The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1895-02-22
a STATE COAL NINE.
Prisoners IN the Kansas Periten-
tlary Operate It
The Iaet Thss the syins i Entered with
IN the Prison I,,c;esnre arnkrs Neces-
ssrs Oats The usnal Ferce

IN the Prlsrr iiic;esure MNkre Neces-
sars oas The usnal Ferce
o. Guards.
AT every session Of the legislature
appeals come from the unfortunate
people of western Kansas for coal
from the state mine at Lansing. This
year the legislature has contributed
from the penitentiary mine theneces
snry fuel to keep the rude cabins
and dugouts OF the western prairie
warm, and the railroads willtrans-
portit free. The Legislature IS lib.
eral in its donations Of coal To the
poor, because the supply ut the state
mine is practically inexhnustible
The KANSAS penitentiary propertyis
probably the NEST valuable of its
kind in the, United States.
The buildings and machinery plant
of other Institutions may be more
valuable, but II Is doubtful II the
ground belonging auyotherprison.
is SO productivity or so peculiarly
adapted 10 the employment az con-
Wet labor This is ON account 81
the coal which underlies every acre
of the prison land. Other states
own coal land in which they employ.
their convicts. but they are remote
from the prison walls and armed
guards must bc employed Ia keen
watch over them. Al the Kansas
prison only tho usual force az o,,ares
employed by nil prisons n Tho
sentry boxes ,rrc necessary the
convicts entering the mine within
the prison inclosnre and although
they burrow l,eyontl the limits Il. tbe
walls. there is no means AZ eeress
through the shaft by which they
make their descent into the ground
When the prison was located II
was on account Of the valuable stone
quarrics in the vicinity az the site.
Coal had not thcu8bccn discoveredin
Leavenwortlreounty. Thefirst shaft
in the county was sunk and coal dis
covered about 1870. ave years after
thelcgisluturc hadiocated the prison.
The first purchase of ground was 10
acres, upon which the prison stands.
In 1880 the prison shaft was sunk.
and soon thereafter a tract Of 100
acres. oneof 100 acres and one Of 10
acres, lying between the original 40
and the Missouri, we've purchased.
Afterward d tract of $40 acres DO.
longing 10 the Atchison. Topeka 4,
SANTA Fc railroad, and living north
of the prison, aud lying north 81 the
prison, and something like 200 acres
lying west oft, were leased, rnaking
a total Of about 200, acres owned or
controlled By the state
Not including the leased ground
the states land Ii about 4. 5iIiIe ana
a half long Cast aud westS ineIud.
ing d half mile beneath The river bed
(to the middle 81 tfe streaml and
three-fourths of d mile vide Fot.
the privilege Of mining beneath the
leased ground the state pays d row!
>atty OF 2 mills bushel. or $40 an
acre. The coal lies 7l3 feet below
the grass roots aud the stratum is
% inches thick, resting ON a bed ,of
tire.clay and covered, byt. stratum
of slate, and that capped by oslid.
limestone. All the coaI beneath, thu
original forty acres. and half fbat
beneath the Santa i land has becn
taken out.
O.. S. HINT wbo,was y n,,son az.
rector eight years and who bas.I,ee,i
coal contractor of the mine four
years. saws It Il the ,most Is y ., Ie
that there Is enough. ,oo aeI beneath aS
Inc area controlled. by the. Stnta IN