The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-01-27

empty, but loaded TO the brake beams
Nor was this all. During the short
space of time our train remained there
no less than three more trains of coal
arrived from Winter Quarters and were
being backed into position on the side
tracks. / counted over 100 cars, nearly
all Of which had been standing on the
| tracks for several days. as was indi-
lcatcd by the lack of snow beneath them
! on the tracks. After being so badly
! pinched for coal I'm Salt Lake myself.
the sight of so much of it was glad
dening to the eyes.
The sight Of all this coal absolutely
confirmed all the stories which have
been going the rounds to that effect.
and proved beyond question that those
newspapers which made statements to
the effect that such conditions existed
were absolutely correct.
| kyune, the next station, was an alb
solute desert as FAR as coal cars were
concerned, and the train shortly after
pulled into Castle Gate. where salt
Lake City gets it's main supply of coal
when il gets it.
Here all was activity strings of cars
from the mines were travelling rapidly
over the company's tracks to the tipple.
/ monster switch engines were switching
cars to and fro and trains of empties
We're being HI rried back to the mines
1
Ing sight. and as ] gazed about me on
the thousands of tons of coal standing
| alone, unused and doing no one any
good, l could not help but think of the
( misery and wretchedness occasioned in
the city for lack Of even a few tons OF
1t. Empty after empty was run up to
| the tipple and rapidly loaded FROM the
seemingly never-en6ing supply
Six Miles of Coal.
The yards at Castle Gate are nearly
mile In length. and contain perhaps six
! tracks over this entire length, prac
tically every foot of which was covered
/ by cars of coal and coke. Later in the
| day some few Of these cars were made
up into trains, one of which, consisting
Of twenty-five cars, was made up OF
/ fifteen cars OF coke. two cars of coal
and FIVE of horses. This train. as we'll
as others, however. did not get beyond
Kyune owing to a freight wreck at that
point.
While at Castle Gate took the trou-
BILE to examine many Of the trains
closely. and / have with me a. record Of
several cars of coal consigned to vari-
lous Salt Lake mining and Industrial
! concerns which were shown by the
Il dates. on them to have been standing on
the tracks for several days. Castle
Gate produces in the eight hours that
the miners work per day. less than 1000
4 tons, or TO be exact, coal sufficient to
fill six strings Of sixteen mine dump
cars. each car holding one ton, sent out
from the mine each hour. approximate
" 500 tons a day, all Of which is des-
;. tined for commercial purposes. which
includes that used for domestic pur-
poses throughout the state of Utah. The
other producing mines of the Utah. Fuel
company at Clear Creek and Winter
Quarters and Sunnyside. together with
the Castle Gate mines, produce approx
imately 5000 tons of coal per day. The
entire output # the Sunnyside mine is
shipped to Castle Gate and made into
coke, and large portion Of the Winter
Quarters and Clear Creek mines is sold.
, to the railroad companies under con-
tract The San Pedro secures almost
It's entire supply from this source. its
contract calling for a minimum of ten
cars a day, for which it furnished it's
own cars.
Small Amount Gets Here.
1t is plain to be seen by anyone who
will take the trouble 10 study the stu
alton that az least 70 per cent Of the
entire output of Utah coal fields is made
into coke and sold to the shelters at a
great deal higher price than the orig
inal coal would bring If shipped in for
manufacturing and domestic purposes.
This is one of the keynotes OF the stu
alton. Another Is that of the remaining
25 per cent 10 per cent is sold TO the
Rio Grande and San Pedro roads, thus
leaving a bare 10 per cent OF the entire
output for commercial and domestic
purposes for use in the entire state.
Another important feature IF the sit
uation is the absolute inability Of the
Denver q Rio Grande, as far as its mo-
tive power Is concerned, TO cope With
the situation. There are plenty of cars
available, in fact, there are thousands
of empty cars between here and Castle
Gate, but locomotives are conspicuous
by their absence. Those that are being
used. apart from a few of the more
modern type. together with those bor-
/ rowed from the Western Pacific, are in
| a condition from continual overwork as
to be almost useless. Breakdowns are
an everyday occurrence.
lot the Denver & Rio Grande people
arrange with the Western Pacific COM
pany to use those locomotives owned by
the Western Pacific, and which are
standing idle i'm the yards today. Let
the Western Pacific people return the
hundreds of cars of coal which they
have stored on their tracks for use IN
emergency some miles from Salt Lake
! II these things are done, coal Will ar
rive in salt Lake within few days IN
such quantities as TO render the present
coal famine a thing of the past. for
good and all.
These facts are the result. of my own
personal Investigations. coupled with
the information furnished by the fuel
company representatives. They are not
/ exaggerated. rather the reverse, and
the same sources of information as
I have utilized are open to anyone who
cares to make the trip.
0tunrn ITO nAI