Show NO COAL SOLD deseret coal mine largest welfare weare project in stal state C in emery county there is an unique coal mine that is of special interest several of the outstanding features of this large mine are its ownership the efficient and exceptional method of operation used and its unusual distribution system in the first place coal taken from the deseret coal mine near orangeville Orang eville is never sold this mine which is owned and operated by the L D S church as the largest welfare project in the state of utah is not operated on a commercial basis the only way an ula can obtain coal from this mine is by presenting an order on the mine from his bishop however L D S chapels hos petals seminaries and welfare projects use the coal without charge in some cases where the recipient is able and where the coal has been freighted for con sid erable distances the tran tation charges are paid by the consumer but in many cases the church also pays the trucking or or freight bill obviously the mine js as operated in a business like manner the property the buildings machin ery ani and equipment all present a prosperous appearance both buildings and equipment are modern and attractive and every thing is kept in tip top shape the courteous and genial guide who conducted us on a tour over the property explained the church s very efficient system of operation he said that the mine personnel is a small group of key men who are regularly em ern aloyed by the church authorities to operate the mine by far the largest share of work is done by church members who donate their time the church assesses participate ing mg stakes with a certain number of hours of mine work that are to be donated he said that he be deved this averaged out roughly to be about one hour a year per capita often several men will work out their entire stake allot ment before returning to their home welfare recipients are definitely encouraged to donate their work usually those who are working out stake allotments and those working for assistance received find it necessary to stay in the vicinity of the mine for several days or more for the conven bence and comfort of these people the church has constructed an at six unit fireproof apart ment house in fact it looks like a first class modern motel motell the apartment house is located at the mine terminal about one mile from orangeville Orang eville also at the mine terminal which is at the unction junction of the mine road and the main road between orangeville Orang eville and castle dale is the truck re pair garage parking lot and of cices the garage is needed for servicing the 7 large semi trailers and the 2 dump trucks used for transporting the coal by the way I 1 might mention that these 9 trucks alone rp represent present an ex pend iture of more than the mine itself is about nine miles from orangeville Orang eville and is reached by traveling all the wa way y on a wide smooth paved route the president frank killian who instigated and started the mine years ago rode out to the new mine with a group of mormons on the way he pointed out a route on which he thought it would be feasible to build a road without ever having a surveyor look over the proposed route church members rolled up their sleeves and proceeded to build the present fine highway which winds more than half way up the side of steep east mountain east mountain is a part of the wasatch range the deseret coal mine is ap proximately 20 years old now at first teams and cars were used in operating the mine coal was poured down the hill to the tipple on a wooden chute how ever the work at the mine was all done under great difficulty A W 11 k t 4 I 1 I 1 N 41 4 0 4 ar 1 r 4 fo 0 4 A r 1 ul A 0 rabi 0 V 4 V 6 IT ra I 1 X pa t eel 11 aw ie A 1 P A t jap W 11 x p it 4 4 I 1 A 04 ae 0 at Z 0 A ai ae belz yelz 4 aj f A AT pictured here is the deseret coal mine owned and operated by the LD S church as the largest welfare project in the state of ol 01 utah water for the mine operations had to be brought up and over from the other side of the mountain the top of which can be seer seen in the picture far above the mine one surveyor hired by the th church said that it could not be done but a second surveyor believed beli evec that the water could be brought over to the mine the mine is ir in emery county about nine miles from orangeville Orang eville the mine ter minal where the truck repair garage offices and apartments foi for workers is located is only about one mile from orangeville Orang eville utah green river journal photo by polaroid camera since no water was available near the mine after several years of great effort the mine was regret fully closed down at that time there were two other mines at the same location all within 50 or feet of each other both of these suffered the same fate it is understood the castle valley fuel co owned the larger one of these and Q edwards owned and operated a small one church authorities knew that mining in that locality could be carried on successfully only it if water could be obtained they began to cast around for a tion to the water problem they found that water at burnt stump spring on the point of east moun tain was good and plentiful b but ut it was on the other side of the mountain from the mine A sur beyor was hired to ascertain if the problem could be solved after looking over the situation he said that in his opinion the water could not be brought over the mountain on hearing this the owners of the other two mines gave up corn plemely and offered to sell out but the church reacted in the op cosite manner they not only refused to give up the idea of bringing water over the moun tain but signified their faith in the project by buying out the other two mine properties stake president frank kilhan killian still insisted that he was sure it could be accomplished another surveyor was hired and they had him make an exhaustive and de tailed study of the situation the new surveyor came back with the hoped for answer yes it could be done but the water would have to be taken down two can or washes and then up over the divide on the mountain an enthusiastic start was made and they decided to hire men for the work that was where they ran into trouble there just were not enough local men free and available to complete the job the church then assigned a welfare project to do it finaly a 2 inch pipe line about three miles long was put over the mountain now that the three mines nunes were merged into one unit and plenty of water was an accomplished fact a successful method of op crating the big mine was the only hurdle left how that problem was licked has already been de scribed that is by the employ y ment of regular local key men and the system of donated work by stake allotment an and d welfare workers w or kers at present the regularly em ern aloyed key men living in nearby towns are sherrill mcarthur orangeville Orang eville M mine I 1 n e superintend nt Ray raymond R orange ville mine foreman also bishop of orangeville Orang eville ward edward orangeville Orang eville 10 R U cut ting machine operator merrill larsen cleveland driller and shot firer D humphrey or angeville dangeville ang eville shuttle car operator fred van buren orangeville Orang eville motorman loren wells cleve land outside foreman percy wakefield huntington clerk leonard larsen ferron general man works inside or outside and operates any piece of equipment warren barton castle dale works in truck garage keith wright clausen operator on loader every man who works inside the mine declared the guide showing certificates to prove his statement is certified by the state we of utah of the nine truck drivers who transport the mined coal four are from orangeville Orang eville one from fer ron two from huntington and two from salt lake city the mine is completely iced and all the machinery is modern they use joy hydraulic drillers joy shuttle cars a joy 11 BU B U loading machine and a 10 RU R U cutting machine this equipment is all campara dively new since a little more than three years ago the old tipple burned down in january 1952 the new metal one was fin dished and began operating the old machinery much of which was salvaged is now kept for spare equipment should the need arise this includes another cut ting machine driller shuttle car and an electric 10 motor an upper cement storage bin holds tons of coal A large crusher at the bottom of the bin feeds the coal onto a belt con beyor which takes the coal to the tipple where it is re crushed screened and graded four dif ferent grades of coal are pre pared dust special stoker slack regular stoker slack and lump coal the coal vein they are mining at the deseret is called a 9 foot vein though actually it carries from 6 to 15 feet the coal is bet ter than average declared the guide he said that while this coal has a somewhat higher ash content than most coals it also has a higher than average B T U rating this means that it de livers more heat for the amount of coal burned before writing finis to this story of the deseret coal mine the writer wishes to express cial thanks and appreciation to fred van buren the gentleman who so generously gave his time and sp spent ent his gasoline acting as driver and guide through the mine property he took special interest and pride in giving and getting proper and adequate information for this article |