The Washington herald., 1908-05-14

rent wastes-offer SUGGESTIONS: The most
serious waste arises from imperfect COM
ustion tn furnace and firebox. The waste
Of % per cent and over of the potential
energy Of the fuel in power production
which, however we know not yet how
TO avoids appalling in itself. while the
smoke and SCOT from the chimneys be-
cloud and befoui cities, poison hcman
lungs, and prepare the way for pl.s =
monia Zone Of our worst modern
scourges), and initiate ali manner Of ad-
ditional wastes. We have already learned
that internal-combustion engines and gas
producers double or triple the power
per unit OF coal. obyiate the smoke nuis-
anee and also permit the use Of Ignite.
eulm, slack, and inferior coais-in fact.
so far as pOwer-prOduction by reciprocal
engines Is concerned. the DAYS OF steam
seem TO be numbered although the de-
veiopment OF substitutes Is still In IT'S IN
fancy. The consumption Of coal IN smeit-
ing IS necessarily large; Of late the loss
Is reduced by using the furnacs-gases for
power, and by making by-pFoducts yet
the chief saving must lie In economy IN
the use Of metals. Much OF our coke
making is still extravagant. some ovens
use the gases and all should do so with
out delay-if necessary. under State reg
ulation, since the people have some rights
both in the preservation Of their heritage
and in maintaining the purity of the air
they breathe
Coal Waste In Mining.
Next to imperfect combustion. the
chief waste OF coal arises in mining.
The early oolliers saw no value in coal
In the ground any more than early millers
saw value in the flow Of the stream; 10
them coal acquired value only through
the labor Of mining Il. Just as to the
miller the stream acquired value only as
head was produced BY the labor Of build
ing dam and mill. SO the coal taken out in
the British and German collieries was a
sort of treasure trove; that left in the
ground was nobody's loss. Likewise IN
early American mining the coal mined
merely yielded a return for labor. and the
pillars and slack and poor coal left in
the ground were nobody's affair: IL was
years after mining begen before coal
lands were thought TO have any other
value than as woodlands or farmlands.
Thus the incredibly wasteful methods
were natural enough; II labor could be
saved and profit gained by taking out
but third or half Of the richest part OF
the seam, leaving the rest to be rendered
inaccessible by cavIng, so be IT, No one
thought of it as an improvident, Now
that the coal in the ground is recognized
as part, and great part Of the value of
coal lands, seif-interest impels the opera
tor to take out all he can, and leads the
miner to work close 10 floor and roof
Bad results may sometimes follow, as in
the anthracite region. where the entire
forest growth has been stripped, and
both land and streams ruined TO timber
the mines, and in those terrible accidents
when in removing the pillars OF coal the
miners are buried. Coal mining cries out
for expert knowledge whereby the full
yield may be obtained without needless
risk or loss. and for wise police Tegula-
tion. whereby life may be protected
against ignorance and cupidity.
The most promising check on coal con-
sumption Is the substitution OF other
power. Naturalists tell US that coal is a
reservoir Of solar energy stored up IN ages
past, and that the same is partly true
also Of other chemically complex sub
stances, including ores. The sun-motor
still runs; its rays render the globe hab-
liable, and may yet be made TO produce
power through solar engines; or may be
concentrated in furnaces-as in the Por-
tuguese priests heliophore at the ST.