The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-01-03
ENORMOUS LOSS
Of EXPLOSIVES
The Destruction of German
Plant Has Tremendous
Effect on Supplies
SHORTAGE FELT ON
FIGHTING FRONTS
Griesheim Factory Covered 81 Acres
Known to Have Been Completely De-
stroyed - Furnished Zeppelins With
Hydrogen.


LONDON, Jan. 1-According to a
statement in The Morning Post, par
alvzing effect has been produced IN Ger
many by the destruction last month OF
the Griesheim factory. Extreme care,
The Morning Post declares, was taken
by the Berlin government to prevent
details leaking out. and information
which has since been obtained from per-
feetlv trustworthy sources makes 1t
clear that there was good reason Tor
secrecy. 1t is now certain that the
explosion caused the complete destrue-
ton of one Of the greatest munitions
factories in the world, by which Ger
many has suffered a disaster compar-
able to a very serious military defeat
in It's effect on the issue of the war.
The Grcisheim Eleetron factory was
situated in the neighborhood of Frank
fort. with an extensive frontage on the
River Main 1t consisted of an cnor-
nous group of buildings covering an
area of over 81 acres Twenty-eight
large chimnevs, one of them over 2d7
feet high. gave the impression more
Of an industrial town than single
factory, and numerous piers abuttng
on the river, combined with an extern
sive railway system, enabled this huge
concern to distribute its products
among the world s markets economical
n and quickly. Before the war it
ranked as fourth in Importance of the
great German chemical works and was
ALWAYS a fiourishing company, paving
a pre-war dividend of ii per cent, and
worth as going concern well over
| 100000.
It's commanding position in the chem
| zeal world rested not only on its huge
output but on the extensive variety of
| i. manufacturers These comprised
among other things. aniline dyes of ev-
! cry description, nitric, sulphuric, and
! Other acids, phosphorus. and alkali
with liqnid chlorine. hydrogen, and oxy-
gen as important hy-products. What
il meant to Germany as a source OF
| munitions of war can thus he readily
| understood. Moreover. as one of ths
| uncommon instances among German
chemical works, possessing installation,
for clectro-chemical production, it va.
of prime Importance az source 81
| synthetic nitrateS, and its splendidiy
! organized research laboratory enabled
It To play n leading part IN the prOduc
tiOn of poison gas and the other more
refined forms of frightfulness which
Germany has introduced in the cours
Of the war. That the Imperial govern
ment has taken the fullest advantag,
of thee facilities is shown by tn,
rapid increase of the works both i'll eX
tent and output since the beginnin.
of the war, and by the fact that tn
COMPANY has recently decided to in
crease its share capital by 80 per cent
an increase in which the German gov
eminent is more than suspected of hav
ing a financial intere3..
With regard to the productive capac
ity of Griesheim some authoritativt
facts are available. 1t has been pro
ducing saltpeter for the manufactur
of black powders at the rate of l,0a
tona a day, and it is reputed to be tn
only factory turning out this article
To such an extent has its already i'm
, prcssive output of soda nitrate an,
concentrated sulphuric acid been de
, veloped that it supplied the whole dc
mand of five nitro -glvcerine and dyna
mite factories, as well as two powde
works, including that of Rotteweil, on
of the most important in Germany
Another explosive which it manufac
tured in large quantities was tonit(
through it's facilities for making svr
thetic phenol and consequently picri
acid, from which acid this explosi.
is derived.
r Another circumstance of special il
terest is the fact that this factor
, supplied large quantities of electroly
tic hydrogen for the imitation of ZeI
rclins, and possessed by way of T,
: serve three gasOmeters with toti
1 capacity of over 100000 cubic fec
SO important was it in this respect tina