The Washington herald., 1917-02-26
Army and Navy News
Bsst Service ceiuss fs CITY.

The United States in the future will
be independent of any other nation in
the world for nitrate supplies. accord
Ing to the National Geographic So
ctety, reporting the results of scien-
tine experiments which have been go
ing on the last three years, In which
time IL has been discovered that nitro
gen, an essential ingredient OF gtn-
powder, can be obtained at a much re-
duced expense from the air and from
coal deposits.
A bulletin says: THE much discuss-
ed issue of a future nitrogen supply
seems to have been solved by scien-
lists here and abroad since the out
break or the war in Europe. Here
tofore the world has had to depend
mainly upon the nitrate beds of Chill
for its nitrogen. Many processes for
extracting nitrogen from the air. where
II Is to be found in superabundant
quantities, since 1t constitutes about
three-fourths OF our atmosphere. have
been developed. but most OF them have
proven so expensive as to be prohibi-
tive except in times of emergency.
Recently. however. there has been dis
covered and put in use q new process
that Is said to reduce the horsepower
required to extract a given amount OF
nitrogen to one-twelfth OF the former
proportion. The result of this probably
will be that in the years to come the
world will find a cheaper source of nitro
gen right at hand in the air than has
even been found in the nitrate beds OF
Chill.
Not only will the new process of e&-
tracing bountiful supply OF nitrogen
from the air and from coal be an ad
vantage to us in the matter of defend
Ing our country and In putting Ii upon
an independent basis from a world stand
point but it will be an immense advan-
taSe to US in our agriculture. The most
expensive element that We have to put
into the soil to farm proftahly is nitro
gen. We ordinarily buy II in the shape
of nitrate, ground bone, or decomposed
animal matter. and the farmers fertil-
izer bill is always heavy IL he wants to
produce large crops. A cheap source OF
nitrogen such as We might expect from
a system of cheap fixation from the air
will enable the American farmer large
as his crops may have been in the past.
to produce two bushels of grain where
formerly he produced one and to help
feed rapidly expanding world popula-
ton"
What effect would war have on coal
conditions?" an army oficcr was asked
yesterday.
IF war should come coal as you can
readily imagine. would naturally be one
of our first lines of defense This would
he so because Of its Importance to the
navy. One thing Is sure. in the event
I'i war the coal industry must mova
into such new channels it will never re-
turn TO the old
Rear Admiral Alexander Bates. retired,
dl"d at BinghamtOn. n. Y. last week
He was born in Brooklyn. November IS,
lHi2, and entered the service In 1853 as
third assistant engineer. After the
civil war he was with Admiral Farragut' :
f,eet for three years. but later served on
various vessels. During the Spanish
American war he was chief engineer of
the hattleship Texas and for his work
Al Santiago was advanced three num-
hers in his grade. His rank was changed
To that Of commander i'm 1899; nc was
promoted to captain in 1902 and was
retired or July r.. lH9. receiving the
rank OF real admiral
Capt. Edward f. Capchart, retired a
Well-known officer. also died last week.
at the Washington Naval Hospital He
was horn in Bridgeport Ohio, February
IA 1889. son of Maj. Gen. Henry Cane
hart I. s V. and was graduated from
the Naval Academy in lSS2 His first
sea uutE was on tne Lancaster on the
European station. being present AT the
bombardment OF Alexandria, and landing
with American troops in July. 1SS2 Dur
ing the fight ard the burning of AspIn-
wall in April 1885,. Can't Capehart was
stationed on tho Galena. ard was on
shore in the city at the time. In the war
with Spain he was on the flagship New
York. taking part in number of engage
ments in Porto Rico and Cuba. He beca me
a captain in 1911, and was retired on De-
cemb"r :. 1918. Can't. Capehart leaves
two sons in the navy, LIeuts. junior
grade. Everett d. and Wadleigh Cape
hart
Commodore Richard T. Mulligan, re-
tired, died on Friday at his home In Eliz-
abeth, n. J.. in his sixty-first year. lie
was born in New York. May "A, 1864. and
was appointed to the Naval Academy in
1871. During the war with Spain he was
a lieutenant on the flagship New York.
and was in command Of the gunboat
Marblehead. in Central American waters,
in 1905. when the peace treaty was drawn
up between Nicaragua. Honduras, and
Salvador. He became a captain in 1902,
and was retired the following year as a
commodore