The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-08-29
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Der of bread-eaters in existence in 1881
 What then? Starvation, pestilence and death. Even now the guano beds are practically exhausted, and the grain-bear- ing soil of the earth Is rapidly becom- ing unequal to the strain put upon 1t.
 What is needed. and what we must have said Sir William. lis nitrate in unlimited quantities for the fields. 9th erwfse the world must eventually face sure starvation"
 Reading the pessimistic prediction of Crookes. Charles S. Bradley. an electro chemical engineer of Buffalo. began to ponder upon it.
 Here are the facts upon which he brooded night and day: Grain of almost every kind pre-eminently demands nitro gen. So does grass and every form of vegetation. In the sewage of towns and cities nitrogen to the value of $1Oo, ,000, 900 is wasted yearly The world cannot en- dure this drainage forever.
 Sud denly Mir. Bradley remembered that every square yard of the earth's surface has nitrogen gas pressing down on it to the extent of seven tons.
 Here are nitrates in unlimited quanti- tfes,' he reflected But how am I to state. while grain and vegetation demand 1t fixed"
 MT. Bradley's Inspiration.
 About this time Mir. Bradley had an inspiration. He would burn his nitrates from the air by means of lightning. He.
 
 that the air immediately surrounding a lightning flash underwent a chemical change, and he thought that perhaps high voltage, direct current made to arc m close room. would convert air into nitrogen trioxide.
 It was beautiful thought but would 1t succeed as commercial proposition?
 MT. Bradley disclosed his plan to D. K. Lovejoy, a graduate of Cooper Union and an assistant in the electrical engi- neering department of Columbia College
 MT. Lovejoy regarded the scheme as feasible. and the two men entered into a partnership.
 They erected a building at Niagara Falls, and began series of elaborate and costly experiments In this building was room ten feet square. On either side or the room were many metal nodules from which the lightning was to flash.
 There was an air-tight passage leading from this room to a tower, the use of which will be described further on.
 They had made their plans with the utmost nicety but were apprehensive Of the result. They harnessed their factory to Niagara. and depended upon Niagara to do the rest.
 When the time arrived for their first experiment to take place. both Bradley and Lovejoy stood looking through the thick square of plate-glass into the lightning room"
 Bradley turned to little brass switch. In an instant the interior of the room was rattling and roaring and snapping and glaring with the flames of lightning that darted from side to side and point to point like fiery serpents.
 Then a strange transformation took place. The air in the room began to flush to a brownish red.
 The two men looked at each other and smiled. They knew that the red, gase- Here were the earth's nitrates in the form of gas at least. But would they prove commercially available?
 The red gas began to pass up the pipe to the air-tight chamber in the "absorp- tion tower" where 1t was converted into nitrates so rapidly that the inventors were dazedr
 They had succeeded beyond their utmost expectations. Not only had they succeed by passing the red gas through water they could manufacture nitric acid in practically unlimited quantities.
 They could revivifv the waste places of the earth. Sir William Crookes's proph- ecy had been shattered by a thunderboIt
 Then the two inventors began to figure the cost. They found that they could manufacture nitric acid 30 per cent cheaper than 1t could be produced by any other process.
 Here was an economic revolution to be- gin with. If they should tube their red gas into contact with caustic potash it became saltpetre. In fact, with scores of substances 1t forms salts exceedingly val uable in a thousand arts.
 Outside the question of nitrates for the fields, Messrs. Bradley and Lovejoy will have hundreds of trades at their mercy by a 30 per cent. reduction in the cost of manufacture.
 They can manufacture at ridiculously low prices nitro-benzol. nitro-napt pthaline nitro-g -glycerine. gun-cotton and all pro- teine compounds
 The dyeing trades will be turned topsy- turvy in the matter of prices, as nitric acid is extensively used in the dyeing of silk, horn and feathers.
 It is also employed in calico printing and the dyeing of woollen materials
 It is used in hatmaking and in the dressing of felt hats It enters into the preparation of lacquers.
 By bringing it into contact with starch or sugar oxalic acid is produced for the drug trade. It is also a component part of sulphuric acid. picric acid and nitrate of silver.
 The Government will demand the cheap CT production. for the manufacture of illuminate of mercury and dynamite.
 This is only a small part of the com mercial possibilities of the discovery. The importance of making nitric acid from the air cannot be overestimated By the old method more than 100000 tons of nitric acid is manufactured every year by treating a natural nitrate with sulphu- ric acid.
 By the new method 100000 tons may