Coal Contents:.

Hokitika Guardian, 22 June 1922, Page 4

Coal Contents:.

To the ;ivenire Imusehjolder (says a London paper) n ton ot coal is just a ton of coal, and with it he can keep himself warm until it is all burnt. But to a chemist a ton of coal is very much more than that. The chemist takes the toil of coal and, charging it into lireelav chambers called retorts heals it In a white heat while keeping all aii away fiom the coal. inis heating has the effect of driving all the gas out of the coal, and the amount of gas he can get from one ton ol coal is thirteen thousand cubic loot. 11 burnt in :l gas stove, Ihe heat from that gas would he more than if the householder burnt the whole ton ol coal in his grate. Bm hv treating coal r-eientim ally the che»oisl has not only got the heat out ol the coal, he lots also saved what s hit. Tw ice humlredwcight ol coke has been left over, which is excellent fuel for firing hoileis. No less than eleven gallon-. of tar are sated, every scrap oi which would have been wasted in an ordinary lire. It is 1 rom tar that the white aspirin tablets, so popular for ilv curing ol nervous headaches, aie u.ad-e. KveiAhc artist—the last person etc could imagine associated with a g.ns works —is dependent on it lor some ol hi, colours. Two pounds of Piussian hire, for instance, are extracted iricn one ton oi coal. And t' e ganh re. r. wliu hinnies the gas works hall a mile nwnv if his plants die. gels his lertilise| s and insect destroyers iron that cot) spot.