bribed the journeymen to give their coals a fair trial in the forge. Thus, by persistent and industrious, nay by presumptuous, efforts, these men succeeded in awakening public interest in their enterprise, and in creating a demand for their wares. The proprietors of the Lehigh coals gave particular attention also to the instruction of the people in the matter of igniting the new fuel. Having once disabused them of the idea that a strong artificial air current was necessary, the next step was to prevent them from disturbing the coals constantly by poking, punching, and raking them, a proceeding which the uninitiated seemed to consider of prime importance, in order to induce them to ignite. And, strange as it may seem, this fallacy was the hardest to overcome. Among the purchasers of the Lehigh coals in 1814 was the firm of White & Hazard, manufacturers of iron wire at the falls of the Schuylkill. They had been told by Mr. Joshua Malin, proprietor of a rolling mill, that he had succeeded in using the new fuel, and as the Virginia coal was very scarce at that time, White & Hazard decided to test the qualities of the anthracite. They purchased a cart-load of it, paying a dollar a bushel for it, and took it to their works. Here they tried to build a fire with it in their furnace, giving it what they considered the most skillful manipulation and the most assiduous attention. Their efforts were in vain. The entire cart-load was wasted in a futile attempt to make the coals burn. Nothing daunted, they obtained another cartload, and determined to spend the night, if need should be, in the work of building a coal fire. And they did spend the night. But when morning came they were apparently as far from the attainment of their object as ever. They had poked and punched and raked; they had labored incessantly; but notwithstanding the most constant manipulation, the coals above the burning wood would not sufficiently ignite. By this time the men were disheartened and disgusted, and slamming the door of the furnace, they left the mill in despair, and went to breakfast. It happened that one of them had left his jacket in the furnace room, and returning for it about half an hour later, he discovered that the furnace door was red-hot. In great surprise he flung the door open and found the interior glowing with intense white heat. The other hands were immediately summoned, and four separate parcels of iron were heated and rolled by the same fire before it required renewing. Seeking for the cause of this unexpected result the men came to the conclusion that it was due to simply letting the fire alone, a theory the correctness of which they afterward abundantly proved. Thus, by chance, these men hit upon the secret of success in the matter of building a fire of anthracite coals. That secret is simply to throw the coals loosely on the burning wood, and then _let them alone_. The incident at White & Hazard’s mills becoming generally