The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1874-02-20
ouR COAL supply.
EDITOR OF zee NEWS:

The question Of coal supply Is an i'm
partant one 10 any enEmu nifty. espec tally
to those destitute Of timber. and Most Of
| all to mSnuf scturing censers.
| To have this QUESTION unsettled Is bad.
but TO have ii settled In an un Ai-e, U.s.
natural and m,st injurious manner l.
worse, and this is, n my opinian. the mAn-
ner OF It's &c tiement In Empor =.
One Of the d It principles OF pol teal
economy aud OF good government, a. wriI
rs OF business policy, Is Ia uevrI"p l.'CsI
resources, consume home productions AMI
thereby 1t least retain the wealth Of =
communisy among its members. But IL
would be a poor sho lug 'Or ErnporiA II
coal she MT OnIy sends on eaouxh N neg
,nnut Ily to urni>h, in = few years ~
/ Ter suppiY TO our city, aud tn pay the al
aries OF every M:e-h ,lJrr in Lyon c.'uu-
| ty, but Al the same time commits thr I OF
| i,h b under Of cutting OF and dtscourag-
Ing a home supply.
To tind such to be the case we have but
to examine, first, into the receipts OF coal
at the two railroad stations, ard the
amount Of money expended for it, then
into the probable resources Of LyoL coun-
ty, then into the quality OF the coal mined
IN the county, and lastly into the extent
TO which the home article is used.
The monthly expenditure for foreign
coal has frequently been published, and
most of our citizens ara aware OF the
abundance Of strip coal In this county
and hence it must be In the matter OF
quality that our community displays its
lack Of Judgment and its bad management.
Because Labette county coal exudes al
oleagino1s substance, they concluded
that Labette county coal Is the best coal
In the world. Because Usage shaft coal
Is procured at 3 great depth and from
very slender vein, they seem to reason
that the scarcity package Is proof Of
precious article. Because the substance
taken out at Scranton, and called, by
courtesy, coal, IS said by its owners to be
pure, they pin their faith to that coal
company's sleeve and undertake to burn
9 load Of shaggy, incombustible "nigger
hesds.'' while perhaps q dozen wagon
loads of better coal-better than Fort
Scott, Usage shaft, or Scranton,-and min :
ed In Lyon county, must go begging for
buyer, though offered at from four to ten
cents less on the busheI.
The fault seems to De that ring OF coal
dealers is formed, they stand up man Of
straw, call It strip coal, then proceed to
demolish it while bridle-wise multitude
assist them In doing SO. The remedy
seems to be principally, for the people Of
the city to exercise just q little reason In
forming their opinions Of the difereRt
Goals, and to buy that which, all things
considered, they find to be the cheapest
and best, and then for the county authori-
ties to keep the roads In such repair that
wagons can run to and from the coal
fields.
In my BUSINESS Us foundrymAn I have
frequently weighed, measured. gagged
and tested several varieties Of coal
brought to this place. Among them have
been Fort Scott, Usage, Scranton. Smith
Creek Cstrip) and Lyon county Goals. My
appliances have been q steam boiler, and
g steam guage. The coal that is best for
steam purposes Is also best for sll store or
house purposes, and am prepared to say
and to prove, that Of the four first named
Goals, that from Smith creek station is,
tor all purposes, except possibly black
smithing, the best, and that Lyon county
coal, especially that from Jacobs creek
and the mines west OF Arvonia, Is equal
to Smith creek coal. The recently dis
| covered coal at Waterloo Is another, and
| q strong Inducement to give this subject
| some Investigation, and we should not let
| 1t rest until every coal-bearing section Of
our county is worked up, and not pound
Is brought from 3 distance.
The failure to find coal near the city
need not dishearten any one. ItWould Of
course greatly benefit US If we could ship
shaft coal to distant points, but we should
remember that other counties are wiser
than we, and If our shaft should pan out
an article no better than what we DOW
buy, and they should dad deposits in
| ther neighborhood as good as our native
| coal, then our shaft would still be fall
ure and would deserve to be. But as
| vital ~ this subject Is, 1t IS not one which
seems to interest all the members Of the
| community. A few camels-hair gentle
men object to soIling their fingers or rooms
with coal, as long as there is stick OF
wood LEFT unburned In Kansas. Some
penny-wise and pound foolish people I'm
port their own coal at a saving of four
cents on the bushel. Boards Of trade rush
into existence, then into print and then
rush out again for want Of something to
take action upon, but the general business
and house keeping-community,a and thS
average thinker will probably soon SCI
wherein they have robbed themselves
and paid an enormous tribute to g cause
less monopoly. GEO. D. GRAVES.