Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1917-09-07

In guarding valuable processes as are manufac-
turers. For example, the Chinese government Is
the owner of the secret of making vernillion red,
wmch Is held by many experts TO be the most
beautiful shade of red in the world. No one has
ever been able to produ ce a like vermilIion
The Turkish government it appears, possesses
similar secret process of inlaying precious met
ais in the hardest steel. The work is done per-
rectly and defes all ate mpts at reproduction
In 1913 1t was announced that distinguished
chemist of the imperial technical school of Mos
COW had solved the problem of making artificial
rubber, and that he could sell the product at
about 30 cents pound Yet the price of rubber
remains pretty much the same If not more The
reason smay be found by examining the patent
0tiice records. In the last decade many hundreds
of patents for artificial rubber have been taken
out Substitutes have been made from petroleum
from coal tar, turpentine, peat from ntrated lin
seed oil and by treating cereals with phyalin
The latter invention created a considerable SEN
sation so long ago as 1906, yet judging by the
constantly increasing demand for the natural
product, 1t has had little effect upon the real rub
Der market.
The chemist working In his laboratory can
take any substance and analyze 1t, that is, break
IL up into its original constituents and tell Won
what they are and how much of each element
the substance in question is composed of: but
when it comes to building up the original sub
stance out of its prime constituents he is Mt sea
for the most part BY dint of long and patient
experiments or perhaps by pure chance he NAV
succeed in reproducing some few natural products
but that is as far as he can go.
indigo blue took many years to synthetic
German chemist accomplished II at last but the
curious discovery was made that if blended with
the natural product made from the indigo plant
the color obtained was both more durable and
brighter than that made by either dye alone. So
artificial indigo has not yet ruined the indigo
planter
Gutta Perchs Becon,es So,rcer
Artificial camphor has also been produced 1t is
now made from pine-tree turpentine But the
chemist has not yet succeeded In synthetizinc |
gutta percha. This commodity yearly becomes
scarcer Enormous quantities are required for va
rious purposes notably the covering of submarine |
cables and the making of golf balls fortune |
awaits the man who make artificial gutta |
percha ut price that will permit ii 10 compete |
with the juice of the Dchopis gutta
Cork Is another substance of everyday use that /
seems to defy the inventor The only substitute
for cork is paper treated with parafin wax But
such cork could not be used for bottle of wine
So far nothing has been artifcially made to com
pete with the bark of the cork oak
AT Delhi in India, stands an ancient iron mon
ument which, though exposed to all weathers
never rusts decays. Yet II has no protective
covering Here is a secret which would be simnIv
invaluable to the world which has been discovered
by some Indian artifcer of old and most unfor-
tunately lost. At meeting OF steel and iron
men in London, the chairman said that they could
face the future with compaceHcy If they could
redscover the secret. To shipowners alone II
would yearly saving of millions Rust
Is the great enemy OF the steel ship and she has
constantly to go into dock to have hes hull coated
With an anticorrosive solution.