Harry Kenneth Darst, Jr 1943-

Harry Kenneth Darst, Jr (1943- ); the son of Harry Kenneth Darst (1915- ); the son of Benjamin Franklin Darst (1866-1962); the son of George Nathaniel Darst (1841-1913); the son of Elijah Darst (1817-1876); the son of Benjamin Darst (1793-1842); the son of Abraham Darst (1745-1822); the son of our Pfeddersheim immigrant Abraham Derst (1725-1772) seeks a return to country life...

Family Moves To Save

Sanity, Money, Energy

ALEXANDRIA, Ohio (UPI) --- A Licking County family which gave up the city life to exist off the land is recycling horse manure and the sun's heat to provide energy for their country home.

Harry K. Darst, Jr., who abandoned his "rat race" draftsman job to move his wife and child to the country, has devised a methane gas maker to produce cooking fuel and a solar energy water heater.

Horse manure produces the methane gas in an odorless contraption made of three steel drums, a hoist, some tubing and water, he said.

Manure and water are placed in a 40-gallon drum, which is set inside a large barrel filled with water near to the rim of the smaller drum. Then another medium-sized drum hooked to a small hoist is suspended upside down into the water so air cannot leak into the smaller drum and mix with the methane.

When the manure produces too much gas, Darst said, it escapes by bubbling through the jacket of water.

The family's stove is hooked to a large drum, and the holes on the stove burner enlarged to allow enough methane through to ignite.

Methane burns at a lower temperature than natural gas, Darst said, but it is hot enough for cooking family meals.

The family's solar water heater is moderately successful, Darst said. He placed a wooden box inside the back of an old refrigerator, which was lined with 21 feet of copper pipe, painted black to absorb heat. Well water runs through the pipe to a tank placed in the upstairs of the family home.

The heat from the sun's rays radiates through the pipes to warm the water stored in the tank.

The experimentation with new energy sources is all part of the family's new life style, Darst said.

They raise enough bees, chickens, goats, fish and garden vegetables to survive off the land. Darst and his wife, Susan, take turns working off-farm in the winter months.

Tuesday 27 AUG 1974 - The Coshocton Tribune, Coshocton, Ohio