way the ideal that the engineer should always keep before him both in regard to the technical side of his profession and to his duties and obligations as a citizen.

The smoker was held in the main dining room of the Cosmopolitan Hotel and was under the direction of a committee consisting of James M. Robert, R. S. Manley, Ole K. Olsen and A. M. Lockett. Fully a hundred members and their guests responded to the invitation, thus making the function a record breaker for attendance. Mr. A. M. Shaw was master of ceremonies and he pulled off a number of stunts that were very unique and made up a large part of the fun and pleasure of the evening. One of the most amusing was that in which a number of reports of various and sundry municipal schemes which had suffered the fate of being pigeon-holed were made to come forth from their seclusion and give an account of themselves. President Young delivered the annual address, his subject being "Why the Engineer? Who Is He? What Is He?" The address is published in this issue and forms an interesting commentary on the subject of the position and influence of the engineer as a factor in the progress of civilization. The professional part of the entertainment was taken care of by a 'coon band", and by three young ladies, recruited from one of the high class cabaret shows, who danced and sang sentimental ditties with a fervor and spirit quite befitting the occasion. It is reported that some of the younger and more sporty members of the Society were rather angry and jealous because these same young ladies insisted in directing their songs. almost exclusively towards a certain dignified professor of engineering, towards a municipal engineer of great repute, and towards a handsome and prominent young contracting engineer. It might not be out of place the next time to suggest to the committee that they take steps to see that such favors are more evenly distributed. But everybody had a good time, and congratulations are hereby tendered the committee and the master of ceremonies on the success of the function, and they have the sincere thanks of all for the hard work they did in getting up the smoker and, pulling it off so smoothly.

The Petroleum Industry in Louisiana. A very interesting paper with the above title was read before the Society at its November meeting. Unfortunately the author, Mr. H. A. Pallfelt of the Standard Oil Company, was unable to be present and the paper had to be read by proxy. The absence of Mr. Pallfelt naturally limited the discussion very materially, but attention was directed to one particular point brought out by the statement in the paper to the effect that the oil industry in Louisiana was in its infancy. The industry is in its infancy, not only from the stand-point of the discovery and production of crude oil, but also, and much more important, from the stand-point of the processes of refining the crude oil and the extraction therefrom of its many useful and valuable components. It was noted that very little of the Louisiana crude petroleum is used for fuel here, the fuel oil used in New Orleans and upon the sugar plantations coming very largely from the Mexican fields. A suggestion was made by Mr. A. M. Shaw, which it would be well for the Committee on Technical Program to take up actively. That was that some person competent to handle the subject in the proper way be requested to prepare for the Society a paper upon the applications of the various kinds and grades of oil. The point was made that practically every operation with which the mechanical engineer has to deal is vitally dependent upon oil, and yet very many engineers are more or less ignorant as to the proper methods of using it, and there are no very readily available data upon the subject.

The Outing. The Louisiana Engineering Soceity used to have as one of its social activities a function known as "The Annual Outing." It consisted of an all day excursion and picnic to some point of engineering interest in the state, and members were expected to bring their families and their friends with them. Several years ago the outing was given up, partly for the reason that we had pretty well exhausted the possibilities in the way of places to which to go, and partly from the fact that the function each year was costing the Society more than it should. One of the attractive features of this ex

cursion to many members was that they could bring their families along and in this way there was greater opportunity of promoting sociability among themselves.

A number of members have at different times expressed their regret that this function should have been abandoned, therefore this word of comment. The suggestion has been made that the plan might be tried of dropping the educational feature of the outing and just make it a purely social affair. Now that dancing forms such an important part of all our social activities, it has been further suggested that we should charter for a day one of the river or lake excursion steamers and go off for a picnic. Probably the incoming administration may find it feasible to take up this suggestion. It is presented here for what it is worth.

BOOK REVIEWS.

Bridge Engineering. By J. A. L. WADDELL, C. E., D. Se.. Am. Soc. C. E. In two volumes. John Wiley & Sons,

New York, 1916. Price $10.00.

Dr. Waddell has presented in this monumental book of two volumes and approximately two thousand pages, all the in-formation acquired by him during an active practice of forty years. The illustrations are exceptionally well reproduced, and the many tables and diagrams are clear and concise. Although Bridge Engineering will undoubtedly take the place of the author's well known De Pontibus as the practicing bridge engineer's familiar book of reference, the work will also appeal to the student as a source of encyclopaedic knowledge in this branch of engineering.

Bridge Engineering covers the entire field of bridge engineering, with the exception-as is stated in the preface-of the theory of stresses and similar matter which may be found in all standard text books. Certain portions of De Pontibus have been revised, brought up to date, and incorporated in the new work. The author's easy, personal, almost conversational style presents to the reader the toughest of problems in a palatable and interesting manner.

The first chapter deals with the evolution of bridge engineering from prehistoric times down to the present day, and the possibilities of the future development of the science are thoroughly discussed. This is followed by a chapter demonstrating the need for the bridge specialist and treats of the services and qualifications necessary. Chapter III deals with the ordinary materials of bridge construction. Chapter IV discusses the properties of the various alloy steels suitable for bridgework, and curves are presented from which the weights of metal may readily be found for various spans. A comparison is made of the costs of spans for uniformly varying excess unit costs of nickel steel as compared to carbon steel. The possibilities of long span construction with alloy steels are thoroughly discussed. In connection with the subject matter of

this chapter it will be remembered that the American Society of Civil Engineers awarded Dr. Waddell the Norman Medal for 1909 for his paper "Nickel Steel for Bridges." The subjects of dead and live loads, impact loads, the effect of centrifugal and other forces due to track curvature, wind loads, vibration and traction loads are discussed in detail in Chapters V to IX inclusive, diagrams and curves being given to facilitate the computation of these loads. The following chapter deals with methods of stress computations, and a knowledge of the standard text book presentation of stress computation is assumed. The short cuts as used by the practicing bridge engineer are discussed and an explanation of the use of the equivalent uniform live load in lieu of wheel concentrations is given, so that, aided by the tables and curves, the necessary computations are clearly explained. Chapters XI, XII, XIII and XIV are devoted to the subjects of secondary, temperature and indeterminate stresses, deflections, the combination of stresses and working stress intensities; following the practice of the author, diagrams and curves are given, with practical examples of their application. The subject discussed in Chapter XV is of the most fundamental importance, viz "First Principles of Designing," and merits the careful study of practising bridge engineers as well as students. There are fifty generalizations, or first principles, presented by the author, which are the results of long experience and observation in his special field. The importance of the work of detailing is emphasized in Chapter XVI, instructions, tables and diagrams being given for facilitating this work. Present day shop practice as affecting bridge design is treated at length and in detail in the next chapter. Chapter XVIII first classifies the various kinds of traffic and then discusses the most suitable type of bridge for any class or combination of traffic. This subject is divided under the three headings of "railway," "highway" and "combined" bridges. There follows a discussion of floors and floor systems, dealing with the various types, and the advantages and disadvantages of each as applied to various cases are dealt with. A detailed consideration of lateral and swaybracing systems for every type of bridge is given in Chapter XX. Plate girders; I beams;