Omaha daily bee., 1910-01-01

against the fencing OF tho public range,
the settlement OF the range country by
homesteaders and the encroachments of.
sheep on the ranges hitherto given over
entirely to cattle. Eventually there will be
About 1900 head Of horses were exported
during the year. returning to shippers
s45O,OOO. The swine output Of the year was
valued at approximately $4,000, represent
ing 1900 head.
OIL and Gas Fields.
The most important oil and gas develop
ments OF the year in Wyoming occurred
in the Big Horn and Fremont county fields.
In the latter there was marked activity at
several points, and especially In the Dallas
district, where the Powers interests which
are backed by Dutch capitalists, brought
in several wells of large production, built
a pipe line connecting the wells with the
Chicago & northwestern railway and in
stalled storage tanks with a capacity Of
several hundred thousand barrels. This
syndicate is progressing steadily with the
development Of it's property and expects to
supply the Chicago & northwestern with
oil for fuel use, several of the railroads
locomotives now being equipped with oil
burners in which the Dallas product has
proven entirely satisfactory. The Powers
interests at present. It is stated, could sup
ply a demand for 1000 barrels daily with
the assistance of other concerns in the
same district on which 1t could draw. The
concern has so much oil that on July 4.
as an incident of the Lander celebration,
It burned a lake containing $4,000 gallons,
the fire affording a magnificent, albeit
costly, spectacle.
Natural gas in immense volume was de-
49, a.-t-.- a. -sz.- - A. T-.rI,I
field of Big Horn county and has since
been piped into Basin and Greybull and
is in domestic use in both towns. Afford
Bros. & Lamb, who developed the gas
field, now can supply an output Of 1O, 900, 900
feet daily, and 1t Is estimated that the sup
ply could be increased practically without
Limitation merely by the sinking of addi-
tlonal wells.
Hill Will Build Railroads.
When. shortly before the close Of 1908,
the Hill interests secured control of the
Colorado & Southern, it was prophesied
that the deal would rave an important
bearing on the railroad situation in
Wyoming. Developments during the last
half of 1909 show that the prophesy was
well founded.
AS a result of the acquisition OF the
Colorado & Southern, the Hill interests
have arranged for the most extensive cam
paign of railroad construction wyoming
has known since the Union Pacific was
built more than forty years ago, and a
portion Of their construction has already
begun.
For the purpose Of securing a direct
route from Galveston to Puget sound. the
Hill interests will build several connecting
Il-1- I.Ar-aa. -z,1. a. 49,.
and will also rebuild portions Of the ex-
listing roads. The most important portion
Of this work will be done in wyoming,
where the Colorado & Southern and Burl.
lngton lines will be welded into a single
system.
The construction now decided upon, and
partly under way, will give the Burlington
about 800 miles. of new ~trackage in wyom.
ing, and a total trackage in the state Of
between 600 and 100 miles, considerably
more than the Union Pacific. which is al
present and has always been the states
greatest railroad. The cost Of the Burl.
ington work which has been laid down will
be approximately So O0,000.
Work on Onion Pacific.
Aside from those associated with tn,
Burlington-C Colorado C Southern combine
llOn, IpeTe nave DeCn rev TdllfOaQ develop
ments Of Importance in the state in 1909
The Union Pacific, during this year, com
pleted thirty miles of double tracking be
tween Green River and Granger, and begar
work on an additional sixteen miles be
tween Green River and Rock Springs. A
short branch is being built from Evanston
to the coal mines at Almy, a distance o.
about three miles.
During the first half of the year tn,
Union Pacific completed the Carr-Borit
cutoff, which had also been delayed b!
the inanclal stringency. This cutoff, in
Guiding about sixteen miles Of trackage
avoids Athol hill and connects the Chey
enne-Denver line at Carr, twenty mile
south of Cheyenne, with the main line a
Borie, eleven miles west of the city. J
s~ub-cut-off connects the main cutoff witt
Corlett, on the main line five miles ives
Of Cheyenne.
That the Union Pacific has not aba
doned it's intention to some day build
cutoff from Chappell, Neb., to Medicin
Bow, Wyo., by which its main line will
be carried 100 miles north of Cheyenne an
fifty miles north of Laramie, is indicatet
by the several parties of surveyors whicI
1t had in the field during 1909 along tn
route of this proposed cutoff.
During 1909 the Laramie, Hahn's Peak
Pacific extended it's Laramie-Albany lin
southwark toward Walden. Colo, and dur
ing the coming year this extension will b
completed, giving the fine North Park dis
trict of Colorado it's first railroad Quite
and diverting a heavy business northwar
into Wyoming.
Output of Coal Fields.
The production of coal is the onl
= branch of mining which has been exten
E sively developed in Wyoming, the value c
the coal output during the last year hay
> ing been more than a score of time
greater than that of all other mine prod
r ucts combined. Yet so vast are Wyon
ing's coal areas that the 1909 production G
$500, 900 tons, valued at $21, OO0,0 900, repre-
, sents the development Of only a fractio
Of 1 per cent of the coal fields Of tn
: state.
While the coal output and its value dun
l