The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1904-04-30

"We shall be using briquetteson
a large scale in this country within
few years." said E. w. Parker,
who was a member of the anthra-
cite strike commission, and is the
coal mining expert of the geolog-
ical supply. "This is anindustrY,
which, although it has no foothe
today, is bound to comsto the fn b
Conditions which have bil s
vorable for it in the pasts Up
idly changing. In Gelnaifs sone-
third Of the entire coal min is
Ignite, nearly all of it being A(Sa
cited before usA Brio te
retailed by tug eohnt instead fof
weight. A German friend of mine
recently told me- that when he was
at school he used to buy eight or
ten briquettes each morning, put
ting them into a porcelain stoye,
and close the draft tight. They
would thus burn all day long.
"For domestic purposes, the BRIG
uette offers an exceedingly econom.
ical method of using coal. With
Ignite, or with the fine. coal pro-
duced as the result of the mining
industry, or even with very dry BIZ
tuminous-as the Goals are called
which do not fuse when thrown on
the grate-effciency is greatly in
creased by this process. Ignite
goes all to pieces under combustion
and with the otker kinds that I
have mentioned, large share Of
the combustible material is run
through the CRATE bars. II these
were made sufficiently small to hold
everything in, the air supply would
be insufficient But when those
GOALS are manufactured in briq-
uettes; they hola together in that
form until consumed. Everything
burns to the ash without clinkers.
1.-THE chief reason Why this i'm
provement has not developed here
has been the low cost Of our raw
fuels. It must be acknowledged that
Americans are not as a people given
to small economies. But from let
ters I receive, I am convinced that
theera Of the briquette is rapidly
approaching. Experiments are in
progress in many quarters. A man
ufacturing concern IN Chicago is
putting up model machine which
will be exhibited in st. Louis, while
several concerns elsewhere are at
tempting the sumo thing. German
and English manufacturers have
been looking over this country with
view to establishing plants here;
they think the market is not quite
ripe, T. understand, but I believe
they are mistaken. When 1 looked
into this subject in 1891, such was
the cheapness and superiority Of
our raw fuel, that there seemed lit
tie economic motive in support Of
the briquette industry. Prices Of
coal have been advancing so stead
lily since 1898, though that in 1902,
the average selling value per ton
at the mine for both anthracite and
bituminons coal was forty per cent
higher since 1898. Small sizes OIL
anthracite, formerly wasted, are
now utilized. Much is recovered by
washeries from the old culm banks
of the anthracite region. Some
coal is still, however, lost in the
form of dust, which might be used
if it could be put into convenient
shape for domestic consumption,j
"Four hundred patents had been
issued on artificial fuels before
1902, none of which became 3 DEM
onstrated success commercially up
to that time so far as I am aware.
In the last two years, there have
been about forty patents, mostly on
briquette processes, such ass:
'For making briquettes with q
binder obtained BY boiling seaweed.
e'Compressed fuel made from