The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-27
ADVANTAGES OF
 MUSCLE SHOALS
 ARE POINTED OUT Mrs. Mathis Tells Why Gov ernment Nitrate Plant
 Should Locate There
SOUTHERN STATES
 FAIL TO COOPERATE
Famous Woman Farmer Enthusiasti- cally Boosting Alabama Site for the Manufacture of Nitrates-Asks All Southern States to Help

Enthusiastically working for the con-
 at Muscle Shoals. Mrs G. H. Mathis of
 Gadsden, Alabama's s famous woman farm CT, was a visitor to Birmingham yester- day. Mrs. Mathis. while here, was con tinually talking of the great advantages of Muscle Shoals as a site for the pro- posed nitrate plant-a site which no other state in the union can offer-and said | that the government would build the plant in Alabama if the people of the state would cooperate with each other in 1 working for it.
 | 'Our southern people never stand to- gether long enough to do anything said Mrs. Mathis. Tt is said of us, we are | the solid south We may be solid on politics, but we are as hollow as a gourd
 on everything else This nitrate plant at
 Muscle Shoals depends upon unity of the southern states. We should have it. We should have the assistance of other states, and I have got the bankers of
 Michigan. individually, to help us The | bankers of South Carolina-or some of
 them-will help us all they can. If Muscle Shoals were located in any other state and offered the same advant- ages I would be just enthusiastic for their development. It is not because they
 are located in Alabama that I want to see the government decide to improve them.
 This is the best site in America for . nitrate plant
 First, because 1t is inland and not sub ject to attack from foreign power in case of war.
 Second, because 1t is the only place in the country where the three essentials in nitrate manufacture are close together.
 nitrate plant requires at least 3O0.000 horsepower Muscle Shoals has over 600,- coo. Phosphate is an essential; it lies in unlimited quantities all the way from the shoals to Mt. Pleasant. Tenn. Coal for coke is essential; coal in inexhausti- ble quantities lies convenient to the shoals.
 Perhaps word about how nitrate fer tilizer Is manufactured with electricity will be of interest There are two sep arate steps First, a substance must be prepared which will receive and hold the nitrate when it is recovered from the air. This is made from phosphate rock and coke. The rock and coke are put in a 1 retort together and heated to 5000 degrees 1 by electricity. This fusing results in the l formation of carbide This carbide is l then cooled and pulverized. Afterward it l is again heated to white heat but not allowed to fuse It Is then ready to re- ceive the nitrogen.
 The other step is getting the nitrogen l from the air. Air under enormous pres- 1 sure liquifes and reaches a temperature i of 4S0 degrees below zero. This liquid l is then heated gradually Air is made up of oxygen and nitrogen gas. As the 1 liquid air is heated the nitrogen resumes
 the form of gas sooner than the oxygen. As the nitrogen becomes gaseous it is carried by pipes to the retort containing l the white hot carbide. The carbide ab- sorbs it and holds it and 1t becomes 1 fixed nitrogen. In it's pulverized state | this is the basis for fertilizer. By 1 slight notifications it can be converted l into the most powerful explosives | Muscle Shoals is 30 miles long and the | river at this point is mile and a half wide. There is more water here the year round than is in the Cumberland ana Ohio rivers combined Really. the Ohio
 empties into the Tennessee, because the volume of water is in the Tennessee river. The fall at Muscle Shoals is 134 1 feet.
 l 'The government has constructed a lite
 tie canal along the shoals, but this canal
 does not reach open water at either end
 of the shoals and is practically valueless. This is the fault of the construction Op- ponents of Muscle Shoals as a site for the nitrate plant point to this $7.000000 i expended for the canal as an argument
 against the shoals. The government has 1 spent $177. 1000 on the Ohio river"