PEAT FOR STATIONARY ENGINES. 335 



The following statement, from the " London Mechanics' Mag- 

 azine," affords additional testimony in confirmation of these 

 interesting and important results : — 



" The locomotive superintendents of three railways in Ireland 

 made a trial of condensed peat, on the Belfast and Northern 

 Counties Railway, to test its fitness for locomotives. During a 

 trip of twenty-seven miles there was an excess of steam, though 

 the fire-door was continually open and the damper down for the 

 greater part of the distance. The pressure at starting was 100 

 lbs. The commencement of the trip was up an incline of one 

 in eighty, four miles long, with double curves. While ascend- 

 ing this incline, the pressure rose to 110 lbs., and afterward to 

 120 lbs., with the fire-door open. The speed was forty miles per 

 hour. While running, there was no smoke, and little at the 

 stations. The fire-box was examined at the end of the trip, and 

 very little clinker Avas found, and the smoke-box was free from 

 cinders and dust — a proof that the fuel had stood the blast well ; 

 and it is the recorded opinion of the experimenters that the peat 

 was, in every respect, well suited for locomotives." 



During the past season some careful experiments have been 

 made to test the utility and comparative value of condensed peat 

 as fuel for stationary engines, by Edward Atkinson, Esq., of this 

 city, and we give the following as the result of his investigations. 



Mr. Atkinson informs us that at the Indian Orchard Mills, five 

 miles from Springfield, the experiments in manufacturing peat 

 were made late in the season and imperfectly carried out. In 

 consequence of the unusual rain-fall in August and September 

 he was able to make no absolute or scientific tests in comparison 

 with other fuel as he desired ; but he authorizes us to state that 

 the trials made were so far satisfactory that " the company 

 expect to manufacture their own fuel hereafter from their own 

 bogs, rather than to pay five dollars a cord for mixed wood of 

 fair quality delivered at their mill." 



The following letter on this subject, addressed to Thomas 

 Drew, Esq., has been placed in our hands, and will be read with 

 interest : — 



" Lewiston, Me., February 7, 1867. 

 " Dear Sir: — Yours of the 4th is at hand. In answer to your 

 inquiries, I would say that I did not commence to manufacture 



