bolsters are nine heavy 4-inch I beams and one 3x 2-inch angle. The longitudinal sills are four angles 4 x 3 inches x 1⁄2-inch full length under the cross-sills. The side sills and runboards are all steel, oak fitted. The rear posts are all steel, hickory fitted, and the side braces are twelve structural steel braces supporting steel-bound side posts with underbody braces. The weight of the dump body is 4,800 pounds, including the side boards.

This tractor truck is mounted and carried on Timken roller bearings, thereby functioning easily and consuming a minimum of power. In the crawler tread over which the load is carried there are twelve of these large bearings on each side of the machine, so encased as to be dust- and waterproof, thus insuring long life to the bearings and resulting in low upkeep cost.

The length inside the dump body is 12 feet and the width is 6 feet. The height of the permanent sides is 181⁄2 inches. The side boards are 9 inches high. The width over-all is 873/4 inches, and the height of the front is 30 inches. The capacity without the side boards is 4.11 cubic yards, and with the side boards is 6.11 cubic yards, on waterlevel basis. An angle of 40 degrees insures quick unloading, and the load can be dumped and the body returned to normal in one minute.

The truck is equipped with a heavy-duty, singlecylinder hydraulic hoist, with a 6-inch ground bore cylinder with a 422-inch piston travel. Its lifting capacity is 15 tons, and it has oversize cables, cross-arms and base. The weight of the hoist is 700 pounds.

This tractor truck is a 6-yard model with an 88- to 97- horsepower Climax R4U 4-cylinder 4cycle type motor. The main tank and Stewart vacuum tank hold 60 gallons of gasoline, and the cooling system has a gear-driven centrifugal pump. It is equipped with heavy-duty, dental-type, fullyenclosed transmission, with three speeds forward and one in reverse. Alemite pressure grease lubrication is used except in motor, transmission and rear-end drive. The cab is completely enclosed, with a two-part door.

A Bituminous Pavement Sampling Set In order that engineers may be able to analyze bituminous pavement which has been laid, the Riehle Bros. Testing Machine Co., Philadelphia, Pa., has developed the Riehle-Howe bituminous paving sampling set. With this set sample cores may be taken from the finished bituminous pavement to determine the thickness of the courses, to check the degree of rolling by density and void determinations, and to check the bonding of courses and joints, as well as to determine by analysis the character and grading of the mixture and materials used in the pavement. This method is also useful in cutting and removing the bituminous material before sampling or drilling the concrete base. Another important use is for the insertion of permanent traffic markers in bituminous pavements.

To take a sample from the pavement, the proper size of die is selected to give a sufficiently large sample for analysis if the material is to be analyzed. Ordinarily, for sheet asphalt or stone-filled sheet asphalt, commonly known as modified Topeka mixture, or when simply the depth of the bituminous surface is desired, a die of 2 inches inside diameter may be used. For asphaltic concrete of the coarse aggregate type or Warrenite Bitulithic pavement mixtures to be sampled for density determination

THE NEW RIEHLE-HOWE ASPHALT PAVEMENT SAMPLING SET

or analysis, a die of 234 inches inside diameter should be used. The required weight of the roller, truck or auto used to jack against, depends upon the size of the die used and the temperature of the pavement at the time the sample is taken, as Iwell as the character of the mixture.

The die is placed on the pavement with the jack on top. The die is slowly jacked into the pavement against the axle of the roller or the center of the front axle of a truck, placing hardwood blocks on top of the jack if the clearance is too great or running the front wheels of the truck upon blocks placed on the pavement when the normal clearance is too small. The total rise of the jack is 514 inches. The jack is rated at 2 tons and is tested to this load previous to shipment.

The pressure is released on the jack just as soon as it is felt that the die has reached the concrete base, to avoid turning the edge of the die. The cutting edge of the die should always be straightened if bent, on an anvil or on the head of the jack, before using again, keeping the inside of the die of uniform diameter, so as not to compress the pavement sample. The outside of the die may be reground, if necessary, keeping the original shape of the cutting edge.

When the jack is removed the small jacking rod is inserted in two holes in the top of the die and the die twisted out of the pavement. The jack is depressed and the grip arms turned to the vertical position. The die containing the sample with the cutting edge down is placed on top of the jack with the arms gripping the top edge of the die. The sample is then jacked out of the die, holding the grips in place on the die.

Following this, the depth and location of the hole are recorded and the hole painted with asphalt paint supplied with the set. Then a premolded slug of the proper length is jacked into the pavement until it is level with the top of the pavement. The top surface is then painted and sprinkled with a little limestone dust or cement to absorb the excess asphalt cement. Where available, the sample holes can be tamped full of hot pavement mixture instead of using the plug. The pavement sample core is marked with a record number to identify it.

