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pianos. Among the minor uses, tungsten compounds are frequently employed to make vegetable tissues incombustible, and they enter into the composition of the fluoroscope for X-ray observations. Metallic tungsten has a specific gravity of 18.7; it is practically free from carbon, and may be welded and filed like iron. It is found in the market as a metal of from 95 to 99 per cent. purity, or alloyed with iron in the proportion of 37 per cent. and described as "ferro-tungsten." The world's yearly consumption at present amounts to something like 700 or 800 tons. The chief sources of tungsten are wolframite, hübnerite, and scheelite. Often the ore contains not more than 5 to 8 per cent. of metallic tungsten. To be marketable it must be brought to an average of 50 to 70 per cent. tungstic acid, the unit basis of selling prices.

THE influence of fatigue on workmen and the part it plays in relation to accidents have lately formed the subject of an exhaustive inquiry on the part of M. Imbert, professor at the Montpellier Faculty of Medicine, and M. Mestre, a factory inspector in the Department of the Hérault. From their united investigations, as told in the Paris correspondence of the London "Globe," important indications have been obtained relating to the physiological conditions during the hours of labour. These observations have shown that the number of accidents increases progressively hour by hour during the first half day; that after the rest at midday the number of accidents is notably less than in the last hour of the forenoon; that in the course of the second half day accidents again become, from hour to hour, progressively more numerous, and that the maximum number of accidents toward the end of the second half day is notably higher than the corresponding maximum in the morning. The influence

of the workmen's fatigue on the production of accidents stands out clearly from these observations, and it is easy to understand how this comes about when it is remembered that with fatigue the attention readily diminishes and disappears. The conclusion, therefore, is that in order to produce a diminution in the number of accidents it would be sufficient to intercalate in the middle of each half day of work a period of repose, naturally not so long as that at midday, but the length of which remains to be determined. In fact, one would only have to apply to the manual labour of adults the measures which for a long time have been put into practice for children as regards their intellectual labour.

IN a recent enumeration of the great tunnels of the world, beginning with the 12-mile Simplon tunnel, the latest to be completed, the fact was briefly noted and is worth repeating that the greatest tunnel of them all,— on paper, is the tunnel under the English Channel, projected in 1856, actually commenced ten years later, and vetoed in 1883 by a select committee of members of Parliament. Another tunnel, much discussed, but never carried out, was that planned to connect Scotland with Ireland.

A NOVEL use of cement is mentioned in "The Cement Age," being in connection with repairing a hole in the hull of a British steamer. Recently at Newport News, a steame "Albuera" went into dry dock for repairs, and it was discovered that a large hole through her bow, received through contact with a sharp pointed rock in the Straits of Magellan, had been temporarily filled with a mass of timber, canvas, ballast rock and Portland cement, and that this temporary filling enabled the vessel, without further damage, to make her port. The

cement was so strong that the chief of the hull construction at the dry dock found that it would take six weeks to chip it out with the ordinary appliances, and finally he was

compelled to put in small charges of dynamite, and after three days of blasting the cement was at last removed, without injury to the vessel upon the dry dock.

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WALTER H. WHITESIDE

The New President of the Allis-Chalmers Company

A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

HE recent election of Walter H. Whiteside to the presidency of the Allis-Chalmers Company lends especial interest to the excellent portrait of him, printed in this issue.

Mr. Whiteside's rapid rise from one position of responsibility to another shows how soon after becoming familiar with the company's manifold activities his executive ability began to manifest itself. His career previous to his joining the Allis-Chalmers interests is an illustration of steady progress, of vigorous and of vigorous and clear-sighted management resulting in success, and of complex problems met and solved both rapidly and effectively. For this the foundation was laid by the circumstances of his early life.

Grandson of Madison Whiteside, a pioneer manufacturer and leading business man in the State of Indiana, Walter H. Whiteside began life as a member of one of the wealthiest families in the State. The panic of 1873, however, swept away everything, and he was thrown on his own resources, his education being limited to a common school training and one year in a normal school. He began an apprenticeship course when less than seventeen years old in the machine shops of the Wabash Railroad, at Wabash, Ind., his birthplace. At twenty he began his commercial experience by introducing

throughout Indiana and Michigan the Hercules dynamite and other explosives made by the Dupont Powder Company, for use in railroad, mine, and quarry work. The dangers with which this work brought him into contact developed in him a spirit of fearlessness often apparent in later years.

One incident of this period in his life shows his quickness in perceiving a good opening and availing himself of it. He originated the idea of making use of explosives for clearing away stumps on ground which was being prepared for agricultural use. In order to show the practicability of this idea, he undertook personally a number of contracts for clearing ground, and demonstrated his point so successfully as to largely increase his sales from this source alone.

His executive work began in 1885. and he held positions successively with the Cleveland Electrical Company, the Gates Iron Works, and the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. It was while he was connected with this last-named organization that he did some of his best work. As district manager at Washington, D. C., he had much to do with installing electricity in the dry docks of the Navy Department, and with various other large enterprises. On his recommendation, the Westinghouse Company created a

new department, that of “details and supplies," at the head of which he was placed, and in a short time it became one of the largest and most profitable of their departments.

Since his joining the Allis-Chalmers Company, in July, 1904, his abilities have been shown by the many difficult tasks which he has satisfactorily accomplished-a better statement than could be made in any words to those who have had the opportunity of observing his work. Among these tasks were the consolidation of the old and the new interests, and the enlarging and entire reorganization of the sales depart ment, both undertakings which might well have discouraged a less determined man. However, his election to the presidency offers a very good opportunity for making public, for the benefit of those who do not know him so well as do his business associates, the qualities which have brought him such suc

cess.

Mr. Whiteside is a man who makes himself felt, not merely as manager of one company or vice-president of another, but as a personality. The man dominates the office.

He pos

sesses an individuality and a force of character which stand out in any position which he may hold. The key-note of his personality is strength. His enthusiasm and energy are his most striking characteristics, and he possesses to a high degree the power of communicating these qualities to those with whom he comes in contact. He is a natural leader. His personal magnetism imparts to the organization of which he is the head a unity of feeling, which is a most valuable factor in any large concern, having many interests of widely different kinds.

His justice makes all dealings with him pleasant; all who are connected with him in any way recognize his fairness. He is entirely impartial,

and in his relations with his men he sinks personality completely, judging a man from the standpoint of his work and the results obtained. This does not mean, however, that he considers his employees to be in any way machines; on the contrary, he expects them to think and to originate, and is always open to suggestions from them.

His capacity for work is the natural result of his vigorous temperament. The long hours which he expects those in his employ to keep, he also keeps himself; his working day seldom ends before that of the men in the shops. This constant personal attention is a great factor in his success; nothing which he ought to do is left to others.

Mr. Whiteside has a large circle. of business friends and associates whose regard has been won for him by the same qualities which have brought him good fortune in busi

ness.

But in spite of all the prominence which he has attained, he is a modest man, as are most men who have really accomplished something that is worth while. What Mr. Whiteside has done in the past, the increase in the business of the company, the crowded shops, the reopening of the old South Foundry at Milwaukee, have already shown. What he will do in the future remains to be be seen, but may be prophesied from his former policy of expansion and organization. All that he has heretofore done has tended toward the raising of standards, the simplification of business methods, and the improvement of product. This policy is sure to lead to progress, when at the head of affairs there is a progressive, energetic, clear-sighted man, a man who can see the best course to pursue and who can act with decision and good judgment and such a man is Walter H. Whiteside.

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THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS

SEE PAGE 172

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