Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-08-22

is highly probable that Ignite does
not exist in seams Of workable thick
ness in every part of this area, but
it is equally probable that the frac-
ton Of the area lacking Ignite IN
seams three or more feet thick Is
a small one, not more than one-flfth
of the whole. .>..,.......... ,... ... ra.*S
Forty Foot .Viens of Coal.
The Ignite seams vary in thick
ness from enc inch to forty feet, sew
eral seams twenty-five feet thick
having been found, and seams htteen
feet and over are not uncommon ana
are exposed frequently along the
Little Missouri and more rarely to
the north and east. ..
The fuel value of a given, Ignite
| will vary considerably with condl-
tions under which it is used. The
recognized standards of coal are:
The amount Of fixed carbon and per-
centage of ash that the Ignite con-
tains; the result given by the calor1-
meter and the amount OF water
which a given amount of Ignite Will
evaporate. or the three tests the
ldSC Is LuO AuOoS oe%eAoA~SSONs'
|, Judged by the fixed car bon alone,
the heating power of one ton OF
North Dakota Ignite Is worth "
per cent of a ton of West Virginia
bituminous, 65.9 per cent OF Mary
land semi-bituminous and 74.4 per
cent of Pennsylvania bituminous.
These figures show that the North
Dakota ignite rank far above the
Goals that are the average repre-
sentatives Of this class.
I Comparing the Ignite of North
Dakota with the product of the Wes-
tern interior coal fields, which In
cludes Iowa, Missouri and Kansas,
with respect to fixed carbon, the llg-
! mite appears to be its equal.
The economic value of this llg-
mite coal to the settler of Nortn
! Dakota is very great. Along the
streams and rivers Of the western
| part of the state coal Is being USED
and will continue being used In IN
creasing quantities as fuel to oper-
ate pumping plants for the irr1ga-
ton of the bottom lands. Many far-
mers have a coal mine on their
farm and secure their winters fuel
with much less labor than does the
eastern farmer in his own WOOD lot'
The state of North Dakota owns,
by virtue of certain grants from the
United States more than 3,O0O,OOO
acres of land. This land has been
granted to the state for educational
and charitable purposes, and all rev.
enue derived from such land from
lease. sale or otherwise inures to the
benefit of the common schools ana
certain educational and charltaDle
institutions of the state.
Lands Set Aside for Schools
For the benefit of the common
schools of the, state was granteu
every section numbered sixteen and
.thirty-six in each congressional
township Under this grant the state
will aquire title to approximately
100000 acres when all surveys OF
the state are completed. The exact
acreage cannot be- determined at
this time, as some OF the lands IN the
western part of the state have not
yet been surveyed.
Other grants aggregating 66S,0So
acres were made for the beneht OF
the several educational and CHART
able institutions, among which are
the state university at Grand Forks.
the agricultural college at Fargo,
school for deaf at Devils Lake, nor
NAL schools at Valley City and May
vile. and the insane asylum at
Jamestown, sevral thousand acres OF
land having been apportioned to
each of the above named institutions
and to several others not mentioned
herein. These lands have been sell
lected by the state from unoccupled
government lands and such selec-
tons having been approved by the
Secretary of the Interior, title to the
same became vested in the state.
Title to the sections sixteen and
thirty-six become vested in the state
as soon as the same are 1dentlned
by the government survey. .s,.
The sections sixteen and thir ty'
six are, of course, uniformly stu
ated throughout the state in each
and every congressional township.
The lands selected to fill the grants
to the institutions above mentioned
are situated in the greatest quantl-
ties in the central and northern
parts of the state the same having,
been chosen in early statehood with
the object in view Of securing the.
best unoccupied government lands
then available. The state has very
little selected lands in the Red River
valley country. as these were more
thickly settled and the greater part
Of the government land therein had
been taken up before the state made n g
any. selections. 5ss555 n
The business of selling, leasing and J,
otherwise handling these immense
tracts Of land devolves upon the
state land department 4 Before any
land is offered for sale the state
board must order the land appraised
which appraised is made by the
county board of appraisers Of the
county wherein the land is situated.
Appraisels are made by personal In
spection OF the land by the board OF
appraisers at the actual value Of the
land. The appraised thus made 1s
returned to the Office OF the commits
sioner and approved by the state