THE OREGON FTATJ.SiAX: SATURDAY. FEBRUARY 21, 1920.
; spsgiscap . - ....
Nrdfe --- -'VfvlWfV V Eft rwtn house
h-S - -vUMfil Y. (YftHT 20.000 workers
It ONE OF MAIN BUILDINGS OF MU5CU SHOALS NITRATE T 'V . f 'K?'
i'; PLANT WHICH WILL RENDER. FUTURE AMERICAN 1 1 -'it ' P '
CEXET.ATI0N5 FREE FROM AMMUNITION SHORTAGE. v "7 'Q'rt'e J V ZSAh - V'; ' '
three chief sLell barstlD3 explosives ' rrf 1 "T ' 1 I I irrf? I V I lJtt-tt-t. r V ,1
SHOALSF '
EET
Dy GARRET 8MITH.
KG of the chief fortresses of
Amerlra' oewi military de
fense sjratetn which deTclope-1
ont of the world war Is lo
cated at Mo sole Shoals; Alabama, on
the Tennessee ttlrer, oter three hra
dred railcs from the scaCoast It Is not
a fortress of concrete emplacement
and mammoth runs, of trenches and
Imrbed-wlre entanglements. It Is the
United. States Government's new anv
' monlura nitrate nlant ih liirMt at
its kind In the wcrld. rapable of tnrn
Ins out 300 tons of high explosives per
tej. . It assures to the! United States
for. all tine so abundance of ammuni
tion lthont which the large tnnj Is
kelpless enenmbrence and It has
made this unlimited supply of explo
sives without resort to raw material
from outside of the country.
In modern warfare art abundance of
' lh explosives Is an essentia equalled
tit Importance only by runs end men.
". XIow necessary is an abundant supply
1 of Ammunition Is shown Ly the esti
mate that durloj the world war It re
. quired two tons of anmunltion to km
or permanently disable! one soldier.
Jlodern military erploslves are divided
aceoniln; to their ese Into two classes,
propellanfa for hurllnj projectiles, and
IXgti explosive for bursting the bombs
or c!ln. Jloth clrsses aro nitri'sen
corrpounda made from nitric add or
, araDtona or both. The proprHsnts are
' the famll'.dr suo cotton and n'.tro-tTi.-
erlne made by trcatlnf cottoa or glyc,
erlne respectively with nitric add. The
three chief shell bursting explosives
sre T. N. T whose full name Is Tri
nitrotoluol, made by treating toluol
with nitric add; picric acid made by
treating: benzol with nitric add ; and
ammonium nitrate which Is a combina
tion of sinmonia;and nitric add.
Now It will be seen that the essential
Ingredient of all these explosives Is
nitric acta i;erore the world war
the united States was entirely de
pendent upon a foreign country for
the supply of Le only chemical from
which nitric acid can be made com
mercially. This chemical, nitrate of
soda, had to be Imported from Chile
over a sea route 44300 miles long by
way of tbe Panama, Canal, or 9,000
miles by way of the Straits of Ma
gellan. It was evident, then, that
In case this country became Involved
in war with any nation that could
control the sea our foe Would have
us at ber mercy; for she could cut
oft our essential means of striking
back.
Cut other nations were equally de
pendent upon the Chilean nitrate
supply. Germany before she became
embroiled fn'tfce-wftr wlih the rest -of
the world was purchasing one-third of
tbe Chilean nitrate supply. She had
expected, to bold the sea with her sub
marines but failed aud thereby lost
Ihe raw material for Mipplinjr ex
plua.vf for ber hne army. How
PERMANENT
SATE -HOUSC
MUSCLE
PLANT'.
then could the Central Powers con
tinue the war for five years? Tbe
snswer lay In a process for extracting
nitrogen from the air. This process
bad been successful In producing
high-grade nitrogenous fertilizer from
which in turn citric add and ammonia
could be extracted and combined into
ammonltrm nitrate. Germany, there
fore, fell to manufacturing ammonium
nitrate from the air on a large cale.
Now It happened that in 1007 an
American company headed by Frank S.
