Arthur S. Watts & George Simcoe speak at the American Ceramic Society

CERAMIC SOCIETY CONVENTION.

Large Attendance, and an Unusual Number of

Highly Interesting and Valuable

Papers Submitted.

THE eleventh annual convention of the American Ceramic Society, which was held from Monday to Wednesday of this week at Rochester, N. Y., proved highly interesting. At the opening session on Monday morning the retiring president, A. V. Bleininger, of Pittsburgh, addressed the gathering - congratulating it upon the results attained in the past and expressing much hope for the future - after which came the various committees' reports.

The election of officers resulted as follows: president, Professor R. C. Purdy, of Ohio State University; vice-president, A. S. Watts, of Lock [sic] Locke Insulator Company, Victor, N. Y.; secretary, Edward Orton, Jr., head of ceramic department of Ohio State University; treasurer, Ellis Lovejoy, of Richardson, Lovejoy Engineering Co., Columbus, Ohio.

At the afternoon session a highly interesting paper entitled "Notes on Matt Glazes" was ready by Frederic Rhead, of Oyster Bay, L. I. The discussion was led by R. C. Purdy. "The Production of Red Colors in Ceramics" was the title of a paper by A. Heubach, of Chicago, and then R. C. Purdy, of Columbus, Ohio, and G. H. Brown, of Pittsburgh, gave a thirty-minute talk on "Chrome Tin Pink Stains." "A Study in High Acid Fritted Glazes With a View to Producing Opalescence" was discussed after it had been read by its author, J. D. Whitmer, of Wilimina, Oregon. Edward C. Stover, of Trenton, N. J., read a fifteen-minute paper on "Delayed Crazing and Shivering," after which the delegates listened to a talk on "Note-Blotting Cloth Sizes" by H. E. Ashley, of Pittsburgh.

The work of the second day began by holding two meetings at the same time. One section was under the leadership of the president, while the vice-president presided at the other. The papers being read in one section were posted from time to time on the bulletin board of the other, so that all the members could keep track of the proceedings and listen to those topics in which they were especially interested. By this method the necessity for evening sessions was obviated and all the papers were given more leisurely attention.

The following were considered in Section A: "Additional Data on the Crushing Strength of Terra Cotta," by R. F. Grady, St. Louis, Mo.; "Further Notes on a Cheap Enamel for Stoneware," by R. T. Stull, Champaign, Ill.; "Notes of the Methods of Testing the Relative Durability of Sheet Iron Enamels," by Edward Orton, Jr., Columbus, O.; "Coefficient Measurements," by Charles F. Burns, Alfred, N. Y.; "Some Notes on the Mechanical Analysis of Clays," by C. W. Parmelee and Herbert W. Moore, New Brunswick, N. Y.

Section B: "Notes on Disintegration by Crystallization and Freezing," by John W. Cobb, Leeds, Eng.; "The Comparative Effects of the Oxides of Calcium, Magnesium, Strontium, Barium and Zinc on Some China Bodies," by Herford Hope, Beaver Falls, Pa.; "A Comparison of Potash and Soda Feldspar Porcelain," by Arthur S. Watts, Victor, N. Y.; "Some Fallacies and Facts in the Making of Glass," by R. L. Frink, Lancaster, O.; "Some Physical Properties of Glazes," by Arthur E. Mayer, Beaver Falls, Pa.

Tuesday afternoon both sections came together and listened to a lecture on "The Colloids of Clay and Their Measurement," illustrated by experiments, by Harrison E. Ashley, Pittsburgh, Pa. This was followed by a discussion in which R. C. Purdy took the lead.

At the close of the lecture the sections resumed their separate sessions.

Section A listened to "Lead Silicates," by Leon T. Shaw, Amherst, Mass.; "The Use of the Potentiometer in Accurate Heat Measurements," by J. K. Clement, Pittsburgh; "The Effects of Alumina in Glass," by R. L. Frink, Lancaster, O.; "Can Water From the Filter Press be Satisfactorily Removed?" by Thomas Gray, East Boston, Mass.

In Section B the topics were: "The Life of a Sagger," by George Simcoe, Victor, N. Y.; "A Study of Some of the Physical Properties of Commercial Electrical Insulating Porcelains," by Arthur S. Watts, Victor, N. Y.; "Calcareous Clays," by Charles F. Binns, Alfred, N. Y.; "A Simple Cost System for Use in a Plant Making a Large Variety of Wares," by Frank H. Riddle, Colorado Springs, Col.; "Griffin's Article on Crazing and Shivering in 1900," by John Sant, Eat Liverpool.

Wednesday morning the delegates heard a discourse on "Pugmill Data," by George Simcoe, of Victory, N. Y. This was followed by a paper on "The Flow of Plastic Clay Through Dies," by W. H. Artz, of Dayton, O. "The Effect of Preliminary Heat Treatment on the Drying Behavior of Clays" was the title of a fifteen-minute paper by A. V. Bleininger, of Pittsburgh, while a highly interesting article by Frank E. Layman, of Rocherster, N. Y., considered "A Method of Overcoming Troubles in Drying the Illinois Joint Clay." Ellis D. Gates, of Seattle, Washington, had for his topic "The Humidity System of Drying." A note for discussion was presented by A. V. Bleininger, of Pittsburgh, bearing upon the amount of heat utilized in a down-draft kiln by a waste-heat drying system.