Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-09-21
COLORADO NO
LONGER STATE
OF MINING MEN
Silver Can Not Be
Taken Out at
Profit.
TURN TO FARMING
Tourist Business Also
Helps Keep Money
in Circulation.
Special to Indiana Daily Times
and Philadelphia Public Ledger.
BY RICHARD SPlLLANE.

BY RICHARD sPILLANE.
DENVER, Colo, Sept. 21.-Denver
means Colorado, otherwise the Sill
yer State and the Centennial State.
The silver is a misnomer. There Is
little silver mined here today. 1t
doesn't pay despite the Pittman act.
Mining men say silver can be mined
proftably only as by-product.
Today Colorado is an agricultural land.
In this field it has made great progress
although less than One-third Of its area Is
under cultivation. Wheat ranks first
with a yield of about 2S,000OO0 bushels
Beet sugar second alfalfa third and corn
fourth The potato crop is immense and
sorghums bulk big. OF course every one
knows of Colorado cantaloupes by reason
of the Rockyfords, but the fruits. par
ticularly apples and peaches, pears ana
cherries bring six times the money total
Of the cantaIOupe Truck farms abound.
Perhaps the finest cabbages of the coun-
try are grown here.
The dairy business has grown amazing
ay. Last year it amounted to S2S,0i0OuO-
The livestock from Colorado farms bring
a yearly return perhaps three times that
Of the States metal output.
Gone are the glOries of Leadville. Grip
pie Creek, Silverton, Aspen and such
places. Men talk beet sugar. improved
livestock, tire factories, the tourist traffic,
merchandising. industrial enterprises.
Denver is the jobbing center OF great
mountain region stretching well north
into Wyoming ana '1wn deep into New
Mexico and reaching iuto a portion Of
Utah. Trade has been progressing. Lo-
caIly it has been a trife better than the
average Of Eastern cities. This is ex-
pIained in part by the tourist business.
Last year 44O965 tourists were booked
here. Tourist purchases have made July
the second best month in the year in
Denver stores, Decem ber ranking first.
Department store reports are about the
same as those of Eastern cities an in
crease in purchasing with a decrease in
money volume. July, 1871, for all the re-
tailers reporting shows 10.9 per cent In
money less than July. 1920. Warehouses
are bare Of goods and merchants are
buying in accordance with this seasonal
requirement, but not laying in excessive
stock The most prominent department
store head in the city considers condi
tions satisfactory and says merchants
are slowly and steadily recovering from
the losses sustained through the forced
sacrifice of goods bought at peak prices.
The biggest single industrial concern
of the State is the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company. which in its coal mines
and its steel mills, it's lime quarries and
ore properties normally employs 1900
men. Its business might be classified
as one half coal and one half steel Its
plant is the only one west Of the Missi-
siDpf manufacturing pig iron.
COMPANY HAS
ORDER FOR RAILS.
The anomalous situation is presented
today Of the company having its iron
mines and its lime quarries smut down
and operating Omy its rolling mills and
WITS wire mills as need requires and yet
it has orders booked for $1,000 tons Of
rails. The pipe foundry operates inter
mittenty and wire nails and staples are
manufactured only as needs requires
which means about 33' 1-3 per cent of
that departments capacity. There is evi-
dence of a slight increase Of orders for
wire mills products, but it remains to
be seen If this is permanent The com
pany is capable Of producing 100000 tons
of rails annually. Orders for 1921 were
substantial and the mills worked two
shifts until after April Then distress
cries came from the railroads. asking for
deferred rollings. When these became in
sistent the rail mills were shut down.
The company hopes to resume operations
of the rail mills in November. This de
pends, however, on the ability Of the
railroads to take the products Mean
while the orders remain booked.
Colorado has more coal than any other
section Of America. Over the divide. in
hn III, Il
is the center, there are enormous depos-
its of highly volatile cohng coal Far
ther west in the Summerset district there
are other large fields In the Durango
section the supply is practically unlim-
tied. Ignite abounds all the way north
of Denver into Wyoming In the Canon
City district there is a fine grade of sub
bituminOus In the WaIsenburg and
Trinidad neighborhoods there is coal At
Crested Butte in the center Of the State.
there are many seams of anthracite and
- semi anthracite. The United States geo
logical survey estimates there is enough
coal in Colorado to supply America for
century or more
RESTRICTIONS ON
POWER POSSIBILITIES.
It's prospects for hydro electric develop
ment also are great If restrictions on the
Harvesting Of the wild streams are modi-
fed
Beet sugar has become a big industry.
The Great Western Sugar Company which
operates in fifteen counties and has ten
plants in Colorado has a normal output
of 7,000, COO bags Of sugar annually. a bag
Of sugar running 100 pounds 1t con
tracts with the farmers either on a guar
aRteed price or on option as TO price up
10 May Is. Beet pulp makes an excellent
cattle food If not given in too large quan-
titles and this feed stiffens Colorado
cattle production considerably.
Ex-Governor AmmOn, who Is one Of the
best informed men In the State agricuI-
turally, says Colorado is in good condi-
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