The AES Monthly Review: Volume 1, Number 1 (June 1914) Back to the Beginning

NASF Technical Editor’s Note
James H. Lindsay
Fenton, Michigan, USA

In a departure from the usual technical paper content offered in this NASF Technical Papers section, we offer the first issue of the Society publication which would ultimately become NASF’s Plating & Surface Finishing, which ended in 2010.

In a departure from the usual technical paper content offered in this NASF Technical Papers section, we offer the first issue of the Society publication which would ultimately become NASF’s Plating & Surface Finishing, which ended in 2010.

In 1909, the roots of the technical educational arm of the NASF, the AESF Foundation, took shape as 60 Charter members met in New York to form the National Electro-Platers Association of the United States and Canada (NEPA).  NEPA grew and began publication of a Quarterly Review in 1910.  In 1913, NEPA reorganized itself, forming the American Electroplaters Society, and held its first “Annual Meeting of the Supreme Society” in New York.  This verbose name evolved into “the AES Annual Convention” and ultimately NASF SUR/FIN.

In 1914, at the Second Annual Meeting in Chicago, the AES was required by its Constitution to maintain a publication.  The Quarterly Review became the Monthly Review, in the form of a 6” x 9” paperbound booklet.  This name change was more than just a change in time interval, as it heralded the official AES technical publication and was designated as Volume 1, Number 1.  This numeration continued right up to 2010.

The Monthly Review continued regular publication through 1948, including the Great Depression and World War II.  In January 1948, changes came to the publication with the name change to Plating, including an increase in page size to the more familiar 8¼” x 11¼”.  Recognizing the growth and expansion of the industry beyond electroplating into other metal coating technologies, the journal name was changed to Plating & Surface Finishing in April 1975.

Over the years, preservation of the publication increased in importance.  At some point, the journal was microfilmed up to 1962 issues.  This collection was digitized and found its way into the Serials in Microfilm Collection, part of the Internet Archive (archive.org).

Significantly, the journal found its way into the HathiTrust Digital Library.  According to their website, “HathiTrust was founded in 2008 as a not-for-profit collaborative of academic and research libraries now preserving 18+ million digitized items in the HathiTrust Digital Library.  We offer reading access to the fullest extent allowable by U.S. and international copyright law, text and data mining tools for the entire corpus, and other emerging services based on the combined collection.”  It is administered by the University of Michigan.

Through this resource, we offer Volume 1, Number 1 of the AES Monthly Review.  Please note that the style of writing and speaking in 1914 was quite changed from today.  Most of the content dealt with the second “Annual Meeting of the Supreme Society”.  The articles are verbatim, as presented at the meeting, and to the reader of the 21^st century, the words are a little pompous, even a bit bombastic.  Note that “electro-plating,” with the hyphen, was the accepted spelling.  More ceremonial than we are accustomed to, the Table of Contents page shows a quote by Amiel, which was printed in every issue and read aloud at every meeting as the Society motto.  Much of the program was more social than technical, including the singing of “Auld Lang Syne” at the end of the banquet. 

The paper on pickling was perhaps the most scientific presentation in the program, but to our ears it might seem more art than science.  Such was the state of science in those days.  Nonetheless, this reprint captures the flavor of the times when the American Electro-Platers Society was starting to grow and the beginnings of technical publication in the electroplating field were forming.  With this in mind, we hope that you will enjoy reading Volume 1, Number 1.

Please Note: The page numbers in the Table of Contents shown here relate to the pages in the original edition.  A printable pdf copy of this version can be downloaded HERE.  A pdf of the original edition can be downloaded HERE.

 

Index

       PAGE

Editorial Staff                                                                         2

Editorial - The Chicago Convention                                    3

Greetings from the Supreme President                             4

Second Annual Convention of the American Electro-Platers’ Society       5

Notes of the Convention                                                      11

Good Fellowship                                                                    14

To Pickle or Not to Pickle                                                     16

He Who Renders Service Is Rewarded                              19

Future Possibilities                                                                21

Address to Bridgeport Branch                                              26

What the Branches are Doing                                               28

Editorial Staff

H.E. Willmore, Editor-in-Chief
5911 South Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois.

Associate Editors

Cor. J.H. Hansjosten, President Supreme Society

George B. Hogaboom, Past President Supreme Society

C.H. Proctor, Honorary Member Supreme Society.

Oscar E. Servis, President Chicago Branch.

Harry De Joannis, Bridgeport Branch

Fred J. Liscomb, Chicago Branch

Ernest Lamoureux, Chicago Branch

I shall pass through this world but once.  Any good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now.  Let me neither defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again  - Amiel.

Editorial

The Chicago Convention

The Supreme officers of the American Electroplaters’ Society met in the annual convention in Chicago, June 4, 5 and 6.  Among the legislation enacted were several important amendments to the constitution.  It was also decided to combine the Bulletin and Quarterly Review, making a monthly publication to be known as the Monthly Review.

In no Secret or Fraternal organization does the feeling of friendship, good fellowship, brotherly love, helpfulness and sympathy prevail to a greater extent than among the members of the American Electroplaters’ Society, as was shown by the perfect harmony with which the business of the convention was transacted.

There are few platers who are possessed of an over-abundance of this world’s wealth; the capital of the electro-plater is mostly in his knowledge of his profession, and it is conceded that some are better versed in its intricacies than are others, yet the members of the A.E.S. are willing and even anxious to help those who have acquired their knowledge under disadvantages and ask no usurious interest on their capital.  Each individual member of this Society is working for greater proficiency in his profession.  He is striving to get out of the foggy valleys and is climbing the heights to the goal of perfection in his chosen vocation.

As a large part of this number of the Monthly Review is taken up by convention matters, the publication of some of the papers read and submitted must necessarily be deferred until the next issue.

The following papers will appear in the July number:

“The Plating of Non Conducting Surfaces.”

“Electro Galvanizing.”

“The Plater of Tomorrow.”

“Mechanical Plating.”

“A Plea for Standards in Electro-plating.”

Greetings from the Supreme President  -

Col. J. H. Hansjosten

The second annual convention of our Society was held and is now a matter of history.  The principal feature of it, next to the large attendance, was the harmony and enthusiasm that were always in evidence.

The delegates saw fit to elect the writer to the office of Supreme President and I am very grateful for the honor conferred on me.  I am, however, not unmindful of the responsibilities that were placed upon me with the office, and I beg to assure the members that I will endeavor to discharge the duties of the office in such a manner as to merit their approval.

I wish at this time to say a few words on some matters that are important to the welfare of the Society.

The real work of the Supreme Society will fall on the shoulders of your Supreme Secretary and Editor.  These two men will carry a heavy burden, and I ask every member to give them their fullest support and cooperation.  Both of them are men eminently qualified for the office they hold, and both of them are earnest laborers in the vineyard of our Society, and both of them are men who stand high in our profession.  The Secretaries of the various Branches are the men who can, more than any others, help Mr. Fraine and Mr. Willmore, by promptly sending in the reports of meetings and news items and other matters that they should be informed about.  Let them know that you appreciate their work, and you can do that in no better way than-by aiding them all in your power.

The year just past was a prosperous one for the Society, and it is the earnest wish of the new officers that the coming year warrants even a better report when we meet in Dayton next year.

The new branches were welcomed into the fold at the convention, and it is the hope of the officers and members, I am sure, that we will be able to extend a hearty welcome to more branches next year.  In this connection, I wish to inform you that one of our members, Mr. H.I. Ter Dost, Bowery St., Akron, Ohio, is working to organize a branch in Cleveland.  Anyone knowing any of the Cleveland platers is requested to communicate with Mr. Ter Dost and so aid him in forming Cleveland Branch.

In Grand Rapids the seed is also taking root.  Messrs. Allen and Miller, members of the Detroit branch, are stirring up the platers who are not yet awake.  There are a number of platers in Grand Rapids and vicinity who are eligible to membership, and a branch there should have a goodly number of members in a short time.

I am now taking up the matter of organizing a Branch Society in Toledo, Ohio, a city that has long had many plating establishments and where there are enough foreman platers to form a good branch.

