Pueblo chieftain., 1922-03-02
countered in mines and about blast
furnaces into harmless carbon dioxide.
MAKING ICE PLANTS SAFE

MAKING ICE PLANTS SAFE
The use of ammonia in hotels. res
! taurants, ice plants, and the like for
refrigcrating purposes has become ex-
tcnsivc. Ammonia gas is used in in
dustry under high pressure. and when
leak occurred II was formerly impos-
sible for anyone to enter the room and
shut off the valves. The Chemical
Warfare Service discovered that silica
gel. used In the canister Of gas mask
was adequate protection against am
monia gas. This has proven a great
boon to industry, and made an am
moria leak an easiiy controlled and
minor event.
Tho research work of th, service
has developed tremendously the knowl-
edge about the production and uses Of
high grade charcoal. Relatively little
had been known about It. one of the
uses of this high grade charcoal is in
obtaining gasoline from natural gas.
Experiments are now under way with
the idea of producing charcoal direct
from coal. something OF immense in
dustrial importance which has never
yet been done.
In co-operation with the Department
o. Agriculture. chemical experiments
are being conducted for the develop
ment OF new means Of destroying ami
mai and bird pests in this country.
Tentative projects have been outlined
for killing gophcrs. ground squirrels.
blackbirds. and other pests which do
millions OF dollars OF damage to crops
every year. Chlorine gas. first used by
the Germans at Ypres-has been found
cfficacious In cNterminating gophcrs
Cooperative projects arc under way
to determine what chemical agents
arc useful for cNterminating insect
pests and to hit upon the best means
for employing them. Several of tho
most important war Easses have given
great promise OF usefulness in thia di-
rcction. Partial success has been OBJ
tanned in finding chemical means of
fighting tho cotton boil wecvil. EN-
periments with gas bombs TO control
forest fires in their initial ctages were
tried, and the information gained has
been of benefit to tho Forest Service.
FIGHTING POTATO BUGS
One use to which chemicals arc
being put is in the eradication of the
blister beetle. commonly called tho
potato bug. These insects make their
appearance suddenly. and n reliable in
sccticidc is necessary In order TO con-
troll them. There are and have been
insccticides on the market for years,
but the Chemical Warfare Service has
cNpcl1lntnICu alOnE tIls WIN lH'
idea of obtaining an even more re-
liable means of combating this pest
and one which could he sold at lower
price than usually obtains. IL is Of
ficially stated that valuable results
have been obtained TO date from the
actual test OF these chemicals on
plants"
For the Bureau of Standards. the
Chemical Warfare Service is, coopcrat-
ing to aid in determining the flow of
gas frcni natural gas fields thru the
medium of great meters, Tho appara-
tus of the Chcical Warfare Service
will be used for this purpose.
Chemical means are being used or
cSperImentcd with to destroy locusts
in the Philippine Islands. rats in the
sugar cane fields OF Hawaii, in the mat
ter OF spraying fruit trees from air
planes, and in the Improvement of the
oxygen breathing apparatus in use in
mines the world over. One difficulty
with this apparatus has been to find
something impervious to gasoline vap-
ors. and 1t is believed that this diff
Guilty soon will be overcome thru the
perfection of chemically treated
cloth
Another important development
coming out OF tho necessity OF devils
iug clothing and materials iinpcrvioue
to mustard gas. has becu to obtain
much material uf value In determine