and seemed likely to lose a large part of his savings, because while the mines contained considerable 2 per cent. copper ore, there was no process which seemed to be satisfactory for its economical extraction. Dr. Douglas, with his versatile mind, had been interested during his college career in chemical subjects, and had, indeed, taught chemistry for three years at Morrin College in Quebec. There he made the acquaintance of the late T. Sterry Hunt, distinguished in many branches of science. Abandoning his teaching and his studies, he went into the mining field and endeavored to rehabilitate his father's investments, and in association with Dr. Hunt worked out the well-known Hunt & Douglas process for the extraction of copper. He came to this country in 1875, being employed to apply this process to the product of the Jones mine in Berks County, Pennsylvania, as Superintendent of the Chemical Copper Co. at Phoenixville. They not only treated ores and pyrites cinders by leaching, but smelted and refined base metal. This plant was not successful and later everything was lost through a fire. It is possible that one reason why this company was not successful was because of the philanthropic tendencies of its technical head; for instance, he says that he paid $1.50 per day-big wages in those times for the most ordinary labor, whereas Mr. John Fritz, in whose honor the medal is bestowed, and others in the smelting business, paid only from 80 to 90c. a day for similar work. Although the venture was not a financial success, Dr. Douglas learned there much about copper processes. After the fire at Phoenixville, Dr. Douglas was without fixed employment, although he did some professional work for people engaged in mining and metallurgy. He made several visits to Butte, Mont. Recently a pioneer in that field publicly said that Dr. Douglas was the very first to predict the secondary enrichment in that area. In the Bulletin of April, 1915, Mr. H. W. Hardinge writes as follows: "When Dr. Douglas visited the Arkansas Valley Smelting Company's plant at Leadville, 25 years ago, I was its manager. A casual remark of his was the basis of certain changes in smelting operations through the conversion of a lead stack into a composite lead and copper furnace. One-half per cent. of copper in the form of ore was added to the charge. The resulting slags immediately dropped from 3 or 4 oz. of silver per ton to less than an ounce. Later several thousand tons of lead slag was economically re-run, owing to the change indicated. The profit and loss balance had for several months been in 'red,' but within two months after the change was made, the books showed a profit of $5,000, with a slag content of less than 1 oz. of silver; at the end of five months, the profit increased to $17,000. Thus a casual remark resulted in the changing of copper smelting in Colorado. Other smelters adopted the same or similar methods. "One of my colleagues, in commenting upon the production of lead and copper in the same stack stated that it was impossible. This may have been a very wellbased opinion, but during the discussion, there was a check upon my desk in payment for this 'impossible product' of lead bullion from a copper stack. An accident brought him into contact with the old metal house of Phelps, Dodge & Co. When the Copper Queen mine was opened by Martin and Reilly, the first carloads of copper bars were sent to Phoenixville to be refined by Dr. Douglas' works. He had been introduced to Mr William E. Dodge and had been retained to report on the Detroit Copper Co.'s mines in Arizona. This firm was conservative in the extreme and while very large sellers of metals, had but recently entered into the mining field, considering mining somewhat of a gambling venture. Urged by an acquaintance, they had taken an option on the former Copper Queen-the original of the name in Arizona, and engaged Dr. Douglas to examine it. They agreed to pay his expenses and to furnish him with a certain sum of money with which to test the property, promising that if they took it over on his recommendation, they would place the management in his hands and give him an interest. The world knows to what great heights Phelps, Dodge & Co. have attained in the mining business. Dr. Douglas, upon the incorporation of the firm became its President. The writer feels sure that those who have succeeded to the control of this corporation after the deaths of Messrs. William E. Dodge, Senior and Junior, and of Mr. D. Willis James, will not resent the statement that in the writer's opinion, Dr. Douglas supplied the imagination necessary in all great enterprises, while they supplied the money and equally important careful business management. To use a few illustrations of what is meant: The product of the smelter at Bisbee was hauled several miles to the railroad by mules. He put in the first traction engines employed in the Southwest. This method becoming too