Show SUCCESS OF THE consolidated FUEL CO WRITTEN BY WILL C HIGGINS this is the season of the year when the thrifty householder guards with jealous care his slowly diminishing coal pile frust t rusting and hoping that it will last until the spring pring weather has so far advanced that he will be able to discontinue his furnace and iid grate rate fires until the coming of autumn has tinged leaves pa on the trees andrall and called again for the com effort fort and pleasure of artificial heat in his mind he congratulates himself because of the fact that he will not be the recipient of coal bills for several months to come and gloats over the idea that the coal barons will have to give way to the iceman ice man and go boutot out of business for the season in this however he is greatly mistaken for the coal mines are in active ope operation a during the summer as well as during the he winter months for ahe he householder is not he only individual mho ho has use for coal pr r fuel as there are hers whose demands other grades of coal from one end of the year to the other the cessation of the demands of the householder therefore does not materially affect the coal mining industry as the mines in supplying the wants of the railroads and other big users must also create a reserve supply in order to fill the steady and ever increasing demand for fuel the importance and magnitude of our coal resources are being more and more appreciated twenty years ago when the demand furl for coal was limited the major portion of the local supply came from but two or three A jis f 4 A k r ta 7 W all 41 hiawatha mine no I 1 entry consolidated fue co photo by SnI knipler sire e so sio heavy so diversified that the 3 closing losing of the coal mines for even a anth would work great hardship great oss and a total suspension of business in this his class we can include the railroads the reat great smelters shelters sm elters the gas plants innumerable factories hoist hoisting Dg plants and mills all of which demand a steady supply of fuel and y rush orders of the consumers when the first heavy frost gives warning of approaching pro aching t winter it may not be generally known hut but it is a fact that utah is immeasurably measurably ini rich in 11 I 1 its i ts coal measures and deposits in this respect the state can well be termed the pennsylvania of the west and with the 5 3 9 7 mines portion of the state and from wyoming at that time the public in general had but a vague idea of the source of the supply imagining that the producers already in the field were confined to narrow limitations tat ions and that these owned or controlled all of the available coal lands within the environments of the state since then however progression has marked every line of business every pursuit and to such an extent that keen business nen men have realized the possibilities offered in the coal mining minin industry careful in instigation was made eminent geologists and engin aers were sent into the field and now of one or two companies controlling the mining of coal in utah and its distribution several strong and heavily tiance financed corporations have entered the field all which are now heavy producers and sly 17 xe yf ers supplying not only the local dem L but reaching joy i q into na nev aja tl montana A T aie fuel company prominent among these might well be people at the mine the company in addition to these holdings controls all of the water coming comin from three bra branches nelies of miller creek the mines of the company are con z z al V A X 4 AW showing tram line between hiawatha mine and tipple consolidated fuel co photo by Ship lers mentioned the consolidated fuel company of salt lake city a comparatively new arrival 0 in the field within a period of two or three years has acquired a large tract of valuable land developed the same and in a thorough and systematic manner made costly improvements including mine equipment the building of a railroad and the building of a modern and cozy village in ami audition tion to which the company has been a regular 60 and quite heavy shipper for the past twelve months location of mines the consolidated r fuel uel company owns acres of coal land near the headwaters of miller creek in carbon county utah the property biot the company is located about eighteen el miles southwest of price an active business center on the D R p railroad the surroundings are pleta picturesque aesque in the extreme and the pretty town of hiawatha the main camp of the company is fairly embowered empowered ered in trees and sa s1 ahr r JI Y while the murmur of ever TI running fnning water adds to the attractiveness of the place in addition to its coal land pos sons the company also owns 1500 acres of other land included in which is a acre irrigated ranch which is under high cultivation on this ranch there are ex asive alfalfa fie fields ids thrifty orchards and iture sture lands gardens and extensive tracts ted fed to the raising of small fruits from ranch the company will provide to a lin in extent for the necessities of its necked with the outside world by a gravity tram feet in length which terminates at the tipple from which point price is to the town of price the tramway Is double tracked and the inside rails of the two tracks being se set t at standard guage the shay locomotive with loaded cars can run from price clear up to the mine mining from two entries the erosion caused by the action of miller creek has exposed the two leading veins of the consolidated fuel company on both sides ides of the canyon and the openings on the lower or eighteen foot vein almost face each other these openings are almost on a level with the bottom of the canyon thus permitting of most economical operation and the employment of practically the same equipment the two principal coal measures embrace the eighteen foot vein already mentioned and a second vein which is six f feet six inches thick the latter is situated above the former about twenty feet but coinciding with it in dip and in an the character of roof and floor the six foot measure however is of better coking grade and in this characteristic equals if it is ia not superior r to the connellsville coal the two hiawatha mines now have a capacity of about 2000 tons daily fro from m mine to tipple the mines are operated on a double en try system the slopes pitching into the hill on a grade of about two degrees the development at the present time embracing working rooms the cleavage is clean and well defined the roof above the coal being a heavy sandstone thus obviating the necessity of timbering in rooms or entries IZ IZZ 