The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1915-01-06
ALCOHOL MADE Of SlWDusT.
law MILL PRODUCTS USED IN
MANUFACTURES or ExPLO.
SIvES.
what DuPont Powder Plant at George
town Is Doing In Converting What
Were Formerly Waste Mate rials into
Dangerous ConbustibIes.

ufscturing plant that is working to
fuli capacity Is the alcohol distillery
o. the A. I. DUPONT de Nemours Pow
Der company. Of Wilmington. Del. 1t
may be that the great war In Europe
hes something to do with the activity
at the alcohol works. since the pro-
auct of the gigantic distiilery is used
In the manufacture Of smokeless pow
Der and other high explosives. Ry
this II Is not meant that the DUPONT
people are supplying explosives to the
hslligerents but there have been many
rumors that the United States govern
nsnt In stocking ~ with powder i'm
IN various forms I'm anticipation OF
svsntuaiities
Be that as II may. the fact remains
that the Georgetown alcohol plant OF
The powder company Is capable OF
; turning out one thousand. five hun
ersd gallons OF alcohol per day. and II
= actually turning out just that many
salons. Moreover. there Is talk OF an
increase In capacity.
The local alcohol plant Is one of the
hrgest In the country and was the
orst OF LIS kind to be erected on so
\ ambitious scale. And II Is a unique
Dlant IL makes alcohol from common
\ D1ns sawdust. of which IL uses many
tons daily. Dean swift's whimsical
tesa Of extracting sunbeams from GU
eumbers and bottlins them for use ON
cloudy days doesn't seem whit more
preposterous than the suggestion OF
} extracting pure alcohol from the
waste of q saw mill. Yet that Is what
= being done here every day In the
ysar. except Sunday.
sawdust formerly was not only a
waste but n nuisance. In which par
dcular u reminis one of the waste
and nuisance that cotton seed used to
y before II was turned into valu-
sbls commodity by the magic OF chem.
istry. Some few years ago saw mill
men were sorely put to IT" to know
what to do with the accurnuiations OF
dust" inthe pits. Then along came
= German chemist with n process by
\ means of which sawdust could be
transformed into a number Of vaiu-
able products. The time has not ye,
come. however, when small mills car
avail themselves of the German chem.
lists discovery. so that they must still
worry along with the sawdust prob.
lsm- Machinery and apparatus 70,
utilizing the chemists formula are
quite expensive so that only those with
abundant capital and plenty of saw.
aust may hope to profit by 1t.
Il Not only has the chemist made pos.
sible the production OF alcohol from
mill refuse. but he has shown how
sswdust may be changed into sugar
Cor saccharite) syrup. beer. cellu-
lose and bread: and after all that there
- residue that may be availed Of a.
. body for paint. IL should be men
TONED In passing that the chemis,
soes not recommend sawdust sugar
for sweetening coffee and cake. and
that he would not (yeD risk sawdust
bread on even n free Lunch counter;
nevertheless. the sugar. the syrup and
the Hour are daily in evidence, IL any
body should ask.
These facts engender the hope that
should the high cost OF living continue
10 worry the populace. the chemists
VIII give still more attention to the
production Of foodstuhs from mill
eust. and fix II so that there shall be
no fear OF starvation so long as trees
grow In the forests. IL we can get
bread and beer and alcohol from the
pine there IL no reason for suffering
for food and drink.
The process OF making alcohol from
sawdust is an involved one. and a
technical description OF IL would ny
over the heads OF nine hundred and
ninety-nine iaymen In every thousand.
One must be n chemist--and "a good
one. at that--to understand how the
sfeaming. the compression and the
acids can change the very nature OF
wood hbre so that II shall become
something apparently wholly foreign
20 Its nature. This article. then. will
take only the layman's point OF view
and endeavor To- follow the sawdus,
from the log until its essence rips
rs clear and coiorless as spring water
from the spouts of the distliling al.
paratus.
The alcohol plant. nm ugly. red
buildfnU sfx .tnrta. A., h.t..h. ......t.