Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 1915-07-20
MAGIC COAL TAR,
Once Despised, It Is Now a Source
of LimitleSS Products.
SPANS THE WORLD OF COLOR.

u YtoIoe Almost Every SnaoO or 7ue
and 10 Used In Practically Every In
dustry-ln Medicine and Surgery.
Also. II Has Worked Wonders.
Among the almost limitless number
of natural products Of this country
coal tar stands well In the lead In the
variety of uses to which it may be ap.
piled Evil smelling. il is the rough
material from which many valuable
substances have been obtained after
years OF persistence BY science and In
dustry.
These substances include a wide
range Of colors. various burning and
lubricating oils, asphalt for pavements,
Photographic developers and great
number Of medicines, dayors and per
| fumes. Coal tar is used In practically
every manufacturing process where
| dyes are needed, in making cloths,
silks, dress materials. colored papers
and even colored articles OF food.
About century ago coal tar was
no one had thought ii worth while to
| experiment with It. AT that time gas
was being introduced as a new light
| and Frederick Accum. who wrote one
of the first books on gas lighting. sug.
gested the boiling of the tap.Jn still
and the condensation and collection of
the volatile products. The experiment
was made. and the process yielded two
oils. One was heavy and the other
| light. II was soon found that tke
heavy could be satisfactorily used as q
| preservative for wood that had to be
fixed underground or submerged in
water and was used extensively in pre-
serving piers and wharfs.
Further experiments with the lighter
| oil were made by a Scotch chemist
| Macintosh. who used 1t in waterproof
ing the clothing which still bears his
name. II also is used M solvent in
varnish making and as coal naphths
/ for lighting. Experiments with naph-
/ tina disclosed rich treasury OF colors
which for centuries had been locked up
In coal and its refuse-tar BenZine
was extracted from naphtha aud this
IN turn produced the different shades
II violet, green, blue and yellow Later
another chemist made the commercial
manufacture VI benzine possible he
was experimenting On the artificial pro
duction OF quinine, and. using base
known rs aniline, obtained the coloring
matter called mauye
This laid the foundation for the coa
TAR color industry which has develop
ed until today almost every color and
shade of color is derived from auiline
Aniline had been obtained previously
from the indigo plant anil" The dis
covery OF mauve created large de
mand for the artificial anilne bas.
and gave unexpected value 10 benzine
II Yielded aniline by being treated will
nitric acid and with the borings OF cas-
iron powdered into dust Having don,
lis work in the aniine still, the dus
p was used by the gas maker to cleanse
his coal gas from sulphur. and then 1
passed to the manufacturing chemist
who burned the sulphur out OF II anC
produced sulphuric acid-a cycle Of op
erations whose beginning and end wal
the utilization or waste
This method OF producing color wa
: responsible for the desolate madde
fields OF France and Holland and 70
the loss to the Hindus Of their loni
cherished indigo cultivation Anthra
i. Gene. one OF the heavier oils Of Goa
tar, caused the fall OF the madde
I growing industry The madder pro
duced yiolets, reds, blacks, puppies an,
/ dark browns. Anthracene was soil
very cheaply for lubricating purpose
until certain chemists heated II wit
zinc filings and produced alizarin, an,
then the secret OF the madden plan
was discovered
II In this way chemistry displaced ayr
culture. one mound of alizarin havin
Z