| Show COAL AS W IN COMMITTEE SENT OUT TO THE COAL MINES A report to the effect that prospects for winter fuel arc discouraging cou raging f boise idano aug 17 the report of tho committee appointed by the city council and commercial club of boise to make a trip through the coal mining dist to investigate the prospects of obtaining coal this winter la as follows r to the mayor and common council of dolse city idaho we the under signed M alexander on behalf of the commercial club of boise city and A B carison on behalf of the mayor and common council of boise city were appointed to investigate tho coal situation as it exists and make such report upon the same as the same should come to our observation which report we herewith submit the coal situation tor idaho as well as tor montana utah wyoming and nevada is a very complex question and covers much more ground and enters into so many details that the whole of it could not be gono over in any report that any ordinary citizen would likely read we have in this report eliminated every subterfuge that might hinder the plain wording and a proper understanding thereof e have also eliminated the past as well as the future and our report will cover so far as practicable the coal supply that Is to be had to be looked tor and to be depended upon during the winter 0 1907 08 or in other words covering the period from the first of august until about the first of april 1908 the questions of future and past can be had from us so far as our ability aej knowledge goes by further inquiry so far as the actual coal supply Is concerned such coal as we have been burning from the wyoming mines the same la inexhaustible in the bowels of the earth is stored for the use 0 the population of this intermountain country a supply of coal thai in our opinion and in the opinion of competent judges whom we have inquired of enough to last for hundreds of years and then the supply would hardly be touched the supply of acal for 1907 08 that Is available from the mines tributary to this locality is about 20 per cent less this year and it is likely to be that percentage less for the balance of the season than it was in 1906 07 this shortage of 20 per cent in this coal supply la occasioned first by the reduction of the working force in the mines of about 15 per cent over last year second some of the mines have been disabled on account of alro and some by being flooded and some little of it has been occasioned by stoppage of work for about 15 or 18 days in 1907 increased demand the demand tor coal in tho last two years has increased annually from 20 to 25 per cent occasioned by the extraordinary tra ordinary growth of population in southern idaho utah and nevada the latter saito has made in the last two years on account of the gold excitement cit ement aej the building of now towns a demand upon the coal fields partially of utah and partially of wyoming an emergency tor and unprepared tor with this increase of demand for coal and the reduction of the output it is very apparent why our coal supply Is short not alone in boise and its tributary country but throughout the entire intermountain states there la today coal mined to tho capacity of the mines in all of the mines that we visited the miner the cumberland coal mines at cumberland wyo are owned by the union pacific coal company and that coal Is used by tho railroads the oregon short line and its tributary lines the same union pacific coal company is also the largest producer of coal in rock springs wyo and its out put while decreased seems to be fair but they do not sell any coal for commercial purposes and what commercial business they have done and are likely to do this season would not amount to 2 per cent of their output and will be so small that it might be entirely omitted from the coal production the diamondville Dia mines ot dia wyo are mines which are owned by the people who own the large shelters smelters sm elters in butte and anaconda aej they almost the entire output of friese mines at present their commercial business in the past has been about 10 per cent of bleir output but in the future their commer caal business will be hardly 5 per cent and so small that it my not figure any in the coal supply for thia season these mines are worked but one of the mines has been flooded making it almost impossible to work tho same until new pumps are installed which will require from 60 to days to accomplish under the most favorable conditions the next mine is at kemmerer Kem morer the frontier mine owned by mr kern and mr qualey the frontier mine nos 1 2 and 3 has been in the past and is today a purely corn mercial mine its output is sold and distributed for commercial purposes all along the oregon bhart line and such other railroads as are tributary thereto and ia a large factor in furnishing the supply of coal for domestic purposes this mine is also producing 20 per cent less than last year aej is therefore unable to supply as much coal ta it dealers and other carlies par lies as they did a year ago the next mine is that of the central coke coal company of rock springs wyo which is also purely a commercial coal mine its output Is distributed like that of the kern mine for commercial purposes to whomsoever wishes to buy it provided they have the same to sell another smaller mine called the wyoming coal coke comply comp my ex ista about a mile and a halt from hock springs and produces about tons of commercial coal under favorable conditions but none ot this coal has ever come our way dependent on two mines that leaves us as consumers of coal in boise as well as all other communities tributary to the wyoming coal fields dependent upon two mines for our coal supply and that is the kemmerer and qualey mines in kemmerer wyo and the central coal coke company of rock springs wyo and the output of these mines has been reduced 20 per cent from jast years output by conditions olef which they have no control our coal supply will depend upon these two mines and we believe from information obtained reliable sources and managers of these mines that all communities may depend upon getting their pro rata share of coal the same as last year less the 20 per cent of output and we believe that with a proper economy practiced by the people tributary to these coal fields and a just and equal distribution of the coal that Is mined the mines producing a reasonable amount of coal with an economic usage the supply will probably do tor the purpose for which it Is intended aej no panicky feeling need exist among the people as to tho coal supply but good common sense should be used with to the coal question as well as anything else advance in price the price of coal has been advanced in one of the mines here lately on lump coal 50 cents a ton which has been the first advance that has taken place in the price of coal in the last two years whether or not the other mines will follow this advance we are not prepared to say it may also be aalde that coal Is the only commodity that has nat felt the effect of good throes as to price until this advance nor have the wages of the coal miner been advanced on account of the better times that wa have had in the last few years