Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-07
FUEL FROM THE MARSH
PRODUCT OF CoRNFIELDS MAY
SERVE INSTEAD OF COAL.
Efforts to Procure q Cheap Substitute
for Acknowledgements
of Mud.


From the New York Tribune.
The results Of the coal strike Of 1902 were
far-reaching at the time, but 1t must not
be conceived that they were temporary.
The revival of normal coal mining held ex-
periments and investigation in allegiance;
yet the problem of cheap fuel has to be
solved, and 1t will be solved. Before the
strike every ton of hard coal sent to mar
ket from our anthracite mines involved the
waste of nearly or quite two tons OF coal.
although a part of the waste had been
saved by working it into buckwheat and
pea coal. Experiments have been carried
on for the still further reduction Of this
enormous fuel loss. Germany has 2S6 fac
tories working up coal dust and turning
out from fifty to ninety tons each of
briquette fuel. This fuel Is disable In fac
tories in kilns and to some extent In DO
mestic and industrial furnaces. In Ger
many briquettes of Ignite are also enter
ing into consumption, even more than those
OF hard coal; while In the United states
Ignite. which exists to the amount of one
third of all coal deposits, has until very
recently not been used at all. Experiments
being carried on to determine Its value
for fuel.
Correlative efforts are being made to
work up the peat deposits of America.
Edward Atkinson reports, under some-
what startling title of Mud Fuel" dis
CONery WnlCn seems TO De OF mucn IIHpoI-
lance. He has discovered that not only
may our large peat deposits be made avail
able. but the underlying mud or marsh soil
(Which is muck or the product of decayed
vegetatioD can also be made into tue!
brquettes. The material has an initial
value of almost no Importance. 1t Is more
cheaply mined than coal, because 1t lies
near the surface of the ground. Boys,
swamps and marshes are easily drained,
and the material lies conveniently for the
miner. Very little has to be done except
to expel the great part of the water and
to compress the material into briquettes or
convenient size. This is to utilize material
of insignificant value so as to put 1t on the
market in competition with our costliest
fuel. This dried marsh mud 1t Is alleged.
gives US a fuel that will compare favorably,
pound for pound, with our best bitumlnous
coal.
Smokeless Fuel.
1t Is a smokeless fuel. the burning of
which involves very little difficulty, a ma
terial from which an excellent grade OF
coke can be made, free from sulphur and
lower in ash than any other coke We have
now. and superior forge fuel. For domestic
use it is as convenient as wood. and cheap
er than any kind of coal-except in close
proximity to the mines 1t is declared fur
ther and we have the authority of Norton
and Bales confirming the claim, that we
have in this mud fuel cheap source OF
gas, with valuable by-products. 1t has,
further, considerable value in absorbing
and holding ammonia. and thereby saving
what would be a waste of fertilizing ma
terial. To be used in this way, the air
dried material must be alternately frozen
and thawed, when it is reduced to meal.
Norton says that the samples submitted to
his examination have the appearance OF
Shiny marsh mud, with occasional roots
and sticks in some portions but a notable
absence of sand, grit and stones: The
weight varies from 100 to 125 pounds to a
cubic foot; but after drying In the air for
several weeks the weight is reduced about
one-half. At this point the mud becomes
hard and tough. which characteristics are
increased by moderate pressure The den
ser samples become in hardness and tough
ness much like pine wood-easy to split.
but difficult to saw.
Looks Like Coke. --
The material is at first a collection OF
small bits. which must be made into
briquettes by coking at high temperature.
The result Is then a product very similar to
the coke Of soft coal. in appearance as well
as hardness and weight. The heat power
Is very little less than that of soft coal.
and at least IS per cent as great as the
best anthracite. Norton closes his report
by saying that, with the average mud ca
pacity an acre of DOGGY land. We shall
have at conservative estimate. forty mil
lion pounds of fuel-eQual to twelve thou
sand tons of good coal. IF convenience in
handling and diminishing bulk Will justify
the coking process, we may hope to obtain
the equivalent of ten thousand tons of good
coke from each acre of twenty-foot bog.
There Is almost, II not quite, enough gas
distilled from the. coke to make one pound
of mud furnish enough gas to coke the next
pound. The coke and the briQuetted mud
both burn with hot fire. and leave only
from to II per cent of soft ash. with
these data, which come to from good
authority, and a determination Of the depth
of available bog land, we can compute the
value of the fuel at our command. The
deeper the mud in the bog, not only the
the fuel. Boys of great extent have been
sounded to the depth of one hundred feet
without finding bottom.
The Corn Plant.
Mr. Atkinson tells US that he was busy
with an entirely different project when the
value of bog mud was called to his at
tention He had in hand the project of
making fuel from the corn plant such inn
mense quantities of which go to waste
throughout the whole corn belt. The two
experiments open a wide vision Of possible
agricultural economics. In the west the
farmer may be growing his fuel. and in the
east he may take 1t from his marsh lands.
II Norton and Atkinson are correct, we
may not be far from a fuel supply that
will enable US to look forward with conf
dence, not only to future strikes, but to the
failure of our coal deposits. The best au-
thorities agree that the coal beds of the
United States cannot keep up with increas
ing domestic demand much beyond the
twentieth century. We have at least no
reservoirs of coal to supply our needs for
more than a few generations. Greater
economy in consumption and in the utili-
zation of waste is imperatively demanded.
Iar fha nCf NO
must soon look elsewhere for our fuel