The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-02-14
Mines and Mining Stocks

on the western sea coast for all kinds
of raw iron products and finished ma
terial, and now that great coal meas
ures have been opened within striking
distance if the iron deposits of Iron
county, ii seems as though the dreams
of the southern country people were
close to realization. When a deal Of
such character is closed and the good,
hard cash is paid over in such piping
times as these, il means, if it means
anything, that the purchaser proposes
to do business. 1t means the ultimate
employment of thousands of people at
good wages. and it means that the
west is to share with the east in the
tremendous business that the steel and
iron industries create and foster. 1t
means that, by and by, the shipbuilding
yards of the western coast will be do
ing many times the volume of bust
ness they now transact. It means that
the western coast firms can compete
with the east and foreign countries in
the bidding for battleship construction
and the thousand and one other things
that cheap manufactured iron and steel
close to the ship yards must bring.
A Glimpse at the Past.
Many, many times have deals for
Iron county mines been ribbed up, and
almost as many times has something
happened to prevent their consumma-
ton. A few years ago it looked as
though p. l.. Kimberley, now de-
ceased, would take over the bulk of
the iron mines in the southern coun-
try. He had options at one time that
called for the payment of more than
100000; he made heavy payments on
the purchase price and even went so
far as to say that he had a combina-
ton formed to go into the iron manu-
featuring business. One day a very
heavy payment was due and Mr.. Kim
berley came to Salt Lake with the pur-
pose, it was supposed, of paying over
the cash. Instead he surrendered his
options and allowed the vendors to
pocket the more than 100000 already
paid without a murmur. 1t was a
staggering blow to the hopes and ex-
pectatiOns of thousands of Utahs men.
Asked the same evening why he had
changed his mind. he said:
''Well, l have promised to be good;
that is an
1t soon became current gossip that
steel trust magnates had stepped in at
the last moment and informed Mr.
Kimberley that they were not yet ready
to see the Utah iron fields opened !:
that the time would come when l.
would be all right to push things here,
but at that time they were not willing
TO see the trick turned. They demand
ed Mr.. Kimberley's price to quit. He
named it; they acceptedothe terms, and
the big iron deal was off.
Other Holdings in the Field.
At the time Kimberley was busy in
acquiring the Milner-TaylOr-W Walker
holdings in the field the Colorado Fuel
& Iron company was also busily en-
gagged in securing everything it could
lay its hands on down there. 1t is an
open secret that that company did
eventually get hold of a good deal of
iron and there is no question but that
this company, now controlled, presum-
ably by the trust, still has valuable
holdings down there.
But that fact makes little difference
now. New interests, powerful, business
interests are now in possession of great
mines down there, and it really be-
gins to look as though nothing could
head off the utilization of the enormous
oosits; that another great industry
VIII be built up in Utah, and that the
state Will grow immeasurabl in inn
portance as consequence.