i 4 CONSERVATION 



and better means of transforming the to destruction by fire on account of the 



fuel into energy are also to be consid- inflammable character of building con- 



cp struction, and inadequate building laws 



The known supply of high-grade iron and the non-enforcement thereof. 

 * .iv in the United States is approxi- The greatest source of waste of struc- 

 mateh .068,000 tons. At the pres- tural materials, and the one most easily 

 mt rapidly increasing rate of consump- reduced, is that arising from fires. The 

 tioii this supply cannot be expected to substitution of fire-resisting materials 

 l;i-t beyond tlu- middle of the present for those now used will tend largely to 

 century. Should the average of increase put an end to this waste. The fire loss 

 l.< -maintained it would require, during for 1907, including property destroyed 

 the next three decades, the production maintenance of fire departments, pay- 

 of about 6,329,000,000 tons. It is evi- ment of insurance premiums, protective 

 doit, therefore, that the Nation faces agencies, additional cost of water sup- 

 one of two conclusions; before the year plies, etc., reached a total of over $456,- 

 i'ijo the production will have reached 485,900, about fifty per cent, of the 

 a maximum and begun to decline, or total value of new building construction 

 large use must be made of inferior, in that year. This amount is thirteen 

 lo\v-gradc' ores, such as are not now times the interest on the total National 

 das-cd as available, or the importa- debt. 



tion of foreign ores must be largely After a brief discussion, between the 

 increased. Chair and several delegates, as to the 

 The known supplies of petroleum, manner in which the full text of the re- 

 natural gas. and high-grade phosphate ports is to be placed before the people 

 rock cannot be expected to last much of the country, Mr. John Hays Ham- 

 lie\ond the middle of the present cen- mond, the famous mining engineer, 

 tnrv. was called on for a statement as to 



The waste of natural mineral re- the loss of life in mining operations, 



^ources used in building and engineer- Mr. Hammond, however, declined to 



ing construction is of three kinds: That go into detail on this subject, owing 



due to improper and wasteful methods to the fact that he was without statis- 



of mining and preparing for market, tical information. The general discus- 



that due to excessive use of structural sion was opened by Prof. J. M. Bogert, 



materials, through ignorance of their President of the American Chemical 



strength, durability, etc., and that due Society. 



ADDRESS OF PROF, }, M, BOGERT 



'sk the attention of the conference elements and their various compounds and 



i minutes to present some upon these fundamental data our industries 



the economic utilization rest 



finally be worked out The transformation of the raw material 



would like to present, on into the finished product consists either in 



^S^ssrsTA 



r,s,deo d *. x{ 



oapr 



fore, primarily ei.herVchamS o? chem oaf 



t 



