Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-10-28
Chemical Aid
For Business
ByFroierlc J Haskin.


| ns n power TO revolutionize industry l'iat
as strongly as Fulton ever believed ~
| his eteafnbont or bell in the telephone
| Chemistry il already acknowledged as an
| irnportant factor in industry, but this
| firm sava that the possibilities Of applying
| eoienoe 10 business have scarcely Deon
| tanned. n points cut that by the present
methods Of handling materials reckleasly
| and burning up waste rich m poss ibiiitlss,
| the oonntrys resources are dWindling 20
| rapidly that efficiency md scientific man
agement will have 70 be carTed soon 70
much higher degree.
In fow years VIC may expect 10 ma
| IL n common thing for a factory - ro-
tain n chemist Just as il now employs q
lawyer. Many largo plants already man
tain chemical Laboratories. One u Bos-
ton's biggest and most efficient depart
ment stores has such laboratory Ana
here in Cambridge by the Charles River,
there il the big yellow brick building n
tbis coroDany which conducts a thriving
bIIainess MS chemical adYi8er and as-
.iatant 10 all sorts of manufacturer, M
yentors. tradesmen, and professional
men. Thore is no line of industry Wmch
cannot be benefited by applied chemistry
the firm maintains, and the variety d ~
activities strengthens this broad ciaim
One client, manufacturer rece.uy
discovered that "A kind Of shoe polish
u,bicb hi had long been purchasing, was
not being rnade any more. ne matter
was ta ken up with the industrial chemists
and an old bottle Of the polish supplied.
Then the manufacturer went homo and
IN a short time he received the formula
he wanted and help ~ establishing mo
necessary apparatus 70 make his oWh
nolieh
Another plant was having trouble
With it's product minute tapioca- be-
coming rnifdewed The chemists made
~ rvev of the machinery IN use and iound
that the trouble WIS due % tho -four being
boiled in tin. When the TIN was replaced
with wood and the process changed
slightly there was no more mildew
TESTS FoR MERcHANDI q
7, s+ill another insteanos tn firm vas
reo,1estad 70 make q series Of tests Tor a
merchant tn ascertain IN 9 wearing quality
~ several kinds of stockings. Arfihcial
lights yere used To hasten the discoloraIon
! ordinarily caused BY sunlight -Peciai
/ apparatus produced the effects q r7lDoing'
/ soap. mud and wear, and careful recoras
/ we're obtained, 70 that from the hnai r..
/ mort the dealer knew All the strong and
/ geak points Of the different brands q
+ stockings he had been carrying.
This last job is interesting oeoa,i-' Y
! shows how chemistry u slowly elVefihs
/ the buying game, and rendering innoclous
+ the barney Of the dapper travelling saleS-
7 nan or course II viii be some time he-
4 sa-o the small tov-n general store with -
+ modest capital can afford - have -
stock aualvzed 10 find out whether the
4 elk or lcat her il i buying : ~ good as
/ the salesman said. But big stores are dong
+ .hia. They sav that il IS better y nave
test show up a poor grade a Elk Detofe
+ .hev invest than TO wait and have c'is-
/ toners find flaws and possibly cave the
s.ore forever. On the other hand, z me
/ material in lot 81 dresses mas been sclen-.
/ tifirallv tested for wesr. dyes ana qilaiity
4 and has proved durable. the customer can
] safely be- assured Of satisfaction
To core with the varying proolerIs put
70 II. the firm here mas to employ ehanalsts
who are unusually versatile. ne COM
nauv has the reputation q neln1 inc
greatest paper authority u tne country
II has a small paper mil 10 one q II
laboratories and chemists are almost AZ
wavs working here on some new paper
rro;ect. There are also many demands Tor
work on glass and fueis. but ior me ll1st ls
mart each new contract calls ior new
angie OF investigation.
HELPING THE PLANTERS
An usual problem 70 which the chemists
worked out 2n ingenious solution vas
Can weeds in a sugar cane pieAtallou
bs controlled more cheaply and einclentLy
/ than bv constant hand-weedlng
The concern which wanted this question
/ answered was In Hawaii. ne reseaTch
! chemists spent some time n experiInssAls
+ and deep thought and lnalIy ener -e1
/ with kind Of SOFT but heavy brown paper
/ which they have made from 2 waste l'l---
! teriaI of the sugar mill called oae..sst''
/ This paper was Impregnated Win Asptlai
/ and was laid out in long STRIPS ln (, iieia
where cane had been planted heu
i the vorpe cane sprouted, its sharp poiated
| shoots pierced the felt paper and shot up
/ h11t weeds could not get through ana dle4'
| This simple arrangement, using the ma
/ tarisl which the mill had been burLlL IS
+ worthless, increases the yield OF sugar
+ cane 25 Der cent, and decreases the cost y
/ labor for wedding 80 per cent.
Reclamation of waste IS one oI me
/ chemist most important fields 81 service
/ In the instance ofthe sugar mall the oag'Asse
became valuable because II Was fignt ~
hand and could be cheapiy converted INTO
paper BY the mill uSelt.
4 more vital instance 81 go'u 4it'-'e' s."
neglected turned up IN the south ~ con-
lection with the long leaf yellow pi.,e
This pin, has been the malnstay q me
naval store industry. but now iumoer men
have begun to worry over the turpeutine
and rosin prospects, for they hg'ire that
the supply Of virgin yellow pine IS due 70
last only about 10 OF - years longer
VALUABLE STUNTS.
TIN, propbsition was put up - the .n-
dIstrial chemists They found that ~
the south there are thousands ot acres ot
pine stunps. Experiments with some ot
these discarded Stumps showed that. Il
they are shredded and solvent added,
turpentine, roSin, and pine on can ne
extracted. These stumpS were proved 60
be richer IN turpentme than the trees
themselves. and the sol from winch they
were blasted is fertile enough 70 be good
land for cotton growing.
These facts. discovered about three
wears ago, are beng applied e a small eN-
tent now. Utilization OF the stump lands.
however, is more expensive than the old
method Of tapping trees, - that y Is NOT
likely to become popular for tCw years
,.at rr =, INnrr .as ha SllpplN Of trees lasts