Gilpin observer., 1906-08-30
Routt County Coal Fields.

Colorado has an industrial PROPOSE
ton in the coal fields of Routt county
so immense that a majority of people
who know about them are unable to
grasp them even family. The Denver,
Northwestern & Pacific is SO soon to
open these to the commerce of the
world that there is continuous talk of
propositions that may in part make
use of the coal. Among these has been
a great central power generating plant
utilizing the cheap coal for the manu-.
facture of electrical energy. w. Wes-
ton, the mining engineer, is particu-
larly well posted on the subject, hav-
ing surveyed and investigated these
fields. In discussion of the possibil1-
ties of the use of the coal he recently
gave a most interesting talk to Den
yer Republican representative. In part
he said:
For long time past scientists have
inveighed against the wasteful meth
DDS of using coal, but of late years
great attention has been given to more
economical methods of mining and
using it, and to the conservation of en-
ergy.
Cheap power is now the great de-
sideratum in creating Industrial su-
premacy, and when we reflect that one
pound of good coal contains store OF
energy which is capable of being COM
pletely converted into work without
loss, would, in one hour, do the work
of about five horses, the amount OF
heat energy and power stored in the
l 900 square miles of the Yampa coal
field, and its estimated available ton
mage of 12,000,00O,00O tons, runs up
into figures that are startling and we'll
nigh incredible. :.
"As a matter of fact, however, in the
best constructed steam engines, we
realize, in the form of usefud work,
only from one-sixth to one-tenth of the
whole quantity OF energy contained in
the coal. To use the words of cele-
brated writer on coal: ALTHOUGH steam
| power is one of the most useful agen-
cies that science has placed at the dis
| posal of man, it is not generally recog-
| nized by the uninitiated how wasteful
| we are of natures resources. One OF
| the greatest problems of applied sci
ence yet to be solved is the conversion
Of the energy latent in coal or other
fuel into a quantity of useful work ap-
| proximating to the mechanical equiva-
| lent much more closely than has hith-
| erto been accomplished
"a great central power generating
and distributing plant in Routt county,
| Colorado, is one of the certain enter
| prises of the future. The Denver,
| Northwestern G Pacific railway (the
Moffat road) win pass through the cen
| ter of this important bituminous and
| anthracite field of the Pacific slope,
and here a great manufacturing city
will some day arise, for the same con-
ditions exist as those which made
Pittsburg what it is to-day, for if it is
built, as it is certain to be, somewhere
| in the center of the county, the railway
and the town will be underlaid with
| upwards of fifty feet of high-grade
| workable coal. And it will not be nee
| essary, as in Great Britain, to go 1000
to 1000 feet deep for this coal, for in
many places along the line, the seams
eight to twenty feet thick, lie horizon
| tally, and outcrop in the side-hills only
few feet from the line of railway.
Great collieries will also be estab-
| lished here, as the market for these
| fine steam Goals and anthracite will
| extend eastward to Denver and Mis-
| souri, river points, and westward from
| Sal. Lake City to the Pacific coast and
intermediate points. A central power
station will then have to be perfected
for the supply of these collieries; they
| Will De llSuleu Ou Tie Dy al y
lights and by incandescent lamps un-
derground, with arc lights for all sid
ings and yards.
"A great part of the coal output Of
| the United States has been produced
| by electrically-drivep coalcutting ma
/ chinery, underwriting the coal seam.
The high efficiency and extreme fiex-
ibility renders electricity the most
suitable source of power for driving
these machines. When the use of
electricity for coal cutting in thin
seams is contemplated, feature of i'm
portance is the greater power of the
continuous current motor as against
the alternating current. The motor
would be enclosed in gas-tight case
to avoid danger from sparkling.
"The driving of pumps is another
important matter which may have to
be considered. Electrically driven
pumps are now used for all classes of
pumping, and may be installed long
distances underground. Electric loco
motives will doubtless be largely used
for haulage, though for hosting. steam
power may be best on account of quick
starts and sudden stops at high
speed. Electricity will also be used for
signals and for driving fans.
Then again, smelling by electricity
is being rapidly brought to perfection,
and it is probable that eventually the
siiver-lead ores of the Hahn's Peak
and Whisky Park sections, and the
| copper ores of Grand Encampment,
Battle Lake, Pearl and Dillon, will
come down to this great coal and
! smelling center.
| Power and light will also be fur
nished from this central power sta
tion to the towns along the line of the
"Moffat road" Manufactures of va
rious kinds will also be established,
and require power. All this may not
come to pass, but most Of it is more
! than nrohah anJ ic som HING IN