304 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



The production of oil from coal is not a new discovery, but the 

 discovery of coal beds in this country of a character to yield a 

 sufficient amount of oil to pay the expense of extraction has but 

 recently been made. In Scotland the Boghead coal has for seve- 

 ral years been used solely for distillation, being far too valuable 

 for fuel. The oil from this coal is used upon the English and 

 French railroads, and the demand is always in excess of the sup- 

 ply. Railroad managers prefer it to the best sperm oil. In Nova 

 Scotia there is another deposit of coal at the Prince Albert mine 

 which also yields a' good quality of oil, and these, with the excep- 

 tion of the Breckinridge, are the only localities yet known where 

 the coal yields a sufficient quantity of oil to pay the expense of 

 manufacturing. Since the experiments of the Breckinridge co'»a- 

 pany were made with such a successful result the whole country 

 has been explored for oil-bearing coals, but thus far the experi- 

 ments have resulted in disappointment. No coal has been yet 

 found which could be made to yield much more than half the 

 results of the Breckinridge, and of course could not come into 

 competition with it. 



When the announcement was first made of the developments 

 in regard to the value of this coal for distillation, the statements 

 were ridiculed as incredible; but the practical working result has, 

 if anything, exceeded the anticipations excited by the preliminary 

 experiments. The products of the coal are purer, and the quan- 

 tity larger. The purposes to which they can be applied are also 

 more numerous. 



We have taken up this matter at this time to show the public 

 what has been the progress of this company during the last six 

 months, and what maybe expected for the future. These results 

 are of manifest public importance, as marking the advance of a 

 new branch of industry, and an entirely new development of the 

 mineral wealth of our country. When the experiments with this 

 coal had fully satisfied the parties engaged in them of its great 

 value as an oil-producer, a company was at once formed, under 

 the management of the Messrs. Cairns, who made a contract for a 

 series of years with the Breckinridge coal company for a supply 

 of their coal, and commenced putting up works for manufacturing 

 oil at Cloverport, Ky., the shipping portion the Ohio river of the 



