14 



CONSERVATION 



and better means of transforming the 

 fuel into energy are also to be consid- 

 ered. 



The known supply of high-grade iron 

 ore in the United States is approxi- 

 mately 3,840.068,000 tons. At the pres- 

 ent rapidly increasing rate of consump- 

 tion this supply cannot be expected to 

 last beyond thq middle of the. present 

 century. Should the average of increase 

 be maintained it would require, during, 

 the next three decades, the production 

 of about 6,329,000,000 tons. It is evi- 

 dent, therefore, that the- Nation faces 

 one of two conclusions ;, before the year 

 1940 the production will have reached 

 a maximum and begun to decline, or 

 large use must be made of inferior, 

 low-grade ores, such as are not now 

 classed as available, or the importa- 

 tion of foreign ores must be largely 

 increased. 



The known supplies of petroleum, 

 natural gas, and high-grade phosphate 

 rock cannot be expected to last much 

 beyond the middle of the present cen- 

 tury. 



The waste of natural mineral re- 

 sources\used in building aiid engineer- 

 ing construction is of three kinds : That 

 due to improper and wasteful methods 

 of nljning and preparing for market, 

 that due to excessive use of structural 

 materials, through ignorance of their 

 strength, durability, etc., and that due 



to destruction by fire on account of the 

 inflammable character of building con- 

 struction, and inadequate building laws 

 and the non-enforcement thereof. 



The greatest source of waste of struc- 

 tural materials, and the one most easily 

 reduced, is that arising from fires. The 

 substitution of fire-resisting materials 

 for those now used will tend largely to 

 put an end to this waste. The fire loss 

 for 1907, including property destroyed 

 maintenance of fire departments, pay- 

 ment of insurance premiums, protective 

 agencies, additional cost of water sup- 

 plies, etc., reached a total of over $456,- 

 485,900, about fifty per cent, of the 

 total Value of new building construction 

 in that year. This amount is thirteen 

 times the interest on the total National 

 debt. 



After a brief discussion, between the 

 Chair and several delegates, as to the 

 manner in which the full text of the re- 

 ports is to be placed before the people 

 of the country, Mr. John Hays Ham- 

 mond, the famous mining engineer, 

 was called on for a statement as to 

 the loss of life in mining operations. 

 Mr. Hammond, however, declined to 

 go into detail on this subject, owing 

 to the fact that he was without statis- 

 tical information. The general discus- 

 sion was opened by Prof. J. M. Bogert, 

 President of the American Chemical 

 Society. 



ADDRESS OF PROF. J, M. BOGERT 



I WILL ask the attention of the conference 

 foj about ten minutes to present some 

 details, for all the economic utilization 

 of our resoiirces must finally be worked dut 

 by scientists, and I would like to present, 6h 

 behalf of the chemists, a brief statement as to 

 what assistance you may expect from the 

 cliemist and chemistr}'. 



It would be strange indeed if the science 

 which deals with the ultimate constituents of 

 our material universe, their combinations and 

 transformations, could not offer any assist- 

 ance in the solution of tlie problem as to how 

 our natural resources may be conserved. It 

 is chemistry that has determined the compo- 

 sition of tliose materials wliich make up tlie 

 earth upon whicli we live, tlie atmosphere 

 which surrounds it, the heavenly bodies be- 

 yond. Chemistry studies the properties of the 



elements and their various compounds, and 

 ujbon these fundamental data our industries 

 -'rest. 



. The transformation of the raw material 

 into the finished product consists either in 

 changing its external form, as in wood or 

 metal working, weaving, and the like, or there 

 i-i involved a chemical change, as in metal- 

 lurgy, fermentation, the manufacture of glass, 

 soap, cement, chemicals, etc. Practically all 

 of our manufacturing processes arc, there- 

 fore, primarily either mechanical or chemical. 

 In the production of a metal from its ores, 

 or of indigo from coal tar, it is chemistry 

 that points the way; and the more complex 

 the problem the greater the dependence upon 

 this science. In devising new processes and 

 in the discovery of new and useful products, 

 chemistry is again the pathfinder. The com- 



