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November, 1910 on the machine in lots of 100 take 25 minutes each. 'The total time taken by the best workers to make a bag complete is therefore 2 2/3 hours. When the diagonal stitching is done by hand, the time for each bag is 314 hours. These bags are well made, be- ing stibjected to very hard usage in coaling ship, 800 Ibs. of coal being hoisted in each bag. From the photo- graph the amount of work involved can be seen, and it must be admitted that to these bags by hand in 3% requires skill and hard work. It is not believed that this make one of hours "TAE MaRINE REVIEW large reductions can be made in work of this character, but the records are vouched for, and the performances described can be duplicated at any time. This is simply some additional proof that analysis and study of work in any shop where the usual condi- tions prevail will result in enormous reductions in cost. Volatile Matter of Coal Washington, BD. .C.,. Nov. 10:--The volatile matter of coal is the title of the first bulletin to be issued by the Fic. 10--ErcHt Hunprep-Pounp CoaL. Bac, Mape Entirery sy Hann. IN 3% Hours. time can be materially reduced by piece-work, and if these results are maintained there is little or no advan- tage, so far as this particular work is concerned, in either piece-work or the Premium system. Two years ago 12 hours was taken to manufacture a bag, while a year ago it took eight hours, and this time has now been reduced to less than three hours. As the pay of sailmakers is 58 cents an hour, the Saving effected is very large. Similar Teductions have been made in other classes of manufacture work, and also in all repair work. It is difficult to believe that such ForMER Time, 12 Hours. new federal bureau of mines. The authors, Elorace C.° Porter and: F. K. Ovitz, conducted their investigations at the Pittsburg station while it was under the technologic branch of the geological survey, the work being a continuation of the fuel investigations begun several years ago at the Louis- ana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Mo. The results obtained at that plant showed that the work of deter- mining the fuel values of the coals and lignites in the United States with a view to increasing efficiency in their utilization would be incomplete if it did not include systematic physical 433 and chemical researches into the proc- esses of combustion. Hence in their later investigations the authors carried on such researches, concentrating at- tention on those lines of inquiry which promised results of greatest economic importance. This bulletin is there- fore a report on an investigation of the volatile matter in several typical coals --its composition and amount at dif- ferent temperatures of volitilization. Quoted directly the authors say: "The investigation has already shown that the volatile content of different coals differs greatly in character. The volatile matter of the younger coals found in the West includes a large proportion of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and water, and a corres- pondingly small proportion of hydro- carbons and tarry vapors. The older bituminous coals of the Appalachian region yield volatile matter containing large amounts of tarry vapors and hydrocarbons, difficult to burn com- pletely without considerable excess of air and a high temperature. Coal of the western type, moreover, gives up its volatile matter more easily at moderate and low temperatures than that of the other type. The volatile matter produced at medium and low temperatures is rich in higher hydro- carbons of the methane type, such as ethane and propane, which contain a larger portion of carbon than is -pres- ent in methane. "These facts help to explain the difficulty of burning Pittsburg coal, for example, without smoke, the low effi- ciency usually obtained in burning high-volatile western coals, the ad- vantage of a pre-heated auxiliary air supply introduced over a fuel bed, and the advantage of a furnace and boiler setting adapted to the type of fuel used. They bear directly also on the question of steaming 'capacity' of coal for locomotives, the designing and operation of gas producers for high- volatile fuels, and the operation of coke ovens and gas retorts. "The results show further that cer- tain bituminous coals of the interior and Rocky Mountain provinces give promise of good yields of by-products of coking, notably ammonia and high candle power gas, comparing favorably in these respects with the high grade coking coals of the eastern province. "They show also that inert, noncom- bustible material is present in the vol- atile products of. different kinds of coal to an extent ranging from 1 to 15 per cent of the coal." The bulletin will be of interest to fuel engineers, designers and builders of gas producers, and others.