COAL AND PETROLEUM
The economic history of nearly every country that has achieved eminence
in modern times dates from its use of coal and iron; and indeed the
presence of these substances in workable deposits means almost unlimited
power. The present era is sometimes called the Age of Steel, but the
possibilities of producing steel in enormous quantities, at less than
one-fifth its price at the beginning of the nineteenth century, depended
mainly upon the use of mineral coal instead of charcoal in its
manufacture.
Coal consists of accumulations of vegetable matter that were formed in
prior geological ages. Under the action of heat and moisture, and also
the tremendous pressure of the rock layers that afterward covered them,
the vegetable matter was converted to mineral coal.
The aggregate coal-fields of the United States are not far from two
hundred thousand square miles in extent, but of this area not much more
than one-half is workable. In Europe there are estimated to be about one
hundred thousand square miles of coal-lands, of which about half are
productive at the present time. Of this Great Britain has 12,000 square
miles, Spain 4,000, France 2,000, Germany 1,800, and Belgium 500. In
Canada there are about 20,000 square miles of coal-land; a part of this
is included in the Nanaimo field on the Pacific coast, but the most
important are the Nova Scotia beds, which form about the only supply for
the British naval stations of America. China has extensive coal-fields.
In character coal is broadly divided into two classes--anthracite or
hard, and bituminous or soft, coal. Anthracite coal occurs in folded and
metamorphic rocks. It is hard and glassy, and does not split into thin
layers or leaves. The beds have been subjected to intense heat and
pressure, and the coal has but a very small amount--rarely more than
five per cent.--of volatile matter; it burns, therefore, with little or
no smoke and soot, and on this account is very desirable as a fuel in
cities. Two areas in Colorado and New Mexico produce small quantities of
pure anthracite; practically all the commercial anthracite comes from
three small basins in Pennsylvania. In quality it is known as "red ash"
and "white ash," the former being the superior.
The yearly output of the anthracite mines is upward of fifty-five
million long tons a year, or somewhat less than five million tons per
month. In winter the rate of consumption is somewhat greater than that
of production. A shortage in the summer production is therefore apt to
be keenly felt in the winter. Before shipment to the market the coal is
crushed at the breakers, sorted in different sizes, and washed.
Most of the anthracite coal-mines are owned by the railway companies
centring at New York and Philadelphia, or else are operated by companies
controlled by the railways. About one-fourth of the output is produced
by independent operators who, as a rule, sell their coal to the railway
companies. The Reading, Pennsylvania, Central of New Jersey, Lackawanna,
Lehigh Valley, Ontario & Western, Erie, and Delaware & Hudson are
popularly known as "coalers" because the larger part of their eastern
business consists in carrying anthracite coal.
[Illustration: A VIEW OF THREE COLLIERIES IN THE ANTHRACITE COAL BASIN
NEAR MAHANOY CITY, PA.]
Formerly much of the coal was shipped by canals, but the latter were
not able to compete with the railways, and most of the coal-canals have
been abandoned. The price of anthracite at tide-water (New York) varies
from $3.20 to $4.50 per long ton. At Philadelphia the price is about
one-fourth less. Buffalo is the chief lake-port for anthracite. Steam
sizes are about two-thirds the price of house fuel.
[Illustration: COAL FIELDS IN UNITED STATES]
Bituminous, or soft coal furnishes the larger part of the house fuel in
the United States, and nearly all the house coal used in other parts of
the world. It contains from fifteen to more than forty per cent. of
volatile matter, burning with a long and smoky flame. The coal which
contains twenty per cent. or less of volatile matter is a free-burning
coal that may develop heat enough to partly fuse the ash, forming
"clinkers"; it is therefore called "caking" coal, and is not only well
adapted for use as fuel and steam-making, but it is also a good smelting
coal.
Coal which contains more than thirty per cent. of volatile matter is
known as "fat" coal and is generally used in the manufacture of coke and
illuminating gas. Western Pennsylvania produces the largest amount of
fat coal, but it is found here and there in nearly all soft-coal
regions. A so-called smokeless bituminous coal occurs in various
localities; its low percentage of volatile matter makes it an excellent
house fuel.
Bituminous coal is mined in twenty-five States of the Union,
Pennsylvania, Illinois, West Virginia, and Ohio heading the list. In
about half the mines the coal is cut from the seam by means of machinery
and is known as machine-mined coal. A very large part of the product is
consumed within a short distance of the mines, and this is especially
true of the region about the upper Ohio River.
[Illustration: COAL PRODUCTION]
Most of the product is shipped to the large manufacturing cities of the
middle west, where it is used for steam as well as fuel; a very large
amount also is sent down the Ohio in barges to the lower Mississippi
River. The spot value of bituminous coal varies from $0.80 to $1.60 per
ton; the product of the Pacific coast mines, however, is from $3 to $5.
The output of the mines of the United States aggregates about two
hundred and forty million long tons yearly, and this is about one-third
of the world's product. For many years there has been an export trade to
Canada, the West Indies, Central and South America, amounting in 1900 to
8,000,000 tons. Within a few years, however, the decreased cost of
mining due to machinery, and the low rates of transportation to the
seaboard has developed an export trade to Russia, Germany, and France.
