The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1882-06-14
AMERICAN KINGS.

AMEhlOAN 6lNdO.
The United States Of America has, If we
are to accept as true current reports, num-
Der of Kings, all of them crowned and
sceptured and reigning by divine right"
Fortunately for the country these Kings are
in alliance and harmony reigns in so far
as their edicts are concerned. If ourre col
lection serves us correctly, King Cotton was
the first to claim recognition. and for many
years he was the most imperial of all the
American Kings. When King Cotton spoke
the world listened in reverential silence
and awe There were those, however.
who. though willing to pay tribute
to King Cotton, doubted his claim to
supremacy. They admired his wealth Of
bolls and bales, they looked on with admit
ration when European potentates kneeled
in his presence and acknowledged his power.
Still there was lurking idea that the time
was at hand when King Cotton would have
to surrender some of his glory and prestige
and reign in union with other kings. The
time was not long delayed-and then came
King Corn, King Wheat, King Cotton and
King Hay in magnificent procession,
crowned and sceptered, with pomp and cir
cumstannece, demanding that King Cotton
enter into an alliance with them and that
together they would rule, not only in
the United States, but throughout
the civilized world. These Kings graciously
admitted to their grand consultation cham
bers some of the nobility representing
other interests, as, for instance, His Royal
Highness Hay, the Duke of the Dairy,
Prince of Potatoes, and others of less re-
nown, forming a royal league for the ad-
vancement of the prosperity of the country.
No grander picture was ever presented than
when these American Kings sat in council.
At their bidding the world moved and the
people rejoiced. But now comes another
claimant for a crown and a sceDter-King
Coal His organ, the Philadelphia Record,
presents his claims In way that entities
him to recognition, and his coronation is
assured. The Record says that King
Coal has become the master of almost the
whole material world" This King began
his career about 100 years ago. in the days of
Watt, Stephenson, and Fulton, and has
grown in power and influence until it is
difficult to realize the vastness of his realm.
"The total output of all kinds of coal in the
United Stotes, for 1881, amounted, in round
numbers, to 1922, 900 tons" Let this inn
mense total be supposed to be piled up in
lot 500 feet square to hight of
ITO feet, and filed fifty times, it
would not wholly exhaust the amount of
coal that was mined in this country last
year. The great pyramids of Egypt are
regarded as miracles of industry and wasted
labor. The largest of all, at Gizeh, which
took 100000 men almost half century to
build, contains very nearly 100000 cubic
feet of stone Yet if all the coal mined in
this country in 1881 had been piled in pyra-
mids of similar size there would have
been more than twenty-six of these tremend-
Gus monuments of coal completed, or one
every two weeks. Again, suppose that a
square column had been made of coal,
allowing it a base fifty feet square, there
would be more than 100 such columns 500
feet high, rising to the level with the pro-
jected top of the Washington monument in
Washington. The great Chinese wall is
believed to be l 400 miles long, twenty feet
high and twenty-four feet thick, containing
3,54S, 100000 cubic feet If the coal of 1881
had been put into such wall it would have
extended from Philadelphia to Chicago. and
have had enough left over to have surround
ed both cities" This settles the question.
King Coal may reign with the other Ameri-
can Kings. He is at liberty to tell what he
does to keep up steam, drive machinery and
move the country on in its career of pros
perity. 1t is right difficult to determine
which of the American. Kings is the most
august. The people are at liberty to choose
and shout for their favorite.