Part I. Report of progress in 1869, by J. S. Newberry, chief geologist. Part II. Report of progress in the second district, by E. B. Andrews, assist. geologist. Part III. Report on geology of Montgomery County, by Edward Orton, assist. geologist.

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making it is not enough to know the percentage of sulphur in the coal,
but rather how much of sulphur' passes into the gas. In the analysis,
No. 25, there is in the coal 1.42 per cent. of sulphur, while the coke retains but 0.51 per cent., nearly two-thirds of the sulphur having passed
off in the volatile matter. In No. 24, of the 1.07 per cent. of sulphur,
0.79 per cent. remains in the coke, or about three-quarters of the whole.
In coals for smelting iron, it is most important that the coke be as free
from sulphur as possible. The sulphur in the coke comes in contact with
the melting iron in the lower portion of the furnace, and contaminates it,
but the sulphur, which passes off while the coal is undergiong the process
of coking in the upper part of the stack, does comparatively litle harm.
Hence, for the purpose of iron-making, the exact percentage of sulphur
remaining in the coke should be carefully ascertained. It is, furthermore,
evident that the popular method of determining the quality of a coal by
the color of its ash will often prove falacious. A white-ash coal may
have an excessive amount of sulphur, and yet contain so little iron that its
oxidation in the fire will not redden the ash. This will most certainly be
the case where the amount of ash is large and the percentage of iron small.
(4.) Again, the analyses of the great Nelsonville seam of coal, show a
large percentage of fixed carbon, and consequent heating power. The average fixed carbon for all the analyses of the seam at Nelsonville, and at
Haydenville, is 56.59 per cent. The average of the seam at Straitsville
is 56.96 per cent. The average of seam on Sunday creek is 55.20 per cent.
The average of seam on Lost run, excluding the very top coal, which will
not be mined on account of its impurities, is 51.43 per cent. The average
of all in fixed carbon, is 55.79 per cent.
For the purpose of comparison, I give, from Prof. Wormley's records,
the analyses of several of our best iron-making coals:
No. 29. No. 30. No 31. No. 32. No. 33. No, 34.
Specific gravity.... 1.282 1.336 1.284 1.247 1.364 1.173
Water......... 7.75 7 7.60 3.60 6.95 665 5.45
Volatile matter.. 31.27 30.96 32.58 32 38 34.54 38.76
Fixed carbon.-.. 5.9 57.65 62.66 57.49 54.28 53.99
Ash.-............. 2.03 3.79 1.16 3.18 4.53 1.80
Total.-..... 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Sulphur......... 0.53 0.49 0.85 0.88 1.07 0.75
Color of ash.-....... Reddish. White. Red. Grayish. Fawn. Grayish.
Character of coke... Pulveru- Pulveru- Pulveru- Very corn- Quite corn-Compact
lent. lent. lent. pact. pact. |
No. 29. Jackson shaft coal............ Jackson, Jackson Co.
20. Hill coal........................-... " "
"31. "Briar Hill" coal... —...-..-.........Chestnut Ridge.
32. Blue Chippewa coal..-.... —........ -. Massillon.
33. Coalton or Ashland coal....................... Boyd Co., Kentucky.
34. Brazil "................. Clay Co., Indiana.