CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES AND RESOURCES 

 the country rock of one of the counties is almost 

 entirely composed of limestone. This State pro- 

 duces all the lime it needs for home consumption 

 and also much for exportation. About the only 

 special comment needed on the industry here is 

 that it first successfully introduced crude oil in 

 firing the limekiln. Magnesite, in commercial quanti- 

 ties, is only found in California and this gives the 

 State peculiar advantages over the rest of the Union 

 regarding all magnesia products. There are a great 

 many different deposits and it is unfortunate that 

 some of the best are quite a distance from a railroad. 

 For a number of years there has been considerable 

 activity in magnesia cement products such as tloor- 

 ings, tiles, wash trays, etc., but it is only within 

 the last year that a factory has been producing light 

 magnesia carbonate which is almost indispensable 

 for steam pipe covering where the highest degree 

 of heat insulation is to be maintained. Light mag- 

 nesia carbonate is being produced in the East from 

 dolomite. This process is not only more compli- 

 cated and expensive, but the disposal of the huge 

 piles of dirty and impure lime has been a problem. 

 MANUFACTURE OF GAS. The manufacture and 

 consumption of gas has increased enormously of 

 late years despite the inroads of electricity. Elec- 

 tricity is gradually replacing gas for lighting, but 

 gas is more than keeping pace, making rapid strides 

 with the introduction of heating and cooking ap- 

 pliances. The old coal bench, in the far West, has 

 disappeared, and in turn the water gas is fast van- 

 ishing and being displaced by the oil gas. The 

 whole industry has received its impetus from the 

 petroleum production, and the development of the 

 oil gas may be credited to California. Oil gas has an 

 excellent illuminating power and it is interesting 

 to note that the illuminants contain a small amount 

 of acetylene. Ammoniacal liquor and tar are no 

 longer a by-product of the gas works. A small 

 amount of tar is produced, but this is not separated 

 from the large quantities of lampblack and serves 

 as a binding medium when briquetting the latter. 

 The disposal of the lampblack became a problem 

 until it was briquetted and sold for fuel and it has 

 now become a source of profit to the gas company. 

 During the early stages of the development of the 

 oil gas, the gas companies had considerable trouble 

 due to the filling up of service pipes and small 

 mains with naphthalene. It was all a question of 

 temperature, the runs had been made at too high a 

 temperature and this nuisance was abated. What 

 was once a nuisance may be turned into a source 



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