Evening star., 1923-09-23
BY JAMES A. BUCHANAN.

known as hard coal. This search is
not new, has been going on for some
time, but the bureau of mines mas
not made any great claims as 10 Ihe
progress that 1t has made. IL Is
known among high officials, however
that several substitutes have been
found. some of them quite recently,
others year or so ago.
When one takes into consideration
tho great increase in population dur
ing the last decade or so, realization
must follow that with every new in
dividual there must be a correspond
ing amount of fuel supplied, and 1t
may surprise some to know that, al
though the anthracite men have un-
til recently been putting in more
days in the mines than they formerly
did, yet the mining of anthracite has
not kept pace with the growth Ui the
nation. The result has been that I'm
Gle Sans experts have been endeavor-
ing to have something at hand when
the supply of hard coal gives out, for
any schoolboy knows that the longer
mine is worked the less it has to
give forth.
The owners as well as the men who
deEve in the cuts and drifts have real
lied that with every year the supply
would ae shortened. Owners of prop
eriies are no longer willing to invest
million or so in collieries if they
are not sure that the veins will be
productive for a number of years.
These factors have caused the gov
ernment experts to cast around for
something that will take the place of
anthracite, both for domestic and
commercial use.
The result is that several substitutes
have been evolved. 1t is true that none
of them have filled the gap as far
as hard coal is concerned. but they
have been found to be of great use
in ways that would act as a make
shift until alterations could be
made in stoves. furnaces and other
devices used at this time.
Taking first the advantages of an
thracite, we find that it is the fuel
best suited for domestic use by rea-
son of its cleanliness. convenience
and cost-that is, under normal condi-
tions. When other conditions prevail,
such as a shortage or too high price,
then we turn to something else.
Anthracite has become a luxury.
hensive heating systems, such as OIL
burning furnaces. gas heaters and
electricity, which are more conven-
lent and at the same time more ex-
pensive than hard coal, but the great
mass of the citizens are not in a
position to have these luxuries and
so a cheaper fuel must be found, if
the homes of hundreds of thousands
are to be kept at degree of tempera-
ture that will provide the necessary
comfort.
x X X x
TN considering some of the substi-
tutes for anthracite, the first
thing that we find is that we have
only looked at this class of coal in
the so-called domestic sizes, such as
egg, stove. nut and in some cases
pea. 1t is in these that the smaller
sizes are produced and they run
about 80 per cent of the total. The
smaller ones which we are looking
upon as substitutes are considered
a by-product and have for years been
sold by the mine owners as a thing
that competes with bituminous, be-
ing used as steam coal, and the prices
obtafned-that is, formerly-were less
than the actual cost of production.
one great disadvantage that we
find with the very small sizes of
anthracite is that they cannot be
burned alone with natural draft at
a sufficiently high rate of combustion
to produce the necessary amount of
heat in the ordinary furnace, and SO
we must mix them with some other
coal, with coke, or by themselves
with a forced draft. The size gen
orally. employed Is No. buckwheat
or yard screenings, and even No. 2
and No. 8 have been used in forced
draft installations.
A word as to how to get the best
results from these combinations is
given by Rudulf Kudlich, assistant to
the chief mechanical engineer-of the
bureau of mines, who says:
When using small sizes with large
anthracite or coke, it is best not to
mix them, but fire them separately in
layers, first layer of the larger
fuel and then a layer of the smaller.
When used with bituminous. which is
not sized, they should be mixed be-
fore firing"
washington should not suffer from
any real coal shortage. for there is a
small district in Virginia that pro-
duces semi-anthracite. Until a
short time ago this district was not
worked to anywhere near capacity,
but lately it has been developed and
a greatly increased tonnage is avail
able for this section of the anthra-
cite-using region.
This coal is smokeless and COM
pares favorably with the Pennsyl-
yania anthracite as to heat value and
ash content. when properly prepared.
1t is understood that it will be mar
keted In sizes similar to the Pennsyl-
yania product and also in the form
of briquets.
There is also an anthracite that is
found in certain districts of Arkan-
sas. and as a domestic fuel it takes
a high rank. being practically smoke
,-es and about equal to the Pennsyl-
wanna product in heat value. The
coal is really an intermediate between
the Pennsylvania anthracite and a
low volatile bituminous fuel,
The tbituminous resources and pro-
duction capacity are so large, as
compared with anthracite. that as the