The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1919-12-26
Turning Air Into a w..p.n.

by THIS process air, which 10 q mix
ture OF about four-nfths nitrogen gas
and one-ffth oxygen. Is placed In con-
tainers and subjected 10 pressure and
cold until II turns 10 a liquid. Then
the nitrogen is distilled In much the
same manner as alcohol is separated
from water. But before this nitrogen
can be used as fertilizer II must be
combined with a chemical combination
OF lime and carbon known as calcium
carbide. produced by burning ordinary
limestone in big rotary kilns and COM
bining II In the electric furnace with
carbon supplied in the form OF ordI-
nary coke.
Cyanamid thus produced contains
the elements OF ammonium nitrate. one
~ 'he most powerful Of modern explo-
siyse- By one process ammonia 10 ex-
tracted from the cyansmid BY ar
other process nitric acid Is extracted
from another batch Of this same sya-
uhmid Then the ammonis and nitric
acid are combined and there you have
ammonium nitrate ready for packing
nto shells with TINT.
There are three kinds OF explosives
used for bursting shells in modern
warfare-TNT. pierre acid and ammo
mum nitrate. The United States was
equally deficient in raw materials and
plants for manufacturing all three OF
these explosives. Under the best OF
conditions the cost OF either INT or
nitric acid is about two and one-hslf
the cost Of ammonium nitrate. But
the United States was wholly depend
ent upon Chilean nitrate Of soda as a
raw material for ammonium nitrate,
with the exception OF q small produc-
ton OF nitrogen from the eoking OF
coal The Chilean supply was 4.50o
miles away from New York City by
way OF the Panama Canal. and the
route by way OF the Straits OF Msgel-
Ian Is nearly twice IS long.
A Record Building Operation.
Shortly after the war began In Eu-
rope the German government entered
into the nxation OF air nitrogen for
military explosives on a vast scale. II
was not. however. until the fall OF 1917
that the United States governmeo,
took II up.
The Ordnance Department asked M
Washburn's company 10 organize o
subsidiary corporation. known ss the
Air Nitrates Corporation. with Mr.
washburn as president, 10 act as
agent of the government for the con
strustion and operation OF the air nj.
trates plant at Muscle shoals, Ala.
bama. This corporation provided the
designs erected the equipment In the
chemical plants and supervised all the
other work II also operated The
camp. the town and the plant Other
work Is sublet TO several OF the best
known organizations In the United
States Westinghouse Church Kerr
Company built the plant buildings, the
camp. the permanent city and utilities
The J. q. White Engineering Corpora
ton designed and built the nitrate
acid plant The NJ. W. Kellogg Com
psny furnished the piping and built
the chImneys On February l6. 1918.
ground wss broken. and eight months
and eight days lats the SO. 900 OoO
Muscle Shoals plant began producing &
ammonium nitrate. In that brief Pc
Rod 5000 men had completed the
plant and around it. where not .
house stood before. had arisen q city
q Is, 600 inhs bitantA -
THIS plant when In full operation
vas ready to provide Is per cent Of all
explosives 10 be used by all the allies
on all the allied fronts during the En-
nec.ed spring drive Of 1919.