Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1920-01-15
WORLDS BIGCEST
NITRATE PLANT
Mammoth Explosives Factory
in Alabama Built In
Eight Months.
ALL SPEED RECORDS BROKEN
Could Supply 13 Per Cent OF
Allies Needs Had War
Continued.
ALL SPEED RECORDS BROKEN
ny oAaRKT eMITH.

Lifting the ban OF war secrecy has
Just now brought to light for the first
time one Of the most stupendous 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 q city around Il
for the housing OF its 2a.0Oo worknsn
and their families At the sams time
Is revealed one OF the chief reasons
why Germany suddenly surrendered q
year ago. The German high command
knew that the United States was
ready at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to
manufacture IS per cent Of all the
high explosives needed by all the Al
He'd armies on all fronts in the expect
ed drive OF the following spring.
The frst person on construction
work reached Muscle Shoals On No
vember 20, 1917. On February 16
1918. ground was first broken for Q
permanent plant building. On octo-
Der 26, 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 very fact that our indus
tries were already worked to capacity
providing ammunition to the allies
seemed to make further production for
our own use impossible.
Fertilizer Process Turned to War Use.
At this juncture the Ordnance De-
partment turned to cyanamid, a com.
mercial fertilizer, which had for some
years been produced successfully at
Niagara Falls, by a process the Ameri-
can rights of which were obtained In
1907 from Germany by Frank Sher-
man Washburn, head Of the American
Cyanamid Company.
BY this process cyanamid was pro-
duced by extracting nitrogen from the
air and combining II with calcium OBJ
tanned from limestone rock and carbon
from coke. BY putting cyanamid
through three mere processes both am.
monia and nitric acid can be extracted
from 1t and combined into the explo-
sive, ammonium nitrate. Mr.. Wash.
burn was invited to present plans and
estimates for the construction In the
shortest possible time Of an ammonium
nitrate plant at Muscle Shoals, Ala.
bama, and O contract between his com.
pany and the United States was enter.
ed into under date Of November 16,
1917.
To have general supervision OF plan.
ming and carrying out the work an or
ganization known rs the Air Nitrates
Corporation was formed to act as
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
other sections OF the work wsre sub
let to organizations that were Special
lists in the directions in which they
were asked to help.
New City Built From the Ground.
1t was necessary 10 build new
town to house the lrhorers For this
Job westinghouse Church Kerr Com.
pany was called in es contractor This
company also built the buildings Of the
chemical plant within four months
1900 wOrkmen hnd heen assembled
and city canp'l" 9f accommodating
25O0O irhahitnnfs bad hecn completed,
with LODGING restaurants. stores Of
y.i irn
departments. hosn'i"'s motion picture
thenters. electric i'rht and sewerage
systems
The construction ~ the plant proper
was begun on Fehr''prv 10 1918 Just
eight months and c'~~' days LATER the
big plan hegan n s''.,'dy output of ana
monium nitrate ~" plant contains
113 permanent huii'gngs. with roof
area OF over 20 acres
To provide the electric current II
was necessary tc ru1d steam power
electric plant. for ~ world have taken
three years or more 10 camp'ptc the
dam and hydro ,'o"'r'c station now uH-
dr' way. This plan' built by the j. c.
White Corporation is ore Of the lnrg
est steam plants Spr developing ciec-
trical energy in the world.
Th' output OF the plant is 200 tons of
ammonium nitrate day. and this can
i've produced AZ Muscle Shoals az cost
less ihan one-hnlf tho standard fixed
price paid by the Government for am
mouiur nitrate produced by other
r,eH DIS and onefourfh to one-fift,, tho
cost Of ether high explosives Of cqnal
strength. Cemparcr with the older
process of making ammonium nitrate,
the savings made by this plant wsuld
have paid the $50 100000 cost OF the
entire plant in about one and one-hatf
years If operation.