The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1917-09-20
MODERN INDUSTRY
The Immense Debt 1t Owes to
the Science of Chemistry.
A VITAL FORCE IN BUSINESS.
IL ls an Exceptional Process or Manu-
featuring Plant In These Days That
Does Not Rest Fundamentally Upon
Chemical Control.

featuring Plant In These Days mat
Does Not Rest Fundamentally Upon
Chemical Control.
Six gentlemen gathered round a ia
BILE on which were displayed a steel
rail, a waterproof shoe, a fifty cent
necktie and a tin of preserved beef.
Each claimed credit for creating these
commodities.
"All are products of our wonderful
factory system" said the manufactur-
er. My foresight built the factory.
and my management keeps it going"
How about money!" protested the
banker. where would your factory
be without my financial a;d?"
The third man was an engineer.
Neither factory nor finance would
have been Of much account without
my professional ability in working out
processes" he asserted. Each of
these articles embodies hundreds of
engineering problems which | have
solved"
"All production rests on labor" de
clared a workman in cap and over
ais. "If | walk out Of your factory
everything stops"
Il built up the consuming demand
for your stuff" clipped in the sales
man.
Finally the sixth man spoke.
Il am a chemist" he said, ''and
these are all chemical products. All
industry today is three-fourths chem,
ical. You may think that your steel
rail was made in furnaces and mills
by purely mechanical processes, but
from start TO finish it depends On
chemical e~xactness in materials and
manipulation. and if the chemistry is
lacking the rail breaks. That chrome
tanned shoe is n chemical achievement.
Chrome tanning is a chemically exact
process. The hecktie is made of artifi-
cial silk, a chemical imitation that is
at once cheap. good looking and use
full. AS for your can of beef. the pack
ing industry has been built up on
chemical research, and this meat was
probably paid for with chemical by
products: Gentlemen. three-fourths of
all our manufacturing today is chem
ical at bottom. and you must recognize
that fact if you are going to extend
your business and continue 10 make
money"
Enter a vital new factor in American
industry-chemical control.
Look at our manufacturing plants
| flrDrUh fhn nynS of fIa NhnniCt or6
products that you had supposed were
entirely mechanical in their nature.
such as building materials. metals. ma
chinery, and the like, become products
| Of the laboratory. The food you eat.
the beverages you drink, the clothes
you ear the tools you use. your
playthings and studies and the power,
heat and light that keep you comfOrta-
bic in the modern world-in every one
Of them is subtle chemical supervision.
1t is an exceptional process or plant
nowadays that does not rest funda-
mentally on chemical control. and If
you find one that does not something
is probably the matter with it for that
very reason.
Here is another way of illustrating
chemical control:
Everybody knows that much has
been accomplished in the past few
years by intelligent study of people In
industry-the workers. A manager
understands that his people have diff
%ferences Of temperament, education,
brains. strength. likes and dislikes. He
uses their natural abilities as far as
possible and, when these are too pro
nounced in a certain direction. may
check one against another. as by har-
Messing careless energy and cautious
experience together. Even differences
OF nationality, politics and religion can
be harmOnized TO increase output. raise
earnings. cut costs and abolish waste
and accidents.
Now comes the chemist and insists
that the materials of industry are just
about like the people. They are tenn
peramental. They have warm likes
aud dislikes for each other. Some are
energetic and some sluggish. They diff
fer with mass, temperature, time, and
SO on. Their differences are as subtle
as human WITNESSES, being detected
only with the microscope or delicate
reactions in many cases. The chem
list aims to bring about with materials
the same balance and working har-
mony that the manager Of employees
brings about with human beings.
We must all get acquainted with each
other on this new basis, say the chem
list. Bankers and business men must
get the chemical viewpoint and learn
to pass on chemical values. They now
call In the engineer for professional
guidance when they make investments
and start new enterprises. They must
learn to call in the chemist In the
same way and use his knowledge in
clearing up technical problems. Their
relation with the engineer was not es-
tablished in a day.
A similar relation with the chemist
will take time. For the present they
should cultivate an acquaintance with
chemist and chemical literature.
The chemist. ON his part. recognizes
that he has been too closely absorbed
I'm his profession and that he MUST now