The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-12-06
MODERN DAY MIRACLES
Synthetic Chemistry.

In the dim ages of history when
man first felt the desire for beauty,
traders searched the world for dye
stuffs, jewels. perfumes. spices and
precious woods. The risk of these
voyages was great and only princes or
mobiles could afford the fruits of ven-
lures to the far corners of the world.
No man Of humble origin could aspire
purple of ancient Tyre, retailing at
5000 a pound.
Royal purple is an age-old insignia
of aristocracy. This dye was secreted
by small shellfish or the Eastern
coast of the Mediterranean and here
the enterprising merchants Of Tyre
formed dye monopoly equaled only
by the German Cartel.
A bit of the whitish liquid secreted
by this mollusk, of spread upon a cloth
and exposed to the air and sunlight
turns first green, next blue and then
purple If washed with an alkali soap
it becomes the magnificent crimson
worn by the cardinals and princes Of
the Catholic church. Tyrian purple
vanished from the marts Of the world
with the fall of Tyre.
Synthetic chemistry learned the Sc
cret of making royal purple as, in
deed, it learned to manufacture indigo,
the same deep blue that may be seen
today in museums, the winding sheets
of Egyptian mummies. 1t was an
achievement to snatch its distinctive
color fgom royalty and to rival the best
vegetable indigo of the ancients, but
modern chemistry has gone far beyond
that. Today any kind Of dye found in
nature can be made in the laboratory.
Indeed, smong the 900 shades and col
ors icing manufactured there are
tiats at it would DO difficult to dis
Germ III the rainbow.
These colors all come from coal tar
but after it is understood that coal tar
is the Guintessence eff tho forests of
untold ages the feat does not appear to
be so marvellous.
And S4iIl for centuries this country
has Leen wasting yas. quantities Of
the precious materlaI. In fact the
manufacturer of coke. IL which pro-
cess coal or is obtaj.es. is the only
metailurg.e.il operate that America
continues t. conduct ii & large meas
ufe, after the manner o. = century
ago In 1915 fhgre wer Al 500, 444 tons
# coke produced IN ills country for
which almost 61.G001G0 tons were used.
Because of the enormous demands
for war materials modern by-product
ovens were constructed and in 1919
more than 50 per cent Of our coke
supply came from these ovens. It is
estimated that for every ton of coke
made in modern by-product ovens
there is saved in fuel alone S25 pounds
Of coal When a householder burns a
ton Of coal he has sacrificed something
like II 600 cubic feet Of gas, nine gall
Ions Of tar, twenty-five pounds Of ann
monium sulphate. EOS gallons Of pure
benzol and O:56 gallons Of pure toluol
In our Industrial life the use Of coal
derivatives is Just beginning to be felt
The rubber industry depends upon
these products for solvents. COM
pounding ingredients and softeners
Practically all types Of paint now use
a derivative Of coal Printing inks,
shoe polishes, brake Innings, dry clean
ers, perfumes, explosives, linoleums,
CLUES. pastes, and Photographic devel-
opers. contain coal products as basic
ingredients. The paper industry, the
turer would be in serious difficulties
without the by-produets of coal tar
The electrical industry would lose its
chief source OF insulating material and