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I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
Vol. 19, No. 10
i t was the repairs and incidentals. A lot of nitrate of soda, confirmations-all disposed of by trials, experiments, and anawhich theory showed could all be recovered, was largely lost. lytical studies. Day after day, endless and fatiguing to all He therefore conceived new designs, using three quite short but Herreshoff, the work proceeded until another step in advance Gay-Lussac towers instead of one long one, and gave such atten- resulted and something was accomplished that had hitherto tion t o packing and acid distribution t h a t the nitrate of soda failed, and no one was more ready to accept and adopt it than consumption for a whole year was soon reduced to the lowest the Germans. record known. Herreshoff has lived only in chemical designs and engineering, The Glover towers were then rebuilt, following the same and has always been instantly absorbed in any novel development general principles, with only six feet of packing, and the entire if only it showed study and merit. He has been intolerant of make of pyrites acid was concentrated to about 63” Be. The premature ideas or, if false premises were accepted, charged __ tower proved t o be practically indestructistupidity and ignorance to the unfortuble and the denitration nearly perfect. nate who submitted them prematurely. He was constantly on the job, testing He has no interest whatever in failure. the sulfur dioxide going in and out of the The collapse of an old plant with its dischambers, as well as analyzing brown acid, appointing efficiency was too negligible an incident to divert him for a moment from and always maintaining a constant flow and stock in tanks so t h a t the fluctuations commencing the new design that he had could, as far as practicable, be eliminated. already mentally planned. At such a time Special hydrometers were designed, permithis home and meals were quite forgotten ting the process man to use pipets and apuntil a naturally huge appetite asserted itself and aroused him to life’s necessities. paratus t h a t had previously been excluThen, when refreshed, he would renew consively chemists’ work. Everything was sideration of every minute detail with a refined and simplified until the workmen zeal determined to improve and simplify learned t o control the chambers better each step to eliminate losses and introduce than any chemist could with other rea new efficiency. sponsibilities t o distract him. It is a rare quality t o design smoothThese works were perhaps the first in working plants with each piece of apAmerica t o use only pyrites, and the eighty paratus functioning with effective coorditons of cinder produced daily carried just nation so that the grouping and output of enough copper t o pay for recovery. Coneach will result in a workable whole. But sequently, labor saving was a necessity, Herreshoff can, with great rapidity, crysand smelting was next undertaken, the retallize the true objective and then draw a sulting copper matte being of uncertain complete mechanical picture of a fine way quality and the furnace frequently breakto accomplish the result. It is the mastery ing down a t critical moments. Herreshoff J. B. Francis Herreshoff of minute details that most concerns him, designed a new forehearth with waterand he never rests until they are brought jacketed breast t h a t was soon generally into a n operating harmony with the adopted. The copper matte then ran close t o 50 per cent copper and was entitled to a premium, but the Oxford more fundamental steps. Copper Company were not ready t o concede this advantage. The Herreshoffs were Rhode Island boat-builders for genAs they were the sole pioneers in this industry, copper refining erations, but they were more than that, for both John Brown and was next taken up for consideration. Bessemerizing had re- N a t had the same gift of design, which made them worldcently been introduced at the Parrot Mines, Butte, Mont. renowned “cup defenders.” Francis has the natural gift of Electrolytic copper refining from “blister” ingots was proving assembling all components with a perfect harmony, with no a possibility in Italy, so a new interest was incited in Herre- member too insignificant for study and development. From shoff’s life and career. He talked electricity for months-of a roof truss to a platinum injector nothing escapes his thoughtful direct and alternating currents, anodes and cathodes, rates of attention, for in his early career chemical apparatus was not on deposition, circulation of electrolyte, etc.-while keeping the market as i t is today, and each piece had t o be specially the laboratory busy with tests and estimates until assured of wrought. practical results. Then the Nichols Chemical Company made Throughout his active life, this has been his principal method appropriations for a small plant which was built and put in of work. operation in 1890-the forerunner of an output of a million HENRYWIGGLESWORTH pounds of refined copper per day, which was reached about 1900. George Martin Luther, the enthusiastic prophet, always encouraged and implored Herreshoff to improve and enlarge until Motor Gasoline More Volatile the goal was reached. The Herreshoff fines ore burner was a The motor gasoline being marketed in the United States this mere incident in a busy life, though hundreds of these fursummer is slightly more volatile than t h a t sold a year ago, naces were sold in Europe and the type adopted as the world’s according t o the Bureau of Mines, which recently conducted its standard. sixteenth semiannual motor gasoline survey. The general The contact sulfuric acid process took Herreshoff to Europe tendency toward the marketing of a standardized product, noted as a result of recent motor gasoline surveys, continues to in 1900-the first and only time. He came back greatly im- be manifested. Until recent years there has been a distinct pressed but convinced t h a t the great horizontal compressors difference between summer and winter gasoline, that marketed and Knietsch system, admirable in design and conception, were during the summer being the less volatile. This year the differnot suited to the comparatively small American works necessarily ence between summer and winter gasoline is shown only in the end of the distillation range, while the upper end is more so widely scattered to economize on distribution costs. He lower volatile than for last winter. The results of this survey are had a clear picture on his return which was systematically de- given in Serial 2827, copies of which may be obtained from veloped with the same unremitting discussions, refutations, and the Bureau of Mines, Department of Commerce, Washington
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