August 20, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



239 



least three fourths terminate during the first 

 four weeks. 



The industries which contribute the great- 

 est number of fatal accidents are railroad em- 

 plojrments and agricultural pursuits, each 

 group being responsible for approximately 

 4,200 fatalities each year. Coal mining con- 

 tributes more than 2,600, and building and 

 construction work nearly 1,900. General 

 manufacturing, while employing large num- 

 bers, produces only about 1,800 fatal accidents. 

 When the fatality rates are considered, metal 

 mining ranks as most hazardous, with a rate 

 of 4.0 per 1,000, coal mining coming next with 

 a rate of 3.5, and fisheries and navigation fol- 

 lowing with a rate of 3.0 per 1,000. Manufac- 

 turing industries as a whole rank lowest, with 

 a rate of 0.25 per 1,000, but the fact should not 

 be overlooked that this low average rate covers 

 manufacturing groups varying widely in haz- 

 ard, including, on the one hand, boiler making 

 and the various departments of the iron and 

 steel industry, in some of which fatality rates 

 as high as those in metal and coal mining have 

 prevailed, and, on the other hand, the textile 

 and clothing industries, in some of which the 

 risk of fatal accident is practically negligible. 



These estimates are derived from the best 

 sources available. At the present time there 

 are no entirely complete and trustworthy in- 

 dustrial accident statistics for even a single 

 important industry in the United States. This 

 lack of trustworthy industrial accident sta- 

 tistics is due to the absence of any uniform 

 requirements in the various states as to the 

 reports of industrial accidents. Prior to the 

 establishment of workmen's compensation sys- 

 tems, no state received reports of all the acci- 

 dents, or even of all the fatal accidents in its 

 industries. 



THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF AEBONAVTIC 

 ENGINEERS 



The American Society of Aeronautic Engi- 

 neers, which was organized at the request of 

 Mr. Thomas A. Edison, and which was re- 

 quested by the secretary of the navy to ap- 

 point two members to serve on the navy's ad- 



visory board, has, after polling its members 

 for their selection, nominated Messrs. Henry 

 A. Wise Wood and Elmer A. Sperry, together 

 with a special committee of the following aero- 

 nautic engineers and experts to cooperate with 

 them: 



Orville Wright, Glenn H. Curtiss, W. Starling 

 Burgess and Charles M. Manly, to advise on mat- 

 ters pertaining particularly to the theory and con- 

 struction of aeroplanes and aeronautical motors. 



Peter Cooper Hewitt, John Hays Hammond, Jr., 

 and Joseph A. Steinmetz, to advise on matters per- 

 taining particularly to the application of aircraft 

 for warfare. 



Captain Thomas S. Baldwin, A. Leo Stevens, 

 Ralph H. Upson and Raymond B. Price, to advise 

 on matters pertaining particularly to dirigibles, 

 balloons and parachutes. 



Messrs. Henry A. Wise Wood and Elmer A. 

 Sperry constituted the popular selectien, be- 

 ing nominated by eight tenths of the total 

 votes. Both are scientific engineers, recipients 

 of the EUiott Cresson and John Scott gold 

 medals of the Eranklin Institute, respectively, 

 awarded for inventions of a basic character. 

 Mr. Wood is president of the American So- 

 ciety of Aeronautic Engineers, vice-president 

 of the Aero Club of America, and was a mem- 

 ber of the aerodynamics laboratory committee 

 appointed by President Taft in 1912. Mr. 

 Elmer A. Sperry is vice-president of the 

 American Society of Aeronautic Engineers. 

 The Sperry gyroscopic stabilizer for aeroplanes 

 in June, 1914, was awarded the first prize for 

 safety devices of $10,000, by the French gov- 

 ernment. 



The special committee of aeronautic engi- 

 neers and experts was appointed as a result of 

 many suggestions received from members of 

 the society who, in sending in their selections, 

 pointed out that no two men in aeronautics 

 to-day have expert knowledge of every branch 

 of the science of aeronautics. In most cases, 

 therefore, they proposed additional names of 

 experts in different branches of the science. 



In the organization of the American So- 

 ciety of Aeronautic Engineers it was provided 

 for the addition of directors to be appointed as 



