128
Modern Business Geography
Near coal mines may be seen
great piles of refuse material
called culm. This refuse con-
tains slate and bits of coal.
The thrifty Europeans mix
culm with coal tar and make
small bricks, “ briquettes,” to
burn. Cities having large
manufacturing populations, if
situated near enough to the
culm piles to secure cheap
transportation, would prob-
ably be glad to buy these
briquettes. Name some such
cities. Would your commun-
ity furnish a good market for
this cheap substitute for coal ?
In their eagerness for profits
many companies abandon a
worked mine and seek a new
one as soon as the most acces-
sible coal seams are exhausted.
After an abandoned mine has
caved in, it usually does not
pay to reopen it for the small
amount of coal left there.
How does more effective min-
ing machinery help to remedy
this waste?
Coke, the fuel necessary for
iron smelting, is made by
baking coal in great ovens.
Two kinds of ovens are used, the * beehive” and the “retort.” In the
beehive oven, coke is the only product. In the retort oven the valuable
gases are saved, and the following products are obtained in addition to
the coke: coal tar, ammonia, benzol, illuminating gas, graphite, oils,
dyestuffs, disinfectants, explosives, and substances used in medicine.
Find out how many of these by-products are used in your home.
How the civilized world depends upon petroleum.
Is petroleum used in the crude state? Consult an encyclopedia or a
book on petroleum.
Suppose that there were no more petroleum in the world. Consider in
how many ways your life would be affected by lack of the following
products made from petroleum: gasoline, naphtha. benzine. kerosene,
lubricants, oils, vaselin, parrafin.
In 1929 the United States consumed almost a billion barrels of petroleum.
Some persons think that this is at least one twentieth of our untouched
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Fig. 101. A “gusher” in the Sunset oil field of Cali-
fornia. The drillers struck a deposit of oil and gas
under great pressure, and a column of oil and gas
shot up 150 feet. For several weeks the well lowed
at the rate of 40.000 barrels of oil a day.
E.
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