Evening star., 1898-12-31

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''There is hardly anything more in de-
mand. but so far there has been no reliable
thing discovered which will increase the
burning and consequent heating or steam
making capacity of COAL. explained
chemist of tine Agricultural Department to
a Star reporter. Il am aware that there
are a dozen or more coal savers on the mar
ket ana that some of them have an enor-
nous sale. but after series of expert
rrents / am satisfied that it Will be some
time vet before We will get Il coal saver. Is
there any? l cannot say there is, but
neither can / say there is not Nine-tentns
us the coal savers now on the market are
simply common salt. To some extent salt
VIII increase the burning quality OF coal,
as il makes the coal burn slower, but l
have serious doubts that there Is anything
saved in the transaction, Tor what Is cut
off the coal bill is ADDED 10 the salt bill.
Coal that Is CampeEed Will give out more
heat tnau that which Is dry, and it is not
"a bad investment to occasionally throw a
bucket Of water oa the coal pie. All ot this
Is provided that your cellar il not already
too damp In that case probably no water
should De thrown on it. The people VINO
are seeking after a means to make coal last
longer are not those who prefer servants
who 30 not eat, and who tulnk tndt II Is
81 great expense that they DO eat, but intel
Hgent people VINO are economical IN matters
generally, and VINO desire To save II d saw
ing can he made. They are not willing To
let any opportunity pass whereby they can
save in the coal bIu il sucn d saving Is
possible They know the properties of salt
and are too intelligent 10 pay Tor salt ten
times the price they should, simply because
il Is sold under another name There may
he some way III time by which water can be
used as a fuel in connection with coal. 1t
Is possible 10 do so now. but Il distinct and
elaborate apparatus Is necessary. But that
time has not Yet come. and about the only
way / see is that We Will have TO continue
burning coal and paying the bill. There
was necessity for the IuClter match thou
sands Of years ago. but it did not come
until little over fifty years ago. 1t is
Iaughahie now 10 nave one describe the dlI-
fiCuIty people had % get a light compared
with the present time In a great deal less
than fifty years from now people Will also
laugh ~ for having money To burn and
actually burning 1t. or its equiValent-Coal.
But there i no way now but to burn up
great deal of our earnings or be cold or eat
our food uncooked. somehow there has
been It halt in the experiments in electricity
IS a means of furnishing heat, though up
To i've years ago there was d great deal of
valuable experiments under way. The ac-
tive minds of investigators have been
turned 10y circumstances into other direc-
tons. and the great subject Of fuel for
heating and cooking has been allowed to re-
main as II was and has been for many
years. There was at one time-say, ten
Years aEo-au apprehension that some other
fuel than coal was necessary for the reason
that the supply of coal had shown signs of
exhaustion Recent studies. however. show
that providing for the necessary increase
there is i'm sight in the mines Of this cOun-
try coal enough To- last eighty years. Be
sides this there will be a number Of new
mines discovered as the years roll along"
There are typewriters and ypawriters"
observed department. official TO a Star re-
porter. some are good, very good; and
some are had. very bad but they all go to
make up class. A good typewriter is
comfort and a blessing for every minute in
the seyeu-hours day Of DEPARTMENTAL life,
ana the mad typewriter is bad every min
ute of the same time. BY a peculiarity Of
the law making the appropriations, which
exists in them all the bad typewriter
draws as much draft in the way of salary
as the good one. though the latter stands
the better chance in tha way Of promotion.
wHirh i 50 slow "a TO he d.scourag3ng. l
have iJi and now have som Of both kinds
under mr. and while one hastans the work
th- other curr-Su"uIingIy holds it back. 1t
is no EUFsial advantage 10 have a type
writer wED Is II-romopaiiy rapid, unless
H' or Sh- l. at the same time clean in the
work The bad typewriter writes n an
alarming sped, but more than counter
balances it 10y the time spent in making
ensures, putting ii words that have been
Itit out. and cleaning up the work geuer-
ally The bad typewriter is often person.
ally more agr-eably person than the 9TH
tr kind. and his or her errors are overlook
90. ana no notice taken Of tn time that is
taken up in making corrections and COM
rim
nave had great deal Of opportunity to
observe after fifteen years experience. with
th-m, thar what is known IS the medium
writer i the best In the amount Of work
tnat Is turned out The typewriter that
loads up machine with erdSures rubbers
and paper and the like is tn. one that
Sholld he avoided If il Is possible to DO so
\ slow writer seldom has any use for such
accessories. and erasiug is slower than
writing. II Is best 20 secure the writer's who
90 not use them. Mn ty-uinc out Of every
hundred errors made by a typevriter ara
made by too much speed which in my
opinion, Is but another word for Careless
ness think have observed another
thing carefully enough to eNprcss an opiu-
luH on ih- subject. and that is the older the
typewriter the better-I mean the writer
not Inc machine. For instance a writer
i'rty years Of age can he depended upon to
turn out more perfect work in a given t+rno
thth a tWruty-wear-Od writer though
me iatter may have the most speed
''-''4 HIAtIitS Is concerned. IL is
NOT rapid bursts of speed or grand-stand
HnIshaS that count. 1t is the writer who
stays there, and is as good and correct in
the last half Of the day as in the first half
IN "ther words. Ike in everything but
morse racing reliability is better than spec5
alone. and reliability don't hurt a horse
either"
x x x
me recent tour of the President in the
south has increased the pension Office mail
very considerably alra,d,- - ,-,l,,r+l,z, .
pension bureau clerk to a Star reporter
but it Is only a marker to what we expect
later on. The introduction of the several
bills to pension the soldiers of the confed-
crate army. their widows and children.