Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-07-22
sULPHUR|C FUMES NOT
DESTROYING VEGETATION
As Fast as They Are Gener-
ated, Sulphuric Acid Plant
Catches Them

/ "
Fumes from the smelteries of the Ten
nessee Copper company's plant at Cop
per HILL Tenn, in the noted "Ducktown''
region, are not hurting vegetation. crops,
timber or anything else. @
/ Twenty-Five members of the Georgia
legislature went to Copper Hill Wednes-
day at the cOmpany's expense, and were
absolutely convinced of the truth of this
statement. The delegation was unofficial,
and there may not he a report to the
: legislature. The company wanted the
general judiciary committees of both the
! house and the senate TO make the trip;
having, a matter of fact, planned the
trip for that purpose. But after decid-
ing on Tuesday to report adversely upon
a resolution calling for a special report
on the fumes, the general judiciary COM
mittee of the house didn't care to take
Up more time with the matter. So the
J company invited all the legislators to go
| that wanted to, and % accepted
FUMES DON'T ESCAPE.
) The reason the fumes Go not hurt grow
ing things is simply because they don't
! get chance. They are not allowed to
! escape. The company has erected an
! enormous plant to catch them as fast
! as they are generated, and 1T is working
perfectly. This plant catches the fumes
that formerly escaped, and transforms
them into sulphuric acid. The company
sells the suIphuric acid for a good price.
The plant is making more sulphuric acid
1 than % of the largest plants in the south
put together. a
The fumes used to hurt vegetation.
| crops and timber. The company doesn't
| deny it. That was some years ago, when
! the ore was roasted outdoors. in open
1 he q
the earth, and killed every growing thing
! they touched Every vestige OF vegeta-
| ton in four miles of the plant was de-
stroyed. The hillsides are still as barren
as the middle of a dusty road. They look
as If they might have been cursed. The
effect on a visitor for the first hour spent
in Copper Hill is appalling.
| GRASS GROWING AGAIN.
| But now these awful, ugly hillsides are
! sprouting grass again. In little strip
of bottom land across the river from
the plant is a field of waving corn, while
| nearby is a herd of fat dairy cows, graz
| ing on green, sweet grass. Here ana
| there in the yards of bosses houses Der
muda grass has been set out and II Is
growing Justify. In 1--WE years the trans
! formation will be complete. NO longer
will the little mining town OF copper hlil
see death on the hills.
The connany's prime consideration IN
erecting the sulphuric acid plant was TO
devise a means of catching the TUNES.
They weren't sure whether the plAh'
! would work or not Others had been
tried and failed. But the company was
face to face with a desperate SITUATION
ana had 10 do something. So they spen'
an enormous sum of money to install
plant that was built on the plan OF
chemical engineer who hadn't even DEM
onstrated his theory with LABORATORY
model. -
PLANT A SUCCESS.
When the plant was finished and ready
tn succeed or fail, the engineer watched IL
seven whole nights and days. He was
nervous wreck when they took him away
TON a stretcher-but the plant was a sue
cess The company is now douDlns It's
size and capacity. From devlsing way
to catch their fumes, so as to stop com
plants that threatened to assume sucn
proportions that the plant would De put
out of business by injunction. the COM
many had perfected a new industry which
netted a bi-product so valuable that IN
time It would pay for the plant
| EXPERTS rom every corner of the glooe
ihaye come to see this wonderful process
of making a high grade of sulphurlc aclo
| from smeltery fumes. The ~ legislators
saw 1t Wednesday, and wondered TOO
And. what was more to the purpose they
/ were COHNlllCSu'
/ PERSONNEL OF PARTY.
| Those in the delegation were as follows;
i.Renresentatives Piller of Ware; Drawdy,
/ of Clinch; Butt, of Fannin; HUBBARD Oh
Dawson; Keith, of Meriwether; smith, OF
Gilmer; Simpson, of Gwinnett; smith, OF
Walton; Woodliff, of Forsyth; Faircloth'
of Johnson; Kendrick, of Taliaferro; Cow
an of Rockdale; Ellison, of Harris; Cars
we'll of Wilkinson; Kelly, of Jasper; Sto-
vail of Ebert; Hatfield, of Coffee
Reeves. of McDufie; Cordell, of Ebert
/ Bell of Cherokee; Parker, or Decatur;
Wosdin. of Charlton; Oliver, of Quttman;
| Hill, Of Monroe, Atherton, or P1ckens;
Childs. of Taylor, and Parker, of Talbot
| The special left the Union station at
| 10 o'clock wednesday morning, and after
a pleasant and interesting journey over
l. the old "A. K s. N" route, reached Cop
per Hill at 2:30. Upwards of two hours
was spent in the plant The delegation
took in every detail from the bins where
green ore is dumped by the carload TO the
| smooth-noored yards where the mn
ished copper product Is stacked IN loo-
| mound pigs" and forest of tanks where
sulphuric acid is stored to await snip
ment in specially built cars.
J A DAY OF WONDERS.
II was all very new and strange and
| wonderful. and was of moro than ordin-
ary interest to the legislators because
| most of them are farmers, ana IN the
enormous output of high grade sulphuric
acid they saw something that is expected
eventually to lessen the cost Of CONNER
cial fertilizers.
Accompanying the party were II. F.
Wierum, chief engineer of the great
plant; w. H. Emmons, general manager;
w. A. Jones, claim agent; Howard Wick
err, general counsel, Of Knoxville; Martin
Vogel. chief counsel, of New York; and
number of department superintendent
| and foremen All are familiar with the
workings of the big plant, and explained
the various processes, step by step. in
most entertaining way.
| When the delegation had finished their
INSPECTION of the plant they were taken
to the Cowanee club and treated to a
sumptuous dinner of which fried chicken
was the chief feature. The special left
on the returu trim about o'clock, and