The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-04-22

Invention Which Consumes It's own
Smoke and Ashes.

e (Chicago American-l
Omaha, Neb.-An Omaha man has
invented an artificial fuel which makes
a hotter IRE than the best soft coal,
which consumes its own smoke and is
lashless- 1t is % per cent earth or
! ingredients, the others embracing the
/ inventors secret, which he viii not di-
vulge. Even with the imperfect ma
chine for the manufacture of the tuel
IL is possible TO make it at a cost OF
not exceeding 80 per ton
r. J. Hoffman. after seven years of
experimenting. last January succeed
ed in producing q combustible material
which IS non-explosive and which
gives out heat far more Intense than
that produced by the average bitumln-
! Gus coal.
/ In the presence of a correspondent
Mr.. Hoffman made a demonstration Of
the heating qualities of the fuel he
has a small press which works on the
principle of a hydrauiic brick press,
the die, OF course, being small The
product Of this press is a ball of fuel
about the size of a door knob. Six of
these balls weigh pound A pound OF
this fuel VIII burn as long as two
j pounds of coal
/ Mr.. Hoffman took everything out OF
! the cook stove, laid the foundation OF
: kirdling wood in the fifebox just as
/ he would for building soft coal fire,
/ on and put a lighted match to the
I kidding wood.
/ The fuei did not ignite at once. IT
took about two minutes for the flames
70 get hold OF il. In another minute
/ it fairly roared and in four minutes
/ tho stoveNipe was red hot. 1t was
necessary to take the lid off the stove
! in order that the intense heat might
] be subdued
There was no smoke whatever and in
another hour nothing was left in the
/ fire CRATE but few charFed particles,
not to exceed 2 per cent Of the original
/ material Mr. Hoffman says the arti-
] fetal fuel burns out all the coal SCOT
/ in the stove and stoVepipe-
4 He win mix a ton of the materiaiy
which win be pressed into bricks by
the Hydraulic Brick company of this
city and these bricks win be tested in
the fWnaces OF large boliers IN one
: of tine office buildings of Omaha. and
I If the combustion OF the artificial fuel
] proves 10 be as. perfect IA furnace
4 assit is IN stove a still more cCitical
] test will be made of the ftfei in a lo-
( connective. @ .H
4 Mr. Hoffman is in communication
/ with the mechanical department. of the
Chicago & Northwestern railroad and
has been Informed thkss if the local
\ tests prove to be satisfactory that road
! viii send a locomotive in charge of ITS
/ travelling engineer. and test the efficacy
of the Hoffman fuel in making steam
for a heavily loaded train
He says that he knows he possesses
j a fuel which may be used in loeOmo-
2 tiYes and which will Supersede every
other kind OF fuel now used FOR that
purpose. He says it is smokelesso and
cinderless and that il may be used
sin passenger locomotives, eliminating
the Objectionable features, Of cinders
and coal dust, which. as everybody
knows, now pervade the whole train
and cannot be kept out. OF even the
rear sleepers. org
A local company has been formed at
Blair, Neb-, for the Manufacture Of
this fuel and 1t VIII be but a few
months until vast quantities of it will
BE- manufactured in this state. The
larger the plant the smaller the cost
OF production per ton Mr. Hoffman
thinks that 10 viii be possible to make
il ar atcost. of about 81 90 per ton, and
in the states of Wyoming and Texas,
where vast deposits Of crude, petroleum
are found. the cost would be Jess
Mr., Hoffman has ALREADY received
letters from owners of petroleum lands
in Texas which satisfy him that il
viii be an easy matter "a. secure all the
petroleum necessary for manufacturing
on any scale desired. He says:
mo alarm need be felt in regard to
explosions of my artificial fuel There
seems TO be a great objection TO ignit-
ing liquid oils. The chemical action
I in solidifying the oils through the pro-
y cess OF my. invention makes 1T utterly
Impossible for any explosion to take
place. There is absolute freedom from
smoke and cinders There is absence
i of ashes, making the fuel a model of
4 cleanliness.
4 The durability of large boilers is
Il increased because of the constant tenn
y perature of the furnace, which means
q steady steam pressure, insuring a
{ better performances OF engines and
. other machinery supplied. The heat
ms qualities of my solidified oil fuel
arc 40 per, cent greater than those of
: ordinary steam coal"
Next week r. G. Mason, whois build
ing the Blair plant and is associated
with Mr.. Hoffman in the manufacture
: of the fuel. viii make q. fuller demon
stratiOn of its unique qualities before
party OF newspaper men. IT is lis
purpose to take several tons of the
fuel to St Louis and there to test the
power of the material before some of
the leading coal merchants.
i He says ne has ~ebundant capital
with which to promote the enterprise.
Mr.. Mason Said further that the
Northwestern railway officials, if sat
isf.ed with the Locomotive test, will run
a regular snokeIess train between
Omaha and Chicago and between Chi
4 cagO and the Buffalo exposition