The Washington herald., 1918-07-18

COL. BUCKNER
POWDER KING
Ssa ofIKsa.seasy General Is
New Great Esploe~e
Maker.


son of Kentucky, is believed to lie
OF the family or near Of kin to the
family of GeneraI Simon Boliver Buck
ner. one Of the great generals Of the
Confederate Army. who ives in com
rnand at Fort Donilson when Gener-
al Grant captured that fort. and who
held Grant in such high esteem. al
though opposed to him In the Civil
War. that he insisted in spite of his
age upon going to New York 80 that
he might with others take part in the
ceremonies associated with the fun
eral of General Grant
Whatever proper pride Colonel
Buckner may feel as he contemplates
his family relation to the distinguish
ed General Of the Confederate Army.
he must also regard with justiiable
qualification some Of the achieve
rnents which has been possible for
him to make since We entered into
the war as an ally Of Great Britain,
France and Italy.
Because our declaration of war
against Germany, Colonel Buekner
had attained high rank in that con-
siderable company of very able busl-
ness men of the United States. He
was vice-president OF the du Pont dc
Semours Company, and that organi-
zation- has done a remarkable work.
remarkable in size, in the amount OF
the products II manufactured for the
government and also for our allies.
and in the magnitude of the money
which work OF this kind has made it
necessary to expend and which the
company has received.
There are many excellent authorities
who are persuaded that before the
United States became one of the
allies it was in considerable measure
the supplies. munitions and powder
which this corporation furnished Great
Britain that aided the British govern
ment in maintaining and then
Strengthening her armies in France.
Under Col. Buckner's direction,
1.5c0Oo0 pounds Of explosives have been
manufactured for our allies and our
selves. and this aid was one of the
chief reasons why Germany has COM
planned that but for the assistance
Of the United States Great Britain
and France would have been crushed
at least a year before the United
states became one of the allies.
Furnishing Men Also.
Explosives were not the only aid
given to the American government by
this company. 1t has furnished men
as well as powder. and in the Ameri-
can army Of France or in our train
ing camps today there are 4.16S men
who were. before their enlistment or
before they were drafted into the
service. employs of this company.
The moment that President Will
son gave passports to the German
Ambassador. and sent him across
The seas. this corporation realized
that we were upon the eve of en-
tcring the war. Col. Buckner and
others put themselves in communj-
cation with the government strongly
Urging that very large new plants
he established as speedily as pos
sfble for the manufacture of pow
dr and other munitions of war.
col Buckner in a recent address
said that as soon as Congress de-
clared war against Germany. his
corporation was ready with sucges-
tions for locations. rs-Outs and
plans. for the estabhshment of
powder plants. Already the COM
Pany had built large plants solely
for the purpose Of supplying to the
allies explosives and other munitions
Of war But il the United States
was to enter the war and it were
necessary to equip at least two mil
lion men, then it was beyond all
question vital that the government
secure additional capacity for pow
der production with which to supply
the army.
Government Moves Slowly.
Preparedness was not then fully
understood, either at Washfngton or
by large paYt~of the people. Fur
thermore. red tape interferred with
the speedy beginning of plans for
the establishment of powder plants.
Not until March, 1918. according to
Col Buckner. was it possible for the
corporation to begin the construc-
tion OF a smokeless powder plant
at Nashville
Col Buckner was in position to
say in the latter part of June that
this plant when completed and its
history is written will become ira
ditfonal as the most wonderful
achievement ever performed in the
history of powder making. The en-
tire plant is to be seventy times as
large as the largest powder plant in
the United States before we entered
the war.
A few statistics furnished by Col.
Buckner will give better under
standing OF the magnitude of this
undertaking. The plant itself stands
upon an area three miles in length
and one and one half in width. 1t
will require 1900. 900, 900 pounds of
nitrate of soda. and $4,000 pounds
Of sulphur q day. 1t will burn $500
tons of coal every twenty-four
hours 1t win call for 100 900, 900
gallons of water every twenty-four
hours. At least $4,000 men will be
upon it's pay roll The company in
its agreement with the government
provided that IL would do this enor-
nous constructive work. at actual
cost and without profit.
what Is Sold to Europe.
In hearty four years this com
pAny has sold to our allies in
Europe and to the United States
government considerably more than
/. SOD. 900. 900 pounds of explosives of
all kinds. Furthermore, it has sold
12s.00o,o0O pounds Of special am
munition. 5o.ooO.oO0 caps. and 25O.-
100000 pounds of black powder
pellets
The aggregate amount in money
II the military contracts up to July
/. fs S1.o11, 100000. And compared
with military business alone, in the
best year before the war the aggre-
gate money value Of its output was
$500. 900.
Colonel Buckner has figures to
show that whatever profits the com
pany has gained are due more TO
ancient work and lowering the cost