The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-12-13
NEW FUEL FOUND.
Asphaltum the Principal
Part of 1t.
PEAT is ALSO UTILIZED.
A Splendid Substitute for Coal,
1t Is Claimed.
AND 1T COSTS LESS THAN HALE.
A Proposition " hich May Lead to
a Solution of the Fuel Oues-
tion Here.
AND 1T COSTS LESS THAN HALF.

CANNED LOT II, Will De OF lnestlmaole value
to the State of California and promises to
solve the question of cheap fuel success
fully.
Richard d. Coe, Boston gentleman of
means who is at the Palace, is investi-
eating the subject at present and said
yesterday that be was convinced the
proposition could be successfully carried
out here.
In Mexico, particularly about the CAPT.
tai. fuel is very high and enterprising
residents have been trying for years 10
make fuel out Of asphaltum which would
prove successful substitute for coal. but
M to recently these experiments have
proven of no avail
Ii Is claimed, however, that an Amer
iean-James Althan of Bostou--has Sc
cured the desired result, and in the CITY of
Mexico experiments were recently made
before President DiaZ and a large number
OF state diguitaries and others which
demonstrated coDclusiVely the practicable
lily of the plan proposed by Mr. Althan.
In brief, the fuel which that gentleman
has devised is made OF aspheltum and
peat, mixed by process designed by the
gentleman named and from which a sub
stance Is obtained which possesses all the
desirable characteristics OF a high-class
fuel.
Mr.. Althan has devoted many years of
his life, MIR. Coe says, to investiga tions in
this line, and all Of which had in view the
production of power from heat. He re-
Gently invented an engine only IS inches
long by - high and II broad which is
said to possess twenty horsepower, anu he
Is chemist of far more than experimental
knowledge.
In Mexico large quantities of both as
phaltum and peat are found, but the
former is obtained principally on the
coast. and the cost of transportation to The
interior will necessarily be high. Never
theless, with even this drawback it is
claimed that this fuel can be manufactured
at cost lar below that of coal, while II
viii answer all the purposes of that
article in every way. So we'll satisfied
were the gentlemen who Investigated the
matter that a company with large capital
has been formed to manufacture the fuel,
and such men as Thomas Braniff, the
president of the Vera Cruz Railroad, are
sanguine of its success. That gentleman
has agreed to take 100000 tons of the fuel
for term of years at a stipulated price,
far below that of coal.
The interest attached to the proposition
from local point of view becomes evil
dent when one thinks of the inexhausti-
bic supply oil asphaltum TO be found near
Santa Barbara and the equally large sup
plies of peat procurable in the vicinity
VI 4dhc uidIo anu ULueE IOCdutt6S. III is
said that deposit of peat exists In the
lake m entioDed which ranges from fifteen
TO twenty feet In thickness and the cost of
procuring it would only be that of the
labor employed in getting it out which, it
is claimed, would not exceed 81 per ton at
the very outside figure.
1t is claimed that the parties who own
these asphaltum deposits are willing, ii
not anxious, TO dispose OF them, as the
present demand for that article which Is
confined almost exclusively to the highest
grade of the same. is not sufficiently sure
to make the business as profitable as il
should be. The only use to which it is at
present devoted is that of paving, and in
many localities there exists strong preju-
dice against its employment in this way,
because Of its claimed inadaptiblity for
use IN streets where the travel is excess
sively heavy.
The cost of procuring asphaltum, it is
said, viii not exceed So per ton, and for
the purpose CT making this fuel the best
grades OF the same are not reQuired-ln
fact, the present grade answers the pur-
pose about as well as the best. The pro-
portions OF asphaltum and peat used in the
preparation OF the fuel are about one of
the former to two of the latter. so the out
side figures would place the cost of the
pTepared fuel al about 81 70 a ton.
The experiments already made with
this fuel" SAID Mr.. COe, SHOW beyond
question lNdt IL promises TWICE the n uIn Der
of heat units that coal does. In the artis-
lie bronze factory IN the City of Mexico
this fact was demon strated to the satisfac-
e ton of every one present. The test was
the most difficult that can be given fuel, as
bronze is admittedly the most unwilling
of substances TO yield 10 the effects of
heat. The trials showed that bronze could
be melted with this fuel in half the time
in which it ever had been melted before
when the best fuel that could be imported
was utilized.
''Now, l am not very we'll posted upon
the cost of coal here, but learn upon in
Quiry that it ranges from 81 up per ton.
So, IL the new fuel can be made and sold
by the manufacturers probably at half
that figure, the benefit to the public is ar
parent.
"There are several features about this
fuel in which It's superiority over coal be-
comes manifest In the first place there
are absolutely no clnkers resulting from
lis consumption, while a very small guam
tity of ash is left behind. The same guam
tity of the fuel lasts fully as long as coal
and there is but very little difference in
its weight
"The stuff ignites quickly. something
like gas in that respect, and would be of
great utility for use by fire departments
aDd in other ways where it is desired to
secure steam in as little time as possible.
1t is also very clean, and can be handled
without leaving any perceptible mark on
the skin. 1t is quite brittle and therefore
easily broken, and can be nodded into any
desi red shape.
Experiments have been made with
asphaltum for years by persons who rec
ognized its value as fuel, if it could be
practically employed in that way, but the
great difficulty heretofore has been that II
would invariably run into liquid like tar.
For this reason nothing could oe zone
with il. This difficulty has now been
successfully overcome, and l believe
firmly that it will prove to be of vast ben
eft TO the State"
Mr.. Coe is arranging for experiments to
be made with the California products 10
order TO establish their exact value Tor the
purpose mentioned.
Cforx, About Efuo n0ilarS.