Evening star., 1936-12-01
BY WILLIAM GILMAN.

for the nations poor in
some major natural resources, the
chemical warfare game is one in which
they are least handicapped.
With the exception of Italy, all have
adequate supplies Of coal, from which
come the coal-tar quadrupeds. dyes,
explosives, poisons and medicines.
They have all learned how to use
nitrogen from the air. Salt is scat
tered all over the world, and that
means plentiful supply Of chlorine.
Chemists are finding ways of getting
around shortages Of sulphur.
BY the end Of the World War there
had been run q mad race for the
draw" with the new chemical
weapons. That race is still going on.
with ingenuity at a premium. There
are new gases and new masks to stop
them.
Observers can tell how many in
fantry divisions Japan can muster
against Russia and how many cruisers
England can send to the Mediter-
ranean, but nobody knows for certain
what uper-chemicaIs formula lies
in the war department archives at
Washington or Paris.
Mustard Poison Gas King.
The game has spread out. There
IS mustard, called the king of poison
gases" though 1t is in danger OF
being outmoded; smoke screens like
titanium tetrachloride and incendiary
bombs like those containing thermite.
Chemical warfare today also means
f1ame-throwers and germ-spreaders.
In this game the nation with the
most scientific ingenuity and fewest
scruples stands best chance Of win
ming. The necessary raw materials
are few. The best-Known tear gas,
chloracetophenone, is made from
chlorine and two chemicals produced
by the distillation of coal, carbolic
acid and benzine.
For mustard, one needs only alco-
hol, sulphur and chlorine. Add a bit
of arsenic to other common chemicals
and you have lewisite. which Gen.
A. A. Fries has dubbed the dew of
DEATH" so effective is it when sprayed
from an airplane.
OF the raw materials, coal Is the
great necessity in this brand of war.
When the United States Department
of Commerce lists Germany, the
United States, Great Britain, Russia,
Japan, Italy. France. Switzerland and
Poland as the worlds leading pro-
ducers of coal-tar dyes, it is also list
ing the poison gas arsenals. Dye plants
can be converted almost overnight
into cauldrons of killing chemicals.
Germany Main Dye Producer.
Again, Germany can stand reveal
ing analysis. She has the big requi-
site, scientific brains, and she is more
over the worlds leading producer Of
dyes. This makes her well-armed
indeed for chemical warfare, far bet
ter than she was in 1914, when she
led all the rest But she has places
of weakness. One she Is trying to
repair is her lack of sulphur.
Chemists say a nations civilization
can be gauged by the quantity Of sui
phuric acid 1t consumes. This being
so, the United States need not fear q
decline in its Western civilization.
Sulphuric acid is used in hundreds Of
industries all over the land.
Uncle Sam has almost 80 per cent
Of the worlds raw sulphur in Louis
lana and Texas, as well as another
vast supply recoverable by modern
methods in iron pyrites-"fool's gold"
Due to this plethora, the sulphur
found in American soft coal Is con-
sidered a foul-smelling nuisance which
provokes anti-smoke campaigns in in
dustrial centers.
But Germans find little cause for
wrinkling their noses at the odor Of
burning sulphur in the Ruhr Valley,
one of the worlds greatest coke-steel
centers. There, sulphur is a must"
chemical not furnished by nature.
The Reich's desulphurization plants
last year recovered 100000 tons of
sulphur from coke ovens and zinc
smelling plants.
Yellow Sulphur Versatile.
Germany has learned that no chem.
ical Is more versatile, in war or peace.
than yellow sulphur. Raw, 1t goes into
vulcanized rubber and gunpowder. AS
sulphuric acid, 1t Is the basis of all
chemical industry. It Is necessary for
the production Of dyes and explosives
and is almost as common as water in
the steel, fertilizer, electrochemical.
petroleum and paper industries.
France can find enough sulphur; so
can England, with the aid of her EN-.
pire. Russia has few known supplies.
Spain contains the largest reserves Of
iron pyrites now known.
Italy has the worlds second largest
reserve Of pure sulphur. Japan, too.
has pyrites. But Germany is forced
to keep the valuable chemical from
escaping with coal smoke.
Germany Is using domestically little
Of her best grade Of coal, found In the
Saar. This product is being poured
into foreign markets. For her chemi-
cal industry, she prefers to use the
brown coal called Ignite that would
be scorned in more prosperous nations,
The Saar itself is illuminated by elec.
trio power generated. not from Saar
coal, but from Ignite mined farther
east.
Italy Forced to Use Ignite.
Only Italy, Of the major powers. Is
forced to resort to Ignite, having
scant coal at home. While Italy is
ono In Ifha y,o,par ,ofioy, Il, Ait. -
gard. Uncle Sam is again the richest,
sitting on top Of the biggest pile
of this most necessary of all raw
materials. From coal comes coal tar,
and from this black pitch the chemist
turns out not only the chemicals di-
rectly used in warfare, but paints. per-
fumes and these ultra modern prod
ucts, the plastics.
Last year world output Of coal-tas
dyes alone jumped about IL per cent
Over ths Aglre for 1854. This jump