312 



COALING STATIONS 



COAL-TAR 



England is 6000 miles. The intermediate coal- 

 ing stations now used are Lisbon, Gibraltar, 

 Madeira, St Vincent, and Sierra Leone. Lisbon, 

 Madeira, and St Vincent being in foreign terri- 

 tory, Sierra Leone is the first British coaling 

 station. The harbour is capacious and secure, and 

 the works for its defence are nearly completed. 

 Ascension, distant from Sierra Leone 1000 miles, 

 from St Helena 680 miles, and from the Cape of 

 Good Hope 2380 miles, has a roadstead, or landing- 

 place, on its west or leeward side ; there is no 

 harbour. Ascension has been used as a depot for 

 stores and the supply of coals. By a wise decision 

 of the Admiralty (1887) the stores were to be 

 removed from Ascension, which was henceforth to 

 be used only as a sanatorium for the benefit of 

 ships whose crews have suffered from fever. 



St Helena, in the opinion of the Royal Com- 

 mission, has many advantages over Ascension. It 

 is larger, has a cooler temperature, more vegeta- 

 tion, and a better roadstead. Within a recent 

 period 30,000 has been expended on fortifications ; 

 and it has been decided to further strengthen the 

 defences, and to supply a modern armament. 



The Royal Commission showed that the value 

 of British trade either with the Cape of Good Hope, 

 or passing round it, amounted to 91,352,000 

 annually, the whole, with the exception of about 

 4,000,000, being carried on directly with the 

 United Kingdom. Enormous, however, as is the 

 value of this trade, it by no means represents that 

 which, in the event of war with one or more of the 

 great naval powers, might pass round the Cape. 

 The annual value of British trade with India, 

 Ceylon, China, and the East, conveyed through the 

 Suez Canal, falls little short of the trade by the 

 Cape route. If the long sea-route became alone 

 available, the annual value of the traffic by the 

 Cape would amount to 150,000,000, exclusive of 

 that of the shipping employed. The Cape penin- 

 sula, about 32 miles in length, is a rugged mountain- 

 ous district, connected with the continent by a 

 low isthmus, 13 miles in length (see map of CAPE 

 COLONY ). Simon's Bay affords a secure anchorage, 

 and naval establishments have been formed on 

 its shores. The anchorage in Table Bay, the 

 scene of many disasters in former days, has been 

 rendered secure by a noble breakwater. Docks 

 have been formed. The graving-dock is capable of 

 receiving large ironclads. To make the Cape 

 thoroughly secure, it is necessary to fortify both 

 Table Bay and Simon's Bay. The defences at 

 Simon's Bay have been completed at the sole cost 

 of the imperial government. At Table Bay the 

 works are being executed by the colony, while the 

 armaments are provided by the imperial govern- 

 ment. 



Mauritius lies nearly midway between the Cape 

 and India, 4440 miles apart. The colony has a 

 trade of the annual value of 6,000,000. Port Louis 

 is a safe and commodious harbour. The Royal 

 Commission recommended additions to and im- 

 provements of existing defences. Mombasa (q.v.) 

 was made a naval coaling-station in 1890. 



Having dealt with British trade with the East, 

 we turn to the West. The trade of the United 

 Kingdom with the United States and Canada ex- 

 ceeded, at the date of the Commissioners' report, 

 119,000,000 in annual value. The largest pro- 

 portion is food and raw material supplied to the 

 United Kingdom. War with the United States 

 cannot be contemplated by practical British poli- 

 ticians. In the event of war with any other power, 

 merchant-steamers would require protection only 

 near the coast at either end of their voyage, 

 trusting to their own speed for the intermediate 

 portion. 



British trade with the West Indies amounts 



annually to 21,000,000. The defence of thi* 

 important trade rests on Jamaica and St Lucia. 

 The defences of Jamaica have been modernised 

 and greatly improved in recent years. St Lucia 

 has been selected by the Admiralty as a coaling 

 station for the fleet in the Windward Islands. 



It is not necessary to refer in detail to the land 

 defences of the great ports of Australia. The 

 combined expenditure 01 the several governments 

 may literally be reckoned by millions. The man- 

 ning of the works and the general defence of the 

 colonies by land is guaranteed by an army of more 

 than 30,000 volunteers, of splendid physique, well 

 equipped, and provided with a small staff of officers 

 from the imperial service. A considerable flotillaj 

 for harbour defence has been created at Melbourne. 

 Adelaide has a powerful coast - defence vessel. 

 Brisbane has two efficient gunboats. Naval bri- 

 gades have been organised both in Victoria and 

 New South Wales. 



New Zealand is secured by its geographical 

 position from an attack in force. The defence- 

 of a few principal ports has been taken in hand, 

 under the able advice of Sir William Jervois. A 

 considerable body of volunteers, both for the sea 

 and the land service, has been enrolled. 



By an arrangement concluded by the administra- 

 tion of Lord Salisbury, a joint agreement was in 

 1887 entered into, with the approval of the legisla- 

 tures in the Australias and at home. Under its pro- 

 visions, by a colonial contribution from the several 

 governments, a special squadron of highly efficient 

 cruisers has been built for the defence of trade in 

 Australian waters and on the coasts of New 

 Zealand. 



Coalition, in Politics, is applied to the union 

 of two parties, or, as generally happens, portions of 

 parties who agree to sink their differences, and 

 act in common. Pitt the elder, when he took 

 office in 1757, coalesced with the Whig aristocracy 

 .represented by the Duke of Newcastle. The 

 ministry always spoken of, however, as the Great 

 Coalition was formed in 1782, when Fox, the 

 leader of the reformers, took office along with 

 Lord North, the leader of the opposite party. 

 When Lord Derby's ministry resigned in 1853, 

 there was a short coalition between the Whig 

 party under Lord John Russell, and the more 

 moderate of the Conservative party under Lord 

 Aberdeen. The arrangement made between Con- 

 servatives and Liberal Unionists in 1886 can 

 scarcely be called a coalition, inasmuch as the main 

 responsibility of government rests on the former s 

 while the latter give them a general support. The 

 term is also used of alliances between separate 

 states. 



Coal-tar, or GAS-TAR, is a thick, black, opaque 

 liquid, which comes over and condenses in the pipes 

 when coal or petroleum is distilled. Now usually 

 obtained in the manufacture of gas, tar was about 

 1782 extracted from coal by the ninth Earl of Dun- 

 donald under a patent, expressly for the purpose of 

 being used for protecting ships from rotting. Coal- 

 tar is slightly heavier than water, and has a strong, 

 disagreeable odour. The amount of tar so obtained 

 of course varies with the nature of the coal em- 

 ployed, but it is also dependent on the average 

 temperature of distillation. With a low tempera- 

 ture, a large quantity of tar is produced, along with 

 a small yield of a highly illuminating gas. At first 

 this tar was regarded as a waste product, or, at 

 most, as a source of pitch ; but it soon became 

 apparent that as a source of Benzene (q.v.), and 

 through it of the aniline dyes (see ANILINE), it 

 was a commodity of great commercial value. 



When coal-tar is distilled, a large number of 

 volatile substances pass over as the temperature 



