The Elbert County tribune., 1902-11-13
Liquid Fuel
for Railways.

definitely committing themselves TO
i is iuoption' the directors are taking
ments on some OF their engiiss. and.
should these prove satisfactory OF onter-
ing i,l,,, igto such arrangements as viii secure
use q OH for fuel has been largely re-
thrgrd by uncertainty In regard 10 price
and permanensy OF production The dis
covcry of the immense oil Held OF Texas
and the enormous importation OF petro-
i@euh @ INTO these Islands have now re-
npNel this uncertainty. The United King
dom is almost the only country which
admits both crude and refined oils with
cut agiy, and the nation is reaping Tho
ptntut o. hct free trade policy. What
ever may be the origin OF rock oil. as 10
whiyh scientine opinion is stiil divided, II
appcars certain that the wells are not
soing To dry up soon. In Southeastern
RuHsia for fve and twenty years and in
fenuaylNnnia for over twenty years the
process Of drawing on the immense sub
terrnnodn store OF hydrocarbons has been
proceeding with little or no apparent dim
mutton qf the yield, Hundreds Of millions
oi tons have flowed over or been pumped
up with no wo.se effect than local OK
hausliun or partial nlRckening OF the
now and this has hitherto been more
than countcrbalanced by the finding OF
new ol-hcaring strata. AZ this moment
the oil wells Of the world are pouring
one ton OF eli for twenty Of coal-while
the Java. the Borneo and the Texas oil
ncidH are yet practically untapped and II
Is not improbable they may equal all
the previously existing sources For "A
long time to come. therefore. the supply
Of liquid fuel appears TO be safe.
In southern and Southeastern Russia
the locomotives have for some years been
burning oil. In this country the Great
Eastern Railway company were the pio-
necrs on all railways the coal bill is
a serious item. and especially II this the
case with lines which. like the Brighton,
the Southwestern. the Southeastern *
Chatham. and the Great Eastern. do not
penetrate nny Of the coal fields. II is
claimed that on systems situated as these
are oil Is at present prices cheaper than
coal Weight for weight the liquid car
bona cVaporate more steam than the
solid, how much more. whether half as
much again or twice as much. depends
on the quality OF the coal and Of the oil.
The question Is all-important. OF course
but II Is one to be solved only by actual
working and up to the present the sole
experience TO which appeal can be made
Is that Of the Great Eastern company
What Is their own view OF the expert
mcnt which they have been making since
1856 We may take TO be sufficiently shown
byAShc fact that they have gone on in
creHying the number OF engines burning
liuuid tuel-there are now over seventy
Of them-nnd that all. or nearly all. the
new engines are adapted for It's combus-
tlon. The splendid locomotive, Claude
Hamilton, which won the gold medal az
the Paris exposition. Is an oil-burner. and
so Is the new Coronation. or Royal. en-
giue. of the, very latest products OF
Strntfard.
i, viii be assumed. and naturally so. by
most persons that TO convert coal-eon-
leum must require. so to speak, an or
ganic change The fact Is not SO. The
Brighton directors will be able TO trans
form all their present engines into oil
burners II they deem II desirable, at com
paratively small cost, and then. should
coal become wondrous cheap. revert 10
solid fuel at no expense at all. In the
case Of the Great Eastern the company
was fortunate In having for their loco
engineer who realized the possibilities OF
liquid fuel. and set himself to make the
best use OF It. Everything depends on
the mode Of combustion. Mr. Holden ar
rived by experiment at form OF nozzle
for suraylng the oil which Is now very
generally used not only on the Great 1a
eign countries and Its application In
wolves the least possible Interference with
carried In tanks. and flows from these
through pipes into tine hrebox. ana the
making OF small openings to admit the
oil pipes and the contained burners, with
simple apparatus to control ills all the
work needed. No change is made IN fur-
mace or boiler. and with the very least
delay coal burning can be resumed. The
one thing needful in burning oil Is 70 al.
vide IL into a fanlike spray. made up OF
drops of the fluid as minute as may pe;
or, as engineers express II; pulNeriz,en
or 'atomized" as completely as possible;
This Mr.. holden accompanlfd hy "A JET OF
steam AT the same time It is OF course
essential that there shall mingle with the
fine spray sufficient quantity OF air Tor
thorough combustion. The burner IL 20
gnfltrlNtd that both AIR ana Sttdfn
at exactly the right point Of the jet 20
produce maximum enect. In some
cases coal Is burned with oil. and where
the latter alone Is used. small amount
Of coal must be employed to raise the
steam with which to start the Jet. IL IL
remarkable to see what large whlte-hot
fame is produced with an extremely
small amount Of the liquid. The roaring
Of the furnace is evidence OF the liberia
tl9n OF an enormous . a,nount .,l oi nj S
stunm-raiser is that there is practically
no stocking. The liquid nows TO the nre-
a stiil greater advantage is the complete
train Is approa aching steep gradient, the
driver can In a second inject more OIL.
ond cut 1t on again. II Is as though the
power was there to light your ire or put
II out In a second or two. Not the small
est benefit of liquid fuel ls the protection
II Affords against coal miners strikes and
excessive prices. Railway managers VIII
not soon. forget how coal advanced by
ures in 1880. and how slow II was In
coming down again. To have been able
to substitute petroleum would have been
a boon to shareholders. On the Great
Eastern engines they can ana do burn
coal tar the waste product Of the gas
works. The great coal strike In the
United States has led TO large number
OF locomotives being converted into oil
burners. over two hundred engines on
the Southern Pacific system have been
SO treated; II is not 70 be supposed that
ing coal. but II is probable that many OF
them besides the London q Brighton Will
convert at least some of their engines
and 30 have TWO strings 10 - ir how.
may add that the Great Eastern is so
well satisfied with Its experiment that
liquid fuel Il In evidence all over the ex-
tensive Stratford works. In stationary as
well as locomotive engines OF various
tyDes. In some InstnrH = comrre9ssu H-'
takes the place OF steam to produce the
let There ls only one regret about the
innovation-rock oil IL not British prod
uct Nature gave these fortunate islands
nearly everything else. II Is some con-
ISOLATION. however. to think that. " we do
use petroleum, our coal mines Will last
so much the longer. There ia not the
sn.a,itts' sn.t ,si tear da, ,rotsgrs,b