Martin Welch
In 1957 . . .
From Sue Rank Band. I really liked Marty Welch. He suggested
that both Cindy and I go into chemistry or whatever. I graduated with a
science degree with a minor in Chemistry--leading to work in Medical
Technology which I worked in for 37 yrs--the last 21 yrs. at Stanford. He
was great as a science teacher.
From Bob Montgomery. You gotta like a guy who won't let you make nitro-glycerine, but who will let you run a still. Chemistry, senior year, project. Probably Dan Mellon and me. The first proposal was nitro-glycerine. We proposed making it outside in the snow so that overheating would not be a problem. We proposed rigging a long string to the nitric acid so that as we poured it into the glycerine we would be far enough away not to be hurt by an errant explosion. No dice. Even Mr. McCarthy agreed.
From Bob Montgomery. You gotta like a guy who won't let you make nitro-glycerine, but who will let you run a still. Chemistry, senior year, project. Probably Dan Mellon and me. The first proposal was nitro-glycerine. We proposed making it outside in the snow so that overheating would not be a problem. We proposed rigging a long string to the nitric acid so that as we poured it into the glycerine we would be far enough away not to be hurt by an errant explosion. No dice. Even Mr. McCarthy agreed.
What to do? A still! Of course. Fairbanks High School seniors. Five gallons of mash to start. Continuous distilling over several days to follow. It worked. The alcohol proofed at 190. I don't remember what happened to it, but Steve Rusing in his bio ( click here ) said it took him two days to get over the graduation party. From Brian Brundin, my recollection is that Marty kept watching us, without protest, as the mash was working, and then once we got some product, John Hylen made it into ether (which Marty had, unbeknownst to us -- earlier persuaded John to do).
