The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-08-18
President Holiday of Gas Conn
pany Visits Scene.
RUSHING THE WORK.
Coming on Direct Line From
Lawrence to Topeka.
One Hundred and Seventy-five
Men Doing the Work.

The Kansas Natural Gas company'a
pipe line, which is being laid to To-
peka, has reached the little village OF
Stull, in Douglas county, which is be-
tween Topeka and Lawrence.
The map shows Stull, as the crow
flies, to be g miles directly east of
Topeka and about IL miles west of
Lawrence. A line drawn on the man
straight from Lawrence to Topeka.
passes through Stull. The natural gas
pipe line is being laid, practically. on
survey which follows this line. The
pipe line is coming over hills ana
through valleys with hardly a turn or
twist.
Thursday afternoon Mayor Davis.
| Councilman Charles K. Holiday, Chief
| of Police Goodwin and State Journal
| reporter made a trip in Goodwin's au~
| tomobile east of Topeka in search OF
the pipe line.
Mr.. Holiday, president of the Ex-
celsior Coke and Gas company. has
been anxious for several days to see
for himself what is being done to-
ward bringing natural gas to Topeka
and it was to determine the location
of the working crews that the trip was
made
A force of 175 laborers. of which
number 125 are Italian, Slav and
| Greek laborerS, are working on the
pipe line About SO Americans make
up the force of foremen and pipe lay
| ers. At present there is a slight DELAY
on account of the failure of shipments
of pipe to reach the line.
| The present force employed on the
Kansas Natural Gas company pipe line
is laying the line toward Topeka at
the rate of about a half mile a day,
which means that unless the force il
increased the line will not reach To-
peka until about the middle of Sep
tember.
The pipe line is completed from
Lawrence to within two miles and a
half of Stull. When that point was
reached the shipments of pipe failed to
arrive. The ditch diggers, however,
have been working right along and
the ditch is dug, and ready for the
1 pipe, to point west of Stuli.
The pipe has been shipped recently
to Lecompton and has been hauled
from there. eight miles overland, to
the pipe line. The next distributing
point will be Grover, station on the
compton.
Although the ditch for the pipe is
excavated but two feet deep some de-
lay has been experienced from the fact
east of Stull a heavy ledge of rock
was found cropping out of the ground
and the ditch will have to be blasted
through this ledge.
| The pipe line south of Iawrencs
has been completed toward Ottawa ex-
Icepting a short distance close to Law
renee where the Kansas Natural Gas
company had some trouble about se-
curing the right of way over the gov
ernment land on which the Haskell
Indian institute is located. With the
exception of this gap the line is re-
ported practically complete from StulI
south to the main pipe line running
from the gas fields to Kansas City.
The pipe to be used on the line
coming to Topeka stopped coming to
iLecompton week ago and since then
but little progress has been made.
Some shipments of pipe were reported
to have reached Kansas City yesterday.
The Kansas Natural Gas company's
pipe line to Topeka will be of II inch
pipe, laid two feet in the ground, and
the line will be almost as straight as it
can be surveyed. The line runs
lands and across highways and
through villages. Grades make no diff
ference with a pipe line. Material has
been distributed at nearly all the sta
peka and Ottawa. The camp Of the
| laborerS is to be moved this week from
near Stull eight miles nearer Topeka.
The foreman of the camp said yes
| terday afternoon that with the present
force of men at work the pipe line
| would reach Topeka about September
Is, but that a larger force of men
might be set to work, and it was pos
sible that work might be commenced
on the Topeka end of the line and the
| line be extended east to meet the lire
being laid west from Stull.
"The pipe line is coming" said
Charley Holiday when he saw the
ditch, the laborers, the pipe connec-
tions and the activity near StulL
have seen and 1 am satisfied. McDon-
aid told me the line would reach To-
peka about the first of September.
Perhaps he will put larger force of
men at work"