The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-04-14
For the Good of
 The Community

O NE of the recently developed industries in V Birmingham rated as second in importance only to iron and steel, is the production of chem icals
 Eighteen different corporations are engaged in making chemicals from minerals and farm and forest products of this district and three others are building plants which will be in operation be- fore the end of the present year
 So quietly and quickly have these industries developed that the people of Birmingham even can hardly realize their extent and variety.
 Writing in Birmingham house organ of the Chamber of Commerce. Wallace L. Caldwell, chemical engineer, who has made study of Bir- mingham and the possibilities of the district for this line of industry, said:
 Birmingham has not yet built up highly de- veloped industry as has been done in certain other cities, but has made great strides and has most promising possibilities. At the present time our chemical products may largely be considered as raw materials, which are used elsewhere in the manufacture of chemical products. Our fu- ture development should be of such nature as to use these products in the manufacture of valuable and highly developed material
 MT. Caldwell divides the chemical plants in Birmingham into these six general classes By product plants, coal tar distilling plants acid plants, fertilizer plants cotton seed oil plants and explosive plants.
 Among the chemicals made at these plants are gas, ammonia coal tar and coal tar products ben zol toluol, creosote oil for preserving timber, coal tar pitch for use in roofing and paving materials, napthalne, light oil products from coal tar, sul- phuric acid used in fertilizers and explosives and in the manufacture of steel wire, cotton seed oil nitrogycerine, powder, dynamite.
 Benzol and toluol, made at several of the local plants used in the manuf facture of anne dyes and explosives.
 Toluo is component part of T. N. T., very high explosive. A large part of the toluol used by the government in making high explosives during the war was produced in Birmingham
 ''The possibilities of the chemical industry in Birmingham are bright" continues MT. Caldwell. "When the Muscle Shoals development is carried to completion large surplus of cheap electric power will be available in this section of the south It is certain that at point within the to which this power can be economically transmitted an important electro-chemical manufacturing cen
 
 why such industries should not grow up in Bir- mingham where we have surplus of cheap cleo tric power. The electro-chemical industry ap- pears to the best observers as the most promising field of chemical endeavor in this section of the south and unquestionably great opportunities will be offered to the capitalists and technical men in Birmingham for the development of in- dustries of this sort"
 The plants of this character in operation and those now building in the Birmingham district represent an aggregate inveat tment of approXi- mately $300O0O0O.
 w. J. Dangaix, on his return from Paris recent ly stated at a Community club luncheon that Swiss capitalists interested in the aniline dye n- dustry were coming to the United States this spring and that at his request and upon his rec ommendation of Birmingham as a suitable loca- tion for industries of that kind, they would come to Birmingham. They are expected here some time this month and, as Mr. Langax made very strong representations as to Birmingham, they will probably make close study of conditions and possibilities here before finally determining