The Washington herald., 1918-04-02
U. S. DEVELOPS
new INDUSTRY
Holland Predicts Great Pos
sblities In Scientific In
lnovations War Needs
Have Furthered.


chemistry employs In teaching his
students the science. which il sug-
sested by the electro-chemical indus
.try as that has been developed in. the
lpas three years. 1t II. relatively
speaking. q new industry. II was
made possible by the high development
OF the dynamo and up to this time has
secured the best results through the
utn1zation Of the water power at Ma
gaia Falls some twenty years ago.
At the time the Niagara Falls water
power was taken up by various in
dustries established on the bank Of
the Niagara River, the amount Of en-
ergy transformed into electric energy
was spoken Of as something stupen-
dous 1t was one Of the great topics
Of the time.
1t was said that the equivalent Of
as much as a hundred and fifty thou
sand horse power was to be secured
Dy this Niagara Falls development and
that this would be sufficient to supply
industries stretching southerly to Buff
falo. westerly as far as the Ohio line
and easterly as far as Rochester. and
also far into Canada.
Big Enterprise.
That enterprise Is now, however,
dwarfed by the undertaking. of which
information came to New York today,
which is now under way upon that
part of the Tennessee River where
the rapids have interferred with nav
isation- Ultimately. perhaps. as much
as six hundred thousand horse power
will be recovered through the utiliza-
ton Of dams whereby the currents in
the rapids will be captured and then
converted into electricity.
This means inevitably a wonderful
industrial growth in that part of the
South II will supplement the in
dustrial expansion of the Birming-
ham district. in Alabama. which in
itself is now esteemed one of the
greatest of American industrial
achievements
In 1900 the electro-chemical indus
try, which was then a new indus
try, was turning out products Of
the value Of considerably over s1oa.-
10000 year.
Now DR.. Colin G. Fink, president
OF the American Electro-chemical
Society, which Is to visit the Muscle
Shoals district in April. states that
IL remained for the European war
to demonstrate most forcibly the
utter dependence of our country's
economic welfare, progress and safe
" upon the products of the electro
lytic cell and the electric furnace"
There are many products which.
before the development of electro
chemistry. were either unknown or
else expensive to produce, which are
now easily and at reasonable cost
Obtained by the use Of the electric
chemical process. Almost every one
of these products DIR. Fink says "is
absolutely essential towards carry
ing out successfully our sincere and
noble purpose in the present world
crisis"
What We Did for Copper.
The best authorities say that
more than 40 per cent of the copper
consumed today is produced by the
electrolysis process. That copper
exceeds in purely sterling silver.
The entire electric industry, as we
now know it. including dynamos.
motors. the telephone. the telegraph
and the wireless and electro-mas-
netic devices. would be impaired and
perhaps destroyed il it were not DOS
sible 10 furnish for its manufacture
electrolytic copper.
DIR. Fink goes on to say that the
best crucible steel today cannot
complete with electric steel and
furthermore. that ten years ago
electric steel furnaces were looked
Upon as expensive experiments
whereas today they form an indis-
pensable equipment in every modern
steel plant
But what is of especial interest
to the country just now is the i'm
pulse given by the government
through its patronage and its ap-
propriation of SIS. 900. coo. to the es-
Enlistment of synthetic nitrate
and ammonia plants at Muscle
Shoals
There. through the mystic power
fnf chemistry. hydrogen secured by
the electric process from water. is
to be brought into reaction with
nitrogen drawn from the atmos-
phere so that thereby ammonia can
be secured in almost lfmitless
amounts. whereas in another plant
nitric acids and nitrate will be
made.
Vast as are many of the Industrial !
undertakings occasioned by the war,
it is probable that none of them will
exceed In magnitude the stupendous
industry which Is to be established
at Muscle Shoals. Very soon as many
as 1000 skilled artisans will be en-
ployed upon this work and it has been
no small problem how best to pro-
vide. speedily. house accommodations
for the constantly increasing number
Of skilled artisans who will be called
into this undertaking.
The government appropriation of
S5. 900 Is to be divided so that 800
10000 will be expended for a cyanamid
nitrogen hxation plant; 100000 for
The synthetic process nitrate plant
and s20.0oo.0O0 for the Muscle Shoals
hydro-electric plant which will fur
nish the electricity for the nitrate
plants. Not later than July / the !
synthetic plant will be completed and
the manufacture of nitrate for explo-
sives. following the process which
has been used in Germany. will be-
gin.
Some of the figures which tell In
1etail OF this great government un-
1ertaking will convey some idea of
its magnitude: for instance. one of
The dams at Muscle Shoals is to be
SEQ feet in length, making Il the
longest dam In the world. and will be
forty feet high. and the entire reser-
Foir area will be $500 acres. This
lam. when completed. will be capable !
u generating nearly $4,000 horse
power.
After War Expansion.
o. - l.