| Show UTAH'S ENDLESS ASSET r t Coal Town of Gate GateI I II I I f r r C Ct CI I II I II I II I I II I II t I t I tI tI I tI I I I II t r rt rit I II I it fAn 1 I II I w ri s Fuel Coal Tipple I Utah I IBy By OTTO HERKES HERRES Vice President and GenI Manager ManagerI I United Sta e Fuel Company I T n II is fortunate In having MT UT U one of ot the largest t bituminous coal ceal fields in the th world 1 n ln estimate million tons tOllS available within thin forty years scars ears anti and tort forty six sib billion bUllon tons of ot present value alue for tor mining after forty years Total l has ha been about tons ton About one third comes from seams at least 16 fret feet thick Only 1 1 l of the th nations lIa nation tion s sIte de deposits deposit posits worked are na as tie til ck ek Utah s a coals ate ale notably tre fre from Impurities ties containing as a n rule less than 7 ash and 5 to 70 sulphur Palms Palm and semi tropical ve eta lion bordering a shallow sea millions of ot years ago neo ere i er burled buried under sediments and I Into coal The ou outcrops crops VI Here e firs mentioned by topographic en In 1853 1 53 In 54 the Utah I Legislature offered 1500 1 0 for the tiro thodi di co ery of coal not less leas than 18 11 Inches thick within 40 90 tall tall-s mil of ol Salt Lake City Citi The Tir search earch was 18 fru tiers Ho Hoe Ho e el two Welsh miners opened a coal bank at fles at Iles in Sanpete County and shipped cop coke by ox team to Salt Lake in 1858 Commercial coal began beean with completion of the tIle Union Pacific Pad Paci fic railroad In 1869 In 1878 the Rio Grande Western was x as built into the Carbon County field Large scale smelting operations s swelled elIed consumption In HOO 1100 to a million tons From Flom 1914 to 1920 the tir State States s output doubled reaching G 6 tons in the tb sear ear earTh ear The Th coal horizon extending from the th Wasatch mountains Into Colorado Colo rado redo Is from to feet thIck in alternating be beds bedi s ot or sandstone I and shale sh le Workable beds van ary from 4 to 28 feet in thickness I 1 he ha I differ In dimensions and be bej become become b come un in places In cerI certain j tain instances the coal oal has ha burned out for miles along alone tho the outcrop I T Utah companies ship by rail nil Smaller properties at Coal vibe and else elset here lier in eastern Utah I bring the th total to 40 Tn T eh e a mines averaging more mor than thon tonsa tons I a year produce about three fourths of the State s output I Modern machinery plays pIttS's pla an en im portent part In 1935 St 8 of ot the coal mined was wa cut by machines and 30 o 0 loaded mechanically Electric is common and hoists and Sons long SUI surface face tram tram ays are often required Workers are safeguarded liy hy the th use of water sprays ys and sprinkling of f coal dust electric lighting rock dusting I Ip p permissible explosives e und nod I five clothing Steel tipples and I preparation plants costing some sometimes sometimes times n a quarter million dollars dollar or more function in cleaning screen croe Ing Ine and shipping hipping the tir coil l Mall Many companies have bavo built and maintain to tons ns to their 18 drouth natural gas c fuel oil h competition an and l Increased efficiency in coal burning had cut Utah s a coal pro production in halt half by 1934 Then an upturn was 15 indicated Output for 1936 1916 was vas about J tons ton north orth at the fir mines about Of this it is tell 4 oto was nai paid out In wages and salaries 1 for tor equip equipment equipment equipment ment supplies and power powel for taxes and rot ro aHles for compensation and other insurance anee ance and the remainder for mss tuis expenses Tho The as a whole hole has not shown hown a profit t tor or paid dividend dh Iden s In recent years Sixty t two 0 cents c of ot the tir coal dollar It Is computed goes for tor pa payrolls roUs cents to Utah business con concerns concern terns cerns for tor supplies and power 7 cents for tor taxes IU and ind I coy io 0 titles and the rest for tor Insurance maintenance ance replacements replacement and interest Miners under a IL union agreement work ork 35 hours a week eek under und i round at stakes wai c ranging flam v 78 to tn for 7 hours hour The bulls bulk of ot the lute coal sold old Is slack m used ed for Industrial Indus IndustrIal Industrial trIal pur p u r p o 0 S e o s 8 and stokers Markets are ure ar found fO In Idaho Montana l I- I Ie e et Hla II Oregon Utah Y Washington ashington and to toa toa toa a lesser lesler extent in Kansas and Alaska About halt the tonnage Is ii sold fold 1 outside the state and brings money into Utah to apply on payrolls supplies freight and other local expenses es Coal mining and transportation Is essentially i a large larea volume lots 10 cost operation and it may be as assumed that VI when hen Pacific Coast Coa consumption approaches that ot of o the tir Atlantic seaboard Utah a 8 ton ton- tonnages nages and freight rates rales rate will ap ap- approximate ap approximate proximate those on the tho East coast Before Defore fuel oil prices dropped coal was taken bv by most western estern rail railroads roads ind and man mans ships on tho the Ve West t coat coast Mines ind tad smelters public utilities cement and beet sugar Industries and pad pact lug ine plants plant are arenow arenow now nay lar large larse e users user Known n supplies of petroleum as ed in the life of a nation are ar extremely o limited ew sew ells wells ale aie needed to maintain a 12 year Iwar ar supply ahead Coal resources are sufficient for centuries Low temperature carbonization of coal probably will supply till the country with Hh some petroleum sub sub- substitutes substitutes Hydrogenation of coal to gasoline has been successfully de- de developed developed on a commercial scale calc Be- Be Because Because B cause Utah coal eoal Is ic particularlY suitable for tor such auch processes it its po possibilities pos pos- in this connection are aremo most t Interesting The future with its development for tor ss sea ng coal may make that nun min IllY I i tar far the th most Important of me WI taut inui y 1 rich resources resource of Utah Ulah |