until now when most of the mines have been unionized eight hour shifts established and a new scale of pay put in force what this new scale of pay Is in comparison with the old we are not prepared to say as we have had no opportunity to compare the same aa it had not been fully agreed upon and put in force while we were visiting these mines there la some anxiety among a great many people as to what the effect of this new scale and new hours of time will be upon the present supply of coal but be ourselves taking everything into consideration believe that the eight hour day scale as to time and and the new scale as to pay will not diminish the present output of coal in fact we ourselves and a great many other people that we have visited aej talked to believe it Is likely to improve conditions in place of making them any worse and when this new scale is once established which will likely be in the next few weeks we have reason to believe that the output of coal may be increased 10 per cent transportation question in this question of coal supply and demand there la another large factor entering into the same and that Is transportation that transportation Is furnished exclusively to this country by the oregon short line and the union pacific railroads both companies claim to bo independent of one another but work harmoniously BO tar as traffic arrangements aro concerned and we believe that the transportation por tation question Is as much interwoven with the coal proposition as it it were a part and parcel thereof while it la truo that the railroads do not mine the coal nor do the railroads own any of the coal mines so far as wo know and while the railroads claim to be simply a common carrier for tho coal mines as lor all other commodities we are led to believe that the oregon short line railway company exercises a moral influence over these mines that la paramount above all others the best way to illustrate this question is that with the present short supply of coal that is being mined in kemmerer and in diamond ville the railway companies have made a demand upon these two alnea for 1000 tons of coal a week for railroad purposes and while in our opinion they pay less than customers and the commercial supply of coal Is already short still tho mines do not refuse the railroads demand and the week of our investigation these mines furnished the railroad companies each one nearly 1000 tons of coal or 1000 tons a week from these mines out of the market for supply and diverting it to ralli oad use coal the railroad compaan claims la used for their coal bins and their engines on the hill that exists near Kem wyo and close to these alnea we did not investigate this particular question but simply look the railroad companas comp anys version of it but we do know that it the railway company had not taken this 2000 tons ot coal a week and are likely to take 2000 tons of coal a week still further that there would have been a much better supply of coal for private consumption than there is shortage of cars we also learned that last year during the months of september and october during the sugar beet season these very same mines that produced then an adequate supply ot coal were only able to run three fifths of the time on account of a shortage of cars and in that length ot time that they ere lying idle waiting tor cars they could have produced in the various mines nearly ton s 0 coal which if properly distributed for domestic purposes would have relieved all the want and suffering that was occasioned last year and we believe ourselves that unless extraordinary measures are taken aind the railroad companies use all the energy and force at their command there will be an additional shortage ot cars in 1907 and the coal supply still lessen ed because of having no means of transporting the same in other words the country has grown but as tar as we can see neither the facilities for mining northe facilities for transportation have kept paco anything near to this growth coal can be shipped from the mines to the various districts in which it la used in steel cars in box cars in tact in most any kind of a car of course large steel cars are preferred on ac ciuni of being more easily and while some of the mines do not use box cars for shipping coal it is according to our observation as much the fault ot not having adequate machinery to load box cars or else on the part of the railroad company aa when there is shortage of large atee cars at some mines there is a supply of box cars which cannot be loaded readily on account of not having the necessary machinery for loading box cars we also noticed that with all this demand for coal and this great increase in population there havo noi been any new mines opened up in the wyoming coal fields and while we admit that there is now under contemplation temp lation the opening of some other good mines by tho kemmerer and quealy people they are not yet producing coal for want ot proper rail been furnished a year ago and which in our opinion will not be ready tor operation in 1907 without a track on the union pacific railroad one mile from rock springs wyo there exists a mine called the wyoming coal coke company which now produces SOO tons of coal a day which has to bo hauled by wagons about a mile to the railroad there Is graded fram the main line of that road to said mine a Y ready to put on tes and rails and th whole distance from this road both tracks on the Y would be about a mile and a halt and still there Is not a tie or a rail visible to apply that demand nor to facilitate ae output ot this coal and pua it upon the market to relieve distress we have heard it said that the road would bo put through and very shortly but we have also learned that this same thing was said one or two years ago and the trade is as tar off as ever there will be no adequate supply of coal produced in this ot country until the mine owners are encouraged by the transportation companies and the transportation companies wake up to the tact that they are common carriers and common servants of the people who created them and through whose territory they run that their business Is to facilitate help encourage and promote every industry and enterprise and make living better and cheaper that the common weal is as much their duty as to pay dividends not until then will we have coal sufficient tor the wants ot the people and to which we are entitled the price ot lump coal at the mines Is 2 a ton freight 4 the advance on lump coal at one of the mines Is 50 cents over this price making lump coal cost laid down in balse city from 8 to a ton balse city from one of these mines in miles butte from the same mine is miles distant making a difference against bolso ot 19 miles for this 19 miles boise pays 75 cents a ton more for coal or in other words the rate on coal from kemmerer wyo to balse miles is 4 the same coal is hauled to butte mont miles tor we also in our investigation found that with the coal supply short the output reduced no railroad no big smelter no sugar boot factory no large ot any kind or nature so far as we calud ascertain has suffered or Is likely to buffer for the want ot coal plenty of arrangements |
