Business English: A Practice Book by Rose Buhlig

=Exercise 257= Books that will Suggest Topics for Talks If you have access to a public library, you can probably obtain some of the following books. They are all simple and interesting, and any of them will suggest several topics for talks. ALLEN, N. B., Industrial Studies. BAKER, R. S., Boys' Books of Inventions. BARNARD, CHARLES, Tools and Machines. CARPENTER, F. G., How the World is Fed; How the World is Clothed; How the World is Housed; Geographical Readers. CHAMBERLAIN, J. F., How We are Fed; How We are Clothed. CHASE, A. and CLOW, E., Stories of Industries (two volumes). COCHRANE, C. H., The Wonders of Modern Mechanism. COCHRANE, ROBERT, Romance of Industry and Invention. DOUBLEDAY, RUSSELL, Stories of Invention. FORMAN, S. E., Useful Inventions. GIBSON, C. R., The Romance of Modern Manufacture. LANE, M. A. L., Industries of To-day. LITTLE CHRONICLE CO., Industries of a Great City. MOWRY, W. A. and MOWRY, A. M., Inventions and Inventors. PARTON, J., Captains of Industry (two series). ROCHELEAU, W. F., Products of the Soil; Minerals; Manufactures. TOWLE, G. M., Heroes and Martyrs of Invention. WILLIAMS, A., How it is Made. =Exercise 258= Study the punctuation of the following; then write from dictation: 1 It is stated that practical experience with gas mantles made of artificial silk--that is, silk made from wood pulp--has proved them to be far superior to those made of cotton, especially where the mantles are exposed to excessive vibration. Several German towns are said to be obtaining exceptionally good results from these new mantles used in conjunction with pressure gas, and it is asserted that the mantles are in good condition after being used for seven or eight weeks. Artificial silk, according to reports, has also been used experimentally by several manufacturers of incandescent gas mantles in the United Kingdom. The reports are all very encouraging, except that there seems to be one difficulty that is purely mechanical--the knitting of the artificial silk. The knots and other imperfections in the yarn cause a considerable amount of waste. However, the knitting-machine makers are experimenting to overcome it.--_Daily Consular and Trade Report._ 2 As the production of wool in this country, although approximating 320,000,000 pounds a year, does not begin to meet the demands for the raw material, there is a yearly importation of from 156,000,000 to over 300,000,000 pounds. When each new census reveals the fact that there are fewer sheep of shearing age in the country than there were ten years before, the question of wool production becomes one of still greater importance. A solution may be found in a Peruvian product. A variety of cotton grows in Peru whose long, rough, crinkly fiber mixes so readily with wool that manufacturers use it in connection with wool in manufacturing "all wool" goods. It grows on a small tree that yields two or three crops a year for seven or eight years. The area, however, in which it is being successfully cultivated in Peru is so limited that the annual output is only about 16,000,000 pounds, of which the United States takes approximately 5,500,000 pounds. As the region in which it thrives is practically rainless, perhaps a way may be found to persuade the rough Peruvian to make a home for itself in the hot and arid regions of our Southwest. It would be a triumph of agriculture, certainly, to raise vegetable wool in regions not fitted for real sheep.--_The Wall Street Journal._ 3 THE CASTING OF METALS As is well known, some metals are unsuitable for casting, while others, like iron, can readily be cast into any desired shape. The property of casting well, it is said, depends upon whether the metal contracts or expands in solidifying from the liquid form. Iron, like water, expands in solidifying, and hence the solid metal may be seen floating in the liquid iron about it. The expansion causes it to fill the die into which it is poured, and so it can be cast easily. Gold and silver contract in cooling, and are, therefore, not suitable for casting.--_Harper's Weekly._