The Butler Weekly Times Newspaper, March 19, 1884, Page 1

or =o sees THE COAL FiELDS OF MISSOURI. Interesting Letter from Dr. Jno. H. Britts, of Clinton, to Col. J. L. Pace, of Butler, Missouri. Crixton, Mo.. March 5. ’54. Col. FL. Pace, Butler, Mo. In answer to your Dear Sir: inquiry 1m regard to t and he amount value of the coal-fields that would | be accessible to a line of railroad di-| 4 few miles west of Sedalia, Missou- to! rect from Butler, 3ates county, Clinton, Henry and on in an eastward direction to St. Louis, as compared with other | routes spoken of, I have this to say: That you propound a question very difficult to answer other than m ageneral way, owing to the limit- ed data at our commana, and the fact that the coal-fields ot Western Missouri, with very few exceptions, have only been prospected and work- ed near tne line of out-crop of the different veins, or seams, composing with little doupt, a vast coal-deposit extending and becoming deeper in a northwesterly direction, ull lost county, Missouri. or | | inaccessible under the upper, barren | coal measures, permian and creta- | ceous formations of Kansas. Since the projection ot Southern Kansas the sold | Osage Vailey and Railway in 1859, which made Cole | Camp, Benton Clinton, Henry county, Butler, Bates county, | _ county, Missouri. and = Emporn, Kansas, | points along its proposed line, [have | made the ISSOURL, Ww COAL-FIELDS OF south of the Missouri riv ispecial gretted that | study, and have otten tnat enterprise, begun just betore the commencement of the late war, had to be abandoned and the vast coal interest of Western) Missouri lett, for the time, undeveloped ; and | am | still more surprised that twenty-five years should have elapsed and inter- | est is just now again being awaken | | ed in this direction. | To a person familiar with the ge- ology ot Western Missourt and E tern Kan sents no very great difficulties. the coal problem pre— But in a few tacts aust be kept steadily mind in making estimates of this re- gion—favored this To all your attention: in in) many I as other respects. these tacts will briefly First. As to the lay or f the country: From given point in Western Missou- ri the age of the rocks become more surface as dip of any and more recent on the we go in a northwesterly direction; or, inother words, the dip ot strata is to the northwest in a nearly uniform rate of fifteen the mile. Second. The coal measures Missoun are composed of three se- ties—the upper, middle and lower, comprising nineteen hundred or two thousand. or more, feet of deposits. (See Mo. Reports 1872, page 6, pt 2d) That the upper series are near ly or entirely barren of workable coal; that the middle series begin- the feet to ning above the Warrensburg sand- stone, has some good seams ot coal and are ot economic value, and are worked at Lexington and = many ; placesin) Latayette, Johnson and Pnat the lower coal ot Cass counties. series, “comprising a thicknes Mrata estimated at 250 feet, contain the thickest and most valaable sex found in the State, some ot them six teet or more in thickness, as at Lew- is Station and near Windsor, Henry county, and in the vicinity of Rich Hill, Bates county. Other of Tess thickness, trom three to four feet, sre valued for cooking and gas pur- poses, xs in many mines now work- ed near Clinton Henry county. Third. That the lower coal series and Brownington, is composed of shales and sandstone, | easily decomposed or denuded. con— sequently gives a gently rolling sur- | face with the valleys ci the streams fear the line of the eut-crop, cut- | Clinton; thence nearly west | cently attracted a great deal } mined within two miles Feast of Clinton, trom the | ly tested at Kansas City, Sedalia and | Chnton of | BUTLER, ting below t lift Is bec e aiterent car- rying them a Fourth. That the whole surtace of the country, subsequent to the deposit and partial denudation of the | coal tormation, was covered with! what is known as the drift formation in greater or less thickness. Fifth. That the strike or Ene of out crop ot the lower c an irregular line, comm ri, thence ina southwesterly tion to a point five miles east of | Windsor, Henry county; thence} south to a point fitteen miles east of to th thence vicinity of south to Hoover’s coal bank on Osage through st. Clair aud Vernon coun- |} ties and further. | ‘Now. keeping the foregoing facts before us, you will readily perceive nce of the coal Brownington ; the river; thence southwest the value and import veins that are now being worked at various points in Bates, Vernon and Henry counties; that so far they are only the out-croppings of the | GREAT BODY OF COAL that lies deeper and to the northwest the economic value of which depends upon the depth that will be required to reach it. But at any rate I would estimate that the lower veins could | be worked at any point within twen- | ty miles of northwest of a given out | crop, besides commanding the seams | that would set-in and overlie for | your question, as to the ‘tamoui itl rt 0 the al found 1m the easterr enry county Here we equivalent of the Brownington coal, which will probably prove be among the lowest found in Missouri, the has of supe- That and of i LE have to as it inumediately overlies sul carboniterous. This coal at- tention On account of its very rior quality for gas purposes. south banks