The Penn's Grove record., 1921-01-14
German Chemists
Arrived Last Week
DUPONT Company Gets Experts
To Further Develop Their
Dye Industry

The dupont Company has been the
| oldest and most reliable in American
industrial chemistry, especially the
making of powder. Since the arrival Of
Pierre 5. dupont from France in 1893,
at the solicitation of Thomas jefferson,
to the present Pierre dupont, no family
in America has a record to equal i'll in
maintaining scions who have kept up
a record Cf honesty, industry ana
righteous living as continuing fore
most in their business as chemical
compOunders of explosives or any other
industry.
Many men nave risen to industrial
prominence and became wealthy. With
wealth came luxurious living and dis
sipauion. With such, others who rose
from the bottom owned and controlled
the business in a few years, but in the
dupont family there continued an eX-
tensive line of men who who had the
energy, mind and honest incentive to
work. regardless of the millions they
inherited or earned
When they did not know and heard
of Others discovering something in
their line they had the sagacity of an
open mind to get onto it for the deVel-
opment and continuation of their in
dustries. That is, they did not be
come bone-heads and let their bust
ness die of dry rot while others kept
up with the progress of creation.
They showed their superiority as a
family OF brains by being prepared to
supply the powder which won the World
War. The men behind the guns got
the goat of the Huns, but the minds
which directed the men who made the
powder must be considered the real
winners of the World War.
Abou twenty-five years ago when
smokeless powder was invented by a
German, Francis 6. dupont n his
son, Francis l. DUPONT, soon got onto
the making of smokeless powder on Car
neys Point. 1t was first used in the
war with Spain in 1898. Continuous
experimenting brought improvements,
until the water dry" method was in
vented, whereby powder was made in
u fews days which formerly required
months to dry.
The chemistry of making dyes from
coal tar is similar to making smoke
less powder in various grades. Ger
many took pride as a nation in the de-
velopment of its chemical industry,
while Americans are less patriotic in
aking pride in their inventors and
~patronizing their home products.
Before the United states entered
the World War the dupont Company
began experimenting for the making
of dyes. There was a big demand be-
cause the supply from Germany was
cut off by the British blockade. The
DUPONT Company began the erection
of a ten million dollar dye plant on
Deep Water Plant in 1917, before
Powder Plant No. 3 was completed.
After the United States entered the
World Wan in April, 1917, the formulas
which the Germans had taken out
patent rights for in the United States,
ia 90 ILL.,,
These Were taken over by a corpora
ton and the use Of them leased to COM
panies to use. Several of the patents
did not give the quantities to be used
nor the temperature and time for the
new chemical combinations to devel-
velop, hence much experimenting was
required.
The dupont Company has one of the
best research laboratories, near Will
mington. Del, and have had skilled
German chemists for the past four
years. They have been able TO pro-
duce several standard dyes and about
one hundred different shades in hues,
but the trades require between three
and four hundred to meet the fantastic
tastes of the elite fashions.
So the dupont Company has pro-
cured two expert chemists from Ger
many. Last week DR.. Otto Runger
and DR.. Joseph Flashlander, graduates
of the University of Munich, arrived
in New York. They are dye experts
and promise to give the dupont Com
pany the needed information to make
the various colors of fixed dyes, for
S25, 900 a year each, on a ten year con-
tract. They brought their families
and a. governesS.
They were expected to begin work
at Deep Water last Wednesday.
After the labor squeeze gets over
it is expected the Dye Works will
start with a larger force and hundreds
of dye colors will be made to equal
German dyes.
If the manufacturers of wooden, cot
ton and leather goods had a little more
patriotic spirit, the American dye in
dustry would flourish.