I shall be glad to aid any of our members who may be working to form branches in their cities, and every city in which there is a sufficient number of foreman platers should have a Branch Society.

A Branch Society will bring the members in closer touch with each other and enable our members to get the most good out of the Society.  I shall be glad to be present at any time that my presence may be of benefit, or aid in the formation of a branch.  I have already promised Messrs. Allen and Miller to be in Grand Rapids when they can get together a sufficient number of platers to organize, and will be pleased to serve any branch or prospective branch in the West in that or any other way, and I herewith request our Past

President, Mr. George B. Hogaboom, and our founder, Mr. Chas. H. Proctor, to represent me in the East.  I know the gentlemen named will do all they can to further the Society as their acts in the past abundantly prove.

In conclusion let me say that it is with some misgivings that I take up the duties of my office, but I shall give you the best there is in me, and by adhering to the precepts for which our Society stands, and following closely in the footsteps of my illustrious predecessors, I hope to merit from you, a year hence, when I retire from office, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Second Annual Convention of the American Electroplaters’ Society

Thursday, June 4

The Second Annual Convention of the American Electro-Platers’ Society was held at the Fort Dearborn Hotel, Chicago, Ill., June 4, 5, 6.  Delegates representing the various branches were present at the opening session, which was called to order at 10 AM, Thursday, with Supreme President Geo. B. Hogaboom in the chair.

The President: Gentlemen, through the authority imposed upon me as being Supreme President of the American Electro-Platers’ Society, it gives me great pleasure to call to order the Second Annual Convention of the American Electro-Platers’ Society.  The Chicago branch, to whom we are indebted for this pleasure, deserves much credit for what has been done, and to which we will turn the morning’s session over to their program entirely leaving to the afternoon session the beginning of the regular business of the Society.  Mr. Hansjosten, being Vice-President, and Mr. Servis, being the President of the Chicago branch, we will now turn over the morning’s session entirely to their pleasure.

Mr. Servis: In behalf of the Chicago Branch I bid you to accept our sincere and hearty welcome.  You have come from near and far to attend this second convention of the American Electro-Platers’ Society and I dare say that never before in the history of this Society nor in the history of the world has such a numerous and splendid gathering of electro-platers taken place, displaying the growing interest and great success of our organization.  We are proud to have with us some of the founders of this Society and to be able to shake them by the hand and truthfully say: “Well done, good and faithful servants.”  Wonderful are the strides that our Society has made, but greater the possibilities of its future.  The curtain of obscurity has been raised; the burden of the plater lightened by the knowledge that he is playing an important part in the science of chemistry and electricity.

Now let us join in mutual friendship seeking that goal of knowledge that will bring fruits for our labors and will not only make us better friends, but better platers and I trust that none of you will return to your field of endeavor without feeling that this great gathering has amply repaid you for your devotion to the cause and that it has not been in vain.  I thank you.

Gentlemen, we have with us what we term in the Chicago Branch our War Horse.  If you don’t believe me, we will shortly demonstrate it, I assure you.  I take great pleasure in introducing Colonel J. H. Hansjosten, the first Vice-President of the Supreme Branch. (Applause.)

Col Hansjosten: Mr. President, and Gentlemen: Mr. Servis says I am a war horse.  I am glad he did not say anything about the dog.  The uninitiated will undoubtedly know what I mean by that before this convention is over.  In the name of the Chicago Branch, gentlemen, I bid you welcome.

You are welcome.  It would be hard for me to tell you how much we mean it, but we welcome you with all our hearts.  We are proud to be your hosts and we hope to prove to you before you leave us how much we appreciate having you with us, how much we appreciate the honor conferred on Chicago Brench when it was selected to entertain the convention of 1914.

The year since the last convention has sped by so swiftly that it seems but yesterday, we met in historic old New York to begin erecting the superstructure on the foundations laid by the men who founded our Society six short years ago.  How well they laid the foundation on which our great Society is being built can be seen

by this gathering of men from practically every part of our country - here present solely to consider plans by which future building of the Society will be guided.

You, gentlemen, are living proof that the efforts of the men who conceived the Society have not been in vain and we welcome you as fellow-workers in the cause for which our Society stands - the cause of education.  We welcome you because you are fellow-platers, because you have the same problems to solve, the same difficulties to overcome as ourselves.  Between us there is a bond of friendship, a bond of brotherhood, that is strengthened by our Society and that our Society has brought to light as nothing else ever has or could.

Chicago branch has always welcomed all visiting members of other branches and has always considered it an honor and a pleasure to have a member from another branch pay it a visit, and it is impossible for me to tell you how much pleasure we gain by having you with us, how honored we feel to be your hosts.  There are so many things in this world that we desire and so few attain.  I have sometimes felt that desire, but never so much as at this moment, and what I now most desire is to have the command of language that a [Noah] Webster or a [William Jennings] Bryan has that I might give adequate expression to the feeling in the hearts of every one of us, a feeling of welcome, a feeling of friendship for you our honored guests.

The work you have to do during the next three days is hard and important, important to the future welfare of our Society.  We know you will do it, so the future historians of our Society will be proud to relate your acts; and the men who will come after us will thank you for what you have done and will say, “You have builded well.”  We welcome you here to make history, to do the work.  Your branches have entrusted you to come here and do, and we know you will do it right, and while you are doing it we welcome you to all we have.  You are welcome to our hearts, you are welcome to our homes, and you are welcome to that which every man values more than all else in the world - our love and our friendship.  Gentlemen, you are welcome. (Applause.)

Mr. Servis: After the war horses we get the silver tongued orator, and I assure you that it gives me great pleasure personally to take Mr. Hogaboom by the hand and say, “I am glad to meet you.”  I take great pleasure in introducing the Supreme President, George B. Hogaboom.

Mr. Hogaboom: Mr. President of the Chicago Branch and Members: Mr. Servis introduced Col. Hansjosten as a war horse, and in looking around I think we have got a whole cavalry of war horses.  The pleasure is all ours to be able to come to such a large and progressive city as Chicago and be able to be welcomed, or to have the pleasure of being welcomed by such a progressive branch as the Chicago Branch, is a pleasure even beyond the expression of words.  In shaking the hands of those whom we have met, we have felt that there is more behind it than mere acquaintance.  We have felt that behind it was the whole heart, the whole soul of the men whose hands we were shaking.  We know that we have come to a place where we will receive and have received the full open-heartedness of the West.  We have received the noted hospitality and we have been given a royal welcome.  To say that we are gratified but poorly expresses our feelings.  We have been deeply impressed by the beginning and we know that before the convention is at an end, we will be all Chicago.  It is unnecessary to state that our pleasure is to see the number that is represented by the different branches of the Society here.  We have nearly every branch in the organization represented.  Such a difference from the small beginning of a little over a year ago.  A year ago, we had seven societies, probably we could count eight, but the eighth society, St. Louis, had not as yet received their permanent charter; and while they came in with us and were represented, still we feel that the seven were really the beginning of the Supreme Society.  We have grown wonderfully more than any other body of its kind.  We have grown 100 per cent in branch organizations in one year.  Instead of having seven branch organizations we have fourteen, a remarkable progress, remarkable from more than one standpoint because we are a society based upon entirely different principles from that of any other organization in which a laboring man is associated.  We are not a labor organization, as the word labor organization goes, and still, we are.  We are not a scientific society as the interpretation of the word scientific society goes, but still, we are scientific.  We are both - we are a combination of labor and science.  We are not represented by men who earn their living by the sweat of their brow, by just their human efforts alone, but are represented by men who earn their living by the brains which they possess - brawn and brains are brought into so close relationship that they are in the electro-plater a unit.  Much more so than any other branch of industry.  We hold a unique place in the history of organizations of men who toil for their labor.  Our prime object is education, a grander and more noble object could never be conceived.  Instead of trying to help the men and bring the men up into the world by force, we are creating an individual spirit, trying to better the man himself so that his position in life will be bettered, and he will make not only himself better but make his fellow man better for having lived in this world.  This is a noble aspiration and one in which this Society is taking the lead in organizations of its kind in the country.  We have not received the publicity, the recognition that we should receive, but our aims, our motto and our efforts are understood by the world; believe me, we will be heralded in the coming ages or in the coming decade.  No doubt the basis, the principles upon which this Society was organized, will be brought out by sociologists and by those welfare workers that are endeavoring to better the condition of the laboring man.

