The Washington herald., 1918-07-05
US. TO MARKET
DYE IN EUROPE
Holland Relates How Per.
kins' Discoveries Have
Been Perfected.

Late in his life England nonorou
William II. Perkins in such manner
that he was able to prefix the tue
Sir to his name. When he was lad
Of seventeen he was neglected not
only by the British men of science
hut also by those In Great Britain
who had large capital. Nevertheless
he had accomplished something which
having been developed by others be-
came OF worldwide importance and
It IS something in which the United
States by reason Of the war is now
taking preeminence.
The lad Perkins, working In lit
tie laboratory which he built in his
fathers house in London, made re-
searches into coal tar and expert
mented until at last he was able to
call his fathers attention to a oeau-
tiful mauve color which he had OBJ
tanned and which was found to be
Of practical commercial use.
British science. however, paid no
heed to this discovery nor did it ap-
peal to men Of capital On the con-
tinent Of Europe, men OF science did
learn of Perkins discovery and i'm
mediateIy under government tnspira-
tion began further researches and ex-
periments. until at last they were
able to say to the world: I'VE have
found formulae by which dyestuffs
can be manufactured OF almost every
conceivable color and of commercial
practicability, because these dyes are
fast: that is to say, they cannot be
washed out, and, Furthermore, be-
cause they can be marketed at low
cost.
Great Advance.
So great was the advance made by
this continental manufacture Of
of dyes that it produced a quality
OF blue so fine as completely to COM
p mand the market and practically to
destroy the indigo plant industry.
England, France and the United
States were the chief markets for
these dyestuffs OU- own country re-
lied exclusively uFon these foreign
manufacturers for the dyes used m
all kinds of textile manufacture.
At the beginning of the war. there
were only three or four plants in the
United States which were undertake
ing to manufacture dyes. Today there
are several thousand. and at the
recent meeting of the Ameri-
can Chemical Society of this city, the
announcement was made that cur
own chemists, with infinite patience
OF research and with wonderful
mastery Of some of the mysteries Of
chemistry, had been able to obtain
from raw material produced in the
United States not only all the dye
stuffs that we need. but, further
more, surplus sufficient for export.
What Science Has Done.
This achievement is only one of
many which American science has ac-
complished. but which would have
been unknown in the United States
but for the exigencies of the war.
Our chemists now know how to
utilize the by-products of petroleum
and coke so as to obtain therefrom
dyes which equal, and some of which
are superior to, the best which for
merly We imported from the nation
across the sea which manufactured
almost exclusively the dyestuffs for
the world.
Had England taken heed of the
discovery OF Perkins in that country
there might have been established
great dye manufacturing plants
which would have commanded the
market. Had the United States
taken heed of the discovery at the
time when discovery was made of
the important by-products of petro-
leum and when only a few years
ago there came a change in the man
ufacture of coke whereby valuable
by-products are secured, We might
also have established dye plants
which would have entered into sue
eessful competition with similar
commodities manufactured upon the
continent Of Europe.
War Stops Imports.
Soon after the war prevented fur
ther imports of dyestuffs. America n
manufacturers summoned a consid-
cradle body of chemists and COM
missioned those men of science to
make such research as would result
in securing dyestuff which would
be as good as any heretofore i'm
ported by the United States.
At first the experiments did not
give entirely satisfactory results
The manufacturer of textiles COM
planned, saying that the American
dyes were not fast: that is to say,
they would not hold their color after
the material was washed. Then
again textile manufacturers re-
GREETED that the Americans were not
able to produce as many different
colors as were formerly imported
But science kept steadily occupied
with this undertaking, and at last ap-
pears to have mastered or solved all
the problems. Our manufacturers are
turning out dyestuffs of many colors
which will not run and which can be
marketed at reasonable prices.
Within two years this country has
passed from the conditions Of a de-
pendant upon other countries for its
dyestuffs to one OF preeminence, and
there appears to be no doubt that this
triumph will be maintained after the
war. and the nation from which for