Judge Owens, Pitcher. Pitcher, Jor- dan and others, have been thorough- and found to yield 4 1-2 cubic feet of excellent gas !to the pound, for this | purpose to any coal west of Pitts- burg, P Your road will pass over gas-works, and superior | | | ten mile in width of this coal. | West of Clinton you will reach | | next seam of coal above, known as | | the ‘thydraulic veim,’’ on account ot | the overlying rock. This coal 1s 2 | | very unitorm seam of three or four | teet in thickness, of good quality, | and is found outcropping along Deepwater and extends well into Bates county. Your line would ful- | ly command an unlimited supplv of this coal, itis now operated for lacal use at many points between Clinton and Butler, especially in the | western portion of Henry county. ! As you are familiar with the coal | of Bates. especially in the vicinity ot | Walnut, I will not speak of it. As | near a8 [ can estimate, no coal will} } be tound east of the western portion | of Benton county, and none on the | Osage east ot Hoover’s bank, nor any east of Brownington in the di- rection of Warsaw. | : | I know of no line that would com- | mand 2 better prospect for coal than { the one mentioned: others may_ be | as good, none, | think, better. Nor | do I think that a line could be found Western | wes miles { or s3ing the coal-fields of souri, from the east to the = ther side, belt cr M that could command of accessible coal on cross it where the would be wider. coal the cusy the ot the line, from the value of ic ry, sed e gentle the cou rrade will ot your prop the well 25 TURAL RESOURCES and river, tollowing “IL th 4 weil throug encounter che commend it as SUPERIOR AGRICUL het pute, 2 ing the hills e Osag divide. til h Morgan county you rough country at a pomt where it is lest to pene and yet near ;enough for the tributaries of the Osage to turnish abundant material for ties. Hopping this statement may cause *vourself and trends interested to turther investigate this route. I remain very truly yours, Jno. H. Britts. i sand Stamped) Tinware in behalf of Snider. he Butler Wr MISSOURI, WE DNESDAY ‘Must and Will be Sold at Some Price. bad POCerl Ss laughter at BREWINGTON’S §, WUGEMSWAre, UASSWaLe, crimes Come and Ur der Palace Hotel. CORNER STONES PERPETUATED. |THE HORYICULTURAL SOCIETY. A Disput ef Long Standing Result-| Hold Another Meeting atthe Grange ing ina Four Days Lawsuit. For a long time there has been a continual dispute regarding the ex- act correctness of a line between the farms ot Messrs Thomas and Snider in Lone Oak township, and had cre- ated no little amount of excitement throughout the entire township. The original survey was made by one Josua E. Durand, in 1853 who was County Surveyor at that time and Mr. Tho nas claimed that he could still place the corner stones in their prop- er places, which fact Mr. Snider de- nied and demanded Mr. Thomas to prove same. It seems that there a well ot water on the edge of Thomas’ farm which Snider claims to be right on the line, and claims te have equal right to the well as Thomas. From such a state ot af- fairs things developed ito a law suit tast week which lasted for four days. is W. O. Jackson appeared for Mr. Themas to establish the perpetua- (uon of the originai survey, and i Thos. Silvers refuted the argument The case was tried before Justice Harper, of Lone Oak, Squire Brown, of Pleasant Gap and M. L. Wolfe, County Sur- veyor. A large number of witness— es were introduced, some ot which were the oldest citizens of the coun- t n nue «100 res ot legal ted with evidence w © ded. examination ner oved tu be survey made ted according tou oc in 1853. and just at spots designated by Mr. Thomas. “Ye will be quite a rehef to many of the citizens of Lone Oak. to know that this question is settled as all of ‘them are more or s interested. The citizens of Uniontown Pa.. have | petinoned the Postinaster- General to | appoint Mrs.Lizzie Nutt, the mother > ot the boy who killed Dukes, post- mistress of the piace. Hall in this City. | INTERESTING PAPER The Bates County Horticultural Society met in regular session at the Grange Hall in this city, last Satur- READ. day. Vice President E. P. Henry occu- | pied the chair, meeting read and approved. John B. Newberry, President elect , Sent in his resignation which was ac- ! cepted. + ‘The E.. P. “Uenty, ‘read a paper on the culture and riety of the Peach, which was lowed by a general discussion. A.C. Skinner read a_ paper Landscape Gardening. Henry Speer one on the Variety ot Apples Suitable to this President, va- fol- on and climate. where in to-days Times, and that Mr Skinner will appear next week. was The tollowmg program re- ported for the next me set for the third Saturd: Election of President J. B. Newberry. resigned. Profits of an J. B. Durand. Trai ting wh to Dp g Orchards, the Sect the the Times, w request that other papers copy. Adiourned till April roth. arv turnish proceec f the meeting to Paris ladies are now wearing blue | The abe ve Ye athly reduced rutes streets be- = gloves. As soon as the come muddy the cable reporter wil send over "ngs. MARCH see the The minutes of last | The ad- dress of Mr. Speer 1s published else- | of | the color of their stock- 19, 1884. NO. 16. ONLY CEN 15 TS Butler Weekly Times Till January ist, 1885. s Power Press. 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