Col. Hansjosten, Mr. Servis and the Chicago Branch, we more than appreciate the honor of meeting in Chicago.  We more than appreciate the many courtesies you have already extended to us and from the program that you have so finely brought out and given to us and from the provisions that you have made for our entertainment, we will be deeply indebted to you.  And we thoroughly go into this convention with our hearts full of fraternity, full of love for our fellow workers and our fellow men.  We are glad we are with you. (Applause.)

Mr. Servis: While the following gentleman that I am going to call on is not on the program, it is a matter of courtesy and a debt that we owe to the distinguished gentleman that I believe we ought to know, a gentleman that was the forerunner of the Society, a gentleman who has done everything in his power, sacrificing many things, to make it what it is.  I take great pleasure in introducing Mr. Charles H. Proctor of New York. (Applause.)

Mr. Proctor: Mr. President of the Chicago Branch and the officers of the supreme body, also the members we have present and the visitors: I am sure it gives me great pleasure to be able to be with you on this auspicious occasion, to realize that in the space of two years we have drifted more than half way across this continent with our second convention, and that the initial, the introduction of the American Electro-Platers’ Society, was not in vain.  In the space of two years, we come here with the delegates of fourteen branch societies of the American Electro-Platers’ Society.  That proves to you what it is possible to accomplish when we have one unity of purpose and that unity of purpose is equality and brotherly love and friendship, and to do everything that lays within our moral power to assist and to help our brothers of the craft to a higher realization, to a higher accomplishment in their profession.  I am sure that at different times when I have been here in your city I have felt that friendly hand, not only one hand has been extended towards me, but both hands in that grasp of brotherly friendship, and I am sure that before you go away from here as I have also felt that influence of the Chicago Branch you will feel that same influence also and not only will you go from here with more enthusiasm for the work that we are trying to accomplish, but you will go back to each one of your branches and prove that in the second convention you have made it a bright and shining light for the future of the American Electro-Platers’ Society.  I thank you.

Presidents of the various branches being called upon made short speeches, which consisted mostly of compliments for the Chicago Branch on the efforts they had made for the entertainment of the delegates and visitors to the convention.

The President: One of the first things I think we shall do will be to introduce ourselves.  Every person present will please arise, tell who he is, where he is from, and by whom employed.

Members then introduce themselves by announcing their respective names, branch from which they came, and firms by whom employed.

In the absence of the supreme secretary, Mr. Walter Fraine was appointed temporary secretary for the convention.

An adjournment was then taken until 1:30 PM.

At the afternoon session the minutes of the previous convention, held in New York, February 22 and 23, 1913, were read and approved.  After which the supreme officers read their reports.  Several amendments to the constitution were read and adopted at this session after much spirited discussion.

The evening session was devoted to the reading and discussion of papers, some of which appear in this issue.

Evening Session: 8:00 PM Papers:

“The Production of Silver Deposit Work” - G. B. Hogaboom, Newark Branch.

“To Pickle or Not to Pickle’ - J. H. Hansjosten, Chicago Branch.

“Standardization” - R. Davenport, Detroit Branch.

“He Who Renders Service Is Rewarded” - L. Schmidt, Chicago Branch.

Friday, June 5

Meeting called to order at 9 AM.

A further discussion and adoption of amendments to the constitution was held, and a committee appointed to reconstruct the constitution consisting of J.E. Sterling, Thos. B. Haddow and H.H. Smith.

At the afternoon session the election of Supreme Officers was held, and resulted as follows:

J.H. Hansjosten, Supreme President.

W.S. Barrows, First Vice-President.

H.H. Williams, Second Vice-President.

Walter Fraine, Secretary.

H.E. Willmore, Editor.

Dayton, Ohio, was selected as the meeting place for the 1915 convention.

Evening Session: 8:00 PM Papers:

“Visiting a Modern Plant” - J. Birnbaum, Milwaukee Branch.

“Electro-Galvanizing’ - L. Schmidt, Chicago Branch.

“Talk on Current Regulation” - S. Huenerfauth, Chicago Branch.

“Talk on Deposition of Lead” - L. Schulte, Chicago Branch.

“The Plater of Tomorrow” - H.J. Ter Doest, New York Branch.

Saturday, June 6

The morning was devoted to visiting various plants throughout the city in which the delegates were interested.  In the afternoon the delegates and visiting members were taken on an automobile tour of Chicago boulevard and park system, the trip covering sixty-eight miles.  Returning to the Fort Dearborn hotel, a short session was held, and honorary members of the Supreme Society were elected as follows:

Chas. A. Proctor, founder of the Society;

Dr. E.S. Smith, University of Pennsylvania;

Dr. Oliver P. Watts, University of Wisconsin;

W. Lash Miller, University of Toronto;

Prof. C.F. Burgess, Prof. Joseph W. Richards, of Lehigh University;

Dr. Bancroft of Cornell University;

and Dr. Edward Kunz, gem expert of Tiffany’s, Newark, New Jersey.

Following the luncheon given by the Chicago Branch, Mr. Chas. H. Proctor installed the newly elected officers, after which the following program was carried out:

Overture - “Poet and Peasant”                Suppé                           Fisher Orchestra

Address                                                Col. J. H. Hansjosten            Chicago Branch

Songs                                                   Selected                       Whittier Quartette

Future Possibilities                                 Herbert J. Hawkins            Detroit Branch

Magic Wonders                                     F.C. Cyrex                    Dayton Branch

“Humoresque”                                       Dvorak                          Fisher Orchestra

Good Fellowship                                    Chas. H. Proctor            New York Branch

In unison -

Auld Lang Syne

Should old acquaintance be forgot 
And never bro’t to mind!
Should old acquaintance be forgot
And days of auld lang syne?

Chorus

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We take a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne.

And here’s a hand, my trusty frien’ -  
And gie’s a hand of thine.
We'll take a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne.

Convention Committee

S. Huenerfauth

E. Lamoureux

H.E. Willmore

Q.E. Servis

J.F. Carr

J.P. Manz

L.J. Liscomb

Reception Committee

Wm. G. Bott

L. Schulte

W.M. Baldwin

Chas. Stopper

H.H. Posbeck

Notes of the Convention

Mr. Geo. B. Hogaboom’s excellent talk on the “Production of Silver Deposit Work” was illustrated by a number of glass articles showing the different stages through which this work passes to completion.  These samples were passed to the members present for examination, all being greatly interested.

In a lengthy discussion following the reading by Col. Hansjosten of his valuable paper, “To Pickle or Not to Pickle,” he gave as a good pickle for gray iron castings the following formula:

Sulphuric Acid 40%

Hydrofluoric Acid 10%

Water 50%

Every convention has its slogan, and the A.E.S. was no exception to the rule. “The Largest in the World” was adopted at the opening session by every member present claiming that the firm by which he was employed was the largest in the world manufacturing their particular class of goods.

Mr. H.E. Starrett, sales manager of the western division of the Hanson & Van Winkle Co. entertained the delegates to the convention by a noonday luncheon at the Hardware Club, Friday, June 5.  Mr. Starrett is the perfect host, and those fortunate enough to be present enjoyed the many reminiscences recited by that gentleman and responded to by many of his guests.

The National Cash Register Co. of Dayton, Ohio, exhibited their latest model cash register, and a number of name plates in various finishes, the work of Walter Fraine.

The Oliver Typewriter Co. was represented by one of their machines finished in black nickel.  An excellent sample of this work.

Mr. Leo Schmidt had a beautiful collection of hardware finishes on exhibition.  He also read two papers before the convention.

Mr. J.H. Hall showed a large collection of medallions finished in a variety of shades of gold and colored bronzes, which attracted considerable attention.

