Evening star., 1936-11-29


gen 20 years ago and today
every nation has learned it
well. It's lesson fraught with dyna-
mite. 1t concerns dynamite-and
nearly all other explosives, too.
II war came today Germany could
produce, synthetically, the chemical
nitrogen for all the explosives she
needs. So could France, England. the
United States. Japan and Russia.
Even Italy, poor in natural resources,
could get along.
The 1886 munition5 picture shows
that the powers have made plans in
their race for lf-suficiency-a neces-
sity in modern warfare-to have
plenty of usable nitrogen. The Ger
man lesson is responsible.
Pre-war Germany had no natural
nitrate deposits Neither did any
other country to an appreciable extent
but Chile. The latter had been
crammed by nature with lavish de-
posits of saltpeter, the parent sub
stance from which all nitrogen COM
pounds can be made. These are abso-
lutely vital. They help erect bridges,
ferltilize plains, cure the sick and arti-
ficially cool great cities. But they are
also the basis of black gunpowder,
smokeless powder, INT, picric acid
and dynamite.
German "Fixation" Process.
The allies thought they had Ger
many licked when the sea battle Of
Falkland Islands cut her of from
access to Chile's nitrate deposits. But
Germany had not been gambling on
her feet. In 1914 her chemical in
dustry had been working four years
with the nitrogen "fxation" process
developed by DR.. Fritz Haber, who
has since won a Nobel prize for his
discovery. His process harnessed the
useless nitrogen Of the air by forcing
it to unite under high pressure with
hydrogen. The result was ammonia,
from which nitrates and explosives are
easily made.
AS a result. Chile's pre-war monop-
oly is shattered. Today Germany pro-
duces 80 per cent of the world output
of chemical nitrogen.
Germany's success led other nations
speedily to develop processes similar
to that of Haber. The result Is told
in recent United States Tariff Com
mission figures, which reveal that
Germany led the world in 1884 by
producing 462 500 tons of chemical
nitrogen. The United States was sec
ond with 256.000 tons and Japan third
with 20S, 900 tons. France was fourth,
Great Britain fifth, Chile sixth.
World capacity for producing chem
ical nitrogen was 100000 tons in
| 1884, or more than twice the amount
needed. About 100000 tons was
| used for fertilizers. Thus the balance
between capacity and production
more than 100000 tons at present
is the quantity that can begin rolling
out in time of war for martial pur-
poses
Capacity Can Be Increased.
Moreover, this capacity can be in
creased quickly. The principal meth
ods for producing synthetic nitrates-
Haber, cyanamid and by-product-re-
ouire cheap coal and electric power
and little else. One German plant,
at Merseburg, operated by the 1. G.
Farben-Industrie Trust, can put out
100000 tons annually. This plant
incidentally, is sand-bagged and well
prepared for air raids.
Just as Germany's production is
centralized at two points, Merseburg
and Oppau, England's output is con-
centrated at Billingham, second larg-
est nitrogen plant in the world. But
military experts credit France with
superior strategy. She has some Is
plants-all of them scattered and all
of them small 1t would be difficult
for air raiders to put the French nitro
gen industry out of commission.
The United States is the one big
Nation out of the price fixing inter-
national nitrogen cartel; likewise it is