[Illustration: COAL]
A small amount of coal is imported into the United States. A superior
quality of Australian coal finds a ready market in Pacific coast points
as far north as San Francisco, and large quantities of Nanaimo, B.C.,
coal are sold in Oregon, Washington, and California. A small quantity of
the "slack" or waste of the Nova Scotia mines is imported to Boston to
be made into coke. The Canadian fields supply a considerable part of the
coal used in Montana.
=Coke and Coal-Tar Products.=--In the manufacture of iron and steel a fuel
having a high percentage of carbon free from volatile matter is
essential. The great cost of wood charcoal forbids its use, and so a
charcoal made from soft coal is used. Fat coal is heated in closed
chambers until the volatile matter is driven off. The product is "coke";
the closed chamber is an "oven." The ovens are built of stone or
fire-brick, in a long row. They are usually on an abrupt slope, so that
the coal can be dumped into the top, while the coke can be withdrawn
from the bottom, to be loaded into cars.
About three thousand one hundred and forty pounds of coal are required
to make a short ton of coke; from three thousand to five thousand cubic
feet of illuminating gas, together with varying amounts of coal-tar and
ammonia, are driven off and generally wasted. In a few instances
"scientific" ovens are in use for the purpose of saving these products;
but in the coal-mining regions such devices are the exception and not
the rule. The great waste of energy-products in the manufacture of coke
is partly offset by the employment of refuse and slack, which could not
be otherwise used.
There are more than five hundred and eighteen thousand coke-ovens in
the United States, of which eighty per cent. are in use. Most of them
are in the region about the upper Ohio River, and nearly half the total
number is in the vicinity of Connellsville. The region around
Birmingham, Ala., ranks next in number. The coke product of the United
States is more than twenty million short tons a year. This is
considerably less than the product of Great Britain, which is upward of
twenty-five million tons.
Most of the "scientific" ovens are near or in large cities where the
gas, after purification, is used for illuminating purposes. In some
instances the coke, and not the gas, is a by-product. The coal-tar is
used in part for fuel, but a portion of it goes to the chemical
laboratory, where it is made to yield ammonia, benzine, carbolic acid,
and aniline dyes to the value of nearly seven million dollars.
=Graphite.=--Graphite, plumbago, or "black lead," as it is popularly
named, is found in many parts of the United States, but only a few
localities produce a good commercial article; these are Ticonderoga, N.Y.,
which yields from six hundred to two thousand tons a year, and
Chester County, Pa., which yields a small but increasing amount; a good
quality is mined near Ottawa, Canada. It is extensively mined in Ceylon,
and this island produces the chief bulk of the world's ordinary product.
The finest grade comes from the Alibert mine in Siberia. A good article
is manufactured artificially at Niagara Falls.
Graphite is used as a stove polish and for crucibles; in the main,
however, it is employed in the manufacture of lead[41] pencils; for this
purpose only a very soft mineral, absolutely free from grit, is
employed, and the Siberian output is used almost wholly. One German firm
and two American firms supply most of the pencils used.
=Petroleum.=--Petroleum is the name given to a natural liquid mineral from
which the well-known illuminating oil "kerosene" is derived, and to
obtain which it is mined. Petroleum is a mixture of various compounds
known as hydrocarbons. Some of these compounds are gaseous, some are
liquid, and some are solid; all of them are articles of commercial
value. The petroleum from different localities differs greatly in
appearance and composition.
The pitch that coated Noah's ark, the slime of the builders of the Tower
of Babel, and the slime-pits of the Vale of Siddim all refer to mineral
products associated with petroleum. Under the name of "naphtha" it has
been known in Persia for thirty centuries, and for more than half as
long a flowing oil spring has existed in the Ionian Islands. The Seneca
Indians knew of a petroleum spring near the village of Cuba, N.Y., and
used it as a medicine long before the advent of the white man.
As early as 1850 illuminating oil, known as "coal" oil, was made in the
United States by distilling cannel coal, but this product was supplanted
within a few years by the natural petroleum discovered in Pennsylvania.
In 1859 Colonel Drake completed a well bored in solid rock near
Titusville, Pa. The venture proved successful, and in a few years
petroleum mining became one of the great industries of the United
States.
Petroleum is known to exist in a great many parts of the world; the
United States and Russia, however, produce practically all the
commercial product; a very small amount is obtained from a horizon on
the south slope of the Carpathian Mountains, situated in Rumania and
Galicia, Austria-Hungary. There are also a few producing wells in Peru,
Germany, Italy, Burma, Argentina, and Sumatra.
[Illustration: PETROLEUM FIELDS IN THE UNITED STATES]
In the United States the largest horizon is that of the Appalachian
region. Since 1859 it has produced more than forty million gallons of
crude oil. The Lima, Ind., horizon produces about twenty million
barrels. The California and Texas horizons have become very important
factors. The crude petroleum is transported partly in tank cars, but
mainly by means of long lines of pipe, flowing from one pumping station
to another by gravity. There are pipe-line terminals on the Great Lakes
and at Pittsburg, but the principal are at the refining and exporting
stations in New York, Philadelphia, and on the Delaware River.
