These furnaces were for several years
successfully operated with coke. The
coke made at these furnaces wan from
tbe seam of coal known as the Mount
: Savage fawn-ash coal, containing
about 78 per cent, of fixed caibou and
9 per cent, of ash. It also carried
' i quite a large percentage of tulphuret
of iron, which greatly injured its val
ue both for furnace aud foundry pur
' poses. The coke was made in open
I pits, as was ail the coke produced in
Maryland. The coke produced was
Laid, bright and carried a good bur
den in the furnace, making, it is
j claimed, a ton of iron with a ton and
j a quarter of ooke. Most of the at
< tempts to use coke prior to this had
been with the weak blasts cf charcoal
furnaces, blowing tbe air into tbe fur
naces cold. Ttie yield of the coal in
coke was about 50 per cent. From
1840 to 1850 between 50,000 to 75,000
tons of coke were made at the Mount
Savage works, most of which was
used at the foundries. In the next
decade a portion of the coke used was
from what is known as the Big Vein
of Allegany county, but the coke was
unsatisfactory. From 1860 to 1870
all the coke made was from another
portion of the Big Vein, which pro- i
duoed a good ooke. Tbe furnace*
have not been in blast for some year?.
