The Washington herald., 1919-06-29
SCIENCE SET US.
FREE FROM HUNS
Chemists Discovered Vast
Fields Of Potash and
Dye Material Here.

Dye Material Here.
A year or two after the European
war began. men of science started
vesearches 10 ascertain ~. snonF the
natural resources OF the United states.
there could be found any which could.
through scientific process. be made
TO yield potash. So far AZ is known.
there are no potash deposits In the |.
United States similar to those IN Ger. 2
many.
Occasionally. the statement was
made by men OF finance who were IN Z
touch with leaders in German inors-
try before the United States declared
war against Germany. that the Ger .
mans had little apprehension the
United States would enter the war.
because. II that were done. the potash
supplies from Germany would be cut
of. But Il was not necessary TO wait
until the United States became one,
lof the belllgerent nations 10 deprive
us OF German potash. The blockade
maintained against the German mer-
chant marine shut OF that source Of
supply.
One OF these days, q highly tnteres-
ing and. in fact. romantic story viii
be told OF researches by men Of
science TO discover whether there vas
in the United States raw material
from Which potash could be extracted.
They demonstrated it was possible to
obtsin potash from the vast fields Of
kelp in tho Pacific Ocean near the
coast. They discovered that a noun
tain in Utah contained. In mineral
combination. considers BILE potash. a
They learned that feidspar deposits IN
the United States might he so worked :
az 10 secure the potash in the feldsper.
although the almost prohibitive lack
Of transportation made the CONNER
cial utilization OF feldspsr mines i'm
pra cticabie.
Cement Works solve Probiezs
At last. men Of science. either on
their own initiative or BY reason OF
hints which came TO them. turncd
their attention TO cement works and
blast furnaces Hero were industries
sending 10 waste certain products
which resulted from the manufacture
OF cement and the utilization OF the
blast furnace. Could the dust the
smoke. the almost impslpable refuse
which wss beiched forth from ire
chimneys. he so captured and handled
as TO yield the residue OF potash wcick
they contsi ined7
Science solved this problem. ana to-
I day II has been demonstrated that at
least one-third Of all the potash we
need can be obtained from cement
plants alone. and probably another
third can be secured from what was
heretofore the refuge OF blast fur.
nsces.
Nobody dreamed before the war.
that there were lakes in Nebraska
which contained potash. Science
would not have undertaken Il, had
We not been compelled 70 turn 70 our
own resources after Germany began
the war.
II is stated. on excellent authority,
that in California there is a lake so
rich I'm potash that q VIII he able 20
supply the entire needs OF the United
States for nearly a hundred years.
The emergency and necessity occa-
STONED by tho war have. many ways.
turned the attention Of the American
people. and especially men OF capital
and science 10 tho possible utilization
! Of resources which before 1918 were
looked upon as waste products or as
entirely worthless.
what Science Did for Dye stun..
one Of the sbIest leaders Of IN.
/ financial districts said in July. 1914.
that he was confident Germany would
not begin hostilities because. II war
began and was continued. Germany
would lose much the greater part OF
! the vast world trade she had secured.
and would probably compel the United
/ States 10 turn 10 hitherto unsuspected
resources in order TO obtain connncdi-
ties which were formerly almost ex-
clusivelv secured from Germany.
This man was correct in his forecast
Germany did lose its world trade Il
did forfeit the great American market
IL had obtained for dye stufrs and
potash. and Il has apparently lost this
market forever. For our people, Put
upon their own resources. called upon
science and capital to aid them m
securing commodities IN the United
States in such amounts as to make
this country hereafter independent OF
Germany
One Of the first undertakings OF
capital and science was the develop
rnent Of the dye stun industry When
Germany began the war she was max
I ing three-fourthS OF all the finished
dyes used throughout the world, and
much OF the Intermediates.
supply Dye for Others
Now science and capital. WORT
ing in harmony. and by reason OF the
emergencies Of war. have denonstra-, :,
ted we can produce not only dye
stuffs in sufficient quantity for dornes-
tic use. but also in such amounts as
TO make II possible for US 10 export
large quantities. One Of the suthori-
ties recently stated that in 1915, the
United States exported more dye
stufrs than we ever imported IN q
single yesr.
In Pittsburgh. and other places
where glass has been an important
domestic industry. science has shown
how TO make chemical glass ware
of better quality than any heretofore
imported. Americans now command
this industry. To do this would not
have been thought possible in the
years which preceded the outbreak
Of war.
One Of the authorities recently
stated that our men OF capital and
science nut their heads together tot
see IL II were possible to secure al
the manganese we need for steel man