CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, The. Accord ing to the statistics published (1916) in the report of the United States Census Bureau covering the special census of manufactures taken for the year 1914, the American chemical industry ranks among the largest manufactur ing interests in the country. Outranked only by such industries as those of iron and steel, woolen goods and cotton manufactures — for it must be remembered that cattle killing, the making of boots and shoes and of clothing, as well as several other industries, are not accounted as manufactures proper by the census statisticians — it also represents a wider diversity of interests than any other of the great industries which combine to represent the source of revenue that has made the United States the most prosperous of nations.
At the same time, it is somewhat remarkable to recall what a brief period of existence this industry has had in the United States. Great as the proportions are to which it has attained to-day, not one of its products are known to have been made in America prior to about 100 years ago: to-day, scarcely a State in the Union that cannot boast of prosperous chemical estab lishments, and less than a century ago, not one such factory anywhere in the country.
According to the best reports that are ob tainable, the first attempt to manufacture chem icals in any considerable quantity was made in 1810, when 8,000 pounds of copperas were pro duced in Vermont, and a lesser amount in Maryland. Three years later an equally suc cessful attempt was made to manufacture alum in Maryland, and, in 1816, a Baltimore house began to make chemicals, paints and medicines for the general trade. It is true that some oil of vitriol had been made in Philadelphia as early as 1793, but the quantity was so small as to be scarcely worthy of notice except as a his torical incident. According to the census re ports of 1820, there were but two chemical manufactories in the entire State of New York.
In spite of this small beginning the chemical industry spread so rapidly that, by 1830, it had become a trade of considerable importance to the country. Prior to about 1815 everything needed in this line had been imported from Europe and as this necessitated the addition of transportation and other charges to the orig inal cost, the American manufacturers who had need of such products in their factories and shops were very glad to learn that such ma terials might be produced in their own land.
For economy's sake, if for no other reason, therefore, they were ready to patronize any local firm that would undertake to make the chemicals they required, so, in 1830, the census reports told a different story.
Whereas, in 1820, the chemical industry had been worthy of slight notice, 10 years later it had been extended to such a degree that the 30 firms then engaged in the business repre sented an invested capital of $1,158,000, and an annual product of fully $1,000,CC0. Alum, cop peras and several other articles were then so largely manufactured in America that the foreign product had been almost entirely ex cluded from this market. And in addition, the list of American productions then included calomel and a number of other mercurial prepa rations, Rochelle and Glauber's salts, ammonia, oil of vitriol, sulphate of quinine, tartar emetic, Prussian blue, chrome yellow, chrome green, refined saltpetre, borax and camphor, acetate and nitrate of lead, prussiate and bichromate of potash and tartaric, nitric, muriatic, oxalic and acetic acids.
Great as this advancement was, however, those who compare this first report of a prac tically infant industrj with the census figures that were gathered in 1914 will have a striking illustration of the manner in which these great manufacturing interests have extended their operations.
A summary of the chemical industry in 1909 showed 2,140 establishments in operation, with a combined capital of $483,729,410. There were engaged in conducting the business, as officers, firm members and clerks, 17,671 persons, whose salaries amounted to $86,743,333- and 70,426 em ployees, whose wages amountell to $38,658,201. The cost of materials was $258,115,971, and the value of the products was $425,084,540— the' value added by manufacture being, therefore, $166,968,565.