Waterbury Democrat., 1902-10-02
PEAT FOR FUEL
Plan to Take Advantage of Immense
 Bogs in the State of Maine.


 Bogs in the State of Maine.
 A short time ago a movement was perfected ill Lewiston, Me. to trans form the enormous deposits of peat known as FarWell's Bog, in Lewiston suburbs, into merchantable and desira- ble fuel. From advices at hand it looks as if the proposition were no vis- ion or at all impracticaDIe, says the Lewiston, Me, Evening Journal.
 As recently as last September Pro- lessor G. M. Randall, in lecture de- liyered at Augusta under the auspices of the Maine state typographical sur vey commission, showed that the next step in economy is likely to be the con- version of peat into merchantable fuel. Peat is now coming to the front as a fuel of high efficiency. Lewiston and Auburn are spending hundreds of thou sands of dollars for fuel drawn from distant coal fields, at a time when coal is marked up by the trusts and their warfare, and that, too, while we have almost limitless resources of peat at our doors. 4 corporation has just beea formed to prosecute fuel composition From peat, and we trust it will start out in Lewiston, where It's experts have recently been making inyestiga- ton. The company's officials, through Prof Randall, make the following state ment:
 We have succeeded in manufactur- Ing 2 fuel which for good reasons we call coal, because it contains the same elements that coal contains We call It synthetical coal because it is farmed by synthesis. This coal has , heat1ng value slightly superior to soft coal
 Perhaps it would be well in this connection to speak briefly of what wa mean by the heating value. or as if is sometimes more technically spoken of. calorific power. The first investigations Tor determining the calorific value of Iuel were made in 1S44 for. the United states navy. At that time the i'm poftance Of the findings was not ap pfeclaIed as much as at present. On economical lines it is not possible to separate laboratory science from boil er-f0om practice The obseryino practical engineer may determine the dppfOXlmate amount of moisture and asn on the grates and the evaporatiya elnclency of a coal, but different boil CTS With different droughts and differ- ent methods of stoking produce differ enL electS with the same coal.
 1he question. which naturally arises II T. conhectlon With the manufacture of luei is, are the constituents sufficiently aouhdanC Tn distribution to warrant an outlay or capital for machinery, capi- tal, etc In order to reply to this wa make reference to the Tinted Stotas geological survey of nearly any year and to many private surveys. Ii viii De found that in every state in Nnyp EHgland there are almost inexhaucti- ble Dogs of peat. Possibly there is no aftlcle that has received so little thought and attention from practical Hlen. For instance from the Massa. chusetts reports of the Geological sir. Vey l quote: Tn nearly 50 towns i,, eastern Massachusetts, taken as . fair average of it's quantity in other towns and other counties, it would follow that SOO0O acres. or 125 square miles are covered with peat, having an ay, craze thlckness of six feet. This area ana ano o depth would yield not far from 100000, % tons. oiil
 EeaC IS pest handled from tha hoo ny cIam-shell digger or dredge. Tt is II,siL,, .nen conveyed fo disintegrator 1s,.l,., Wllicn separates all coarse material ;t fuGn 2; as roots. From this disintegrator ro5s,ase, ,s S9ns seyed 70 q press, where it is = " pOI cent Of wafer down to 40 per cent. After leav;no tI,a .Sbl press 1t goes through another disinta1 e grator. Here lime is added in anatbe, way, which further effects tlrvino .,,sr . ,,l, the lime combines with the wate,. 'iu i,1 the peat. "aeer III
 From here the peat is conyeyed fo q . uriel Which is steel cylinder va,s,, ns III lehgth according to the canacifn nequlred-4O i.s feet for a lOOton nleni i,, ine peat is in the interior of inc ,ri. cri nLuer, 1tl through which hot air circn1ates ' enus aau erecting drying down to s Iss, na, eent cent 10 10 per. cent. From bara 5t ptr 2, conveyed to pug mill, or mIyino n,ilI ,ni rs Wnere ,I petroleum. in which bitumi mi,nll., n1,n pltcn IS dissolved. is added. Hara ~ is is 4tlloronghly mixed. Then it. is convara,, ~ = ~; 5o large receptacle from which Y go ~ saIllscnafged sIl to the briquettina nrossa., ss ls dnese l,S briquettlng presses are tsses. sif,ve,. h,eenanlcal h,';cil devices, which maila ple e priek l,rl. Which is a short cylindar Ae VI a elieve i,,ai the best shape to be aho,,+ 1a incnes ine in diameter and 1@ ba inchaa hA io 1oms.,, Another form is of i irrea,,Ies 1nes iehsth and one-half the diameter uiar