Mr. Thos. B. Haddow was highly complimented on his colored finishes, which showed superior workmanship.

Mr. H.J. TerDoest of Akron, Ohio, added to the exhibition a number of fishhooks ranging in size from the schoolboy bent pin to some large enough to hook a whale, all in various finishes.

The Keeler Brass Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., showed samples of furniture hardware finished by Messrs. Carl Stimson and W.G. Allen in English burnt brass, oxidized copper and brass, mercerized gold, oxidized silver; also brass articles finished by the steel ball process.

Dayton, Ohio, was selected for the Third Annual Convention, due to the strong appeal made by Walter Fraine of that city.

E. “Absolutely” Lamoureux, of the Chicago Branch, was “on the job” every minute, early and late, looking after the entertainment and comfort of the delegates and visiting members.  Mr. Lamoureux was largely instrumental in the formation of the Chicago Branch two years ago and has always worked hard and diligently in its interests.  He is the western representative of the Munning-Loeb Co.

One interesting exhibit was that of E.W. Weil, St. Louis, Mo., consisting of a nickel plated lamp bowl with a seven-hour deposit, cathode rotating at 200 revolutions per minute.

Delegates to the Convention

NEW YORK -                George B. Hogaboom, John E. Sterling, Thomas B. Haddow.

CHICAGO -                   J. H. Hansjosten, Oscar E. Servis, H.E. Willmore.

PHILADELPHIA -           Oscar E. Servis, Proxy.

NEWARK -                    Horace H. Smith.

DAYTON -                     Walter Fraine, A. Lamoureux, C. Van Derau.

ROCHESTER -              C. V. Hering.

DETROIT -                    Arthur O’Keefe, John Schultz.

ST. LOUIS -                  E.J. Musick, H.H. Williams, John T. McCarthy.

CINCINNATI -               Thomas Whitehead.

MILWAUKEE -              Edward Wiman.

INDIANAPOLIS -           James Walsh.

TORONTO -                  W.S. Barrows.

Good Fellowship *

by Chas. H. Proctor

Mr. President, Members and Guests of the Second Annual Convention of the American Electro-Platers’ Society:

It affords me great pleasure to say a few words to you in these closing hours of the Second Annual Convention of the Society.  It is with a feeling of just pride to be able to congratulate Chicago Branch for the very able and efficient manner in which they have conducted and carried out every detail of the convention.  To the committee of arrangements, I am sure every visiting member of the Society adds their sincere thanks for the splendid time afforded them and the delegates will, I am sure, carry with them the memories of the hospitality of Chicago Branch; for the friendly and fraternal spirit shown me on every hand, for that good fellowship that exists which will prove an enduring bond of good will between Chicago and her sister branches of the Society augurs well for the future of the American Electro-Platers’ Society.

It is with a sincere hope that the spirit of good fellowship imbued here in your great city by each one of the visitors present, will be carried back to his city and Branch, so that the enthusiasm will be contagious and the spirit of fraternalism, the spirit of friendship, the spirit of good fellowship, will be continuous and every member in every part of this great country of ours as well as the members of the craft outside the sphere of our influence will awaken to the greater realization, the greater possibilities of membership in the American Electro-Platers’ Society.

And as we look back and realize the importance of this the Second Annual Convention, the slogan of your city “I Will,” will stand out as a bright and shining light and guide us onward to greater efforts for the benefit of the craft.

To the newly elected members of the Supreme Body, I pledge my loyalty and support and I feel sure that the same spirit of good will is thus extended by every member present here this evening and will be extended to you in the spirit of good fellowship by every member of the Society in every branch throughout your sphere of influence and may your work for the coming year be crowned with success.  May it be said of all of you when your terms of offices expire in the Third Annual Convention, that you did your work nobly and well, and through your united efforts the scope of the Society will enlarge, the sphere of influence extend, and that Branches will increase in numbers until they extend to the Pacific ocean, even as our membership extends today.

As the time is limited and I do not desire to take up too much time of this enjoyable evening, I want to say a few words in reference to good fellowship, which should be the cardinal principal of our Society.

What is good fellowship?  It is the true brotherhood of man, it is the divine command, it is the great secret of eternal life.

“Love you one another, do unto others as you would that others would do unto you,” these sentences are the very essence of good fellowship.  The hand that is extended to you when life seems dark and drear, when a turmoil seems to be in the very atmosphere, when trouble reigns supreme, when life seems to have lost its sunshine and only the darkness seems to envelop you on every hand, when that glad hand of good fellowship is extended to you and the words of comfort are whispered to you and they say, my brother you are in trouble, let me help you, let me assist you over your difficulties, I know I can, just tell me what the trouble is.  It may be only a few words of advice, a few words of good cheer or consolation, may be on very rare occasions a little financial assistance, but it lifts the burden when these tokens of good fellowship are extended; the clouds part, the darkness is dispelled, and once more the roseate gleams of sunshine break through the darkness of despair and we feel the influence of that divine spirit, which, like one touch of nature, makes the whole world akin.

Somewhere at some time in our life we have all felt that need of good fellowship, probably every one of our members at some time or another have felt the need of that friendly word of advice, of that mutual assistance when troubles have multiplied in our plating rooms.  Oftentimes when sorrow has almost overcome us, due to other forces beyond our control, to have someone offer us a friendly word of advice, of encouragement, of assistance, would lift the burden from our shoulders, make the difficulties seem lighter.  This is what our Society stands for, to be able to go to a brother member and if you need assistance or advice the hand of good fellowship will be extended to you, the good advice given, the mutual assistance extended to you not only the individual hand, but the hands of every member of the Society from North, South, East and West.  This is good fellowship, this is what our Society should and must stand for.  Every man who would shirk this duty is not a true member of our Society, he is only one of its numbers, he is not a true member of the craft.  He has not learned the divine command that it is more blessed to give than receive, but may we all feel that ennobling influence that will make us better men and better members of our Society. May the true meaning of good fellowship grow upon us so that we may unite one with each other in the common bond of good fellowship based upon equality.

Unfortunately, in a distant part of our country, from this city in one of our branches there has crept into its ranks, into hearts of its members, that feeling of imperialism, that feeling of what I may term un-Americanism, because they are a little more proficient in their adopted profession than the majority of the other members of the branch.  They deem it beneath their dignity to retain their membership in the Society, because some of the members, who are perhaps more unfortunate than the others, in so much as not having had the good fortune to acquire as much knowledge of the art as the gentlemen referred to, are asked once in a while for a little assistance to overcome the troubles from which no plating room is free; they are not willing to extend the hand of good fellowship, the friendly word of advice or assistance, for which the Society stands.

To such members, I say leave us if you refuse to extend the hand of good fellowship to speak the word of friendly advice and encouragement to your brother members.  The spirit of goodwill, the divine spark of brotherhood does not exist in your heart, the Society is better without you as its votaries.  Go hence and first learn the divine command that you love one another.  To you, my brothers, give proof of that good fellowship in your everyday life, do what you can to lighten the burdens of your brother members, do what you can to bring sunshine into everyone you meet.  You will feel better, you will be a better man, a better citizen. You will play your true part in life, and then at the end, when your nerveless fingers shall loosen their grasps upon the switchboard lever and life’s circuit is forever broken and through your closed eyes henceforth the solution of life’s great drama will unfold before you, may it be said by your fellow members that still remain upon this side of infinite space: He was one of Nature’s Noblemen.  He was a prince of a good fellow.

*Read at the Second Annual Convention, June 6, 1914.

To Pickle Or Not to Pickle *

by Col. J. H. Hansjosten

So much has been said and written on the subject of pickling or not pickling of stove casting during the past year, both for pickling and against pickling, with the majority, probably, in favor of no pickling.  I have been pleased to see so much interest taken in this subject by the members of our Society, and I was particularly interested in the able articles on this, to the plater in the stove factory, very important process, by several of our members throughout the country.  A number of them are opposed to pickling castings and the reasons they advance for taking this stand are good and valid.  One article that touches on this subject appeared in print last winter, but I do not think the points he makes against pickling are as good as some others that have recently been made against pickling.

