The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1902-11-07
amount of coai that is to be had there

A. Well in preparing for very large
could the miners afford o.work the mines
and make the large expenditure that is
necessary to do it in the most economical
was liable to be changed, or as l said be-
FORE. the door was liable to be shut any
day. by somebody saying, WELL we think
we win turn this current of commerce
somewhere else; we would rather have 1T
from some other place. The field, we
think, is the largest is the cheapest. 1t
will promote the mining of coal down
there and the use of coal up here, and we
can do that better than anybody else can.
Mr.. Harris then proceeded to explain
at some length the transportation of the
ores of precious metals along the line OF
the Burlington road. He said the Burling-
ton line ran to Billings and through the
Black Hills country in South Dakota:
where there are large mineral deposits, all
Of low grade.
Continuing, he said that the Burlington
stockholders thought that through the
a large amount of business would be of
necessity thrown to the Burlington, which
would produce a greater revenue than If
the Burlington operated alone.
He then took up the question of iron
ore and explained the large advantages OF
shipments of iron ore from the deposits
on the Mesaba range, reached by the
this means the ore could be taken down
the Mississippi valley to ST. Louis and
coal returned on the same cars. This
much lower rates than would otherwise
be possible. There are large manufac-
turing interests along the line of the
Burlington. especially In Missouri. and
many articles manufactured which are
adapted to the Oriental trade. By means
OF connection of the Great Northern
and Northern Pacific, these manufactur,
ing plants are greatly increased and
stimulated, as there is a means of direct
shipment to the coast. There are also
large quantities of raw manufactured cot
low, 70 h0 II, ivaVNn "a in OFT
the coast. All of this made a business
which is valuable to the public, because
the larger the amount of general freight
which could be secured, the lower would
be the freight on merchandise and speci-
fic shipments of individuals along the
line of the roads.
He was especially strong in his claim
that the supply of coal to the northwest
could not have otherwise been made prac-
teal, as the cost of transporting coal
without the return business for the coal
cars would make rates so high as to be
almost prohibitory, but with the inter-
weaving of business both ways they could
make the coal supply adequate for the
northwest and within the reach OF all.
President MelIen's Testimony.
Mr.. Mellen, president of the Northern
Pacific, testified that he had held that
position since August, 1897, and that the
position carried with it membership in
ship in the executive committee. He had
at one time, some years ago, been con-
nected with the Union Pacific. He was
had been for ten years. He thought that
the acquisition Of the Burlington system
by the Northern Pacific and Great North
ern not only did not restrain trade and
commerce between the states and the
foreign nations, but that they promoted
it both in freight and passenger service:
The Northern Pacific as a company had
never taken any part in the formation OF
the Northern Securities company, and
the Great Northern and Northern Paci-
fic were in equally the same position they
were in before the Northern Securities
was formed.
e. NJ. Sanders.
The last witness examined in St. Paul
was Mr. E. N. Sanders, president of the
Northwestern Fuel company: He testified
coal, and had principal charge of that
company, distributing coal in Minnesota.
North and South Dakota and Nebraska,
and some IN Iowa and Ut
100000 tons annually. He also stated
that he was interested in the Spring VAL
ley, Coal company in northern Illinois,
and in a coal mine in Indiana. All of this
is bituminous COAL. He said that within
short period the greater portion of the BIZ
luminous coal which he had furnished for
the northwest came from PennSylI ania
and Ohio, and that in recent years they
had difficulty in obtaining their supplies.
During the last two years it was almost
impossible to get anything like an ade-
quate supply. The requirements for trans
portation on the railroads from the east
have been so great that they have been
absolutely unable to furnish the motive
power to move the coal and the cars
themselves during the short period of
navigation.
The following questions and answers
were especially pertinent:
@. Heretofore, prior to the year 1901.
how has it been with Illinois coal shipped
from the mines in that state destined to
points beyond ST. Paul and Minneapolis?
A. 1t has been almost impossible to
get it through on account of the fact that
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and
other roads who could haul it to those
points have always been unwilling and in
fact have refused to allow their equip
ment to go through to the destination of
the coal, which necessitated transferring
it here into the cars of the lines reach
ing north, to the great injury of the
coal and great delay in transit, and with
great addition to the cost.
Mr.. Grover-What makes the additional
cost?
Witness-The labor of transferring and
the delays incident to transferring.
coal itself, and whether that effect is
greater on Illinois coal than on eastern
coal.
A. It is damaging to all grades of BIZ
luminous coal, and especially to Illinois
coal, in that it breaks it up and produces
large amount of screenings and waste,
to the great detriment of the purchaser.
Q. What advantage would it be in the
transportation and distribution of coal if
the cars could go directly from the mines
in Illinois to points of destination on the
Great Northern and Northern Pacific
reads without breaking bulk?
A. 1t would make the Illinois fields d.
rectly available to the users of coal ON
their coal supply cheaply and promptly.
Q. Is this Illinois coal of such charac-
ter that a consumer can put in a large
stock of it?
A. 1t is coal that is not advantageously
stocked, as 1t contains rather more sui
phur, is more friable and disintegrates
more rapidly that higher classes of Goals.
But it has an evaporating- power which is
adequate for all purposes, in comparison
with Eastern coal, is used fresh mined,
and after being shipped directly from the
mines.
Q. About hoB? far west ou the lines Of
the Great Northern and Northern Pacific
do your operations extend?
A. Well, in bituminouS coal to the bor-
derS of the State of Montana, the west
ern limits of the Dakotas and Nebraska
Advantage to Customers.
@. Assuming, Mr.. Sanders, that the
coal can come from the Illinois coal mines
up here on the Burlington road and then
go out over the Great Northern and
Northern Pacific without breaking bulk,
on the through tariff likely to be perma-
nent, what advantage would the con-
sumers of that coal at the points of
destination on these two Northern roads
gain over and above what they would
have If it went the way it has been going
breaking bulk at St Paul, and depending
on a joint tariff between different roads?
A. In the first place, they would hayo-