The sun., 1912-07-28


some work was being done. More and
more slowly went tho engine until the
man at the thrott e sang out at the top
| of hi3 voice
| "'She = pumping
! "A liquid appeared on the polished rod
and when | wiped it of found my
! finger covered with hot sulphur Within
five minutes the rcrcp,aclcs under pres
sure were opened, and a beautiful Stream
OF golden fluid shot into the barrels we
had ready. In fifteen minutes more the
forty barrels we had prepared were seen
TO be inadequate.
! Quickly We throw up embankments
and lined them with boards 10 receive
! the sulphur that was still gushing forth.
Since that day no attempt has been made
to provide any vessel or mould Tor tho
product. II has come in too great ab,ind-
ance for such thing.
"When the sun went down we stopped
the pump to hold the liquid sulphur be-
low until morning After everything
had been finished. the sulphur piled up in
one heap and the men had departed.
mounted the sulphur pile and seated
myself at the very top. II pleased ms
to hear the slight nois, caused by this
that my object had been accomplished.
And after the criticisms had received
from tho technical papers and from
friends IT was a double pleasure. One
prominent man had agreed to eat every
ounce of sulphur that I ever pumped.
Next day the boy who drove me to the
railroad sa id:
"'Wcil you pumped sulphur sure. hut
M I,<@. I,1, !.
but the old carpenter And they say
he's half crazy"
| That. from the miners point of view,
was Herman Frasch's mos spectacular
accomplishment. Til" Sicilinn sulphur
traders would not believe the news. that
sulphur was coming up in America from
mine that was no mine at ALL where the
, sulphur came out of the ground ready to
ship, without burning or refining Hut
it was not long beforc thcy learned their
mistake, FOR the new and p,irer product
soon began to win its way in the American
market.
All this was in the early aos while
Frasch was still with the Standard OIL
Company. l, was 1908 before he was able
to give his attention to the work TO an ex-
tent which made the financial success OF
wv Suipssui oil drSuIeu
Meantime he had sunk more wcls and de-
veloped system for forcing compressed
air into the molten sulphur so that it rose
in the pipes without pumping under tho
pressure tha, was behind it.
Even in the struggling years the pro-
ducton was on a large scale The sui
phur was stored in bins. tho sides raised
with boards as the sulphur cooled and
solidified until it made solid blocks hun
dreds of feet square and upward Of sixty
feet high. In one such block was stored
10000 tons of sulphur.
In these same years the output Of the
Sicilian mines had been practically mo-
nopolized by an English syndicate. the
Anglo-Sicilian Sulphur Company. which
was able to fix prices throughout Europe
and America. II was making enormous
profits when the new competition Of the
Louisiana wells came like bolt out OF
the blue. Suddenly the syndicate began
to cut prices on its American shipments
and finally was selling here practically at
cost.
But that protected American market
was n life or death matter for Frasch's
struggling concern. 1t was then that he
proved himself to be sonnet hing ellie besides
distinguished scientist. He went to
= Europe with four inch roll of blue prints
i'll his travelling bag and when the Anglo
Sicilian managers laughed at his threat
, to compete with them in Europe he showed
|" them the plans Of his engineers for great
plant for refining sulphur TO be erected in
Marscilles.
:. Still the syndicate refused to come TO
- terms. and Frasch built his Alarseilles
:. plant and carried the European markets
:, before him with suiphIr from his own
" American mines. The English company
made terms at last. ana the Aarseilles
!, plant was stopped. But il was too late.
:. the Anglo-Sicilian had lost G?S5. 900 in the
. struggle. and soon after IL was dis
= solved and the Sicilians were left to shift
for themselves.
Then followed an interesting develop.
'. ment. The trade became so demoralized
>. that the Italian Government upon tho
:, express petition of the Siclians, estab-
;, Ilshed a monopoly Of their mines under
;, the control of Government officers and
itself became sponsor for a great trust,
; which proceeded to fix prices like any
. monopoly.
For time Sicilian sulphur was with
u held from the American market. Then
- the temptation became too great. and
h when the Italian product began again
=. to appear here Frasch started his
=, fining plant at Marseiles once more,
:, and is still fighting for the control OF the
European market. Under the pressure
n OF his competition. by tho way. tho Italians
=. have been forced to Introduce modern
mining mot hods and to abolish the cruel
!, "carusi" system.
n Through all his commercial triumphs
Herman Fr;lsch has kept the simplicity
|, and the directncss Of Thought that char
N acterized him when boy. Tie still wor~s
,e increasingly in his laboratory. He is
II fond Of music has found time to collect
q some good pictures and has lately gone
d into automobiling with the gIee or q col
" leRe boy. but his chief interests all centre
in his creative experiments.
" or striking appearance, with the gray
- beard and the kind. clear sighted eyes
n psSncint pI in tho p,ihli,, mind with M,