The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-01
COAL, IRON, TIMBER
DOWN IN DIXIE LAND
Abundant Resources Soon Are to
BE Developed Through Rail
road Line.

Ihe great hematite iron deposits ot
Iron county have long been considered
the chiefcst resource of this district
a recent report of the United State:
geological survey puts the ore now
IN sight at i0,000.000 tons. No exten
slve development or exploratory work
has been done, only such shallow pits
and open cuts as would show the char
! actcr of the ore and the arcal extent
OF the deposits, says the Washington
County News. Attention has been
called before by the News to the semi.
anthracite coal beds al Harmony and
the mammoth camel coal leads on the
north fork of the Virgin river in this
county. The exploitation of the Har-
mony anthracite coal veins has been
undertaken by Los Angeles capitalists
and the camel coal field will be eI-
plotted as soon as the interior depart.
ment reopens the land to entry.
Except incidentally, it is not to the
mineral resources of Utah g "Dixie' -
that the News wishes TO direct atten-
tion this time Plans are laid now for
II l
of these. Construction work is about
TO commence on the projected railroad
through the iron fields of Iron county
and the anthracite coal fields at Har-
rnOny. in the northern part of this
county. This road will be taken out at
Lund, on the Salt Lake Route, and,
after traversiDg the iron and coal fields
of Iron and Washington counties, will
be continued on to the Grand canyon
Of the Colorado river, in Arizona. 1t
is not generally known that the 81 Buck
Skin" or Kiabab plateau, through
which the Colorado river has cut the
bered area. The proposed railroad will
reach the forest and make this timber
available.
a letter addressed to the forest su-
pervisor at Kauab. Utah, by Victor T..
Huntzickcr of this place brought forth
the following reply; "The estimated
amount of merchantabe timber on the
Kauab national forest. including all
species. is 3.900000,000 feet, board inea.
sure, Immediately available for use.
Only trees with diameter of clgb
teen inches and over, breast high, are
estimated The yellow pine makes up
quality ranges from the best finishing
material to stuff valuable for mining
timbers and railroad ties only. The
spruce type makes up about 20 per cent
Of the total stand This timber is
all within a compact and easily logged
area, estimated to contain about 550,-
900 acres
We learn that this timber tract oc.
cUpies part of plateau or vast table
land Of about 1900 square miles, and
presents an easy logging proposition.
This feature is III strong contrast 10
the mountainous areas and steep hill
sides Of the Oregon and Washington
timber lands The editor of the News,
believing this to be one of the very
few big timber propositions remaining
open in Aperica, undertook some IN
uulrlcs on the market side of the prop
ostion. particularly The Utah market.
Letters were addressed 10 the princi-
pal lumber merchants Of Salt Lake
City. asking them for an estimate of
the lumber. including mining timbers
and railroad ties. imported annually
into the state of Utah.
in part; "We would say approximate.
Iy l25,o00000 feet annually" The
Taylor Armstrong Lumber company re-
piled as follows; "Havc no definite sta
tistics. but wonld Judge from 10000
900 10 200,0O0,00Q feet, under normal
conditions. Years Of excessive railroad
building or track repairing might in
crease this amount by several million
feet. There is an unusually large con
sumption of the common grades. such
as mine timbers, railroad ties and d.
mcnSion lumber generally, market
feature which is most attractive 70 a
lumber manufacturer. The investiga-
tion of the News into this timber prop
ositiou has brought forth many sur.
prIses; the quantity of available tim
Der. four thousand million feet. the i'm.
portation annually into the state of
from 125 100000 TO 100000 900 feet Of
lumber: the case and economy with
which If can be handled. and the mar
kcts ready TO absorb it, Surely this
Is withuot doubt Utah S biggest aud
best proposition.
1t is matter for coucrafulatioD that
the present anomalous conditions arc
about TO be changed. aud that in the
near future Utah S industries shall
draw their supplies of lumber not from
tar-away Oregon. but from the Ari.
IONA "strln,' which is naturally and
commercially part of Utah