The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-16
THIRTY. CENTS A
TON FOR COAL IS
ALL LAWYER PAYS
Virginian Digs It In is Gel
lar from Rich Vein Be-
- 49,
hind Furnace

Think of discovering in the cellar OF
your residence coal mine with a rich
vein which, by scraping a bit, would
generously yield Jumps of valuable BIZ
luminous fuel at the price of 80 cents
a ton. Such a thing can be done, as
has been proved by lawyer living in
NortoA, Va, whose house this winter
has been far more abundantly sup
Piled with hot water and heat by his
personally conducted cellar coal mine
than have most apartments in Man
haitian. The name of this lucky law
yer is Henry M. Bandy.
Norton lies $500 feet above sea lev
Ell in Wise county, in the southwestern
part of Virginia, and is a thriving min
ing town. Mr.. Bandy, his wife and
two children live in a three story
house in a section of Norton known
as The Terrace.
The house is on the side Of noun
tain, the property being about $50 by
800 feet While digging a cellar for
his home, Mr.. Bandy's workmen came
across deep vein of bitunainous coal
of high ca1forific value, and the end
Of the lucky strike promises to stretch
into highly profitable and continu-
Gus future.
When his home was ready for oc-
cupancy, the lawyer arranged for a
playground for his children on one
side Of the basement, and on another
side he installed a heating and hot
water furnace. The best Of fuel he
found in superabundance right at
hand. He began to dig and found
coal apparently without limit. W 18th
just q turn Of the shovel the fuel was
unearthed, and then fired into the
door OF the furnace, situated only a
few feet away.
With tons Of coal in sight, Mr..
Bandy began to give the situation
serious attention. He saw that only
slight knowledge of mining engineer
ing was necessary for profitable fol-
lowing up Of his unusual vein. He
borrowed a mining car from a local
coal company. Fran somebody else
he obtained pick and shovel and
then Mr.. Bandy hired on honest-to-
goodness miner to dig coal enough
for all his personal needs.
Next came the bookkeeping side Of
the proposition, another new aspect Of
the case confronting the lawyer. His
profession had brought him in init
and ability, and 1t did not take. Mr..
Bandy long to figure that he had
something like $4,000 or 10000 tons
OF the finest kind Of domestic coal on
his property. Working the pencil at
ter hours enabled him to estimate ac-
curate1y that his economic method Of
mining had resulted in his obtaining
coal at the ridicuous1y low figure of
only 80 cents ton. Qualification can
be, had by anyone interested by ap-
plying to the owner.
It is true that Mr.. Bandy owns
merely the surface rights to the land
the mineral rights being reserved
by the coal barons who control such
territory in that vicinity, but a minor
item like that in no way upsets the
equilibrium Of the optindstic MIR.
Bandy, who is said to assert with
! JUNCTION that lawsuit is my long
suit" His mine Is within speaking
distance OF the surface just now. but
the mountain is a steep one and the
more he digs or rather the further
| back he goes, the nearer will MT.
! Bandy get to the center OF the earth.
However, he follows the rule Of never
| troubling trouble till trouble troubles
| him, and now and again has his ex-
or two and then gathers In the re-
sultant Jumps of fuel that amounts
to Just SO many dollars in his wal
chest.
| Instead Of saving wood and saying
nothing, the lawyer is pecking away
at old Mother Earth, and should there
be any interference with his industry
| he is authority for the assertion that
| there will be sudden explosion in his
garden patch. It Hs weIl-stocked
patch. Besides the staple garden
truck that suburbapttes and small far
mers cultivate Mr.. Bandy has two
| grape arbors a section devoted tc
Strawberries, and various fruit trees
Seriously. the lawyer Is not worried
about the future in relation to his fue
supply. His children and his chill.
dren's children. may he believes, live
to enjoy the heat given off by thu
rough diamonds Embedded in his eel.
lar vein.
And SO Mr.. Bandy, with coal mine
right under his kitchen range, ha,
felt that the Lord does take care o,
His own. However, the law by which
he earns his living win not permit hin
to become phi1anfhropist to his les
fortunately situated neighbors, nor al
low shfm to mime his cool for CONNER
cfa1 consumption. Blackstone ties hin
hand and foot, and he can't sell OF
give, away an ounce of it. But taxi
1t by and large, Mr.. Bandy is unanf
rnous1y voted in Norton to be an un
usually successful real estate opera
tor.
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