Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-08-19
HAS CHARCOAL FACTORY.
Sioux City Entertains Carolinian Who
'ss Burning Charcoal from Nearby
Elm Grove

49,
Sioux City, Aug. 19.-Burning char
coal is new enterprise in the vicinity
of Sioux City, and one that few people
understand.
Thompson's Grove, that slightly pic
mic grounds south of the city, which
contains about $50 acres of heavy elm
timber is being cut and prepared for
charcoal burning by the Barham broth
ers. They have made this a life work
in the forests of South Carolina, and
California. and when seen yesterday.
talked very Interestingly about the
work.
Yes. charcoal burning in our native
state, South Carolina Is a trade, and
we learn it there for life work. the
same as some of your northern people
take up engineering.
The process is quite simple, but the
science of the thing comes in watching
the kilns, when they are in the white
heat, so they will not so to ashes. We
can make the pile where we burn al
most any size. For our first burning
here, we are making four piles or kilns
They are Is feet long and about 25 feet
wide on the ground. Then we begin
from the ground to round them up so
that in the center they stand about
feet high. Logs are then piled on the
ends crosswise. of the long pile, so they
round off. In piling them there is Il
great deal of work, because we must
lace them close together. to do away
with as much air space as possible. A
great many charcoal burners make a
mistake in not taking pains enough in
piing the logs In the first place and in
that way lose the pile by its ASKING.
Before beginning a pile we dig a
trench from the center of the place the
the pile Is to occupy to the out edge of
1t. This trench Is usually about 2 feet
wide and Is irches deep. After the logs
are piled we cover them carefully with
about two inches Of damp hay and on
top of this spread over dirt about an
inch thick Ir this, four or five small
holes six inches in diameter are left
for draughts, and then everything is
ready for the fire.
"The fire is started in the outer
trench with small wood, and when 1t is
we'll ignited it is pushed farther back
in the trench toward the center of the
four or five hours. the trench is COW
cred over and then the fire does it's
work
No SIR our work Is not done yet, In
fact, it Just begins. Those kilns lay
there and burn at white heat for q
month and we have to watch night and
day to see that they do not break out
any place. If they should the pile
would ash instead of charring and all!
our labor would be lost. The logs come
out lust the same as they are put in,
except that they are a gray black in
color
Each of the kilns we are burning
contains thirty cords of wood, and in
elm wood a cord makes about 1,4OO
pounds of charcoal, so in the four kilns
we are working we will take out 16O,-
600 pounds of COAL or eighty tons.
Sioux City will easily furnish market
for the first lot Why. there is whole
lot of the stuff used in city the sizs
of Sioux City. The first class hotels
and restaurants all require 1t in their
cooking, and blacksmiths also use X
where they work in the better grades of
steel and besides there are many other
ways in which it is employed.
ELM wood such as we are using here
makes much better quality of coal
than is shipped to the city now, and the
price retails here at about $50 per ton.
SO by using the timber for charcoal in
stead of cutting it for wood, much bet
ter returns can be had
Charcoal retails in Sioux City for
about cents per pound.