Washburn had wcured the American
r?2hts to th'.a process and bR'l for.e
into Manufacturing ire fsitUlzcr cu
the Canadian s'd of the Nieyarn Fills
When America found herself in the
world war still dependent upon the
Chilean altrate supply, the Ordnance
Department turned to Mr. Washburn's
company for help. As a result the Air
Nitrates Corporation was formed, with
Mr. Washburn at Its head. It was as
sisted by several other well tn.own
corporations as subcontractors, spe
daiists in their, lines, ruch as the
Westln-house Chsrch Kerr Company.
which pot up most of the plant build
ings, the plant ihe permanent city and
utilities; the JTG, White Corporation,
which dc3!Ecd au-i constructed" the
power rS'-t: the. Cbvmi'-al Or! t ruc
tion Cor.:psiMy, vilrli Iri'gfl and 1 provements nt
! l.niit th nitric ac'.d riant. anJ il.c 1.1. ! raUruitlon. In
1
the piping and built the
chimneys. Beginning work
In November 1917, a big
plant and new dty at Muscle Shoals
was completed within one year's time.
Had the expected spring drive of 1919
materialized this one plant alone
would have supplied 13 per cent of all
the ammoniwn nitrate used by all the
allied armies on all fronts during that
drive. As It is, tbe United States Is
secure for all time to come against an
ammunition shortage.
The United States Government bad
had Its eye . on Muscle Shoals ever
since 1S71, when an abandoned canal
the state of Alabama had started to
build In 1832 around the Muscle Shoals
rapids was partially reconstructed by
the government. A reduction in ap
propriations prerented completion of
the plans. In IScO a board of engineer
ing officers of the United States Army
recommended further navi?ntin im-
Mtiscle S'. oa'. by ca
Wft n not her lw;irt f
V. Kerngs Ok .-.pa 3 7. which furcihed , army ensrinoors was di recti-J to ex
amine the condition of the canals and
Improvements with a view to water
power development, the first real step
towards power development for future
ammunition manufacturing.
It was not, however, until 1916 thst
Congress approved the recommenda
tlon for hydro-electric development at
Muscle Shoals.
When the arrangement was finally
made for building the big air .citrate
plant at Muscle Shoals, work was be
gun on a power dam at the same point.
This work Is being conducted directly
by the United States Engineers Corps
and not by contract. It will not be
completed, however, for two or three
more years. It was necessary, there
fore, simultaneously with the building
of the nitrate plant and in order to
Insure Immediate operation when It
n completed, to construct a ?10.-
0.10.000 stciirsi ower plant, one of the
largest r-a:n electric ptani in the
vnr!L Thi- power plant I capable
of cpr:iiiu citrate plant at full
c:ipicity. Wh'-n the water-power plant
1 itni'ii-; .. .rt"c- .v.:t
MT'.e . auxiliary pov.-t-r n- Ume of -It.w
:-t-r. Kren had th wacer-power
pUnt levn c-'inpleted dartne the war'
it uu-ild have iH-n nc-crscary aUo to '
cociMriti-t n t-ain plant in order to ln-im--
tl.c working uf the nitrate plant st '
full cup'K-lty at sll times during the;
yeitr, ni.-l i!.e oilier Intluntrie that win '
'jfrnw ann nd the hydro-electric plant.
Now this hujre combination of man-'
ufiicturinz plant, power plant and
x-rmam-nt city cost tne gorernmeni
ftii.O'JO.tm- It was put through at a
time when tbe costs of materials sod
lalnr were at their summit. It was
built at record speed and xpel costs
money. The question naturally arises.
thn. as to whether Lnde Sam got his
money's worth.
Tests mnde after the plant was la
operation showed that ammonium ni
trate of standard specifl-"3tions could be
produced at ths plant at a cost of less
than one-half the standard fixed price
paid by the government for ammonium
rrtrate produced by the older methods.
This cost Is only alut one-fourth to
one-fifth the cost of other high ex
plosives of equal strength. Compared
with the older process for making am
monium nitrate, the savings made by
this plant would have paid for the
entire plant in about one and one-l.::lf
yenrs of operation. As a milPnnr
ll.Hl . Mar lasted, to be tbe w Icm and mot
economical expenditure that the Ord
nance Iepartnnt bad undertakers.
But Just befwre the plnnt it Into
operation Germany capwujatcu so
that tle nitrate made at ii-sct
Shoals was never useil in tbe world
war. Nevertheless, there can le
no doubt that tbe knowledge of the
German High Command that Ibe
United Statea had completed Its mam
moth plant and was ready to supply
unlimited ammunition to lis ; armies
was one of tbe chief reasons why the
Central Powers did not risk ccm
palgn In 1919. If we compare the cost
of the Muscle Shoals plaut with the
cost of contlnul.-g the mar fr.r another
year and adroit that that plant con
tributed materially to the stopping of
the war. It will be conceded that
SG0.000.000 was a small price to pay
for such a result.
