The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-09-10
MEANS MUCH FOR
PR0V0'S FUTURE
SnOw.Darst Plant Will Bring Large
Pay Roll.
HOW GAS WILL BE MADE
MANUFACTURED FROM VEIN OF
CRUSHED COAL AND LIME.

Provo. Sept. 9.-The granting of the
gas franchise By the Salt Lake City
council 10 George a Snow and VIII
liam Darst. IL is believed here. viii
mean the expenditure OF s., 600 900 in the
state in the completion of the plant,
large payroll for operating the plant
when completed. advantages TO man
ufacturers III The substitution OF gas
at reduced cost for other power pro-
ducing agencies, and economy and con-
Yenience for h0usehOlders through the
use Of gas for heating and cooking
purposes. That is if the expectations
OF the promoters of the enterprise are
realized
For some months past as has been
reported in The Herald, numerous lOca-
tons of limestone placer claims have
been made in the mountains east of
Provo. and these have all passed into
the hands of Mr.. Snow, and are held
by him for the company which VIII
construct the gas plant The claims.
thirty-twO in number, Of 100 acres each,
extend from Slate canyon on the south
TO Provo canyon on the north, a dis
lance of about ten miles. The claims
are in the second elevation OF the
range Of mountains east of Provo, and
are about four miles from the city.
Coal and Limestone.
The ledge is dolomitic lime and
through il are several veins of carbon
ferrous material. Four of these veins
have been opened up and prospected for
coal. Fifty thousand dollars have prob
ably been expended by local people in
the last fifteen years to develop coal,
and some very fine specimens of an
thracite coal have been found. But the
veins are mixed with limestone and
| other material, which is ground up with
the coal. and for this reason coal in
commercial quantity has not been
found
Whether future development viii
open paying veins of coal remains TO
be seen, but the success or failure Of
the gas project does not depend upon
this. II is the intention of the COM
pany To manufacture the gas from the
carbOniferOus vein matter which con-
tains a large percentage OF free carbon,
the percentage Of CARBON in places
where there is the least admiXtuTe of
lime and dirt being from IS 10 80 There
are eleven veins in the range so far dis
covered, and the four which have been
opened vary in thickness from nine
20 four feet. and as there is an
ineXhaustihle quantity of the material
the only question of its successful re
duction 10 gas. It is claimed this can
be successfully done by the PettibOne-
LOOMS process, and tests which sufti-
ciently satisfy the promoters have been
made before the expense of locating the
ground making a geological survey and
examination, etc, was incurred.
Works Near Provo.
The works viii probably be erected
in the mountains near the base of sup
ply, and from there the product viii be
piped TO Salt Lake City, where it viii
be stored in tanks and distributed TO
the consumers. Two pipe lines Will be
used, one for manufacturing power
purposes, and the other for domestic
uses, and Provo and intermediate points
can, of course be supplied from the
same mains. Another method has been
considered and may be adopted. That
is TO haul the material from the mines
TO Salt Lake and produce the gas there.
The advantages and disadvantages of
each method will be looked into before
a decision is reached. The by-prOduct
of the coal when consumed for gas is
sulphate OF ammonia. valuable for fer
uilizing purposes, and this is expected to
be quite a revenue producer for the
company
The credit for this enterprise is cue
in the first place 10 DIT c. b. Snyder OF
this city. Years ago when there was
considerable excitement here on the an
thraclte coal proposition, and much
work was done to develop coal mines,
Dr. Snyder commenced a chemical and
geological investigation of the fOTma-
ton. and its possible commercial value.
His investigation led him To the con-
clusion that gas could be produced at
prices which would make il valuable in
manufactures and for domestic pur-
poses. He learned that gas was being
made in England and the United
States from coal of no commercial
value, and he reasoned that the mate
rial found here containing such "a large
per cent of carbon would prove equally
valuable for the production of gas Dr..
snyder was under the disadvantage of
having more indeas on this subject
than money. and the local capitalists TO
whom he referred his project We're not
inclined 10 favor it, at least not 10 the
extent of backing 70 financially. and
some of them, though not having iuves-
tigated its merits. treated it rather
contemp tuOusly. DR.. Snyder, however.
was not discouraged TO the point of Civ
ing il up. He finally presented the
proposition 10 Allan q. LamsOn and the
latter interested Mr.. Snow and MI.
Darst. {. ID. Sword of Toledo. o., and
other capitalists in the project