SOUTHERN HORIZONS 



For war needs or for postwar expansion plans this was 

 one point upon which Army and Navy, Government 

 officials and industrial executives, all agreed. The Amer- 

 ican chemical industry is moving South. 



Down South a chemical plant can be built in the 

 open. It needs no weatherproof building; even a tent- 

 like roof is often quite unnecessary. Its stills and auto- 

 claves, joined by a network of pipes, need no thick layers 

 of insulation. If gas or liquid is to be carried from one 

 unit to another, there is no need to forestall freezing 

 by burying the pipes deep below the frostline. 



At Baton Rouge I was discussing these climatic ad- 

 vantages with Marion Boyer, who immediately staged 

 a neat demonstration. From the window of his office he 

 pointed to the neighboring plant where du Pont makes 

 tetraethyl lead. 



"See that fine building down by the river/' he said. 

 "That is their original unit. We told them they did not 

 have to build a fine university hall like that. But no, 

 they knew how to build a chemical plant, and they did. 

 They learned quickly enough. Just look at the rest of 

 the property." 



Like any Southern oil refinery, it is spotted with ap- 

 paratus all exposed to the elements. The saving is con- 

 siderablemore than half of the original investment 

 in construction, and "Dutch" Beutel estimates that the 

 savings in time, labor, and materials for repairs and 

 current maintenance are a third. Some of his contempo- 



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