Therefore, it became doubly important to arrange for an adequate and continuous supply of benzol. Edison made a study of the methods and processes of producing benzol and then made proposals to various steel companies to the effect that he would, with their permission, erect a benzol plant at their coke ovens, operate the same at his own expense, and pay them a royalty for every gallon of benzol, toluol, xylol, or solvent naphtha taken from their gases. Such arrangement would not only meet his requirements, but at the same time would give the steel companies an income from something which they had been allowing to pass away into the air. He succeeded in making arrangements with two of the companies—namely, the Cambria Steel Company at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and the Woodward Iron Company, Woodward, Alabama.
Ordinarily, it requires from nine to ten months to erect a benzol plant, but before making his proposal to the steel companies Edison had worked out a plan for erecting a practical plant within sixty days, and had laid it out on paper. He was sure of his grounds, because from his vast experience he knew where to pick up the different pieces of apparatus in various parts of the country.
The contract for his first benzol plant at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was signed on January 18, 1915, and the actual work was begun an hour after the contract was signed, with the final result that in forty-five days afterward the benzol plant was completed and commenced working successfully. The second plant, at Woodward, Alabama, was completed within sixty days after breaking ground, the two weeks difference in time being accounted for by the fact that Woodward was farther away from the base of supplies and there were delays in railroad transportation of materials.
Being sure, through these contracts, of a continuous supply of benzol, Edison designed a plant for making aniline oil. By working gangs of men day and night, the erection of this plant was completed in forty-five days. The capacity of the plant, four thousand pounds per day, was fully contracted for by anxious manufacturers long before the machinery was in place.
Let us now consider Edison's work on paraphenylenediamine. This is a chemical product which is largely used in dyeing furs black. America had imported all her requirements from Germany, but within a few months after the beginning of hostilities the visible supply was exhausted and no more could be expected during war-times. Fur-dyers were in despair. This product being also absolutely essential in the manufacture of phonograph records, Edison worked out a process for making it, and as his requirements were very moderate he established a small manufacturing plant at the Orange laboratory and soon began to produce about twenty-five pounds a day. In some way the news reached the ears of many desperate fur-dyers, and Edison was quickly besieged with most urgent requests for such portion of his output as could be spared. Fortunately, a small proportion of the output was available and was distributed daily in accordance with the necessities of those concerned. This small quantity being merely a drop in the bucket, the fur-dyers earnestly besought Edison to establish a larger plant and supply them with greater quantities of paraphenylenediamine, as their business had come almost to a standstill for lack of it. He, therefore, designed and constructed rapidly a larger plant, which, when put into operation, was soon producing two hundred to three hundred pounds a day, thus saving the situation for the fur-dyers. The capacity of this plant was gradualy increased until it turned out upward of a thousand pounds a day, of which a goodly proportion was exported to Europe and Japan.
Lack of space has prevented the narration of more than a mere general outline of some of Edison's important achievements during part of the war years along chemical and engineering lines and in furnishing many of the industries of the country with greatly needed products that, for a time at least, were otherwise unobtainable. Much could be written about his work on producing myrbane, aniline salts, acetanilid, para-nitro-acetanilid, para-amido-phenol, benzidine, toluol, xylol, solvent naphtha, and naphthaline flakes—how his investigations and experiments on them ran along with the others, team fashion, so to speak, how he brought the same resourcefulness and energy to bear on many problems, and how he eventually surmounted numerous difficulties—but limitations of space forbid. Nor can we make more than a mere passing mention of the assistance he gave to the governments in the quick production of toluol and in furnishing plans and help to construct and operate two toluol plants in Canada. Suffice it to say that his achievements during this episode in his career were fully in accord with the notable successes he had already scored. It may be noted that in the three years following 1914 others went into the business of manufacturing the above chemicals, and as they installed and operated plants and furnished supplies needed in the industries Edison withdrew and shut down his special plants one after another.
Let us now take a brief glance at the patriot-inventor at work for his government in war-times and especially during the last two years of the Great War.
In the late summer of 1915 the Secretary of the Navy, Hon. Josephus Daniels, communicated to Mr. Edison an idea he had conceived of gathering together a body of men preeminent in inventive research to form an advisory board which should come to the aid of our country in an inventive and advisory capacity in relation to war measures. In this communication Secretary Daniels made an appeal to Edison's patriotism and asked him to devote some of his effort in the service of the country and also to act as chairman of the board. Although he was already working about eighteen hours a day, Edison signified his consent. In the fall of 1915 the board was organized and subsequently became known as the Naval Consulting Board of the United States. Mr. Edison was at first chairman and subsequently became president of the board.
The history of the work and activities of the board is too extensive to be related here in detail and can only be hinted at. Indeed, it is the subject of a separate volume which is being published by the Navy Department. We shall, therefore, confine our narrative to the story of Edison's work.
In December, 1916, Secretary Daniels expressed a desire that Mr. Edison visit him in Washington for an important conference. At that time it seemed almost inevitable that the United States would be drawn into the conflict with Germany sooner or later, and at the conference Secretary Daniels asked Edison to devote more of his time to the country by undertaking experiments on a series of problems, a list of which was handed to him.