Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1903-03-28
Ignite IN
Great Deposits Have Already Proved
of Tremendous Value to Country.

Great Deposits Have Already Proved
of Tremendous Value to Country.
Review Of Reviews: Ten years ago
the Ignite deposits that underlie $1,000
square miles in North Dakota. $4,000
square miles in Montana, and smaller
though extensive areas in Wyoming
and South Dakota. were considered al
most worthless. Today one al hear
from both merchant and farmer. every
where ver these plains, that the Zig
mite is the salvation Of the region"
Ignite Is the Braunkoh1en of the
Germans. and that of the northwest a
a higher fuel value than the European
varieties. The percentage of fixed car
bon ranges from 40 to 60. with an av-
erage, as shown by eighty analyses, Of
81, or 10 per cent. higher than the Ger
man Ignite, and fully as high as the
bituminous coal of Iowa n Missouri.
Its content of moisture Is 80 per cent,
and out of this fact arise the difficult
ties connected with it's use. IN drying
the Ignite Stacks" or crumbles, but
loses nothing of its fuel value in con-
sequence IL proper appliances for burn
ing fine coal are used. Stacking Ices
not take place rapidly; and in sum-
mer, Ignite that has been exposed in
heaps to ordinary atmospheric condi-
lions for eight or ten weeks may be
burned on ordinary CRATES with little
loss. During the winter months, the
green" coal shows no tendency to
crumble. If the Ignite Is dried before
burning, the energy required to vola-
tilize the contained moisture Is saved.
Devices are already in use which burn
the fine Ignite successfully. In Ger
many, where great quantities of Ignite
are used, 1t is dried ard briqueted. BY
fhid nrnNacQ tho nnrNnntno ma ~ a~AI
carbon Is raised and the fuel value Of
the Ignite materially increased.
Pressed into firm blocks of convenient
size, and free from dust, the Ignite
briquet Is a popular fuel. On account
Of the cost of labor In the northwest,
no ref1nements have been attempted In
the Ignite trade.
During the winter of 10000 400, 900
tons Of green" Ignite, as the coal d.
rectly from the mine is styled, will be
sold at an average price of $1.30 at the
mine. Throughout the greater part Of
North Dakota the users Of Ignite save
from one-third to one-half of the cost
of eastern coal. The field that the
Ignite reaches includes ell of North
and South Dakota and Minnesota as
far east as st. Paul. Had the capacity
of the miners been doubled during the
present winter, all Of the output could
nave Deen sofa without reduction Of
price. Nine equipment that Is now
nearly complete indicates for next year
an output that will be valued at nearly
100000. This means hat within a.
very few years North Dakota will sup
ply her own fuel and that Of the neigh,
boring states on the east.
Throughout the country north and
west Of the Missouri river in North
Dakota and Montana the settler need
go but a few miles from his ranch to
a Ignite bank. At hundreds Of points
he strips off the dirt with piow and
scraper, helps himself to IONS of fuel,
and pays no one. Very often the lig-
mite outcrops on his own land, and at
times In his w dooryard. This cheap
and abundant fuel has been one of the
main stimuli that have led to the re-
cent rapid settling Of western North
Dakota.