Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-04

flash of that wild nitrogen
in the harness of useful work
marked the completion of an unprece-
dented salvage of war waste-the uti-
lization of $25 100000 worth of military
explosives that lay in this country
awaiting transport to Europe when the
armistice was signed.
Because of the high explosive charac-
ter of these tons of ammunition, the
authorities at first proposed to destroy
them as a measure of safety. But here
in Washington, in the Bureau of Mines,
is Dr. Charles E. Munroe, chief explo-
sives chemist, whose New England con-
science hated to see so much energy go
to waste. His intimate knowledge OF
these high tempered, quick triggered
chemicals told him, moreover, that they
might be put to work. He suggested
that it would be both cheaper and safer
to use this surplus material in expert
mental investigation, in engineering
projects and in agriculture.
WHAT Turn over picric acid and
TINT for farmers and road builders to
tinker with? Too dangerouS!"
Some carloads of picric acid were
loaded onto barges in New York, towed
to sea and dumped into the Atlantic.
Within few days cases of the unexplod-
ed stuff began to drift ashore here and
there along the New Jersey and Long
Island beaches. 1t was a ticklish job
for the men hurriedly sent out in boats
to find the floating death and fish it
out of the water-and, too, it was eff
fective demonstration of the danger Of
destroying" the explosives.
A soon as the authorities decided to
~ release the surplus for industrial
use, DR.. Munroe and members of his
staff began a series of tests at the Ex-
plosives Experiment Station of the Bu-
reau of Mines, at Bruceton, Pa. Their
object was to determine the best meth
DDS of handling INT, picric acid and
comminuted smokelesS powder as blast
ing agents. The results were published,
certain experts were assigned to instruct
industrial workers and agriculturists in
the technique, and the deadly war stuff
was put to work on peace-ti re jobs
Thousands of tons were distributed.
The disposal of these military left-overS
at cost saved the Government many
millions of dollars.
I mention this modern realization of
the ancient vision of swords beat into
ploughShares by way OF introducing, in
characteristic action, the Governments
chemist who initiated the project and
who advised and safeguarded every step
of it. For Charles E. Munroe, though
he has been expounding the theories
of chemistry all his life and has been
teacher of the science most of his years,
is a hard-headed utilitarian who is
continually looking for practical uses
and applications of it. The story of
explosives is a fascinating one, but far
more so is the story of its master ex-
perimenter.
He was 81 years old the other day
Charles Edward Munroe, inventor Of
smokeleSs powder, formerly master Of
torpedo research for the United States
Navy, head of explosives investigations
for the National Research Council and
chief explosives chemist for the United
Bureau of Mines-82 years old and on
every day!
An eminent German scientist recent
dressed Munroe as 1.-THE Nestor of living
tigators of explosives" On his 80th bi
q European scientific journal issued a
Munroe edition, which hailed him as I'd
explosives information"
Both titles ht-though, as I have sug
this Nestor seems to have attained the
tain of youth, and though the dean is r
ally one of the least explosive and most
and delightfully."- companionable persons
Unable, no man living has done more to
the mysteris and advance the knowlede
safeguard the use of explosives than hs
scholarly American
But DR.. Munroe is an encyclopedia on
subjects-the literature of chemistry, the
of mineralogy, the vulnerability of bank
the delights of horticulture. the great p
alities of American science.
If he would write his memoirs, what
lery they would make! Wolcott Gibbs
chemist; the Agassizes (both Louis and
ander), Benjamin Pierce and Benjamin
man, jr.; President Eliot as he entered
his service at Harvard, Joseph Henry, tn
secretary Of the Smithsonian institution