The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1891-03-05
BURNING CHARCOAL,
GREAT CARE Is NECESSARY TO
FIRE A "PlT" SUCCESSFULLY.

Labor Is an Impertant Itezn In the Prep
aratis0 Of the Product fer the Market,
AIanaf@es~rers Generally Sell Their
Own casarseer.
do you keep ehaRooal9s asked a re-
porter OF q lawge oeal dealer in this city.
mo, SIR, we do not. I have sold lots
Of coal IN nay TINA, bat never pound Of
charcoal don't even know how it is
made.
Leaving the wealthy coal merchant
the reporter sought one OF those monde
script coal hawkers who make hveh-
hood by attending TO the wants in the
way OF caloric OF the very poor classes
In the by streets and alleys.
Having foaAd oas Of these coal holes
the reporter approached the almost car
heni2ed speoiaAeQ Of humanity, who was
for the tinAs being resting from his
laboEa. and psopounded the question,
WHAT'S TIE price Of CHARCOAL
Eight cents peek, replied a gruf
Voice, and tbs hstAs old man straight
sned hinAaAH ont with an effort as he
stopped fling the peck measure, which
he judged TO be about the newspaper
mans capacity.
I'VE don't sell much charcoal" he
continued, "oaly in small lots. Some
manufacturers buy their charcoal by the
great quantity. 1t is used in large lots
by persons who make ice chests and beer
coolers, as it is poor conductor of heat.
There's lining of charcoal three inches
thick in all sides of a beer cooler.
Most country people bring their own
charcoal to the city in wagon loads, and
sell it for from fifteen cents to twenty
cents bushel We retail it at about
twenty cents to twenty-five cents per
bushel, and it is dull sale at that
The reporter now left the charcoal
man, and approached an Individual who
had just disposed of a wagon load of the
material
Yea, / make charcoal" he replied in
a1s~~.' TO an inquiry. I'm the winter
ana spring is the time when charcoal is
ma6, to the best advantage.
BUILDING THE PILE.
Il am just clearing up tract of wood
land and am turning the refuse to &C
count by manufacturing charcoal. Beech
wood and hickory are the best for that
purpose. Oak makes very poor coal,
and it is hardly worth burning Gener-
ally the good wood is culled out, and
then hESs circular pile is made of the
knots S1sA refuse. This pile is often 100
feet In dia4neteT and from ten to fifteen
feet In height The wood is piled with
great care in straight rows around a
small opeAing, about one foot in diam
eter, which Is Left as q sort of chimney
for the Ere 10 be started in
AS soon as the pile is completed it is
covsUsd all over with forest leaves or
straw, aud then the whole mass is COW
cred with dirt to the thickness of three
or foar izAches. It now resembles a
small voasAAo, especially wh6n the fire
is started and tho saaol1e begins to issue
from tho sERaA opening laft in the top.
Tbs fire In sGsrtsd by dropping sha~ings
into tbs ehinlAoy which was left in the
center. and tAsu Lighting them by drop
ping live soals into the cavity. A few
holes aae RaAAs near the bottom Of the
pile of dart la order to create draft,
and as soon AZ ths fire begins to SNAKE
these holss ass again Chased.
Now, II everything goes right, the
Esz Is allowed 10 shoulder away, with
rust air enough to support combustion.
If Il high wind should spring up, as it
often does, every hole is closed tight to
keep down tho fire, and very often boards
must be laid over the whole pile to keep
out the wind. It takes from ten days to
two weeks to burn pit as it is called,
and this time is a period of great ankle
ty to the charcoal burner, as the opera
ton must be watched night and day,
and a little negligence may cause the
loss of weeks of hard work
BURNING THE ''PIT."
las the fire progresses part of the
charcoal is consumed by bustion and
the remainder shrinks to nearly one-half
its original size. The shrinkage, Of
course, would cause tho dirt to be left
standing alone provided it would do so.
In order to meet this difficulty the tend
er goes round and round, over and over
the pile, packing the dirt with a shovel
This continual packing must not beneg-
lected, for if a cavity should occur and
the dirt cave in instantly, the whole pile
would burst out into flame which moth
ing could stop.
''As the burning progresses holes are
punctured through the dirt in such places
as the tender thinks the fire has not yet
been. These holes create draft and at
once bring the fire to that part of the
pit, upon which the holes are again
closed and the charring begins. AS soon
as the tender thinks that the work is
complete he shuts up the chimney and
packs every hole. He then spends about
two days in packing the dirt, and watches
for crevices through which smoke issues
and closes them as soon as they are dis
covered Barrels of water are now
hauled to the pit, and workmen begin to
open up side and take ont the charcoal.
If sparks of fire should be found they
are at once dashed with water, and as
the work progresses water is thrown into