South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-06-10
The Practical Value of Pure Science

BY WOODS HUTCHINSON. NJ. D.

Our American and English ways
OF getting these things done has
been beautifully described just re
Gently by Lord Sydenham, the ia
nous English statesman, who re-
marked in the course Of an address
! the other day. Anyone who at
/ tempts TO introduce any scientific or
other improvement in the official
WAYS of doing things finds that he
l has 10 fight his way upward through
/ a series Of successive officials or
| boards. each knowing less about the
subject han the one below it until
/ he finally reaches at the top the
deciding authority. who knows
nothing At all If the war shall do
nothing more than administer the
Knockout blow 10 this method of
/ dealing with scientific improvements
on the part of our government and
/ legislative bodies, it will have been
| almost worth while.
| Pres't wilson's scientific council
J of national defense was the nearest
approach ever made in either Eng
! land or America 70 a really COM
petent and intelligent body of eX-
perts, with some official standing, to
whom scientific questions could be
referred And of course. the mo-
ment that congress caught on il
promptly proceeded TO put il out Of
business by depriving it OF any Of
fetal authority or salaries Vastly
preferring to measure all these
scientific questions by the yardstick
OF its own ignorance and decide them
for itself out OF the abundance Of
its lack OF knowledge.
II is perhaps unnecessary TO re-
call that the Swiss school master.
Schonbein, playing in his study with
the effects OF nitric acid on paper
and cotton. discovered nitrocellulose
or gun cotton, with all its devils
brood OF explosives That Faraday's
| search for truth for truths sake in
experimenting with induced currents
lad the basis for our whole modern
| system OF electric lighting, traction
and power.
Probably one OF the most striking
concrete illustrations is the rise and
progress Of the metal aluminium,
now commonly used for cooking
utensils and so forth This was dis
| covered by Wohler in 1927, and
identified as a new element. But
the price OF it's manufacture was so
| great. making il worth about $50
pound that il was only a scientific
curiosity. Nearly 80 years later
Napoleon III. in a lucid interval
subsidized Dewille, for a couple Of
years. TO try and reduce the cost Of
| its manufacture, with considerable
success. bringing down the price 20
Is12 a pound There was no diff
Guilty in the supply of the "ore" as
/ ordinary clay is largely made up of
4 silicate OF aluminium. literally il was
as common as dirt. the only prob
/ lem was the cost OF extra citing it,
/ In 1855, Cashier in the process Of
/ manufacturing sodium hit upon a
new way Of making aluminium out
/ Of mud that brought the price down
/ 10 81 a pound, but finally in 1889.
the method OF employing a high
/ power electric current (electrolysis)
/ for reducing it from the clay was
| so successful that although the pro-
/ duction OF aluminium three years be-
/ fore in America had amounted 20
| only 2S3 pounds. in less than FIVE
years time. il had risen 10 a mill
l lion pounds a year. and has still fur
/ Their increased since then. The soil.
| the water. the plants. the air about
US, are full OF the raw materials Of
new metals and elements for new
| industries. just like aluminium. when
| science shall have dug them out.
Not only was man originally made
out OF the dust Of the earth. but he
can make or get almost everything
/ that he requires out OF H. And the
I suppl of dust is practically unlim-
tied The point OF practical i'm
/ portance is that since the supply OF
! German coal tar dyes and coal tar
drugs was cut of by war. American
| chemists and American manufac-
! turers have gone vigorously 20 work
/ 70 build up q home industry and
supply our own needs And with
J the success as brilliant as the tints
or the colors which they produce.
; There was no lack OF the raw ma
teriai. for We have been simply
| wasting pouring the gulleys and
hillsides from the doors OF our coke
( ovens millions Of tons every year
OF the black blistering sticky. VILE
smelling pitch or "tar-and-feath-
ers" fame. which is the mother OF
this rainbow burst Of brilliant hue
l3f these healing drugs. OF the fear
fully destructive high explosives. IS
well as or ammonia and other
valuable fertilizers II these ever
was case Of the old country SUI