OUR STORY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 84, 25 June 1943, Page 6

OUR STORY

PICTUHKS IN THE COALS

I wonder how many o!' you luioav all tiie Avomleri'u! tilings that come to us .from those little knobs of -shining blackness which Ave call coal ; and of which there has been such a shortage since the war, AYl.ien you .see the man in the street with' liis coal lorry, the thought usually associated -with his load is heat and Avarmth. Sometimes you think a little deeper and remember .that It gives us gas. But you may be surprised to know that Ave get from coal quite a lot of other things that avc could scarcely do'without. For instance, a great many perfumes are obtained from it, such a cinnamon, bil tcr almonds, queen of the meadoAvs, close, wintergrecn, anise, camphor, tli3 r mol and heliotrope. Some of those you Avill ,at once recognise are used for flavouring. Is it not wonderful that such a variety of beautiful scents and. flavourings can be secured from dirty looking coal ? Bat. we have not neany finished extracting wonders from our little black friend. The next time, you see a picture ablaze Avith delicate colours and lilling you Avith admiration, just remind yourself that coal provides us Avith the means of producing more than four hundred colours or shades of colours, the chief of which are saffron, Aiolet, blue and indigo. Coal has contributed to the medical Avorkl salicylic acid, naplithol. phenol and antipj T rine, nearly all of which have now become invaluable to doctors and for use in hospitals. Benzine and naphtholine are used for destroying annoying and destructive insccts. There are. also found in it ammoniacal salts, useful as fertilisers, tannin, saccharine (a substitute for sugar), the flavour of currants, raspberry and pepper. Photogaphers could not get on veiw well without the pyrogalic acid and hydroquinine with which Mr Coal has. to. supply them, AA'hilst tnr, rosin, asphaltum, lubricating oils and varnish come from the same source.

Then think of the engines in all parts of the world drawing their heavy trains, the great ships ploughing tl)e ocean. the mighty factories any many other benefits that space will not allow me to enlarge upon, but which ave "fed" by coal.