Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-10-16
We're Producing
Our Own Potash
Ry Frederic j. Haskin

Ry Frederic J. Haskin
That potash in unlimited quantities
can be produced in the United States is tue
amazing fact recently brought tn light
almost by>nGcident. At the beginning Of
the war. practically our entire supply Of
potash came from Germany Since then,
while we have managed to struggle along
with the help of our brine lakes, It has
been understood that one OF the blessings
of peace would be "A large cargo OF potash
from Potsdam. Now, quite Unexpectedly,
it. has been demonstrated that we Will
never again be dependant upon Germany
for this substance
When Germany refused TO send this
country any more potash IN 1914 on the
grounds that il WAS being used IN the
manufacture Of munitions, the govern
incnt immediately started potash IN
vestigation We consumed over u quar-
ter of n million tons OF potash annually IN
the form OF fertilizer and matches, and
we could not get along without II. The
United States Bureau of Mines, the De
partincnt OF Agriculture and the Geologic
nj Survey were all called into consultaiion
and offered the privilege of solving the
problem.
These bureaus put their experts in the
field. and IT. WAS not long before potash
was being produced from the brine lakes
of Californin and Nebraska; from the
large brown seawecd Of the Pacihc Coast,
and from other sources The scarcity of
potash sent the price up, and new potash
industry came INTO being But frorn ail
these SOURCES not nearly enough potash
could be produced to- supply tho demand
II rs expected that go. 900 tons will he pro
dlccd. thiq wear but this il only > per
cent of our pre-Yar consumption. cur
brine hikes and seaweed alone could not
free ~ from the German potash monopoly
but there Is now another source of supply,
and thus IS the story Of how i was dis
covered
now IT nEaAE
several wears ago. there was professor
IN a California university nam"d Dr.
Frederick Cottrell Ills speciaIfy was
metallrgy. but his hobby was the abatc
rnent Of the smoke nuisance When he
ceased teaching the youth of California
| aEoui metals the professor hurried nome
and worked on 4 sfuokeelinnatlng de-
wee. tho principle ot which hnI corne -
hun as n sudden Inspiration For years,
he worked on this dcvIcc constantly I'M
proving and perfecfing Il Then Dr
manning 0f the bureau ~ 3iiitsNr "&tp flti't
occasion 70 know something of the pro
| iessors abiity. appointed hun cnct
| mctalInrgist of the bureau
Dr Cottrell came to Washington with
very little personal property other fhan
! his invention lie had hoped - put 1 IN
| the market III various American c!tica
consp}rtIoli-i. III need ~ some auch de-
| vice tn, hc found that few manufacturer
| were Interested IN installing an apparatus
| whlch WAS largely for Il he brneft' 0f other
| people. Tho smoke dIdnt worry them
| finally. The professor turned his patents
over fo the Smfheonian Institution "ith
i thc understanding hat Il the d"vec
/ were ever marketed the money should t.
used to AID other inventors who were
| struggling as he Ind struggled
for 4 long time II looked a. i the de-
/ ticF would never appear ~ anything h'iI i
! specimen of the ingenuity of man. and
! that American inventors would continue
IL struggle. unaIdrd Then, about 2
| year. aeo. . large cement plant, situated
| IN the vicinity oi the orange helds oi
| California hegan to develop a smoke
| problem The huge clouds 81 alkaii dust
I.-uag from tins plant were creating .
tremendous mortality n oranges, and ht
/ California farmers showed their resent
lnenl bv lodging = protest IN conTt Be-
! iorr the litigation Wa5 finally settled. me
| cement plant decided that means must
I ~ found 81 Dispensing slti. It's smoke. \
i rpfre4enfatiye was sent East I'd investigate
! ha question and when he returned TO
! California he .arricd DR. Cottreli 5
! .moke-eilga mating dcvlce WITH Aim.
10 por.sH fsFMit>e
He device Ha- installed i carried on
~. ,II4oa... and when an analysis oi the
-laoke ~. made L Wae discovered hat J.
! contained potash Nth potash seii.u-
ii : lricc S0Opc ecnf el - prc-~hr 8aiil"
i ~ scmcu plant soon round Hat {
eotlId MAKE anough none o15 oi h.S
/ sv-pTodast no; anly 70 pay for ne smoke
! III lg;ttlolf, nut 10 warrant the elimination
81 tie rpmcn, ri ol the business i
/ has now stopped making cement uAlIl
after he wur. and Is oonhnlng Itself 70 Tie
production OF potash.
The news oil this discovery frareiea
about the cement industry, and a te%
months later q small plant IL Niarylan
wrote 10 The Smithsonian institution
ask Iug Tor particulars. Il Wis not lnttges,
/ ed III eliminating IT'S smoke. but i Was a-
| le-ests.d III obtaining potash oui 81 =
| Accordingly the device Was installed, ..ag
! this year this plant has made S2tO,Vo0
| profit out OF lie potash Il has put on the
| market II IS now estimated BY govern
Inent authorities th;.t the cement mills Of
the country alone can produce 100000
tons OF potash annually rs a hy-product.
When the Cottrell device proved sue
eesaful in the cement plants, the steel
lndustr, became interested. believing
! that It could he used TO carry of he snoh
| of the blast furnaces IN experimental
plant Was established IN connection with
the Bethlehem Steel Wofks. and again
although the material used was iron N
stead Of rock. potash appeared IL the
ANALYSIS Of the smoke 4 commerc IA
plant for producing potash " d by-pro
duct oi steel IS going to be built ny th,
bethlehem works - soon a. the var !.
over.
And ~rtLL IT CONES.
Further investigation developed lht
faet that the non ores used in this *
periInental plant were from certain de
posts in the State Of Alabama. known +
contain n large percentage " potash Tia
Bureau of Mines estimated that II all tht
blast furnaces in the United States coid,
Use these ores which. OF course the,
can they could product over ndhoI
tons Of potash year The bureau al>t
hclitves that there IS a large opportunlt,
IN the Aiatama ore deposits for the &c