El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-10-26

Z 1t moves the blades Of the propellers
at the rate Of 100 revolutions and
! upward minute. and while those
propelers are moving at that Won
derful speed the machine guns are
so made that they viii shoot between
/ the propellers. while they are going
{ their fastest and not strike the wood.
4 Making these machine guns took
not only the scientific mind OF the in
/ venter, but also that OF the scien-
/ fists who gage the material and see
I that it is manufactured TO that Won
! derful accuracy. The Browning gun
/ itself is worked by the gas from the
/ explosion of cartridge after cart
| ridge as the balls 90 forth at the
rate of about 10 shots per second
In the shooting Of shrapnel the
steel shell is sent forth from the gun
I by the means OF a smOkeless powder
: in the brass jacket behind, the shell
/ being equipped with time fuse which
creates a second explosion from gun
powder inside the steel so that it
] bursts at the very moment II reaches
the enemy a mile Or so away and
sprays him with its hundreds Of bull
let's It is wonders Of this kind that
are connected with almost every in
dustry which is now working along
the lines Of the war
Army of Research.
A large part Of our army of scien-
fists is engaged in research and in
vention of one kind or another, based
upon the needs Of the war. In 1915,
national research council WIS estab-
lished by, the direction OF president
Wilson through the National Acad-
envy of Scientists. This has worked
on all sorts Of problems relating to
the war and to American industry as
affected by it.
The council OF national defence has
its scientists, and the food admins
tration has a chemical division which
deals with war foods and food sup
plies The agricultural department
is doing a research work Of many
kinds
It has a staff Of more than 10000
people. many Of them highly trained
experts, and connected with IL are the
land grant colleges and experiment
stations. which have a student body
OF $4,000. This agricultural branch
Of the government deals not only
with crops and food supplies, but 1t
has biological branch which expert
ments with every kind Of life from
beasts TO insects Among its latest
those OF the Coolies" or body lice,
which SO worry our boys in the
trenches. The bureau Of entomology
is studying this tiny parasite under
the microscope, watching il as it
passes through its various sta yes of
existence. and testing certain chemi-
Gals 10 find some poison that VIII de-
stroy II and still not affect the human
being on whom it feeds.
Saving Potash From Dust.
As TO the results of the new re-
search work they are leading not
only 10 the development Of the re-
sources we had in the past. but TO the
production Of a vast number Of prod
ucts. formerly monopolies Of the Ger
mans II is especially so as to the
fertilizers. which Germany has to
such an extent that one OF its emil
nenr doctors said that the United
States dared not make war lest the
kaiser shut off our potash supply
and starve Us 10 death In 1916 we
produced only about 10000 tons of
potash, and before the war most of
our supply Of that salt came from
the mines Of Stassfurt in Germany.
Now one OF our scientists. DR.. Fred
erick G. Cottrell. has invented q pro-
cess by which we can save potash
from the dust which has been float
ing away on the air Of our cement
plants and blast furnaces It is said
we can get 100000 tons year from
that source alone, and we have dis
covered other sources which viii
make US Independent of the rest OF
the world This year We shall take
$4,000 tons OF potash out Of the
briny lakes of western Nebraska. and
we are developing Searles lake in
California which is said to contain
20, 000. 900 tons
It is the same with nitrates. OF
which we imported from Chile in 1917
salts valued at S60.000.OOo. The war
has driven Us to build great hydro
electric plants by which we shall get
this material out of the air It is
said that the chemists of the geo
logical survey have discovered caves
IN the southern states in one Of which
is 100000 tons Of nitrous earth.
Sulphurfc Acid.
Another element used both in ex-
plosives and fertilizers. is sulDhuric
acid Before the war we made the
most OF this product from pyrites. a
mineral which exists in vast guam
titles in Spain. and was shipped here
as ballast. Now our biologists have
discovered pyrites in the southern
states There are five mines there
which have been producing 400 tons a
DAY. and they viii soon have an out
put Of 1000 tons daily
The need for explosives has caused US
70 develop our sulphur mines. which lie
1900 feet under the earth near the shores
Of the Gulf Of Mexico. We melt the sui
phur with superheated water and pump
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