The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-05
1.-THE POT CALLED THE KETTLE BLACK" BECAUSE THE HOUSEWIFE DIDN'T USE
 SAP POLIO

@---zzz struction of the furnace and the care- less methods of the fireman. The ques- ton of soot and heavy smoke from the chimney Is of more importance to the peo- pie who live in the neighborhood than to the man who owns the factory. Not more than per cent of the energy in coal ever goes up the chimney. This subject. therefore, Is comparatively with out interest to the consumer. The man. ner in which his flrebox is constructed and in which his stokers feed the fire with coal is very much more important.
 The public have never studied this ques- tion intelhgently Fully one-fourth of the expense of manufacturing is the cost of fuel, and a saving of 50 per cent is possi- ble by the intelligent use of fuel. The same rule applies to the household as well as to the factory, and 1t is equally import ant wherever fuel Is used, either for heat ing. lighting or power The tests now go- ing on at the Falr Grounds are to deter mine these questions and educate the peo pie in the proper handling of fuel, in the kitchen, in the furnace-room of their res idences as well as in the factories, on To- comotives and steamers and other places where it is used.
 Large sections of this country are un- derlaid with peat and Ignite, forms of fuel which cannot be used in furnaces. The peat is in the east and the Ignite is in the west. They contain much moist ure that they won't make steam, but when used in gas producers they develop great value. Gas engines are being rap idly developed because they can utilize this form of fuel which makes a quality of gas equal to that produced from high grade coal. This has been absolutely demonstrated here at the tests. It has also been demonstrated that the slack or
 
 gas also Every coal mine is surrounded by enormous piles if slack which will burn but will not bring enough in the market to pay for its trans portation. At the test furnaces here it has been shown that by placing it in a gas producer this slack will drive an en- zine with an economy of three times that obtained by burning it under a boiler, and for that purpose it can stand any req sonable freight rate.
 This discovery is worth millions of dol lars It transforms worthless mountains of slack into valuable gas fuel, and, like the dumps around the gold and silver mines in the west. the piles of slack which now deface the landscapes in the coal regions. turn out to be valuable prop erty. This plant is the first ever success fully operated on a commercial basis with ordinary slack as fuel. Experience here has shown that gas generated from slack has three times the energy of steam made with ordinary coal under ordinary boilers. The improvement in gas engines due to this discovery is very rapid, and | investors and manufacturers are adapting their construction to the requirements thus disclosed
 MT. Malcolmson is engaged in very promising experiments for utilizing slack and other coal wastings in the manufac- .-4..- of an ordinary brick made of combustble materials and generally used in Europe for cooking, house heating, locomotive driving and for furnishing steam power generally They have here large plant which was made in England. The Ger mans are the most advanced of any of the European nations in their machinery and methods for the manufacture of briquettes. This form of fuel is very lm- portant in countries where coal is scarce and we are approaching the necessity for using 1t in several parts of our country in New England, in the southwest and in the northwest In Europe briquettes are usually made from the waste from mines from peat, Ignite. sawdust, coal tar and other worthless materials, and sell for BIO and SIP ton. It costs for the labor alone about $l or S1 go to manufacture briquettes, and when the cost of materials is added it is not always possible for biquettes to compete with ordinary coal In the United States we have enormous tracts of country without fuel and other sections where peat or Ignite only are available. The problem, therefore, is to produce briquettes out of waste materials which can be shipped to these points cheaper than coal can get there.
 The first great value of briquettes is found in the fact that they are snokeless. and New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis and other of great cities ulti- nlately must adopt a smokeless fuel. The deposits of anthracite coal are being slow ly consumed and will be exhausted in a very few years There isn't anthracite enough to meet the demand that will be made upon the mines within the life of the next generation It has been dem- onstrated here that our Ignite can be manufactured into briquettes on German machines with economy and at a cost that will enable them to compete with coal at long distance from the mines. This makes available vast deposits of Ignite which are now practically worth less in our coalless states. The time has not yet come when this fuel is needed, but it is approaching. and as anthracite coal gradually advances in price 1t will sooner or Ia ter invite briquettes into competition. When if reaches a certain figure briquette has got to come in. That figure has not yet been determined The plant under MT. Malcolmson on the ex- position grounds is working on that prob lem now.
 Lump coal is the most valuable output nf A mine Slack or dust is the least