The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1884-04-26
Coal and Timber in the West Missouri
Country.
DICKINSON, April 23d, 1884.

DICKINSON, April 23d, 1884.
The term Ignite, as defined by
Webster, is correctly applied to the
abundant coal deposits of this coun-
try, although the transformation
from wood to firm mineral coal is
imperfect. The coal of the surface
veins more closely resembles charcoal,
not fully charred, than the firm, hard
coal of Pennsylvania. 1t is of a
brown color and when fresh from the
mines, is quite firm and strong, yet
if exposed to the sun and air for a
time the grains of the wood soon
crack, like wood in seasoning and
slacks into fine pieces, but if housed
it retains it's firmness, ignites and
burns freely with light flame, makes
Il very hot, quick fire and lasts from
one-third to one.half as long as an
thracite. In stoves adapted to it's use
it is an excellent fuel, better and
much cheaper than wood, even if
wood were abundant. Egg stoves
and common heating stoves are well
adapted to it's use, with fine CRATES,
but our common coal cookstoves
should have larger furnace and ash
pit and fine CRATES, and all stoves
should have a damper in the pipe to
hold the combustion in check. 1t
holds fire like dry wood. Fill a large
stove with it and when it gets on fire
close all the hampers at bed time and
i'll the morning open them and in =
few minutes your stove is red hot, or
in day time close the lower dampers
and open the door and you have
slow, steady fire. If one of our east
ern stove firms will get up a good
cook stove, with fire box about twice
the size used for hard coal, large ash
pit and fine CRATE, they can make q
fortune here in selling them. The
deep veins that are twenty or more
feet below the surface are quite black
and solid when taken from the pit,
yet slack in time when exposed.
think the abundance of the outcrop-
ping coal in the country more than
compensates for the scarcity Of wood,
while the latter is abundant in many
places. On Knife river and at Kill
deer mountain 25 to 40 miles north,
oak, ash and other timber is found in
moderate quantities, also cedar and
other varieties are quite plenty i'll
the chad lands" 10 to SO miles west.
White pine lumber from Minnesota,
sells here for $50 to $45 per NJ.
There is no sod here strong enough
to make sod houses or stables. The
sod is no stronger when fresh turned
than clover sod, yet has fine roots
about the size of fine cotton yarn, rum
ming down three feet. Two good
horses turn the dark brown soil
inches deep with l8 inch plow very
comfortably and if you try to push
partially turned sod quickly, your
boot will go through it. When fresh
ly turned it could easily be narrowed
up fine. The great want of this coun-
try is farmers of some means to inn
prove it and give employment to the
many poor, Industrious men who are
trying to convert their homesteads
into farms. Teams are high and
scarce. Labor is high, yet more capi-
tai is wanted, which can be very adj
vantageously invested. The best
time for emigrants to come is the
last of March or fore part of April.
Those who come to recover health,
especially for weak lungs, should
come in May or June. Consump-
tives should move into the noun
tain valleys west of us to winter for
best results.
s. PFLTON