Omaha daily bee., 1921-06-12

Get Il
Cost Price
Major Risks Court-Martial to
Prevent Dumping Of 26,0O0,-
600 Pounds of Explosive
Into Ocean.
To Be Used for Blasting
Chicago Tribune-omaha Bee Leased Wire

scientific parlance, trinitropheno
! (TNT) will be distributed shortl.
to the farmers of the west for blast
ing purposes This acid, a part o
the great store of explosives intended
by the United States army to blow
the huns out of their trenches j,
France, will be turned over to th'
farmer at cost by the United State!
Department of Agriculture. Picri'
acid is very similar to INT, $4,000,
900 pounds of which were distributed
by the department to the states fol
highway construction.
Behind this prosaic announcement
of the Department of Agriculture
there is a story of a major in the
ordnance department of the United
States army who was confrontet
with seeing this $l0,000,000 OF val,l.
able property dumped into the ocean
or with risking court-martial to save
| it.
Explosive Not Destroyed.
Perhaps it was because the mai
is red-headed, perhaps the aggressive
| fighting chin was responsible, but al
any rate the Sl0,000,000 was not de.
stroyed and farmers of the country
will shortly enjoy the benefit from
the officers refusal to execute an
order. Furthermore. the soldier was
not disciplined.
About the time that the German
kaiser decided to change his resi-
dence from Berlin to Doom, the War
department announced that 26000,-
600 pounds of INT would be
dumped into the Pacific and Atlantic
oceans. Major Connolly, at his desk
in the ordnance department, read the
official order before. it got to the
newspapers. The major, who is a
chemical engineer himself, knew that
the INT had cost the United States
government from IS to so cents a
pound and that before America got
into the war it had sold as high as
SIPS a pound.
He did not know that he could
utilize an explosive intended to blow
human beings to pieces, for the less
exciting, but more useful work OF
blowing stumps and blasting rocks,
but he was convinced that II could
be done. He was so thoroughly
convinced that he appealed to his
chief to rescind the order, and fail
ing there he appealed to Secretary
of War Baker, thereby laying HIM
self liable to army discipline Failing
to convince the secretary of war, he
carried his appeal to the late Secre-
tary of Interior Franklin K. Lane,
thereby aggravating the original Of.
fense.
Would Find Way of Use.
"Mr. Lane said the major, if
you will get this 26,000,000 pounds
of TINT from the War depart
ment will find the way that you can
use it in building roads, in carrying
out your reclamation work and in
every project that the government
has on hand in connection with
waste land There is not chemical
manufactured by this government
for war purposes that can't be con-
verted now into peace usuage. Any
thing that the government has in
chemicals that those fellows say has
no value, let me work with and |
will prove that they are wrong"
That was turning swords into
plow shares"~in reality. Secretary
Lane saw the point. Moreover, at
that time, the secretary had on hand
his project for placing soldiers on
government lands and he realized the
immense saving that could be effect
ed by securing the war explosives.
DR.. Charles K. Munroe, chief ex-
plosives chemist of the bureau OF
mines, an authority on this subject.
was asked his opinion. DR.. Munroe,
it developed, was also interested in
saving the munitions and he advised
the department that INT as well
as the other material could be en-
ployed for commercial purposes.
Legislation Necessary.
Secretary Lane thereupon request
ed the secretary of war to turn over
the INT to the Department of the
Interior. Secretary Baker agreed
to do so, but it was found that spe-
cial legislation by congress was
necessary before this could be done.
The powder companies did not look
with favor upon this action OF the
government If INT was to be
used for making good roads, for
building dams, for reclamation in
Alaska, naturally the government
would not be in the market for COM
mercial dynamite.
1t was not long before one Of their
representatives called upon the Gus
todian of these munitions in the bu-
reau of mines. He felt particularly
outraged that the government,
which had bought explosives at
fancy prices during the var, should
use those explosives for purposes
other than that OF which they had
been manufactured. He grew more
indignant as the interview pro-
gressed and declared that if the In
terror department persisted in its pur-
pose, many OF the powder plants of
the country would be closed, capi-
tai would suffer a loss and labor
would be thrown out of employment.
Finally he asked if the War depart
ment requested the return Of these
munitions would the Interior depart
ment give them up. He was informed |
that this could not be done as the
Turn to Page Two, Column Four.)