The Manufacture of Coal Oil in Central Ohio

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Our friend, J E Holmes, of Newark, Ohio, sends us some valuable statistics in relation to the manufacture of coal oil in this region from the fine quality of cannel coal which si the surrounding country produces The first establishment for the manufacture of coal oil in this portion of Ohio was started some two years since by Dillie Kobinson, in Perry co, who have recently increased their works to such an extent as to eneble them to manufacture about 350 gallons of oil per day, a more than usual proportion of which is burning oil of superior quality The vein of coal from which their works are supplied is of an excellent quality, but, like most good coal beds, very thin In addition to this, the senior member of the firm is making arrangements to start similar works at Flint Ridge, in Licking county, which will be supplied by the extensive and available vein now in possession of the Great Western Oil and Coal Company, of Newark, Ohio This latter company furnish Newark with gas, which is said to bs unsurpassed for its brilliancy, and will soon be prepared to produce one thousand gallons of oil per day The Newark Coal Oil Works, under the management of Messrs Holmes Hull, are also increasing the capacity" of their works ; and we are assured by the firstnamed proprietor that they will shortly be able to produce three hundred gallons of pure oil per day The demand for this kind of oil, both for burning and lubricating purposes, would seem to justify the assertion that it will be generally used for both It possesses but little odor, is of the same specific gravity as water, and is limpid in appearance Mr Holmes informs us that a single application of this oil to the slides of a large "iron planer," having a travel of 20 feet, and a width of 4 feet, lasted a whole week It appears that one portion of the fissures or fractures in the beds of cannel coal situated in central Ohio, have one general direction or bearing, which is about five degrees west of south, the blocks being nearly square, and varying from two to three feet This fact led Mr Holmes to suppose that, at the time the deposit was hardening into coal, the magnetic attraction of the pole might have had some influence In producing this peculiarity This observation has been made in the fissures of all coal beds, and they run in the same direction nearly all over the world We do not profess to account for this, but we should not like to attribute it to polarity

Scientific American Magazine Vol 13 Issue 32This article was published with the title “The Manufacture of Coal Oil in Central Ohio” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 13 No. 32 (), p. 254
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican04171858-254a

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