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Show UTAH FUEL COMPANY FIRST TO OPEN MINES IN STATE In Business Thirty Years Concern Now Occupies Occu-pies Position at Top of Industry in Entire En-tire United States. TU E industries of Utah are many and varied, yet no field of endeavor en-deavor within the borders of the commonwealth has yielded a more interesting fund of information or has been more productive in the development de-velopment of Utah's resources than the coal mining operations carried on f or the past thirty years in those sections of the state .bearing coal deposits. In many respects Utah leads every other state in the union in coal mining operations. opera-tions. This is particularly true as regards re-gards the conditions under which the coal miners in t Utah 's mines live and work and progress; it is true also in respect to tho safeguarding of human life in Utah's coal mines; it is true most of all, perhaps, in the splendid quality of Utah-mined coals. The oldest and largest coal mining and coke producing company in Utah is the Utah Fuel company, which for over thirty years has operated its mines with such careful attention to the safety safe-ty of its employees that todav the company com-pany occupies a position at Ihc top of the coal mining industry in the United States and ranks first iu safety and the general welfare of its employees. The Utah Fuel company operates mines at Castlegate, Clear Creek, Sun-nyside, Sun-nyside, "Winterquarters and the. Utaa mine, and the combined daily production produc-tion of these mines is 10,000 tons of coal, Vhich. is produced from seams that range in thickness from five to twenty-five twenty-five feet. On its properties f the company has established the town of Suunysidc, with a population of 3500; Castlegate, -with a population of 1500; Clear Creek, with a population of 1000; in addition to towns at the other mines. A constant effort has been made to better the living conditions of the coal miners at these places and these conditions condi-tions are today far above the average to be found in mining camps elsewhere. Homes are lighted by electricity and have a splendid water supply; the houses arc comfortable, and toe miners rent them on a basis of about $2 per i room, including light and water. E-i.-I couragement is given by the company to the miners to plant lawns and flower gardens. Opera houses and amusement hails are constructed bv t ho company aud everything done to promote clean aa:use:ueuts of every nature. Kdm-atioiial courses are fostered by the company that are distinctly original. orig-inal. A vigorous campaign is constantly constant-ly c on di" "l-'d to educate foreign -born employees who do not undent a ml or speak Kngi ish, and the company employs em-ploys the principals of the arious st -hoods to hold night sessions two or three nights a week, in which the rudiments rudi-ments of Knglish are taught to all foreigners for-eigners who wish to take advantage of trie opportunity. This instruction is on the Koherts system, which iUu.-t rates i t K-si-ons- by pantomime. These foreign-born men and women are taught A nieri.-an -i il government, geography, Fng'i-h uud aritametic, and are ground-i ground-i ed in the principles upon which the .American government is founded, in an I etfo'-t to create in them the American i M'hk and desire for American citi.eu-hip. citi.eu-hip. l M od' rn school bn ildings anil com re-t re-t tent teachers are found" in all of the ; Utah Fuel company towns and cant is, ; as it is estimated that the more knowledge knowl-edge that can be gion the foreign-born i men and women regarding A m erica n customs and institutions and the proper i means of working iu the mine, the bet-Iter bet-Iter citizens these men and women will j become. : The t wo best -k nown coal m ines in I Utah nro probably the I'asilegato and Clear ( reeK mine-, a f mm t hose t w o mines has been produced the balk of the domestic fuel consumed in Utah for the past tuirtv years. This is due lU'duubt-edly lU'duubt-edly to the fact that Castlegate and Clear reek coals are free from bone and slack ; are free burning, non-cl inhering inh-ering and very low in ash and moisture, besides having excellent storage qua M-ties, M-ties, and being clean to handle. Employs 2500 Men. The Utah Fuel com pa ny employs about 25i)U men and its monthly payroll is appt oximatoly .t'-25,000, which is distributed dis-tributed twice a month throughout the state. The greater portion of this money remains wi thiu the borders of ihe state and is turned into other channels. chan-nels. The Utah Fuel company has the honor of having at Sunny si do the priz.e-winning mine rescue team of the United States. The company several years ago organized first-aid and mine rescue teams at each of its properties and there is held annually a meet and oonh test at one of the company s camps, where all of the first-aid teams compete. com-pete. The Sunnyside team won the inter in-ter company meet this year and went to San Francisco to the Panama-Pacific, exposition to compete against first-aid and mine-rescue teams in the world. They won first place. An interesting feature of first-aid work nt the mines of the company is the underground hospital arrangement. These hospitals aro built, of fire-proof eonMruction in convenient places in tht mines, and furnished with full equipment equip-ment of first-aid appliances. They are lighted with electricity and have water piped to them, so that men who have reen injured may be taken there and given first aid preparatory to taking them to the well equipped hospitals that t he com pa n v maintains at all of its, mines. Telephone lines are strung t h rough out the mines w it'll stations at. convenient point s, and are the means of bringing prompt care aud attention to any iiijuied person. The Utah Fuel company is largely responsible re-sponsible for the present safety precautions precau-tions taken in l'tah coal mines, such as :-priukling and electric shot firing, two features which were inaugurated at Castlegate Cas-tlegate in 10. when the company officials of-ficials first reali.ed the extreme danger dan-ger from cxploMons of mine dust under arid atmospheric conditions such as prevail pre-vail in the west. Dangers arudi.g fvmi dust were not thoroughly recognised hy tho general coal mining industry throughout the United States until some twelve or fourteen years later. When Utah was admitted to statehood state-hood in IS'Jti, the coal mining laws then drafted were framed on the experience' and knowledge gained through the operations op-erations of this company. Laws in re-I re-I gard to additional safeguards have been added to from time to time as ! new conditions aroe, until today Utah j probably has tho most concise and ade- ? I quate coal mining Ihws of anv state iuw the U nion. This is thoroughly borne : out bv the accident 'record of Utah, whii'li Will compare verv favorably with I anv in 'the United Stales, especially iu view of the extreme thickness of the ' eoni seams 'mined in Utah. |