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From Hole To Heights

MUELLER

F E B R U A R Y • 1 9 6 1

Published by

MUELLER CO.SI 2 W. Cerro Gordo Si,

Decatur. Illinois

As a new year begins it mightbe well to look into the crystal ballprovided by the American Gas As-sociation to see what the outlookfor 1961 might be and also reflecta little on 1960.

1960 was a year of disappoint-ments for the U. S. economy as awhole as business slumped fromearly predictions. An upturn ingeneral business is expected bymid-year with a strengthening ofthe economy seen.

In spite of the business fluctua-tions around the nation, progressin the gas industry has been steady—steadily upward.

According to the AGA, 1960 wasa record year for expansion in thenation's gas utility and pipelineindustry—and prospects for 1961are even better.

Currently serving more than33 Yz million customers and grow-ing at an annual rate of about onemillion customers, the gas industryhas spent an estimated $1,890,000,-000 for new facilities in 1960. Thisis 6.7 per cent more than the pre-vious record of $1,772,000,000 setin 1957 and 9.4 per cent ahead of1959 outlays of $1,728,000,000.

The forecast for 1961 construc-tion is $2,219,000,000, representinga one-year jump of 17.4 per cent.

Summarizing a new survey ofgas industry expansion plans,A. G. A.'s Bureau of Statisticspoints out that the $6,182,000,000the industry will invest in new fa-cilities in 1960, '61 and '62 will be

21 per cent higher than spent theprevious years.

The Bureau also notes that while1960 outlays are $343,000,000 belowthe level anticipated earlier thisyear, expenditures next year willexceed previous estimates b y$301,000,000.

The shift from 1960 to 1961 isattributed primarily to construc-tion deferrals by many leading gaspipeline companies as a result ofthe regulatory lag in obtainingcertification for new projects. TheA.G.A. study shows no evidencethat any of the major projectsoriginally scheduled for 1960 werecancelled.

Transmission company construc-tion, which cost an estimated$891,000,000 and set an all-timerecord in 1960, is expected to reacha new peak of $1,060,000,000 nextyear. During 1960-62, pipeline ex-pansions programs will also in-crease compared with the previousthree years.

Construction of distribution fa-cilities to link more residential,commercial and industrial custom-ers will reach a record peak also.

The growing importance of un-derground natural gas storage inhelping to meet peak customer de-mands in cold weather also isreflected in the new A.G.A. fore-cast. An estimated $292,000,000will be invested to expand the in-dustry's underground storage fa-cilities in 1960-62, up $70,000,000from the previous three years.

Editor

Jim M. Milligan

Assistant Editor

Joe Penne

Member:Central Illinois Industrial

Editors Associationand

International Council ofIndustrial Editors

FACTORIESDecatur, Illinois

Chattanooga, TennesseeLos Angeles. CaliforniaSarnia, Ont., Canada

SALES OFFICESNew York CitySan Francisco

SINCE 1857Quality Products for the

Waterworks and Natural GasIndustries

The name MUELLER is a registeredtrademark of Mueller Co.

Contents

4 42-INCH HOLE USED FOR HUGE MINING OPERATION AT MUD is a storyabout a big job through a small hole.

11 FROM HOLE TO HEIGHTS; MACHINES TAKE TO THE AIR tells and showsan unusual use of some Mueller products.

14 FOLLY TURNS INTO FORTUNE describes the first problemsin the discovery of oil.

16 MUELLER CO. PRODUCTS

17 GAS UNLIMITED is a story about the untappedreserve supplies of gas.

18 BLUE FLAME WHISPERS gives you the latest information aboutthe gas industry.

19 TWO NEW DIRECTORS NAMED TO MUELLER CO. BOARD relates the latestchanges in the board and pictures officers.

22 STRICTLY OFF THE RECORD is the page designed to tickleyour funnybone.

24 A SAVINGS SUGGESTION

PROPANE CAVERN LAYOUT

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Mining operations for a cavern to hold 6,000,000gallons of propane were carried on through a 42-inchhole to the storage area 300 feet underground. Equipmentand machines were broken down, put through the open-

Ornaha, Nebraska

ing and re-assembled for use in the mining. The machinein the foreground digs and deposits the material in thebuckets in the background and then are hauled to thesurface.

