OCR Text |
Show WOULD SUPPLY COAL TO PACIFIC FLEET The coal producers of Utah have united in requesting the United States government to construct at the naval coaling station in San Francisco bay a terminal that will make it possible to deliver Utah coal to the Pacific fleet at San Francisco bay. From the government govern-ment the local operators are receiving considerable encouragement and they ar .;. now Confident that the coal used by u e United States government on the coast will be supplied by Utah. This will rma i an added production of about 100, 00 J tins of coal annually for Utah. The heads of nine big coal producing companies if Carbon county have signed a letter to Paymaster General T. J. Cowie, chief of the bureau of supplies sup-plies and accounts, setting forth the reasons why Utah coal should be used in supplying the ships of the Pacific fleet. They have received a letter from j Mr. Cowie promising an investigation of t:ie proposition set forth by the Utah ccal producers. Letters have also been sent to President Presi-dent W.l o i setting forth the opportunity oppor-tunity fur the navy department to secure se-cure L'tih coal for the big vessels. The piesident repl.eJ, stating that he had I referred the matter to Secretary Dan- ! lels o the navy department with the request that the secretary personally investigate the proposed plan. Aiding the operators of Utah in their efforts to cpn a Pacific coast market for Utah coal are Senators Smoot and Sutherland Suther-land o; Utah, Senators Thomas and Shafroth of Colorado, Senators New-lands New-lands and Pittman of Nevada and Representative Kahn of California. At present the Pacific fleet is supplied with coal from Virginia, hauled by water through the canal. Owing to the long haul it proves necessary for the govern-in-, into keep a great amount of coal stored at the coal dock in California City. The coal dock is made only for a Water haul. At present it would be necessary in order to get Utah coal to the battleships to retransport it from v the railroad terminal by water to the coal doc. The Utah coal operators have proposed that the government construct a mole from the San Francisco Fran-cisco terminal to the coal dock. The expense of such construction would not be large and would enable the operators opera-tors to take the coal trains direct to the dock. Th-. coal operators'point out that it is an unnatural condition whereby the government buys.coal from the eastern part of the United Slates or from foreign for-eign countries to use as fuel for the battleships and to supply the army and navy posts at coast points, when there is exc lient coal in the western part of the United States that is available. The development of the coal industry j in Utah will be greatly hastened, it is I pointed out, by this extension of the j western market and will encourage the development of vast undeveloped coal beds in the west. Utah ccal is much more available than Virginia coal, since lttan be supplied in large quantities on sho.-t notice, thus saving the government govern-ment the trouble and expense of keep- i ing a great quantity of coal stored at J the coaling stations. Should the government accede to the : request of the operators, and it seems probable that it will, there will be a greater opportunity for Utah to supply I bunker coal to merchantmen on the Pa cific coast. The increase in the Pacific commerce due to the opening of the Panama canal means a greatly increased increas-ed demand for coal at Pacific coast points and the prestige gained by Utah coal through its selection by the gov-- gov-- ernment would give this state the big s-ture of the bunker coal business of vessels of all classes. Tne coal operators signing the request re-quest addressed to Paymaster General Cowie are A. H. Cowie, E. L. Carpenter, Carpen-ter, C. N. Strevell, James H. Mays, F. A. Sweet, Jesse Knight and F. N. Cameron. The letter sent by them to the navy department follows: We wcu'd respectfully invite your attention at-tention and serious conideration to what we feel to be an unnatural condition, condi-tion, in that the coal requirements of the United States navy and the army at Mare Island, the Presidio and else- where along the Pacific coast have, for many years, and are now being supplied sup-plied with foreign coals or coals mined on the eastern coast of the United States and transported by vessel to the various coaling stations and other Pa-eifie'eoast Pa-eifie'eoast points of consumption, notwithstanding not-withstanding the fact that inland on the Pacific slope of the United States are large bodies of bituminous coal of most excellent qu tlity, in an advanced stage of development; further, in this I same inland district there remain very J large