COALITION 



Ills 



COAL TAR 



hau done praiao\\urtli> pioneer work in this 

 field. 



Preparation for Market. When anthracite 

 comes from the mine fragments of rock are 

 mixed with t, and it is in larger lumps than 

 are practicable for use. The coal is hoisted to 

 P of a high building called the brik,r. 

 \\hrn- it slides down inclined chutes to the 

 rolls which break it into the various sizes at 

 which it i placed on the market. Boys, on 

 at* placed across these chutes, pick out the 

 fragment* of rock as the coal passes along. 

 These boys, called breaker boys, become very 

 skilful and will detect rock where an inex- 

 perienced person would not see it. After the 

 coal passes through the breakers the sizes are 

 pmtmt b y screens. These sizes, in order, 

 from the largest commercial form to the 

 smallest, are furnace, egg, small egg, store, 

 nut and pea. 



Soft coal is usually run over a screen to 

 clean it of dirt and small fragments, after 

 which it is ready for sale. Some mines, how- 

 ever, wash small sizes, and assort them by 

 screening, placing them on the market as 

 "washed coal," which is a very desirable fuel. 



Price. That, variety of coal which produces 

 the most heat at the least cost is the cheapest; 

 therefore, the real value of coal depends upon 

 its heating quality. For warming buildings one 

 ton of anthracite is considered equivalent to 

 two tons of the best grades of soft coal. Prices 

 \:iry with the distances from the centers of 

 production. To illustrate, when anthracite sells 

 west of Ohio for $750 to $7.75 per ton, and 

 the best grades of soft coal for about $4 per 

 ton, at or near the mines anthracite may sell 

 for $550 to $6 per ton and soft coal for $2 to 

 $250. E.S. 



Consult Macfarlane's The Coal Regions of 

 America: also bulletins Issued by the Bureau of 

 Mines. Washington. D. C. 



The following articles in 

 theae volumes will give added Information as to 

 coal. Its method of formation, and other related 

 topics : 



Carbon Diamond 



Carboniferous System Geology 



Charcoal Mining 



Coal Tar Peat 

 Conservation 



COALITION , ko a lish ' un, in domestic or in- 

 ternational politics, is a temporary alliance of 

 political parties or nations for a definite pur- 

 pose bift without loss of individual existence. 

 An excellent example in domestic politics is 

 the coalition Ministry formed in Great Britain 



in liHl, soon after the beginning of the War 

 of the Nations; its Premier was a Liberal, but 

 it included among its members men of all 

 shades of political opinion, all willing to sink 

 their differences in the great need of their 

 country. 



In international politics the most important 

 coalitions have been directed against Fnmcr. 

 first in the days of Louis XIV and later in the 

 Napoleonic era. The great coalition against 

 Louis XIV, known in history as the Grand 

 Alliance, comprised England, Spain, Sweden. 

 Holland and all Germany, and had the secret 

 support of the Pope and many of the Italian 

 princes. This coalition came to an end at 

 the. Peace of Ryswick (see RYSWICK, TREATY 

 OF). 



The first coalition against France in the 

 Napoleonic era was formed by the same coun- 

 tries, with the exception of Sweden, in 1793, 

 and lasted until 1795. The second coalition, 

 formed in 1799, comprised England, Rum 

 Austria, Naples, Portugal and Turkey. This 

 coalition was broken in 1801 by a treaty <>i 

 peace between Austria and France, but a third 

 one was formed in 1805 between England, Rus- 

 sia, Austria, Turkey, Sweden and Naples. The 

 fourth coalition is usually called the Great 

 Coalition; it included nearly all the nations of 

 Europe and resulted in the final fall of Na- 

 poleon in 1815. 



COAL OIL is the name given in some locali- 

 ties to KEROSENE. See the article of that name 

 in these volumes. 



COAL TAR, or GAS TAR. In the manu- 

 facture of illuminating gas from bituminous 

 coal, a thick, sticky, dark-colored substance 

 with a disagreeable odor is obtained as a by- 

 product. This is coal tar, one of the most use- 

 ful substances known. It is important in the 

 manufacture of roofing and tar paper, is util- 

 ized in making road pavements and enters into 

 the production of a commercial disinfectant. 

 Coal-tar creosote is a preservative of wood. 

 Coal tar contains a large number of substances 

 (at least 155) which can be separated from it 

 and from each other by distillation. Among 

 the most useful are benzene, toluene, naphtha- 

 lene, anthracene, carbolic acid and creosote. 

 These substances are easily separated from 

 each other because they boil at different tem- 

 peratures (see DISTILLATION). It is from these 

 substances that the coal-tar, or aniline, dyes 

 are made (see ANILINE). 



Before the War of the Nations, which began 

 in 1914, Germany had absolute control of the 



