Evening Star Newspaper, August 3, 1930, Page 92

DE ] THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHIN GTON, D. C, AUGUST 3, 1930. SAVING AMERICA MILLIONS The Scientists at the Burcau of Standards Are Pointing the Way to Efficiency in Everything From Homes and Automobiles to Milk Bottles and Paper Bags—and Their Work Is Resulting in Huge Savings That Affect the Pockethooks of the Whole Nation. N one of the recemé mystery stories, the super-deteetive is nonpiussed by certain stains of blue paint or blue ink which seem to have some bearing on the case. Im his perplexity he ap- peais to his subordinate. “Why don't you ask the Buresu of Stand- ards?” cuggests that vice sleuth. 45, you know,” the chief Lecoq repliad, “you are .onyxztimes too clever for amything? »What §s the Bureau of Standards? Are they in the social register?” o Such ignorance seems calamitous, proo- ably it isignot, for if a poil were to be taken and one-tenth of 1 per cent of the voters could tell exactly what are the functions of this bureau of the Government the propertion would be large. And yet the work of this division of the Department of Commeroe touches the life of every citizen most definitely. When the public utility group of the National Association of Purchasing Agents recently held #ts annual conference in Washington one of the meetings took place at the Bureau of Standards. There one of the delegates told this reporter that he had learned a most sur- prising fact; that there was something of hu- man interest in standardization. “Y believe the average man thinks the Bureau of Standards is a sort of eabinet in which the Government keeps a yardstick, a foot rule, a quart and a gallon measure and some weights which are supposed to be the omes by which commercial units of length, capacity and weight are checked. I know I have always thought that the name was a sort of synonym for drab monotony—something like a procession of old model cars or a diet of spinach. It’s nothing of the sort. There’s more variety and more eolor in standardization than in the average mausical comedy, but I didn't know it until our visRS to some of the laberatories of the bureau showed us that we have but little idea of what is being done for us and for our families by this particular department.” At the dinner celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the bureau, Senator Howell of Nebraska, in an impassioned address, called upon the bureau to proceed at once to the standardization of prices, with par- tioular reference to those which the farmer receives for his products. Senator Howell un- doubtedly spoke humorously, but he most cer- tainly accented the fact that were it possible to lay down a set of standards for any con- ceivable attribute of the day's work the Bureau of Standards could be depended upon to pro- mulgate a plan which would work—and work to the ultimate good of all concerned. Some of the standards—particularly those of length—seem fantastic to the layman whe think of length and distance in terms of inches, feet or miles. An instrument has been devised which is so sensitive that it registers a move- ment of one-millionth part of an inch— something beyond the comprehension of the most vividly imaginative. “This ultramicrom- eter,” says one of the bureau's documents, “i8 0o sensitive for any knmown use, but its principle is being successfully used in testing gsuges o' a millionth part of an inch.” A suggestion has been made thet this instru- ment be utilized in checking up the tape meas- ures - used to determine the lemgth of fish esught by President Heover's guests up in the _Rg&d‘n country, PRBKDINT HOOVER, incidentally, has al- ways had an intense interest in the ac- fivities of the Bureau of Standards since long before the day it came under his direct super- vision ‘as Secretary of Commerce. He has seen what its work can be made to mean to the public at large, and he has dene everything im his power to build up its effectivencss and to make Congress understand the necessity for enough funds to sustain its eficiency. Originally a part of the Treasury Depart- ment, the bureau was transferred 10 the De- partment of Commerce and Labor (now the Department of Commerce) in 1903. Its first director was Dr. Samuel W. Stratton, now president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technelogy; and for more than 20 years he de- voted his untiring energy and great abllity so the upbuilding of an institution which today stands well toward the first in the worid among nationdl bureaus devoted to the tech- nical problems of science and industry. In 1923 Dr. Stratton was succeeded by Dr. George K. Burgess, long a member of the bu- reau stafl, who has continued the work with remarkable success Under these two admin- istrators the bureau has grown from a small organization of 14 members, housed in tem- porary quarters, to the great university-like co'- lection of 20-odd buildings on a site of 43 acres, where more than 1,100 trained sclentists, their associates and clerical force carry on the work ‘which annually saves the consumer of evefy conceivable product entering into da’ly economics a good many hundred times the cq st of the bureau to the tax-paying public. Curiously, though, but little outside knowl- edge of this work exists. Your research worker is not an advertiser. He is content to dig for facts. When he comes upon some specta: ular discovery, something which appeals to the pop- ular imagination, the story gets into the news- papers and is a source of wondermenmt. But the routine work, the setting of standards of operation, performance and practiee—these 30 essentially commeounplace that but lit- " the attention Is paid to them. And although the results in saviegs run into staggering fig- wres, they sound so much like dry etatistics George K. Burgess, director of the Bureau of Standards. By Harry P. Taber. that even their publication gets but slight pass- ng comment. Dr. Burgess and his associates have told of some eoncrete examples of saving which shouid, -and -do, appeal to any household econ- omist, ‘but very few housewives and their co- workers reslise what help is really being given, and bow much more is offered in the matter of making the full-stretched budget meet the necessary ‘extremes. “Does the bureau attempt to standardise the fanvdy ‘budget?” 