Measures for Progress: A History of the National Bureau of Standards

RADIO AND RADIO-WEATHER PREDICTiNG 409
Quartz crystal inspection and testing laboratory, through which more than 6 million
pounds of the crystals passed. These are 1-pound raw pieces, from which the small
oscillator plates needed in radio and other electronic equipment will be cut.
output of Brazil. So important was it considered to sequester the crystal
that almost all that was brought out of Brazil came by air freight, to avoid
the possibility of interception by enemy shipping.119
As Brazil expanded her mining of quartz to satisfy the insatiable de-
mand for the strategic material, the quality fell To handle the volume
coming in and salvage and test usable crystal from the raw material, the
inspection group under Frederick J. Bates of the polarimetry section at the
Bureau rose from the original 3 members assigned to the project to 63 trained
inspectors and 13 laborers working in two shifts. By July 1942, with close
to 100,000 pounds coming in each month (a year later, five times that
amount), three shifts were necessary. The staff finally totaled 166, housed
in three temporary structures along Connecticut Avenue, simply to grade and
test the incoming quartz.
Jones, pp. 448, 575—576. Worldwide exploration in search of the crystal during the
war brought the Bureau 73 shipments from 16 foreign countries, but mainly from Mexico,
Guatamala, and Colombia. Exploration at home resulted in over 300 shipments from
25 States and Alaska. None of these sources produced significant amounts. NBS War
Research, p. 50.
'-'° size of the mined crystal ranged between less than a pound up to 290 pounds
and the value between $1 and $30 per pound, depending upon quality.