slow, he built the railroad from Bisbee to Fairbanks, the junction with the Southern Pacific. When the product of the Copper Queen became too great to handle economically at Bisbee, it was his idea to establish at Douglas the beginning of the great smelting plant which today is second to none-if not in capacity, at least in well thought-out installation and correlation of its parts; in efficiency and economy in management. Looking further ahead than the life of the Copper Queen, it was Dr. Douglas who suggested the taking over of adjoining properties in the Bisbee camp, and the agreement to disregard the law of the apex and questions of extra-lateral right, so there has been no litigation at Bisbee from these fertile sources of trouble in most mining camps. It was Dr. Douglas again, when fuel became expensive and irregular in delivery, who suggested the organizing of a coal company to supply their own needs and to enable them to sell coal and coke to others without paying tribute in high freights to the railroad. Again, it was his suggestion that their railroad should be extended to El Paso, and that branch lines should be built into Mexico, where on his initiative, Phelps, Dodge & Co. had already secured important producing mines, destined to add a very considerable tonnage to their output of copper. Dr. Douglas' liberality and broad-mindedness made him the friend. of the profession of mining and metallurgy. Mines he controlled were always open to any engineer having any excuse to study them, as were the smelting plants, he believing that free trade in ideas worked to the advantage of all concerned. The writer at the risk of making unduly long this appreciation of a great man, cannot refrain from setting down. an experience of his own, proving the truth of this theory. Dr. Douglas and he were visiting certain works at Swansea to inspect and report upon a patented process or machine, the inventor of which had the right to show it. We were hurried through the old-fashioned smeltery, the proprietors evidently not wishing us to see anything except the particular apparatus which was the reason of our visit; but passing a small converter with which some men were tinkering, Dr. Douglas asked them what they were trying to do. With a little reluctance, they told him that they were trying to Bessemerize a 37 per cent. copper matte, but that their experiments were unsuccessful because their charge continually froze. He asked them what was the pressure of air blast they employed. They said, so many ounces. He replied, "No wonder you froze up! Give the furnace so many pounds." The superintendent exclaimed, "Why, if only a few ounces of air blown in freezes the charge, the same result would be hastened if we increased the pressure!" Nevertheless, they apparently tried it after we left, and when we arrived at our hotel in London, Dr. Douglas received a telegram from the works manager, telling him of their success and thanking him for his hint. Afterwards, he received a formal vote of thanks from the Directors. The mines and railroads controlled by Phelps, Dodge & Co. in the active management of which Dr. Douglas, as President, has been prominent up to the present time, have been very profitable. The most modern devices have been adopted in mills and in smelteries; for instance, he was the first in America to install for the generation of electric power at such plants very large gas engines using wood, and Loomis gas producers. He also was one of the first to introduce in the Southwest the Bessemer converter and the first in the country to employ the trough form. During all these years of active business life, busy with invention or adaptation of processes; with expansion and consolidation, Dr. Douglas' pen was at work in other fields of thought and activity, and his benefactions were also many. While most of the latter are not known to the public and should not be mentioned here, there is hardly a deserving philanthropic effort in the vicinity of New York or in Eastern Canada that has not been helped and stimulated by him. Among his public benefactions are endowments of colleges, of the Radium Institute in London, the giving of large sums of money in this country to promote the study of cancer, and many others which need not be specified. He was given the degree of LL. D. both by Queen's University and by McGill University; has been twice President of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. He has been the recipient of the gold medal of the Institution of Mining & Metallurgy. A list of his writing would be too long for the purposes of this article, but among them may be mentioned: The Copper Deposits of Harvey Hill, 1870. Copper Mines of Lake Superior, 1874. Metallurgy of Copper, 1883. Cupola Smelting of Copper, 1885. American Methods and Appliances in the Metallurgy of Copper, Lead, Gold and Silver, 1895. Progress of Metallurgy and Metal Mining in America during the last