Now you may say, gentlemen, that it is easy to criticize, and I admit that it is, and because it is so easy, is, perhaps, the reason why so many of us are such expert critics.  I am, however, going to criticize freely tonight, not because I am naturally a crab, for I have taken the advice of one of our prominent members, which is, “Don’t be a crab,” but I want to simply blaze the trail, and I hope our members will follow and hand it back to me as generously as I give it.  I am in hearty accord with what President Hogaboom expressed in an editorial in the Review some time ago, in which he suggested that the articles written in the Review be commented on and criticized by the members.  No man is ever hurt by fair criticism, and it may often aid him in seeing a different angle of a proposition that will greatly benefit him.

Let me say then, that I do not expect this address to add anything valuable to our store of knowledge, nor do I expect it, in itself, to benefit our members, but if it will open the door for future discussion of articles published in our Review, it shall have finished the journey on which I am sending it.

Now, as I said before, many of our members are opposed to pickling.  Well, so am I.  I am also opposed to numerous other things, but I am forced to put up with them by circumstances not under my control.  I do not believe any plater would pickle castings if they were soft enough to polish without pickling, or if the sand could be removed from the background without being first loosened in the pickling.  I am frank to say that I consider the pickle a necessary evil, and I as frankly admit that I have seen castings that could be polished without pickling as economically as others that were pickled, and the plater, who gets his castings so that he can roast the poor fellow who must pickle, is a fortunate human, and should mingle just a little pity with his roasts, instead of handing all the pity to the fellow who does the pickling, and who probably is perfectly satisfied with his job and considers pickling quite as much a profession as some of us consider plating.  By the way, the pickler who comes to my mind as I write this, is at this moment working within ninety-six feet of where I am writing.  In order to find out, for my own satisfaction, if pickling was the awful death-dealing monster that it was pictured to be, by one of our members quite recently, I asked my friend, the pickler, if he was able to get any insurance.  I was told “sure.”  I found that he is rounding out his seventh year as the official pickler in our plant.  His insurance is carried in an old line company and a fraternal order, and one policy was taken out eleven years ago while he was pickling in “Joisey.”

I might add here that our pickling tank is set low and is covered with an exhaust hood that carries away every particle of fumes from the acid.

But I have wandered just a little from my path.

The first and only reason for pickling any gray iron castings is to remove the hard scale from the surface and the sand from the background of it.  The scale is removed because it makes the surface of the casting so hard that too much labor and material are required to polish it, and if any sand remains in the background or depressions of the casting, it shows up after plating as unsightly black spots.  To demonstrate how much more expensive it would be to polish castings without pickling, I made a test with the following results.  Twenty-four castings were taken from the mill room, all made by the same molder on the same day; each alternate casting was pickled, the others were not; but conditions were alike in all and a fair test was made. The polishing cost for the castings not pickled was 13¼¢ for emery and blue; 36¢ for labor.  The polishing cost for the pickled castings was 9½¢ tor emery and blue and 24¢ for labor.  Three tests were made at three different times; the same style casting was used in each test.  The cost for the casting not pickled in the three tests was as follows: Emery and blue 39¼¢; polishing labor, $1.06.  For the pickled casting the cost was as follows: Emery and glue, 28¢; polishing labor, 72¢; the cost of pickling was estimated at 10¢, and it is probably very much lower than that figure, as several hundred of the castings mentioned were pickled in an hour.  These castings were made in a jobbing foundry and were very hard; so hard, in fact, that I am sure even our most strenuous opponents of pickling would have prayed for a very elastic conscience to permit them to stretch it enough to overcome their scruples against pickling.

I claim that whether to pickle or not to pickle is not a matter of choice or a matter of taste, but purely a matter of expedience or a case of necessity.  It surely would be folly and a waste of time and money to pickle any castings that could be prepared for plating, just as economically, without pickling.

In a factory where the plating and polishing departments are under separate heads it is easy for the plater to maintain that castings should not be pickled, for his responsibility begins and ends in the plating room, but where one man is in charge of both departments, and is responsible for the work from the mill room to the stock room, the matter of cost becomes a mighty important factor; for what does it profit him if he has costs reduced to a minimum in one department when either of the others more than eat the savings made in one.  It is a case of being ever on the lookout to keep costs down in every department, particularly today, when every detail of cost is figured on a scientific basis.

We must not think that science in plating is the only thing necessary to make us perfect platers, but we should learn to figure costs in everything that pertains to our profession; and I consider the polishing and buffing departments quite as capable of being scientifically managed as the plating room.  I venture the assertion that 90% of the gentlemen here tonight have charge of polishing and buffing departments as well as plating departments.

Hence it is just as important to have castings so that they can be polished with the lowest possible labor and material cost as it is to plate them at the lowest possible cost; and it is just as important that the nickel deposit will be soft enough so that the buffing labor and material cost may be kept at the minimum.  And if pickling castings will be an economy, it simply becomes a matter of business to pickle, and choice and taste are not to be considered.  The many objections advanced against pickling are in many cases good, but until such a time when we can get castings soft enough to do away with pickling, or get a sandblast that will be as economical and do the work as well, some of us, whether we will or no, will, as a matter of economy, be compelled to stick to the pickle; even if we rend the very heartstrings of some of our brother platers who shed crocodile tears when they think of the poor pickler whom they picture in such a woe begone condition that some of us who must pickle have pangs of conscience whenever we see a carboy.

Perhaps the greatest objections, or rather the objections most frequently advanced against pickling, is the effect it has on the plating solution.  That there is much that can be said on this phase cannot be denied, for carelessness in this respect is bound to cause trouble.  But this is something that can be avoided.  You can, if you are careless, carry cyanide into your nickel solutions and you can get too much acid in them by means of pickled castings, but you would not condemn the cyanide dip on that account, and it would be just as reasonable to condemn pickling for the same reason.

The pickling of gray iron castings will simply remain a matter of expedience, and the plater who has the interest of his firm at heart will pickle his castings just as soon as he can see that pickling is an economy.  The objections of the opponents of pickling to the contrary notwithstanding.

*Read before the Second Annual Convention at Chicago, June 4, 1914.

He Who Renders Service Is Rewarded *

by Leonard Schmidt

When I first learned that some of the more progressive platers in and around New York city had formed themselves into a society, and that a branch was about to be formed in this city, I can assure you that it was welcome news to me, as I had been waiting for several years for something of this kind to happen.

When I saw a copy of the first Quarterly Review and had an opportunity to carefully read the matter that it contained, I was more than ever impressed with the possibilities that lay before the platers of the United States through mutual co-operation.  This first number struck me as being just the best little paper ever, and the formulas and papers were so written that it did not require a professor to understand them.

About this time, I met Mr. Liscomb, who seemed to be carrying the burden of the proposed Chicago Branch on his shoulders and just to relieve him of some of this burden I asked him if he happened to have an application blank with him or could send me one, that I would certainly sign up, and the first meeting would find me on hand like the first robins of the good old springtime.

Much credit is due to the gentlemen from the East who have been instrumental in bringing this organization up to its present success.  We greet them with pleasure and are glad to have this opportunity to shake hands with them.  There is no question but what an exchange of experiences such as we get through these meetings will result in mutual benefit.

When Mr. Hansjosten, our worthy ex-President, returned from the New York Convention and informed me that the next annual convention of this Society was to be held in Chicago on June 6th, I was overjoyed, and am sure that we of this Branch were all equally pleased.

When the newly-elected president of the Chicago Branch asked me to make up a line of samples, I felt that I was “up against it,” as in the shop where I am at present employed, we have no material or facilities for samples such as you would be interested in.  But where there’s a will there’s a way, even though it means

work and worry to get out pleasing samples.  You will appreciate some of my difficulties when I say that my first trouble was to find a suitable sample.  As I said before, we had nothing in my own shop that could be used.  I happened to think of a model maker that I knew and found that he was willing to help me out by making a model of a fancy design that I had selected.  My next trouble was to find a foundry that could cast them for me.  The first one was so porous and spongy that it was useless; the next was no better, and after other foundrymen informed me that it was “jewelry” that I wanted, not “castings,” I made up my mind to send to New York for a casting and let me tell you that this one was fine.  It seems to me that the Chicago foundrymen do not use French sand or know how to dry their castings.  There was sure some expense

and delay to get this from New York, but I had worked on castings from the same foundry before and knew what to expect.  After having this casting chased, I had the Imperial Brass Foundry of this city make up fifty castings.  They gave me a fine job and when the convention is here, I will be able to show quite a few samples, which I trust will interest the members at large.

