The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-09-26

Lancashire II 10 perfectly notorious tha
the price OF coal is reduced in Lancashire 2s
q ton. That IL known to oil the world, and
must be known to all the colliers, being q,
perfectly matter of notoriety as that the
sun shines With that fact before them
what makes them resist the reduction OF Ia
Ter cent when you say that it Ia well
known 80 oil the world and to the golfers,
have beard the colliers state that 1t was not
known to them. The price of coal locally
mas az understand suffered no such reduc-
tion. The collier does not carry his mind
70 London, and be does not carry bis mind
90 Liverpool, bus he inquiries merely in the
local district around him, and when be finds
that there is no material change in the price,
then be comes to the conclusion that this is
trick and only de7ice for the purpose Of
getting him reduced.
fro BE coSTISUED.l
The Coal and Iron Question IN Missouri
and Illinois.
From the 81. Louis Times
BY one OF your city contemporaries Of the
9Th and 10th instant there was Published an
article on iron and coal, including extracts
from the reports Of the geologist employed
BY the United States. "The proposition
has been presented, as attainable by he
present generation of Missourians in the
production Of fifty millions Of dollars worth
of iron yearly, and the facts upon which
that assertion is based are stated" Be the
amonnt in dollars more or less. there ia no
Doubt II proper exertions are made, Mis-
souri can furnish all the iron needed in the
Mississippi valley and with q less amount of
~ amnI Lab ~
IRON can De made 10 any other locality in
this country or Europe. This assertion, tor
proofs, depends on the ex' stsnce Of certain
facts. The facts are mainly these:
First, Is there ore and coal in sufficien !.
quantity and quality to make good iron.
Second, Can the ore and coal be hrou0bt
together at as low q cost Of labor a. in
other localities where iron is made. and
from where The supply Of railroad iron for
Missouri and Illinois has heretofort come
First, as to the distance between the iron
deposits OF Missouri and the coal fields Of
Illinois, supposing the ore and coal i
brought to St. Louis BY rail and river. The
Iron mountain 10 eighty miles south Of q
Louis By rail, and the coal beds of Illinois
about eighs miles by rail, but to reach the
best coal for maxim. iron the distance varies
nom seventy miles and upwards by river
or rail.
The cost OF mining coal in Illinois de.
pends on the price Of day labor, because any
common laborer can dig coal in the Illinois
mines. The stratum of coal being from
seyen to nine feet, and lot over seventy 4
two hundred feet below the surface. there
IL no mining skill required. 10 manv
localities where the coal lies under the level
prairie lands Of Illinois, a carriage can be
run down an inclined plane from, the track
Of the road into the coal pits, loaded there
and sent to the river without rehapdlinv. In
regard to the labor Of putting ores on cars AZ
shs lrs1 Mountain and Pilot Kpvb there i
no mining skill required there; co nmoD
lSOor 4. all that ID required, and one con-
mon iaoorer san quarry from the mountain
Oi nnoo ana put on car from three to four
tons OF ore per day. This data will enable
any one 70 estimate the Cost of delivering
ore and coal at St. Louis, or it may come
come together as some other point where the
distance would be less.
Now as TO the quality Of toe ore and coal
the yield Of iron
The extracts from the report of Professor
norwood, State Geologist for Illinois. shows
that tne coal in southern Illinois and Sulli-
van county, Indiana, Is better adaptsd for
making iron than the best qualities Of coal
70 fennsyiVsnia, or in England or Wales.
lhese are, 20 some, startling assertions. but
ng9res aon't lie, If based on facts. The
coal IN jackson county, Illinois. which il
known as the Big Muddy region. contains az
per cent. of carbon, 81 volatile and I5-I0
ash the coal in Sullivan county. Indiana
70 carbon, Il volatile and ash best Penn
sylvania coal, Venango county. 62 carbon
80 volatile and 8 20-l00 ash North Wales
81 carbon, IS volatile, 6-IO ash England
shropshire ard Golden Hiil), "a carbon. a
volatile and L 6-10 asb. Tho amount Of
coal In Misso uri IL set down BY geologists
at twenty-six thousand square miles of area.
but no analysis has been made Of Tia Mis,
souri, coal. The analysis Of Iron Mountain
ore, made BY Professor Litton, is as follows !:
Silica, .066; alumn, 90; proto-oxids ~
iron, 1888. Analysis Of English ore shows
specimens of Magnetic ore from Cornwall
had the following compositions Nitre.
zoo; proto-oxide Of iron, 90; proto-oxide
IRON, 4440'; manganese, 0.I6; alumni,
$40; insoluhle yisiduum, 2i 20.
The best test known OF tue yie al iron
rom Missouri IRE has baen the werkino of
the furnaces at the iron mountsin aud Pilot
Knob for the past twenty years. The three
furnaces at the mountain and two at the
Knob, and another at Irondale, have welded
per day SO per cent. more iron than has
ever been made - furnaces in this country
Or Europe. And the working OF I firnacs
af Caro1dalet since the llth Of Auril laat. has
proved that from one ton and three-auartsrs
Of Missouri ore and tho same amount M
Illinois coal, iron has been made of excel-
lent quality, and the yield Der day core
spends with the working of the charcoal
furnaces ct the mountain KNOB.
y The report Of Professor Norxood nm Ia the
exter. Of coal In Illinois il voudsrf,,I.
Table l. shows the existence OK twenty
Eve beds OF coal, varying in thickness from
three miies 20 seven feet, on direct line
from the Ohio River to Howard's point, in
Fayette county. or these beds nine may be
considered workable BY mining In the pro
per sense Of the term. The beds eapable Of
being mined contain forty feet and nine
inches OF coal II this be added to the beds
capable of being worked by stripping, this
section will show thickness oil available
coal Of over ffty- fse feet" s
Without giving details will state some
Facts Wnich Nlu sBsbie any on TO determins
where our railroad iron ought 70 be-.
"la England the cost OF predasiur ont
ton Of pig iron ID eqaivslent she isbor q
eleven n,en cos day Or one man elevsn days
In France and Gernsny II requires the labo,
OF thirteen men, and in Pennsylysnia on ID,
Lshigh, twelve to thirteen days; in Missour
eight days. The cost Of provisions 4
France and Belgium Wheat bread, S cent
per pound rye bread, 4 cents beef. /;
osnts; mnston, Is oents ehicksns, q
csn.s = 50 esn.s geese, 90 esnts in gold
drekss 30 70 40 cents butter, 20 esnss
| ssss, 20 osnss potatoes, 20 eeuss ! bushsl
ordinary wins, s cents pint beer. s cent
. pint house rsat--ordinar5 house, viii
gsrdsns ZIG per ysar. The great mas Q
ne vorkilgnen ges meat once . week il
France aud Belgium, A1d are models 70
stsa diness. RussiA Ssbeunda in ore. bot =,
mineraa eoel, ard charcoal may run %,
4 m Austria and the Ssatea or the Zoiy srai,