Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1902-12-17
Heat OF THE FUTURE.
PLANNING FOR THE DAY WHEN
-A.kFtlRAelTE is EXHAUSTED.

WhatSfo do without anthracite GOALS
a pulling enough question now when
the shortage is due 10 artificial causes;
but our children's children may have
to face Amuch great shortage through
natural causes. The quantity of all
thraciteacealz in this country admits OF
| tolerabt5l lelear computation. Since its
shipment began in 1890 there have been
mine edapprpximately 1900, 100000 tons.
The Pennsylvania commission, which
investigated the subject some years
ago reported that for every ton of coal
mined f2r consumption ton and a
half were lost. This included not only
the; cuini thrown on the dump, but the
coa necessarily left in the mine as pii-
lars fofaihe support. of the roof, On
this basisit has been computed that
the inroads upon the original coal de-
positssss etheT Scranton district have
amouna isso-S,25o, 100000 long tons.
The e. logical survey computes that
this Isl .lJout. one-sixth Of the original
deposit. At the present rate of con-
sumptiont the amount now remaining
would. last-for about 150 years; this
period VIII be shortened by rapidly
increasing kconsumption with growth
of population and luxury; or will
be lengHhened by economies which
the higher, cost of this kind of coal
will brips, about, and by tie substitu-
tion of rival products. Wha. the result
ant of all these forces will be is hard
to estimHte
The question of what the world will
do without anthracite coal is thus of
large interest. Electricity naturally
suggests itself as the great substitute.
1t offers itheat and cleanliness, some
thing which coal other than anthra-
cite cannot give. But electric heat
ing is costly. Under present appliances
it is necessary to transform the heat
of the fuel to electric energy, and then
change that into Thermal energy, in
both Of which processes there is con-
siderable Joss. 1t is roughly estimated
by electrical experts in the scientific
bureaus here that if one were to heat
q house by electricity derived from a
central station it would take about a
ton of coal to develop thermal energy
equal to that derived from the direct
combustion of 1900 to 1900 pounds of
the samesfpel in the domestic furnace.
About half.of tthis waste would be
avoided ifsFthe electric plant were in
the building Itself
1t is obvious that the developments
of the .futare are likely to belin the
&, aa Z, -.s1i the cost efz zelee:
in the priSsE3f anthracite coal, by COM
parison with bituminous, will have a
notable effect; the latter coal is in nor
NAL times a much cheaper steam pro-
ducer,. and it might be more profitable
to get only go or 10 percent. of its heat
value, through trapsmitted electricity
than to get 100 percent with direct con-
sumption on the premises OF anthra-
cite. This comparison, of course, ap-
plies to the heat now practically OBJ
lainable, it being generally known that
not over 10 or Is percent OF the ther-
NAL value of ton of coal is utilized by
the best boilers and heaters. 1t is the
six or seyen-tenths of this 10 or 10
percent which is at the basis OF the
nigh cost of electric heating.
Another tendency which may operate
to bring in electric heating is the COM
narrative, ease with which it may be
measured. In the modern hotel, apart
ment house, or ofIice-building, very
large percentage of the heat goes out
of the window, not in ventilation,
which is justifable extravaganza, but
in sheer and objectionable waste. The
lodger, on leaving his room in the
morning, throws the window wide open
with the heat turned on in the not
water radiators. A zero temperature
outside coming through that open Win
dow hammers away on the hot-Water
pipes. The coal-stoker in the base
ment is constantly shoVelllng in SOFT
coal to keep up the battle. If the lanl-
tor goes into the lodger's room and
closes the window, the tenant takes Of
fence, and most people who deal Win
this question find it cheaper to heat up
the outdoors, limited only by the oD-
Grafton of law of the diffusion of gases,
than to try to convince the public OF
the truth Of the elementary principles
of calorics. The tenant believes that
the heat coursing through his pipes is
his own property; he refuses to believe
that he is leading down the general
heating plant very heavily by all
wasteful practices. This experience
of which all persons who grapple with
the heating problem complain, is IN
considerable part responsible for the
rates Of rental, which it is now neces-
sary to charge upon apartments and
other places where heat is free ano
unmeasured, and the individual user
is relieved of the application of the
old principle that those VINO dance
should pay the piper.
Electric heating permits of accurate
measurement, just like gas-lignting. It
is true, to be sure, that the electric
lighting companies have in many cases
adopted a fiat charge instead of
metered service, but this is due to Pc
culiar conditions. Gas is stored in q
reservoir. Electricity must, practical
ly speaking, be consumed as it is pro-
duced. So what the manufacturer Of
electricity for lighting purposes has tc
count on is the current that he may be
called upon to supply, and it is that fol
which he wants to be paid. But in
large development Of the business the
measuring system would become oper'
ative. This would be such substan
tial economy in the apartment-house
for example, as to Offset much OF the
waste of the transformations necessary
to turn coal into heat by way of cleo.
tricity, and to conduct it!on a wire.
-. tho i'm nrpyamlOt