As II look back over the years that have gone, I recall many experiences in connection with my work, and the one that now seems most strange is the difficulty we all experienced, in trying to gain some real knowledge about our work.  We, as you know, did not have books, papers, etc., always on tap, and when I needed some information about a certain finish, I had to hunt up someone who would exchange some of his formulas for some that I might have; otherwise, you would have to pay dear for it.

As I remember, the only book then on plating was “Watts,” published in England, and to a kid whose head reached only a little higher than the tank, you can imagine that there were a good many things in that book that never touched me.

Some of us remember the little, red-covered book that the Zucker & Leavitt Co. handed out to the boys away back in the bicycle days - 1896, I think.  There wasn’t much to it, but it was a great help to me, and I am quite sure that every plater of that time found something in it that helped him over the hard places.

This was followed by a book of real value when Herbert J. Hawkins came out with the book called “Polishing and Plating of Metals,” and believe me, Brother Platers, it took the gentleman a long time to get that book up to its present standard.  Since then, we have become familiar with “Langbein’s,” “The Metal Industry,” “The Brass World” and other publications, through which we have learned much.

Sooner or later, we have a desire to see other cities, and I was no exception, so after having worked in several shops in Chicago, I found work in many other cities, and it was then that my real troubles began, and I had nowhere to look for help.  I remember in one shop we had some ball-bearing cups to plate.  These were blue steel, very highly tempered, and how to nickel plate them kept me guessing for some time.  All my other work came out fine, but as fast as I tackled the cups the nickel refused to stick.  I was several hundred miles from home and “up a tree” with a good chance of losing my job when one of our good friends selling plating supplies came along and with his help, we soon got those cups to take nickel as a duck takes to water.  All through my plating career I have found the salesmen my loyal friends - always ready to help me in every way possible - and I can assure you from my own experience that there’s lots of satisfaction when you are in some small town a long way from home to meet one of the boys and have the opportunity of talking over business - picking up always some new wrinkles that lead to better work.

Platers of today do not know how fortunate they are in having a Society such as ours to whom they can go for any needed information instead of trying to work it out of some plater, as we were formerly compelled to do.

Tonight, our dreams are realized in this, the first gathering in the history of the profession, when we as platers from different parts of the country can come together and discuss the problems that so vitally concern us, and I am sure when I say that we all are  - one for all and all for one.

*Read before the Second Annual Convention at Chicago, June 6, 1914.

Future Possibilities *

by H.H. Hawkins

To one who has been in touch with this industry as many years as have I and who has known something of the misgivings, not to say superstitions, to which many of our old-time platers were subject in regard to some cherished formula or process, this assembly is surely a revelation because the very air seems permeated with good fellowship and each individual member seems to be filled with an earnest desire to do his part to make this convention a marked success.  A few years back such a gathering would not even be thought of, much less be brought to a successful reality.

One of the most helpful and promising accomplishments of this educational Society is the breaking down and removal of all secrecy and prejudices with which many of the old-school platers have entangled their minds, with the idea that they were protecting their individual interests and knowledge.

Every man has a purpose in life and is for a purpose.  We fill our own individual nick or space, and not another’s.  Each man’s ingenuity and individuality is what shines forth in his work and upon these qualities, and these alone, depend his success, be it great or small.  These qualities are personal possessions and cannot be taken from us by another.

Now, if a mechanic or scientist shuts himself up in a cave away from the light of the world he becomes a mental cripple, and instead of making progress he will retrograde.  What we need is mental co-operation and association with other minds interested in the same things we are interested in; also minds which have mastered, in part at least, the science of chemistry and the science of electricity, because the art of electro-plating is a part of, and absolutely dependent upon, both electricity and chemistry for its very existence.  To me it is a remarkable thing that chemistry has been developed in so many different industries to such a high state of usefulness and efficiency.  Electricity also has made wonderful strides in finding new fields and new uses everywhere, while our own branch of these two wonderful sciences has made small progress compared with the others.  But since the birth of the A.E.S., much good has been accomplished, and while only the surface of the hidden treasure of knowledge has been touched pertaining to our art, we are in a fair way to gradually accomplish great things.

In every city where this educational society is established, we have willing instruction in both chemistry and electricity, and it behooves every man who expects to stay in the running to embrace each and every opportunity; to obtain the exact and scientific knowledge pertaining to his business.  He must know how to make and how to maintain his solutions and must know what a given result should be and why.  Platers have been doing a lot of guessing and some bluffing in times past, but this was not the fault of anyone in particular, but due rather to conditions, and this is the evil that this Society aims to correct and is correcting.

It is surprising how backward we are - some of us platers - when it comes to adopting new methods.  By new I do not mean experiments, but well defined and accepted practices such as the use of electro-cleaners, mechanical platers, voltmeters and ammeters, etc.  Every few days I run across someone who refuses to see the wisdom of using these (in this day and age) absolutely essential appliances.  Only a few days since I was asked to take back an ammeter where three months ago a new generator and other equipment was installed.  I installed the voltmeter when the plant went in, but because I did not install the ammeter in the circuit it was never put in and as they had got along without it the assumption was

that it was a useless luxury.  But as soon as these instruments are put into use, the plater finds out how important they are.  And from this time forward every plater in this society will find it not only important but absolutely necessary for his advancement to be fully equipped with all necessary instruments with which to make tests and to determine fact, because new improvements and methods are ever appearing and must ever continue to appear from the very nature of their inexhaustible source, and to keep in touch and be familiar with new developments he must be equipped with instruments which are recognized as standard. That is one of the changes that this movement is bringing about.

In ten years’ time or less I predict that this society will have grown so in usefulness and understanding that it will be considered a power for good in the field of scientific research.

If electro-chemical demonstrating apparatus is installed by the different branches and the members will attend with open minds and a desire to learn, teachers will be found who will unfold to them the whys and wherefores of the so-called secrets of plating as fast as they are able to assimilate the facts.  It is true that there have been many new ideas advanced and very many new time and labor-saving devices and compounds, so called, put upon the market, especially within the last few years.  They may be classified under three heads - good, bad and indifferent.  All the new things that can be classed under the first head, “good,” we want and will save.  The others are, and by right should be, short-lived and must go to the scrap heap.  He is a wise plater who can properly classify all the new get-rich-quick methods and means he is asked to try out.  Who is able to separate the wheat from the chaff?  But with the good work that will be done for him by this association it will be a very short time when every plater can have at least a good working knowledge of electro-chemistry and be perfectly competent to make his own analyses and demonstrations.  What we require is understanding, by which we can put our beliefs to the test.  Then, if found correct, they are no longer beliefs, but become positive knowledge.

There is but one truth of any problem. It is that fact we must keep in mind.  Instead of knowing the truth of many of our problems we have been guessing, trying to make three plus two equal four - as it were.  It can’t be done.  But how easy it is and how sure of the true result when we know two plus two equals four and understand the fundamental principle.

There is really nothing new, for all the so-called new discoveries, great and small, that have been made, the principle was and is always there.  So, the truth or principle is now for any new developments or unfoldments man may make.  These principles always have been, always will be.  They are eternal and it is in the province of man’s mind to unfold and develop them.  Knowledge is increasing in abundance as we learn to use it and make it our own.