42-Inch Hole Used For HugeMining Operation At MUD

Instead of taking gas from theground as is the usual case, Metro-politan Utilities District of Omaha,Neb. is putting gas into the ground.

This reversed procedure comesabout because MUD has just com-pleted a gigantic mining operation300 feet under-ground which willallow them to store 6,000,000 gal-

Photos Courtesy

OfMetropolitan Utilities

District,

Omaha, Nebraska

Ions of propane in a network ofman-made caverns.

The new storage area is part ofa $1,500,000 expansion program atthe company which includes a newplant for the manufacturing of gas.

The plant will have a capacity of30 million cubic feet per day andwill more than double the District'smanufacturing capacity. The gasproduced will be used to supplementthe natural gas supply on the cold-er days during the winter; andwhen required, the liquid propanewill be pumped from storage, va-porized, mixed with air to theproper heating value, and put intothe distribution system with thenatural gas.

This new plant will permit theDistrict to meet Omaha's growing

gas requirement at the lowest pos-sible cost, officials say.

But the unusual storage area isthe interesting feature of the proj-ect. The entire 6,000,000 gallons willbe stored in a network of minedtunnels.

These tunnels are approximately10 feet wide and 20 feet high, andare separated by pillars 50 feetsquare which are left in place forsupport.

The $800,000 storage area coversan area approximately 350 feet by400 feet, with less than 30 per centof this total area actually mined.

In the mining of the cavern, ashaft 50 inches in diameter wasdrilled to the desired depth. A42-inch steel casing was insertedin the shaft and cemented into

M U E L L E R R E C O R D

place, and it was through this 42-inch casing that the entire miningoperation took place.

This included lowering equipmentas big as tractors piece by pieceinto the cavern and then assembl-ing them underground. Normally,in mining, a much larger shaft isused. In this case, however, theshaft must be sealed to contain thepressure of the propane—approxi-mately 100 pounds per square inch—which will be stored inside. Ithas been found that it is easier tomine through the smaller shaftthan seal a larger shaft againstthis pressure.

In addition to the main shaft,three smaller holes were drilledand lined with casing 12 inches indiameter. These smaller holes wereused for ventilation during con-struction and on completion of thecavern will house the pumps forwithdrawing the propane fromstorage.

A mined cavern for the storageof propane offers a number of ad-vantages over conventional storagemethods on the surface. The costof an equivalent volume of storageusing standard propane storagetanks would be in excess of $4,000,-000. In addition, the cavern is con-structed at such a depth that thepressures surrounding the cavernare greater than the pressure ofthe propane in storage. If a leakwas to develop, it would be amatter of the ground water leaking

into the cavern rather than pro-pane leaking out. Facilities will beprovided to remove any waterwhich may enter the cavern.

There are 29 of these cavernsnow in operation or under con-struction, primarily in the Southernand Eastern parts of the UnitedStates. This, however, is thefirst installation of its type in theMidwest. In addition, the Districtis the first gas distribution com-pany to contract for the construc-tion of a cavern for its own use,and join two gas distributorswho purchased completed cavernslast year in being the first to uti-lize this type of storage in connec-tion with gas production.

When the mining was completed,all equipment was disassembledand removed from the cavern, andthe pumps installed in the 12-inchholes. A 42-inch steel cap waswelded to the top of the casing andthis, together with the connectingpiping, is all that is visible on thesurface.

Piping extends from the shaftto the unloading siding where thepropane is received in railroadtank cars. Approximately 700 tankcars and three months' time willbe required for the initial fill.

A second pipeline will be builtfrom the cavern to the North side ofthe construction center to threebuildings which will house the va-porizers, air compressors, and mix-ing equipment.

The equipment vised to drill the 50-inch hole is similar to that used inan oil field. The pits in the foreground contain the drilling mud which iscirculated through the hole and floats the cuttings to the surface.

After drilling, a 42-inch steel pipewith a %-inch wall was lowered intothe shaft. About 1,200 sacks of ce-ment were poured around the casingto seal it in place.

The drill consists of a series ofcutters mounted around a rotating;shaft. The cutters were mounted onframes ranging; in size from 16 inchesin diameter at the tip to 50 inches.A 16-inch pilot hole \vas first drilledand after eight weeks of drilling theshaft hole was complete.

