The Ordway new era., 1908-06-12

One Of the signlfican, signs OF the
times is the awakening OF the Amer
lean people 10 the dangerous deSirue-
ton Of their forest wealth. and the
necessity OF s wise use o. what re-
mains ot IT, Undoubtedly. in the tu-
ture the nation must utilize its forest
crop less wastefully. both in the woods
and in the rlill, and must make pvoy!-
sion for future crops; but that i not
the only way 10 proloug the timber
supply. II the service Of the WoOt
which is used can be heightened. it
will largely decrease the amount q
timber that must be cut
And this can be done by treating
the wood with chemicals which will
poison the low forms Of plant life
which attack IL and cause it TO decay
The growth OF timber is slow. and
when the dearth Of IL becomes press
Ing. new crop cannot be grown
quickly enough TO prevent 4 time o.
severe shortage. Preservative treat
ment Of timber has the advantage. as
a remedy, that it can be applied i'm
fore. attracting increasing attention
Many chemicals have been used for
the preservation OF timber. among
them blue vitriol. corrosive subiiuiaie
and chloride Of zinc The mos; e6ec-
tive pTeseTvative is the substance
called "creosote oil" or "creosote"
On account of the similarity O, the
names. many people suppose this to
be the creosote obtained from wood.
such as can BE- obtained. refined for
medicinal purposes. AZ the drug stores
But the two are quite different. and
should not be confused The creo-
sote used in wood preservation Is OBJ
tained from coal. by a mos, interest
ing process
Nearly every city now uses gas for
light and fuel. and many people know
that this Illuminating Gas is often
made from coal But the many thiass
besides gas which are obtained in
this process are not 80 well known II
Is one OF these other products from
which is obtained the c-eosote oil used
fo- wood preservation
To understand how zll these things
are produced. il is necessary TO know
something which the chemists can tell
rs, Coal they say. Is composed pa-t-
" Of the substance called carbon. part.
ly Of compounds OF this carbon with the
sas hydrogen. which they have named
hydrocarbons When the coal Is
heated sufficiently. away from air. the
hydrocarbons are driven OF in the
form az gas Illuminating gas Is made
By suojectinE coal Of the proper kind
to this process. which Is known IS
dry distllaiion-~ The coal is IN,
Into long. frA-clay oven. or -re-o7t-~
shaped much like 4 giant model O. the
little cakes which the bakers call
lady fingers the reto-ts being
about Is feet long. two fee, wide and
1e inches deep A number OF these
retorts are bull; side by side. in three
rows. one above the other. the ends o.
the re;o-ts being supported in
brick wall which also extends around
the ends Of the rows and oye- the top.
and thus entirely ircloses the re
torts- Fire. from furnaces below. Is
carried by fues into this iuc,o<u-s 50
that tie retoTts are entirely envsiopet
In fame and can be heated TO 3 very
high Temperature
The reto-zs are partly filed with
coal. amer which they are sealed. 50
that no air can get into them They
are then heated 10 temperature o.
about s.ioe degrees Fahrsaheic Uu-
der this intense heat aluos. all the
hydrocarbons Of the coal pass o.. lear
ing behind only the -fxet- carbon
which comes ont OF the re.o-s as coke.
Many Of the lighter compounds dis
tined on By the heat vim remain il
The form Of gas when rhey are cooled
. ordinary Temperatures. and II is
xasDe Of these which make the eas
Annlly used for lighting and fuel But
- II comes nom the retnrfa. The sas
= ma . thick yellowish-srsen smoke.
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