Usually, the man who makes great claims to having superior knowledge has nothing in truth to back him up.  To illustrate: A few years ago, a manufacturer told me that he was having difficulty in getting enough work from the plating room to get out his orders and what he did was to cut through the work being copper plated and oxidized.  He asked me if I would go to the plating room and perhaps help the plater, who was a young man, to locate the difficulty.  He was running two batches of work per day - think of it - one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  The solution was simply rainwater, being almost free from cyanide and copper.  The work was supposed to be plating, but was covered with brown oxide, no gas being given off at the cathode.  He said, and I think correctly, that this was not the kind of copper solution for the kind of work at hand, but he wanted an acid or duplex copper.  I then asked him if he understood how to make and operate this solution, my intention being to assist him if he wished.  He said, “I have been at this business twelve years and know all there is to know about it.”  Some claim.

This young man put his sulphate copper in galvanized iron tubs and filled them with water, then went home for the night - you know the rest.  The next day they hired a plater.  Now if that young man had imbibed some of the spirit of friendship and helpfulness that pervades this gathering, he would have known that my intentions were good and not evil.  I have learned this - that when I am able to convey to anyone some really helpful information I invariably receive much more than I give as a return.

I have been plodding along at this business, in one capacity or another, for at least twelve years, and at this present moment as I stand here before these men, among whom are electricians, chemists, electro-chemists and platers who have both the scientific and practical knowledge of the plater’s art, I realize now more fully than ever before how few of these truths I have really mastered and how much is yet to be learned.

He must be a man of very limited understanding and knowledge indeed who would make the statement that he has exhausted all knowledge of any branch of electro-chemistry.  The science of electro-chemistry offers perpetual and everlasting challenge to you, and to me, to show the best that is in us.  No man since the beginning of the plating art has ever found the limitations of any theory or practice pertaining to or dealing with any of its many branches and in the very nature of things no man will discover the uttermost end of any of these possibilities.

It is to this Society that we now look for the unfoldment of these (to us) hidden truths and I firmly believe that it is not a distant day when the employers of the best paid and most competent platers will insist that they come recommended by the A.E.P.A.  When that happy day arrives, we will have outgrown the title platers and will be known as electro-chemists.

However, we cannot attain to this dignified position at will but must labor continually and persistently as we are being taught and led along the well-defined paths of our chosen profession.

If we will be conscientious and persistent in our efforts the standard of efficiency is bound to be raised until at no distant date we will be not platers merely, but members of a dignified profession.  To me this is the one great outstanding purpose of the A.E.P.A - to accomplish this result.  For this reason, I believe we - one and all - should deem it a special privilege to give to this movement both our financial and moral support - not from any commercial or selfish motive, but simply because it is in reality a great and worthy

educational movement.  It is hardly possible to overestimate the good this movement may accomplish.  We owe much to the men who were the instigators of this society for their untiring efforts in behalf of their fellow men who are making electro-plating their life work.  Much credit is due also to our trade papers, “The Metal

Industry” and “Brass World” for their efforts and helpful influence.  Here I wish to say that this society has lost a fund of scientific knowledge and a power for progress in the passing of the late Edwin Starr Sperry.  He seemed competent and capable of giving a concise and correct solution to any electro-chemical problem that might be put to him.  Such men as he, are an asset to any Educational Society.  I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Sperry at a brass foundry convention in Detroit some years ago.  This is what he said: “Well, well!” he said, “you know I had pictured you as an old cadaverous looking fellow with a long white beard with one foot in the grave.  Can you imagine it?”

Whiskers have nothing in common with our profession.  I do remember though faintly so long ago that the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, when Mr. Starrett used to come to St. Louis, where I was then located, and bring his whiskers with him but they were not white - far from it - they were pink.  I suppose

I will have to pay for these remarks when Mr. Starrett gets me on the carpet next time.  Anyhow it is bully to be able to say it right out loud and know the boss can’t choke you off and then - I am going to get out of town tonight.

And now Gentlemen, in closing I wish to repeat a little verse which embraces and expresses fully my sentiment as to the welfare of our society and all its members.  This verse was written by a Quaker missionary named Stephen Grellet.  For many years it has adorned the walls of my home.  It was used, I think, at the last convention and perhaps we could not do better than to adopt it as our slogan.  It is as follows:

“I shall pass through this world but once.  Any good thing I can do, therefore, or any kindness I can show to any human being, let me do it now.  Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

* Read before the Second Annual Convention at Chicago, IIl., June 6, 1914.

Address to Bridgeport Branch

by Charles H. Proctor.

Mr. President, Members and Guests of the Bridgeport Branch of the American Electro-Platers’ Society:

It is with a feeling of elation that I am permitted to be present with you this evening and participate in this, your first get-together dinner, and extend to you my personal congratulations for the success that has attended your efforts in establishing here in this beautiful city of Bridgeport, the fourteenth branch of the America Electro-Platers’ Society in the United States and Canada.  The reason of this elation is due to the fact that the state of Connecticut is no doubt the mother of the vast industry of electro-plating and its allied

industries of which this city is a notable part, not only for this reason but within a short distance of this city - I refer to Ansonia where I first obtained what knowledge I possess of the art of electro-plating.  At this time, I desire to pay a tribute to one man whom many present this evening probably were personally acquainted

with, who a few years ago completed life’s circuit and the contact with human energy was broken and he passed into that great unknown.  To this man I owe much and perhaps many of you do too.  He was one of the brightest stars in the plating world and my personal contact with him and the knowledge I was able to absorb from him was no doubt instrumental in an indirect way to the conception in after years, of the American Electro-Platers’ Society and the pleasure of being present with you this evening to celebrate your admission into that galaxy of sister branches of the Society.

I refer to Edward A. Barnard, the father of your present secretary, Nelson A. Barnard.  It is with this mark of respect in public utterance that I pay to him a well-earned tribute not only as a good man but as a master of his chosen vocation in the art of electro-deposition of metals in this state.  I am sure that your future developments will be watched by me with keen interest because in this state of yours you have so many notable members of the craft who are well versed in the art.  They can and will, I have no doubt, add much to our common stock of knowledge that will not only give the Bridgeport branch considerable prestige, but will prove a valuable asset to them as officers of the supreme body in the near future.

The art of plating, within the memory of many of the older members of the craft present here this evening, has developed wonderfully.  To glance back a quarter of a century to the methods in vogue at that time; to realize the trouble that frequently occurred from the change of polarity of the dynamo, of the “rule of thumb”

methods in current regulation, to labor under unknown conditions, no voltmeter, no ammeter, but only that self-asserted will that made us master of the situation and brought us to where we stand today, still master of the present and future of the art.

To be a member of the American Electro-Platers’ Society adds dignity to your profession, it will raise the standard of its members, it will gain recognition for you and place your profession upon the plane of elevation to which it rightfully belongs.  We have much yet to accomplish, and we realize that rapid advance and development in the electrical and mechanical manipulation have been made within a decade or more, but we must look to the future.  Your solutions require the same concerted effort and there is much yet to be accomplished.  We are coming to an era when we shall use only the active principles of electro-plating; we shall dissect our solutions and discard every unnecessary ingredient, unless it has some intrinsic value in the production of the deposit.  We must realize, for the sake of economy, that there is only one material we take from a solution, that is the metal that has any intrinsic value that gives us a profit.

The point is to get that metal into the solution and take it out as cheaply as possible.  The cheaper you can do this and the more you can economize in discarding inert material that is not an active principle in the production of the metal from the solution, the more value you will be to your employer and the more value you will be as a member of the American Electro-Platers’ Society.

I look to Bridgeport Branch and the members of the fraternity in this old Nutmeg State to prove that my confidence in the future development of the art in your hands will reach an evolutionary stage and as I look back in after years to this evening, and the many friends I have met, with the same ambitions and hope for the future of the society, the pleasure will be mine.  I thank you.

* Address before Bridgeport Branch, April 25, 1914.

What The Branches Are Doing

Note to the Secretaries - AIl correspondence for this department must be in the hands of the editor by the 15th of each month.

Supreme Society

Meets first week in June, 1915, at Dayton, Ohio.  Secretary, Walter Fraine, 507 Grand Avenue, Dayton, Ohio.

New York

Meets fourth Friday of each month at 309 West 23rd Street, New York City, 8 PM, Secretary, Joseph Minges, 148 Schenck Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.

