﻿THE 
  COMING 
  OF 
  THE 
  NEW 
  COAL 
  AGE 
  ^ 
  

  

  By 
  Edwin 
  B. 
  Slosson 
  

   Director, 
  Science 
  Service, 
  Washinffton, 
  D. 
  C. 
  

  

  [With 
  1 
  plate] 
  

  

  We 
  stand 
  at 
  the 
  opening 
  of 
  a 
  new 
  era 
  in 
  the 
  utilization 
  of 
  coal, 
  

   for 
  here 
  and 
  now 
  are 
  being 
  discussed 
  as 
  actual 
  operations 
  processes 
  

   and 
  projects 
  which 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  ago 
  were 
  purely 
  theoretical 
  and 
  

   commonly 
  considered 
  chimerical. 
  In 
  talking 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  old 
  coal 
  age 
  " 
  

   and 
  the 
  " 
  new 
  coal 
  age 
  " 
  I 
  am 
  not 
  referring 
  to 
  the 
  Carboniferous 
  

   period 
  and 
  the 
  later 
  deposits, 
  for 
  I 
  am 
  here 
  concerned 
  not 
  with 
  

   the 
  formation 
  of 
  coal 
  but 
  with 
  its 
  consumption. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  old 
  coal 
  age, 
  which 
  has 
  lasted 
  now 
  some 
  600 
  years, 
  we 
  knew 
  

   nothing 
  better 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  coal 
  than 
  to 
  burn 
  it. 
  But 
  in 
  the 
  new 
  

   coal 
  age 
  now 
  opening 
  we 
  have 
  found 
  that 
  coal 
  can 
  be 
  put 
  to 
  better 
  

   purposes 
  than 
  to 
  be 
  burnt 
  in 
  its 
  crude 
  state; 
  that 
  when 
  we 
  use 
  it 
  

   merely 
  as 
  a 
  fuel 
  we 
  are 
  losing 
  compounds 
  that 
  may 
  some 
  time 
  be 
  

   worth 
  more 
  to 
  the 
  world 
  than 
  the 
  heat 
  obtained. 
  We 
  are 
  beginning 
  

   to 
  realize 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  coal 
  as 
  a 
  source 
  of 
  raw 
  material 
  for 
  the 
  

   synthetic 
  chemist. 
  

  

  In 
  1306 
  King 
  Edward 
  I 
  issued 
  a 
  proclamation 
  making 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  

   coal 
  as 
  fuel 
  in 
  London 
  a 
  capital 
  offense 
  and 
  one 
  man 
  was 
  executed 
  

   for 
  the 
  crime. 
  Five 
  hundred 
  years 
  later 
  Col. 
  George 
  Shoemaker 
  

   was 
  threatened 
  with 
  arrest 
  for 
  attempting 
  to 
  sell 
  a 
  few 
  v/agonloads 
  

   of 
  coal 
  in 
  Philadelphia. 
  When 
  it 
  was 
  first 
  proposed 
  to 
  burn 
  coal 
  

   by 
  piecem.eal, 
  using 
  the 
  gas 
  for 
  lighting 
  and 
  then 
  the 
  coke 
  for 
  heat- 
  

   ing, 
  the 
  idea 
  met 
  with 
  furious 
  opposition. 
  Scott, 
  Byron, 
  and 
  

   Napoleon 
  were 
  among 
  those 
  who 
  made 
  fun 
  of 
  the 
  crazy 
  notion. 
  A 
  

   German 
  paper 
  in 
  1816 
  (Koelnische 
  Zeitung, 
  March 
  28) 
  condemned 
  

   the 
  project 
  of 
  street 
  lighting 
  on 
  six 
  points: 
  (1) 
  Theological, 
  as 
  

   blasphemous, 
  since 
  God 
  had 
  divided 
  the 
  light 
  from 
  the 
  darkness; 
  

   (2) 
  juridical, 
  people 
  should 
  not 
  be 
  compelled 
  to 
  pay 
  for 
  gas 
  they 
  

   do 
  not 
  want; 
  (3) 
  medical, 
  the 
  emanations 
  were 
  injurious 
  to 
  health 
  

   and 
  people 
  would 
  stay 
  out 
  late 
  andxatch 
  cold; 
  (4) 
  moral, 
  the 
  fear 
  

   of 
  darkness 
  would 
  vanish 
  and 
  crime 
  would 
  increase; 
  (5) 
  police, 
  

  

  ^ 
  Reprinted 
  by 
  permission 
  from 
  Proceedings 
  of 
  the 
  International 
  Conference 
  on 
  Bitu- 
  

   minous 
  Coal, 
  Nov. 
  15-18, 
  1926. 
  

  

  243 
  

  

  