UTAH BOASTS GREATEST " COAL FIELDS IN THE U. S. Output for the Past Year in Excess of 1916; Expect Increase in 1918. UTAH boasts the greatest coal fields in the United States. The main fields are situated in Carbon county and it is said by experts that t here is more coal in this oue county than thre is in the entire state of Pennsylvania. The average av-erage annual production for some years past haa approximated ,7o0,i)00 tons, but during tho year just cdosinjj it is estimated that tho production largely exceeds this estimate. This has been due to a jyreat extent to the work of tho district, ear service bureau, organized organ-ized to aid in the distribution of ioal throughout the western and coast states, coupled with the hearty co-operation of the railroads and the producing mines. To fact, despite a much greater demand de-mand for coal than for several j'ears preceding, owing to the war and the largely increased consumption on tho Pacific coast, the producing companies have done fairly well in furnishing fuel as it was needed. Tt is estimated that the coming year will see a large increase in the production produc-tion from tho Carbon county fields, as a number of new properties are .being opened and will soon be ready to begin regular shipments, while the "companies that already have been operating on a large scale are making improvements and doing development work that will largely increase their output. Exact figures are not available, but it is estimated that several millions of dollars have been expended during j the present year. One of the big expenditures ex-penditures has been made by the United Wtates Fuel company in equiping its railroad from its mines in Carbon county coun-ty to Provo. The company now has six of the finest and most powerful locomotives manufactured together with all tho coal cars needed. It began the hauling of coal on December 1, and its activities have added greatly to the solution of the coal shortage problem. The United States Fuel company also lias expended a large sum during the year on improvements and development work. Improvements Made. Tho Utah Fuel company during the year has made a number of improvements improve-ments which are innovations for coal mining in the state, the most important of which is the construction of three large bath houses, each able to accom-; modate iSOO men. These have been : constructed at Castle Gate and Sunny-side. Sunny-side. The .buildings are equipped with shower baths, lavatories, toilets, hot and cold water and steam heat. They are located convenient to mine entrances en-trances so that the men on leaving the mine can bathe and change their clothes, leaving their working clothes in a well ventilated and heated portion of the building over night. The floors, walls and drains are built of concrete so that buildings can be thoroughly washed out with a hose as often as necessary. Two large amusement halls also have been constructed, one at Castle Gate and one at Sunnyside. These halls are two full stories and contain bowling alleys, pool halls, refreshment rooms, reading rooms for both men and women, barber shop, large dance hall and auditorium audi-torium with stage and dressing rooms, spacious lobby and large verandas. Fifty new houses, also three apartment apart-ment teraces, each containing ten two-room two-room apartments, have been constructed at Snnnyside. This apartment house feature is something new for coal mining min-ing camps. Most of these houses have been built of concrete blocks and are thoroughly fire proof. A two-story reading read-ing room and pool hall also has been .built at this camp, which is being used by the Japanese colony employed there. The old saloon buildings have been remodeled re-modeled into. places of amusement and recreation for the different nationalities. nationali-ties. Ovens Constructed. Ninety-three new coke ovens have been constructed at Sunnvside during 1917, making 840 in all, and which now gives the Sunnyside camp the largest single beehive coke oven operation in ! the United States. These new ovens will be fired January 15. A great deal 1 of additional operating machinery has 1 been purchased for all of the mines, including hoists, pumps, electric gath-! gath-! ering and haulage locomotives, also ; mine cars, 375 of which have been put , in service at all the mines of the com-! com-! pany during the present year, j New dust conveyors for conveying j slack coal from the tipples to power i houses have been installed at Clear ! Creek and Winterquarters. There has ! also been installed a new coke screen-, screen-, ing plant at sunnyside, which will en-j en-j able the company to recover market I able coke from the fines which Lere-I Lere-I tofore has been wasted. The latest addition to the ranks of Utah coal producers is the Liberty Fuel company, with mines at Latudn-" This company has holdings aggregating 1 nearly 7HQ acres in Spring canyon and it is estimated that this acreage contains con-tains about ";3. 