The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-09-26
union PACIFIC
IS IN CONTROL
Mark Hopkins TeStitieS That
Wyoming Company Fixes
Price of Coal Here.
EMPLOYED BY GOVERNMENT
TELLS OF RELATIONS OF RAIL.
ROAD AND COAL COMPANIES.

| Mark Hopkins, a mining engineer Of
Salt Lake; p. J. Quealy, vice president
and general manager of the Kemmerer
Coal company; Superintendent Thomas
Snedden of the Diamond Coal e. Coke
| company's mines at DiamOndville,
/ Wyo., and A. ". Taylor, a lawyer OF
| Salt Lake, were the principal witnesses
| before the Interstate commerce COM
/ mission which closed it's Salt Lake ses-
sion yesterday.
| During the commissions visit here
| 1t has opened several lines of testimony
/ which show interesting conditions in
| coal and oil matters in the west, par
! ticularly in their bearing upon Utah.
During last year Utah produced 1900
| 600 tons of coal and Wyoming 5000 600
tons. Testimony brought out by the
commission shows that the greater por-
ton of this amount goes to the rail-
roads and large corporations, and as a
result the fall shortage of coal in Salt
Lake happens with unfailing regular
| ity.
May BE Criminal Actions.
That the department of justice will
| take hand shortly in adjusting mat
| tiers in the west was practically an
noLnced during the hearing. Attorney
j. T. Marchand called for George /.
! Black, superintendent of the Union
Pacific Coal company, but before Mr.
Black reached the witness chair Attor-
ney Marchand withdrew his request for
Mr.. Blacks testimony.
II call this witness that we NAV
probe deeper into the conditions" said
Attorney Marchand. addressing the
| court. we have already shown that
the Union Pacific Coal company. the
! Union Pacific Railroad company and
the Superior Coal company used their
employees TO acquire coal lands and i'm
| this manner have broken the law. but
we can go still deeper with Mr. Blacks
testimony. If we call him to the stand
it will be at the expense of making him
immune from prosecution. What is
your honors pleasure?"
Clark Is Now Immune.
Commissioner PrOuty was not willing
that the witness should be made i'm
mune. Had I known as much as I
know now" he said, Il would not have
let Mr.. Clark testify" Mr.. Black was
| then excused. Any witness who con-
fesses 10 performing illegal acts and
testifies along this line before the COM
mission cannot be prosecuted under the
decision i'm the beef trust cases.
The commission held but one session
yesterday. that in the morning. ]. T.
Marchand and Elmer r. Thomas. at
! torneys for the commission: Judge J.
w. Lacey, attorney for the Union Pa
cihc Coal company; Farley L. Will
llams, attorney for the Oregon Short
Line, and L. NJ. Allison, jr, attorney
Tor the Rio Grande, were present. A
number of railroad men and lawyers Of
! salt Lake were among the spectators.
Just before adjourning the morning
session j. @. Jacobs, former manager
| of the Salt Lake & Mercur railroad.
was called for but was not present.
Mr.. Jacobs name was not repeated at
the afternoon session. The afternoon
session was merely a formal adjourn
ment until 10 o'clock Thursday morn
! ing, when the commission will meet i'm
Denver. The commission asked Attor-
neys Williams and Lacey if they had
anything to say for their Companfes.
and both said they had nothing to offer
| IN contradiction of the testimony pro-
duced yesterday and Monday The
commission then adjourned. Commits
sloner Prouty said no witnesses from,
Salt Lake would be asked to appHar i'm
Denver. The governments trio left
Salt Lake last evening
Salt Lakes Coal Famine.
The regular coal famine happening in
Salt Lake every fall was probed into
at yesterday mornings session. but no
testimony could be brought out to show
! that Salt Lake is being controlled nv n
dealers combine. In the testimony the
Union Pacific Coal company is pointed
out as the big boss. Mr.. Hopkins said
/ this much, explaining his assertion bv
going into the coal history of Utah and
| Wyoming.
Mr.. Hopkins was the first witness
He said he came west i'm 1886. He held
| the position of assistant suDerinteudeur
/ II
Pacific. ID. o. Clark was at that time
superintendent Of the department
which has since become the Union Pa
/ cific Coal company with Clark ut itS
! head The railroad owns the coal COM
pany. Mr.. Hopkins said he has had
charge OF numerous mining properties
| in Utah and Wyoming and was super
intendent Of the Cumberland mine in
1902. At this time the Cumberland's
daily output was in the neighborhood
| of AGO tOas per day. The coal cost
on the cars so cents per 1000 pounds of
run of mine. In answer to a question
asked by Commissioner Prouty, the
witness said 81 per ton would cover the
average cost. At all minesETAOIN n
average cost at all mines. After
explaining the nature of the un-
foreground coal workings in wy
oming and Utah and showing that the
cost of mining coal became greater with
greater depth, Mr.. Hopkins submitted
testimony bearing upon methods pur-
sued by the Union Pacific's coal de-
partment at the time he was employed
by il.
Clark Fixed the Rates.
He said d. o. Clark fixed all rates.
both on in-freight and cCnSignr1cnts OF
coal. He said he believed a one-half
J cent per ton yer mile Was made for
I the coal mines on all freight brought
to them, irrespective OF commodities. A
one cent per mile passenger ticket was
| issued 10 laborers wanted by the coal
operators at the mires. Mr.. Hopkins
said a mine was opened in 1888 four
miles west of the Rock Springs by Fred