The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-09-27

stored the standard fuel on all the To-
oomotives.
This New England railroad. operated
at a distance from the Pennsylvania
coal fields, might conceivably be run
somewhat less ~expensively by burning
w Zoo swnmos adjacent to its tracks.
But 1t won't 10 all probability DO 80 u
Until the price OF coal becomes abso-
lutely'prohibitive.
Even the minor industrial uses Of drsed
and compressed mud. such as are common
In Europe, are hard to develop In this
country. simply because ingenuity has not
v~et-solved the problem OF getting the
peat out in the American way. That
means on a large scale. with labor saving
machinery for every process and with
an elaborate system II distribution.
In countries where peasant labor can
be employed to supplement the machine
briquet, on and other peat preparations
In comparatively limited quantities can
he produced cheaply with machinery
that Is admittedly imperfect. But labor
costs are such In the United States that
until a practically perfect mechanical
system has been devised o will not
have q formidable competitor In peat.
The problem Of an invention to revo-
~lutioniye American industry by utilizing
the riches OF the swanps lie In fact m
what analogous to that OF aerial navi-
cation. There are all sorts Of flying
machines. Everybody knows that sooner
or later a type will be produced that will
really fly, In a commercial sense.
h.z--. anA arAafal 4w~Na
Of machinery have been devised 10 put
peat economically into the manufactur-
er's and householder's coal bin. Some
OF them are already good enough for
European use. but the practically per-
feet system is yet to come.
How to get peat out in commercial
quantities from the wet, quaggy bog, to
drive from 1t the very high percentage Of
moisture II contains without In 90 doing
also driving away come Of it's valuable
chemical constituents which are chief
factors in it's heat producing value. and
how to prepare 1t in such q form that con-
sentative engineers and fremen will pre-
fer 1t to the convenient lump Of coal TO
which both they and their machinery are
habituated-that is the problem which Ia
yet to he solved.
One OF the beSt known systems de-
vised thus far employs q floating barge.
feet long. 10 feet beam and 4 feet deep.
on which il housed all the apparatus used.
The advantage Of the barge 10 that il
the water which naturally forms
as a bog is cut into. pushing it's way from
side to side. !
At one end Of the scow are screw ex-
cavators II feet in diameter. Dredging
is done to q depth Of about 8 feet In q
channel is feet wide.
The material delivered aboard the
barge Is picked over by hand to remove
sticks. pebbles and large impurities. and
is then elevated by chains and buckets
into a hopper. The material 10 finally
delivered into q trough fitted with fixed
When the peat Ii sufficiently dry
II is cut into regular blocks and is ready
For uee.
Many peat briquettee Of one form and
another have been placed upon the Ameri-
market In comparatively small guam
In the last few years. A hard block
shaped briquette about three
in diameter and one inch thick has
been made and sold by a company whose
headquarters are in Chicago. A Masss-
,husetts company for time manufactured
\ synthetic coal out Of q mixture OF peat
and petroleum. with bituminous pitch
used as a bind.
In Canada a compressed peat fuel
has had considerable use. as for instance
at the power house Of a Toronto street
company. from which 1t is re-
ported that the heat produced is more
than that Of coal thoughsomewhat
deficient in lasting power. II Is further
alleged in favor Of briquetted peat that
it burns without smoke. SCOT. dust or
clinkers and that it saves wear and tear
on the furnaces.
In spite Of all such nice things said
about black mud as an understudy Of
coal the fact remains that it continues
to play a very minor part in the drama
Of American industry.
No trust. 80 far as is known, 10 getting
options On the bogs. There has not oven
been an approximately accurate appraisal
Of the extent Of the vast reserve Of
power represented in the swamps and
salt marshes OF the country. When
the late Prof. Nathaniel s. Shaler of
Harvard University made a report on
the subject to the Geological Survey
in 1895 he gave in detail some very in
structive information about the forma-
ton. growth and geographical distribu-
ton Of peat bogs in the United States,
but he veutured no guesses as to the num-
Der Of tons Of combustible material.
Perhaps the amount Is beyond all COM
putation, especially as the Southern
swamps and marsh lands. which from the
absence Of sphagnum moss are composed
Of a mud that is not technically peat. are,
nevertheless. full Of fuel possibilities.
1t Is known. for instance, that the Great
Dismal Swamp in Virginia contains about
1 600 square miles with an average depth
Of fifteen feet Of pure vegetable matter.
Upward Of twenty billion cubic yards Of
material. representing probably when
prepared at least five billion tons, could
be taken from this hole alone.
New Jersey and the New England States,
sections deficient in local supply Of an
thracite and bituminous, have especially
rich deposits Of this coal In the primary
process Of formation. and these are all
the time increasing in richness. for boys.
coal mines. improve with age.
As long ago as 1900 Prof. Edward Hitch
cock In his geological report Of Massa-
chusetts announced that In fifty towns Of