The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-16
REPORT FILED ON
 COAL LANDLEASES
I. J. RutIedge Submits His
 Findings to the Governor
OUTPUT HAS INCREASED
In Future Payments to State VIII Be Much Larger Than In Past, as the Property Is Being Rapid
 Iy Developed.


 Montgomery June 15.-(SpeciaL)-A very interesting report on the coal leases of the lands of the University of Alabama was made public today. The report was made by Assistant Examiner of Public Accounts T. J. Rutledge, and bears date of May 8, 1903. The report was submitted to the board of trustees at the recent meeting in Tuscaloosa for action. Fol- lowing Is a full text of the report:
 The Report.
 His Excellency. William D. Jelks, Mont
 gomery Ala.
 Dear Sir-Assigned by your excellency to examine the status and condition of the leased lands of the University of Ala bama, and to check up and verify as far as practicable the out put of coal, under these leases, I have discharged that duty to the best of my ability and beg leave to submit the following re- port:
 The Cahaba Southern Mining company lease.
 The first lease of the university coal lands was made in 1895 to the above com pany for a period of ten years, and em- braced 600 acres of land, located at liar grove, Bibb county, on a royalty of [ cents per ton, and since the beginning of operations, in October, 1895, to and in- cludlng the month of March, 1903, this company has paid to the treasurer of the university s32, ,453 .21 royalty on 463,6 GIT tons of coal mined at this point. This shows a revenue of $54. per acre from this six hundred acres of lands for the period above stated. It may take two years to work out the balance of the coal on this tract, and MT. P. B. Thoams. superintend- ent, who is capable and experienced mine operator, informed me that the uni versity might reasonably expect to re- ceive from S10,000 to $20,000 additional roy- alties under this lease. This company is also taking out coal from the same slope on land leased or purchased for the Ten nessee Coal and Iron company, adjoining the university tract. I have checked over the books of this company showing their output in tonnage and compared 1t with statement of monthly remittances to the treasurer of the university and with statements of their output made to the state mine inspector and can find no error in their accounts.
 cahaba Southern Mining Company.
 This company has also leased from the university 520 acres of land, and is open ing a new slope and installing an expen- sive plant on this land. When put In operation they will have a large out-turn from this new mine. The company has paid to the treasurer of the university the minimum royalty from the execution of this lease through March, 1903, amount ing to $1317.45.
 Braehead Mining Company Lease. I have never seen this lease, it being in the possession of one of the university trustees at the time I was in Tuscaloosa. The property covered by it is located at Braehead on the Mobile and Ohio rail- way, in Bibb county. MT. J. w. Brand, superintendent of this mine, informed me that it embraced 400 acres of lands, and the royalty paid was cents per ton. From June 1900. to March. 1903, this com pany has paid in royalties total of $3.56S.24 The last payment for March. 1903, was $l89.50. The production of this mine is increasing and future payments will be larger than for recent months. have checked the treasurers statement and the payroll sheets of this company. and compared them to the return made to the state mine inspector as far as prac- ticable, and think that they have made fair and correct returns.
 Galloway Coal Company Lease.
 This the most important of all the leases yet made of the university coal i lands, covering 29 forties of land, or a total of 1160 acres, and runs for twenty years from January l, 1902 on a royalty of cents per ton, the best figure yet ob- tained in any case. The minimum royalty agreed upon has been paid upto the last quarter $4000 having been realized from this source, but the company has not yei | taken out any coal from these lands. went out to their slope, which is about l one mile from Braehead, on the Mobile and Ohio railway. This company has built a branch road, erected numerous houses and Is putting up a costly and expensive plant of machinery. The slope Il well under way, and they expect to be in full operation on a large scale by September or October. The superintendent of this mine. MT. W. H. Pendle, informed me that they had already spent $40,0O0 to s45. 900 on this plant, and when in full op- eratIon they will have a capacity of 1500 or 1900 tons of coal per day.
 Up to the present time there has been no check or examination of the business l conducted under these coal leases. This | state of affairs ought not to continue as | the plain principle of business and the magnitude of the interests involved both | clearly lnOlcdIe. nBSe TOydllleB SnOulO be checked up every three or six months and to guard the university interest | from the hazard of loss the work should be under the direction of some person of practical mining experience. This is i'm portant from the fact that some of the companies mining coal on university lands are also mining coal on their own lands or on lands they lease from other persons, and taking 1t out through the same opening, thus affording a chance for errors to be made in the output of mines.
 Another matter which should be most closely looked after is the depredations | committed by crosstie and timber men on these lands. Large quantities of valu- able timber have been cut in various counties where these lands are located, | in violation of law, and a large sum of money lost to the university on this ac- | count.
 | The coal lands of the university leased | during the past year should produce in royalties $200,000 to 900, according to the estimate of a practical mine operator, and If the remainder of this valuable grant is properly managed it will be a rich heritage to the university in the fu- | ture. The amount of coal under these lands almost staggers the credulity of the average man of business, and it should be the jealous care of our iegis- lators to make the value of these great mineral properties fully available for the | cat1ea of education