Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1893-12-26
10 BURN WASTE eraAw.

Simple Method Of Using weeds.
In = littIeshop Just Opposite the entranes
70 the Fulton ferry can be seen . unique
invention IN which number Of well known
BrooklyDites are interested. Il IL the straw
burning stove, invented by Mr.. @. b. Field,
which he claims h destined to revolutionize
the fuel question in the far west. As Is
generally understood, one Of the great
hardships Of the winter In the west Il the
lack Of fuel Of any kind and the great ex-
pense Of bringing II from the abundance Of
sther sections Of the country. Another
agricultural difficulty Is what to do with
the waste straw and weeds about farm.
Mr.. Field contends that be has solved both
problems, or rather that b. can make the
last solve the former. His process II very
simple, ard, ~ he gave practical demon
seems to carry out all he claims for IL.
Every farmer has lot Of waste straw,
grass and weeds that Il useless for fuel II
burned in the ordinary way, but Mr.. Fields
way Is not the ordinary way. II IL . very
easy way when you zee how he does it, like
the famous standing egg Of the Genoese
discoverer He takes any kind Of hay,
grass, weeds or straw, the ordinary day
farm refuse, and cuts It up in common
hay cutter. Then be puts it In what be
calls retort, a sheet iron cylinder about
the size Of the everyday ashcan that oils
our streets when the carts 90 round A
retort holds eighteen or twenty pounds a
the cut straw pressed down and packed
tightly.
There is an ordinary stove CRATE at the
bottom Of the retort and before he begins
to pack in the cut straw Mr.. Field puts in
the center q round stick about four inches
in diameter This il the little Joker Of the
whole scheme When the retort Is full be
pulls the stick out, and Of course it leaves
hole through the center Of the mass The
consequences il very important. 1t makes
central draft for his combustion when be
sets the straw on fire, and every one who
uses one OF the central draft lamps can ap
preciate the benefit Of this intense heat and
fire
Now, having packed his weeds into the
retort, he next puts into what is an oryii
nary stove. except that In place Of fire
box and CRATE. such as we find I'm the coal
burning kind, he has compar tmept large
enough to hold the refort, which is abou,
twenty eight inches high and eighteen
inches in diameter.
This is like big oven and closes with .
door which takes up one end of the stove
The other end is divided into two ovens
one for baking, the other for heating. The
top of the stove does kot differ from the
ordinary kind, being divided mp into siz
pot holes, with the usual lids Having put
in the retort full Of the cut weeds, he opens
little door at the bottom Of the stove, ap
plies a match and the fire is made. The
hole in the middle of the packed mass
makes central draft fire that in few
moments generates carbonic and nitrogen
gases. which, igniting, make an intens.
heat. The straw burns slowly from ths
bottom up. the twenty pounds of weed,
lasting about four hours and giving fir
that will cook, heat, boil, broil, or do any
thing that an ordinary stove viii do and al
cost that is only the collection of tn.
waste about the farm
The reporter saw one of them burn fol
two hours and the contents were then no,
half consumed. 1t was a most interesting
operation. Every one knows how difficult
it is to make straw or weeds burn in tbs
ordinary way even to merely destroy them
Here they are not only reduced to fins
ashes but made to serve all the needs d
the farmer fog fuel, cooking or other do
nestle purposes. There is no complicated
machinery, no elaborate process of prepa
ration: you merely, as it were, put lot OIL
straw or weeds into an iron ashcan, plaes
| it in another square iron box. and your
stove and fire are ready.-Brooklyn Eagle