West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-05-29
THE WONDERS OF COAL TAR.
Gorgeous Dyes aud Most Useful Products
Obtained from a Troublesome Refuse.


Gorgeous Dyes aud Most Useful Products
Obtained from a Troublesome Refuse.
Chemistry is capable of wonderful
things said an expert in chemical
science. but in nothing to which its
principles We're ever applied have such
Marvellous results followed aS are wit
messed in its manipulation of common
Ros or coal tar Thirty years ago the
problem of how they were TO rid them
selves of this foul aud then utterly use
less refuse of the retorts wa puzzling
manufacturers of gas, and che aid of
chemistry was sought i'm working out
the solution. They had no thought be-
yond the utter annihilation of the of
fcnsive tar. I'm their experiments with
the refuse the chemists discovered the
so-called burning naphtha, which. how
ever, could be applied with safety TO no
practical purpose. After the naphtha
was extracted the tar was left i'm the
form of II heavy oil. which was still
more of "A nuisance thar the original
compound. - it was moro difficult to
store and handle. The chemist Belief
discovered Il channel of utility for this
oil in applying it as "a pickle for the
preservation of railroad ties. bridge
timbers. and similarly exposed woods.
This used up large quantities of the
refuse, but only partially relieved the
tar nuisance
The only hope that gas men now
had was that some discovery might he
made in chemical experimenting which
would give commercial value To the
refuse. Faraday next awokc interest i'm
coal tar by his discovery of bcnzine as "A
q product of the tar oil II was i'm cN-
perimcnting with the volatile substances
OF these oils that the great chemist
Mansfield lost his life by an explosion
IN his laboratory. and il was probably
this casualty that directed grcator at
tention to the possibilities of the de
spiscd gas tar
1t was not until 1897, however. that
the great value of coal tar aS "A raw
material was demonstrated I'm that
year Perkins discovered its anilme
properties, a discovery which has
almost revOlutionizcd the trade i'm dive
stulis. Perkins took coal tar naphtha,
and, boiling IL i'm a retort. obtained a
chemical action which resulted i'm ben
zole and nitro -benzole. Adding water
to this, the nitro benzole was deposited
IN the form OF \ thick, oily mass. This
ne experimental with i'm various ways.
and finally by the addition Of acetic
acid and iron filings, he produced a
colorless fluid which is aniline This
liquid he treated with different chem
ical salts, and the result was green
crystals of n metallic lustcr. These he
found were capable producing, under
different chem cal reactions, the most
brilliant and gorgeous dyes-the aniline
hucs OF the paint and dye trades OF to-
day.
This discovery made the long-dc-
tested coal tar n desirable product of
the gas retorts, but il held still greater
surprises. From the light oil of the tar
valuable naphtha solvent for India
rubber was obtained, and then the in
valuable discovery OF carbolic acid was
made. How many people i'm ordinary
life know that this great disinfectant is
one of the products Of common gas-tarP
After these properties were extracted
from the tar there were left heavy oils
and rcsiduum, for which chemistry was
puzzled TO find Il practical use. IL was
not until 1869 that any satisfactory re-
suit was obtained by experimenting
with this refuse, and then the great dis
cOVcry Of aliZarine was made This
product was first obtained by the Ger
man chemists GrWbc and Liebermann.
but Prof. Perkins, who had developed
the aniline cOlors from tar, was the first
TO give practical application 20 the
German work. The Importance Of this
discovery may be understood when
II is known that i'm the first
ten years following the introduction
OF the artificial alizarine i'm the dye STUFF
trade, IT cXceede the total amount Of
natural alzarine, or madder root, that
had been handled In the trade previous
10 its introduction IL was. if ANYTHING.
superior To madder. aud 50 much
cheaper that the saving by its use up TO
1880 had amounted 90 over $50, 600 900
The discovery Of alizarine i'm coal tar
converted 400, 900 acres of land that had
been used for growing madder root in
10 fertile fields Of corn and other ce-
reals. With vegetable madder it re-
CURED nine weeks to perfect thc dying
Of a material Turkey red. The artificial
madder accomplished the desired result
in a. many hours. Three years ago the
chemist produced an artificial indigo
from the residuum of gas tar. and in
connection with the anilinc dyes and
alizarne Of the same base. il is rapidly
,aking the place Of vegetable indigo
Later, the naphthalcnc yellOws and
reds, with which entirely new effects In
color were made possible. we're derived
'Om coal tar residuum Chemists are
still experimenting with the tar prod
icts, and other important Developments
Will no 0OUBf bo made ~ ~ y Lgys