooernment.for the Panama Canal, and manyother projects, he holds an eminent positionillthe engineering world. He spoke to tbe FaCilItyClub, June 3, on Mississippi River FloodControl, and addressed the Seismological

Society meeting at tbe Institute, May 4

and automatically keeps the amountof light from the specimen and themagnesium carbonate balanced. Thecolor of the specimen is analyzed ateach wave length of the spectrumand the record is reproduced auto-matically by a pencil. The result is a .description of the color by means ofwhich the identical shade may bereproduced as often as desired.