Mrs. Grundy. (Tracy City, Tenn.) 1903-1930, 1920-01-15
WORLDS BIGGEST
NITRATE PLANT
Mammoth Explosives Factory
N Alabama Built In
Eight konths.
ALI SPEED RECORDS BROKEN
Gould Supply - Per Cent q
Allies Needs Had War
Continued. e
e,stgNIrsa I s 4 IsHR.
AL SPEED RECORDS BROKEN
BY GARNET SMITH.

Lifting the ban. OF war secrecy has
Just now brought to light for, the first
time one of the most stupsndous feats
Of construction In history the PLAN
ming and building in less than one year.
Of the largest ammonium nitrate plant
In. the world and Of 4 city around Il
for the housing Of its $4,000 workmen
and their families. At the same time
10 revealed one of the chief reasons
why Germany suddenly surrendered .
year ago. The German high command
knew that the United States was
ready ut Muscle Shoals, Alabama. to
manufacture Is per cent of all the
high explosives needed BY al the Al.
lied armies on all fronts in the expect
ed drive Of the following spring.
The hrst person on construction
work reached Muscle Shoals on No
vemberN 20, 1917. On February 1s.
1918. ground was nrst broken for
permanent plant building. On Octo-
Der 20, 1918. eight months and eight
days later, the manufacturing plant
had begun the production Of ammo
Mum nitrate.
When America entered the world
war In April. 1917. she had no means
Of producing the enormous quantities
Of high explosives necessary, to pro-
vide the huge army she planned to
raise. The .yery fact that orr indus
tries were already worked to capacity
providing ammunition to the allies
seemed to make. further production for
our own use impossible. q
Fertilizer Process Turned to War Uss.
At this ,juacturs the Ordnance De-
partment turned to cyanamid, Z com.
merciai fertilizer, which had for some
years been produced successfully ut
Niagara Falls, by q process the Ameri-
can rights Of which were obtained 10
1897 from Germany BY Frank Sher.
man WashburR. head Of the American
Cyanamid Company.
ny this process cyanamid was pro-
duced by extracting nitrogen from the
afr and combining 1t with calcium Oh.
tanned from limestone rock and carbon
from coke. BY putting cyanamid
through three more processes both. ana
naoaia and nitric acid can be extracted
from 1t and combined into the exple.
siye. ammOnium nitrate. Mr.. Wash.
burn was Invited to present plans and
estimates for the construction In the
shortest possible time Of an ammonium
nltrate plant at Muscle Shoals, Ala
bama, and a contract between his com.
pany and the United States was enter
ed int under date Of November 10,
1917.
To have general supervision Of plan
Ming and carrying out the work an or
ganixati0n known ~ the Air Nitrates
Corposation was formed to act -
agent OF the Ordnance Department.
This corporation provided the general
designs, supervised all the work and
operated the camp, the town and the
plant. 1t also installed all, equipment
in the chemical plant. The various
ether sections Of the work were sub.
let to organizations that were special.
lists in the directions In which they
were asked to help.
hs~ city BvIit From the orsund.
It vas necessary to build new
town to house the laborers. Fer this
lob Westinghouse Church Kerr Com
pany was called in a. contractor. This
company also built the buildings OF the
chemical plant. Within four months
1900 workmen had been assembled
and 1 city capable Of accommodating
5000 Inhabitants had been completed,
with lodging. restaurants. stores, Of
scss. police headquarters, schools. IRE
departments, hospitals. motion picture
thsatsrs, electric light and sewerage
systems.
The constructien Of the plant proper
was berun on February 10. 1sls. Just