But the chief value of tbe Musde
Shoals plart will be to coming genera
tions. This defense will tend powerfully
toward making other nations slow to at
tack this country. Should such an at
tack come, we will be prepared to
fend 1L Never again will tbe Ameri
can people iave to face the dU.Taee
of being nnable to prorlde even the
smallest of standing armies with more
thsn two or three rounds of ammu
nition. Never again will a predatory
power, belierlng ns helpless to defend
ourselves, arrogantly flaunt our diplo
matic notes of protest aca'.nst Interna
tional wrongs. If the League of Na
tions Is to be a success, thst success
will be assured because it has Ihe
backing of the great powers of tbe
earth ready to resist with armed force
any outlaw nation that seeks to violate
the new prindple of International
brotherhood. The worUl looks to the
United States as one of those guard
ians of future par-
Muscle Shoals is one of her eh let
credentials, -
SEED
SEED
We have In stock, recleaned, some
of the best 'varieties ofl
, I SPRING WHEAT
GREY AND WHITE OATS
CLOVER SEED
VETCH SEED
; GRASS SEEDS
UTAH LAND PLASTER
We have a car that will be here
in several days and will make spe
cial price If taken from the car
FEED
FEED
Wi- manufacture mlllrun, ; short
middlings, ground, barley, rolled
barley, ground wheat, rolled oats.
We work on close margins get
, our prices :
Also carry molasses shady brook
alfalfa meal dry alfalfa meal
I and poultry supplies
CHERRY CITY MILLING
!::"'' 1 CO. I .
300 South Church
Follow
the
crowd
and
700
will
go
ft
to
NO VARY 1
GROCERS
383 Court St. Phone 409
STATE EDITORS
MEET AT EUGENE
Henry M. Hastings, Printing
Expert Slated for Principal
Address for Today
EUGENE. Or.. Feb. 20. Oregon
editors to the number of about 50
are here for the annual newspaper
l conference at the University of Or-
eKon. The sessions of the confer
ence began this afternoon and will
continue until tomorrow afternoon.
A feature of the first day's session
was a banquet given to the visiting
scribes by the Eugene Chamber of
Commerce tonight, during which B.
P. Irvine of the Orefton Journal. Ed
gar B. Piper of the Oregonian. E. B.
Aldiich of the Pendleton East Ore
gonian, C. E. Ingalls of the Covaallis
Gazette-Times and other prominent
newspapermen of the state spoke.
President P. L. Campbell of the
University and Leith Abbott of Ash
land, a junior and student in the de
partment of journalism, vert also on
the program. This afternoon Henry
M. Hastings, printing price expert of
San Francisco, was tbe principal
speaker.
the others who enjoy good health.
Other I. . V. Found Gnilty
A jury in another department of
the Grays Harbor county superior
court brought in a verdict of guilty
shortly before noon today against 11
alleged I. V. W. charged with vio
lation of the Washington criminal
syndicalism laws. Thirteen were or
iginally charged vith the offense,
which is a felony, but one was dis
missed by the court for insufficien
cy of evidence and another because
of illness. All of the men found
guilty today were arrested in sou t li
the Centralia shootings. The jury
deliberated from 3 o'clock yesterday
afternoon until about 11:30 o'clock
this morning, being locked up during
the night. A new trial will be asked.
it ras said today. The law does not
provide a specific penalty, but sen
would comeu nder the felony stat
utes which provide a sentence of
not more than ten years imprison
ment or $5000 fine, or both.
FLIRT IS BESTED
IN STREET BOUT
Pretty Auburn-Haired Miss
Settles With Man Who
Would Force Attentions
J
COLLEGE HEADS
PLEAD FOR COIN
Millage Tax Necessary to Op
erate Schools Under In
creased Expense
PORTLAND. Feb. JoX-p. L.
Campbell, president of the University
of Oregon, and W. J. Kerr, president
of the Oregon -Agricultural college,
declared In public addresses here to
day that unless the proposed millage
tax bill for the raising of funds to
increase higher school facilities In
Oregon shall pass at the May elec
tion more than one thousand would
be students must be turned away
from the two institutions next year
for lack of facilities for their school
ing, in addition to the large attend
ance already, at hand. The nrrni
uuauon, mey said, is critical.
