Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-02-22

Washington, D.. c., Especial CORE
spondence of New York Evening Post)
I'VE shall be using briquettes on a
large scale in this country within al
very few years." Said E. w. Parker,
who was member of the anthracite
strike commission, and is the coal
mining expert of the Geological Sur
vey. This is an industry which, al
though it has no foothoid to-day, is
bound to come to the front. Condi-
tons which have been unfavorable for
it in the past are rapidly changing.
In Germany one-third of the entire
coal mined is Ignite, nearly all of it
being briquetted before use. .Briquet-
tes are retailed there by count instead
of 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 them in
to porcelain stove, and close the
draught tight. They would thus burn
all day long.
For domestic purposes the briquette
offers an exceedingly economical
method of using coal. With Ignite, or
with the fine coal produced as the
result of the mining industry, or even
with very dry bituminous-as those
Goals are called which do not fuse
when thrown on the grate-efhciency
is greatly increased by this process
Ignite goes all to pieces under COM
bustion, and with the other kinds that
I have mentioned large share Of the
combustible material is lost through
the CRATE bars. If these were made
sufficiently small to hold everything
in, the air supply would be insufficient
But when these Goals are manufact.
ured into briquettes they hold together
in that form until consumed. Every
thing burns to an ash and without
clinkers.
"The chief reason why this improve
ment has not developed here has been
the low cost of our raw fuels. 1t must
also be acknowledged that Americans
are not as people given to small
economics. But from letters I receive
I am convinced that the era of the
briquette is rapidly approaching. Elk
periments are in progress in many
quarters. A manufacturing concern
in Chicago is putting up model ma
chine which will be exhibited at St.
Louis, while several concerns else
where are attempting the same thing.
German and English manufacturers
have been looking over this country
with a view to establishing plants
here: they think the market not quite
ripe, understand, but I believe they
are mistaken When looked into
this subject in 1891. such was the
cheapness and superiority of our raw
fuel that there seemed little economic
motive in support of the briquette in
dustry. Prices of coal have been ad-
vancing so steadily since 1898, though,
that in 1902 the average selling value
per ton at the mine for both anthracite
and bituminous coal was 40 per cent
higher than in 1885, Small sizes of
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 utilized if it could be
put into convenient shape for domes-
tic consumption.
-Four hundred patents had been is
sued on artificial fuels before 1902,
none of which became demonstrated
success commercially up to that time,
so far as am aware. In the last two
years there have been about forty
patents, mostly on brlQuette processes,
such as:
For making briquettes with binder
obtained by boiling seaweed.
@ Compressed fuel made from peat,
without any other binder.
smokeIess compressed fuel made
from slack s0r fine coal, and binder
obtained from sage yielding plants.
BriQuettes made from comminuted
coal, coke. or other combustible, with
molasses for binding material.
Fine coal with q binder Of pitch
which has been treated BY carbonic
acid. ,s5
ssBriquettes made from slack OF
culm mixed when heated with paraffln
|resiauum, borax anthony, acetic acic,
oil-cake meal, clay. crude potash asd
salt,
Process of making artifcial fuel