Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-11-03
DIR. Parmenter Gives
Interesting Paper
Before KiWanians

before hIWanlanS
The regular meeting of the XII
wants club was held at the Elmwood
hotel last evening. The speaker of
the evening was, DR.. George ~ Par
menter, head of the chemistry de.
parfment Of Colby college. who. ga ne
a very interesting paper on chem
istry and Its Aid to Civiliza ton
DIR. Parmenter spoke in part as fol-
lows:
from the remotest antiquity men
have banded together for protection,
for obtaining food and for various
other matters Of mutual advanta &c.
am here tonight to tell you of an
other band of men who are unite.,
for tho advancement of civilization.
refer to the American Chemical
Society with its $4,000 member $.
These men have done wonderful
work. They publish three maya :
zines which contain all Of the work
which has been accomplished during
the year and ii is possible at any
time to gather from these whether
anything which has been undertake
ell has been accomplished and il it
has not been completed. to .i'ld pIst
how far the work on 1t has pro
pressed. In THIS way. these men can
take advantage Of discoveries 81
each other and use them COR tho
common good.
This cooperation has placed this
country lar in advance of all others
In fl,n vi re- <t,A 60,
This has been particularly so during
the pest eight or ten years: before
that time the lead in chemistry WAS
in Europe. row it is in America.
The war was a great incentive to
the chemists of this country. Before
that time there We're five or six
concerns making Il small part oi our
requirements in dyes; now there ale
90 concerns making dyes and over 100
making products from which lycs
are made Our exports of chemicals
are increasing rapidly every year
and we are coming To the forefront
in the manufacture Oh all kinds.
1t is the chemist who has been able
resources and to make them of more
value to the country. Tie chemist
has produced oxygen, nitrogen, clor-
inc and the nla1y gases anti sub
stances which have such Il bearing
on the life Of man today. All the
articles which you buy and sell today
are dependent to a great extent on
chemistry.
We frequently hear Cf this as the
iron age, and it is the chemist who
has made it possible, who watches
over the iron ore from the time it is
mined until it is changed into its
various forms. The bed we sleep on,
the spring on the bed. the utensils in
which our food is cooked and even
much of our food Jig dependent on
iron. In the growth of pineapples 1T
is necessary to sprinkle iron over the
growing plants which causes them
to have an abundant growth. The
great steel industry with it's 1858
establishments employing over a mill
lion people and turning out products
valued at over five and one-half bill
lions of dollars last year is absolutely
dependent on the chemist. Aluni-
mum which is now in common use
was shown to my class when I was
a student in college as metal which
if someone could find way to ex-
tract it from it's ore would be ex-
tremely valuables The way was
found by young chemist and we
have the metal in it's thousands of
uses today.
So with the photograph film of to-
day. 1t was found by chemists that
light caused certain chemicals to
change and from this was developed
the photo plate and later the film. A
little change in the film producing
material and you have cellulOid. an
other and you have artificial Gather.
Still another change and you have
artificial silk of which over $35,O00,-
600 worth will be produced in 1928.
Our great petroleum industry
which we are apt to think of in
terms Of gasoline is dependent upon
chemistry and it has developed the
many hundreds of articles which are
found in crude petroleum. The lat
est is helium gas. which Is found in
the crude produced in Texas. and it
is with this gas that the great Fri
is filled and it maybe that it is the
forerunner of successful navigation
of the air.
Another product that has been de-
veloped by the chemist is sulphur.
Until short time ago all the sulphur
used in this country was imported
from Italy, then great beds Of sulphur
were discovered in Texas. but it was
80 far below the surface that it was
impossible to mine it and for time
1t was thought impossible to obtain
but chemist devised a plan TO send
down live steam and dissolve the sui
phur and bring 1t to tho surface and
since then the sulphur Of this country
has been secured there.
Many other product lilo alcohol
and vinegar and rubber have been
produced by TIE chemist. In the
case of the last named it, has been
fonnd that tho rubber grown from
cultivated trees IS cheaper then
that which can be produced by the
chemist. so this has been abandoned
Glass has been made in this country
since the first settlement and IT. hos
been developed wonderfully by the
aid of the chemist. without glass we
should he unable TO see manr OF the
things which We know TODAY, many
of us would be blind and nrch of the
utensils which we use for eating
would be useless.
One OF the most wonderful steps
in chemistry hes been the production
Of organic matter. In this way for
instance. oil of checllbe-rv can he
made by the chemist exactly as it is
produced by the checkbcrrv tree
Herbert Hoover has said: NO
known Icrson can estimate the con-
tribution of the science of chemistry
tn the advancement of civilization.
The enormous advance in the stand
ards of living. the greater margins
of comfort the lesscning of physical
eyertionS required to Obtain these
things. the relief of suffering. tie
extension of health end life. have all
received the most vital contributions
from the applied science of chemis-
try"
Another feature of the evening was