KAITANGATA COAL.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 14, 8 October 1874, Page 4

KAITANGATA COAL.

(To the Editor of the Clutha Leader ) Sib,—We have Kaitangata, Bruce, Lovel'a Flat, Elliot Vale, Green Island, Shag Point. Serpentine, Papakaio, Whare^ kuri, Kyeburn, Idaburn, Welshman's Gully, Alexandra, Clyde, Cromwell, Kawarau, Lake Wakatipu, Nightcap, Forrest Hill, Limestone Platus, Tpis Tois, Catlin'a River, Tapanui, Burning Plains, Lawrence, Mataura—all coal pits composed oi lignite—-brown coal and coal proper. How do you burn it is a popular questionWell, Mr Editor, some burn it on the flat, some on the square, some on the bars, some in English grates, some in grtat bar pans, and so on— all coming to one conclusion or the other about its general utility. But there's one thing I may remark about these coals, I have always seen but a small per centage of system in their use. This causes a great deal of dissatisfaction, and subjects the fuel to be spoken of ignorantly. To disabuse the public mind trom these fogs shall be my endeavor. All grates and fire places'should be fitted with cast iron stair backs, tbat is a casting like a series of steps placed at the back of the grate. The fire bars in the bottom of grates should not be more than three-sixteenths of an inch apart, while tbe front bars not more than one inch. The reason is obvious. Our coal being less gaseous than tbe Newcastle quality carbonizes more readily, and falls through the bars into the ash pan. Tbe narrow setof the fire bars prevents too much draught, while the mass of fuel is not ignited at once, but tails naturally, so to speak, from the stairs to the front of the grare, thus being a self-feeder. By tbis means our liguite and brown coal can be made more economical than Newcastle, and will give off within 10 per cent as much heat lor any purpose as the Newcastle. The stair back with adjusted fire bars for locomotives, portables, vertical?, or any other furnace in which they can be used will prove tjt once the fact that our coal, under suitable conditions, is as good for steam purposes as any in New Zealand; and tbere is no doubt that Kaitangata coal -has seams at a lower level even belter thananything yet used in Otago. Common Sense.

■ ' ' V " I nil i — ■ ■*T To the Editor of the Clutha Leader. Sir,t-I noticed in Friday week's edition of the 'Bruce Herald,' a letter signed by W. M. White, which explains how the twenty -six tons of Kaitangata coals were carted by his teams for the use of two hotel keepers, whose Chinese cooks found said coal " most excellent for grilling chops by." Mr. White also states that he has never used our coals at his works, and does not intend to do so, as tbey are useless for manufacturing or steaming purposes. Mr W> M. White ia doubtleps an engineer of long experience, and I am somewhat diffident ahout urging anything in defence ot '..our Kaitangata coal, although, Mr. Editor, I have spent many years of my life among engines and boilers-r-land, marine, end locomotive. Let me i»ay, however, tbat I have used the coal for steam purposes for over four years, first in a Cornish hoiler with slow draft, then in two boilers of the portable class, with sharp draft. In company with Mr. Macdonald I am now running a nine-horse- power engine, and uring our coal. My experience has been that it is a very economical fuel, when properly used. The flame is intense, giving a very strong beat with little smoke. The furnace bars must be adapted to its use, and in portable engines a larger nozzle may he employed to advantage. In this respect I fancy the Shag Point and Tokamairiro river coal is much the same as ours. Mr. White draws \\a attention of the Herald to Mr. Blair's report of atrial of Shag Point nnd Toko coal. Tbe trial was a very one-sided one. as Mr Blair himsrlf will say, and Mr. Amos also. There baa been no proper trial of the comparative m rirs of either Toko, Shag Point, or Kaitangata coal. The engine at the Clutha has been fired with our coal, and, I understand, tbe driver is enthusiastic in its favor. Why should we' wot bring tbe matter to a satisfactory conclusion, with the assistance of Mr. Cony erf, by trying, say ten tons of coal from each locality on one of the loco motives, the fire-box of which is designed for the combustion of such fuel ? There can he surely no objection on the part of the Government to accept of twenty or thirty tons for such a purpose ; and, besides the supervision of Mr. Conyer* 5 , the advice of Mr. W. M. White and o*her engineers, might be of service to tbe Province. Let us put aside local jealousies, get a fair trial of the comparative merits of the two or three kinds of brown coal, and let the best one be known. — I am. etc.. James Davidson. •- L yp \ ' i-

To the Editor of the Clutha Leader. I s?e by the ' Bruce Herald ' of the 29th ult. a reporter of theirs has taken the trouble to visit the new Siam, having been sent thither jn consequence of the jp-rce devoted to it by their contemporaries, and because of certain misstatements with reference to the uae Mr White, of the steam pottery works' made of it. Mr White, whether willingly or not, has been hugged into this affair, which, to say the least, is no credit to its promoter— as every one can see that it is a mere dust blown up for the purpose of brinsring put the "real Mackay," in which the Elliot Vale coal and Kaitangata coal pita are used as a catspaw. "Claptrap" is evident on the face of that report, or, to quote the reporter's own words, " tiddlewinking r "in connection with his auriferous, coaliferous, copperiferooe, tiniferous, and other experiences in the Australian Colonies. I am, &c, Vigilant. Milton, s*h October