COAL 



Trade 



Indian 

 Gas-works. 



By-products. 



THE INDIAN COAL INDUSTRY 



tOutput of the Oondwana Coalfields for the Years 1901-6 continued. 



Output of the Cretaceous and Tertiary Coalfields for 1901-6. 



Coal-gas : Coal-tar. It is exceedingly difficult to obtain informa- 

 tion regarding the gas-works of India. In the Financial and Commercial 

 Statistics published by the Government of India for 1904 (more recent figures 

 are not available), mention is made of two gas-works, one in Calcutta, the 

 other in Bombay. These gave employment to 581 persons. It is believed 

 there are other gas-works here and there all over the country, but mostly 

 of a private nature, and therefore not returned under " Larger Industries." 

 It is understood also that English coal is largely, if not exclusively, 

 employed in gas-making, and the by-products of these works are doubt- 

 less disposed of but are not worked up to the extent customary in Europe. 

 The coals most suited are coking coals that burn with a long flame. 



In the dry distillation of coal and in the manufacture of illuminating gas, 

 volatile products are obtained that condense and separate into (a) a watery 

 liquid and (&) a tarry mass. The former is one of the chief sources of 

 ammonia and its salts (see Alkalis, p. 48), and the latter constitutes coal- 

 tar. (For Wood-Tar, see Pinus, p. 890.) The average results with good coal 

 are : gas 16'6 per cent. ; ammoniacal liquor 14'1 per cent. ; tar 5 - 3 per 



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