Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-11-27
NO. 1872
THE FUEL QUESTION.

All Danger of q Famine Averted and Ar
rangements Complete for This Winter.
but the Future to Be Provided For.
Advices received yesterday from the Has
tings & Dakota extension are that the line is
all clear and that wood enough has been got
through to supply all present needs; and
there is no doubt the supply will be speedily
made sufficient for the winter. The man
agement of the road has worked energetical-
ly to relieve the scarcity occasioned by the
early setting in of winter and may be relied
upon to do all that is necessary to be done.
CONFERENCE WITH THE GOVERNOR.
General Manager Hill, of the st. Paul &
Manitoba road, and President Saunders. of
the Northwestern Fuel company, visited Gov
ernor Pillsbury at the capitol yesterday, by
invitation, and explained to him and to Rail
regards the fuel supply of Minnesota, as it
appears to them.
The governor expresses himself as conf
pent that these gentlemen have done all In
their power to prevent any scarcity of fuel,
and, regarding the st. Paul & Manitoba line,
he is satisfied the arrangements made by Mr..
Hill have arrested whatever danger there
was. At this time the prairieistatiops on the
road have all been supplied with enough
wood for presedt use, and within q week
there will be considerable surplus at every
station. Mr.. Saunders explained that there
has been and is yet scarcity Of coal in
| every direction, in proportion to the de-
mand, which has been greatly stimulated by
the early prevalence Of unusually cold
weather in all parts of the country. He
stated, however, that he had arranged with
Mr.. Hill for twenty to thirty cars per day,
beginning yesterday, to be sent into Iowa
for coal, and that they would soon be
arriving here at the rate of not less than
twenty car loads day.
In the course of the conversation the at
tention of the governor was directed to con-
sideration of the fuel supply of the future,
facts within the experience Of those present
going for to show that the wood of the State,
available far the supply Of the prairie ooun-
try, is rapidly being exhausted, 80 that
within few years it will be necessary to
begin to draw from other sources. At prices
somewhat higher than now prevailing the
prairie country west can be supplied with
wood from northeastern Minnesota and Wis
consin; but it is most desirable that they
should have their fuel at reasonable prices.
It is evident that the prairie farmers cannot
or will not provide for the future by planting
forests. The peat beds said to exist in vari-
GUS parts of the State have remained undevel-
oped for twenty years since their
existence was made known. Something of q
saving is made in the introduction of straw
burning furnaces for stationary and farm
engines, and here and there are to be found
people in the untimbered country, who have
adopted the Mennonite plan of using straw
and hay for heating houses. But for the
railway engines and for general use coal
must be supplied. Tt cannot be brought
from the East simply because the lake fleet
is not large enough to convey all that will be
needed across the lakes and because the ex-
pense of transportation, when the Eastern
coal becomes the first article of lake freight.
and has to pay full rates, will limit Is use
west of the lakes. Until, at least, the sup
ma are opened and penetrated by direct rail
way lines, the principal supply of coal must
come from Iowa. In this direction the rail-
road men have already turned. Two Mimi
esota lines are being extended
into the Iowa fields and the principal COM
panies are bringing the fuel for their en-
gines from them and are providing for in
Producing and furnishing the Iowa coal to
the prairie settlements. Delay has occurred
this fall because of the extraordinary de
mand for the coal, but the arrangements are
made and will be carried out, 80 as to pre-
serve our forests as long as possible, while
strengthening the frontier settlements with
a permanent guarantee of abundant fuel at
moderate prices