Bismarck Tribune

It Should be Investigated.

Capt. W. Wingett, under date of Scotland D. T., February 3, writes: "Inclosed find a sample of coal found in Charles Mix county, about which there is now so much talk. Excitement runs wild, and there is a regular stampede to that locality to take claims under the mining laws. To say the least everything is wild over the find." The sample mentioned looks much like the shale commonly found in the bluffs along the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers. When a small flake of it is held in the flame of a gas jet, it burns with a bright, clear flame, much like the gas, and gives out a smell something between that of a burned rubber boot and of a leaky kerosene can. This smell is probably from the unconsumed gas, and would not be noticeable if the combustion were in a stove or engine grate. The shale that is found cropping out of the river bluffs below and above Bismarck should be examined. They have all the indications of the Charles Mix county fuel, and possibly, very probably, some of them are combustible like the new material referred to. Large veins of this inflammable shale is seen between Bismarck and the mouth of the Yellowstone. At Fort Berthold it has been on fire in one of the river bluffs near there for time out of mind; the smoke issuing from a naturally formed chimney. This phenomenon has been witnessed by thousands of persons who have passed up and down the river. In 1873 Capt. Grant Marsh gathered a quantity of this shale from a vein above here, and placing it in a blacksmith forge discovered its combustible qualities to be equal to cannel coal. The discovery was a popular theme of conversation with the captain for many days, but nothing came out of it. The matter will probably receive the attention it seems to require, now since the excitement below has taken an epidemic form.