A considerable amount is exported to European countries to be there
refined, but in the main the crude oil is refined before exporting it.
Some of the refined oil is exported in barrels, and some in tin cases;
the greater part, however, goes in tank steamers, and from these it is
pumped into tank cars to be distributed. Most of the product is
controlled by the Standard Oil Company, and it reaches nearly every
country in the world. It is carried into Arctic regions on sledges, and
over the African deserts by caravans. Great Britain, Germany, and the
Netherlands are the chief purchasers and distributors. The value of the
entire product is about one hundred and eighty-five million dollars.
The Russian oil-producing region is on and near the Apsheron peninsula,
a small area of Trans-Caucasia, that extends into the Caspian Sea; the
region is commonly known as the Baku field, and in 1900 the production
of crude oil surpassed that of the United States. The petroleum is
conveyed by pipe lines to the refineries at Baku. From this port it is
shipped in tank cars by rail to Batum, whence it is conveyed to the
various European markets. A considerable part of the product is sent by
tank steamers to Astrakhan, and thence up the Volga to Russian markets.
Great Britain takes about one-third; about the same amount is shipped to
Port Saïd for China, India, and other Asian markets; the rest is
consumed in central Europe.
=Petroleum Products.=--The various constituents of crude petroleum differ
greatly in character, some being much more volatile than others. They
are separated by distillation at different temperatures. By this process
naphtha, rhigoline, gasoline, benzine, and other highly inflammable
products are obtained in separate receivers. By a similar process the
illuminating or refined oil and the lubricating oils are also separated.
The residuum consists of a gummy mass from which paraffine and petroleum
jelly are extracted.
_Naphtha_ usually contains several volatile compounds, including
_benzine_ and _gasoline_. It is used as a solvent of grease and also of
crude india-rubber, but chiefly the manufacture of illuminating gas.
_Kerosene_ is the name commonly given to the refined oil. A good
quality should have a fire test of not less than one hundred and fifty
degrees; that is, when heated to that temperature, it should not give
off any inflammable gas. This test is now mandatory in most States.
_Lubricating oil_ is used almost wholly for the lubrication of heavy
machinery. It varies greatly in composition and quality.
_Paraffine_ or petroleum wax has largely superseded beeswax; it is used
mainly in the manufacture of candles and as an insulator for electric
wires. A native mineral paraffine, known as ozocerite, is mined in Utah
and Galicia; it is used as an insulating material.
"_Vaseline_," "_cosmoline_," or _petroleum "jelly"_ is very largely used
in pharmacy as the basis of ointments and also as a lubricant for heavy
machinery.
_Asphalt_ is produced by the distillation of petroleum, but the greater
part of the world's product comes from two "pitch lakes"--one in
Bermudez, Venezuela, the other in the island of Trinidad, off the
Venezuelan coast. The former is the larger and produces a superior
quality. Small deposits occur near Los Angeles, Cal., and in Utah. The
output of the Venezuelan asphalt is used almost wholly for street
pavement.
Probably no other mineral has had a wider influence on both social and
economic life, and the industrial arts, than petroleum and its
compounds. The kerosene lamp, the aniline dye, the insulation of
electric wires, the lubrication of machinery, the cosmetic, the
india-rubber solution, and the physician's sedative dose represent only
a few of the devices that are derived from petroleum.
=Natural Gas.=--A natural inflammable gas occurs in or near several of the
petroleum horizons. One important belt extends through western
Pennsylvania and New York, and another through northwestern Ohio and
northeastern Indiana. It is conveyed through pipe-lines and used both as
fuel and for lighting. Natural gas occurs in a great many localities,
but is used commercially only in the regions noted. It is better adapted
for making glass than any other fuel, and on this account extensive
glass-making establishments have concentrated in the natural-gas belt of
western Pennsylvania.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
The statement is sometimes made to the effect that coal is "condensed
sunlight"; is it true, or untrue; and why?
Why are the coal areas of Europe and America also areas of various
manufactures?
A recent cartoon had for its title--"John Bull and his coal piles
(_i.e._, coaling stations) rule the world"; show why this statement
contains a great deal of truth.
What are some of the advantages of steam-vessels over sailing-vessels?
Whale oil, crude turpentine, kerosene, and gas have been used each in
turn for illuminants; what is the advantage of each over the preceding?
Describe the structure of an ordinary kerosene lamp-burner, an argand
burner, a Welsbach burner.
For what are aniline, paraffine, naphtha, and carbolic acid used?
FOR STUDY AND REFERENCE
Obtain specimens of anthracite, bituminous, and cannel coal, and coke
for comparison and study.
Obtain specimens of crude petroleum, naphtha, refined oil, aniline dye,
paraffine, and carbolic acid; note the properties of each. Throw away
the naphtha after using.
Read Mineral Resources of the United States on the foregoing subjects.