48 TOWERS AND TANKS FOR WATER-WORKS. 



set of standard specifications may be evolved, but whether in 

 general practice they are to supersede those employed at this 

 time is, of course, entirely conjectural. 



Some little time since the American Division of the 

 International Committee submitted a tentative report, sub- 

 ject to further consideration and discussion before final 

 action is taken at a meeting called for October. So 

 universally has this report been endorsed and so favorably 

 received, that the possibility seems that it will not be mater- 

 ially modified, and that it will receive the approval of the In- 

 ternational Committee and spring into general use throughout 

 the civilized world. It is interesting to note that, in treating 

 of structural material, its introductory, defining the process ot 

 manufacture, advocates a radical departure from the " Manu- 

 facturers' Standard Specifications " in that it eliminates the 

 Bessemer process of manufacture, requiring that " Steel shall 

 be made by the open-hearth process." This is not such a 

 radical departure as it would seem upon the surface, as prior 

 to this report, the tendency toward a preference for this 

 product was everywhere in evidence, and had become a com- 

 mercial possibility through the erection of numerous open- 

 hearth plants of large capacities, an immense impetus having 

 been given this method of production by the successful com- 

 mercial development of the open-hearth continuous process, 

 permitting the use of fluid metal from blast-furnaces, mixers, 

 and cupolas. Altogether, the "signs of the times" dis- 

 tinctly point to the increased production of open-hearth steel 

 for structural materials, possibly to the complete elimination 

 of the Bessemer method of manufacture. 



For some time past efforts have been made by various tech- 

 nical associations to bring about a harmonious agreement looking 

 toward the formulation and adoption of standard specifications 

 for iron and steel, and although a general acceptance and agree- 

 ment has not yet been concluded, along with the present tendency 



