The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1904-03-26
Simple Little Plan to Circum.
vent the Coal
Man.
From the Kansas City. Star:

OF perIecC1On; so nigh, IN 1aCt, that It
is prematurely going the way Of the
to the limited number Of fields and
added to this. the difficulty Of mining,
the distance of transportation to tide
water and the greed of monopolists
have placed prohibitive prices on this
essential commodity.
The changes in the use of fuels from
the time fire was first kindled until
result s Of long ye 81 snd lara work one
the part Of countless men. but the
change from good coal to mud is made
at a single bound, and is the outcome
Of the tremendous efforts Of practically
three men, principally two men and
specifically one man. These are Prof
Charles L. Norton of Harvard univer-
sity. Edward Atkinson of Boston and
H. H. Wotherspoon, jr., of New York
city.
In the conversion of mud into coal
the process is practically instantaneous,
when the time of its production is COM
pared with that employed In it's geo.
logic formation, but to be placed cate
gorically in the same class as coal the
mud fuel must partake of the qualities
of the former both in its chemical
that is. it must cantain practically the
same proportions Of carbon and the
gases as the coal formed in nature and
emit an equal amount of heat.
Now word as to mud. In the pop
ular mind mud is a thing apart from a
combustible material, and this induction
is true, but just as there are men and
men. even SO there is mud and mud.
Mud may be divided into two classes
the MUD of the first class is the result
of disintegration of inorganic matter
with a large percentage of water, as
the technician would say, while mud Of
the second class is the result of a whole
or partial decomposition of organic
matter with a large percentage of
the first kind Of mud is formed of sand
or earth and that the second kind is
composed of vegetable matter.
There is vast difference between
the two kinds, but in no way is this
more strikingly brought out than in the
fact that the first kind of mud won't
burn. whereas mud Of the second class
is, therefore, the kind of mud that
burns that concerns the bog fuel en-
gineer. : r.
!. Inorganic or. dead mud is merely due
to al mechanical u mixture Spf dry earth
and WateE but organic or live mudzts
caused by deposits OF partly or fully
| decomposed vegetable matter, caused
water.
Vegetable matter, such as grasses,
plants, shrubs and MOSES, decompose
rapidly in the open air, under ordinary
circumstances, and give off their nitro
gen and little HYDROGEN and oxygen
very rapidly, but when the vegetable
growths are submerged in swamps.
| ponds and other still bodies of water
gases are given off in the form of
marsh gas. and the carbon, the 1nval-
liable element required for combustion,
| is retained.
Carbon is found in all living things,
| in wood, flesh and other products of
vegetable and animal life, and when
these substances are heated to a suf-
fciently high temperature they black
en-, and afterward, if they are heated in
the air, they burn up. This blackening
as the primers on chemistry tell us, is
due to the fact that the subs stances all
contain carbon. When they are heated
! the other elements are driven off first
in various forms, while the carbon is
the last to go. If they. are heated in
the air, the carbon finally combines
with the oxygen and forms a colorless
gas-it burns up.
The places where mud bearing fuel
may be found are depressions of land
where the drainage has been. poor, and
represents decomposed vegetable mat.
| ter, probably having a large percentage
Of carbon. Sometimes these bodies con.
tain larger amounts Of inorganic mat.
ter, such as sand, etc, which impair.
bed of decomposed vegetation repre-:
sents a coal vein in the early stages Of
it's formation, called young coal. This
| mud contains q large amount of vege.
! table fibre in it's makeup, and These
tubes of plant life hold a great deal Of
moisture
Now the operation of making Goa
from mud in accordance with the plan:
first advocated in this country by Ed.
ward Atkinson and H. H. Wotherspoon
Jr., is exceedingly simple, and through
the courtesy of these gentlemen thu
writer was granted the opportunity tt
turn out fuel from mud with the simpl,
! apparatus to his own satisfaction.
To describe the entire process it neet
only be said that the mud from the boz
is taken and thrown upon a dump, wher,
it is placed in a macerating machine
the function of which is to tear O.
break up the bog mud. Then it goe
through a cutting process for the pur
pose Of destroying the fibrous structure
and at the same time liberates tn
binding material or pentazane, which
sticks the particles Of mud together
The third process is to mix and knea,
the mass when it is concentrated b.
forcing some of the water out, and a
a result tits converted into a dense
black, rubber-like structure in abou
an hours time..*s
The last operation is to place .<thi
mixture in the apparatus designed t
force the adhesive mud trough tub
made, Of metal. AS the mold forr
energies from the tube it is cut Off /
whatever length is desirable, and TIL
coal briquettes are placed in the su
and air to dry. Part of. the origina
water. contents are lost in the opera
ton, and the evaporation of the bal
ance is completed in summer in fror
fifteen to twenty days, when the brick
Ihave become as hard, brittle and com
!. Epact as a lump of bituminous Goa
thanks to the adhesiyeness Of the bind
ing neutrality-suspicious..
This process requires but simple ma
chinery it, small quantities are: to b
worked up. but with plants operatin
In 3 commercial way the machiner
must be powerful and efficient. s|
II In Ireland the word pea t. Isl apple
/ Ito. the substance sof peat hogs, like #ou
j. Town. and the word 81. turf is used S*t
SS II 49, N 80,