Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-08-31
AUGUSTA LOCALS.
Why Not Make Coal?

S.rilv no impressed with the wonders
wrought by the scientific Advertisements
of the past quarter of century, ana
perhaps led 10 ask himself the ques-
rion-ls such progress possible in the
next quarter OF a century?
This question OF course. cannot be
absolutely answered, but under Ger
tain limitations, we can make uehh-
lie prognosis. The outlook for science
and Knowledge never was so bright
as at the present. Progress was never
as rapid as today and every step makes
another possible. Increasing knoWl-
edge means increasing power.
We have reason ito believe that the
triumphs of the present century are
but a foretaste of what discovery and
invention nave in store for mankind.
TO a casual thinker it seems lmposs-
ible to again equal the great inventions
and the wonderfully prolific period just
passed, but, as the great inventions
which now seem commonplace TO Us
would have seemed quite impossible to
our ancestors, we may indulge in the
hope Of future possibilities beyond our
present conception. We rest in the
positiye knowledge that all that has
been done in the past is but prelihih-
AIRY. that human ingenuity knows no
limit. and as long as man is needy
mortal. so long will his endeavors and
devices be infinite.
Puck was made TO declare through
Shakespeare. that he would put
girdle around the earth in forty mn
utes." This dream was realized in the
. Eighteenth century. two centuries AZ
ter the prophecy.
The fertile Imagination OF jules
Verne is now no longer laughing stock
The Holland is calling under the sur
face OF the sea. The United States
government is investing money and
brains in the, dreams OF Jules Verne.
have a paper i'll my hand. dated
May Il, 1872, published III Halo
wen. elaine. entitled the American
Advocate ana General Advertiser,
in which there IS an article correctly
descriptive of the present linotype
machine. including the Keyboard and
the melting VI. the type.
Stories OF flights through the cir in
an uir-Ship 4Ie no longer fiction. The
transfarence OF thought by means of
words without visible means of COM
rnuuiCa ton. through miles OF space. is
no longer a metaphysical problem,
but a stern reality.
Two or three paragraphs which have
oc, u.r.d in the Literary Digest recent
Nv have awakened some thoughts as to
the possibility of manufacturing coal.
In my Judgment. there is no need for
tni, process Ia - shruuded in any
mystery or - he considered imprac-
tcable.
If we can tax. z lump Of bituminous
cca! and by chemical analysis separate
it into its component parts. ana find
counter parts free in nature. is there
any reason why We should not by 4
:ynthctical reaction assemble these cle-
nents. ana have formed coal"
The Standard Dictionary defines
coal: An amorphous substance de-
rived from vegetation OF prehistoric
ages consisting of various kinds of
Hydrocarbons.
1t is a different proposition 70 manu-
facture an amorphous substance or a
crystalline substance. There is moth
ing about the manufacture of an amor
phous lump Of hydrocarbons which IS
beyond the key of any chemist.
We may go g step further and cite
the instance of the manufacture of dia-
monds which has been accomplished as
scientific curiosity by the liquefac-
ton and subsequent crystali2ation of
carbon dioxide. This process is &C
complished by the faCtors-electricity
ana expansion Of a steel rod by hea:
Chemistry is an exact science and il
is as possible 70 produce u synthetical
fuel possessing the character istics you
desire as il is to produce the shades
and tintS of a water color. The prob
lem is simply this-to assemble and
poGtentiaiize certain cheap combusti-
bic elements and To soldfy these ele-
ments i'll such a manner as that they
shall be portable. and valuable in
CRATES and tireboxes. and when we con-
slider the vast tracts of the earth ;
surface which are nov considered
simply useless boys. it may lessen our
surprise to know that these bogS con-
tain hydrocarbon with a calorific
value superior to dry maple wood.
our scepticism in regard to the arti-
fetal production of coal may be further
lessened when we consider the present
prices of crude petroleum in the West
and Southwest, and still further le.s-
ened when We consider that it is pos
sibie to increase the potentially of
carbon by the presence of sodium, cal
cium. potassium and chlorine in very
small proportions. An instance of this
is seen in the manufacture of calcium
carbide.
TO accomplish the manufacture Of
an aftlhcial fuel which would be equal
TO Dituminous coal. means much for
TINS country. and is subject worthy
OF most serious consideration. 1t is a
!"pJect which is at present being tax
en- up by the Russian government. and
pushed with much success 1t has been
accomplished in Belgium for a year
and a half
Up TO this time. attempts in this
country nave failed for one reason or
another, principally, we believe. be-
cause capital has been the chief factor
I'll ,he promotion Of the proposition.
SCIENTIST