VESTED INTERESTS

Grey River Argus, 21 March 1940, Page 9

VESTED INTERESTS

BLOCK WAR-WINNING INVENTION.

Metal has, with the outbreak of wai, assumed an even greater importance in the economy of this country tnan it had in the days of peace. I Prices have rocketed, there is taik of shortage, the iron and steel kings 1 amass huge profits out of the counI try's need for arms. I Vested interests, and the Gov:rnI meat which appears to bo controlled 1 by these interests, are meanwhile refusing a proffered gift of science which would provide, the country w th a fitst-rate substitute for metal in the construction of ships, aeroplanes, and motorised vehicles. Resin-impregnated wood Is n«t a new idea. It was developed some years ago by a British scientist, the 1 late Professor W. E. Gibbs, and by a , Russian, Dr. B. J. Brajnikoff, who has ; recently perfected the process. ; Although evolved from many complicated researches and experiments, it is simple enough to describe. Most people know that tile wooa used for railway sleepers, garden fences, sheds and the like is impregnated with a chemical fluid called, creosote in order to preserve it from) attack by fungus, insects and dry-rot. A similar idea controls the new process. This consists of, first of al , drying the wood l so that all the tiny cavities and cells are freed of water. By means/bf immersion under pressure these cells and cavities are then filled with an artificial or natural resin product like shellac, or one of the compounds from which many moulded “plastic” goods such as ashtrays and light fittings are made. I The strength of wood treated in this) manner is increased, according to the resin used, from 300 to 500 per cent. Thus wooden' articles so treated obtain a strength comparable to that of

some metals. Resin-impregnated woods can be used, for example, for the framework of motor-cars, the fuselage of arcraft and the various fittings of ships, for aircraft propellers, railway carriages, railway sleepers, etc. It can be fashioned into pleasing and decorative shapes and has a yi’feet surface. Colour can be varied according to the 1 resin used. The resin treatment proy'des mi ideal anti-corrosive lining for chemical plant and tanks, and is excellent fo r sanitary and medical purposes.

In the electrical industry the use of resin makes the w&cd an excellent insulating material. So hara is this treated wood that it can take the place of the very expensive metr.l dies used in pressing out moulded goods. In the tropics the wood resists attacks by insects and the chemical changes normally caused by humidity. Great Britain is almost completely denuded of her forests and, despite intensive efforts at re-afforestation, has to import about 95 per cent, of the hard woods needed for her in-

I dustries. | This new treatment turns cheap, inferior wood into hard wood which can be used for any purpose for, which tne best woods are used, ini addition, as has been stated, to sup-1 planting metals for many purposes. Statistics show that from 50 to 70 per cent, of timber production is not employed to the best technical advantage. In Nazi Germany a similar method of treating wood is used extensively and the finished product takes the place of the meta!' Hitler needs for waging war. This is one “substitute” material we need not be ashamed to use. In Soviet Russia, too. the method is much utilised, as befits a country having the world’s largest timbe; supplies. Why has the Government of Britain not investigated and adopted the improved process that 's now available? What vested interests stand in the way of a development that would create employment all round and, at the same time; release much metal for the vitally necessary work of producing arms? It is a question that might well be raised in Parliament. —By James Vivian, scientist and writer in “The Tribune,” London.