The Lincoln County herald., 1871-11-30
~ CsaI ant Ne d. CharssS Gas
Works.

~ CsaI ant Ne -. Charsss Gas
Works.
The Cosmos ssys 10 osrs mistaken II
che idsa that 10 "showcd grsti6cation ovel
.hs fact that the Liseoln county coal sem
there to bs tested 10 the gas work,
proved to be failure" end goss on "a
say: "If there 10 really better coal in
Lincoln county than that sent, let III
have il. We warrant that IL will bs fairly
tested aud IL il should prove better va
siIl praise i. accordingly; while IL II
should prove as bad or worse, We are not
much of . people down here for dissim.
ulstiou and will bs quite sure to 10. the
world know the truth. In the mssstims,
.lst us have peace"
A. to the "psacs" proposition Barkis
10 villin', but facts have since come to
our knowledge which induce us 70 to.
lieve that there was no fair test made Of
the coal sent there from this county.
We made mention, in speaking Of this
matter two weeks since, that Mr.. John
K,rkham. superintendent Of the gas
works Of Loeansport, Ind, had made .
test Of the coal, and was 20 we'll pleased
that he q once invested in the mines.
Last week Mr.. Kirkham arrived at this
place, aud honorod 10 with . call on
Saturday. Oar conversation naturally
turned upos the report that came from
the st. Charles gas works relative to our
coal. and he gave US anything but fat.
,cring opiuion Of the works and the man
ner 10 which they are conducted.
Mr.. Kirkmam says that the St. Charles
gas works we're built by machiuiss and
no. a gas engineer, they being tho frst
works he ever built for coal gas and
that the man who is managing the works
10 q common laborer from st. Louis, who
does not understand the principles Of gas
making. Under such circumstances it
may readily be seen that the report COM
ing from that source 10 to be doubted,
since We have more fattering oues from
the st. Louis and Logausport works.
But this is not all. Mr.. Kirkham heard
Of this injurious report, and called in
person at the St. Charles works last
Thursday or Friday, and there heard it
corroborated by the "superiuteudeut." "
Being an efficient gas superintendent
himself, with 40 experience Of twenty.
Eve years, he soon saw wherein lay the
fault, and asked to have charge Of the
works for few hours, or less time, iu
order to make = fair test, promising to
produce not less than Eve feet Of gas to
every pound of bituminous or canal coal
from the Lincoln county mines. This
request was refused him, although hs
offered TO pull of his coat and do the
work himself.
If fair test Of the gas producing
qualities Of our coal is desired by our
ne,ghbors, why this refusal2 That Mr..
Kirkham could have made his promise
good is verified by his former tests, as
we'll as that Of the St. Louis gas works
where 6vo and half feet to the pound
was produced, being one foot moro thar
can be obtained from the Pittsburg coal
The Why of this matter 10 not knowr
to US. but reports are saoat that there il
. slight disaffectioa between the st
Charles city council and the board o
public improvements. The former favor
40 appropriation to erect water works
the latter an appropriation to the 81
Louis aud Ksokuk railroad. If tn
latter 10 made. tho former will be post
poned. A moving argument iu favor Q
the railroad 10 the coal resources of thi
county and if q favorable report Of tn
coal we're given, it would give the boar
Of improvements 40 advantage over th
city council, which We believe has chare
Of the gas works, that it doesn't care
Ielinquish. We don't know that this
true, but the refusal to allow Mr.. Kirk
hams request looks % If it 10.
The President has finished tho draf
Of his annual message, aud care 10 take
to prevent . premature exposition Of j
contents. For several years past, shal
newspaper reporters have succeeded
getting copies Of messages and publishiI
,hen even before they had been deli
cred to Congress. To prevent thi
Grant will not have his message print
in advance to deliver to that body, b
will furnish manuscript COPIES. If