DOMESTIC FUEL. 17 



production, together with improvements in methods of utiHzation; 

 and this very expansion will cut down the use of soHd fuel and 

 thereby hasten the adjustment. The three remaining first-products, 

 ammonia, benzol, and tar, as already pointed out, have an un- 

 limited field of usefulness as such, even within the mimicipality;^ 

 and by shipment will contribute a supply of raw material to the 

 needs of the coal-products industry, thus permitting and inducing 

 this important field of endeavor to advance beyond the hmits now 

 imposed upon it by the coke industry.^ 



The objection may be advanced that artificial anthracite has not 

 been perfected and placed on a commercial basis, and until such 

 time the utilization as outlined above must wait. It is indeed true 

 that such a process is not worked out in detail and ready to be fitted 

 into the present gas industry, but a similar condition has been a 

 stage in the development of practically every technological process 

 and the recognition of the demand has created the means for its 

 accomplishment. But even granting the objection as valid, we find 

 that the production of artificial anthracite is only one of two solu- 

 tions to the problem of developing an adequate smokeless fuel from 

 bituminous coal. The prime idea is to separate the heat- or energy- 

 producing portion of the coal from the constituents valuable as com- 

 modities, and dispose of the two groups to their mutual advantage. 

 Hence if we convert the energy component entirely into gas and 

 recover the by-products, we may accomplish our purpose without 

 calling into service a single procedure which is not already in suc- 

 cessful practice in other fields of industry. The municipal gas plant 

 affords, in the second instance also, the logical point of attachment 

 for the development. Only, in this event, in the place of artificial 

 anthracite and gas, plus ammonia, benzol, and tar, the output would 

 be gas entirely, with a similar production of ammonia, benzol, and tar. 



The twofold possibility of advance in coal utilization brings up the 

 relative advantage of a solid, smokeless fuel versus a gaseous fuel. 

 Their applicability for domestic use may be examined first. Solid 

 fuel, such as artificial anthracite, requires no change in present types 

 of furnaces and grates; is applicable to suburban and out-lying 

 districts not served, or servable, by pipes; and will always be in 

 demand for open fires. Gaseous fuel, on the other hand, eliminates 

 the factors of storage and haulage, reduces dirt, and through the auto- 

 matic temperature control of gas-fired furnaces nullifies the con- 

 spicuous losses growing out of ignorance and waste in connection with 



1 Ammonia as a fertilizer, benzol as a motor fuel, and tar as a road dressing. 



» It is not beyond the bounds of reason to foresee a condition whereby a householder, in the place of his 

 ton of anthracite which he now welcomes for $11, will receive a ton of smokeless coal without slate, a 

 month's supply of cooking gas, 40 miles of motor fuel, enough fertilizer to start a small garden, and tar suf- 

 ficient to allay the dust in front of his house — all for far less money than he now pays for inferior coal. 

 This may appear a fanciful picture, but coal has precisely this possibility within itself. 