SICKNESS OF JUROR
HALTS RADICAL TRIAL
(Continued from page 1)
Read
prohibiting separation of tho i nrnn
L t 'n aunng a murder trial. Bailiffs car
UiC liasSUiea AOS. r,ea meals 10 tbe man and to
BYRON HELD ON
FRAUD CHARGE
Man Under Sentence in Ore
gon Convicted of 46 of 50
Counts at Seattle
SEATTLE. Wash.. Feb. 20 Car
los L. llyron. of Portland. Or., and
Edward M. Corayns, Seattle, charged
with having used, the mails to de
fraud in connection with a land set
tlement scheme, were found guilty
of 4 6 of the 50 counts agatnst them
by a Jury in federal court here to
night. The jury was out five hours.
The state charged that Comyns and
Byron entered clients upon land that
previously had been filed upon and
accepted money for such service. The
defense claimed these entries were
due to clerical errors. The alleged
fraudulent scheme, government wit
nesses testified, extended through
out tbe northwest. Comyns was for
merly an employe of the United
Statea land office at Washington. D.
C.
against all text books found which
are not 100 per cent American, il
was said by a member of the commit
tee here tonisht.
New Coalition Party
U Latest Proposal
NEW YORK. Feb. 20 A pla for
a "new coalition nartv" with n hn..
inessman or Ihe highest standing
mm 44. I J . r 1 ....
us iMi-r-i,if uuai candidate, was
madf toniKht by U. H. McCarler.
president of the Fidelity Trust com
pany of Newark. N. J. Mr. Mrt'artor
spoke at the annual banquet of the
trust company's section of the Amer
ican uansers' association here which
was attended by 750 bankers from
aii pans or the country.
Not a little excitement occirrd at
the coiner of "Commercial and Cjurt
streets shortly after 10 o'clock hus:
niRht. when a. pretty auburn-haired
maiden, angered by the enforced at
tentions of a well known state em
ploye, struck the nnn a stinq'ns
hie- on the mouth. The fellow did
not tarry to return ih" -'cor.irl'-ment."
but hit out fcr his homo,
probably content to escape arrest
and prosecution in the city co'irt?.
According to the story told by th?
young woman she was followed by
the man for several blocks, but uot
wishing to pain th notoriety atten
dant to a trinl In court, tock the Lw
iri her own bands. Upon reach ins
the corner of Commercial and Court
stVecls tbe girl halted a if waitius
for a car. and the man approached.
"Hello. Fairy." he sai l In eedearirL
tones. and later asked ''if he could
see her home."
At that juncture of th p-oeeeild-nes
he young weman -wuna :i
mighty riit to the jaw .-,f the nrv
welcorvd nw!c flirt, with the remark
that a'a:' was perfectly ca-.ijvile of
looking titer her own welfare." Th
younc nan thm vanished, and t!.--
fe-a ipcc a db attracted to the scene
iaud'.d h-r f r h-r ilick.
It !-.UI l,:ii b:- sine fallow
.h.i- If en cr using tfoubl in different
p;irt. of tht city recently, and inly
a few k aco was detected while
reering In a window of a private
ho:.ie. The police were summoned
on that occasion, but were unable
tff fird any trace of the individual.
,lu5t "woman crazy" was the way
one young woman who witnessM last
ri-ht'- frarus diagnosed tho case of
the young degenerate.
Bitter Cold Wave Sweeps
Over Most of Montana
HELENA, Mont., Feb. 20. Most
of the state Is In the grip of storms,
with low temperatures general, and
severe cold Is expected Saturday and
prohably Sunday. Missoula, after
weeks of mild weather, today was
visited by a cold spell and the mer
cury dropped to 18 degrees above.
Snow- fell generally east of the Rocky
mountains. Great Falls reported a
temperature of 9 above; llozeman
10 above, with a biting east wind,
and Butte 10 above.
Morale of Teaching
Staff Is Weakening
CLEVELAND. O.. Feb: 20 The
morale of the teaching forces of Am-'
erican public schools in breaking, in
the opinion of delegates to the con
vention of the national council of
tate normal school presidents and
principles here today.
Speakers declared that low salar
ies are driving these teachers into
affiliation with union labor, restless
ness of the teaching lorces Is trana
mitting itseit to the pulpits and the
public's neglert of the schools is re
acting through the home.