Air-drilled holes are packed withdynamite and the blasts set off dur-ing the lunch hours or between shiftchanges when everyone is out of themine. This time lapse allows the dustto settle and the gases to be removedbefore work resumes.

M U E L L E R R E C O R D

A tipple was constructed over theshaft with the enclosed portion hous-ing: the hoisting- equipment. Duringpeak mining-, buckets filled with ma-terial were raised to the surface anddumped every 40 to 50 seconds.

Buckets are also used to takeworkmen back and forth from thesurface to the work area. When themining: operation began one or twomen started digging- by hand and asthe cavern grew in size larger crewswere needed. The mining was car-ried on 24 hours a day, six days aweek.

F E B R U A R Y

When sufficient area was mined, air operated loaders were lowered intothe hole to fill the mine buckets. Here a part of a, louder is being lowered tobe re-assembled and a track laid on the floor.

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M U E L L E R R E C O R D

As the mined area extended farther from the shaft, heavy big tractorswere lowered piece-by-piece into the cavern. The motor of the tractor canbe seen just as it emerges from the end of the shaft.

The tractors were used to haul the material from the blast area to theshaft where the air operated loaders filled the mine buckets. The mine shaftis near the center of the milled area which is 350 feet bv 400 feet.

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Fairfield, Alabama

From Hole To Heights;Machines Take To The Air

Mueller Co. drilling and line-stopping equipment are normallyfound in a ditch; but in one instancerecently, the machines had to beused on a gas line 30 feet in theair.

At the Tennessee Coal & IronDivision of the United States SteelCorp. in Fairfield, Ala., a 10-inchgas line had to be rerouted, and todo the job the workmen operatedfrom atop a crane runway andscaffolds above railroad cars andloading areas.

The 10-inch line was feeding thehuge tin mill, supplying gas totheir annealing furnaces and otherprocesses, and couldn't be shutdown without great difficulty.

The gas line originally ran downthe inside of a crane runway andaround the end of the beam, andthen at a 45 degree angle, went oninto the tin mill about 50 yardsaway.

The crane runway served as onetrack for an overhead magneticcrane which was used to load steelplates into railroad cars. The steelcompany wanted to extend its load-ing facilities, but this couldn't bedone until part of the line wasmoved. After this was done, thebeam and track then could beextended.

Using Mueller 10-inch fittings, anelbow was welded to each fitting

An unusual application for someMueller Co. equipment was foundrecently at Fairfield, Ala. at a UnitedStates Steel Corporation divisionthere. Instead of working in a ditchthe machines were used 30 feet inthe air in an operation to change thelocation of a gas line.

F E B R U A R Y 9 6 I

and the line run beneath the cranerunway rather than around theend.

After the fittings were in placeand the new line completed, theMueller drilling machine made thecut through the fittings to put newline in use.

Equipment had to be hoisted to thetop of an "I" beam which servedas a track for a loading crane forrailroad cars.

The new line acted as a perma-nent part of the installation andalso as a bypass line, while the oldline was stopped off, cut and cap-ped so the beam was free to beextended to the desired location.

This dual use of the new linedid away with any possible prob-lems related to the use of a by-passline.

Because of the high flow and highpressure of the regular line, theuse of a smaller by-pass line wasimpractical. In most cases, asmaller temporary line is used in asimilar operation.

Mueller line stopper fittings andequipment used on the Fairfield jobmay be used on lines up to 12 inchesin size at pressures as high as 500p.s.i. on most models and tempera-tures to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

The project took two days. Nor-man Wilcox, Test Lab Lead Manand special Mueller Co. representa-tive from Decatur, was on hand tosupervise the use of Mueller equip-ment. Maintenance men from thesteel company did the work. RobertJ. Ott, Mueller Sales Representa-tive in the territory at the time andnow section sales manager in thearea, was also on hand.

The Tennessee Coal & Iron Di-vision of United States Steel is oneof the south's largest industries.

Fairfield is located near Birming-ham in north central Alabama.

PHOTOS COURTESYOF

UNITED STATES STEELCORPORATION

I!

After the 10-inch line was drilled,a stop-off was made and the flow ofgas was diverted to the new linewhich also served the same purposeas a by-pass line.

With the ne\ line in operation, theold line was cut and sealed, thestopping; machines were removedand completion plugs were insertedinto the fittings.