000, 000 tons of coal, and at the proposed rate of extraction, enough to last more than 10U years. The coal is of excellent quality and comes from the celebrated Castle Gate district. Tests that have been made show it to be free burning, very high in heat units and low in ash, a coal that will equally satisfy the demands of the commercial and domestic trade. The mine is now fully equipped to produce approximately oUO tons per dav and when equipment now in transit anJ on order is received and installed, the mine will have a capacity of from 1000 to 1500 tons per day. Use Electricity. The mine is supplied by electricity from the lines of the Utah Power & Light company, whose lines cross the premises, and this power will be used exclusively in operating the mine and outside plant. Electrical coal cutters supplied bv the Sullivan Machinery company and the Goodman "Manufacturing "Manufactur-ing company will be used to mine the coal and a large electric hoist weighing about ."in ,000 pounds is now on order and will be installed within the next few months. In the meantime, a hoist purchased for temporary use is installed and will handle the product of the mine until the larger can be installed. Mine cars manufactured by the Card Tj on works o f Denver will be used and fort y a re already in hep. Two 1 1 iO-ton Fairbanks railroad track scales are now i retailed, one. above and one below the tipple, fur weighing the loaded and empty-railroad ca is. The surface f ra m w a v. SOO fno t i n length, connects Ihe mine an the tip-pifj tip-pifj and as all of the cual in the prop er! v is to the rise of the pit mouth, economical haulage is assured. Contractor S. t-hernil of this city has just completed the erection of twenty cottages for the employees, two boarding houses, a large store bniiding. mine stable, blacksmith and machine shop, material warehouse, tipple and a large railroad bridge which crosses the canyon and connects with the yard tracks recently laid, and which are large enough to take care of the ultimate ulti-mate production of the mine. There is more than two miles of trackage in these yards. Commodious Flat. The townsite owned by the company com-pany and on which 100 dwellings will be eventually erected is a commodious flat and proper advantage has been taken of the condition in laying out an ideal town with the welfare of the employees' em-ployees' in mind. F. N. Cameron, general manager, is in charge of the property; George A. Sfhultz, superintendent, who resides at the mine, is well known in Utah and New Mexico, coal mining circles and is in charge of the mine operations; L. R. Weber is secretary of the company com-pany and has offices with Mr. Cameron Cam-eron at 811 Kearas building, this city, the general offices of the company. Frank Latuda ai i Charles Picco, Colo-this Colo-this city are directors and largely interested in-terested in the property. ; The Wattis Coal company is another big concern that has spent large sums of money this vear in the development of coal properties in Carbon county. The Watt is Coal company's minos aro located on the Utah railway, about four miles north of Black Hawk, at a town known as Wattis. This company has constructed two miles of branch railroad to conect its tipple tracks with the main lino of the Utah railroad. It has tipple and tipple track facilities for the handling of 2000 tons of coal daily. Has a gravity grav-ity tram line 6ti00 feet long and is equipped with, an electric hoist built by the Denver Engineering Works jconi-pany. Three Working Views. The property has three working veins, varying from six to eleven and one-half feet in thickness, and the holdings in acreage amounts to approximately 500 acres. The mine is now equipped with the latest electrical equipment, which ' was furnished by the General Electric company, com-pany, and power is being delivered for the operation of the property by the Utah Power & Light company. The mine at the present time is developed de-veloped to a capacity of between 500 and 600 tons daily, aud the output will be increased to 2000 tons as quickly as possible. The company has built approximately forty houses, a boarding house, hotel and an excellently equipped store .with an ice plant. The location of the townsite of this camp is ideal and is considered one of the best among the coal camps of this state. Tho quality of this coal is similar to the quality of coals being produced by other mining companies in Carbon county. Excellent Water. An excellent supply of water is furnished fur-nished from springs and a complete water system, together with a 50,000-gallon 50,000-gallon red wood tank has been installed in-stalled for furnishing water to the townsite and mine. The officials of this company are as follows: E. O. Wattis, president; M. S. Browning, vice president; L. R. Wattis, vice president; Marriner Browning, treasurer; L. F. Eains, secretary and general manager. A third new company which has established es-tablished a record for rapid work is the Peerless Coal company, which owns 480 acres of coal lands and 137 acres of townsite three miles west of Helper on the Spring canyon branch of the Denver Den-ver & Rio Grande railroad. The company began work only about sixty days ago and since that time has expended approximately $300,000. The company expects to begin the shipment of 500 tons of coal a day between the middle and last of February. The company com-pany really has two completo mines e-nupped with the latest machinery, electrically operated. The officers of the company, all residents of Salt Lake, are: C. N. Sweet, president; J. D. Murdoch, vice president; W. H. Sweet, secretary and treasurer; Ezra Thompson, Lynn IT. Thompson, W. J. Norton and C. M. Croft, directors.