The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1918-07-30

Problem of Cheap Production of DIN
termediate" Products, Which Is Key
to Profitable Production of Dyes
Results SAVIOR Of Magic.
In secluded Yorkshire valley Is be-
ing fought one Of the grimmest and
most far-reaching battles Of the war.
It is the preliminary bombardment of
the great commercial war after the
war. For here are situated the works
Of the British Dyes company, which is
struggling with Germany for one of
the most vital industries of the mod
ern commercial world, that Of the dye.
The works Of the British Dyes under
taking are typical of the evolution Of
the new industry and the new idea.
Sprawling the length Of a SCARED and
smokestacked Yorkshire valley, the
sheds, boiler plants and serried rows
of retorts occupy acre after acre of
ground. Sunk in the background, In a
tiny cobbled street, q little factory that
struggled for years against swelling
German competitors, has tackled on Ell
Their side and behind it a phalanx of
raw red brick buildings. Stretching
far along the valley. absorbing green
fields and coppices, fed by miles Of
light railway and drained by 10 miles
Of sewers, are the great new sheds.
Many years ago an English chemist
discovered that artificial dyes could be
made by submitting coal tar to various
chemical processes. On that discovery
a great industry responsible today for
almost every atom Of color in our
clothes, our books, our pictures and
our household goods has been built.
Germany was the first to realize the
value Of such an invention. Every
possible inducement was put in the
way of intending manufacturers and
all German firms engaged in the new
industry were subsidized by the gov
eminent. :.
British Progress Rapid.
;. What took Germany over thirty
years to accomplish with laborious re-
search cannot Of course be achieved
by British chemists in a year or two,
but surprising and gratifying progress
has been made. The cheap production
Of the intermediate" products, with
out which the finer products cannot
be made profitably, is guaranteed. Pa
thence and perseverance are expected
to win further success.
1t is essentially key industry. The
problem the British works attack is
not that of providing this or that dye
or discovering the secret of one or
another obscure German patent, but
that Of establishing an industry which
can stand on it's own bottom and
which is not to be upset by the with
drawal on the part of a foreign COM
petitOr of any essential substance used
in the manufacture.
In this valley the gospel of thor
oughness has not been preached in
vain. In building after building there
goes on silent, almost automatic
series of operations that prepare the
raw material and produce the inter-
mediates.
Results SAVIOR of Magic.
In the laboratories q chemist per-
formed two or three little pieces of
magic with colorless liquids from glass
stoppered bottles, these seething into
brilliant color before ones eyes. The
magic that one meets in the factories
is less visibly impressive. There Is a
sufficiently arresting sequence of
smells to be encountered in walk
through the works, but q surprising
absence of color.
There were remarkable experiments
with new-found secrets in acid, basic,
mordant, sulphur, union and vat col.
Ors, all of which are being marketed
by British Dyes. Through three miles
OF works one passed to the inter,
mediate and auxiliary service plants,
to examine the costly equipment of the
Oleum and nitric acid installations
and ascend among boiling green's
samples, it seems, Of thousand differ
ent odors varying from the hot Vine
gar variety to the scents Of Araby, to
see the new discovery, chloranthene
blue, the first Of a series which has
been followed by chloranthene blue
B D and chloranthene yellow D; and
on into the aiizarine delphinol facto-
ries, where acid dyestuff for wool and
silk, with extraordinary properties in
bright shades Of fast blues, are now
produced and sold under distinctive
brands B and E e, and pass through
Of crude chemicals.
This leads to the last point-the re-
search and chemical laboratory. It
has hundred chemists and more and
has made great beginning in guaran-
teeing the cheap production of "inter-
mediate" products.