The job was completed in. two dayswithout interruption in the gasservice which was necessary in thehuge tin mill. The beam is nowready to be extended.

F E B R U A R Y 1 9 6 1

Folly Turns Into Fortune

The whistle shrieked and thetrain lurched forward.

As it picked up speed throughStamford, Connecticut, the mansettled back in his seat. Titusville,Pennsylvania was a long way off.

Nothing about Edwin L. Drakeattracted attention. Almost middle-aged, he had the nondescript look ofa man used to living with illness—and failure. Even his fare wasn'tpaid for; he used the old railroadpass issued when he had been aconductor.

Yet Drake—unknown to his fel-low passengers and himself—wasriding with fate, keeping a rendez-vous with fame. His destiny: To

change the course of civilization—through petroleum!

The time was Spring, 1858, andindustry was in turmoil. Sciencewas battering down technical bar-riers, shattering the limits ofknowledge at a dizzying pace.

America was becoming a mightynation as pioneers pushed westwardagainst the sprawling frontier.Spurred by inventions like thesteam engine, industries expanded,struggled to supply the ever-in-creasing markets.

There was a draw-back, though.Industrial machines needed betterlubricants. Oils for lighting, too,were becoming scarce.

Lighting needs had been filledwith animal oils and fat—especiallywhale oil. But now demand out-stripped supplies. Fleet after fleetreturned to the New England docks,sold their sperm oil in minutes andoften sailed right out again to huntthe dwindling whales.

The industrial machines? Usingpoor quality lubricants, they oftenran at quarter speed.

Tallow and animal fats wereabout all there was. Some peopletried camphene—a mixture of tur-pentine and alcohol. But large-scale use was impossible; it pro-duced a poisonous gas.

Some saw possibilities in petro-

leum but couldn't do much aboutit. Then only way known to collectoil was to find where it mixed withwater and literally skim it off thetop. A hard day's work producedonly three to six gallons. The costwas prohibitive.

The stage was set for a revolu-tion—and Edwin Drake!

Drake came to Titusville as anagent of the Seneca Oil Company,formerly the Pennsylvania RockOil Company—one of the first oilventures organized. Its foundershad almost given up hope and sentDrake as a last resort to see ifproduction could be increased.

Drake plunged into the work,ordered reconstruction of the entiresite—new channels, troughs, skim-mers. He improvised better skim-ming methods. Result: Failure! Bysummer, the output didn't pass 10gallons a day.

Suddenly it hit him: They hadto get closer to the oil.

He urged the workmen to digstraight down—and he became thelaughing stock of Titusville. Towns-folk flocked around in growingnumbers to laugh and jeer at the"madman." They named the project"Drake's Folly." It seemed theywere right. Just when they actuallystruck a flow of oil the nearbyriver waters came pouring in—andalmost drowned the workmen.

There was one way left: Drillfor the oil like they drilled for salt.

His request for more money wentunanswered, but he decided to goahead anyway. In 1859, with aborrowed $500, an old salt drillerand his two sons, a steam engine,hemp rope, home-made bit andcrude wooden windlass, he beganagain.

Slowly, they built a crude der-rick and a shaft for the engine.They started digging. Bad luck per-sisted. All attempts were once moredefeated by the incoming riverwater.

Then he got the most revolution-ary idea of all: Why not encase theshaft with steel piping?

They hammered the pipe casingdown to the bed rock with a crudebattering ram and started drilling.The water stayed out!

Now they were really makingprogress: 25 . . . 40 . . . 69 feet. Drakewas near the end of his struggle—

A giant portable rigdrills for oil in 137

feet of water inthe Gulf of Mexico.

almost. But the finale could con-vince anyone that Destiny was byhis shoulder. At about the sametime, the drilling hit another snagwhen the bit broke off and a letterfrom the Company ordered him tostop operations—but he found hisoil!

The pipe filled with the darkgreen bubbling liquid!

The news electrified the country."Black gold" . . . "liquid gold"could be pumped out of the groundlike water! The effect rivaled theCalifornia Gold Rush.

Within 5 years, the petroleum in-dustry was a major force in Amer-ica's life. Apart from the needs itmet in lighting and manufacturing,the industry itself created othernew industries.

Oil transportation, for example,started with crude barrels andstorage "dug-outs" and progressedto tank cars and ships, pipelines.It employed thousands.