41 A 4 4 7 A V aw 4 41 Z tipple at east hiawatha consolidated fuel co over the line of the southern utah railroad company coin pally operating a standard guage road which is eighteen miles in length from the tipple or east hiawatha Hl awatha the coal as mined is loaded into mine cars and conveyed to the surface by 12 ton goodman electric locomotives one in each mine and delivered to the head f the tramway 11 t in tile the mines the cars are gathered by 5 ton goodman electric locomotives the loaded cars are handled from the head of the incline or tramway practically by gravity the descending cars loaded pulling up the empties to control the tram however two six inch drums set tandem and coupled together are connected with an ail 82 horsepower general electric induction motor the speed of the tram being regulated by a clutch the rope in use is an inch in diameter 6 wire 6 strand hercules and a little more than two miles in length the average speed is feet per nii minute nute the tipple is of modern construction and embodies every new idea in automatic action and economical operation the equipment was furnished by the link belt com 5 A Z rl rt IWO yards of the southern utah ry at price photo by Ship lers pany the mine cars upon arrival discharge their load into a hopper by means of an automatic feeding device the coal is fed onto the shaking screens the different products going to different bins from which by gravity they can be loaded into standard guage cars carp of the southern utah rodd road at the tipple five different grades or sizes of coal are prepared the first is slack then follows nut or egg domestic lump from a six inch screen regular lump and especially large lump the latter being used very largely for storage purposes the lumps weighing in the neighborhood of pounds each at price the company has extensive yards and track facilities switching connections existing between the southern utah and the D R G railroads the power plant the electric power plant is located near the tipple and embraces two direct connee ted alternating three phase units of horsepower supplying a voltage of 2300 the current is conveyed to the mine over a transmission line where it is converted to direct current of volts it is then used in hoisting pumping hauling and in electric lighting slack and waste coal is used in the furnaces of the power plant in electrical generation character of coal the product of the consolidated fuel company is rapidly gaining high favor fa with coal users inasmuch as it possesses many admirable qualities which commends it to the consumer in the first place it is a most excellent storage coal as it slacks but very little and retains its original physical condition after long haulage and after months of storage it is higher in fixed carbon and much lower in ash sulphur and phosphorus than the best of eastern coking coal it is easily mined emsily easily handled and easily disposed of on oil account of the geological eo conditions accompanying its deposition no timbering is necessary in mine operation and owing to the hardness of tile the coal and the consequent elimination of dust in its extraction but little if any danger exists from fire damp and explosions the mine is a wet mine but not to such an ail extent as to interfere with successful operation the comparatively scanty flow being diverted to sumps bumps from which it is is raised to the surface by electrically operated pumps exhaustive tests have been made to determine the character and quality of the product from the companas comp anys mine As previously stated the six foot vein is possessed of excellent coking qualities sometime ago an expert coal operator shipped a quantity of coal from this vein to pittsburg where a comparative test was made between it and the best of connellsville coal the two products were placed in the same oven underwent the same treatment and the difference between the two cokes produced was undeniably in favor of the utah coal below we wd give the tha results of the tests analysis of connellsville coal and coke coal analysis moisture 76 volatile 2956 fixed carbon ash I 1 5 95 sulphur coke analysis moisture trace volatile combustible matter fixed carbon A ash sh 1222 sulphur phosphorus 6 analysis of consolidated fuel coal and coke coal analysis volatile combustible matter fixed carbon ash 32 2 sulphur 6 phosphorus trace coke analysis volatile ilet combustible matter fixed cabron ash sulphur 51 phosphorus trace the mining ining 11 review is informed that it is the intention of the company to put in coking ovens covens at an early day when it will be in position to furnish this character of fuel to the big smelting smelling sm elting plants of the west the town of hiawatha the town of hiawatha near the mine entries is cozily situated and exceedingly picturesque here the company has erected some very substantial stone structures including a 10 hotel a fine store building machine shop hoist and power house all of which are aie covered with steel roofing many pretty cottages for the use of employees plo have also been erected and more are in course of building A fine system of water works has been installed furnishing the mine and little town with an ample supply of the finest water electricity lighting has been supplied and telephone service exists between hiawatha and price trim which point business can be carried on with salt lake either by extended telephone service or telegraph the company has four locomotives three of which are of the ordinary type and which ply between price and the tipple the other is a shay engine which is run clear up to the mine when necessity requires the equipment installed by the company is modern and of the very best the rolling stock is excellent and the electric installation is unexcelled in the ventilation of the mine two jeffrey reversible fans are employed driven by electric motors during the year 1910 the company produced tons of coal the company is a strong one financially and otherwise its success within so short a time has been phenomenal and its outlook is all that could be desired and in the immediate future it will be a most important factor in the coal mining industry of utah and the west as it has already created an active and growing market in this state idaho nevada california and montana among those identified with the consolidated soli dated fuel company and who are heavily interested in this important enterprise are F A sweet L 1 H I curtis W H sweet F AT francis C T lemley W J burton L L legg W N williams T A williams E A ballard wm win eckler of kansas city mo and W V richardson of berkeley california |