The herald., 1897-12-05

ger: we only had to step around In
rather lively fashion for a few mo-
ments, stuffing the crack with straw
and covering it with earth; and that
was part of the fun. After that first
break we had no more trouble till the
whole crust began to settle by reason of
the shrinkage of tn, pile beneath as 1t
burned down. Then half dozen breaks
| appeared at once, and we all had to
| work like beavers for few minutes
| to preserve the product And all day
long we had to watch the draught holes
at the bottom. opening them quickly
sometimes when it looked as II our hre
were smothered, and closing them quite
as suddenly when we feared the burn
ing was going on so fast as to be likely
to result in flame. Just before sum
down we opeAed the pit, to find Its In
terror a mass of brightly glowing Goals
that famed up quickly at the contact
of the outside air. But we doused the
pile with water instanter, and this
saved the coal for us. And l may say.
in passing, that the success of this
burning increased my personal popu-
larity among the boys of the neighbor-
hood immensely.
wood was plenty many charcoal burn
ers used long straight lengths of wood
for pit fuel, but nowadays only re-
fuse wood, such as otherwise useless
knots and crooked sticks, form the BULK
of the pit-wood used.
Big pits usually yield from 700 to 1000
bushels of coal. which sells for about
10 cents bushel on the average. maxi
ing the money return from each pit
range from little more than 500 to
$3.50. 1t takes several men to tend to
the burning of full-sized pit, and they
work in day and night shifts. one set
relieving it's predecessor as they re-
tire, for vigilance all through the
twenty-four hours is the price of good
product. In addition to the charcoal
made in each pit Of large size. thick.
tarry substance always accumulates at
the bottom, and sometimes this is COM
mercially utilized. 1t consists of acetic
acid, creosote, carbonic oxide, and other
by-products Of slow combustion.
Charcoal is used for many purposes
other than kindling coal fires. 1t is of
especial value as a non-conductor of
heat. and in the form of powder is
placed between the outer and inner
walls of refrigerators to keep the ice
from melting as long as possible. Char
coal, too is often used as dsinfectant,
for it is highly absorbent and will take
up its own bulk of certain gases. 1t is
also used in filters, for which it's alb
sorbent quality makes it valuable, and
its use in sticks by artists is well
known.
The charcoal used in making black
is not obtained from the or
dinary charcoal pit. Willow is the wood
best suited to this purpose. When such
charcoal is to be produced, carefully se-
lected pieces of wood are sealed up in
air tight cylinders, which are then sub
mitted to just the right degree of heat
to transform the contents from wood
to coal.
If any boy reader of this article
should go to making charcoal for him.
self, he must be careful not to inhale
the gas that arises from the pit. 1t is
deadly to the last degree, and death
might result from getting too close to
the product before the fire has been
extinguished.
Good charcoal is 65 per cent. carbon.
From 20 to % per cent. only Of the wood
remains as coal after the burning the
rest being driven off in the form of gas.
Copyright, 1897.