by statistics. However, there must be some underlying reasons for the wide divergences in these figures and more than a cursory examination revealed the causes. It has been pointed out frequently that restraint of output is the brake upon all industry of the United Kingdom and that with its removal production could be speeded up to equal that of this country. Attention also has been directed to the lack of labor-saving equipment and the need of mechanical appliances to increase output. A more than superficial investigation of the foundry industry of the United Kingdom discloses the effect of the restraint of output, which, however, was removed during the closing years of the war and has not again been invoked. Mechanical appliances are not in such widespread use in the casting industry as in this country. Yet many plants are modernly equipped throughout and their practice is equal to the best prevailing in the foundries of the United States. Then what are the underlying causes for the differences in the rates of production? Why is the tonnage per man for shops engaged in similar work so much greater here than in the United Kingdom? Difference in Standard of Buyers The wide divergence in the standards of the casting buyers of the two countries is one of the underlying reasons. The insistence upon high quality and superfine finish are two requirements that slow-up production abroad. The widespread use of dry sand molds in the United Kingdom and also in France, to provide the necessary finish demanded by the trade, is a large factor in reducing the per capita output. Quality and finish have been carried to the extreme and at the sacrifice of quantity. In the shops in this country, on the contrary, green sand practice prevails and quantity production is the goal to be attained, frequently at the expense of finish and quality. That a happy medium between the extremes of quality and quantity would serve the purpose cannot be denied, but years of education in one direction cannot be diverted to another course without an equal amount of training. Repetition work in this country is one of the factors underlying large production and it lends itself admirably to the application of all kinds of mechanical and labor-saving devices. With us it is not unusual to make 50,000 castings from the same pattern and in the automobile trade this total frequently is exceeded. Dealing in large numbers of the same unit enables the American foundryman to equip for quantity production and he requisitions for his use the most modern mechanical devices available to increase output and reduce cost. In the United Kingdom and France, repetition work is not nearly so prevalent as in the shops of the United States. Quantity production of commodities is not appreciated in the same degree as over here, nor is the need for it nearly so great. Until this year quantity was not a great factor in the motor car industry abroad, and even today the largest output of the automobile plants of both of these countries is dwarfed by the annual production of many of our motor car manufacturers. Before the war, it has been stated that the total pleasure car needs of France was only 30,000 per annum. When this number is divided among many makers it becomes apparent that repetition work among French casting manufacturers cannot be developed to a very high degree. Lack of Standardization In addition, the lack of standardization in many of the engineering lines reduces repetition work to the minimum. Even the railroads are counted among the violators of standards in equipment and the whim of the designer too frequently is the altar upon which quantity production is sacrificed. It has been stated that manufacturers of sanitary ware in the United Kingdom have patterns in their vaults for several thousand different designs of bathtubs and it is not unusual for an architect to enhance the beauty of his creation by individually designed tubs. Thus, the lack of repetition work may be assigned to a multiplicity of orders for small numbers of castings from a variety of patterns and this plays havoc with production. Long runs from single patterns lead to production economies largely effected by the use of molding machines, whereas small orders for castings from single models retard the installation of mechanical molding appliances, reduce the output and are a factor in maintaining the uneconomical practices of the jobbing shop. To the comparative lack of repetition work in both the United Kingdom and France must be assigned the prevalence of the jobbing shop and the large number of small foundries, willing, even if not equipped for the production of castings in iron, brass or steel. However, this semijob work is not without its compensating features. It has a tendency to develop skilled molders, whereas our specialty shops train men to one operation, not one of whom could make a parting or cut a gate by hand. Yet notwithstanding these handicaps, the mechanical equipment of many of the foundries of the United Kingdom and France measure up to the best practice prevailing in this country. And the foundrymen of these countries are alive to the progress that is being made in casting manufacture over here. They are anxious to increase their production and to reduce their costs and to attain these ends they are preparing to install labor-saving equipment on an extensive scale. Competition of Nationalities Provided with the same machine on which similar patterns are mounted and operated under practically identical conditions, English foundrymen who have had opportunities to observe foundry practice in this country contend that we get the greater production. That restraint of output, operating for many years, has left its indelible mark upon their workingmen is apparent. Fortunately, in the United States there still prevails the competition of nationalities which is not a factor in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales or France. Perhaps when we have centuries of tradition behind us, we too may suffer from the same lack of racial competition with which we are favored today. Steel Casting Manufacture Steel casting manufacture in the United Kingdom was greatly accelerated by the war. The output in 1918 totaled 276,518 tons, of which basic steel was only 10,564 tons as compared with 265,954 tons of acid castings. This tremend ous predominance of acid over basic steel, which is in striking contrast to the practice prevailing in this country, must be attributed, to a very large extent, to the insistence of the army and navy ordnance departments for castings made by the acid in preference to the basic process. The war also speeded the installation of electric furnaces for the production of steel for castings. At the time of the armistice, 37 were in operation in foundries with an actual output of more than 5000 tons per month and 11 additional were being installed which will increase the actual production to 7000 tons per month. When the war was terminated, electric steel casting production was at its height in the United Kingdom, as indicated by the output of 46,637 tons in 1918 and compared with 108,296 tons for the United States in the same period. Of the total steel casting output of the United Kingdom in 1918, the electric process accounted for 17 per cent against 7.7 per cent for the United States, indicating a production in proportion to the total steel casting output more than twice as great as that of this counry. Converter Process Predominates A further analysis of the steel casting statistics for both. countries in 1918 reveals striking differences in practice. Steel for casting purposes made in converters in the United Kingdom exceeded open-hearth production by 1936 tons, the former having totaled 116,231 tons against 113,630 tons. for the latter. In the United States, on the contrary, where the open-hearth process predominates, the production of converter steel last year was 160,844 tons as compared with 1,140,830 tons of open-hearth steel. In the United Kingdom converter steel represents 42 per cent of the output as contrasted with 11.3 per cent in this country and open-hearth only 41 per cent against 80 per cent in the United States. Among the converter processes employed in the United Kingdom the Tropenas leads with 53,633 tons; the ordinary side-blow process is second with 48,858 tons and the Stock, oil-fired converter is third with 13,075 tons. Classified as basic converter steel is 665 tons. No records are available of the production of steel castings by the crucible process in the United Kingdom and statistics of last year's output in the United States indicates also that this process is passing in this country. Statistics of the steel casting production of the United Kingdom and the United States for 1918, follow: Analysis of Steel Casting Output, United Kingdom and In many of the English plants the combined installations of cupolas and converters are unique. For the purpose of eliminating the handling of the metal in ladles from the cupolas to the converters, the melting furnaces are located on platforms at a considerable height above the floor level to permit of tapping the iron direct from the cupola spout into the converters. Troughs are provided for directing the metal into the mouth of either converter, one being located on either side of the cupola. Following the curtailment of ordnance buying and the cancellation of existing contracts in November last year, many electric furnaces in steel foundries were shut down and the production this year will show a material decline in the United Kingdom. This is due to the high cost of manufacturing this grade of steel and the comparatively limited demand for electric steel castings for commercial purposes. British and French Foundrymen Extend Hospitalities The generous hospitality and the many courtesies showered upon your executive while abroad by British and French foundrymen, were manifestations of the kindly feeling and love of the people of these two great nations for their American ally. Your president was asked to convey to you a message of |