The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1916-04-13
coal INDUSTRY OF IOWA

|
ton was given of the formation or
origin of coal. Also that he coal
found in this state is what is known
as bituminous coal. Bituminous coal
is that kind of coal that is used by
the locomotives of our railroads, in
our manufacturing plants, and in
perhaps 95 per cent. of the furnaces
and stoves in the homes of this
state. Some hard coal (anthracite)
is used in the state, chiefly in heat
ing residences by the use of hard coal
stoves, but owing to the fact that
most of the hard coal comes from
Pennsylvania and Virginia, and the
high freight rates from there to
Iowa, the price is so high as to make
it's general use prohibitive. The
coal produced in Iowa while a blum
inous coal is hard enough to store
well and this hardness also has a
tendency to make it lasting as fur
mace coal.
In the early days of the use of
coal we could understand that some
coal would give better satisfaction
than others, just as We know that if
we burned hickory wood we would
get more heat han if We used cot
tonwood or pine or some other soft
woods. Now we know why some
coal is better than others. Today
we analyZe the coal and we know by
its chemical properties which coal
will give the most heat even before
we use it.
Chemically coal consists of Carbon,
Volatile Matter, Sulphur and Ash, to-
gebher with a small amount of water
or moisture as it is termed.
Carbon is the most common ele'
ment of coal. A diamond is pure
carbon, and a piece Of charcoal is
carbon united with a small portion
of oxygen.
Volatile Matter in coal consists of
the gases, viz, hydrogen, nitrogen and
oxygen. The combustion Of these
gases is seen in the fame when the
coal is burning.
Sulphur is one of the simple ele-
ments of coal 1t unites with
many of the metals. It is almost al
WAYS to be found in coal in the form
of iron pyrites, brassylike substance
occurring in layers from the thick
ness of paper to half an inch.
Ash is the inorganic matter in
coal; the part that is not consumed
in combustion. It is the earthly
matter in the drift Of the coal per-
iod
When a chemical analysis OF coal
is made its heating qualities are like
wise determined. Tehse are eX-
pressed in heat units and are termed
B. T. U. British Thermal Units), and
are given as so MANY to the pound
of coal Iowa coal contains from
/ 900 to 1900 b. T. u. to the pound
OF coal. Then if we have the analy-
sis OF the coal together with the b.
T. u. we know something OF the value
of the coal. We may also take the
price at which the coal is sold and
determine the number of heat units
we may get for one cent.
| In buying coal to heat the homes
consideration should be given both
! to the general analysis OF the coal
and to the b. 7. U. as disclosed by
| such analysis. AS an example let US
make a comparison as TO bhe relative
! values of Iowa coal and foreign coal,
| taking the actual prices OF same de-
IliVered in Des Mnines. Franklin
county, Illinois, coal, the best of the
! Illinois Goals, is being slod here at
1850 per ton delivered. This is
rated by the dealer as having value
of l3, 900 B. T. U. to the pound. That
would be 100000 B. T. U. to the ton
and at price of $3.50 the purchaser
gets 47,272 b. T. u. for one cent.
Tests made on coal produced here in
the mines of Polk county, Iowa, show
much of the coal to have heat value
above 10000 B. T. u, yet for the sake
of fairness in making this comparison
we will rate the Iowa coal at but H..
900 p. T. u. to the pound. That
would be 100000 to the ton and at
price of 1915 per ton the purchaser
would get. 58,666 b. T. IT, for one
cent. In other words when he buys
the Iowa coal at that low rating, and
tests show it to be higher, he gets
II 1874 heat units more for every cent
he spends than he does when he
buys foreign coal Or even to put il
in other words. If the price is to be
eaualized by the heat units in the
coal, then the Illinois coal should
sell for $40 a ton when the Iowa
coal sells for 1915 ton.
Il. f. STAMM.