Measures for Progress: A History of the National Bureau of Standards

RESEARCH IN CRITICAL MATERIALS 421
constant servicing were deemed serious drawbacks. Only alcohol seemed
a feasible substitute, and it had to be high proof. Made at the request of
the Army, studies of low-proof alcohols showed that a vehicle that got 200
miles on a tankful of standard gasoline and 130 miles with absolute alcohol
went only 25 miles on a tank of 70-proof alcohol. The waning of the sub-
marine menace ended the unnerving prospect and the project153
A high-precision wear gage, made by Samuel A. McKee of the Bureau
in the course of the substitute fuel study, led to an interesting discovery. The
gage itself was capable of detecting as little as one hundred-thousandth of an
inch of wear in a motor. While making tests with it, the gage demonstrated,
surprisingly enough, that most of the substitute fuels, if not as efficient as
gasoline, produced significantly less wear and tear on the engine. It was
not the sort of measurement many motorists then or later would be con-
cerned about, but the gage fortunately had other uses.154
Another kind of detector, devised at the request of the Air Force and
NACA, was the Bureau's carbon monoxide indicator. In place of earlier
cumbersome apparatus, Martin Shepherd of the chemistry division produced
a sensitive, calorimetric indicating gel, put up in a small tube, that quickly
signaled the presence of small amounts of carbon monoxide fumes. To
produce the tu'bes, for attachment in the cockpits of fighter planes and crew
quarters of bombers, a group of 30 took over a section of the gas chemistry
laboratory and set up an assembly line. Over half a million units were
turned 'out and distributed before the highly classified project ended.155
In an unceasing search, substitutes for metals were found in wood,
concrete, and plastics, and involved a 'host of products from shower stalls and
sinks to fuel oil and gasoline storage tanks. No attempt was made as in
World War I to build concrete cargo ships, barges, and tankers, 'but at the
time of the steel shortage the 'Maritime Commission sought new Bureau studies
of reenforced steel, with concrete ships in mind. Instead, the research led to
the construction of a number of concrete oil storage tanks 'before steel plate
became available again. Lined with liquid-proofing materials recommended
by the Bureau, they were used to store a variety of motor fuels, including
high-octane gasoline. Contrary to expectations, losses of gasoline by vapor-
ization through the concrete proved of minor significance.156
A challenge to the Bureau was the request made by Military Intelli-
gence to find means of sabotaging enemy construction 'of concrete fortifica-
tions and similar military structures. Was there, Intelligence asked, a readily
153 NBS War Research, pp. 79—80.
Shepherd, "Rapid determination of small amounts of carbon monoxide," Anal. Chem.
19, 77 (1947); RP1777 (Shepherd, 1947); NBS Annual Report 1947, p. 206; interview
with Mrs. M. Kilday, May 12, 1964.
War Research, p.95