Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-02-03
TESTS SHOW LARcEsT PERCENT.
-.slss,s-sAS "a.
AGE OF HEAT PER TON, COST
s5 CONSIDERED.
SOLD ON cLosER MARGIN
THAN FUEL FROM OTHER STATES
Dealers Inclined 10 Push Outside Prod.
uet eseauss q Larger Pros,t-Frssh-
" Mined coaI Gives Best Rssuits-
state Mine Bureau Makes Report on
Test Results conduetsd at Amss.
special to rfmes-Republican

q
Des Moines. Feb. s.-Iowa coal is
cheapest and best Tor Iowa people. The
tests show this to be true. The eff
fort on the part OF coal dealers to en-
courage use Of coal fro mother sSates
arises largely from the fact that Iowa
coal is sold on closer margin than
that from other states. The block
coal from the southern part of the
state is as hard as any Of the bitumi-
! nous Goals and breaks up readily into
blocks of good quality. l.. E. Staam,
secretary Of the state mine inspec-
tors, says Of the Iowa bituminous coal:
Fixed carbon and volatile matte
are the elements of energy Or heat in
all Goals. These two added together
constitute the strength or body Of all
fuels. varying as their combustion is
more or less perfect. The heating
value Of Iowa coal Is something that
should be Of much interest to every
householder in the state. What does
the Iowa coal industry mean to me?
Can heat my house at a lower cost
by using Iowa coal than 1 can by using
coal from another state? If 1 can heat
my house at q lower cost with Iowa
coal then the use Of Iowa coal Is a
matter Of economy and saving to me.
1T seems to me that these questions,
from standpoint Of cost, have all
been well answered in bulletin 33
which has just recently been issued
from the Iowa State College at Ames.
More than fifty house heating fuel
J tests were made using more than
twenty different fuels. These tests in
cluded coal from Buxton, Centerville,
lColfax, Saylor. Ogden and Boone for
the Iowa tests; some five tests on ILL
nois Goals; four tests on cokes; two
on anthrarites; three on other soft
Goals. and one on Iowa peat.
Cheapest in All Ways.
These tests were male to determine
the cost of heating. an eigh;-room
house for the entire season. All these
tests showed that heating could be
done the cheapest with the Iowa GOALS,
and the Goals tested were representa-
tive of the whole state. In reference
to these tests as made, we find in the
bulletin the following conclusions:
"Of all fuels tested. the Iowa soft
Goals are the cheapest in both cost per
ton and evaporation cost.
Cost depends largely upon the dis
lance fuel has to be hauled. An
| thracite and eastern soft Goals would
| make cheaper fuel were it not for this
factor. 81
Anthracite is the most costly fuel
of those tested now used to any exc
tent for house heating in this state.
The cost per British thermal unit
is the lowest In Iowa Goals; is highest
in anthracite. petroleum. coke and
peat; and is lower in Illinois Goals than
in gas-house and Sokvay coke.
The cost per ton based upon the
fixed carbon content is the lowest in
Iowa Goals. Solvay and gas-house
cokes; is the highest In anthracite,
petroleum coke and peat; and is high
er in Illinois than in Iowa Goals
Freshly mined coal gives the best
results.
These tests as made at Ames were
exhaustive and comprehensive and
much attention was given them with a
view to determine by such practical
tests the value of fuels used in Iowa
for house heating purposes. In view
of the conclusions given it would seem
that the best fuel for Iowa people to
use for house heating purposes would
be the coal taken from the Iowa
mines"