Evening journal., 1898-08-17
RICE COAL AND PEA COAL.
A Way Found of Using she Material
in the Dirt Heaps OF the PENN
sylVaniR Coal Regions.


Quite a large quantity of rice coal
Is now going TO market. 1t costs at
the mines 25 cents ton. 1t is the
cheapest fuel in the world OF its kind,
but the railroad companies charge
Si.35 a ton to haul it 80 or 100 miles.
Rice coal is the product of the dirt
banks. Mountains of coal dirt OBJ
struct the anthracite regions near the
collieries. and men have set up big
washeries where the water supply is
adequate, and wash out and screen out
the fine particles of coal until the
pure fuel, as small as rice. clean and
FURNISHED, comesto the surface on big
platforms, and is dried for the mar
ket The washers can produce this
rice coal at about 10 cents a ton. and
their profit is ten cents u ton. The
washers are satisfied with the profit,
but they are hampered with high
freight rates.
Rice coal is a modern sizq$entirely.
So is buclwheat, the next size to rice.
These two sizes were not known in
the commercial market until men be-
gan TO wash out the mountains of
coal dirt, supposed to be so much dead
waste. Commercial sizes of coal are;
Rice, huckwheat, pea, chestnut, stove,
broken, steamboat and lump. The uses
of lump and steamboat coal large
sizes for ships, are well understood
Stove and egg, or broken, are used for
cellar heaters and chestnut for dtch.
en- ranges. Many people do not under.
stand the uses of pea coal, and at this
time when winter buying is thought
of the study of pea coal is interesting
A few years ago very little pea was
sold. People said il was dirt. Now
they have small pea and large pea
Both sizes have sprung into a yer,
large demand and the sales are in
creasing as the subject is understood
There are hundreds of families i'm thii
section who burn pea coal in their eel
lar heaters. Some who understand
firing a heater use pea coal exclusive
/ ly. Others mix pea and stow
or egg together and use IL n
2 that way. Frequently pea Goa
{ is spread out on top of the largl
! coal to keep the combustion well con
fined and TO preserve the heat wher
, il belongs-in the house. Very fey
! families within radius Of 80 mile
from the anthracite coal regions bur
! the old-tjme chestnut coal in thei
kitchen ranges. They save two dollar
h ton and buy pea coal, which goe
further than chestnut, because pe
packs more oompactly and does nc
burn away so fast. There are COT
/, dealers who say this is not so. but su'
IS cessful and experienced housewife
II say il is a fact. Pea coal for keepin
e. fire all night in the kitchen is Jul
y the thing.
n Bituminous coal is not used for dl
u nestle purposes generally, but I'll
+ people are turning attention TO
q right in the anthracite coal counti
ny here. because soft coal can be bougl
at two dollars a ton delivered. al
there is more heat in ton of soft Co
than I'm two tons of buckwheat. or
lie tons of good pea. which costs $3.50
l. ton. We're it not for the smoke nu
.e sance houselSeepers would surely 70
IT low the manufacturers stop usin
y hard coal entirely ard take up sol
= coal for the kitchen range and celia
- heater. Those manufacturers wh
e are using rice and buckwheat mix
|, with bituminous conl.-N. Y. sun