The following delegates represented the New York Branch at the National Convention at Chicago: John E. Sterling, George B. Hogaboom, Thos. B. Haddow.

Officers elected for the ensuing year are as follows:

President                                                          Thos. B. Haddow, re-elected

Vice-President                                                   H.E. Bernard

Secretary                                                          Joseph Minges, re-elected

Sergeant-at-Arms                                              A. Leimbacher

Asst. Sergeant-at-Arms                                      W.R. Shanks

Librarian                                                           Wm. Fischer

Board of Managers: J.A. Staub, F.P. Davis, J.A. Stremel, Chas. H. Proctor, Wm. Schneider.

Philadelphia

Meets first Friday of each month in the Harrison Laboratory Building, University of Penna., 34th and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia, Pa.  Secretary, Philip Uhl, 2432 North Twenty-ninth Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

The regular monthly meeting was held June 5th, with Vice-President Moore presiding.

A vote of thanks was tendered to the Brass World for sending this branch a copy of their magazine each month.

Dr. H.S. Lukens, Dr. of Electro-Chemistry of the University of Penna., gave an instructive talk on the electrical method of determining of free acid in solutions.  He also gave a blackboard illustration and practical demonstration of this method.  After the lecture, Dr. Lukens answered questions asked by the members.

Provost Smith, of the University of Penna, and who is an honorary member of this society, was awarded the Elliott Cresson medal for eminence in the field of science, by the Franklin Institute.  Dr. Smith is the first Philadelphian upon whom this medal, which is the highest honor conferred by the Institute, has been bestowed.

Chicago

Meets fourth Saturday of each month, 8 PM, Western Building, Randolph Street and Michigan Avenue. Secretary, pro tem., H.E. Willmore, 5911 South Boulevard, Chicago, IIl.

Owing to the inability on account of illness, of J. F. Carr to serve as Secretary, H. E. Willmore was appointed Secretary pro tem.

The following communication has been received by the Secretary and signed E.L.:

Our Convention brought out quite a few things humorous in their nature, and with a spirit of good fellowship which perhaps will never be printed, and their effect will be lost to those who were not present  and then again some of the incidents may travel verbally and the effect be universal.

In acknowledging his introduction by Mr. O.E. Servis wherein the latter had made reference to him as a “war horse”, our worthy President, Mr. Hansjosten, remarked that he was glad Mr. Servis had not said anything about the “Dog” and quite naturally some may wonder about the dog, and how it could have any bearing upon the situation.

The first record we have of Queenie shows her tied to the leg of a desk in the office of the Superintendent, where our President is employed, looking forlorn and forsaken.  “History” records a conversation between our President and the Superintendent relative to the origin of the poor animal, and also their failure to fathom the past; but our noble President, whose heart is always bursting with the humanitarian spirit, requested that Queenie be turned over to him, and Queenie’s animal instinct was in evidence when she looked up appealingly at her hero, and the deed was done.

We next learn of Queenie during the time of the banquet of the St. Louis Branch, where she received considerable mention, and her new home was soon decorated with numerous bones, all highly polished, but not plated, and entwined with beautiful baby ribbons in all colors, these gifts being presented by a number of the “Scouts” and good-fellows who attended the above mentioned event.

Her benefactor being desirous for “class”, claims her to be a Collie, but the color and shagginess of the hair lend an air of mystery to the species which has not yet been solved.

Notwithstanding the vigilance of the master and benefactor, it seems she has strayed from the straight and narrow path, and owing to this, ambitions have been shattered, both financially and otherwise; but to note her devotion to the admixture of mongrels in the set, is to appreciate her noble nature.  She is now reigning over her flock on the farm just outside of Kokomo, Ind., trying to redeem herself in the estimation of her benefactor, and knowing his forgiving spirit as we do, we are sure she will soon be re-crowned Queen of all she surveys.

Dayton

Meets first and third Wednesday of each month at the Y.M.C.A., Dayton, Ohio.  Secretary, Alphonz Lamoureux, 500 East First Street, Dayton, Ohio.

On June 3, 1914, the officers and members of Dayton Branch had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Hogaboom, Supreme President.  The President, with Mr. F. P. Davis, of the Celluloid Zapon Co., and Mr. Andrews, Electrical Engineer of the American Hardware Corporation, were on their way to Chicago to attend the Society’s Second Annual Convention.

Mr. Fraine, President of the Dayton Branch, introduced Mr. Hogaboom, who responded with a very interesting talk.

He gave a brief history of the Society from its organization to the present time, noting its progress and also its great possibilities, as the plating game, he said, was only in its infancy.  One of the many interesting facts made clear was that the modern plater is not a man of strong physique only, but one who had the power to think and act.  For instance, anyone could compound a formula but the present day plater must experiment along all practical lines in order to bring about the necessary results of promoting the plating art.

Mr. Andrews spoke of the close relationship between the plater and the Electro-Chemist and of this close relationship being understood by the manufacturer, in order to bring about the expected results and more efficient labor.

Mr. Davis spoke briefly of the plating art, its wonderful progress and of its possibilities, which can only be reached through the labor and research work of such an educational society as The American Electro-Platers’ Society.

This meeting was one of the most interesting we have ever held.  We hope to have these men with us again in the near future when they may be able to give us more of their time.

Newark

Meets first and third Friday of each month, 8 PM, 833 Broad Street, Newark, N. J.  Secretary, Chas. A. Stiehle, 46 West Madison Avenue, Irvington, N. J.

Detroit

Meets first and third Friday of each month at Burns’ Hotel.  Secretary, George J. Kutzen.

Toronto

Meets fourth Thursday of each month at Occidental Hall, Bathurst and Queen Streets.  Secretary, Ernest Coles, 15 Laurier Avenue, Toronto, Ont. Canada.

The regular meeting was held Thursday, May 28th, with President W. S. Barrows in the chair, and a splendid attendance.

After the regular routine business had been transacted the election of officers was held.  The following officers were elected for the term 1914-1915:

President                                                          John Magill

Vice-President                                                   W.J. Salmon     

Secretary                                                          Ernest Coles

Treasurer                                                          Walter S. Barrows

Sergeant-at-Arms                                              Emil Nordblom

Librarian                                                           James Humphrey

Board of Managers - W. W. Wells, Jr., Robt. Dermody, Wm. McCann.

Mr. A. E. Shepherd, Librarian of Detroit Branch, was a visitor to our meeting and spoke of the good work Detroit Branch was doing.

Rochester

Meets second and fourth Wednesday of each month at University of Rochester.  Secretary, Edwin S. Crowley, Jr., 868 South Goodman Street, Rochester, N. Y.

Indianapolis

Meets twice each month on Friday evenings.  Secretary, pro tem, J.C. Davenport, 349 Massachusetts Avenue, Indianapolis, Ind.

St. Louis

Meets fourth Saturday of each month at Public Library Assembly Rooms.  Secretary, H.H. Williams, 2134 Nebraska Avenue, St. Louis, Mo.

Cincinnati

Meets once each month at Dennison Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio.  Secretary, F.H. Normand.

Bridgeport

Secretary, Nelson A. Barnard, 858 Howard Avenue, Bridgeport, Conn.

Buffalo

Meets first Saturday of each month at the University of Buffalo, 8 PM  Secretary, F.C. Mesle, 1560 Willow Avenue, Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Milwaukee

Meets second Wednesday of each month at Marquette University.  Secretary, P.J. Sheehan, 922 Vliet Street, Milwaukee, Wis.

Elected to Membership

Rocco M. Vinnello (Active).

Ruhlman Hess (Active).

Robert G. Curtis (Active).

Newton E. Dabolt ( Associate).

Applications for Membership

Dayton -  F.G. Cyrex                                          Hanson & Van Winkle Co., Chicago, III.

Cincinnati - William Eckels                                  1829 Waker Street, Cincinnati, Ohio

Change of Address

Robert Dermody                                                981 Gerrart Street, East, Toronto, Canada

John Young                                                       467 St. Clareus Avenue, Toronto, Canada

Martin Smith                                                      1415 North Howard Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

Julius Neu                                                         427 Baily Street, Camden, N. J.