T

HE vast improvements in municipal administration effected during the past twenty-five years have been due in no small measure to systematic study, and to local and national conferences and discussions among the interested public officials, professional bodies and other groups. The development of standards of performance, and the high sense of professional pride and responsibility among municipal officials which have had so much to do with the progress, have been immeasurably advanced through formal and informal contacts and interchanging of ideas and experiences. Such standards and professional spirit are fully as important in public administration as in private industry, for constructive achievements in municipal administration are usually harder to measure in concrete terms, and minor failures are more often exaggerated.

The Establishing of Technical Standards The Department of Commerce has had the privilege of being associated with the progressive developments in a number of different fields. Our Bureau of Standards, with its wealth of scientific and technical data garnered through years of experimentation and research, and having a most able corps of scientific specialists, participates in annual national conferences on weights and measures, and I believe that the new problems arising in this field have been solved much more satisfactorily and promptly as a result. The Bureau of Standards has also been able to respond in like man

ner to the needs of local officials concerned with purchasing, standards for public utility services and other technical problems. The Bureau of the Census has had constant and cordial responses from local authorities in prompt reporting of vital statistics, which are of so great aid in measuring the effectiveness of city health departments. Cooperation in the preparation of financial statistics of cities is resulting in the accumulation of data that are invaluable to city administrators and all others interested in improved and more economical municipal administration. The Coast and Geodetic Survey has been able to furnish municipal engineers and surveyors with basic data from which to proceed, and several other of our bureaus have more or less regular contacts with city officials.

The Advisory Committee on Building Codes

Within the past six years the Department of Commerce has largely increased its points of contact. The Advisory Committee on Building Codes has been set up, and serves as a disinterested national clearing-house between interested municipal officials, national trade associations, and professional societies. The work of the public-spirited men on this committee has been made possible largely through the local officials and others who want building codes that will give reasonable assurance of buildings that are safe structurally and insure the community reasonably against fire hazards. Since the committee's first reports were pub

lished they have been consulted by practically every body undertaking revision of municipal building codes.

Information on City Planning, Zoning, and

Airport Facilities

Local officials, individuals and groups throughout the country have likewise contributed to the work of our Advisory Committee on City Planning and Zoning, and have applied its general conclusions to local situations. Even more recently another contact has been established through our Aeronautics Branch, whose services are sought in connection with the establishment of airport facilities by hundreds of cities and towns.

The Drafting of a Municipal Traffic Ordinance The National Conference on Street and Highway Safety, which was organized under the auspices of this Department more than three years ago, has furnished a meetingground for many different local and national groups. I sincerely hope that the present undertaking of this conference to draft a uniform municipal traffic ordinance will help the thousands of officials and legislators who are earnestly seeking to solve their difficulties. Its success in this project will depend very largely on the degree to which those who are interested cooperate with the drafting committee in furnishing information requested, and in contributing the benefits of their experience.

In this field of joint study of ways and

means of handling administrative problems, the drafting of uniform laws and ordinances has revealed many advantages:

Advantages of Drafting Uniform Laws and Ordinances

First, it insures systematic discussion of all relevant points, and the circulation of preliminary drafts always results in fruitful contributions from a far larger group of thoughtful men than could possibly meet profitably for extended oral discussion.

Second, it brings out clearly the type of problems which can be handled through reliance on local authority, and also those which can be handled best by voluntary cooperation with citizens and groups.

Third, vast amounts of legal uncertainties and costly litigation can be avoided by careful study of existing provisions and the treatment they have received in the courts, and detailed scrutiny of new proposals.

Fourth, the contact of men who have had experience with various types of provisions under varying local conditions is of great help in sifting out sound and practicable measures from those which have unsound features.

Fifth, uniformity is promoted where it is. desirable, while on the other hand the way is left entirely free for the local experimentation and progressive development which are so fruitful, and so firmly ingrained in our American tradition.

Back in 1912, through articles in The American City and other periodicals, the proposal was made to establish in Washington a Federal Bureau of Municipalities, which would render to the cities, towns and villages of America a service somewhat analogous to that performed for the rural sections by the Department of Agriculture.

The proposal came to the attention of Woodrow Wilson, then Governor of New Jersey and a candidate for the Presidency. In a letter to the Editor of The American City, dated August 22, 1912, Mr. Wilson

an opportunity to discuss it very seriously, indeed, with those interested."

Governor Wilson became President Wilson; but the World War came along, and the proposal had to give way to other problems of more immediate and serious urgency.

It is the hope of The American City that under the next Federal administration the idea may be revived. In that event, the significant and increasing service to our local governments and civic organizations, under the leadership of the present Secretary of Commerce, may well point the way to the wider cooperation which could be given if Congress were to create, with adequate funds, a Federal Bureau of Municipalities.