Newspapers / Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, … / Feb. 4, 1923, edition 1 / Page 5
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COAL MINE FIRES BURN FOR YEARS Peep Underground Fires Still ■ One of Great Problems of Illinois Mining SPRINGFIELD, III., Feb. S.—(By T]ie Associate^ Press).—Fires burning for years in coal mines, deep beneath the ground, are one of the unsolved problems of coal mining in Illinois. Many of these fires, walled up years ga<>. recently have caused trouble in Robert in One is are “gob coal but leathern Illinois, according to J, Medill, director of the state depart ment of mines and minerals. Tl,e Ponk brothers mine at Collins vj,,0i the North mine of the Illinois and • liana Coal corporation at Witt, and icveral mines near Springfield have h'fn compelled recently to seal up ' rlinns of their workings to prevent «.,read of these smouldering fur ‘ (,Pp' which burn without stopping • 1^'hidden chambers underground. ' 'inf was ordered closed entirely. The fires start in the refuse which tpft after- the coal is dug and s ' fd by a process similar to spon t,necus combustion, according to Mr \toil'll The miners call them a's" from the word applied bv ' ;„ eers to the debris in the mine. They do not flare up in flame, h,.,.n slowly, smouldering away fo ,,rs until they eat themselves out f,wl Chambers where these fires start '.come a mass of live red coals and he sealed up to keep the air from 'tf1The trouble is caused when a fire way through a wall and threat , t„ break through into the mine ..kings Sometimes the smouldering lo • eat up the supporting coal pillars resulting in weakening the support for ■ llf. eround above. Tli'ese fires cannot be extinguished by „.nter Mr. Medill stated. Water only ”k,,« them worse. It is the chemical 7:,ion resulting from the mixing of ”ter and the refuse that causes the "lelnal combustion. The only way to .nn ,he fires is to remove the burning p , from the mine. Many such fires ■ybe seen on slack piles on the sur ” i„ this section of the state. These he flooded with water and extin guished. Mr. Medill stated. of sensitive youth stumbling into the pinnate world of love is the theme >r Edward C. Booth's novel The rree of the Garden,” to be published ■his week by Appleton. It is a richly nrought piece of fiction, beautifully spiffing the Yorkshire where in the „iln the scenes are laid. One sees h, Thursday Hardrip a young g»rl yhose pastoral life has enclosed her within narrow horizons, and in Guy j pens haw a youth of well-off paren i-ce between whom and contact with Jis-illusloning reality has stood an ner-anxious mother, herself afraid of ■fe On these three characters atten tion is focused. How love blossoms netween the young people, how their love is misjudged, what follows in the steps of deceit and division, how -ife ran appear in its most sinister bold nes sand not overcome loyalty and iove are of what Mr. Booth has the story to tell. "The Tree of the Gar ■len': is being hailed as a novel of ex traordinary significance in England, one in which the author of “Fondle oas entered into his rightful estate as one of the leaders of present day flc Rose Macaulay, author of “Potter igjn" etc., is one of those whom Ed ward C\ Booth’s “The Tree of the Gar den” has moved to delighted expres sion. She says: “By the side of ‘The Tre* of the Garden’ most modern novels seem sharp, trivial, over-intelli gent. dry. or colourless. It . has the plump, full-juiced ripeness of a sweet apple.” The Manchester Guardian says: “In Thursday Hardrip Mr. Booth has created one of the great women of fiction.” The Bookman •London) declares: “The author steps into the front rank of present-day English novel ists.’’ Fitzhugh Green is an Arctic ex plorer who in his new yarn, “The My* sterv of the Erik,” proves adept at story-telling. The fact that he has been a member of such expeditions as rhe Crocker Land Arctic expedition and the MacMillan expedition, which established a new record to the north west on the Polar sea, indicates the exactness of his portrayal of the ex> plorer’s adventures. The story fea tures an interesting mystery and in cludes a race back to civilization that is immensely exciting. A husky young American, Rudd Winters, is the central character, the other being the remaining members, of the crew of the Erik, which sails north van! in the hope of passing through tlte famous Northwest passage. Frances R. Sterrett, author of “The Amazing Inheritance,” and other novels, made an interesting discovery during her summer abroad last year. She found that “German children are lining taught Russian instead of French at present and every family which can afford it has a Russian gov erness. because Germans are looking mrward to close relations witn nus Fia." in view of constant reports of a reapprochement between Germany and Russia, Miss Sterrett’s observation is illuminating-. “Absolutely petrified” is Miss Mar tha Miller's comment concerning her fainting spell when she was about to deliver her first lecture recently. This is one of the members of the Akeley gorilla hunt expedition in Africa, and U anyone wants to read of what Miss Miller accomplished in the way of hon's hunting and other jungle oc cupations they should read Mary Hast ings Bradley’s new book '‘On the Gor il a Trail,” which narrates the ex pedition's adventures in the dark con sent. It is a very different matter to face a lion in the jungle and the men’s club of the Park Presbyterian church, Newark, evidently. In Mrs. Bradley's book one also finds how little five-year-old daughter Alice thrived amid the dangers and novel tifs of gorilla land, to which these la(l:<s and other members of the ex- " ^edition were the first American visi- | Sir Horace Plunkett, nominated to jhe Irish senate, has arrived in the - nit ori States. If we were nominated 0 the Irish senate we thin^c we would ( 0 the same thing.