Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1915-09-09
ecHEM1cAL EDISON THE NEED,
Doctor Norton Arrives to Aid Dye
stun Trade and Hopes to Find One.
(From the New York SUM-

the Department of Commerce, arriV-
ed in this city yesterday to begin his
work of accelerating the development
of the country's dyestuffs industry,
He said there is no doubt in his mind
that with the proper cooperation be-
tween the various branches of the in
Gustry and with the assistance of a
few men of technical and CONNER
ciaI ability the United States should
find itself before the end of the war
on, competitive footing with Ger
many. RS
Somewhere there may be dor
mant chemical I, Edison floating
around" he said, "and the finding Of
this man is what the industry needs.
We have the raw materials, we have
the brains, we have the capital and
we have the market. All we need is
organization"
Doctor Norton was enthusiastic
over the prospect that he sees before
| this country if it goes quickly and
earnestly to work to produce tho
chemicals it needs from its abundant
sources of supply. Immense quantities
of raw products from which chemi-
Gals and dyes are made are going to
waste, he said, in the refuse of coke
furnaces, the sawdust piles of the
! Northwest woods and the kelp that
grows in almost limitless quantities
on the ocean bed within the three
mile limit. a
Doctor Norton and his assistants
took possession of room yesterday
in the Custom House which they will
use as headquarters while visiting
leading chemical and dye producing
houses in New York and near by.
eve are taking up every phase of
the chemical industry" he said, "es-
pecially as it is affected by the lack
of supplies from the other side of
the ocean. We are anxious to see how
we can utilize the coal industry, in
which we are now wasting products
worth $100,000,000.
Germany utilities every ounce OF
coal by-products, but only 16 per cent
Of our coke furnaces are equipped
for retaining coal tar products. Only
a few are actually recovering benzol,
napthaline and carbolic acid, which
are the bases of most of the coal tar
products. Unfortunately benzol and
carbolic acid are used largely in ex-
plosives, with the result that these
ammunition factories.
%The potash problem is large. We
import annually from Germany $751;
000, 900 worth of Potash, while on the
coast there are supplies of kelp which
are believed to have a value of $780,
100000, now going ito waste. We
have at out door enough potash to
meet the demands of the world, and
NN ~w%Iw h. -
bacco, grain and other produce, in the
way Of fertilizer. We have always
been dependent on Germany for
potash.
Photographic chemicals are van
ishing. Every photographer in the
country is facing the problem Of get
ting developer, but all the necessary
chemicals are in this country in the
form of coal tar products, and most
OF them can be obtained from napth-
aline which Is not used in explo-
sives.
eve don't want to get caught in
such plight again, and the Depart
ment of Commerce wants to stimulate
American development so We can sup
ply our own demands and then branch
out into the worlds trade in chemi-
Gals.
''It can be done. 1 know. Look at
Switzerland, for an example. There
is not pound of coal in Switzerland,
and yet in proportion to her ,popu-
lation she makes more dyestuffs than
Germany. She has no tariff, either,
while we are under tariff of 80 per
cent. Switzerland accomplished this
by buying the intermediate coal tar
products from Germany and then
bringing them to their required state
of chemical development"
Doctor Norton said that steps should
be taken by Congress to protect the
infant industry from the competition
that will inevitably follow peace. He
said that if great stocks of dyestuffs
are dropped on the American market
by Germany there should be a way to
punish manufacturers who conspire to
injure American competitive trade
DR.. Maurice ]. Langdon, a gradu-
ate of the University of Munich, and
who was formerly an assistant to
one of the leading dyestuffs authori-,
ties of Germany, is here to help Doc
tor Norton. He was asked about the
report from Philadelphia that specula-
tors had cornered the dyestuff mar
ket.
''It is true that a number of men
who know nothing Of dyestuffs have
gone into the market because of the
scarcity of these products" he said,
but 1t can hardly be said that cor
nner exists. 1 know of number of
men both in New York and Phila-
delph1a who have bought dyestuffs to
get the top price, but the Philadelphia
men who talk about corner are ex-
aggerating. Most of the lots held are