El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-02-09

] capacity ana on-F rs many as needed ne
used We are now getting about one
4 third or one-fourth Of one horsepower per
hour Tor each pound Of coal This Is SO
I Notwithstanding a pound Of coal per hour
has yielded horsepower per hour This
means that we are losing from two-thirds
TO three-fourths OF our power
The loss IN slate, stone and ashes IS
another item that ought TO be watched
The rush for coal IS causing more poor
coal TO be shipped, ana this is added TO
by the government regulation Of the sale
Of coal under the term run Of the mine
. Kun OF the mine coal is unsorted coal
I Il means everything Of the coal kind from
I dust to Jumps, and il is afstraage thing
{ II a lot Of stone does not get In. Ihe
loss in ashes is always considerable. but
3 during the past year there have been so
Z Il IS said something like en0. coo tons more
I ash in the weight OF the coal than in
; the product of The year preceding This
T means that we have had 10 have at least
: 1900 more ears TO carry that coal It
I means also the cost Of the coal which the
4 ashes III present. and in ordinary times l.
. would mean very bad business on the part
{ % the purchasers
Most Of our large industrial establish
ments do not buy their coal as IL comes
purchase only according 20 specifications
I II must have just so much heating value.
and so little ash * is like buying milk
| according TO the butter fat in il. Uncie
I sam has a laboratory here at the bureau
Z OF mines. whore our Goals are tested and
I ana Irzed- in ordinary times the coal used
hy The government costs more than
IS, 100000 per year. and half Of this Is
the post offices scattered over the cuun-
Try get coal OF that kind.
Coal Carefully Tested.
This government laboratory is always
+ busy IT has tested more than 1900 sam
piles FRI one month. and samples from
more that 200 mines scattered here and
there over the United States have been
carefully ana yLed so that the purchaser
e.
the coal iu them upon application He
can also send MS ccai here 10 DE tested,
and the government viii tell him Just
what ashes II has in IL as well as ITS
heating value and something as 20 what
it VIII 90 for the use 10 which il is 20
be put
Laboratory. The machinery is as Zine rs
that in the Phi adelphia mint where they
ss-aF the bullion for making gold eagles
among the scales are some which will
weigh lead pencil mark On sheet Of
white paper. I remember putting one OF
my eyeglasses upon the balance, i
weighed Just one one-hundred-thousan dth
Of an ounce The weights were bits OF
platinum ana platinum wire
The samples Of coal when they come
in are ground To dust as fine as face
powder aud A thimblefui Of this or one
grau is enough Tor test This amouat
is first examined for moisture II is put
in a little cup Of bone ash and then ieft I
in a furnace which registers Just the I
the coal After tf's the thimblefui Of /
coal is put into another furnace, which is 4
exceedingly hot Il burns il TO ashes ana ]
rhe ashes lef- in the cup show proper !
tionateIy the amount Of ash in the coal.
The next thing Is 20 ascertain the heat I
OF power the coal has. This is found by {
placing a thimhlefui OF coal inside /
metal cylinder charged with oxygen IN 4
cylinder is then dropped into Tin pan D
of water. where the coal is exploded b. D
means Of electricity. The explosion is 4
greater or less as the coal IL rich or poor /
and us quality is known by the rise in /
temperature Of the water Immediately I
after the explosion The difference in the ]
number OF degrees before and after give
the figures which determine the heating
value II you would get the most out
Of your coal you must know what you
Millions OF Dollars Lost in Smoke.
As 81 is few people realize the euor-
nous waste that is going on IN burning
coal We ne letting millions OF dollars
day ~ up the chin n-y AMI are losing
billions r. the coal Eds-s and smoke we
waste ever year. We have begun 70 save
some Of these iosses by thu new ovens
which have been recently introduced Tor
the making o. coke You VIII lind thes-
al our largest steel plant They s-s
rapidly increasing IN number, and TIE
amount saved by them IS already in the
OF Ss0-06o, 900 per year
saw one AZ birmingham, Ala. which saved
5a g00 tons Of coal every month BY get
ting nine pounds more coke out Of ton
Of coal than was done IN the old fashioned
way. saw some at Gary which turned
f0ur-fifths Of the coal into coke. ana
out Of the ba ance made 1O0.o0Q.o0J
cubic feet OF gas every "a hours. In ac-
dition. they produced vast quantities q
ammonia sulp hate and henzol and the by
products which come from coal tar and
take the places Of the drugs and dye
stuffs which We bought from Germany
Up until the outbreak Of this war.
The Germans have been selling Us some
thing like s10.o69.0o0 worth OF coal tar
dyes per annun- They have made them
out Of materials that we have allowed u
millions Of dollars worth OF drugs that
came from the waste smoke and gases NJ
coal. and have annually made from the
same source something like 50, 600. Ooe gal
Ions Of benzol which is equal TO the best
gasoline sold in America
We are now making many OF the
drugs and most Of the dyestuffs we
formerly imported from Germany and
il is only question OF time when we
shall have such stuff for export our
Modern Plants Effect Saving.
Tn order To- appreciate The losses that
go up ga smoke, one has only TO see the
Old coke ovens side by side with those
Of today The old ovens were SHAPED
s. meWha- like an cld-fashioned beehive,
and were known as beehive coke ovens
They were great boxes Of brick built up
from the ground. with door at the side
and hole in the top The coal was
poured in. the fire started and the oven |
closed The coal continued TO burn until
an the gases and smoke had all passed
Of into the air and finally was left only
the pure carbon or coke. which is used
for the smelling OF steel These beehive
ovens are often situated at the mines I
The new by-product ovens are at the
steel plants where the coke is consumed /
The beehive oven was cheap The by
product oven costs half million dollars