and natural draft at the Minot electric light plant, the Kenmare roller mill and similar institutions throughout the state. With natural draft a large boiler and grate surface are desirable, though not absolutely essential, and more experience in firing lignite is necessary. The fires should not be allowed to fall off, for if green lignite is thrown, in the furnace when the steam is falling it acts like a blanket and temporarily smothers the fire. Fuel should be added when the fire is high, and by the time the steam guage begins to drop the fresh lignite has been dried and is ready to burn. It is a good plan to fire but one side of the furnace at a time.

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Lignite for Domestic Purposes.-Nearly every large stove factory in the country is at present putting on the market stove especially adapted for burning lignite, and many of these stoves are highly successful. The odor from partially consumed gases is wholly done away with, and an abundance of heat, easily regulated and maintained, is secured. A smouldering fire may be kept for a long time, either in kitchen range or heater, which, by a proper adjustment of draughts, may be quickly aroused to great activity.

In stoves that are designed for anthracite lignite will burn, and those who do not find it practical to discard old stoves for those especially planned for lignite are not placed at a great disadvantage by its use.

Briquetting Lignite.-In this connection the lignite presents great possibilities. Briquettes are concentrated lignite, dried, clean and of convenient size to handle. They are fuel bricks, weighing from half a pound to two or more pounds, and when properly made will stand exposure to any sort of weather. They are a favorite form of fuel in all parts of the old world, where lignite is used in large quantities.

Condensed fuel in this form is desirable when the item of transportation is a large one in the fuel problem, as is especially true in the North Dakota lignites. In the form of briquettes it may be possible to bring the lignite even from the western boundary of the state to market. Briquettes will burn nicely in any stovein which wood or bituminous coal can be burned, and while they are used in Europe for all purposes, in our state it may be predicted that they will first be put on the market for domestic use. In the preparation of briquettes the lignite must first be finely

crushed and dried. According to German practice,* the crushed coal is is passed through warmers, through which it is moved mechanically, obtaining a temperature of 100 degrees F. Thence it goes into warm storage bins where its temperature is raised. to 180 degrees F. During this process it loses two-thirds of its moisture. It is found necessary to bring the temperature back to 100 degrees F. before it goes to the presses. The fine dried coal may be consolidated into briquettes mechanically, by pressure alone, or a "binder" in the shape of some cement may be used. Tar, pitch and asphalt are common binders, which add to the combustion of the briquette. Milk of lime is an excellent binder, which, while adding nothing in the way of inflammable matter to the briquette, is inexpensive and may be used in such small quantities as not to interfere with its burning.

In a new community the scarcity and expense of labor is the great factor which must be considered in planning manufacturing enterprises, and the briquetting of lignite is no exception. With the increase in population this industry is certain to come to the front, for the mechanical difficulties which it presents are already in a fair way to be solved. A number of persons and companies have attacked the problem vigorously and are meeting with success. The following letter from Hon. W. D. Washburn states concisely the outcome of one of the most important series of experiments:

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., September 24, 1902.

Mr. Frank A. Wilder, Director State Geological Survey, Grand Forks, N. D.: DEAR SIR: I am in receipt of your letter of the 22d inst. I have been giving, in the past two years, a great deal of attention to the matter of briquetting lignite coal from North Dakota. I have investigated the subject in many directions, but as yet have reached no definite conclusions or results. Parties in Pittsburg have been experimenting on this matter for the last year and a half, or nearly two years. The great difficulty in briquetting this coal, you understand, is in the matter of securing a binder that will make it possible to briquette this coal at an expense that will make it commercially feasible. The Pittsburg people have been giving great encouragement in briquetting this coal without any binder, but as yet have not succeeded. There are many objections to using a binder. Among them the large cost and also making the briquettes disagreeable in smoke and odor.

I have, within the past few days, received a letter from a party in *Die Press Kohlen-Industrie, Ein Handbuch der Stein Kohlen und Braun Kohlen Briquettirung von Eduard Preissig, Bergdirector in Prag.

