58 THE IRON ORE DISTRICT OF EAST TEXAS. 



made into fuel, and tried. I now have their report and specimens made from 

 material shipped them. The specimens are hard and dense, and will give a 

 good heat, comparing favorably with Indian Territory coal. Taking their 

 test as a basis of calculation, I find that it is possible to make a good, ser- 

 viceable fuel from Texas lignites at a very reasonable price. 



"The lignite sent was mined from the bluff of the Brazos River, near Cal- 

 vert, where it had been exposed to the action of the air, and only the surface 

 coal removed before taking the quantity sent. The difference between the 

 quality of this shipment and of the lignite found in the same bed a few hun- 

 dred feet distant is shown by the two following analyses, the first by the 

 chemist of the manufacturers of an average sample of the material sent, and 

 the other by Prof. E. T. Cox, State Geologist of Indiana, of a specimen from 

 the same bed, not more than four hundred feet distant. 





Havre. 



Prof. Cox. 



Water 



Volatile matter . . 



20.30 

 35.94 

 31.56 

 12.20 



11.00 

 39 50 



Fixed carbon , ... 



45 00 



Ash 



4.50 



Heat units . . 13.068 



Weight of cubic foot 77 pounds. 



k ' By comparing the amounts of water and ash in these two specimens it 

 will be seen that a low grade of lignite was operated on, as one would natu- 

 rally expect from the exposed position from which it was obtained. My own 

 analyses of lignite from different parts of the State vary considerably, but 

 none show a lower grade than that of the Havre chemist, so that I think it 

 perfectly safe to use the result given for any locality. 



" The manufacture of the fuel consists in mixing it by machinery with cer- 

 tain proportions of adhesive materials, subjecting it to a certain degree of 

 heat, and then passing it under a very powerful hydraulic press and forming 

 it into briquettes. The adhesive materials are coal tar, pitch, or starch. 



* * * :jc * * * * * * 



" This, in connection with my process for coking the lignite, will prove 

 fuel adapted to all requirements, for use in households, factories, engines, and 

 smelting works, and at a price which solves the problem of cheap fuel for 

 Texas for years to come. 



" In extent the lignite deposits are inexhaustible. They underlie a strip 

 of country from fifty to one hundred miles in width, extending diagon- 

 ally across the center of our State, from northeast to southwest. These de- 

 posits are crossed by every main trunk railway line in Texas, and the Austin 

 branch of the International and Great Northern runs over them almost its 

 entire length. The beds vary from a few inches to twenty feet in thickness, 



