The Washington times., 1917-05-03
AMERICAN GENIUS
PRAISED BY LANE

Declares Chemists and Biologists
Can Cope With War Problems.
The genius OF the American people
will meet any problems that arise
with respect to the furnishing OF min
eral and chemical materials, the sup
ply of which may be cut of. in the
view of Secretary OF the Interior
Lane.
Before war was declared, the Inter
ior Department through the Bureau OF
Mines, prepared for the Information Of
the Council of National Defense q re-
port on the natural mineral resources
of the United States. Marvellous as
these resources are, comprising two
hfths of the worlds annual production
of coal, one-half the worlds output OF
copper and nearly two-;hirds Of the
worlds annual supply of petroleum.
no raw material, except coal, can
serve a useful purpose in war until
combined with, or refined by, other
metals or chemicals.
The Mineral Situation.
When asked about the mineral sit
uation, Secretary OF the Interior Lane
said:
"1n war time a new point of view
must be had in order to grasp the sit
uation. The great production of gold
and silver in the United States except
from the financial point OF view, Is
unimportant. But the 5000 ounces OF
platinum now reclaimed at the Gov
ernment mints will make, by the con
tact process, hundreds of thousands
of pounds of concentrated sulphuric
acid, which can all go into high COM
bustible explosives.
Let US begin with explosives
Speaking broadly, concentrated sui
phuric acid, the famous H2SOt OF col
lege memory, and nitric acid, are the
two chief and vital elements necessary
in explosive manufacture. We shall
need about 6,000.0 tons of sulphurIc
acid this year. This acid is not a
pleasant thing to transport, so in
peace times it is generally used close
to its point of production. Its use is
two-fold: The low grade acid goes
largely into the production of phog-
pilates for agricultural fertilizer be-
cause it will burn the phosphate odt'
OF phosphate rock. We have two
great natural beds of sulphur, but
they are in the extreme southern part
of the United States, with the result
that in peace times we ordinarily i'm
port about 1,OO0, 900 tons of iron pvr-
ties containing about IS per cent of
sulphur and roast it out
Nitraates From Air.
Nitric acid, made from nitrates,
is the other necessary basic material
from which high explosives are
made. The United States contains
practically no nitrates, nor does any
o.her country except Chile. From
Chile we import in peace times about
100000 tons q year. of which about
Oper cent is used for fertilizer and
10 per cent for explosives. But the
atmosphere around us contains nj
trogen in limitless Quantities, and
Congress has voted SIC, 900, 900 for
the construction Of a plant for its
fixation.
with regard to the metals. the
United States has ample quantities of
iron ores from which to make steel
guns and shells for the army and
the navy, but soft ores do not make
various alloys and oXidizers. For
example, the iron ores from the
Great Lakes district. and from Ala,
bama as well, contain so much sui
phur that if the sulphur were not
removed the steel would be fiaky,
brittle. and unserviceable. Therefore
the open hearth method of manu-
featuring was invented, but this
method requires the use of great
quantities Of manganese. We have
large deposits OF manganese, but the
quality is so low that in peace times
We ordinarily import nearly 90 per
cent of the manganese which we use.
What would happen IL our imports
OF manganese were shut off? After
our reserve supplies were exhaustd, we
should have TO find a substitute, and
there is no question about our being
able to do so. The substitute would
at first cost more than imported
manganese, but we would have the
steel.
Metal Substitutes.
"The situation as regards mangan-
ese, though extreme, is generally
similar to that Of the other principal
alloys. including those OF tungsten,
chromium, nickel, cobalt, molybde-
mum, vanadium, and uranium. OF
some Of these We have more than
others, bu tresearch and experiment
all tend to show that various COM
binations can be made as substitutes
for any one Of them.
The chemists and geoIoKists of
the United States are already r1obII-
lied. Every important laboratory in
the United States has been made
available for investigation under
government direction. Surely the
genius of the American people will
be equal to the present EMERGENCY"
TIA PLANES LOST IN APRIL