GERMAN MILITARISM 5*7 



its activities could hardly have been expected. We refer to the manu- 

 facture of hydrogen and oxygen. Strange to say, these two gases which 

 had never found any industrial application, although known since the 

 birth of chemistry, have lately become of the greatest technical im- 

 portance and are to-day manufactured on a tremendous scale. Hydro- 

 gen is used for military purposes in immense quantities for all lighter- 

 than-air flying machines — the filling of Zeppelin ballonettes, the filling 

 of captive balloons, which have become of such great importance in 

 modern warfare, being constantly employed by the staffs of the armies 

 for observation of the battlefield. By telephone and photography they 

 are in constant communication with headquarters. 



The cheap and practical methods which were evolved by the military 

 authorities for the generation of hydrogen are now utilized in one of 

 the industries which has recently become of the highest importance, 

 namely, the manufacture of what is called "hardened oils and fats." 

 By treatment with hydrogen, oils and fats in the liquid state are con- 

 verted into solid materials, which usually command a higher price for 

 technical purposes, such as the manufacture of soap, etc. ; and low class 

 fatty substances, which are not fit to be eaten on account of their appear- 

 ance or odor may be transformed into valuable food materials. By the 

 economical manufacture of hydrogen, which makes it possible to utilize 

 such inferior goods for alimentation, German militarism again deserves 

 well of the nation. It must also be noted that the cheap production of 

 hydrogen is one of the prominent features in the above mentioned manu- 

 facture of sulphate of ammonium according to the Haber process. 

 Thus the manufacture of hydrogen, while originated for military pur- 

 poses, is helping to feed the nation by providing new edible substances, 

 on the one hand, and a new source for fertilizers, on the other. 



The manufacture of oxygen likewise assumed gigantic proportions, 

 after it was found that armor plates could be cut almost like butter by 

 the heat of the flame from a burner fed with a mixture of hydrogen and 

 oxygen, or oxygen and acetylene gas. At present, not only the cutting 

 but also the welding of iron and steel is accomplished by means of such 

 a flame; every machine shop is provided with an oxygen apparatus, and 

 soon every garage will be similarly equipped, as it has been observed that 

 the carbon collected in the cylinders of gas engines for automobiles, ete., 

 can be easily removed by burning it out with the oxygen-flame. 



The oxygen problem also plays an important part in the running 

 of submarine boats where it is necessary to provide the crew with oxygen 

 for breathing under particularly difficult circumstances. It is stated 

 that nitrogentetroxide, a gas which can be easily compressed to a liquid, 

 and which, when appropriately heated, decomposes with the liberation 

 of oxygen, has been employed for this purpose with great success. But 

 for the necessity of supplying oxygen to the submarine boats, this sub- 



