The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-11-22
THE WAR CHEMISTS
 AND MUSCLE SHOALS
Bx HOLLAND


 New York, November N.--(Special )--I.. H. Baekeland. who Is member of the naval consulting board, said few days ago that the chemical engineers of the United States are now facing problems in organic chemistry. If they succeed half as ell in this new line a they have done ill the old, there is little doubt that this country, with it's limitless resources of organic products, will find ample op- portunity for building up new chemical industries for products heretofore of lit tie use or scarcely known, but for which a market can be found as soon as the commodities can be supplied at a suf- ficiently low price and as soon as the chemical engineers discover new possible uses. It will be the story of so many chemical substances which at first found no market and for which sometime aft erward the demand exceeded the sup ply"
 The government at Washington is about greatly to stimulate the chemical engi- neers through the establishment of a ni- trate plant in Alabama for which $20,- 900 900 has been appropriated by Con gross. This plant should have been es- tahlished immediately eafter the ,egin- ming of the war in Europe, but some reason Congress could not l Ade to understand that the great nitrate re- sources which Chili has furnished are be- coming rapidly diminished and are likely 10 be exhausted should present demands upon them be continued after few years have passed.
 Not until the farmers became greatly concerned lest there should be famine in fertilizing commodities in which nitrate plays an important part was Congress persuaded to appropriate a small sum for the establishment of the plant by means of which an inexhaustible natural re- source in nitrate could be obtained The progress of the war and the stupen- dous demand made for explosives into which nitrates enter as one of the most Important elements at last made it clear to Congress that if we are to be abund- antly supplied with nitrate we must turn to electro chemistry and thereby, by 1 methods perfected only a few years ago secure from the atmosphere ali the nitro gen that we need.
 CAPITAL WAS SHY OF IT Shortly after the great hydro-electrie plant was established at Niagara Falls I man of science who Is an American I worked out a method by means of whicf | through electro chemistry nitrogen coule l be obtained from the atmosphere. l | had been demonstrated that over three acres of the earth'sl surface and extend Ing as far upward as the earth's atmos l phere exists there is enough nitrogen | in the atmosphere to equal the entire nj l trate resources of Chilli. The man of sci ence was not able to persuade capital tt 1 become interested in his discovery ant l invention. Norway took it up, however and established highly successful nitro | gen plants based in considerable meas l ure upon the American eiectro-chemica method. Germany instantly followe' | Norway's lead: otherwise Germany woul' have, been unable to carry on the wal | It is commonly believed here that in Ger
 many $200OOO,00O have been invested il l establishing and operating plants b means of which through, electro-chemis l try nitrogen in abundant quantities i obtained from the atmosphere.