The age-herald., 1898-10-05
MINING COMPANY
 INCORPORATED Mill Develop Cliity Coal Fields in
 Marion. CONTRACT FOR SHORT LINE Of Railroad to Connect With Canton Aberdeen & Nashville.
WILL SELL COAL TO THE l. c.
Which Will Practically Own the New Railroad-Illinois Central Will Make Great Saving in
 Freight on Fuel.

The Aldrich Mining company, Of Marion county, has just been incorporated with a s5O,000 capital and it will have for it's object the opening and development of the Clifty coal field in that county. T. H. Aldrich is president of the company, and associated with him are T. H. Aldrich, Jr, William A. Green, J. B. Cobbs and one or two other gentlemen of this city.
 There are mines already partially opened in that district and coal is being mined and hauled away in wagons, but the company hopes to have number of mines opened and working al a good capacity within the next four months.
 The men interested in the company claim that this coal is the finest coal for domes- tic use in the state. It resembles channel coal to a large extent, and will almost ig- mite from the flame of a match. The entire output of the mines will be consumed by the Illinois Central railroad which com pany will use it on nearly all of its big sys- tenn of railroads There are between 15,OO0 and 10000 acres of these coal lands, all of which have been leased by the Aldrich Min ing company.
 The Clifty coal fields are situated about nine miles north of Winfield directly on the proposed route of the Canton, Aberdeen and Nashville railroad, and over this road, the output of the mines will find its way to market.
 Nine Miles of Track
 The contract has just been let by this fo, ,,i,, track from Winfield to New River in the heart of the Clifty coal fields It was ob- tained by c. D. Smith 6 Co.,. of this city, and the cost of the work will be something like $1OO,OOO. This firm has the whole con- tract, including the grading, the laying of tracks and the building of trestles They will sublet great part of the work, and they think that the whole job will be com- pleted in about four months.
 At Winfield the road will connect with the Kansas City, Memphis and Bir- mingham railroad and for the present all the coal mined by the Aldrich company will be shipped over the new branch and out of Winfield by means of the Kansas City road. This road will handle it to Aberdeen, where the Illinois Central will take 1t and distrib- ute it all over it's system.
 After the nine mile branch is completed and gets in working order, it is uderstood that the Canton, Aberdeen and Nashville railroad will continue the road on through Winfield to West Point, a distance of fifty two miles. Then the Illinois Central will not have to depend on the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham to get its Ma rion county coal to the world, but will take it direct from the Canton, Aberdeen and Nashville at West Point. As is well known, this last mentioned road is only the creature of the Illinois Central, though it is being built, and it is said, will be operated under an entirely different corporations
 It seems strange that the IIlonios Central road should go to all the expense of build ing a sixty-two mile railroad and of having a number of new mines opened, simplyN1r the purpose of getting coal supply of its own but such appears to be the case. This road at present gets about 100000 tons of coal annually from Walker county, in this state 1t being hauled over into Mississippi for them by the Southern railroad. The cost of hauling this amount of coal is not a little, consequently the Illinois Central people have decided to cut the expense as much as possible by building new road.