Because of better lubrication,railroads began criss-crossing theentire nation; steamship linesflourished.

The facts speak for themselves.The relatively brief, 100-year his-tory of America's oil coincides

greatest social,the world has

exactly with theeconomic growthknown.

Today, the United States dependson oil for all its lubrication, andmajor portion of its highway sur-face. With 6 per cent of the world'spopulation, it has 40 per cent ofthe world's total power output!

The emphasis on science is alsothe reason why petroleum by-products also help make life easierand richer in the U. S. By findingways to harness the great suppliesof natural gas that was once burnedoff, they added another resource tothe nation's list.

Discoveries in petrochemistryhave added over 7,500 useful prod-ucts to our way of life. They in-clude synthetic rubber, plastics,fabrics, solvents, detergents, fer-tilizers, insecticides, weed killersand medicines.

The list grows longer each dayas the cycle of new uses—newneeds—continues. By 1967, petro-leum consumption will rise by 2billion barrels a year. By 1965, thetotal output of petrochemicals willtotal 85 billion pounds a year!

For "Drake's Folly," the end isnowhere in sight!

F E B R U A R Y « 1 9 6 1 15

new from

insulating union gas meter stops

I NSULATE"ZYTEL"* 105 insulator with extra-longskirt fully encloses face and flangeof tailpiece. Unique bonding grooves lockinsulator in place to reduce "creep".Greatly increased sealing surfacepositively prevents skirt leakage.

Retained O-ring maintainspositive seal withminimum nut torque.

LubOseal Stopwi th new Insulating Union Outlet.

(Mueller Tamperproof Meter Stopsalso available with new outlet .)

effectively stop electrolytic corrosion of your service line safely!

Instal l it and forget it! Here's a maintenance-free insulat ing union outlet tha t completely andeffectively insulates services from house piping. . . and it stays pressure-t ight indefini tely!

Two completely separate elements are used—one to insulate , another to seal. Yet, both ofthese elements are component parts of the union

tailpiece and the stop body. No loose washers orgaskets to lose or leave out during assembly.

By combining their service-proven gas meterstops with this new insulating union, Mueller Co.has provided a practical, easy-to-install and"foolproof" answer to service isolation problems.

Write for completeinformation and specifications.

•DuPont Co. Registered Trade Mark LGEM Sponsor

Factories at: Decotur, Chattanooga, Los Angeles

In Canada: Mueller, Limited, Sornia, Ontario

• T H I S IS TOUR I N D U S T R Y

MITED

Gas not only has arrived as oneof America's largest industries—itis here to stay.

Looking far into the future, thegiant gas industry is confidentlybuilding still more capacity, withwhich to serve the ever-mountingenergy needs of more and moremillions of customers each year.

The industry is investing ingrowth at a rate which is now near$2 billion a year, and is rising.Enlarged facilities will enable itto deliver to America's homes andindustries nearly twice as muchgas as at present by 1975, andapproximately three times as muchby the year 2000.

Keeping tomorrow's expandednetwork of mains and pipelinesconstantly filled will, of course, re-quire huge future supplies of gas.

Fortunately, the gas industrypossesses plentiful reserves, provenor potential, with which to meetall foreseeable needs.

To begin with, vast deposits ofnatural gas are known to existunderground, in reservoirs alreadytapped or accessible to futuredrilling.

Recent authoritative estimates

have placed recoverable natural gasreserves in the U. S. at a minimumof 1,200 trillion cubic feet. Withpresent production running lessthan 12 trillion cubic feet yearly,this reserve obviously is enough tosupply U. S. gas needs for manydecades to come. This will still betrue even if gas use doubles ortriples as expected.

To brighten the natural gas re-serve picture still further, there areimmense deposits in Canada andMexico upon which the U. S. maydraw extensively in the future.

Importation of liquefied naturalgas by ocean-going tanker fromother gas-rich areas of the globemay play a part in future opera-tions.

Perhaps still more important,present estimates of reserves, likeall past estimates, may be revisedsharply upward in the light of newknowledge and experience.

For instance, it is believed thatthe "Mohole" project to drill anexploratory hole through theearth's crust may change many ofour ideas about geology—and aboutpossible sites of natural gas de-posits. Scientists approaching study

of the earth from other angles alsoare evolving new theories.

Such new light on the earth'sdepths may lead to gas discoveriesin places hitherto quite overlooked.

