Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-02-16
TEXAS AND PACIFIC MINES.
Everything in Working Order-one Hundred
and Fifty Men at Work.

and Fifty Men at Work.
Special to the Gazette.
GORDON, TEX, Feb. 15.-Yesterday
we visited the Texas and Pacific coal
mines. On our arrival we first met with
Mr.. J. r. Graves, who is an employe of
the company, who undertook to show US
the improvements made by the new COM
pany since they have taken charge of the
mining property. We were first shown
over sixty well built and neatly painted
residences, there being an equal number
of two and four room houses. The
houses of four rooms are rented to the
miners at Sc, and the houses of two
rooms are rented at 81 per month. At
pit No we were lowered to the bottom
of the shaft. This shaft is not yet ready
for mining COAL as they are just begin
ming to drive the main entries. But this
is being pushed as fast as men can drive
them. All the machinery is in place and
in very short time this pit will be ready
for a large force of men. Mr.. John
Pendleton, a citizen of Strawn, was in
charge of the hosting engine at
pit No. 2 while Mr.. Robertson,
citizen of Gordon, is engineer
at pit No. /. Half way between
the two shafts the company is erecting an
extensive store building, the dimensions
of which as furnished by Mr.. II I'll Mil
.ler, the architect and builder, were:
Main building, two stories high, 36x100
feet; warehouse, 40x65 feet; cellar,
walled with rock, 40x40 feet; office, 16x36
feet; drug store, 20X20 feet. All the
different departments are parts of one
and the,same building. Some of the men
we talked with said that some of the men
were digging as high as four tons of coal
per day and all seemed in good spirits.
We met Col. Hunter for the first time,
who, appearing to be very sociable and
polite, we Yentured to ask few ques-
tions:
''Col. Hunter, we have been told since
our arrival that some of the miners now
at work are digging as much as four tons
per day; are they doing it?''
eyes, sir; some of the best miners, as
the books win show, are digging as much
as four tons, but the men don t average
that much. From two to four tons is
what they are digging
"What is the price per ton paid?'
''The price, owing to the kind of room,
runs from 81 10 to l 40 per ton, an aver
age of 81 .271a per tom
'FIt is rumored through the adjoining
country that farmers and others desiring
to sell their produce would not be allowed
90 sell direct to your employees, and
your employees would be compelled to do
their trading at the company's store. -
81 have never said that farmers or
any one would be prohibited from selling
their produce inside of the Enclosure. On
the contrary have told different parties
to bring their produce to the mines and
sell it to whom they please. L will pay
my employees twice a month in money
and they are free to buy their goods in
Strawn, Gordon or anywhere else they
please.
Col. Hunter stated that the fence in
closing the mines was built for the pur-
pose of keeping out persons that would
insult and annoy his employees. All
persons friendly to the enterprise he
represented were welcome at all times
to visit the mines. He also stated there
were $50 men at work, as the pay rolls
would show, and to prove his statement
he invited us to converse with any and
all of his employees on the subject. Seven
cars of coal had been taken out the day
before and everything was at work in
good order at that time.