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A house cheaper than the cheap houses
Dec., I935.]
CURRENT TOPICS.
82I
move a pointer 6 or more feet in length can be constructed with the same general form of coil. Deflection sufficient to space out a narrow temperature range over a 36o-degree circular scale is said to be obtained without encountering loss of accuracy. R. H. O.
A High-Grade Aluminum Alloy Solder (Science Service).--According to the Department of Interior's Mineral Trade Notes, Great Britain, a new welding material, known as "Alusal," has been invented by an unnamed engineer of Coventry, Warwickshire, England. The method may be used to join aluminum in cast, rolled, sheet or tube form and fluxes freely at 200 degrees Centigrade (392° F.). Test pieces of such alloys as RR56 and Hiduminum tubing socketed together and joined with Aluson were only pulled apart at forces of twenty-six tons to the square inch, leaving the welded joint intact. The low temperatures required overcome the old trouble wherein attempts to weld aluminum in ordinary fashion destroyed the effects of the previous heat treatment. Alusol is claimed to withstand corrosion well and is unaffected by aging. Experiments are now underway to produce an all light alloy bicycle which will weigh but four and three-quarter pounds with only the wheels and seat removed. The new process is analogous to soldering except that no flux is required. The aluminum alloy surfaces are first cleaned with special emphasis on the removal of oil, and the parts placed in a heating device. After each part has reached the required temperature, the Alusol is rubbed on carefully over the surface with a steel scraper, the pieces brought together, heated again and finally allowed to cool. This method also makes possible the joining of aluminum tubing to steel provided the latter is first tinned with a coat of soft solder. A joint of such character is said to withstand a pull of six tons per square inch. C.
A House Cheaper than the Cheap Houses.--As an outcome of providing housing facilities at CCC camps MAJOR-GENERAL MOSELEY in the Fourth Army Area has found that modern family housing can be provided at a cost of only a few hundred dollars a house. During this year some 7,000 factory-made (prefabricated) lumber houses have been erected and found to meet ideally the requirements for sanitary, comfortable and presentable dwellings at small cost. These prefabricated CCC houses are 20 X 20 feet, contain 34 factory-made panel units for floors, walls and roofs and 42 separate
822
CURRENT TOPICS.
[J. F. I.
pieces of lumber. Six men can easily erect a 2o-foot, one-room bungalow in one day. Two men can lift any panel and with the aid of simple tackle can put even the roof sections in place. The demountable features of the structures are something new and render it perfectly feasible to transfer these dwellings from one site to another. C. Down the Molasses Road. (I. b" E. C. News Edition, I3,374).-A communication from K. R. NATARAJAN says that the Government of Mysore, India, through the Public Works Department, has been making good use of the molasses as road material. About 50 miles of road have been coated with molasses and are reported to be standing up in an excellent manner. Here in America tests are being conducted on a road laid with salt. What next? C. Identification of the Lindbergh Ladder Nails.--Much has been written and heard about the wood in the Lindbergh ladder. But practically nothing has been said about the 44 nails that held it together. Yet these nails were identified with uncanny positiveness through the research of Stanley R. Keith, Metallurgical Engineer of Montclair, N. J., and Steel Technologist for the State in the Hauptmann trial. Mr. Keith, with the consent of Attorney General Wilentz, presents, in Iron Age, Vol. 136, No. I6, a resumfi of the technological phase of the investigation of the nails in the ladder used in the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. Starting from the fact that there were marketed during the previous year, I93I, almost 8 million kegs of wire nails, of which 25 per cent. were of the type and size found in the ladder, it w a s found th at the ladder nails observed bore the letter P on the obverse side directly below the head and just above the grips. This significance as a trade mark and the steel being synonymous with Penna., especially Pittsburgh, led to the mill of the Pittsburgh Steel Co. at Monessen, Pa. This plant produced approximately IO per cent. of these nails in 1931 , narrowing the field from 2,ooo,ooo kegs to 2oo,ooo kegs. While all these ladder nails were similar with respect to the letter P, they fell systematically within 8 characteristic grip mark types, as the first sub-classification, viz.; E S T V A U G H. This was taken as a basic starting point. Among Hauptmann's personal effects was a nail keg stamped with the same die as used at Monessen. A painstaking examination and classification, one by one, of these keg nails was made with
CURRENT TOPICS.
