Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1905-12-29
FUEL FROM OUR 5oos.
An interesting Story Of the Riches Stored
Up in Our Peat or Muck Beds.

Ever since the great coal strike OF
1923. with its attendant suffering and in
convenience, careful, scientific and prac-
teal investigation has been going on as
To the fuel possibilities OF the bogs or peat
beds OF the country.
The Massachusetts, Institute OF Tech
nology has borne a leading part In these
investigations. which promise to add un-
told millions 10 the available natural re-
sources of New England and likewise Inn
| mensely promote her Industrial prosperity.
Professor Charles l., Norton of the Insti-
tute Is the expert in charge OF the work
OF the Experiment Station and n large
corps Of students at the Tech has as
sisted at the various stages OF the lnvesti-
cations. Indeed bog fuel engineering"
promises TO call for no small amount OF
technical talent hereafter Special train
ing In this direction will be correspond
| ngly in demand: possibly the name of
"bog-trotter" may thereby come into pro-
fessional honor, Indeed some OF the ablest
engineering talent OF the country is al
ready dcVoting itself to the various prob
| lens involved in making practical use OF
| the vast possibilities resident In the boys,
swamps and marshes OF this continent.
The three important reports issued by
| the Experiment Station each include
notable report from Professor Norton de-
voted to some particular aspect Of the sub
| ject. These plain statements OF fact at
| tach an immense Importance to the possi-
| bilities OF the subject They fully bear
| out Mr.. Atklnson's conclusion. reached in
consequence of the Investigations and
stated in the latest report: THAT bog
| fuel is something more than an emergency
| fuel; that It is very sure to become a very
valuable fuel for domestic purposes; and
| that II may become n very important
source OF light, heat and power on a very
large scale"
-.
| cording to the vegetable growth from
which 1t is derived. The kinds Of plants
| that have entered into II cause II to vary
| I'm the proportion and quality of ash The
| greater the percentage of ash the lesser
| the quantity of heat units. In certain
| grass peats, for instance. the percentage
of ash runs as low as six per cent.
The gas-making potentialities of bog
fuel turn out to be something tremendous.
Careful investigations have brought out
the fact that in its better grades a ton of
the thoroughly dried fuel yields a much
greater amount OF gas than the same
weight of high grade bitumnous coal. Bog
| fuel is correspondingly productive as a
source of water gas and of proper gas
| for power purposes. In the way Of prac-
tical results in gas making the expert
| ments at the Menominee Gas works In
| Wisconsin are important. The works are
run for one day on a briquette made by
a Chicago company from a superior grade
of peat from a Wisconsin bog. The yield
from ton of the briquettes, as compared
to that from ton of the coal ordinarily
used stood in the ratio Of about $4,000
| cubic feet to IL 900.
Bog fuel is abundant in nearly all parts
of the United States-in New England
particularly so. Our industrial leaders
have lamented New Englands lack OF
practical coal measures They have felt
our interests sadly handicapped thereby.
Now they will soon be facilitating them
selves on the riches and extent of the
New England bogs-an abundance OF
cheap fuel fully as plentiful as coal is in
Pennsylvania and even cheaper to pro-
duce and put upon the market. The ex-
tent of these deposits is hardly COM
putable at present. There are millions
and millions of tons.
Numerous methods for working up bog
fuel into shape for burning have been
devised. These vary from simple APP
paratus to give the raw material proper
| shape for drying to more or less elabor-
ate machinery for its conversion into bri-
quotes.
All forms OF bog fuel contain a sub
stance called "pentosane" mucilagenous
| in nature. When the peat or mud is well
kneaded this substance becomes active
and serves as a natural binder, keeping
moulded cakes Of the fuel in shape. For
individual family consumption large
meat chopper will serve to turn out a
considerable quantity in the course Of a
day. ready for moulding. The Atlkin-
son-Norton machine, a fruit OF the In
suranee Experiment Stations work, offers
an effective way to produce the equiva-
lent OF perhaps from five to ten tons in
dry fuel daily, in blocks ready for dry
ing. This makes 1t available for small
communities with supply close at hand,
for the machine costs only SIS. II is
unpatented and was devised with refer
ence to such USE For general purposes,
however, non-compressed bog fuel is too
bulky for economical transportation to
any distance. The great future there
fore lies in the production, on a large
scale, Of densely compact briquettes as
marketable fuel in competition with
anthracite and In the generation OF gas