Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-12-24
WILL MAKE BRIQUETTES.
COMPANY FORMED TO MANUFAC-
TURE COAL SUBSTITUTES.

Anthracite Dust to BE Compressed Into
Hard Blocks of Any Desired size-Thc
Scheme May Not Be So Feasible AS 1t
Looks at First Sight.
The American Anthracite Company is
the name of the corporation recently or
ganized by syndicate of Philadelphia
capitalists for the purpose of establish
ing big coal briquette mandatory in
that city. The company has purchased
a ten-acre tract of land on the east
bank of the Schuylkll river and work
on the big buildings will be commenced
in a week. Several hundred men will
be employed and the factory will have
capacity of 1,6oO tons day.
The briquettes will be manufactured
from coal dust. This is not new
scheme, but the process to be used is
entirely different from that employed
heretofore. In the process the coal dust
is treated with certain chemicals, with
out the use of pitch or resin, which made
the old process so Objectionable. Under
enormous pressure the coal dust is com
pressed into hard blocks or cubes in
sizes to correspond with coal from chest
nut to egg. 1t is claimed that the br-
quettes will develop heating qualities
fully 25 per cent greater than anthracite
coal, and the price will be from so to 80
cents less per ton. 1t is proposed to
take the coal dust to the city by rail and
the Schuylkill canal
The plpp ic In Scraan culn, fron,
the banks that are scattered all over the
anthracite region and take out the pea.
buckweat and other sizes, shipping only
the dust to Philadelphia. The new bri-
quettes are claimed to be superior to
those made few years ago, because the
latter were very sooty, dried out rapidly
and became unfit for use as heat pro-
ducer
The scheme looks very plausible on
the surface, but there are some things,
says the Wilkesbarre Record, that have
not been taken into consideration by
the Philadelphia capitalists, owing no
doubt to the fact that they have formed
their plans 100 miles from the nearest
culm bank and have not taken the
trouble to visit the fountain head of
their proposed supply of new material
The fact is that nearly every culm
bank that is worth working is fanked
with a washery or is being reserved for
that purpose by the operators of the col
liery from which the dirt was taken.
These washeries, as their name implies.
wash the coal and the dust is carried
into creeks and streams in the shape of
liquid black mud. 1t is question II
experiments now being made for separ-
ating the coal from the culm without
water will leave the dust in a market
able state. 1t is also questionable
whether the freight rates for carrying
the dust to market and the cost of the
dust itself will not be placed at such
figure as to make the manufacture of
briquettes too costly to compete with the
genuine black diamond.
1t is not likely that the operators will
want to lend hand in placing on the
market what the syndicate claims will
be formidable rival to their own pro-
duct. New coal washeries are being
erected right along and these are prov
ing great source of profit to the owners
of the banks.
The history of the coal substitute is
interesting. In 1852 plant was in
operation at Port Richmond, Philadel-
phia. The coal dirt was mixed with tar
or rosin and compressed into Jumps the
size and shape of an egg. Then when
Austin Corbin was president of the
Reading Company he became interested
in the problem. A briquette factory
was established at Mahanoy City. 1t
did not prove any more Of success
than the Port Richmond plant.