INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY Paper and Fibre Co., Canton, N. C , is one of the outstanding industries of the South. It was organized in 1907 by the late Peter G. Thomson of Cincinnati as The Champion Fibre Co., primarily to supply sulfite and soda pulp to his paper mill at Hamilton, Ohio. The plant originally included processes for the manufacture of sulfite pulp, soda pulp, container board, and tannic acid. The company manufactures a wide range of papers and boards, sulfate and mechanical pulp, soda bleach and caustic soda, adhesive extract from sulfite liquors, and turpentine. Today it is perhaps the only mill utilizing all the standard processes for reducing wood to pulp. It has the largest and most modern machine for the making of the higher grades of white paper, and is conspicuous in the tannic acid industry. The plant consumes each day approximately 70 standard carloads of pulpwood, 650 tons of coal, 120,000 pounds of lime, 35,000 pounds of sulfur, 100,000 pounds of salt, 20,000 kw. of electric current, and 27,000 h. p. of steam. The daily average production is approximately 450 tons of pulp, 225 tons of paper, 60 tons of board, 100 tons of tannic acid, 20 tons of solid caustic soda, 20 tons of adhesive extract, 5 tons of rosin soap and cleanser, and 300 gallons of turpentine. The company's organization is formed along modern lines, specialists of broad experience and technical training being in charge of various departments. Few states have so varied or so plentiful a supply of raw materials needed by a growing chemical industry. Thousands of acres of forests furnish products for lumber, naval stores, charcoal, acetone, industrial alcohol, and paper pulp. Three paper mills in the State manufacture 100 tons of paper pulp daily, rags and waste paper being used in conjunction with the coarser wood products for the finer grades. Other raw materials are livestock, milk products, hides, tan bark, tanned leather, crude oil for refining, workable quantities of gold, iron, tin, and copper, huge quantities of mica, feldspar and kaolin for china, porcelain, pottery and enamel ware; talc for cosmetics, rubber filler, asphalt binder, roofing; limestone and silica for glass; fish scrap and gas plant products; and the raw material for the enormous amount of glue used in the annual production of $30,000,000 worth of furniture. At present, about one-sixth of the manufactured products of the State are chemical products, and practically all other industries either use chemicals or employ chemical engineering principles. The chemical output for 1933 demonstrates two facts—namely, that the manufacturing of pure chemicals in North Carolina has progressed beyond the experimental stage, and that the conversion of locally supplied raw materials into finished products is highly profitable. The value of products of chemical industries and of allied industries with a nonchemical industry finished product was in 1933: leather, $6,562,000; ice, $2,627,000; clay products, $988,000; cottonseed products, $6,163,000; fertilizers, $9,197,123; gas, $2,473,000; turpentine and rosin, $75,000: tanning materials, $772,000; rayon and silk, $32,000,000. The manufacturing, agricultural, and domestic needs of the State at present require large quantities of chemicals, and North Carolina has every factor necessary for the development of the chemical industries: a pure water supply, a ready and active local market, supplies of skilled and common labor, an ample supply of power, a favorable climate, a sufficient transportation system, and a virtually unlimited supply of raw materials.
VOL. 15, NO. 4
PAINTING OF O L D SHOT TOWER NBAB JACKSON'S F B B B T , W T T B B CO., ON N e w RIVER NBAB TOT NOBFOLK AND WBOTBBN RAILWAY
V*..
T h e Old Shot Tower near Jackson's Ferry, V a .
W
E ARE able to reproduce here a water color by L. H. Dewey, of Pulaski, Va., through the courtesy of C. A. Browne. The painting depicts the old shot tower near Jackson's Ferry, Va., where it stands on a bluff immediately above the bank of the New River. It frequently attracts passing tourists and many photographs of it have been published. Some say that in this tower bullets were made for use in the Revolutionary War, which is manifestly incorrect since the bullets of that time were made in molds and not in shot towers. The tower was begun by Thomas Jackson, a native of England, who was brought to the lead mines of the locality by the Austins some time in the 1780's. He was a mining smith and operated a shop where mining tools were fashioned and sharpened. By working over the waste from the mines he was able to acquire land and purchased a large interest in the lead mines when they were sold at auction. He died in 1824 before the tower was finished, and it was completed by Robert Raper who manufactured the first shot produced in it. Raper knew little of the art and went to Baltimore to learn. Upon being refused information which would make him competent, he employed some of the expert workmen of the Baltimore shot makers, brought them to Jackson's Ferry, and began production. Raper also became a joint owner of the lead mines. The shot tower was built of Virginia limestone and is 20 X 20 feet square at the base and 82 feet high. The lead was melted at the top of the tower and poured through circular perforations; the glob· ules of molten lead fell the height of the tower and then through a shaft 76 feet deep into a receptacle below the water level of the river. In many parts of the country there are relics of old chemical industries. Much valuable historic information could
be accumulated and articles concerning these industries might become a valuable source of reference for future historians interested in chemistry. We will be glad to receive photographs and authentic notes concerning these early industrial enterprises.
A u t o m o b i l e R o u t e s to C h a p e l
Hill HE American Automobile Association T has an interesting series of maps entitled "Where to Go, What to See, Where
to Stop" on which are indicated important scenic and historical spots. Those who are driving to the spring meeting of the
AMERICAN
CHEMICAL SOCIETY
at
Chapel Hill. N. C, April 12 to 15, will find them of interest. Copies can be obtained from your local automobile club or by addressing the American Automobile Association, Washington, D. C.
Abstracts of Chapel Hill Meeting Papers HE A. C. S. News Service, 70G T Mills Bldg., Washington, D. C , will supply abstracts of papers pre-
sented at the Chapel tiill meeting at $ 1.00 a set. Sets, not guaranteed to be complete, but containing abstracts from all divisions as furuished by authors, will be mailed as soon after the meeting as possible. Please send remittance with order.