With such tremendous naturalgas reserves, the U. S. has a "bankaccount" of gas which should lastfor generations.

But these reserves are not theonly—or even, perhaps, the mostimportant—source of future gasabundance. Other—and far richer—bank accounts of gas exist in theform of vast deposits of coal andoil shale. From these, at moderatecost and by methods already triedand proven, can be made high-qual-ity synthetic gas in unlimitedquantities.

The synthetic gas of the future,unlike much of the manufacturedcoal gas and oil gas of the past,will be practically indistinguishablefrom natural gas.

Most of the familiar "manufac-tured" gas, used in many placesbefore the advent of pipelines andstill very useful for peak loadshaving, is a somewhat variablemixture of methane and other gas-es. It generally contains less heat

F E B R U A R Y • 1 9 6 1 17

value, or Btu's per cubic foot thannatural gas, which is nearly allmethane.

By contrast, the synthetic gasmade from coal or oil shale by thenew processes is, like natural gas,nearly straight methane. Therefore,like natural gas, it is "high Btu"(around 1000 Btu per cubic foot),is non-toxic, lighter than air, andhas all the other desirable char-acteristics which make natural gasthe ideal fuel.

For this reason, it often is re-ferred to as "synthetic natural gas."

The processes for making syn-thetic gas improve on the oldermethods of gas manufacture prin-cipally by adding important stepsfor converting more of the rawmaterial into methane.

A "synthesis gas-methanation"process, for example, employs cata-lytic agents to recombine hydrogenand carbon monoxide from coal gasinto additional methane (plus car-bon dioxide, which is removed).

A "hydrogenation" process em-ploys a high-temperature directreaction of oil shale or coal withadded quantities of hydrogen, toproduce a straight-methane syn-thetic gas.

Again in contrast to the oldermanufactured gas, most of whichwas made in small local plants,synthetic gas will be made in large-scale works, on the order of giantrefineries, located at the depositsites. Like huge supplemental gasfields, they will be able to fill thelong-distance pipelines with prac-tically any desired quantity of gas.The main difference will be thatinstead of drilling wells, syntheticproducers will be "mining" for gas!

An idea of the magnitude ofpotential synthetic gas reservesmay be gained from the fact thatone oil shale deposit alone, in theGreen River area of Colorado,could yield more than 10 times asmuch gas as all the presently esti-mated natural gas reserves in theUnited States!

Though this is the largest, otherrich deposits are scattered widelythroughout the country.

Coal—which would probably firstcome into use as a synthetic gassource—exists in even more inex-haustible quantities than oil shale.

The gas industry, which last yearbecame the first entire industry toannouce participation in the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, hasnamed Walter Dorwin Teague As-sociates to design the $5,500,000exhibit at the Fair.

The appointment was announcedjointly by Chester S. Stackpole,Managinging Director of the Amer-ican Gas Association, and HaroldMassey, Managing Director of theGas Appliance Manufacturers As-sociation.

The exhibit will occupy three-fifths of the 50,000 square feetleased by the gas industry at theFair site.

John E. Heyke, President of theBrooklyn Union Gas Co. and Presi-dent of Gas, Inc., an organizationestablished earlier this year toplan and operate the industry'sbuilding, said there are more than3,000 products made of natural gastoday that did not exist five yearsago.

The gas industry's exhibit, ac-cording to Mr. Heyke, will accountfor much of this growth in thepetrochemical field as well as de-pict the progress of gas as a resi-dential, commercial and industrialfuel.

Teague Associates will cooper-ate in "translating the industry'sachievements and prospects intoone of the Fair's outstanding indus-trial exhibits," the Stackpole-Massey statement said.

Gas lights have come on againaround the United States.

Today, estimates of the totalnumber of gas lights in service runas high as three-quarters of a mil-lion. The number used outdoors farexceeds the record set in the peakgas lighting year of 1914, whensome 300,000 gas burners illumi-nated the streets of America's citiesand villages.

One of the first of the new wave

of street light installations wasmade in 1958 when 64 gas lampsreplaced electric lights around theplaza in the heart of Albuquerque'shistoric Old Town.

The most recent installation tookplace in Cape May, N. J. on thetree-lined streets of the state'ssouthernmost city.

