The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-11-30
BN JOHN ELt'RL:TH WATKINS.
~ a u ni,inn IL L.


T1HE very timely problem Of
cheaper heat FOR our homes l..
receiving Uncl. Sans careful
attention these chill. wintry
days.
lis experts have just been describing
10 mo some interesting new domestic
fuels which bid fair to rival that cost
~ necessity OF most American homes
an,hr aCite coal.
For example, there has Just been
discovered In England, "A new method
OF treating soft, dirty. smoky bituni-
nous coal and giving it the virtues Of
tn" more expensive anthracite. which
every housckccpcr prefers and whose
exclusive use IL nov made obligatory
among coal use!s 10y the smoke ordi-
nences Of many cities. Under this new
treatment the cheap bitumlnoue coal is
coked ~ a temperature. lower than
that AZ which commercial coke IL now
made. ana the resulting product is a
t7lokcIcss fuel without the porous
structure Of coke as We know IT, and
witch can vet he made to sell much
cheaper than anthracite and almost ~
cheap - biiuminious coil. because :ha
hy-products given OF during treatment
arc NEARLY equal TO th' min" value OF
the raw material These ~ products
IRE chiefly gas. tar and ammonia Tho
Guert.on % Introducing the process Or
manufacturing this new fuel 'coalitc."
I'm tho United States il now being in
Ncstigatcd. and Il promises 10 he Of
value for the home heater and home
c"ph stove. especiailS in regions near
10 our bituminous hu, far from our
anthracite coal. mines
huoihcr fuel novelty exciting tho in
teroSt Of these government experts is
d cheap Ctsdc of charcoal 10 h. manu-
faCturcd OF snWdust. bark ami other
wood waste irhi at big saWmilIs
which, throw AWAY tons upon tons OF
such debris dail> According to the
new process. just perfected, ali "f this
u'Hiorial is eround in;o uowdcr. bril-
uGcfl"d INTO small cylinders charrcd
U rotoris and burned on, IN the form
~ tr" n"1trst litr. blocks OF charcoal
tia' Aou ever saw. bein, NOR. con-
d.usod harder ana cheaper than any
uow upou TIA" market, Tine Same con
Germs that viii turn their waste into
useful fuel VIII nrst dis,ill turpcn,ine
itou, IL. nothing viii escape them saw.
thc smoke that goes up when the char
coal e. finders al" made.
Idcni Dom~stic Fuel.
'harcoal - an ideal fuel foI donles
t5e purposes as Your Grandmother viii
tcll you II neither smokes nor flames.
h"cause tho constituents producing
sui"kc ana flame iu the raw wood have
boon thrown off in the process of manu-
iac,urr But charcoal making has be-
COME almost q lost art ia this c"untrN.
and th.s simply because OUR standing
timber IS too valuable for fuel pur
poses
Peat charcoal is suil another fuel
now appearing upon our market and
one which may revive the dead char
coal industry. !, looks like wood char
coal but is esteemed as greatly supe-
rior in fuel value.
Although YOU have often read Of the
A. H.
ground shovolfuls of peat to he burned
upon their open fires. YOU perhaps have
only a vague idea as TO what peat is.
In many regions MOSES ferns.
PUSHES reeds and numerous small
plants, accommodating in swamDs. win
tor after winter, dccornpose and accu
mulatc under the turf in dense. black
mass which when dried forms a good
fuel which has never competed with
coal. largely because. until lately. no
economical means OF inanipula ting IT
have been perfected.
r, IS generally unknown fact that
VIC have in this country enough excel
lent peat 10 warm all OF our houses
for many years. Oar pea, bogs. ne
elected and going to waste. cover
about 1000 square miles. They lie
mostly In the States north of the Ohio
River and east Of the Dakotas, the
most extensive hogs being in Mime
sofa. Wisconsin and Michigan, while
there are large ones also in Maine New
York and Florida.
Worth billions. but Neglected.
This neglected fuel supply Of ours is
estimated to he worth SIS. 665.700 900.
These figures are given to mo by G.
y Davis. fuel techuologist of the
United states Bureau OF Mines. who
has been detailed to study the peat
problem. His estimate 10 based upon
the supposition that our peat would be
sold ri 50 per ton which he thinks il
would readily bring in tho market and
which would yield n profit To the pro-
duccr. once established upon \ COM
mcrcial basis. he says the entire pro-
duct would find n ready sale as fast as
produced
our climate is more favorable to the
gathering OF peat than that of Europe.
whcrc IT has long been used In large