subservient to the one great end, namely, segregation and utilization of sulphurous gases.

It was impossible to shut down the plant in order to make changes because had we done so we would have been unable to judge of the effect of these changes currently; and yet when we found it necessary to put in or take out flues, to increase or decrease the size of pipe connections, to install cooling devices for chamebr gases, or heat conserving devices for furnace gases, to exclude or admit oxygen at will, or in any way to correct details which our daily operations showed us to be faulty-to do all these things while the plant is in operation is a task, the difficulty of which it is impossible fully to describe.

These conditions necessarily served to greatly hamper us and very materially reduce acid production and fume consumption particularly during last summer. You can readily see, however, what complications, costly both as to time and money, have been required in making these changes. For one illustration of expense, I would state that the cost of installation in rectifying one little point, namely, the making uniform of the ore supply which goes to the blast furnace, will amount to about $100,000. I trust you will see from the above:

1st. That since Dr. McCandless' report to you we have encountered obstacles quite unheard of elsewhere in acid making.

2nd. The absolute inevitableness of the loss of time which has heretofore occurred.

3rd. The vigorous spirit and the complete good

faith which has been shown by us in the prosecution of this undertaking, in the lavish manner in which money has been thrown into the breach, to rectify every disadvantageous feature as it has been encountered, and

4th.

That without any qualifications the acid manufacturing and fume condensing plant is a commercial success.

If, therefore, you will consider the above vicissitudes as typical of the past, I will proceed to conditions this summer, which I beg to lay before you.

1st. We will be guided by your request in the matter of smelting during the coming summer months. While the remodeling and alteration of our present acid plant will have advanced sufficiently to permit its steady operation and the absorption of its quota of the rich fumes from the furnaces before vegetation is in sufficient leaf to be susceptible in any degree to sulphur dioxide, still, in view of your request and to make assurance doubly sure, we will curtail our smelting operations during the next few months. You will recall that the smelter plant of the Tennessee Copper Company is composed of seven furnaces. We will, within the next twenty days, cut out and wholly dispense with four of these seven furnaces, operating thereafter until all possibility of damage to crops is past, only three-the smallest number possible to permit the continuous operation of the remodeled acid plant.

This curtailment will, of necessity, throw many men out of employment, though we will, wherever possible, endeavor to use some of these men in the

new construction which is already under way. Most of the latter work is contract work, however, and much of it highly specialized, so that the number of our smelter men that can be used will be comparatively small. Very favorable conditions as to quick delivery of material exist on this new plant. The lead is bought, much of the steel contracted for, and grading and foundation work is well under way.

2nd. Our acid production will be about four times as great as it was last summer. This latter statement is not based on mere estimates, but upon results of experimental changes already made upon one-half of the plant, which changes are now nearly completed upon the other half.

An additional factor in bringing about satisfactory conditions this summer is that the acid plant of our neighbor, the Ducktown Sulphur, Copper & Iron Company, is nearly complete and will soon be converting a large portion of their fumes into sulphuric acid:

I beg now to lay before you the comprehensive plans covering the next twelve months.

In the first place, all necessary construction as well as present operations of our acid industry have been placed in the hand of Mr. Utley Wedge, an engineer whose record must instill confidence. Mr. Wedge has made a life study of sulphuric acid making, both in the United States and Europe, and was for years the first expert in the Standard Oil Company's immense acid department (their acid being used for oil refining). Although the present acid plant, as found by Mr. Wedge when he assumed

management, was a commercial success, Mr. Wedge, by means of the changes and alterations referred to above, has already increased its efficiency by some fifty to seventy-five per cent, and his improvements are not yet quite complete.

An additional plant, equal in size to the plant heretofore constructed, is already under way. Contracts for steel and other material provide for quick delivery, and our past experiences have shown us so clearly what to avoid and what to embrace in the matter of design and installation that no hesitancy is now necessary, and we look forward for the completion of this new plant long before next summer's growing months.

It is the established policy of the Company to go far beyond the plans first considered, involving the utilization merely of fumes which might be harmful, and it now proposes ultimately and without delay, to utilize and convert into sulphuric acid every cubic foot of available gas, and in doing so to produce and sell acid at a cost heretofore unheard of in the history of its manufacture.

I cannot conceive that it is necessary to dwell at all upon the ultimate benefit to be derived by the State of Georgia and the South generally by the immensely cheaper fertilizer which will, and in fact to a certain extent, has resulted from our cheaper acid. Georgia, I believe, uses about 1,000,000 tons of fertilizer annually, so that even so small a reduction in the price as from $1.00 or $2.00 per ton will save the farmers of the State from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 per annum. I know that you are in touch

with these economic problems and I will not dwell further upon them.

My chief desire, which I trust is amply accomplished in this resume, is to put before you the facts:

1st. That our acid industry is an assured success today.

2nd. That we are co-operating with you most zealously in removing all causes of complaint on the part of our nearby neighbors, and striving conscientiously to make this summer mark an era in the betterment of the fume conditions.

3rd. That the end and aim of the Georgia citizens and the end and aim of the Tennessee Copper Company are absolutely one and the same.

4th. That our past and present performances, our immense investments and commitments, amounting actually to millions of dollars, are evidence enough of our zeal and faith in this enterprisean enterprise which has already turned all eyes on the South as a leader in the scientific and economic development of this great question.

If at any time I can furnish further information, please command me.

Yours very truly,

H. F. WIERUM, Consulting Engineer.