The New York herald., 1922-04-02

The modern by-product oven was de-
veloped in Europe. where the conserva-
tion OF natural resources is of outstand-
ing Importance. 1t combines the ad-
vantages of both the gashouse retort
and the beehive oven. without the dis
advantage of either. The product is
known is by-product coke to distinguish
the process by which the by-products
are saved from the beehive process,
where they are wasted
This process Is so essential and eff
Client that many of our leading en-
gneers Of vision predict that It is but
question of time before each of our
largest cities will have its own by
product coke plant to supply high grade
coke for building heating and to dis
pose of Its gas as a by-product for cook
Ing and similar purposes.
Because II Is the best solid fuel OBJ
tainnble high grade coke is at present
the only fuel used In the metallurgicaI
industries. Throughout Europe coke
has been universally used for domestic
heating purposes for many years In
our country only a few OF our cities,
such as st. Paul, Chicago. Terre Haute
and milwaukee,, have been fortunate
enough to have plants similar to that
OF the Seaboard By-product Coke plant
In Jersey City, which are designed ex-
clusively for the manufacture of
screened sizes of domestic coke, and
needless to say they have made the
best of their advantages and are using
large tonnages of coke each year.
Anthracite deposits are almost ex-
clusively located In q comparatively
small section OF northeastern Pennsyi-
vanis The supply is therefore limited
and readily subject TO price control.
strikes. &C. Many OF the mines have
been exhausted to such an extent that
the quality OF the coal has rapidly de-
Perforated and the present mining costs
are legitimately higher.
Bituminous deposits on the other
hand are 80 widely distributed that
prices are not easily controlled. Mining
costs are low and the vast number OF
undeveloped sections makes Il possible
to abandon operations on old mines for
other and more easily worked regions
when costs run above those I'm the new
competitive field. Furthermore. only
part OF the soft coal mines and union
fzed and union mines must OF necessity
Try TO meet the non-union competition.
Soft coal however. is essentially not
practical fuel for heating in large
cities. IL Is exceedingly liable to spon-
taneous combustion, making the fire
hazard, especially In large bunkers, a
very serious problem. The committee
on smoke prevention or the Cleveland
Chamber OF Commerce In 1909 fixed the
annual loss due to smoke In the city OF
Cleveland at s6.00O.000. or about s1e
FOR every man. woman and child. Simi-
lar investigations made by the Mellon
Institute in Pittsburgh showed a total
annual loss OF s10,00O.oo0, or about $50
per capita.
IL the cost Of anthracite continues
TO soar and Its quality becomes con-
tinually worse and It's supply increas-
!ngly limited we must either content
ourselves with conditions similar to
those OF Pittsburgh or convert our soft
coal into n smokeless and efficient fuel.
as u is evident that the supply or oil
is not sufficient 10 replace more than
small percentage OF the coal now used.
For these reasons the United States
Bureau Of Mines, the University OF Illl-
nois and Yale University have tested
the efficiency OF coke for heating build
ngs. The United States Bureau OF
Mines publishes n summary OF their
tests In their technical paper NO. 242.
How and Why to Burn Coke" rhe
tests made at Yale University In 1920
are reported In part as follows: "An
interesting feature n these tests Is the
proof Of the ability 'of burning coke ef-