1 asked Dr. Burgess. “Haraly,” he replied, “but you would be sur- prised to know how near ‘we come to doing ex- actly that when we can show you how un- necessary expenditures maye be eliminated. Our activities with the household are far- reaching. They relate to the dw. iing itself, its location amd fnancing; the materials which enter into its constructien, their properties, lasting qualities and safety; the fixtures and utilities reguired in plumbing, gas and elec- tricity; the accessories of the home, such as the automobile and radio: the comfort and well being of the cccupants with their many prob- lems of clothing, shoes ‘and ‘household supplies, chinaware, hardware, glassware and meny other items—including -quality -of material and metheds of purchase—sall the daily concern of the housewife. “In 1921 th- Division of Build ng and Hous- ing was established. Its work was centered largely about the house owners’ problems—de- termining how much a family can afford to pay for a home, methods of financing, factors to consider in selecting a location, checking prop- erty valuzs and legal details. AH these things and many more are discussed in a bulletin on ‘How to Own Your Home.” It discusses, too, such matters as house plans, the guality of eonstruction, the relative advantages of buying or building. how (0 examine & house that is being consider:d for purchase, the selecting of a contractor and estimating the maintenance costs and other expenses of ownership. This pamphlet and the new one, ‘Present Home Financing Methods,” give the prospective home builder a pretty fair idea of how to make a home which will at ieast be based on sound preliminary plans, and he will know, too, whether or not he is getting a fair return on his expenditures. “Mr. Hoov:r, also in 1921, appointed an Ad- visory Committee on Building Codes. Eminent professional architects and engineers worked with the Bureau to determine the types and quality of construction that are safe, sound, durabl: and economical. We undertook a se:ies of experiments to determine the best principles of design for plumbing system in small houses. As a result, savings of from $100 to $200 a house are ofien effected, and a much mors satisfactory job is assured than was possible under the siandards previously in use. “To discover the underlying principles of all these matters a vast amount of laboratory work was nccessary. Full sized masonry walls, m~de ef different kinds of brick and mortar, ho' >w tile or concrete, and constructed of scv -1l thicknesses and des gns, were tested to mea u e the load they will stand, to what degree tiry will resist the inroads of fire, how they will stop the passcge of sound and retain the heat of the hrire~ "~ »~nlg weather.” THUS far Lr. purgess hed talked about the hom: itself and the manner in which co- operation is established with the house builder, He went on t¢ tell of one curious commentary on savings effected, as compared with expenses of the burcau: “Ou- research work in the matter of auto- mobiles is constant and, it seems to me, of extreme value. This work includes improve- ment in the ease of riding; headlight systems, their regulation and adjustment; problems in lubrication, crank case dilution, cold sta:ting, piston friction; more effective fuels and the re- lation of gas to the car, fuel dopes and knock- ings. With s:veral national arganizations we are co-cperating in the endeavor to make drive ing safer, unifying highway signs, standardiz- ing rules of the road, control lights and car lights, standardizing bumpers and developing tests and specifications for tires. The results of our brake lining research alone have en- abled manufacturers to save over, $30,000,000 & year to the car ownmers.” And the cost of the Bureau of Standards to the taxpayers. for the year 1929 was Jess than $3,000,000—or 10 per cent of what the bureau saved the motor-car driver in brake linin, during the same period! - The radio broadcasting situstion affects in some manner virtually every home in the coun= try. Just how the radio affects them is a mat= ter of argument. Some folks like the radi -— some don't. However that may be, the prob- lems of radio are such that the bureau has the duty of setting up, maintsining and making available the fundamental standards and measurements upon which the great broad- casting structure rests. And this func' -, with its ever-increasing demand for exa: s and more extended service, is no smail t: . . And speaking of exactness, this rep .r, while digging around in the laboratories w..c e they find out things about heat and cold, dis- covered that they had constructed an insi:u= ment Yor measuring a temperature of 453 de- grees ‘below our normal mero, and that by liquefying helium, hydrogen and a few o.her things and ‘putting them wunder pressure this temperature has been obtained and recorded. ‘This is only an example of the more hichly technioal matters coming within the activities of the bureau, yet it serves to illustrate how widely diversified its work is—from the faucet in the kitchen sink to a temperature below which there isn't any. Again Dr. Burgess talked of affairs more neerly connected with the family and its wel- fare. “Matters relating to health are not within the bureau’s domain, but your family physician uses several appliances which may be tested by ws. The fever thermometer is one of them; his biood-counting and blood-pressure apparatus are others. If the thermometer the doctor uses has not been tested by the bureau you may be reasonably sure that it has been checked by the manufacturer against a standard certified by us. There is liegislation pending in Congress to compel the testing of all doctors’ thermometers under the auspices of the bureau. Such a practice is followed in Germany, France and Japan, and it would seem to be wise to have similar safeguards for our population. “Then, too, we have furnished basic informa- tion en the important question of the char- acteristics of glass which allows the passage of more of the violet and ultra-violet rays of the sun than does ordinary window glass, This matter has received much, and will re- ceive much more, public attention where affairs of health are concerned. “The bureau does not cemecern itself with Coniirued on Twenty-first Page