U. OF 0. DEFEATS
CALIFORNIA U.
Duron Stars in Fast Opener
Played at Berkeley Fri-
day Night
BERKELEY. Cal.. Feb. :. The
University of Oregon basketball
team defeated tho l.l'uiversity of
California fiv? 25 to 27 in the first
of a lo-i.ir.i? Pacific conference
series here tonisht. . The econd
game will lo jdiyed tomorrow night.
California led at the end of the
first half by a score of It t lo.
Hurno. Oregon forward, and the
smaller player on either icai.i. was
the star of the gape. scoring 1 7 of
Ihe 19 points Oregon chalked up in
the second half.
today In denying reports which were
said to have gained currency that
the federal grading system and the
grain corporation would pass out of
existence simlrHaneously. The de
partment explained that fixing of
grades for wheat was authorized by
permanent and not war emergency
legislation.
SPURIOUS PLUG
BRINGS ARREST
Imitations Made and Sold
Cause Investigation of Nation-Wide
Trade
Conflicting Reports
On Lineman's Strike
TACOMA. Wash. Feb. 20 A
strike of linemen of the Pacific Tele-!
phone and Telegraph company was
calleu in Tacoina at M o'clock thii
morning, according to an announce
ment made tonight by officials of
the local union.
The men were "100 per cent out",
the union officials states. having
left their work pomptly while, on
the other hand, company official
said tonight that service had not
been impaired and that "if there
was a strike they hadn't heard
about it."
There are about '00 members in
the local union, it was stated.
Elimination of Mace's
History Now Demanded
WALLA WALLA. Wash.. Feb. 20.- M Action Against
The removal or Mace's history from Minister Is Continued
the schools because of alleged unfair' .
ftatements concerning the war in tbe
Philippines and of the Essentials In
Geography bv Briham and McFar
land bocanse of alleged German lean-
CHICAGO. Feb. 20. A search
made today of the home of William
A Heltley, arrested yesterday as be
ing implicated in an alleged $1,000.-
jou spark plug conspiracy brought
to light several thousand spurious
plug, according to H. F. Heard,
special investigator for the Cham
pion Fpark Plug company of Toledo.
He charged that there is a national
chain of maaufacturers and dealers
who for the past five years have
flooded the country with imitations
of a spark plug manufacturer in To
ledo.
ilr. Heard declared tonight that
records taken from Bentley showed
that fr-jm 5.000 to 20.000 Imitation
pings were turned out monthly In
Chicago for the last five years. He
said that the federal court would be
atked to Issue an injunction against
many jobbers and automobile acce.i
sory dealers to stop them from dis
po.-ting of suprious spark plugs.
PORTLAND. Feb. 20 The suit of
the board of school trustees of the
Episcopal church of Oregon agai)st
Ihn r?avrrr.nrl If i i .
mgs. is demanded in a report of a : ..... .u. . ".". 1
... c-." l"e miMise oi scnooi property and
tr"'" a"'"'.:."! n P of ReverendMor-
made public tonight. The fight will
not only be pushed in Walla Walla
nson. tei lor 'Druary 26. again
was postponed today because of the
absence from the rftv nf , u
county but all over the nation and attorneys in the case.
Wheat Standards Are
To Retain in Force
Idaho Man Is Murdered
in Street Battle, Report
BUHL. Idaho. Feb. 20. A man
known here as "Sandy" who Is said
to be a resident of Twin Falls, was
shot and killed here tonight.
WASHINGTON. Feb. 2 0. Federal
grades for wheal will continue to be
enforced under the grain standards
act after the United States grain cor
poration has ceased to functionthe
depart men of agriculure announced
4
Fairbmis-Sfon
T Engine uUh
Botch Magneto
Greater
Engine Value
OVER 250,0:0 farmers
bougKt trie "Z engine.
They know it is pcrwer
' ful, depended and practkall
fool-proof truly a great en
gine. 5 But now e announcs
the one addition -which could
possihly improve the "Z" per
formance Bcsch high tension,
oscillating magneto ignition.
5 So let us show yVa in detail
this greater engine value. 5 Our
service to ou b renwkahly
complete end we are assisted
by a nearby Bosch Service
Station. 5Prices IHH.R
$75.00 3 H. P. $125.00
6H.P.$2oo.oo. A11F.O.B.
Factory.
Lot L Pearce & Son
236 K. Commercial SL