Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1893-01-26
WINTER ST. LOUIS,
Skating Partios-Ico and Coal b.

skating Partios-Ico and Coal Both
Cheap--A Nurses Good Fortune.
ST. LOUIS, Mo-, Jan. 2o.-In two Of
the great parks OF the city, Lafayette
park and Forest park, skaters, by
thousands, have enjoyed themselves
since New Years Day. The skating
in each of the parks is equally good.
but there is social distinction be-
tween those who skate IN Lafayette,
and those who go out to the park. In
Forest park, it was q good-hunored
scramble all the time to keep out of the
way of some body, while in Lafayette,
most of the skaters know each other,
and the skating goes on with much
more formality. Some of the fashion
able people gave skating parties in
Lafayette park during the week. In
vitut;onS, lettcged inside the picture
Of n skate, would be sent out, and two
prizes would be given, one for the best
skater, and Tie other for the skater
who got the most falls. 1t is seldom
that the cold weather ever lasts this
long in St. Louis, and the ice concerns
are making the best of it. Some of the
com Oh RIGS are thlllHH iltCSl
and tons - day. This sounds enCr-
nous, but in fact, it is the report Of
only one of the seven ce-harvestinS
syudicatcs of the city. All of these
say that the price OF ice this summer
will be one fourth less than it was
last season.
Speaking of ice. coal is naturally
suggested, and it is worth while to
say that in every city Of the size OF st.
Louis, just now, the price of this fuel
is at least one-third higher than it IS
here. One can buy soft coal here at
II cents buShel and anthracite at
S7.25 ton from any coal dealer. Com
pare those prices with those that pre-
vail in New York, Chicago, Boston and
Cincinnati, even, and see what an al
vantage St Louis has. These prices
are to the retail trade; the wholesale
consumers, of course, pay much less.
The reason for the low prices is one
that assures the 81. Louis man that
his cheap coal can never be made
higher by combine. The coal capital
here has tried to control the market,
and failed for natural causes. Within
thirty miles of the city, in this State
and Illinois, there are incXhaustiblc
beds OF coal SO near tho surface that
it takes but little money to mine it.
Farmers frequently strike beds Ct coal,
while blowing, sini; shafts with
their hired men, and then sell out 10
company Of miners. New mines arc
opened every year by new men, aud
the supplyis kept up to the demand, 50
that there is never any violent fiuctua-
tion in the price In many cities, the
coal bill Of the man of small means
worries him more than his rent In
| st. Louis, his coal costs him hardly
more than his street car fare.
The true tales of money made in real
estate in st. Louis just now, have q
! pleasant sound to the ear, like stories
one hears Of fortunes got in mining,
| There are so many electric railways
being built in and around the city that
! the man who bought lot last year
! for homestead find very likely this
( y.ar that it Is too valua Die for him to
J hold for that purpose, and he sells it
/ and buys another still further in the
suburbs, which he will probibly fad
himself selling next year for the same
reason. One instance of this occurred
/ to hospital nurse. She had bought
: Il lot on time payments for n thousand
/ dollars, paying $40 month. Her ill.,
come was thirty and she lived on less
/ than twenty. Before she had paid
$500, the Assembly gave q suburban
road the right to run by the block
where her lot was, A spcculator
bought her lot for 81, 200 cash lie
will make money, of course, but she
has got sum of money whose inter-
est will provide for her as long as she
/ lives. Hundreds OF similar anecdotes
might be told Of people who have
bought suburban property in the last
three years.