The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1898-11-25
ABOUT KANSAS COAL.
Over Sixteen Bullion Dollars OF Buried
Wealth Revealed By PICK and DrIu-FIg-
uFes from the Geological Survey.


The state university geological sur
vey Of Kansas has now been in exist
ence about three years and In that
time the officers Of this survey have
published four volumes which are
standard works Of reference on Kan
sas mineral resources One Of these
which has Just been issued treats OF
the most valuable product IN the state,
the coal 1t is volume which viii
aid the state very much in advertising
our coal territory and viii show the
people Of other states that Kansas IS a
mining as well as an agricultural dis
trict From an examination Of this i'm
pOrtaut memoir we find the following:
The thickness Of the coal measure series Of
rocks IN Kansas is 3O9O feet and the area COW
cred is p, COD square miles Of which 5000 ere
productive OF coal Twenty-nine counties in
eastern and southeastern Kansas and six COun-
ties in the west central portion Of the state are
coal producing. Two-thirds OF the total coal
output comes from an area OF so square miles
In the southeastern corner OF the state, in
Cherokee, Crawford and Labette counties
Here Is found the heaviest coal seam in the
state. the Weir-Pittsburg coal. which is 20
inches In thickness This seam is found over
an elliptical area ten miles in width
In the same area are found other valuable
seams Of coal mined at Columbus, Fort Scott
and other places As far north as LeavenwOrth.
at depth Of 10 feet coal seams are found
with an aggregate thickness OF over seven feet
II the same amount Of coal should be found at
all points equi-distlnt from the Pittsburg coal
area with LeavenwOrth, there would be an
area Of over 1000 square miles with seven feet
OF coal The records OF the deep wells indicate
this area is UnderIaid with at least one per
cent Of this amount A stratum Of coal 2Iz
feet thick viii produce per square mile ], 2O.Occ
tons This would give for this area with the
allowance for one per cent, g., III, 600 tons
Coal mining first commenced in the ChcrO-
kee county region in the SIS and the first rail-
road mines were opened in 1870. In ISI! the
Keith & Rawlings company began operations
and greatly aided the development Of this rich
area In 1896 the Santa Fe Coal company was
organized, which is now changed 20 the Mt
Carmel Coal Mining company. which IS
one Of the LARGEST coal companies in the
west to-day During the year 1877 CherO-
Eee and Crawford counties produced 2,652.-
CD tons OF coal employing neavly COO
men This output is s3s2 per cent Of that Of
the entire state In fS59 Maj Hawn organized
the LeavenwOrth Coal Mining company and a
shaft Tl3 feet deep was completed in 1S7l IN
1873 the legislature authorized the officers Of
the state penitentiary to sink q shaft at Ian
sing and coal was reached at 7l3 feet in 1881
Besides the state mine there are now two COM
panies mining coal IN the LeavenwOrth area
the LeaTenwOrth company and the Home
Riverside Company-their total output in 1897
being S57. ~ tons. employing 1000 men The
state uine ~ Lansing produced $4,000 tons Of
this output
The Usage coal was discovered IN 1853 at Car
bon Eill, near Carbonate. BY q Mr. Dodds in
digging well In I5s1 the Santa Fe company
entered the field and leased about 30 O0J acres
This area is now controlled by the Mount Car
mel Coal company, which controlled about 49,
per cent Of the output Of Osage coal IN 1897
The whole distance along the Santa re rail
road from Carbonate 70 Usage City IS now one
continuous mining area and the amount Of
coal still remaining Is many times as great as
that which has been removed It's stated that
this one area could supply the whole state for
centuries TO come
The long wall system Of mining IS employed
in the coal fields Of LeavenwOrth and Usage
counties The msthod IS 50 named because It
exposes the face Of the coal in Q long wall in
the process OF mining and IS OF especial alva1-
tage in the ease with which the waste material
IS disposed o. and used 70 help sustain the roof.
Modern machinery 70 facilitate the mining
and handling OF coal Is used in the kansas
mines and Is carefully and completely described
in this report Also complete chemical analy-
ses and physical tests are given for the various
Goals OF the state These show that the lower
Goals are the best, as they give the most heat
and are more solid; but the upper or Usage coal
IS an excellent fuel coal Kansas Goals rank
very favOrably with eastern Goals and the
Weir-Pittsburg coal has the greatest heat c.
p1ClET OF any OF the soft oltun lnous Goals Of me
United States according 20 government tests
Only q small portion Of the entire available
coal area is now opened and ths mines ara 10
Gated where the seams are OF the greatest
thickness and where the depth Is not too great
70 in crease the expense OF mining. II the price
Of coal should advance even a few cents per
bushel, Q large number OF new mines would be
opened In areas where the cost OF mining now
binders their development There are now "a
prominent coal companies working in the Kan
sas coal fields besides a considerable number
Of small mines run very irregularly BY private
parties
With all allowances, there would be IN Kan
sas 400 square miles Of coal producing terri
tory with an average Of p feet Of coal The
output for 1897, 8. 30 90 tons. would represent
al area OF two square miles At this rate il
would take :, GO) years TO exhaust the coal de-
posts OF the Kansas coal measures
The highest and lowest prices paid for Kan
sas coal since 1852 are p Is and "a cents SO the
value OF an acre Of coal 25z feet thick would be
between g so and f2.9ta The value Of coal TO
the square mile would be between a Is5. 60
and 1883. 80 The value then for the 1000
square miles would be between Sl6.75s. 40. 900
and a. s43. 69OO0J. An examination Of these
figures viii give our people q new idea Of the
mineral resources Of cur state especially when
Il IS remembered this IS only one Of our min
erals
The principal consumers OF Kansas Goals in
order Of importance are, the railways. manu-
featuring plants, racking-h0uses. gas works
and coEling establishments The coal produc-
tion OF the state has steadily increased since
1880 and was greatest IN 1897, with exception
OF the year Is9L