The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-11-04
CruARcOAL.
~.s o,d xspdlmg Agent Coming Into
Use Again.
orp AND NEW METHODS OF AANefAolom &C.
SOME or TaE PRoPEsr-s OF THIS rho
pvCr,



..nrs generally adopted for besttng anu
citing purpcses. and when heating ana
sookiuc~stoves and CRATES had become pea
sscted for It's buraing, Il was toought 70
he next to impossible to kinde tue nIe
a. Kitchen. sittiug-room, or iarnsee
-,uhout the aid OF charcoal. Inc
cres, wood fires which had Tor gen,
srs,,ous reared upward In the broad
s.a,n,ney. nlaces W hitch usually formed nearly
she mole OF one side OF room IN sew
Enc,snd dwelling-house, or the more re.
ssricted but more intense eombusnon Oh
the same material 10 the new-fsngied "air-
eight we're easily enough set on ~ tue
use OF a handful OF shaviugs, pu'En Vi
dry pine needles or even an o'd bewspa-
per or q few whittln2s; nut coaa nres'
whether the material used was hsru VI so,''
,vsre not so readily induced TO feurish:
.. ., hsnneued that the utility OF charcoal
a. the kind,ing process seon became
generally knowa and appreciated, azd tue
housewife depended upon its agency ID
.6d,tion 10 the use OF the articles ALREADY
mentioned as 0re-starters. In the eonfse Oh
time II was fouad that the dirt and sundry
incouyenienees arising from tne uS .!
charcoal, might be avoided suneleht
od.kindling. properly prepared, was em-
Moved il starting fires, and fos timechar-
coai uas baaisLed from the bins OF many
ss,.,,;.s Rnt recently Il has become appa-
rccf that the article is gradually coming
back info general use for kindinf purposes.
and really il occupies pretty nearly us oId
Mace in the estimation OF the iam"y '"r
these purposes.
There are not now nearly so many eDaf'
coal " nitso In the neigh6olho OF DOS
ton, or in any part Of New Eng'ano' US III
former days. The city is supphed very
largely from portions OF STATES mort vi 'cs,
remote. and very title OF all the charcoal
burned and'used ia Boston IS ma n,.
An The home Commonwealth. The supply
now comes from New Hampshire, Vermont.
and northern New York, Is brought 10 Tue
neigbborbood OF Boston on freight trains,
and marketed in wagons, driven about py
nedlers. precisely the same as IN the oluen
fine. The principal depo,s Tor tnls iTeighteo
commodity are in Someryille ana Cbaries-
town. and probably nine-tepths OF All tue
charcoal used i'm this city comes IN from
these localities, as above indicated. III Is
worthy OF mention that large proportion
nj the charcoal now used in TINS CITY Is
manufactured from hard woods.
There is. so far as the writer or thls mas
been able TO learn, but one dealer IN cnalceai
in this city, who has regular coai-yaIu
Headquarters within the limits OF tne Guy
proper, and, at the same time. MANUFACTURES
his own supply IN the near vic'ni'y. Ocea-
sionaly couDtryman, VINO mas puIneu us
"pit" near home, finds MS way in.o ou,
streets With the products, ana peuuIes ou'
h,s ,ood. but the general drift OF the busi-
80 ;s 90 indicated above. The dealer and
manufacturer to whom reference has been
made as above confines bis operations 10 the
south end OF the city, along and near tne
Roxhury line. and he manufactures ana
seIIs on an average, 200 baskets, or ABOUT
400 bushels. OF charcoal per week, through
ont the wear. To deliver this amount 10
~reat number OF customers he employs con-
s,anfly Two teams. His mauu!actory Is IN
Sharon. and will he again referred 10.
oLD.TIME METHODS.
The ordinary method OF mapulaeturlng
charcoal in the old way was to pile up stlchs
NJ wood in horizontal or vertical layers
around central opening which EXTENDED
I'm the bottom to the top OF the pie.
These heaps OF wood were coDical IN shape
and from 10 10 40 feet in diameter by ABOUT
10 feet in height. The surfaces were care
fnlIy eyeped off, smoothed by covering OF
cbins. twjps. and leaves, upon when sods
~ Garth were laid, the whole cemeUted with
a mixture of charcoal dust and earth. Al
the bottom OF the heap horizontal open,
inc was left, reaching to the centra'
vertical opening, the latter acting as chinl-
nov. All around the bottom OF the heap
G,tle onenjpps were loft for the admission
of air and the escape OF volatile products'
AS the cbarring process proceeded tbese
openings were carefully closed ana new
ones made higher up. The heap was Dred
nj the centre at the bottom, end the hre
gradually spread in all directions toward
the places where openings were iouDu'
The carbonization was first complete al tne
centre and Top OF the heap, and gradually
extended down its sides. The charring pro-
cess was indicated 10 its successive stages py
the coler OF the escaping smoke,wnlch from
black and dense appearance at the nrst
change d 10 light, Transparent, Dluisb coioi
at the END. When completely charred All
the openings weie closed, and the heap re-
manned two or three days TO cool, when II
was raked out and the contents prepared
Tor market. The process in this direction
has not changed much in the lapse OF years,
and il essentially the same to-day as Tor
MANY wears past. Its objections are It's slow
ness and the impossibilily Of keeping the
charcoal pure and clean. large quantities OF
the earth and dirt from the out, ide OF the
beap becoming unavoidably mixed with the
finished product.
MODERN METHODS.
The modern method OF burning charcoal
is m construct an arch Of brick, which will
contain. according TO size, anywhere from
six TO seyenty-tive cords OF wood. In YER
mont aud New Hampshire these arches are
frequently made large enough TO bold from
fifty TO seventy.6ve cords: but In the manu-
factory al Sharon, part OF the establishment
OF the Boston dealer above referred TO, The
arch viii burn but six cords OF wood at one
time. The principles followed are very
much the same In both processes, but with
the arch the coal is kept perfectly free from
any foreign substance. can be better
attended, Is completed quicker, and eau tt
marketed sooner. In the arch openings are
made at each end and al the top, and arOnnc
the brick sides Of the structure, at regular
intervals. both horizontally and vertically
are rows OF openings, by the draught'
through which the cbarftng process Is man
AGED. The fires are kiBdled at the top oil
the arch, and as the ebarrng process goe'
forward the holes in the side are CAREFUL,
sealed up, the slightest opening being suffi
cjent TO defeat q proper result, and the ope
ration goes forward from, the top to the bot
tom of toe arch. or the structure Of
which the top Is an arch. when completed
the fires are easily extinguished, and during
The process high winds and other influences
which often prevail under tue old method
have not the slightest effect. With the old
or pit, process II was thought necessary tt
keep up the burning oae day for every core
OF wood In the heap. Thus heap oil ter
cd