Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-22
Rivals of Coal.

Coal NAV not always rule the world. The
Increasing use of oilaas a fuel is significant
and encouraging. 1t threatens to supplant
its bIacker rival for steam making purposes
in ships and railway locomotives. 1t has
been proved successful also as a steam
maker in industrial establishments and as
fuel for heating plants in great buildings.
Who knows but that in time 1t may come to
be generally employed in domestic uses, and
THAI petroleum burners may heat our
homes.
The oil stove will be used to a greater eX-
tent this winter than ever before. In the
southwest freight and passenger trains are
being drawn over long stretches of road by
locomotives fired with petroleum. Monster
cargo ships are making voyages from one
side of the world to the other without a
lump of coal. Twenty years ago the Cen
trail Pacific railroad ran an oil burning
transfer boat, the old Salano, in San Fran
cisco bay.
on September 18th the Mariposa, a con-
verted coal-burner which piled for many
years between San Francisco, Honolulu,
Auckland and Sydney, reached the Golden
Gate from Tahiti. having made the round
trip to that island, eight thousand miles, on
oi-made steam. Experiments with oil are
being conducted by the navies of the United
States, England, France, Germany. Sweden.
Italy and Holland, while Russia's Caspian
sea fleet consists of oil-burning ships. The ad-
vantages claimed for oil over coalare economy
in storage and stokage, lessening Of smoke
absence of ashes and quicker and greater
steam generative power. The use OF Pc
troleum means the non-use of coal and the
lessenng of demand for article common
ly means a reduction in price Thus one
form of fuel may act as check upon the
other. Petroleum is plentiful and new dis
coveries of 1t will doubtless be made for
years to come.
Another factor in the fuel situation and
which is menace to coal men, is electricity
generated by water power and transmitted
long distances to manufacturing plants.
The problem of generating steam by focus
ing solar light on a boiler is still in the
nebulous stage, but in southern California
solar motor is actually pumping water for
irrigation purposes.
A recent suggestion, which is more enter
tanning than serious, has been made in Bos-
ton that Americans are neglecting peat as
a fuel. Peat is decOmposed vegetation,
principally sedges and rushes, and is half
way between vegetation and Ignite, being
a phase in the evolution of mineral coal
from vegetable matter. 1t exists in vast de-
posts in Massachusetts,, New York, New
Jersey and Pennsylvania. 1t is said that it
abounds also in states of the south and
west.
1t is interesting to recall that in 1864
there was organized in Boston The Ameri-
can Peat Company and in the prospectus
it was announced that the company was
convinced that peat, if properly prepared.
could prove to be an article of fuel which
might serve equally well with coal. being
for many purposes unquestionably superior,
especially for generating steam and for the
manufacture of iron, steel and other
metals Considerable peat was 'manufac-
tured" at Barnstable, Mass, in 1864 and
1865. and in the winter of those years was
used to some extent in Boston. There is
coal merchant in Boston who is today SELL
ing New England peat.