The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-04-08
BRIGHT EuTuRE PROSPECTS

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will bring undreamtof progress and prosperity
to the Salt Lake valley and Salt Lake City in par
! ticular. These enterprises are five IN number
two smelters and three great lines of railroad. We
already have smelters and railroads, but those now
in contemplation are of different kind.
One of the smelters is for the production of
copper. 1t will be able to extract the copper from
the immense bodies of low-grade ore at Bingham
and other camps within radius of seven hundred
miles of Salt Lake City which heretofore have lam
dormant because they could not be worked at a
profit. The existence of immense bodies of such
ores has long been known, but it is only IN recent
years that processes were discovered by which the
ore could be treated proftably, and even then the
lack of transportation facilities, and long hauls,
made their profitable handling impossible. With
the new processes of treatment, coupled with hav-
ing reduction plant close by, they can be handled
at good profit and not only the copper extracted,
but the gold and silver which the ores also contain
can be saved, and consequently the production of
all the metals materially increased. Utah pro
duced four and a half million dollars worth Of
copper in 1904, without any plant in the state for
extracting it. This meant the shipment of the
many hundred miles at great COST and heavy
charges for treatment i'll the eastern plants. Con-
sequently only the highest grade copper could
be handled. The improved methods of reduction
made this possible whereas in 1898 the Utah cop
per production on y one-tenth much as IN
1904. By having the smelter at home, using the
new processes and handling several thousand tons
of ore daily it is reasonable to expect that the out
put will again be multiplied by ten, and be fifty
million dollars per annum, instead of five. Such
plant would mean the employment of at least five
thousand worEmen, which calculating on the aver
age basis of five people for each workman, would
mean an increase of $4,000 inhabitants, besides the
office forces That such plant is reality, and
not mere talk, is shown by the fact that the COM
pany has already purchased area of one thou
sand acres near the shores of Great Salt Lake upon
which to build the plant and construct houses for
the employees.
The other smelter is for the treatment of zinc
ores. Heretofore zinc has been regarded as Diet
riment to ores containing silver and lead, and vast
quantities Of such ores have remained untouched
in Utah because they could not be worked at
profit. The increased demand for zinc, we'll
new methods of treatment, has just reversed this
condition, and now zinc ores are III great demand.
Within the last few years such have been
shipped to Kansas and other eastern points for
treatment, and have yielded fairly good profits,
notwithstanding the high freight charges incident
to such long hauls The new smelter will obviate
these ruinous freight charges not only on sending
the zinc east but in transporting the zinc back
to Utah again. Large quantities of zinc are used
in some of Utahs best dividend-paying gold mines
in extracting the gold and heretofore it has been
necessary to ship the zinc shavings in from the
east although we had the crude zinc right at home.
Zine has not figured at all as one of Utah's prod
ucts and no mention is made of it in statistics, al
though it has been one of Mssouris chief products
in recent years. As matter of fact Utah has
more zinc in one of its mining camps than the en-
tire State of Missouri hoped to have, and it
has Only needed little enterprise to put it III
ketabe shape. The success of such an enterprise
is foregone conclusion, and the benefits to the
State will be incalculabe. Not only will the zinc
be produced, but along with it gold, silver and
lead which could not be proftably extracted before
The plant also. will employ at least five thousand
men, which means another $4,000 added to the pop
ulation of this valley.
Both of these enterprises will be supplemented |
and fed by the three great lines of railroad which
are now building in here, and which tap the richest
mining regions of the west. These the San !
Pedro from the southwest, the Western Pacific from
the west, and the Moffat road from the east These
great arteries will supply the valley smelters with
the ores, and take back to the mining camps along
the lines the products of agriculture, manufactur-
ing, and merchandise from this city, which will !
be the center and distributing point of
4I,, ;,,+nr,,,oup+o;, ror;o,
These plain facts, with their necessary results, !
should be considered by sensible people who desire
to get ON in the world. There is opportunity now |
in this city and valley such existed before
for the homeseeker, the manufacturer or the mer-
chant. Agitation over political religious issues
makes no ultimate difference as against these great
forces of nature The treasure house is here, and
it is about to be opened and those who get i'll ear
est will reap rich harvest.
Mr.. Andrew Carnegie, after having donated APP
proxmately one hundred millions of dollars to the
aid of libraries, has concluded to pay attention.
to assisting the weaker colleges of the
Ae Mr. hos bao,, al