Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-01-16
RTEL IN Dakota.

Writes +. V. SmMlley in = o.. Paul
letter To the Philadelphia Tsfaes: The
reader may ask, What do the people
out on the bleak prairies in the little
claim shanties do to make existence
toleFable ~ The common proteotion
against the piercing winds is the tarred
bailding paper. which, in well con-
structed houses, il nailed dpou the stud
ding inside the weather boarding, Cheap
shanties are oovdrsd on the outside With
this paper fastened on in long sheets by
narrow oieats or wood nailed over she
joints. A buiiding 80 encased has
an ugly look, bat II is blizzard
proof. The thin board walls, how
ever, are poor defense against the still
cold, aud many settlers Surround their
dwellings, with thick embaukmss.s Of
tnrt reaching up to the caves and etn-
brssured for the windows and doors. A
house ~ prepared is almost as warm Rs
q cellar. Barns are frequently pro
tected in the same way on the northern
aide. or big straw stack is thrown up
a. vin1-breek. 10 Eastern Dakota 9
good deal of anthracite is burned,
dear as IL II, and il costs about SIS
u ton. Hard wood, hauled on the rail
rosd from the Minnesota forests, Is
vsrth from k6 to IS per cord. fhe
soft brown Ignite cosl from vest Of
the Missoari is sold for 81 or IS per ton,
and Is much used. Easiero Dakota will
soon have = cheap fuel supply from
she coal beds recently discovered In
the Turtle mountains, northwest of
Devils lake, to reach which about fifty
mile Of railroad will have 20 be built
frem Minnewaukan, at the west end of
ths lake. This coal is harder and more
like good bituminous ihan any other
coal found in Dakota. l think it worth
the atteRtioa Of practical PeRnsylvsnia
coal operators. Dakots IL going TO be
"a thiokly settled as Iowa or Kansas,
and a. it IL almost destitute of timber.
iIs consumption of coal will be very
large. IL the Turtle mountain deposits
are extensive, rs there Is every reason
20 believe, and are as good as the sam-
piles have seen, vast mining industry
will grow up there.
Wes, of the Missouri the country 10
underi Aid with immense beds Of Ignite.
cropping out on the sises OF buttes and
ravines. Iu the region lately visited
this coal is 30 abundant and - easily
dug thai the settlers supply themselves.
Almost every farmer has an outcroppin9
on his own | nd. whers. with q pick aud
shovel. he csn load his wagon. Those
who are too busy 10 dig their oNn fuel
can hire neiahhors 80 deliver il for 81 so
per wagen load. The iignite shows the
structure Of the wood from which It has
been oharred and 'solidihed 10
nstare's laboratory snd often con-
tains sections of eaIbooixed limbs
Is cKumbles yeYy Quietly when
exposed to the air; bot it makes 6 hot
DIRE, aud answers we'll all the needs Of
the sestiers for domestic fuel. For To-
connective use IL must be mixed vita
Ohio hitumiuous coal In proportions va
rying With the work the engine bss TO
do. TIE Ignite is Of iscalealable bene
DC 10 the poor settlers struggling 10
make q living while opening farms on
the pfairies. Indeed. il would be di n
cult to settle many portions Of the great
area Of Dakota IL the fuel supply had 10
bs brought from the distant mines OF
the Eastern States