The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1916-06-30
SEARCH FOR DYES
VIRTUALLY FORGOTTEN INDUS.
TRY BEING REVIVED IN HASTE.
Chance Discovery Of Young English
Chemist Taken Up by Germans
and Made Great Utility for
Whole World.

A virtually forgotten industry is be-
ing revived with frantic haste as a
result OF the discontInuance OF Ger
many's world commerce In aniline or
coal-tar dyes, according to a bulletin
issued by the National Geographic
society.
The United States, like many other
countries, is looking longingly once
more to Avignon's madder root for It's
Turkey red" to India's indigo for its
blues, 10 Mexico's cochineal for its
scarlets, to Central Americas logwood
for it's blacks and browns. to our own
oak forests for the quercitron yellow,
and-no. not TO the peculiar Mediter-
ranean seashell for its purple, for the
manufacture of the Tyrian shade be-
loved by emperors is one of the So
called lost arts.
But these ancient vegetable dyes,
some of which were in use when the
mummy cloths were being made for
the pyramid builders of Egypt, can
never replace the cOal-tar dyes, which,
during the 60 years since they were
accidentally discovered. have revolu-
tionized the art Of adding color to
our clothes, our houses, our inks, our
shoes, our wallpaper, out hats and our
book bindings. In fact, aniline dyes
furnish almost all of the modern tints
for which man is responsible.
1t was in 1856 that a young Eng
lish chemist, while trying TO produce
artificial quinine, distilled from coal
tar a substance which had beautiful
mauve tint This was the first of the
aniline dyes, dyes which have now
been produced in nearly a thousand
commercial shades, 400 of which are
widely used This young chemist, VIII
liam Henry Perkin, secured capital
from his father and began the manu-
facture of dyes, as a result of which
he was knighted and amassed a for.
tune. His discovery Immediately at
tracted the attention Of German man
who, aided by far-sighted
bankers, employed university chem
lists, and established dye plants on the
Rhine and Main rivers, inaugurating
an industry which has enjoyed phe-
success. At the outbreak of
the present great war 21 manufactur-
ing establishments, most of them
within an area of 1870 square miles, had
practical world monopoly of the an
line dye trade.
1t is not a coincidence that IL of
iermany's biggest dye factories are
ocated at Essen, adjacent to the lead
ng munitiOn plants of the Teutonic
empire. The same coal tar which pro-
luces dyestuffs also furnishes the es-
iential ingredients Of the high explo-
lives used in the shells of the l6-inch
'uns which battered down the forts
# Liege, and which fill the head of |
he deadly submarine torpedo.
Up to the time of Perkins epoch !
making discovery, coal tar was the |
.espised by-product when coal was
urned to produce coke and illuminat-
ng gas. Today the once rejected third
roduct has become, as it were, the
eystone in the manufacture not only
f dyestuffs and high explosives. but
f many perfumes. photograph devel-
pers and innumerable medical COM
ounds known as coal-tar prepara,
ions.
At the outbreak of the world war
he United States was importing an
ually from Germany about $15 100000
'orth of aniline dyes. The discontin-
ance Of these dye shipments has had
n effect upon our industries out of
Il proportion to the actual value of
le imports, for the manufacturing es-
in this country which
sed these dyes employ more than
100000 workers, and many of the
Ictories have been forced to run on
alf time or even less
The increase in the prices of some
the dyes can only be compared
ith the astonishing increase in the
rices of shares in some of the war
ride" stocks. For instance, patent
ues have registered the astonishing
ivance from 60 cents to S24 a
1und. Other dyes which formerly
I'D for 25 cents gallon now bring
2.
Since 1893 the United States has
about 20 per cent of the
res needed in domestic manufac,
res.