The equipment of the sampling room consists of one motor-driven, baby hammer crusher, which has a capacity of about 1 ton per hour and crushes to a fineness of ¼-in. mesh; one adjustable chipmunk jaw crusher, for 5- and 10-lb. samples; one set of 4½ by 7½-in. rolls, crushing to 60 mesh, for small samples; one large bucking board, and several different sizes of riffle samplers for reducing samples to small quantities. The small crushers are belted to a shaft driven by a separate motor from that driving the baby crusher.
In conducting the inspection of departmental purchases of coal in Washington, the office is notified whenever a delivery of coal is to be made at one of the buildings, and an inspector is sent, who remains during the unloading of the coal. He is provided with galvanized-iron buckets having lids and locks; each bucket holds about 60 lb. of coal. In these buckets he puts small quantities of the coal taken from every portion of the delivery, and when the delivery has been completed, he locks the buckets and notifies the office to send a wagon for them. The buckets are numbered consecutively, and the inspector makes a record of these numbers, the date, point of delivery, quality of coal delivered, etc. The buckets are also tagged to prevent error. He then reports to the office in person, or by telephone, for assignment to another point in the city. All the samples are delivered to the crushing room in the basement of the Survey Building, to be prepared for analysis.[11]
Samples taken from coal delivered to points outside of Washington are taken by representatives of the department for which the coal is being purchased, according to instructions furnished them, and, from time to time, the regular inspectors are sent to see that these instructions are being complied with. These samples are crushed by hand, reduced to about 2 lb. at the point where they are taken, and sent
to Washington, in proper air-tight containers, by mail or express, accompanied by appropriate descriptions.
Each sample is entered in the sample record book when received, and is given a serial number. For each contract a card is provided giving information relative to the contract. On this card is also entered the serial number of each sample of coal delivered under that contract.
After the samples are recorded, they are sent to the crushing room, where they are reduced to the proper bulk and fineness for analysis. They are then sent, in rubber-stoppered bottles, accompanied by blank analysis report cards and card receipts, one for each sample, showing the serial numbers, to the fuel laboratory for analysis. The receipt card for each sample is signed and returned to the inspection office, and when the analysis has been made, the analysis report card showing the result is returned. This result is entered at once on the contract card, and when all analyses have been received, covering the entire delivery of coal, the average quality is calculated, and the results are reported to the proper department.
The matter of supplying the Pittsburg plant with fuel for test purposes is also carried on from the Washington office. Preliminary to a series of investigations, the kinds and amounts of coal required are decided on, and the localities from which these coals are to be obtained are determined. Negotiations are then opened with the mine owners, who, in most cases, generously donate the coal. When the preliminaries have been arranged, an inspector is sent to the mine to supervise the loading and shipment of the coal. This inspector enters the mine and takes, for chemical analysis, small mine samples which are sent to the laboratory at Pittsburg in metal cans by mail, accompanied by proper identification cards. The results of the analysis are furnished to the experts in charge at the testing plant, for their information and guidance in the investigations for which the coal was shipped.
All samples for testing purposes are designated consecutively in the order of shipment, “Pittsburg No. 1,” “Pittsburg No. 2,” etc. A complete record of all shipments is kept on card forms at the Pittsburg plant, and a duplicate set of these is on file in the inspection office at Washington.
Analysis of Fuels.—The routine analyses of fuel used in the combustion tests at Pittsburg, and of the gases resulting from combustion
or from explosions in the testing galleries, or sampled in the mines, are made in Building No. 21.[12] A small laboratory is also maintained on the second floor of the south end of Building No. 13, for analyses of gases resulting from combustion in the producer-gas plant, and from explosions in Galleries Nos. 1 and 2, etc. From four to six chemists are continually employed in this laboratory (in 8-hour shifts), during prolonged gas-producer tests, and three chemists are also employed in analyzing gases relating to mine explosions.