82I
move a pointer 6 or more feet in length can be constructed with the same general form of coil. Deflection sufficient to space out a narrow temperature range over a 36o-degree circular scale is said to be obtained without encountering loss of accuracy. R. H. O.
A High-Grade Aluminum Alloy Solder (Science Service).--According to the Department of Interior's Mineral Trade Notes, Great Britain, a new welding material, known as "Alusal," has been invented by an unnamed engineer of Coventry, Warwickshire, England. The method may be used to join aluminum in cast, rolled, sheet or tube form and fluxes freely at 200 degrees Centigrade (392° F.). Test pieces of such alloys as RR56 and Hiduminum tubing socketed together and joined with Aluson were only pulled apart at forces of twenty-six tons to the square inch, leaving the welded joint intact. The low temperatures required overcome the old trouble wherein attempts to weld aluminum in ordinary fashion destroyed the effects of the previous heat treatment. Alusol is claimed to withstand corrosion well and is unaffected by aging. Experiments are now underway to produce an all light alloy bicycle which will weigh but four and three-quarter pounds with only the wheels and seat removed. The new process is analogous to soldering except that no flux is required. The aluminum alloy surfaces are first cleaned with special emphasis on the removal of oil, and the parts placed in a heating device. After each part has reached the required temperature, the Alusol is rubbed on carefully over the surface with a steel scraper, the pieces brought together, heated again and finally allowed to cool. This method also makes possible the joining of aluminum tubing to steel provided the latter is first tinned with a coat of soft solder. A joint of such character is said to withstand a pull of six tons per square inch. C.
A House Cheaper than the Cheap Houses.--As an outcome of providing housing facilities at CCC camps MAJOR-GENERAL MOSELEY in the Fourth Army Area has found that modern family housing can be provided at a cost of only a few hundred dollars a house. During this year some 7,000 factory-made (prefabricated) lumber houses have been erected and found to meet ideally the requirements for sanitary, comfortable and presentable dwellings at small cost. These prefabricated CCC houses are 20 X 20 feet, contain 34 factory-made panel units for floors, walls and roofs and 42 separate
822
CURRENT TOPICS.
[J. F. I.
pieces of lumber. Six men can easily erect a 2o-foot, one-room bungalow in one day. Two men can lift any panel and with the aid of simple tackle can put even the roof sections in place. The demountable features of the structures are something new and render it perfectly feasible to transfer these dwellings from one site to another. C. Down the Molasses Road. (I. b" E. C. News Edition, I3,374).-A communication from K. R. NATARAJAN says that the Government of Mysore, India, through the Public Works Department, has been making good use of the molasses as road material. About 50 miles of road have been coated with molasses and are reported to be standing up in an excellent manner. Here in America tests are being conducted on a road laid with salt. What next? C. Identification of the Lindbergh Ladder Nails.--Much has been written and heard about the wood in the Lindbergh ladder. But practically nothing has been said about the 44 nails that held it together. Yet these nails were identified with uncanny positiveness through the research of Stanley R. Keith, Metallurgical Engineer of Montclair, N. J., and Steel Technologist for the State in the Hauptmann trial. Mr. Keith, with the consent of Attorney General Wilentz, presents, in Iron Age, Vol. 136, No. I6, a resumfi of the technological phase of the investigation of the nails in the ladder used in the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. Starting from the fact that there were marketed during the previous year, I93I, almost 8 million kegs of wire nails, of which 25 per cent. were of the type and size found in the ladder, it w a s found th at the ladder nails observed bore the letter P on the obverse side directly below the head and just above the grips. This significance as a trade mark and the steel being synonymous with Penna., especially Pittsburgh, led to the mill of the Pittsburgh Steel Co. at Monessen, Pa. This plant produced approximately IO per cent. of these nails in 1931 , narrowing the field from 2,ooo,ooo kegs to 2oo,ooo kegs. While all these ladder nails were similar with respect to the letter P, they fell systematically within 8 characteristic grip mark types, as the first sub-classification, viz.; E S T V A U G H. This was taken as a basic starting point. Among Hauptmann's personal effects was a nail keg stamped with the same die as used at Monessen. A painstaking examination and classification, one by one, of these keg nails was made with