Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-10-14
WISCONSIN, PEAT BOGS
CONTAIN GREAT SUPPLY

Milwaukee Dispatch to Chicago
Inter Ocean: The coal strike has at
tracted a great deal of attention to
the peat boys in Wisconsin, and de-
velops the fact that for year or
two a genius at Whitewater has been
experimenting with a process which
is claimed to be about perfected for
the production of an article of COM
merce in the shape of peat that will
eventually take the place of anthra-
cite coal. He is said to be able. with
machinery he has invented. to pro-
duce 10000 tons of peat per day in
compact form to take the place of
egg and the larger sizes of coal used
in stoves and furnaces, and that the
new product has the advantage Of
coal for the reason that it produces
neither smoke. dirt. nor gasses, and
that u stove or furnace filed with
il will make red-hot fire twice as
long as coal.
There are several hundred millions
of tons of peat in Wisconsin, in Wal
worth. Fond du Lac. Douglas, and
other counties. The Whitewater
plant is said to be about ready to 60
prepared peat and a number of bust
ness men of this city have interested
themselves i'm the project of supply
ing customers providing the strike
continues, and may do so anyway. |.
l.. Gault, of Fond du Lac, has made
plans to establish plant in that
city. with capacity of several hun
dred tons a week. The supply of
raw peat will be secured from the
marshes west of Fond du Lac. where
it is found in abundance. some of the
beds being over 30 feet deep and
acres in extent. The plant will cost
about $4,000.
The second peat factory will he
built by the Moser Stone and Lime
company. This company was recent
ly incorporated with a capital of S25.-
900, for the purpose of developing
a limestone quarry south of Fond du
Lac. 4 few days ago when closer
inspection was made of the property,
ii was found that about ten acres OF
the land is covered with fine peat
beds. The company will build fac
tory with the necessary machinery.
The incorporators of the company
y L
l.. Doyle.
Twenty years ago w. II. Newton
discovered the peat beds near Su-
perior and conceived the idea of using
the supply of peat for fuel. About
the same time he invented hydraulic
dredge. and it was his idea TO cut =
small canal in the beds large enough
to float dredge and to throw il int
bins and allow it to dry. After dry
ing ii was to be cut into pieces of
the proper length. Newton was ac-
cidently killed before his scheme
could be tried. 1t is now proposed by
a number of Superior capitalists to
develop the plan. owing to the scar
city of fuel.
The Whitewater man. however, has
clearly outstripped every one else. il
is said, in the matter of preparing
peat for home use, and his system
win undoubtedly be i'm practical use
in short time.
Householders in Milwaukee who
have been forced to use soft coal the
past few weeks have discovered that
a cheap and good fire can be pro
duced with many of the grades that
have been forced upon them in place
of anthracite. and they say that theJ
will never return to the use of hard
coal unless they are forced to do so
by city ordinances. 1t is quite evil
dent to those who have observed the
matter closely in Milwaukee. that no
matter how soon the strike is settled
IL will be long time before the con
of hard coal will be wnat
it has been. With the Introduction of
a good quality of peat, which now APP
pears probable, there will certainly be
fewer customers for the trust here
than there were formerly.