“Nobody knows,” said Somebody. “Perhaps some little mother whose babies were cold and chilly found some black rocks and used them for a fireplace to hold the little sticks which she was burning to cook breakfast over, and found that the stones also burned.”
“I’ll bet that’s right,” said Billy. “I can just see the picture. What kind of mother would she have been?”
“Anglo-Saxon,” said Somebody, “as they were the first to use it as a fuel. They have been known to have used coal since 842 A. D.”
“As useful as coal itself is, its derivatives are more so,” went on Somebody. “From coal tar is made so many articles of daily use that it would be impossible to tell you about them all.”
“Old King Coal,” sang Billy. “Thanks, Somebody—I’m off for a swift skate on the ice this morning!”
“A true Star has but five Points”