areas of bituminous coal, owned by the government, undeveloped and j which will, no doubt, remain undeveloped undevel-oped until a larger market on the Pacific Pa-cific coast and beyond is established. The markets of and available to the Pacific slope are for obviius reasons, ! much narrower than those of the east I coast of the United States, where the j markets of the world are open to the j eastern producers. The western coal ; producers, especially those of the state of Utah, therefore feel that the coal ; requirements of the Pacific slope, logically logic-ally and naturally, should be supplied from this section of the country. In disturbed or generally unsettled times the water routes normally available avail-able for the movement of coal to the i Pacific coast are subject to serious interruption, in-terruption, and it occurs to us that it ! would be a national advantage for the 1 government to be prepared to promptly ;and economically handle coals from close inland sources, such as Utah, : and to establish such relations with the ; coal producers of our western states as .would encouiage them in the further development of the enormous coal deposits de-posits of the west. While it is true that the United j States has established a very modern j coaling station at California City, in l San Francisco bay, yet, as we under-! under-! stand, such facilities, at this date, pro- j l vide only for the handling of coal by I ; the water route. Howe er, it is our ! information that your department has : ' been considering the advisability of i providing facilities that will permit of j the prompt and economical transfer and handling by barges of inland coals loaded in railroad cars from railroad terminals to the docks at Cilifomia ' City. We earnestly trust that we have j been correctly informed, and that such facilities may soon become a reality, i not only at California City, but at all i other government coaling stations on ; the Pacific coast. The undersigned coal producers of Carbon county, U ah, rei-pectfuily represent to you that ni tiie year 1913 th-..y produced 3,250,000 tons of bituminous bitumi-nous coal, which we do not believe is equaled in quality by any other bituminous bitumi-nous coal field in the United States, unless it be the Pocahontas and New River coal fields of Virginia. This Utah coal is of very hard texture, free from foreign substances, low in ash and moisture, suffers little from long storage and does not ignite easily from spontaneous combustion while in storage. stor-age. The coal producers of Carbon county, Utah, have spent millions of dollars in the purchase, development and equipment equip-ment of their coal mining properties, ' which properties are at this time de- i veloped to such an extent as will easily meet ail the requirements of the Pacific slope, and they are prepared to further dee-r0p these coal deposits to meet any . increased maiket demand. ! The Carbon county coal fields in Utah have extensive and efficient railroad facilities connecting with the four lines of railroad reaching the Pacific coast, j 'thus affording absolute assurance of' the quick and prompt de ivery of Utah I coals to the principal seaports of the t l Pacific coast, i.e., Portland, Seattle,' ! San Francisco, Kast San Pedro and San I Diego, and full train deliveries of Utah I coal can be made within a week from receipt of order as against a thirty-day movement even through the canal as we understand it, for coal mined on the eastern coast of the United States. : This quick service should obviate the , necessity of the government carrying large reserve stocks of coal at its coaling coal-ing stations, which it is obliged to do while solely dependent upon coals re" ceived by the water route. I We, therefore, solicit from you early and earnest consideration of any plans (Continued on page 8) j WOULD SUPPLY COAL TO PACIFIC FLEET (Continued from page 1) your department may have in mind for providing railroad connections at the ! California City and other western coal-i. coal-i. g stations, and we further court from your department full investigation of die ability oZ the Uci.h -.od p.vnju.-evs to promptly and satisfactorily seive the government with a high-grade bituminous bitumi-nous coal, which we feel will answer its every purpose. Yours truly, Utah Fuel Company, by A. H. Cowie, Vice Pres-ident. Consolidated Fuel Company; Blackhtwk Coal Company; Panther Coal Company, by E. L. Carpenter, President. Independent Coal & Coke Company, by C. N. Strevell, President. Castle Valley Coal Company, by Jas. H. Mays, President. Standard Coal Company, by F. A. Sweet, President. Spring Canyon Coal Company, by Jesse Knight, President. Cameron Coal Company, by F. N. Cameron, President. Salt Lake Tribune. |