ECONOMY OF COAL IN PRIVATE HOUSES.

Western Star, Issue 856, 28 June 1884, Page 2 (Supplement)

ECONOMY OF COAL IN PRIVATE HOUSES.

Peigden Tbale, of Leeds, delivered a lecture latelyy in the Parkes Museum of Hygiene, Margaret street, Lon don, on the subject of “Economy of Coal in Private Houses.” Mr Teale remarked that it was a serious medical no less than a great economical question. The title of the lecture had been adopted because it was the most eloquent mode of appealing to the public to take steps in reference to the consumption of coal which shall bring about, in the interests of the public, some abatement of smoke. He ' thought that nine million tons of coal would be saved annually if the principles he advocated were adopted. These principles could be applied for a very small outlay. The method he submitted was this, that every fireplace should make its own coke and burn it. This could be done at little cost. They must do away with the fallacy that fire won’t burn unless air passes through the bottom or front of the fire. The two views he was anxious to enforce were these—that the open grating under the fire is wrong in principle, defective in heating power, and wasteful of fuel; and that the right principle of burning coal is that no current of air should pass through the bottom of the fire, and that the bottom of the fire should be kept hot. The lecturer went on to say that he %iad drawn up seven rules lor the contraction of a fireplace: As much fire brick and as little iron as possible; the back and sides of the fireplace should be fire-brick; the back of the fireplace should lean or arch over the fire so as to become heated Iby the rising flame; the bottom of the fire grating should be deep from before probably not less than nine Inches, for a spall room, nor more than

twelve inches in a large room; the slits in grating seould be narrow, perhaps onequarter inch in width fora sitting-room grate, three eighths inch for a kitchen grate; the bars in front should be narrow; the chamber beneath the fire should be closed in front by a shield or economiser. In the Leeds Infirmatory about one-half the fires had been fitted with economisers, and several grates had been reconstructed on the principles laid down. A saving of about sixty tons per year had thus been secured. "Mr. Teale then read extracts from a number of letters testifying to the soundness of the principles he had laid down. At the conclusion of the lecture a discussion followed. In replying to questions, Mr. Teale alluded to the value of the hi' cial form of grate manufactured by James Nelson & Sons of Leeds. That firm had taken great pains to work out a grate in a very economical form. They were strong and free from the objections of thin material, of which many grates were composed. Two specimens of Nelson & Sons’ grates were exhibited in the room, and at the conclusion of the proceedings they were inspected with manifest interest. Mr. Teale received a cordial vote of thanks for his lecture. — Leeds Mercury.