1358
INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
VOl. 18, No. 12
methods and c o m p e t i t i o n Winslow plant require vigicalled for more accurate methlant inspection and control. ods, so in 1907 the original This department has grown main office of the Winslow with great rapidity in the last p l a n t was completely retwenty-five years and today modeled into a n up-to-date covers a n area of over ten chemical laboratory. This acres of settling tanks, filter n e w l y formed department, beds, and sludge basins. A working under the inspiring separate part of the laboraguidance of Elijah Gilliland, tory is used exclusively for superintendent of manufacsanitary control and research ture, established a system of and is under the expert superchemical control for the major vision of Metcalf and Eddy, o p e r a t i o n s of tanning and s a n i t a r y e n g i n e e r s . The f i n i s h i n g of t h e leather. latest methods in the chemColoring of leather had asi c a l t r e a t m e n t of tannery sumed considerable imporwastes are in use. I n 1923 tance in the manufacture of researches were conducted on sheepskins through the adhydrogen-ion control in the vent of aniline dyes, and the digestion of tannery wastes, countless number of shades with the result t h a t the coloriand tints were worked out in metric method, using organic the laboratory and standards indicators with sulfuric acid adopted with methods to conand alum a s precipitants, was form with the practices of the perfected and adopted-incolor house. cidentally being the first plant The analysis of all the raw in this country t o use hydromaterials soon proved t o be gen-ion control on a practical of economic value, so the s c a l e i n t h e digestion of chemist automatically functannery wastes. p H values tioned with t h e purchasing are determined by an un. department, buying materials skilled workman matching his a c c o r d i n g t o specifications. dyes to the required acidity. All new methods and concocThe recently acquired tions sponsored by the ever knowledge through researches F o u n d e r s of Winslow Bros. & Smith C o m p a n y i n c r e a s i n g advancement of on leather and the chemical 1-Lyman Smith (son of John Smith) ; 2-John E. Smith (son of Lyman science are first worked out control of the manufacturing Smith); 3-Charles L. Smith (son of Lyman S m i t h ) ; 4-Elisha F. Winslow (son of George Winslow); 5-George S. Wiislow (son of George Winslow); on a laboratory scale. processes have aided the tan6-Francis 0 . Winslow (son of G-orge Winslow); 7-John Smith (the The recovery and subsefounder); 8-George Winslow (partner of John Smith) ner in a remarkable way t o quent purification of waste make a better and more unigrease from scouring of wod, a l w the natural stearin-olein from form product, but the basic process of tanning has not been the skins, are controlled scientifically and, together with the use of changed by Winslow Bros. & Smith Company. They still berecent colloid researches and rigid analytical control, the troublelieve that “nothing can take the place of leather” tanned by the some fatty acid spews have been eliminated. slow pit method. Sewage disposal problems and the treatment of sludge a t the ARTHUR BILLINGHAM
Increase in .Price of Potash In response t o the many inquiries from American consumers of potash requesting information on the rising price of t h a t commodity, Julius Klein, director, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, who recently returned from a study of European trade and industry, made the following announcement : The new scale of foreign potash prices recently inaugurated, covering A‘ovemher and December shipments, shows advances in all grades and brings the net increased price of certain salts a s much a s 17 per cent over t h e prices obtained in October, 1924. I t is significant t h a t the highest increases in t h e unit price apply t o the salts in greatest demand, while the small tonnage items carry a more modest advance. I n the aggregate the several advances since October, 1924, mean an annual increase a t the prese n t rate of imports of one million t o one and a quarter million dollars in t h e cost of a n essential fertilizer material under foreign monopoly control. The total imports during 1925 were valued a t $12,760,000. During the 50 years prior t o the World War Germany, through a natural monopoly of t h e largest known potash beds in the world, regulated t h e output a n d the fixing of prices. With the signing of the armistice, a n d t h e cession of Alsace with its vast potash industry t o France, the latter became t h e second largest producer of potash a n d was thus able t o enter t h e world’s markets as a competitor. The competition created eventually contributed towards reaching a more desirable price level for t h e consumer. At present, however, owing t o t h e Franco-German potash pact consummated in August, 1924, and subsequent marketing agreements, the domination of the world’s
potash market has reverted to Germany, acting with France a s a monopolistic unit. While Germany and France occupy a unique position a s suppliers of potash due t o their early start in the mining and refining of the crude salts other countries are planning t o free themselves of this monopoly control. Poland is now supplying a fair share of its needs from domestic sources, a n d Spain is doing likewise. The arrival of a cargo of 500 tons of Spanish potash a t Baltimore during October probably indicates t h a t t h e Spanish producers are preparing for a share of the world’s trade. The outlook for an important American potash industry is indeed promising. I n 1926 domestic production was equivalent t o about one-tenth of the national consumption. I f the ambitious plans of the present American producers are realized, the domestic production in 1927 might reach onefourth of the domestic consumption. A large share of the domestic potash is obtained from Searles Lake, California, where crude salts a r e refined for t h e production of borax and high-grade potassium chloride. The second important producing point in the United States is Baltimore, where a n industrial alcohol producer recovers potash from molasses residue by incineration. The last Congress appropriated $100,000 annually for a period of five years t o be expended under the direction of the Secretaries of Interior a n d Commerce in a search for commercial potash deposits. A region in Texas and New Mexico was selected as one of the most likely fields for exploration and a number of areas in t h a t locality have been designated by the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines for exploration.
***
** *
’
