Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-05-12

trates and powder. Toluol. one OF the
elements of the powerful explosive
known as "T. n. t." is being obtained
from the by-product of coke ovens, and
the government is expanding large
sums for the building Of suitable plants.
Toluol is also being obtained from the
artificial gas companies of the country
by a process known as scrubbing. The
gas companies are doing this business
without profit to themselves; and when
users Of gas complain that it is not SO
hot or bright as it used to be they Will
find an explanation in the fact that 1t
is being robbed for material with which
to slaughter the Germans.
Rifles for the infantry are now being
made at the rate of 1880 a day. More
ammunition for small arms is being pro-
duced than has ever been produced in
Great Britain or France. Nearly all OF
the plants for the manufacture Of machine
guns had to be created. From July on
ward, $4,000 of these weapons will be de-
Nvered to the Army monthly.
at the head of all this business" Col.
McRoberts told the National Security
League at a luncheon in New York sew
eraI weeks ago, "is Gen. Crozier, the
man who has given the largest single
contribution to this war on its material
side He is now in France" Col. Nc
Roberts added, engaged in the study
of ordnance material under conditions
Of actual warfare"
Gen. Crozier it was who said, after
the war was under way: Il need man
who can think in seven figures.
Then send fer Samuel McRobertse a
hearer at his elbow recommended.
There is an earlier incident that prop
erly belongs in the narrative OF Col.
McRoberts entrance into the struggle
with the Prussian looters. Paris was
no longer the capital of France;
archives and offices had been hurriedly
transferred to Bordeaux. The Huns had
halted at the Marine. it should ,be said,
but would the lines of Joffre hold strong
and true? No darker hour had ever
brought greater doubt or grief to the
French republic.
1t was then that a friend of France
called a the greatest bank in America.
He asked, with cabled authority, that a
loan be given to that country. None
had been made in the United States up
to the moment.
What you ask is impossible-but
we going to do it, said Frank A.
landerlip, the president
And he did it," testified the friend
of France. Maurice Leon. the New York
lawyer.
That day in their office. Vanderlip
once of Illinois. and McRoberts. vice
merry of Missouri, sat at table and
worked out the mechanics of the loan
together
Farm boys not long before. blowing
for, corn and planting 1t. cultivating
and cutting 1t. shocking and husktng
it. and then reporters In Chicago. tkey
helped turn the Prussians back and to
save Paris from defilement.
The man who can think in seven
figures" answered the call and report
WASHINGTON. were l.
tary reasons for giving him a commits s.
sion. And so there is an eagle on each
of his shoulders. and he is Col. McRob-
erts and no longer mister. Nor is there
a more military looking officer in the
Army, Regular or National.
Without doubt Samuel McRoberta
would have made Roadway in politics.
He is personally attractive and natur.
Bend, Mo. which village now contains
about 400 inhabitants. he liked to read
about such public characters as gov
errors and senators.
They journeyed. during a century in
America. from Virginia to Ohio and
thence to Missouri. Farmers. they
We're also men of doctrine.
There are some characteristics of
my family" the colonel observed to the
writer on one occasion, that l never
understood until ! visited Scotland"
The mother, Ellen Sisk, before her
marriage, was a native OF ONO. Scotch
Irish, she saw in oratory and states
manship the one sure road to honor.
The father. practical man, found
pleasure and independence in another
line of endeavor. And in the end the
blood Of the father was dominant, and
so Samuel. the son. instead of talking
himself into the legislature and then
into Congress. planned and figured
himself into the directories of such
corporations as Armour & CO., the
M
pany. the Baldwin locomotive works