New York, sending me samples of briquettes, and this seems the most promising of any that has yet turned up. The briquettes sent in the samples appear to be very satisfactory, more so than any I have ever seen made from this coal. I am sending him another lot of coal from which he will make a greater number of briquettes than already sent. I have great hopes that something may come from this direction. I shall be very glad to give you all the information that I secure from time to time.

Yours sincerely,

W. D. WASHBURN,
President.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LIGNITE TO
THE STATE

Forests do not exist in North Dakota, though the valleys of the Red river, the Mouse, the Cheyenne, the Missouri and smaller streams are well wooded, and the term timber land may fairly be applied to certain parts of the Turtle and Pembina plateaus. Large trees are generally confined to the flood plain, though at times they are found on the first terrace as well, while in the tributary coulees and ravines groves are nearly always found on the side protected from the prevailing wind. About some of the lakes there are fine groves that have furnished fuel in considable quantities. Though wood is still cut for fuel along some of the larger streams, the supply grows less every year, and the price rises proportionately. Near the eastern boundary of the state wood from Minnesota is used, but the cost is rapidly increasing.

For the western part of the state wood does not enter as a factor into the fuel problem, while in the Red river valley the limit of the wood supply is easily in sight. The question of the coal supply, therefore, becomes a vital one to the rapidly growing

state.

POSITION OF THE STATE WITH REFERENCE TO THE EASTERN AND WESTERN BITUMINOUS AND ANTHRACITE FIELDS

The Red River Valley.-Coal from the eastern fields reaches North Dakota from Duluth, to which point it is shipped by boat at low rates. The reloading and long haul across Minnesota have added materially to its cost when it reaches the Red river valley, while a considerable addition to its selling price. must again be made to defray freight charges when it reaches the center of the state.

Ordinarily, Hocking valley coal, when contracted for in considerable quantities, costs from $5.25 to $5.50 per ton in the Red river valley. The selling price of Youghiogheny coal is about the same. Lignite throughout the Red river valley sells at about $3 though one or two large consumers have secured figures con

siderably below this. At $3 a ton the economy of lignite for steam purposes in this region is not wholly demonstrated At $2, however, there is a decided advantage in its favor. For stoves and ranges the lignite may be used advantageously at a higher price. It

is but a question of time, however, till cost of production will be cheapened, and a large volume of trade will justify lower freight rates, assuring the use of lignite, even in western Minnesota, for all purposes.

Lignite Shipments to Minnesota. For domestic purposes lignite is now being shipped in considerable quantities to Minneapolis and St Paul, and the demand from these centers is destined to increase. Its great convenience for use in ranges greatly adds to its value. When the problem of briquetting the lignite is solved, it will be practical to extend the market even farther east. The briquette is a concentrated fuel, thoroughly dry and clean and convenient to handle, and justifies shipment to more distant points than does the raw material.

The James River Valley.-Some fifty miles before the James river valley is reached the line beyond which under present conditions eastern coal can in any way compete with lignite is passed, and in the valley itself conditions are strongly in favor of the North Dakota fuel. At Jamestown, under favorable conditions, Youghiogheny coal costs from $6.80 to $7 a ton while lignite retails at less than $3. This wide stretch of fertile and prosperous country is destined to form a constantly growing market for the coal mined in the western half of the state.

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The Missouri Valley.-Before the Missouri is reached, lignite area is entered, and so fully is the worth of the native fuel realized that eastern coals are rarely quoted at Bismarck. Red Lodge coal mined in Montana is used by the Northern Pacific railroad, but on account of freight rates is not offered for sale in North Dakota. Sand Coulee coal, also a Montana product, is burned by the Great Northern locomotives, but on both of these roads lignite is used in the western half of the state for their engines at pumping stations.

Freight Rates on Lignite.-There is no greater factor in the problem of the development of the lignite industry than the cost of transportation. The rates as now established on the roads entering the lignite area are given below: