The Red Cloud chief., 1885-05-15
rhe WONDERS OF COAL TAR.
ce~gesas Dye and Mott rs~sai rrods-ss
OhsAia~a frum . rreuhi~ssss~ H~fsse~

sV6 "ON0sUS W SSSe s~Vs
6s~gesss Dyes and Most rs~fai rrodn~s
Ohsaia~a fro@ . Troublesome H~Ssse~
Chemistry l. capable Of wonderful
things" said an expert in chemical
silence. ''bui In nothing 10 which Ia
principles were ever applied have such
marvellous results followed n are WI
ncssed in it, manipulation Of ommon
gas or coal ,ar. Thirty year, sgo ia.
problem o! hos they were IN rid tasra-
selves IL this foul and then utterly Use
less refuse Of the re;orts was pulling
manufacturers Of gas. and the aid a.
chemistry Was sought in working OH;
tie solution They had no thought BE-
you'd the utter humiliation o! the Of
{ nsive tar. In their experiments with
the refine the chemists discovered the
so-cailed burning naphiha. whsch. how
ever. could he applied W IN safety To no
practical purpose. After the naphtha
was extracted the tar was LETT in the
form Of y heavy oil. which Was still
more Of . nuisance thar the original
compound. A. 10 Was more difficult ID
store and handle. The chemist frlliel
discovered u channel IL utility for this
oil in applying 10 n a pickle for the
preservation of railroad ties, bridge
iimberA and similarly exposrd woods
This used up large quanu;ie, 81 the
refuse, but only partially relieved uss
tar nuisance
The only hope that gas men now
had was that some discovery might be
mad. in chemical experimenting WHICH
would give a commercial value TO the
refuse. Faraday next awokc interest in
coal tar by his discovery oi bcnxine asa
a product Of the tar oil. IL was in ex-
perimcntiny with the volatile substances
of these OILS that the great chemist
Mans ED lost his life by an explosion
in his labor aiory. and il WAS probably
this casualty that directed greater at
tention to the possibilities of the de
spis.d gas iar.
1T was no: until 1867. however. tina:
the grei, valuc of coal tar n n raw
material was demonstrated. In that
year Perkins discovered It's aniiinc
properties. u discovery which ha.
almos; revolut; Onizcd the trade in dye
s;ufis. Perkins took coal tar naph.hss
and. boxing it in u retort. obtained a
chemical action which resulted In ben
zolc and ntro-benzoie. Adding water
tn tn :. ihe ~n,tro-bcnzolc was deposited
in the form If - thick. oily mass. This
he experimental with in various wavs.
and finally by the addition cf a0etic
acd and iron filings. he produced n
colorlesst fluid which is anilire. This
liqu d he treated with different chem
zeal salts. and the result vas green
crystals 81 q metallic luster. The.. he
fOIni were capable Of producing. under
different chem cal reactions. the mos,
brilliant and gorgeousdscs-,he aniline
hucs Ut the paint and dye trades Of to-
day.
This discovery made the long de-
tested coal tar a desirable product 81
the gas reiOrts. but il held still greater
surprises. From the light oil of the tar
n valuable naphtha solvent for India
rubber was obtained. and then the in
valuable discovery IL earbolic acid WAS
made. How many people in ordinary
life know that this great iii Infcc,ant Is
one OF the products of common gas-tar?
Alter these Sfuperties were extracted
from the tar there were left heavy OTIS
and rcsiduum. for which chemistry MAS
puzzled TO find a practical Use. Ii was
not until 1869 that any satisfactory re-
suit was obtained by experimenting
VITA this refuse. and then the great dis
covery Of alizarinc was made. This
product was first obtained by the Ger
man chemists Grade AMI Licbcrmann. |
but Prof. Perkins. who had developed
the aniline colOr- from Tar. wa the frst
to give y practical application u the
German work. The importance of this
discovery NAV be- understood when
it is known that in the irst
ten years following the introduction
Of the artificial alizarine in the dye stud
trade. it excecdci the total amount Of
natural al zarine. or ma.ider root, that
had bc>n handl al in the tr.id.. previous |
To its introduction. IL was. if anything. |
snpcrioc to mndder. and SD much
cheaper that the saving b. its Use up To
1880 had amounted 10 Oyer s2o.Osp.oOo. |
The discovery Of alizarine in coal tsr
converted 4UO. Os) acres 81 land that had
been used for growing madden root in
TO fertile fields of corn and other &C.
reals. With vegct tblc ma'lder IL re-
quircd nine weeks To perfect the dying
Of a material Turkey red. The artificial
msdder ACCOMPLISHED the desired result
in as many hours. Three years ago the
chemist produced an artificial indigo
from the rcsiduum OF gas tar. md. IN
connection with the anIiine dye- and
alizaripc Of the same ba-e. 10 is rapidly
taking the place Of vegetable indigo.
Later. the naphthalene yelIows and
reds, with which entirely new effects in
color were made possible. wer derived
from coal tar rcsiduum. Chemist. are
still experimenting with the tar prod
ucts. and other important Developments
will no doubt be made.-E T. Ssa.