l6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 



perhaps many times over that in fuel may be entailed, all of which 

 would be prevented or even anticipated by furnace control. 



Still another aspect of the situation merits consideration among 

 the advantages to be gained. Cost accounting has come to be 

 regarded as a necessary adjunct to effective administration. It has 

 an importance beyond that of any direct cutting of costs in that it 

 affords protection against any unjustifiable developments which might 

 otherwise go unnoticed. Furnace control data, more particularly 

 those afforded by the recording type of instrument, furnish what 

 amounts to a system of cost accounting and have precisely the same 

 advantage as a measure of protection that the more orthodox form 

 offers, 



QUALITY OF COAL 



There are two general classes of coal used, anthracite and bitu- 

 minous. Adding the adjectives good and poor, for the majority of 

 users both large and small, this just about sums up the actual dis- 

 criminatory knowledge of the subject. 



The administrative head of a nationally known organization, experi- 

 encing difficulty in obtaining anthracite, raised the question of shifting 

 over to bituminous coal, but was met with the reply that the power 

 requirements were of an order that could be met satisfactorily only by 

 anthracite. As the difficulty in securing anthracite increased, he became 

 more persistently inquisitive until, at length, word was passed to him 

 from a subordinate in the power house that the engineer in charge 

 was an " anthracite engineer," and that bituminous coal of proper 

 specification might be made to serve the purpose as well, if not better. 

 The change was finally ordered and has been in effect ever since, with 

 the result that bituminous coal has shown itself preferable in every 

 respect. 



The responsible head of a locally prominent plant, approached on 

 the question of fuel economy, professed to regard it as something 

 to which he had given careful consideration in the running of his 

 plant, and stated that all his coal was purchased on a heat unit basis. 

 Questioned further, he disclaimed any particular interest in any of 

 the other characteristics of coal for the reason that heat units were 

 what he wanted and, accordingly, heat units were what he was 

 interested in buying. Examination of his furnace operation revealed 

 around 40 per cent of preventable losses. 



Still another executive of an industrial operation, after raising the 

 question as to the relative merits of New River coal versus that bear- 

 ing a well-known trade name, himself proceeded to answer the ques- 



