20 PRELIMINARY REPORT ON COAL-TESTING PLANT, [bull. 2(51. 
until a quart sample was obtained with the particles of coal reduced to 
a size not much greater than one-fourth inch in diameter. The 
sample was placed in an air-tight galvanized iron can having a screw 
top and the can was hermetically sealed by screwing the top down 
tight and covering the joint with tire tape. The can containing 
the sample was then mailed to the testing plant, and in almost all 
cases it reached its destination within two or three days of the date 
of sampling in the mine. When the can reached the chemical labora- 
tory the sample was at once transferred to a Mason glass jar, in which 
it was sealed until the time for taking it up for chemical analysis. 
UNINSPECTED CAR SAMPLES. 
In a few cases carload samples were shipped to the testing plant 
without the personal supervision of a representative of the Govern- 
ment. In one case this was the result of a misunderstanding; in 
others the sample consisted of slack coal, and its selection did not 
need personal supervision. In the case of the North Dakota lignite, 
it was impossible to send a man there early enough in the season to 
insure the car reaching the plant before the close of the Exposition 
period. This necessitated the loading of a sample without super- 
vision, but since it is probable that the lignite from these mines is of 
fairly uniform quality, the sample was accepted as representative. 
The committee in charge do not care to hold themselves responsible 
for the representative character of coal thus sent in without their per- 
sonal supervision, but the results of the tests are given for what they 
are worth. 
The samples sent in irregularly are as follows: 
Indian Territory No. 6. — Slack coal from mine of the Southwestern 
1 )e\ clopment Company, located at Coalgate, Ind. T. This sample rep- 
resented the waste product of the mine, and consequently its selection 
did not need to be under the supervision of a representative of the 
testing plant. 
Kansas No. 4- — Lump coal from mine of the Atchison Coal Mining 
Company, located near Atchison, Kans. Owing to misunderstanding 
of instructions this sample was sent without personal supervision, but 
its representative character is vouched for by Prof. Erasmus Haworth, 
State geologist of Kansas. 
.Montana No. /. — Washed slack from Red Lodge, Mont. This is a 
lignitic coal which was sent in by Mr. L. S. Storrs, geologist in charge 
of coal lands of the Northern Pacific Railway Company. 
North Dakota No. 1. — Brown lignite from Lehigh, N. Dak. Sent 
by L. S. Storrs. 
North Dakota No. <2. — Brown lignite from mine of the Cedar Coulee 
Coal Company, located 4 miles southeast of Williston, N. Dak. This 
