Evening star., 1924-11-05

beouest amounting to $1e,ooo,eoo
has been left for the beneht OF amer
lean agricultural chemistry research
by the widow of the great chemist
Herman Frasch.
From more than one standpoint,
This heouest is of extraordinary in
terest 1t is the sequel Of the ro-
mantle success of a moneyless Ger
man immigrant who came to this
country when he was Is years old
He had acquired some educatlon IN
chemistry in Wurttemberg, Germany
and almost Immediately oegan d
career as a chemist without a paraiiei
in achievements. Before he was "a
wears old he invented waxed or
naraftin paper. which so pleased the
Standard Oil Company that the man
agement induced him to give up other
connections and devote his attention
to petroleum inventions.
The list of his patents for methods
Of refining oils Is long one. Ihe
greatest success in refining was in
deordorizing Canadian and Ohio petro-
leum so as to eliminate its sulphurlc
odor. Prior to that the oil could be
used only for fuel and was sold for
IA cents a barrel, while Pennsylvania
oil. being free from sulphur odor, sold
for s2.25 a barrel DR. Frasch made
the sulphuric oil as pure and as
valuable as the Pennsylvania oil,
thereby adding many millions of dol
lars a year to the products OF the
Standard Oil Company, and also to
the owners of oil wells in canada
and Ohio
In Louisiana there existed sui
phur deposit Of immense value, but
it was 1000 feet below the surface
and over it lay 500 feet of Quicksand,
which made it impossible to sink
shaft. DR.. Frasch drilled well with
a 10-inch pipe down through the
quicksand, and sank a 6-tnch pipe
within the larger pipe and S-inch
pipe inside the six-inch pipe. Then
he pumped superheated water $3.50
degrees Fahrenheit-nearly twice tine
heat Of boiling water) down the O.
inch pipe, which melted the sulphur
at the bottom and forced the melted
sulphur up through the central 81
inch pipe. Very simple process, of
course, when it had proved a success.
though most other engineers and
chemists laughed at the plan. while
the years were passing before sue
cess. As Edison has remarked: "All
that Is necessary for success in life is
brains-just a little brains!"
Immediately after the molten sui
phur began to flow, America ceased
10 pc utpSHoShS opOh Ncih
her supply, and became not only SELF
dependent, but produced enough to
supply all the worlds needs, from the
six Frasch wells. The flow amounts
to 500 tons a day, and it is e9A per
cent pure sulphur.
\, r +
Although born in Germany, the true
Americanism of DR.. Frasch is demon
strated by the freedom with which
his widow, presumably through his
inspiration, has been able to devote
almost his entire fortune to the de-
yelopment of American agricultural
chemistry. The bequest will be held
by a trust company, and the income
from it will be administered by a
board of trustees, through such in
corporated institutions of science as
the board may select.
The history of agricultural chemis-
try, up to the present is not long
story, though the science has made
! great strides within the present gen.
Grafton, and is even now upon the
verge of other great advances.
1t is a remarkable coincidence that
the year "a of each of the last three
centuries has been marked by some
| outstanding step in chemical advance.
In an address given by. DR.. c. A.
Browne, chief of the Bureau of
Chemistry. United States Department
Of Agriculture, October 3, upon the
opening Of Goessman Chemical Labora-
tory, at Amherst. the speaker called