The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-08-20
COAL TAR COLORS.
OF THEIR INVEN-
 TIOM.

Sir William Henry PerIkin Before the
 British Royal InstitutiOn--HOnOrs for
 the Discoverer of the Dye stuff.
 Mauve.
 The international celebration Of the fiftiath anniversary of the discovery by William Henry Perkin of the dye stuff mauve, by which the foundation was laid of the great coal-tar color industry was held in the Royal lnstl- tuition in London on July 27, at which Sir William Perkin and Lady Perkin and many of the most prominent men of science and industry were present. In responding to the congratulations offered, Sir William Perkin said; T am glad that this meeting is taking place in this institution, which l first visited fifty-four years ago, and for several successive Saturday afternoons sat up in that gallery an eager listener to some lectures which were being de- liVered, 1 was a schoolmaster at the City of London school Mir Thomas Hall, to whom I owe very much, who was interested in me on account Of my great liking for science, induced me to write to that great and good. man, Mi chael Faraday, who was about to give a series of lectures on electricity, tell ing him how much I-should like to be allowed to attend them, and he very graciously sent me an order-Written in his own hand-admitting me to the course. I little thought then that in four years time l should be the fortu- nate discoverer of the mauVe dye, a product which in an indirect way Is re- lated to Faradays scientific work, for 1t was in 1925 that Faraday discovered benzlne, which, as is well known, has been the initial product for the pro ductlon of aniline from the commence ment of the coal-tar color industry, and, of course, for the mauye. This fact, also connects the industry with the Royal Institution, because it was in this building that Faraday by his discovered benzine. And further, l little thought that in a few years time-May, S66-Faraday him. self would come to the Chemical socie- ty, as he did, to hear me give lecture on 'Coloring Matter Derived from Coal Tar. and then encourage me by his re- marks.
 These were all things that natural ly never entered the mind. How much less could l have dreamed that fifty years after I had obtained the mauye, l should be here at a golden jubilee celebration of the discovery of this dye. And, moreover, who could have formed any idea of the wonderful development of the coal tar color industry that ex- ists to-day, started from such small beginnings, but which through the re- searches of an army of scientific men Is now of such colossal magnitude. When this year opened I received a New Years card from my old friend Hafrat Dr, Caro, whom l am delighted to see here to-day, in which he referred to this year as being the golden jubilee of this industry, and l thought 1t very kind indeed of him to have ref1e1n- bered it; but l little thought that should hear any more about the mat ter, and not until short time before the meeting which took place at the Mansion House was l privately told that something was going to be done, and to-day is the consumnation of this something. And I feel the very great honor which is being done me; but what I appreciate most deeply Is that this jubilee celebration is an interna- tional one, in which nations on both sides of the globe are taking part, do, indeed, feel greatly honored by the gifts I have received and by the very numerous addresses from the learned and other societies, and also by the very kind congretulary speeches that have been delivered by so many and such eminent men, and do not know how to express myself adequately, and regret that time has prevented me from referring to them more fully.
 But, ladies and gentlemen, I feel that I cannot take all this honor to myself. There are others who deserve much of 1t, but are no longer with us. 1 refer to my late father and brother. They joined me when this industry was first started, the firm being known as Perkin & Sons. My father, who was builder, was much disappointed when I took to chemistry, as he wished me to be an architect, but, neverthe- lap O1x toNy hn risked most of the capital he had ac- cumulated by a life of great industry in building and starting the works at Greenford Green, evidently having great confidence in me. This was in deed very noble act on his quart, for which have always felt very grateful. for had it not been for this I probably should not have been able to start this industry as few would have been in- cllned to undertake the risks connected with the manufacture of such a new and untried product as the rlauve dye then was. My father lived about nine years afterwards, and fortunately was rewarded by seeing the undertaking a success. My brother MT. T. D. Per- kin, who was expected to follow my fathers business, helped me in my first small manufacturing operations before the works were commenced. He afterwards conducted the comner- cial part of the undertaking with great assiduity, and also took a prac- tical part in the works with great suc- cess, and we worked together harmo- niously for seventeen years, until the works were sold in 1873. Therefore, it will be seen to what great extent the collaboration of my father and brother had to do with the early success of this