CHARACTERISTICS OF PHILIPPINE ‘COAL. We 
it would require generally less than half the amount of coal in pounds 
to develop a horsepower that it required in the steam boiler. We worked 
through a series of averages, using nearly 150 tests made in that way, 
and, comparing the results obtained from the same coals in the gas 
producer and under the boiler, got on an average about 2.6 times as much 
power from every ton of coal in the gas producer as we did under the 
boiler.” 
It is important in firing coal under stationary boilers to note 
that Philippine coals are noncoking, do not swell, burn steadily, 
do not clinker, have very little ash, are easily fired, and do not 
soot the boiler tubes to any such extent as does Japanese, Aus- 
tralian, or Bornean coal, and especially is it important to note 
that with these physical properties they would be ideal to handle 
in producer-gas plants. The Bureau of Science has been ne- 
gotiating for a long time with manufacturers of gas producers, 
and I am pleased to report that coal from the southeastern end 
of Batan Island has been successfully used in a German gas 
producer and that the Bureau of Science has ordered a 67- 
horsepower Otto producer unit, with the corresponding engine 
and electric generator, direct coupled, to be used as one unit 
of our plant which supplies power for the Philippine General 
Hospital, the Philippine Medical School, and the Bureau of 
Science. It is expected that this unit will be installed and in 
readiness for experimentation with the local coals within the 
year 1912. For the production of power the utilization of our 
low-grade and outcrop coal for producer gas seems extremely 
promising. It is anticipated that such a plant as we shall 
install, when using the poorest Philippine coal, can compete 
with the best steam plant in the Islands and, especially, that it 
can burn successfully the slack and waste products which are 
not utilizable for steam purposes. It is probable that the 
poorest coals employed in a producer-gas plant may become as 
available as the best grades of coal used in a steam plant or, 
perhaps, even succeed the steam plant altogether for stationary 
work. 
108608——2 
