Masonry Magazine October 1973 Page. 21
Washington Wire
(Continued from page 12)
now-secret proceedings. Full disclosure of material facts by patent applicants would be called for.
HEATING-OIL SHORTAGES ARE ALL BUT CERTAIN to develop over the winter. Scanty inventories of fuel oil at the start of the season guarantee trouble. The shortages could be particularly severe in the East and in the Midwest-especially if the winter is very cold. Shortfalls of up to 60% are feared. Companies will have to pay sharply higher prices for their heating fuels.
In the last five months, heating-oil prices at retail have increased by 12%. At the wholesale level, the price has almost tripled in just a year's time, increasing from 9.4 cents a gallon to 27 cents a gallon and squeezing retailers.
EMPLOYERS MUST GO BEYOND PROVIDING PROTECTIVE GEAR on hazardous jobs. That's a ruling by a Federal safety court. It may have broad implications. Companies must protect workers by eliminating job hazards where it's possible. Just providing protective equipment won't be sufficient, the court stated. A metals company was charged with violating the job health and safety laws by failing to protect workers from exposure to hazardous lead in the air. The company claimed that it supplied respirators, conducted blood tests, and reassigned workers to other jobs when tests showed excess lead content.
But the court said these procedures hadn't effectively stopped hazards. It said use of respirators puts the burden of the compliance on workers and not on the firm, where it belongs.
FEDERAL BONDING IS NOW AVAILABLE to employees with arrest records. Ex-offenders often find commercial firms reluctant to supply fidelity bonds, which employers may require for positions as salesmen, truck drivers, etc. A new Labor Department program provides the bonds at a cost of about $150. The bonds are from 18 months and up to $10,000 for workers with job offers. Bonding is now available nationwide. More than 5.500 people have benefited.
THE CLOCK RUNS FASTER
As the 1974 fiscal year began July 1, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States reset its "Federal Spending Clock" to run at an accelerated pace. The reason is that Federal spending this fiscal year is estimated to increase by approximately $19 billion, up to $269 billion.
Rapidly changing digital figures across the top of the clock indicate how much the Federal Government has spent since the beginning of the fiscal year. Each day the clock registers expenditures of approximately $736 million. Here's what the reset clock now shows:
$10,000, nearly the average annual income of a typical American family, spent every 1.17 seconds, displayed by a sweeping dial.
$100,000, spent every 11.7 seconds, by a light flashing on.
$1,000,000, spent every one minute and 57 seconds, by a beep sounding.
Should the clock run at a slower or faster pace? The National Chamber urges you to let your Congressman know at what speed you want the clock to run. After all, it's your money they're spending.
The Perlite Way to Fill a Cavity
Heat transmission can be reduced by 50% or more when silicone treated perlite loose fill insulation is poured into the hollow cores of concrete block or cavity type masonry walls. In fact, cavity walls of face brick and tile show a 63% reduction! But that's not all. Silicone treated perlite loose fill insulation is water repellent-indefinitely.
Specs call for a concrete block wall? Perlite loose fill insulation can help too! By filling the core holes with perlite loose fill insulation your fire rating will be doubled to 4 hours and your "U" factor improved by 54%. And you don't have to worry about permanence. Silicone treated perlite is inorganic and rot, vermin and termite proof. And it's non-combustible with its fusion point of 2300°F.
Even a veneer wall of brick and concrete block can show a 52% improvement in insulating value when filled with loose fill perlite. Don't worry about settling -silicone treated perlite supports its own weight in the wall without settling and it's easy to handle too! Thanks to its countless glass-like cells it's light-weight and easily poured. It's quick-it's inexpensive and it's permanent-the perfect material for insulating masonry walls.
Perlite Institute, Inc.
45 West 45th Street
New York, N.Y. 10036 212-265-2145