Half Century, 1897. Record of Boring in the Sulphur Spring Valley of Arizona, 1898. The Characteristics and Conditions of Technical Progress of the 19th Century, 1899. Gas for use in the Manufacture of Steel, 1902. Untechnical Addresses on Technical Subjects, 1908. The Influence of Railroads of the United States and Canada on the Mineral Industry, 1909. Earthquakes in Mines, 1911. Development of the Railroads of North America and their Control by the State, 1911. The Copper Bearing Traps of the Coppermine River, 1913. Most of the above citations and many others appeared first in the Transactions of various technical and other societies, but in addition to these, Dr. Douglas has given us several historical volumes, among them: Canadian Independence, Annexation and Imperial Federation. Old France in the New World. New England and New France. Journal and Reminiscences of James Douglas, M. D., by his son. Enough has been said to show how worthy is the recipient of the distinguished honor conferred upon him through the award of the John Fritz Medal. Personal and intimate association of many years standing and in many fields of activity, have only served to deepen the admiration of the writer for Dr. Douglas, as a man, as a scientist and as a gentleman. Although thinking great thoughts and being associated with great men, nothing was too small to escape his attention; nothing too insignificant to awaken his sympathy. Possibly even in the pages of a publication devoted to technical things, it may not be out of place to say that once when the writer was associated with him in the testing of tin mines in North Carolina, we came across an old prospect shaft, some 10 ft. deep, in the bottom of which he saw a number of frogs or toads which had fallen in and could not escape. Although his time was limited and the work ahead considerable, he insisted upon bringing a fence rail, clambering down, catching the elusive prisoners and tossing them out to safety before he would go on. NEW YORK MEETING One Hundred and Twelfth Meeting of the Institute, Monday, February 14, to Thursday, February 17, inclusive, 1916 Hotel Accommodations.-The Committee on Arrangements is canvassing a number of hotels in New York City, securing wherever possible special rates to members and guests for the days of the meeting. It is possible to secure good accommodations on very reasonable terms in New York City if one knows where to look for them. A list of hotels and rates will be published in the final announcement of the meeting, which will go to the members about the middle of January, in order that those who desire to secure good hotel accommodations at a reasonable price may have the information. Entertainment and Smoker.-On Tuesday evening, February 15th, an entertainment and smoker will be given. This will be entirely informal and non-technical in character. The Committee in Charge, consisting of LAWRENCE ADDICKS, Chairman W. B. MCKINLAY, L. D. HUNTOON, GILBERT RIGG, is maintaining a great deal of mystery about the arrangements for this meeting, but promises that those who miss the smoker will regret it for some years to come. Annual Dinner.-The Annual Dinner will be held at the Hotel Astor on the evening of Wednesday, February 16th, and at this dinner the presence of ladies is especially urged. Tables are arranged for six and eight persons, but larger tables may be secured by application in advance. The dinner will be followed by dancing in the Ball Room of the Hotel Astor. Entertainment of Ladies.-The Ladies' Committee consisting of has already made plans for the entertainment of the ladies. The Ladies' Committee will be in the Reception Room on the first floor of the Engineering Societies Building from 12 to 1 o'clock each day to receive visitors and escort them to the luncheons. The presence of ladies at the luncheons and the Annual Dinner is especially requested. Arrangements have been made for the following functions for the entertainment of ladies: Monday noon: Luncheon at Engineering Societies' Building. Wednesday evening: Annual dinner followed by dancing. Automobiles will be furnished, in connection with all these entertainments, for the use of ladies, and it is earnestly desired that not only visiting ladies, but the wives of the local members, will attend the luncheons and the entertainments afterwards. It is also especially urged that the ladies attend the all-day boat trip around New York Harbor, by courtesy of the Secretary of the Navy. This trip is described more fully in the following paragraph. All-day Boat Excursion.-By courtesy of the Secretary of the Navy a Naval vessel will be furnished for the members and guests of the Institute for a cruise in New York Harbor. Landings will be made at some point in the Harbor and by courtesy of the Secretary of War the party will be allowed to witness the firing of some of the large guns. Gathering of College Alumni.-Monday evening, February 14th, has |