Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1901-07-19
Written for the CITIZEN. }

kindly published an article showing
the method of mining soft coal.
Possibly there are some, who, not
being familiar with the work done
at such plant as l spoke of in that
article, would like to know what
disposition is made of so much coal,
When we think of the many coal
mines In the world, and of the vast
deal of coal produced at each OF
them, we see plainly that the demand
for fuel is not great enough to con-
sumo the supply.
What then becomes of all this
coal? 1t is converted into coke, but
to say this is not to enlighten many
minds; for In sections remote from
the mountains, aud indeed even there
are hundreds of people who have
never seen a piece of coke, nor know
what It is. Surely all people are not
so disinterested in great industries
or in simple science as not to wish
to know something about the process
Of coke-making; and as a descrip-
tion Of that process respectfully
subniit the present article to indul-
gent readers.
First, let me try to describe coke
ovens. No, they are not bread ovens.
Do not think that the word oven
applies only to the thing in which
you cook your meals. A coke-oven
is built of friedrich and stone, is in
the open air, and is usually of two or
three tons capacity. Ofcourse there
can be single oven standing spart to
itself; but plant that has only one
oven is ailing financially or other
wise. These ovens are always az
ranged in series. There is con-
tinuous embankment of stone work
about eight feet tall and about
ten or twenty feet wide according as
the embankment is single or double
row of ovens. OF course the length
depends upon the number of ovens.
This embankmentis is called battery.
the interior of which is divided of
into sections. Each section is lined
with fire-brick, curving upward to
form dome with circular opening
about twenty inches in diameter at
the apex. On the side, upon level
with the floor of the oven, and about
two feet from the ground is door
way large enough to allow man to
crawl in easily. This doorway has a
heavy iron casing, but it is not sup
piled with door.
A battery of ovens, then, is simply
a series of very substantial domes,
without space between them, the
whole thing appearing as one solid
mass of stone work.
On top of the battery is track
for small locomotive, called donkey
engine, and coal carriers called
iowries. A lowry is small truck
having upon it large sheet iron
hopper with movable chutes on two
sides leach chute projecting over
the side of the railway. Each
donkey usually pulls two lowriAs.
When the coal Is brought out of
the mines it is dumped into large
bins, whence it is fed into crushers
to be pulverized. Chain buckets
and chain scrapers convey the
crushed coal to other bins for
storage. These bins have openings
in the bottom fitted with sort of
trap-door contrivance. Under the
bins is a trestle supporting track
and connecting with the batteries.
The railway on top the battery then
is continuous on under the slack
bins.
The lowries are brought under
the trap-doors IN the bottom of the
storage slack bins, are filled with the
coal, are hauled out by the donkey
to any desired place on the battery.
The lowries having been stopped at
some empty oven or ovens, the side
chutes are lowered and the crushed
coal is allowed to pour itself down
through the opening in the apex
into the oven. The coal thus de-
posted in the oven is leyeled, the
doorway is closed with fire brick,
and these are daubed over with CLAW,
shutting off all draught. This is
called charging the oven. If the
charge be the first ever put into the
oven, it will have to be ignited be-
fore it will burn; but during the
burning of the first charge the stone
and brick work absorb and retain so
much heat that the next charge will
ignite from the heat radiated by the
floor and walls of the oven.
Since there is no draught, the coal
cannot get oxygen and hence cannot
truly burn, but the intense heat
drives off all the volatile products
(gases, liquids and some fusible SOL
ids), leaving aolid residue of about
90 per cent pure carbon. Sulphur,
phosphorus and ash are nearly al
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