The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-11-22

One of the most important periods in
the history of mining in this western
country will come with the introduction
Of electrical power for the operation
of machine drills. HOSTS, air compress
sors. the propelling of ore cars both
in the mine and on the surface ana
the operation of tramways; and there
is every reason to believe that the day
is not far off when the application OF
electricity for these purposes will be
come so general that the use of s-eam
will be very largely done away with.
In fact. Utah is just entering upon
an era Of what might be called cleo
trical life. and there can be no doubt
but that this era viii bring with it a
prosperity and advancement that at
this time can scarcely be realized or
co1nprehended, and in view Of this II
would be Wen for the mine owners OF
the state to make arrangements so that
they can share in the advantages tnst
are sure to come with the general utlIl-
cation OF electrical power.
In this city electricity is used Tor q
variety of purposes, such as lighting
and the generation of power Tor lnduS-
trial enterprises and the DropelllnS OF
street cars. and this power, until the
past few months has been produced
with the aid of fuel and steam 1t IS
not with electrical power so generated
that this article has to deal with, but
with the enterprises of this character
in which the natural waterways OF the
state supply the primary Iorce OF
power. the utilization OF when, aLler
the initial cost of the plant IS suslalhFG
will result in a supply OF force ana
power at much below the expense at
1ached to the use of steam, or even
electricity that is generated by the use
OF coal
Al the present time there is one
plant in the state that derives its
power from the direct application OF
water. and this enterprise has demon
sbrated the feasibility Of the transm4s-
sion of electrical power for a long
distance. and also the fact that the
power so derived and supplied can be
furnished at a cost that is much less
than the power derived from steam or
other methods.
The plant above referred to IS the
one in Big Cottonwood canyon that is
owned and operated by the Big Cot
tonwOod Power company, and Z IS this
company shat is now furnishing cleo
trical power for one of the electric
light companies of this city; and the
value that will accrue to the people
ply of power and light can hardly be
estimate
Resides the plant already mentioned
there are several other enterprises OF
similar nature chat are now IN course
Of completion, and i. may be said that
when these different plants are all in
operation that the power that viii be
offered TO the different industries OF
The state will be something immense
and should result in the establishment
of manufacturing inStltUt tons IN every
accessible point throughout the com
monWealth OF Utah
Among the electrical power. plants
now in course Of construction might
be mentioned the Pioneer Power com
pany's gigantic enterprise in Ogden,
and it is stated that this IS the largest
work OF this character in the west. Be
sides this there is the Utah Power
company and Frank Gil4eSpie'S-- cleo
trical works in Big Cottonwood can
yon: the Power & Electric company,
limited. of Little Cottonwood the
Provo Power company. and the plant
now being installed in the vicinity of
bennington, all of which are within
easy reach of most Of the leading min
ing camps of the state
This being the case there IS no reason
why all of these camps should not set
aside their steam plants and adopt the
cheaper, more effective and more con-
venient power generated by electricity
Bingham, Mercur, Eureka, Park City
and the camps in the CottonWoOds AMI
in Ophir district could all of them
utilize electrical power with beneficial
results, and il is the belief of the
writer that within a period of two
years from the present time two-thirds
of the mining companies in the state
viii be using electricity in the manipu
lation of their machine drill, in oper-
ating their hosting works, in the pro-
polling. of ore cars above and under
ground and the illumination of the
workings of the mine; and that every
mill in these camps will use the cleo
trio fluid in the operation of their
crushers and rolls, and later or in the
reduction of ores; and one of the beau
ties of the utilization of this power is
that no matter how inaccessible the
mines or the nlillsites may be- or how
ever inclement the weather, the power
is always ready for application at a
moments notice, and it can as readily
be shut off.
At the present time electrical power
is. not in use in any of the mining
camps of the state. except for light
ing purposes. At one time, however,
before the ieath of Major Goodspeed,
small water power plant and dynamo
was installed in Big Cottonwood can
yon at Mil D for the purpose of gen
Grating electrical power for the oper-
alton of electric drills in the Reed &
Goodspeed mine, three miles UP South
Fc-k guich. It's Plant HAD a capsc.1v
OF 40-horse power, and this was suf-
ficient TO work one or two drills in the
mine, and also 10 operate a sawmiIl
that was located near the power house.
This experiment was a great success
and demonstrated the feasibility of the
enterprise, as the electric drill could dc
the work eff half q dozen men with
hand-drills, and greatly facilitated the
development of the property, and it is
believed that had ii not been for The
sudden death Of the major, that the
utility Of the application of electrical
power would have been demonstrated
to a much greater extent.
Besides the uses of electricity in
mining there is every reason to be-
lieve that with the advent of the cleo
trical period, as it may well be called,
a hundred Industrial and manufa ctur-
ing enterprises will spring up in this
country where now there is one. One
of these viii be employed in the man
ufacturing of bi-products from the
salts of the Great Salt lake; another
viii be the manufacture of aluminium.