—American Lumber man (Chicago). That until very recently North Carolina had heard so much of her “poverty” that she thought she was indeed poor— That the" extent of our wealth and resources, perhaps be cause of this oft-repeated tale of woe, was never fully com prehended until we awakened suddenly to the realization that we could pay into the Federal Treasury a sum in ex cess of sixty millions of dollars revenue in a single calendar year— That, two years ago, finally awakened to our true condition, alive to the great natural resources of the state, developed and undeveloped, we became alive at the same time to our responsibilities and to the fearful neglect we had counten anced in the policy of poverty touching our state’s educa tional and charitable institutions— That, thus aroused from a lethargy that had retarded our development for decades—retarded beyond what we can ever do to repair, development of the richest resource to which any people can fall heir, its youth—North Carolina people, as with one voice, demanded that their representa tives in government should reverse the age-old policy of poverty and conform to true conditions— That, in the face of the worst business depression through which we have ever passed, but undaunted because they knew the substantial foundation of the state’s intrinsic wealth, the patriotic people of North Carolina first pleaded for and then demanded a progressive program for education —demanded that there be appropriations for building com mensurate with the need, and appropriations for support that would take into consideration an enlarged service to the state— That, finally, at the polls last fall, this same patriotic cit izenship of the state stamped their approval upon the ag gressive, progressive policies adopted in the last general as sembly, thereby expressing a desire, as can readily be inter preted, that such policies be continued and—should neces sity arise—even broadened I We Had Vision In Adversity— Shall We Lose It In Prosperity? If we, as a people, could recognize our responsibilities and show an overwhelming desire—passion, even—to discharge them while business depression enveloped us, is there any good reason why we should experience a change of heart with returning prosperity ? The fundamental wealth of North Carolina, its resources, has suffered no change during the past two years. Indeed, we are richer today because conditions are more favorable to the development of those resources; we are in better con dition to discharge our obligations! And the very public programs that were instituted at the behest of those now Termed the “ultra-progressives” have added cubits to the stature of North Carolina as a state that stands for something, a state possessed not only of im measurable wealth,'but vision as well—and with it all the determination to use its God-given talents! Is North Carolina richer or poorer for the millions that have been spent during the past two years for the building of good roads and the erection of permanent, plants for the training of our youth and the care of our unfortunates? Do we charge those millions to expense, or do we look to them as an investment Jrom which we are already receiving rich returns and will receive ever richer dividends as the years go by? Shall the Spirit of Reaction Blind North Carolina to the Truth? We are called .“propagandists of progressivism,” “tax spenders”—but We would also like you to know that, like yourselves, we are “taxpayers.” It is our money that we urged the state to spend two years ago—that has been spent to greater advantage than any we ever previously spent. And it is our money we are willing that the state should continue to spend so long as the necessity for such expendi ture exists, because we are not spending it for someone else but for ourselves! Again—by whatever name the reactionary chooses to call us—we come to you people of North Carolina now, as we did two years ago, not to muddy the waters and camouflage the situation, but to “face the facts.’’ And the facts are in controvertible. We are willing and anxious that you should know them and act upon them in accordance with your bet ter judgment. The facts as to the ability of North Caro lina, financially, to prosecute, on an even broader scale, the progressive program of education undertaken two years ago we believe are before you. Has the program thus far been justified? You have said so at the polls. But let us emphasize the facts that not only have our institutions shown themselves to be worthy of the trust we have reposed in them, equal to the undertaking of building wisely and well on a scale never before pro jected in the state, but their prophecies of two years ago regarding immediate and developing needs—calls upon them for greater service—have been fulfilled. Two years ago we asked that these institutions be giyen according to the measure of their needs; and in that re quest we had the well-nigh unanimous support of the men and women of North Carolina. That is all we are askii... today—that the program begun shall be continued accord ing to the measure of the need, for both building and sup port. And, necessarily, the cost of maintenance must be vastly increased or the physical plants we build for the training of our boys and girls will become liabilities rather than assets. Denying the funds needed for further physical equipment of these institutions, we will be curtailing the wealth that knows no measure, an educated citizenship. Denying proper maintenance for these institutions, they will rise to mock our stupidity. Reduced to final analysis, it is a busi ness proposition. Let North Carolina meet it in a business Way—go forward with it and quit quibbling. We Appeal to You To every civic organization, to every frater nal order, to every club of men and women banded together for the cause of progress, to every parent and teacher, to every man and woman who has been enriched by the bless ings of higher educational training—to let your voice be heard in Raleigh, that the pres ent general assembly may know that the spirit of reaction is not the spirit of North Carolina. Your representatives there are pledged to your cause. J^et them know what that cause is. Association for Promotion of Education in North Carolina A. M. Scales General Director Greensboro, N. C.
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Feb. 4, 1923, edition 1
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