The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-03-27
MONEY IN COAL DIRT.
Solving = Problem that has Puzzied Many
Miner and Navy n savam.

PoTTsv1ILE, March 70. -Pennsylvania's
anthracite coal nelds always bad two great nui-
sances. First was molly Maguireism,v and
second, "coal dirt" Seven men in she Potts
vile Jail accused 81 murder and of being the
rnRleaders Of the Moles has broken down the
nrst nuisance, and recent inveptioD OF General
Superintendent woottcn ~ the Reading II H.
road Company bids fair to knock the pins out "
tho othor.
An over the coal country are 10 he seen noun
taius OF coal dirt. II . been piled up ever
since mining began. Thousands upon thou
sands Of tons arc picked away In tho IN o untain
gorges. II has always hcen considered useless
and valueless. Coal opcr itors dumped tho dirt
along the streams. in tho hopes that spfing
freshets would wash II awav. A portion OF tho
upper section Of the Schuylkil Canal was thrown
out ~ use because the expense Of dredging coal
dirt from the bottom was too great, and the
COMPANY accordingly abandoned IL.
Suddenly all this accumulated coal dirt has
been brought 10 a market value, and every ton
~ IL &c worth money to the steam power manu-
Sune intondrnt wnotten IL one am ,ne twenty
inventors who nave been considering this gro IT
pru blcm ana trNiuG to solve it. Fw scientific
mon have ever Witnessed those iniincrse mutn-
t4in4 " coai diu without sskina the question.
" Cannot this stun be- put into some shane to br
burned Z" At least twenty different parties and
Of m king fuel out Of tue dirt that would burn.
In nearly every instance the PARTIES tnok the
CIR. mixed IL Win coal TAR. hnic u other ma
teral aud then ur ssed 1t together In humps or
mrulds. The stgh would never burn suisfac-
tnriiy. the coal tar. &C.. would ignite, but after
that the dirt would appear IKE dead cindet aud
emit no beat u all.
one man took preparation Of buckwheat
meal aud mixed tt with the coal dirt. After
ward II was Ircsscd into blocks the share aud
$40 " brick. sunni We're shown 10 Super
inteudent WOotton by tho Inventor Tor inspcc-
HfAW D NHa. tTtar a.
wis asked whether ne had ever cOusiiered thut
the llo,r alone would cost much more nrr Ton
than the best anthracite coalf The retiy was
=" no that he hadn't thought That tar
MIR. Wuutcn la1orcd considerably, and at last
came to the conclusion that the only WAY ne
dirt could ever 90 used sati- lactor1lv would tie
TO burn u the same as other coal l. used cith r
nv locomotive ~ station nv engine. The trouble
wAs n would not turn. because IL was too con-
pact. and would smother rather Than ignite.
For tiiN year, In { hgs Oeen tue one grea. i'm
rediuent. an. chemists could not overcome IL
Finally. however, DIR. WOdt en- thought ut intro
duclng a steam Dlhst through tue coal from the
bottom. IA the none OF uenetrliinr the mass and
specially for Il, aud placed ~ uncer stationary
engine buder. Iu-tead of using CRATE bars, he
employed peri rated iron plate Tor the are 10
res uron. \ uipe from the noiier conveyed the
steam. aud the neccss ry pressure supplied the
blast, and tnis stroke proved TO be the KEY note
~ the entire cual-Nlri problem. IL burned freely
anu threw out IN immense heat. The oldest dirt
was used TO see u II possessed burning quail
les, d II was found th.t II WAS consumed
freely, the same ~ tue best OF coal.
Ii was next trio in the furnace ~ locomo-
tive engine. ana WAS found 10 burn equally vol.
Tho other dav when the wind was blowing al "A
velocity Of forty miles per hOur, cod uirt
turning enrt = took up "A train OF lOD cara
through the valley with the snrie ense sud with
as iittlc lao "a an engine tutning the very best
anthracite coal. mi, certainty Is regarded AZ a
Great revolution "a the cod aud iron country,
hec use II transforms At least a milhon of tons
Of hcret fore useless coal dirt irfo a fuel worth
at the very least one dollar per tun; and pro-
vtes "a way TO consume all cod dirt that may
come to the surface In the future.
Your cprt"suondent took q rip on one % tho
engines. 'hc nrem sNI; Ne Just chuck IN
the coal dirt the same CO | aud she burns
richt ahead. We shovel in tie dirt once every
Nv minutes. and II sac geis too hot We omen
the ure-'.nOt. tue zane a. nn ans Other Vuciue.
H. ltli ~ to raise a hundred pounds OF sc m
any time. - far We liz" the new stun prntty
well. It, ~ more trouble to Are an engine now
III u ~ any dime hcfnfe"
Cal dirt Il not intended t. be used ~ private
families and IL OnIV calculated to DC burned L y
stationary or locomotive engines