The daily Alaskan., 1913-03-28
COAL TO
 sUPPLANT REAL ARTICLE

appeals to science for substitute Force is given to this appeal by the persistent rise of fuel prices Economic wisdom is shown in the recent utilization of fuel residues which were formerly ignored. That the steam coal deposits of England will be exhausted within another generation is the opinion of geol- ogists,
 In portions of the United King dom, peat, both in Its natural form and chemically prepared, is used as a fuel. In the natural form 1t Is employed for domestic service but its calorific property being relatively small as compared with it's bulk, for industrial use it is value less.
 In Ireland, where a considerable portion of the land surface con ssts of a peat bog, peat is con verted into coal by an electrical process. A hard, smokeless steam coal equal to the best product ot :he Welch mines, is produced.
 At an English plant in Kent the of peat into coal is et- fected by two simple features of operation. ny me lightning reyo- lu,ion of rotary cylinders into which it is pressed, the peat is Thoroughly divorced from moisture. The charring process is then accom- plished by the insertion of cleo trodes. a powerful current carbon il:ng the mass. By this process of the Kentish manutac- tuners are enabled to furnish cCal equal to the best of that min ed in Wales at three-fifths the price of the latter,
 In France is manufactured snokeless. dustless fuel. It is a chemically treated composite or coal dust and oil.
 While several hundred patents on artificial flel have been issued in this country, they have, with one or two exceptions, failed to realize a value.
 A fuel compound of paper pulp and crude oil Is an American invention. Tt has a mortar-like consistency, is of quick ignition and high calori- fic value. The residue is small.
 A New York expert has demon strated that live mud such as is found in our swamps can be utilized as fuel. The formation of a coal structure is effected by machinery especially designed for the work. The processes employed are those of maceratiou, cutting, mixing, kueading, pressing, and eNsiccation. The finished product is a frangtoIe su bstance O. the color and density oG bitumiuOus coal.
 As the alchemists ot old dreamed of a universal solvent, so the chem ists of our time, in grOping for an artificial coal, have sought a Quan- titively prepouderant base that, in would not too readily sacrifice it's chemical co-agents. This much covetnd base has been discovered by an Indiana man.
 He has invented a coal, the cal orific value of which is more than double that of the best mined pro duct. The base is simply common dirt. of which 1900 pounds to the ton are employed. The coal is either soft or hard, to meet the consumers demand, the soft burning the more readily. The color is that of the natural coal, but dull, having no gloss whatever If is smokeless, generates no gas, and can be produced at less than the mere primary expense of car the natural product to the of the mine. It's consumption is attended by slight waste, a fine white substance being the only resi- due. Its density and durability are by the amount of heat and pressure applied. By a re- stricted application of these pro cesses. a soft substance resembling gunpowder is produced. This is designed for quick fire. Upon the other hand, a prolonged application of intense heat, supplemented by pressure, establishes a density of substance comparable to thar of iron. The finished product IS of exalted calorific value, the quality of persistence being higher than that of any 0 her fuel, either natural or artificial.
 At last we have an artificial coaI' the least expensive of all fuels, and superior to the natural product in that it is almost el tirely available is smekeless, gasless, of greater calorific value, and more enduring Nature is outdone.