So great is the demand for gasstreet lamps that several manufac-turers have turned to producingreplicas of the old fringe-top lightsknown as "boulevard" models.

At least 19 other manufacturersare making gas lamps for streetand private use.

A significant sign of the grow-ing market for gas lights appearedearly last year when America'spioneer manufacturers of gas lights—the 83-year-old Welsbach Corp.of Philadelphia—returned to pro-duction after 25 years.

Today's largest producer of gaslights for both street and residen-tial-commercial use is the ArklaGaslite Division, part of the hugeShreveport-based Arkansas Louis-iana Gas Co. This complex ofaggressive companies not only dis-tributes natural gas but manufac-tures such diverse products as gasair conditioners, rocking chairs,cement, chemicals and horse-drawnbuggies.

* * -x- •>:•

Only 3.5 per cent of all buildingfires in the United States during1959 were attributed to gas andgas appliances, according to a studyby the AGA. Fires totaled 883,300,with gas as the listed cause of31,600.

Gas fueled equipment w a scharged with only 19,800 of the202,000 fires caused by defective oroverheated cooking and heatingequipment of all types.

Losses in 1959 in building fireswere estimated at $1,083,000,000with gas fires charged with only2.6 per cent or $28,500,000.

18 M U E L L E R R E C O R D

Mr. Kemper, Mr. Schluter Named

Two New Directors Elected

To Mueller Co. Board

Two new members were elected to the Board of Directors of Mueller Co. atthe annual two-day shareholders and board meeting which opened in DeeaturDecember 1.

Elected to the Board were John A. Schluter and Jackson Kemper. All othercompany officers and board members were re-elected.

Mr, Schluter succeeds his mother, Mrs, Charlotte Mueller Schluter, whoresigned from, the board.

Mr. Kemper, Executive Vice-President of Mueller Co., was elected to fill thevacancy created by the resignation of W. H. Hipsher.

Mr. Kemper, formerly Vice President and General Manager of the Forgeand Fittings Division of the H. K. Porter Co., Inc., joined Mueller Co. July 18after Mr. Hipsher resigned due to ill health.

Mr. Schluter lives in New York City, is married and has one son. He is a1951 graduate of Williams in Williamslown, Mass., and served three years in theU. S. Navy as an officer.

He is a member of the Sales Division of International Business Machines, Inc.,in New York.

RE-ELECTED COMPANY OFFICERS WERE:

A. G. WEBBER, JR President and Chairman of the Board

JACKSON KEMPER Executive Vice-President

LEO WIANT Administrative Vice-President

FRANK H. MUELLER Vice-President and Director of Engineering

DAN R. GANNON Vice-President and General Sales Manager

LEROY J. EVANS Vice-President in Charge of Eastern Sales

LYLE R. HUFF Secretary-Treasurer

RE-ELECTED TO THE BOARD WERE:

JOE FI. GARDNER

EBERT B. MUELLER

FRANK H. MUELLER

MRS. PAULINE V. MUELLER

MRS. LENORE MUELLER SCHMICK

FRANKLIN B. SCHMICK

FIAROLD M. SHERMAN, JR.

ALBERT G. WEBBER, JR.

LEO WIANT

F E B R U A R Y * I 9 6 I 19

JACKSON KEMPERExecutive Vice-President

LEO WIAXT

Administrative Vice-President

ALBERT G. WEBBER, JR.President and Chairman of the Board

20 M U E L L E R R E C O R D

BL

FRANK H. MUELLERVice-President and Director of Engineering

LYLE R. HUFFSecretary-Treasurer DAN R. GANNON

Vice-President and General Sales Manager

LEROY J. EVANSViee-Presideiit in Charge of Eastern Sales

\Y • 1 9 6

21

Strictly

The senior girl sniffed disdain-fully as the pink-cheeked freshmanboy cut in. "Why did you have tocut in when I was dancing?"

"Sorry," the freshman answered,hanging his head in humility. "I'mworking my way through college,and your partner was waving a $5bill at me.

sobbing as though his heart wouldbreak.

"What's the matter, Bobby?" sheasked.

"Daddy was hanging up a pic-ture and dropped it on his toe."

"Why, that's nothing to cryabout; you should laugh at that."

"I did," sobbed Bobby.

em-betn

Office Manager (to newploye): "You should havehere at nine o'clock."

New employe: "Why, what hap-pened?"

