By David
S. Pollock
Father Julius Nieuwland, CSC, was cordial as we walked into his
lab, even though he was playing hooky from a Notre Dame convocation.
He was wearing a heavy black rubber apron -- curious for the
man whose research in acetylene provided the key to developing
synthetic rubber. The cigar he was smoking helped cut the pungent
smell of the old chemistry building.
That smell had brought tears to our eyes as Nick Pappas and
I entered. We were both 14 and had come out to campus to see President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was speaking at a convocation (December
13, 1935). That was the ceremony Father Nieuwland was not attending.
We could not get into the fieldhouse to hear the president,
but Nick, an enterprising fellow who would later graduate from
Notre Dame Law School, suggested we find Father Nieuwland. Each
of us had to do a ninth grade "Career Book," a study of an occupation
of interest to us. Nick had selected chemistry, so why not get
information from the noted Notre Dame chemist?
Father Nieuwland seemed pleased to show us around his lab. There
were shelves of bottles containing black squares of synthetic
rubber soaking in various liquids, including alcohol and gasoline.
He lifted them out one by one to show how resistant the synthetic
rubber was to the solutions. Natural rubber would have deteriorated,
he said, describing how synthetic rubber was much more resistant
to wear than natural rubber.
He told us that during a recent visit to the Vatican he mentioned
the qualities of synthetic rubber to one of the members of the
Swiss Guard. The guard responded, "If it is that good, it would
make great heels for my shoes; rubber heels wear out too fast."
Father Nieuwland chuckled when he recalled that upon his return
he fashioned some heels out of the material and sent them to the
guard. And chuckled again as he anticipated the guard's surprise
at how long he would wear them.
On one of the lab tables he unrolled a straw mat that appeared
to be a blue covered pew cushion. Father Nieuwland explained that
he slept on the mat when he was carrying on experiments that lasted
through the night.
He opened a small refrigerator, revealing a row of pint milk
bottles; this sustained him while working through meal times.
We said goodbye and thanked the modest, quiet-spoken priest.
Little did we realize the full importance of synthetic rubber
nor that we had been in the presence of a great chemist and benefactor
of humanity.
As we crossed campus to catch the streetcar, musing over our
adventure, President Roosevelt passed within eight feet of us
in an open car that was headed for the campus railroad spur. We
got a full view of him as he lit a cigarette. Now, we were twice
rewarded.
Through the years I have reflected on that moment as Nick and
I were walking across campus -- it was a crossing of destinies.
There, passing by, was the commander in chief in our war
(World War II), just a few years ahead, Nick in the Navy, me in
the Army. And behind us was a man who, unknowingly, would contribute
enormously. When the nation's natural rubber was cut off in 1941,
neoprene was in production, to be used for hundreds of vital military
products. Curiously, it was too valuable to use for tires. It
went into such items as gas masks, life belts, exposure suits
for pilots -- 300 million pounds of neoprene -- synthetic rubber
from the vital link provided by Father Julius Nieuwland, chemist,
humane benefactor.
* * *
In 1935, the American Chemical Society cited the development
of synthetic rubber among the great discoveries "of the last 100
years." In 1953, Notre Dame dedicated Nieuwland Science Hall.
(March 2003)
