The Rock Island daily Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1872-1873, 1872-12-17

ago. With US its general usefulness ana q
general excellence. for certain leading pnr- = !
poses, have excited no proporuonate inter- Il
est. But all this is changing last and 1t a
will not he long before peat will stand
nrominent among the earths great wealth y.
only short lime, and like iron aud coal it !
will he c1nsdered among the great natural
sccDnulations Of riches, and power, and
national comfort and well-being with which
these Northern States are almost over
blessed. Hundreds Of beds are known and
thousands will be discovered. some in
almost every county Of the North, and
West.
Now what is it good for and what is it
worth? 1t is good in stove in FIRE
place, in furnace, for locomotives, much /
used that way in England and Bavaria-
for stationary engiaes, wherever metive /
power from fire is wanted in the forge, in
making pig iron and steel for pudding
iron, for gas, rs fertilizer, foe parafine,
&C., &c. rs mentioned below 1t makes
no clinkers in burning, nor are grate-bars
consumed by it as by anthracite The
very best quality. well ground. pressed,
and dried, bulk for bulk, is nearly or quite
/ equal TO common biruminous coal. for com
mon purposes, and much superior for
others Prom this it goes down to almost
WORTHLESS qualities The coal. after the
coking Of some varieties, So it is stated,
is preferable in making gunpowder TO even
that from dogwoOd and alder Used as a
fertilizer it is sometimes first burned, at
others nburned. mixed with manures
lime, 6e.. atter II hes been subjected TO the
frost and AIR. lt, effects are said TO he
very pernaneht on land, lasting for years.
] Ia the manufacture of iron, especially in
pudding iron, good qualities are far SUI
perior to mineral coal. and if first coked, is
J better even than charcoal In Sweden
particularly it is now employed for this
purpose. Iron men will appreciate its
excellence over anthracite in its being
usually free from sulphur and phosphorus.
IL viii probably he much used in this
country before many years, both in blast
and puddling furnaces, and perhaps in
making steel and glass
Some Of the varieties are Of the very
first value in manufacturing gas. The
French have given this department es-
I pecial attention Most good peat will pro
duce much resin and parafine which last is
quite valuable 1t closely resembles sper-
maciti and is used for candles, which burn
like those from wax First class dry peat
OH analysis, averages about as follows to the
loo parts
! CarDen- .....--.-.- -...-..'.'-''...' %
/ hyurogen. ....-...--''..''' .
o Oxygen. ................... 81
II Ashes .......-......... 0
Il 100
, The first then constitute the base from
:, which the parafine oils, &c, are formed
!, Ut should be mentioned, that in some in
r stances, while peat is 70 ming, part Of the
n carbon Of the woody fibre, among Other
:, chemical changes, retains hydrogen, anC
t, thus compounds result richer as hydrocar
Of bons than the original fibre. The yer!
d best peat contains about ninety per cent o
IL combustible matter
2, With this we give an analysis of tn
10 binminous coal found in the vicinity o
h Rock Island TO enable our readers to judg
ne of the comparative value of peat for fuel
m Fixed Carbon. 5
10 Volatile Matter. Observation-Disclosures. 3
% ASH. ...................
~ lO
k The cost of production and the price i
d. market will of course vary exceedingly
re A large bed tolerably dry or favorably 81
it. uated for draining, located near plo ce
ed great consumption, and of pure den.
quality may be worth any where from
of thousand to some hundreds of Thousand
n Of dollars If, however, badly located
is very wet, quite poor, it would be wort
ty something to you if it WIS not on yor
We farm.
w Now how is peat prepared for use
3, This varies much with the service it is
Is perform. For ordinary fires, it is simp
=, dried IN the sun after being cut out
ly bricks with three Gded spade. For son
or purposes, it is pressed before drying. Fl
is other purposes it is ground before pressir
IN or drying, For others it is coked.
In There is one advantage in looking f
sh peat over boring for oil, or coal, for i
re- stance; With peat you put down yol
he well with pole, and it costs You only
lat couple Of wet feet and ifyou don't stril
me peat peat has not struck you--you are n
the Hoored, your financial eye is not closed u
OK you can 60 on looking; and if at last y,
zen see it, you can start business on a e
ear scale with only spade or two, and tn
or this is a branch of industry eminent
life open to universally competitive enterpri
Ity. with small means and no indorser. Pc
ne and petroleum, as their names indica
! is are Of the same family, Old King Coal |
,tly ing the head mo reference here to Cab
lck and il would not be strange if the young
is brother with the shorter name, should
ire the longer and larger business after 4
lsy. and become the greater favorite Of I
en- two. There is more Democracy in pc
!, it more disposition TO be generally usef
In not distant at all, but at home on eve
the body S hearth, ready to lend hand in
eel kitchen, or work in the shops, or start
will engine or run factory, an iron mill,
the You call on him for big job; any tn
most, and without much fuss and fxir
and q good natured, industrious, valid, |
ase, capable, rather 'unwashed" rough 1
1 it, Of fellow, but fellow substantial viii