Little Bobby ran to his mother

A woman who ran a boardinghouse would get her knives sharp-ened several times a week. Whenthe knife sharpener asked why shehad her knives sharpened so often,the woman whispered, "Well, it'scheaper than buying tender meat."

QUITE FRANKLY I'VE NEVEflGIVEN MUCH THOUGHT TO PUBLIC

"How did you make your neigh-bor keep his hens in his own yard?

"One night I hid half a dozeneggs under a bush in my garden,and next day I let him see megather them."

Somebody told us about a littleboy and an old man who had lostten dollars. After listening to theoldsters's story, the kid, who hadfound the money, decided it mustbe his, and handed it over.

"Hey," says the old gent, "you'rean honest boy, but what I lost wasa $10 bill, and you've given me tenones."

"That's right," says the boy."Last time I found one, the mandidn't have any change."

Warden: "I've been in charge ofthis prison for 20 years and thatcalls for a celebration. What kindof party would you boys suggest?"

Prisoners: "Open house!"

The boy looked at the prices ofthe menu at the drive-in, thenturned to his date and said, "Whatwill you have, my plump littledoll?"

Customer: "Hey, waiter, thissteak is burnt black."

Waiter: "Yes, sir; it's a mark ofrespect. Our head waiter died thismorning."

Jim: "Why did you break yourengagement?"

John: "She wanted to get mar-ried."

The Smiths were on the balconyand could hear the young couple inthe garden below. Mrs. Smithnudged her husband and whispered,"I think he wants to propose. Weought not to listen, Whistle at him."

"Why should I?" her husbandasked. "Nobody whistled at me."

He: "Please, darling, whisperthose three little words that willmake me walk on air. "

She: "Go hang yourself."

Hank: "You used towas something aboutcouldn't help loving."

Claire: "But it's all spent now."

say thereme you

22 M U E L L E R R E C O R D

Strange GameIn Sacramento it is required that

hunters who shoot other huntersfile a report with the Fish andGame Department within 48 hours.

A local business man had hireda new messenger.

Instructing him on picking upcertain items, the boss said, "Andif they can't give you these things,be sure to phone me. Just dialCApital 7-5526."

The boy stood thoughtfully, mak-ing no move to get started.

"What's wrong?" asked the boss."Oh, nothing's wrong. But I just

don't know how to dial a capitalseven."

The hillbilly signed the hotelregister with an X. Then he drewa circle around the X. The clerk,watching him, said, "A lot of peoplesign with an X, but that's the firsttime I've ever seen it circled."

"Tain't nothing so dad-burnedodd about it," retorted the hillbilly."When I'm out for a wild time, Ijust don't use my right name."

COPYRIGHT 1957 CARTOONS-OF-THE-MONTH

"I'm going to explain all this to youonly once, so listen carefully...!"

small shotsOH, HELLO, CAROLINE

POP DIDN'T INCREASEMY ALLOWANCE /

HOW DID YOUMAKE OUT?

BUT HE OFFERED MESEVERANCE PAY/

^5T>

'ta/fe

F E B R U A R Y • 1 9 6 1

Tommy looked up from his bookand asked, "Pop, is it true that aman is known by the company hekeeps?"

"Yes, son, and always rememberthat."

"Well, Pop," asked Tommy,"what I still can't understand isthis: If a good man keeps com-pany with a bad man, is the goodman bad because he keeps com-pany with a bad man, or is the badman good because he keeps com-pany with the good man?"

The salesman was getting dis-gusted with his relations with thefront office, so he sent the follow-ing wire to the boss: "Must haveraise at office or count me out."

He received the following reply:"one, two, three, four, five, six,seven, eight, nine, ten."

"Nope," argued Uncle Ezry, "Idon't like this improvin' of ourlivin' standards."

"But why, Uncle Ezry? Hasn'teveryone a right to a decent liv-ing?"

"Well, now, mebbe they has, butwhere we gonna git our great menwith humble beginnins?"

23

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MUELLER CO., DECATUR, ILLINOIS

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Permit No. I

M R S . W I L L I A M E . M U F L L E R330 S E L B Y L A N EA T H E R T O N , C A L I F .

What lies ahead for these care-free youngsters ? Their parents

can help plan for the children's welfare and the

future of the nation by investing wisely in

United States Savings Bonds.