The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-11-20

and the ominous threat of a coal
less winter in the northwest brings
us taut up against the need OF
economical use OF local fuels.
North Dakota mine owners, rail-
roads and consumers are grievously
at fault If our native resources are
not put to best use. North Dakota
and neighboring states have enor-
nous supplies Of Ignite.
Three reasons for our failure to
develop this wondrous wealth lie,
first in the discrimination of our
railroads against 1t in preference TO
the lucrative haul Of eastern Goals.
Second, the miners have put lig-
mite on the market in an unusable
form, third the people have been
reluctant TO promote it's use. Fur
Their 1t appears that the Great North
ern line is guilty of a deploTable
stand-of with other roads in refus-
ing to allow It's cars TO be spotted
at Ignite mines on other roads. This
is fully verified in its correspondence
With the protesting miners and state
railroad commissions. Patriotism is
a. lost virtue with this corpora
ton.
Vast Wealth Of Ignite in the
Dakotas.
One mine on the 500 line has IS
Northern lines-which 1t can't reach
on account Of this road war. The
roads should cooperate with the
miners and the public in wartime
campaign to make the use of our
Ignite general through the north
west. They should be glad to oper
ate with little profit. If they show
genuine patriotism in furnishing the
product cheaply, the public will use
their coal and warrant the develop
-rnent of the two manufacturing
processes that will make 1t the best
possible fuel. Incidentally one Of the
great future industries Of the state
will be developed.
-.Thirty-tW thousand square miles
Of North Dakota, about half the
area of the state Is underlain by
workable seams Of Ignite coal. These
seams, one to FIVE in number, overlie
one another at comparatively shallow
hut varying depths. No seam under
three feet in thickness is taken into
account and many beds are Is to Is
feet thick. The greatest thickness
observed Is 35 feet in Billings Coun-
". where il is a common sight to
see exposed in a $50 foot bluff, two
of three coal beds % feet in thick
ness. Here is an inexhaustible
wealth Of coal upon which the state
will soon depend, and which has al
ways been a boon to the settler.
The past and present business
system permits the transcontinental
rail lines to drag Hooking and
Pqcahontas Goals 1900 miles from
their native mines into the distant
western Ignite region. The haul
nets them several hundred per cent
over the eastern retail price of coal.
after the wealth Of bituminous
coal has become exhausted the same
pipes will load up ourVlignite and
tax the consumer in the Hooking
valleys for transporting il over the
same lines to them. All this for the
want of a spirit Of cooperation and
a. few thousand dollars to develop
the Ignite market in the producing
states.
Suitable Stoves and Furnaces For
Ignite.
Nor is information lacking to put
the Ignite on the market in disable
form. Considerable research work
has been done by state and federal
scientists in quest of suitable
preparation Of the coal, and in
devising suitable stoves and boiler
CRATES for it's consumption.
AS pointed out in recent articles,
briquettes are now being made of
high thermal or heat giving power.
The Ignite is partially cooked. the
gaseous matter driven off and the
solid coke like residue compressed
into cakes or briquettes which rival
anthracite in heating capacity. Here
itfshould be noted that the gas con-
tent of Ignite is very high, and in
driving IL off, a tremendous loss Is
incurred, as there is now little use
for the gas outside of that con-
stunned in the briquetting plant to
heat more coal. The vast bulk Of
this valuable gas fuel Is allowed to
escape into the air.
Locate the coking plant near a city
and the gas may be used for city
service. When our Ignite industry
comes into its own, pipe lines will
carry gas to town, or mills and fac
tories will consume 1t on the ground.
A little later grain may be milled in
the nearby Ignite fields.
Ignite will be cooked in the east
ern part of the state to a large ex-
tent and made to supplement the
water power, developed through the
spring months at large dams con-
Etructed for flood control in the
Sheyenne and Pembina valleys, as at
Lisbon and Valley City. These and
other towns are destined to become
milling centers in due time. thanks
TO their location at points Of critical
value for working out the vast
scheme of flood control and reclaim
ation OF the Red river valley.
Raw Ignite in UsabIe Form For
Stove and Furnace.
Not only will raw Ignite be con-
Ecentrated for marketing by briquet-
ting, but it will be dried without
Stacking at the mines, shipped at a
- 1. T..
q form disable for the kitchen cook
stove. This too has been worked
out by scientists and offers bright
prospect for making Ignite far more
popular than ii now is.
1T is a well known fact that raw
ugnite shows on analysis 35-40 per
cent of water. This water is of no
fuel value and must be lost by dry
ing, which in any case now has
great disadvantages. II IL dries be-
fore burning. the coal Stacks" and is
of low value. II raw Ignite is put
into a fire pot, the heat consumed to
boil off or vaporize the So per cent
Of water is practically all lost.
or course much Of the water dries
out between mine and furnace. II
the water content is reduced from IS
20 Is per cent before the coal is
shipped, the saving in freight is
large percentage.
Small Uniform Lump for Sale.
IN carefully worked tests on a com
hnercial scale. 1t has been proven
that II raw Ignite is first broken or
crushed to pieces not to exceed three
inches across, it will lose the
hulk OF water quickly without much
Stacking, and leave a handy disable
commercial lump. The average
housewife or furnace etolyer will NOT
tackle with an ak an 80 pound lump
Of wet Ignite. with the purpose Of
reducing Il to a stove size. but
auill el1aleI-Iw see the adwanfana Of