The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1919-12-30
Had Sold to America Secret
Of Making Explosive
From Air.
BIG NITRATE PLANT RESULTS.
Built in Eight Months It Con-
vinces Kaiser Of His Defeat.
BY GARRETT SMITH.

paumcnt of the United States Army
made Il possible for America, until
then utterly lacking in ammunition
aud In facilities for making II, to man.
ufacture unlimited quantities of pow
erful explosives out of air and rock.
1t was largely The knowledge of this
fact Tint forced Germany to surrender
when she did.
The secret was secured from Ger
many herself. II was an open bust
ness transaction between business
men, whereby we apparently acquired
nothing more military than process
for making high grade fertilizer
known as cyanamid.
Frank Sherman Washburn. head OF
the group Of business men who bought
this process, conceived the germ of
the idea in the early ninetles while In
South America as consulting engineer
in connection with The production and
shipping Of Chilean nitrate of soda.
Nitrogen compounds are an essential
part of all commercial fertilizers The
only available natural nitrate deposits
in large quantities are in Chile. This
supply was diminishing. Germany,
which had been taking about one
third Of the Chilean nitrates, was nj.
ready experimenting with processes
for their artificial production. In 1907
Mr.. Washbuln secured In Germany
the American rights OF the cyanamid
process which had been invented In
that country.
Turning Air Into a Weapon.
BY this process air. which Is mix
ture OF about four-fifths nitrogen gas
and one-fifth oxygen, is placed in con
talners and subjected 10 pressure and
cold until II turns TO a liquid Then
the nitrogen Is distilled In much the
same manner as alcohol is separated
from wafer But before this nitrogen
can hcrsel ms fertilizer It must be
combined with chemical combination
of lime a.d carbon known as calcium
carbide, produced by burning ordinary
limestone in big rotary kilns and com
bining 1t In the electric furnace with
carbon supplied In the form of ordi-
nary coke.
Cyanamid thus produced contains
the elements az ammonium nitrate, one
OF ere 'oast noworrul of modern explo-
slvcs BY one process ammonia Is OK
tracle,l from the cyanamld BY an
other process nitric acid Is eXtTnc;cii
from another batch of this sNwc syn.
nanid. Then the amuonia aud nitric
acid are combined and there you have
ammonium nitrate ready for packing
into shells with INT.
There are three kinds of explosives
used for bursting shells IN modern
warfarc--TNT, picric acid ana 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 aud one-half
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 small produc-
ton of nitrogen from the coklng of
coal. The Chilean supply was $500
miles away from New York city by
way OF the Panama Canal, and the
route hy way Of the Straits of Magel-
Ian Is nearly twice as long,
A Record Building Operation.
Shortly after the war began In Eu-
rope the German government entered
into the fiNation of air nitrogen for
military explosives on a vast scale. II
was not, however, until the fall of 1917
thar the United States government
took It up.
The Ordnance Department asked Mr.
Washbun's company TO organize
subsidiary corporation, known as the
Air Ntrates Corporation, with Mr.
Washburn as president, to net as
agent of the government for the con.
structlon and operation of the air nj
trates plant Mt Muscle shoals, Ala
hama. This corporation provided the
designs. erected the equipment In the
chemical plants and supervised all the
other work, Il also operated the
NHlHi, lilH ipNH ana lile pant. Oillcf
work is sublet 10 several of the hest
known organizations in the United
States. Westinghouse Church Kerr
Company built the plant buildings, the
camp, the perMancni city and utilities
The ]. c. White Engineering Corpora
tlon designed and built the nitrate
acid plant. The NJ w, Kellogg Com.
pnny furnished the piping and built
the chlmneys. On February 10, 1918, !
ground was broken. and eight months
and eight days later the 100000, 900
Muscle Shoals plant began producing
ammonium nitrate. In that brief pc
Rod $1,000 men htd completed the
p!i ana around IT, where not a
h. e stood before, had arisen city
o' 5000 inhabitants.
Iliis plant when In fun operation
as ready 10 provide 10 per cent OF all
explosives TO he used by all the allies /
on all the allied fronts during the ex
perted spring drive Of 1919.