328 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTIGN, 1909. 
tributes the strange fact that we alone of all the industrial peoples 
delay the adoption of this cardinal improvement from the con- 
tinuance of the same almost inexplicable cause. To quote again 
from his report, he says (p. 241): 
The year 1908 was not marked by any notable gain in the construction of 
by-product coking plants, though some new work was done. There was a net 
increase of 115 in the number of completed ovens in 1908 over 1907, the totals 
for the two years being, respectively, 3,892 and 4,007. The additional equip- 
ment consisted of 140 Koppers regenerative ovens built at Joliet, Illinois, by 
the United States Steel Corporation, but this increase was partly offset by 
the dismantling of 25 Semet-Solvay ovens at Sharon, Pennsylvania, the net 
gain being 115 ovens. Included in the total of 4,007 completed ovens in 1908 
are 152 Newton-Chambers ovens at Vintondale, Pennsylvania, but as no re- 
covery of by-products was made at this plant in 1908, the production of coke 
is included with that from beehive ovens. The 56 ovens of the same type at 
Pocahontas, Virginia, have not been in practical operation since they were 
first installed. In addition to these there was one other by-product plant of 
120 ovens that was not operated during the year. The number of retort ovens 
producing coke in 1908 was 3,679, as compared with 3,811 active ovens-in 1907. 
In describing the anomaly he says (p. 249) : 
It has been contended that the development of the by-product coking industry 
would have shown more rapid progress if markets for the by-products were 
assured. This pertains essentially to the coal tar and its products, as there is 
no difficulty in disposing of the surplus gas, and there is practically at all 
times a fair demand for ammonia. As to the coal tar, the total value of this 
by-product from retort ovens at first hand in 1908 was $1,007,613. The value 
of the coal-tar products imported into this country in 1908, including duty paid, 
was $8,560,406. The values in all cases of imports are at point of shipment, 
and do not include ocean freights, commissions, and other expenses. It is 
probable that these importations have reached the consumer at a total cost of 
not less than $12,000,000, and in the three preceding years the cost probably 
reached $15,000,000. 
These coal-tar products, however, which are imported into the 
United States at such a heavy figure, are all chemical extracts from 
coal tar, such as salicylic acid, aniline dyes, and alkaline salts, the 
manufacture of which has passed in great measure into German 
hands. Some peculiar attribute of the German temper, and the thor- 
ough character of their technical educational methods, have given 
them a monopoly of this delicate branch of the chemical industry. 
Even England, where originated the manufacture of the coal-tar 
products, and where the first patents were taken out, has been un- 
able to compete with her more precise and painstaking rival. 
As the utilization of the tars is therefore the function of the 
chemical manufacturer, and the production of the crude material 
alone falls to the coke maker, the one industry must keep pace with 
the other if progress along either line is to be made. As the profits 
of certain European coking plants collecting the by-products are 
