306 On the use of Anthracite in Blacksmiths'' Shops. 



it has been sufficiently heated. The bar may easily be watched, as 

 from its being so far above the tuyere-iron, the quantity of coal above 

 it is smaller than in the charcoal furnace, and it may be kept con- 

 stantly in sight. While in the fire it should be suffered to remain un- 

 disturbed ', if moved about, as is common in the charcoal fires, the 

 heating will be retarded. 



Advantages of the anthracite coal. 



Some of these may be inferred from the preceding remarks. 

 They consist chiefly in the saving of time and of money. From 

 the rapidity with which the iron is heated, the quantity of work done 

 is about one third greater than when charcoal is employed. The 

 gain, as respects the cost of materials, will depend on the price of 

 anthracite, which from its weight, increases rapidly in value as we 

 recede from the mines. The Carbondale Company state that they 

 will be able to offer it in the New York market, the coming season, 

 for ^6,50 per ton ; and the time will soon arrive, when from the in- 

 creased facilities for transportation from the various coal regions and 

 from the rivalry of the different companies, this fuel may be had at 

 a price far less. At its present cost, however, even at remote pla- 

 ces, it is much cheaper than charcoal. A ton of anthracite will heat 

 as much iron as two hundred bushels of the latter, which at the 

 average price of seven or eight dollars per hundred bushels, will give 

 a saving of about one half in favor of the anthracite. I visited a 

 shop sixty five miles from Mauch Chunk, from which mine the 

 owner was in the habit of bringing his coal in wagons : he said it cost 

 him ten dollars per ton, delivered at his door, but that even at this 

 price it produced a saving of 80 per cent in his material, and he seldom 

 employed any other coal. The use of it has extended to a consider- 

 able distance, in all directions from the coal region, and is now in- 

 creasing rapidly in Philadelphia : in a few years, it will probably be 

 general throughout the country. The first effort at employing it, 

 will generally be attended by difficulties: sometimes the smith fails 

 entirely and throws it by in disgust; but I believe I have not heard 

 of one case, in which a fair trial has been made, that has not resulted 

 in a great fondness for this species of coal. Still, however, its best 

 friends acknowledge that for some purposes it is not well adapted. 

 When a hollow heat is requisite, it will not answer ; nor will it suit in 

 forges where the fire must be greatly disturbed by the removal and 

 replacement of the bar. It is said also not to be good for tempering. 



