USA > Utah > Salt Lake County > Salt Lake > Utah gazatteer and directory of Logan, Ogden, Provo and Salt Lake cities, for 1884 > Part 14
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UTAH SOUTHERN RAILROAD
was commenced, a new company being organized to accomplish the work. The first spike was driven June 5th, of the same year. It was pushed for- ward, from point to point, passing through some of the wealthiest and best tracts of land in the country, for a period of eight years, when its terminus was placed at Juab, in Juab County, June 15th, 1879. The distance from Salt Lake is 105 miles. In a brief period thereafter the
UTAH SOUTHERN EXTENSION.
was commenced at Juab and rapidly pushed forward to Milford, in Beaver County, and thence to Frisco, where the famous Horn Silver mine is situ- ated-and in the same county-being completed to that point June 23. of 1880, or in less than a year. The distance from Juab to Frisco is 138 miles. This gave the three lines an aggregate extent of 280 miles, running from Ogden, in the main, in a southwesterly direction. Finding it would be vastly cheaper to operate the roads under one organization, in 1881 the three lines were incorporated under the name of the
UTAH CENTRAL RAILWAY,
which is to-day managed practically by the same interests that have been identified with it since the beginning of internal railroading in Utah. Among the contemplated extensions is one from Spanish Fork to Pleasant Valley, where the company has large coal interests. Another and still more prob- able extension is to run from Milford, the southern termination of the road, along the desert to Iron Springs, in Iron County, where the famous iron mines are situated. The springs are almost due south from Milford, and the road is to run out of Beaver County, and cut along through the desert in Iron County. Among possible, but not at present contemplated extensions, is one to Castle Valley in Emery County, at which place vast coal fields exist. The road is identified with the Union Pacific, and by that associa- tion gives its patrons all the advantages of a through trunk line. Much of the business which the Union Pacific enjoys is due to the popularity of its local ally, the Utah Central. John Sharp is its general superintendent; James Sharp, assistant superintendent, and Francis Cope, general freight and passenger agent.
UTAH AND NORTHERN.
The organization of the company to build this road was effected August 23, 1871. Less than a month later ground was broken at Brigham City, Box Elder County. The first rail was laid at Brigham Junction, seventeen
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UTAH GAZETTEER.
miles north of Ogden, March 29, 1872; and the road was completed to Logan, the county seat of Cache County, January 31, 1873. A branch line of four miles, extending the Utah Northern Railroad to Corinne, was com- pleted on June 9, 1873; and the road was extended south to Ogden, and opened for traffic February 8, 1874, giving a distance of sixty-four miles in operation between Ogden and Logan. It was extended twenty miles farther north to Franklin, Idaho, by the middle of March. This road was built by the people of Northern Utah under the most trying circumstances, and was maintained for years at a great expense. Passing into the hands of the Union Pacific for a song in February, 1879, it has since been pushed through Idaho and penetrates the heart of western Montana. It is accounted the best paying road of the Union Pacific, and is a narrow-gauge. W. B. Doddridge is superintendent of the road, with W. P. P. St. Clair, division superintendent.
UTAH AND NEVADA.
This narrow-gauge, which now extends a distance of some thirty-seven miles, was originally known as the Salt Lake, Sevier Valley and Pioche Railroad. The name will indicate the contemplated object of the road, which was designed to tap the extensive mines in that region, and, passing south- ward through the mines and agricultural lands of the Sevier Valley region, make its terminus finally at Pioche, Southeastern Nevada. It has never «attained the magnitude intended, and unless unforseen circumstances should arise, it never will. The road was commenced in 1872; work was suspended in 1873, when some twenty miles had been completed, but was resumed again later on and pushed as far as Stockton, its present terminus. During the summer months the road is greatly used by excursionists who go to the Lake to bathe. W. W. Riter, is superintendent; S. F. Fenton, general passen- ger agent.
THE UTAH EASTERN RAILROAD
was a peculiar outgrowth. The Union Pacific supplied the Territory in the main with coal from its Wyoming mines, notwithstanding the fact that Utah possessed coal fields that would furnish as excellent and generally a better quality of coal than was imported. In the severer winter months, also, great difficulty was experienced in getting coal sufficient to supply the demand, while the figure asked was thought to be exhorbitant. To over- come this evil it was proposed to pass a bill through the Legislature, author- izing the counties of Salt Lake, Summit, Davis and Tooele to raise, by the issue of bonds, money enough to build a line of railroad between Coalville and Park City and Salt Lake City. The effort proved abortive, George W. Emery, then Governor of Utah, vetoing the bill to that effect, which the Legislature had passed. Individual efforts were then put forth in 1880, and the work prosecuted under the most trying circumstances. The poor, the aged, the laborer who had a few dollars, placed their money in the enterprise in the belief that coal could be had cheaper. The result was unfortunate. The line had to be bonded, and only by the help of the principal owners of the Ontario mine, was it made possible to build the road as far as Park City-twenty-five miles. The nearest accessible point to Salt Lake City by which the road passed is not less than twenty-five miles, and for the advan- tage the people living outside of Summit County have ever derived there- from, the Utah Eastern might as well not have been built. It was operated for some time by the trustees, carrying coal from Coalville to Park City, but was paralleled by a branch belonging to the Union Pacific, and recently the control of the little road fell into the hands of the mammoth corporation- the Union Pacific-by which it is now controlled. Could sufficient means
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UTAH GAZETTEER.
have been raised to push the line to Salt Lake, the result might have been vastly different. As it is, the money invested appears to be money irretriev- ably lost.
THE SANPETE VALLEY RAILROAD
runs between Nephi, in Juab County, and Wales, in Sanpete County, the line following up Salt Creek Canyon. It is narrow-gauge and was built by an English company, with a view to securing a market for coking coal, which had been found in Sanpete County. The road has never been a pronounced success, though projections now seriously discussed will give it a much wider influence, and render it of great benefit to that section of the Territory. It is proposed to push the line south through the valleys into Piute County, where it will tap the rich mining interests known to exist at Marysvale, in that county. Its present length is thirty miles. Mr. Simon Bamberger is the superintendent.
LITTLE COTTONWOOD AND BINGHAM CANYON ROADS.
Both are narrow-gauge, and both some sixteen miles long. They intersect the Utah Central and the Denver and Rio Grande at a point some twelve miles south of Salt Lake City. The Little Cottonwood runs east into the Wasatch Mountains, a distance of about sixteen miles from the starting point, the Bingham goes west into the Oquirrh Range the same distance. Both were built to facilitate mining, the one in Alta, the other in Bingham, and the support they receive to this day is due to the same interests. These also are the product of local effort, but they are now controlled and made tributary to the Denver and Rio Grande. The company to build the Bing- ham Canyon road was organized September 10, 1872; the other, October 14th, of the same year.
THE SALT LAKE AND WESTERN
starts at a point called Lehi Junction, about a mile north of Lehi City, in Utah County, and runs southwest as far as Tintic, one of the best mining dis- tricts in the Oquirrh Range, and in Juab County. It is fifty-seven miles long. The general understanding, when this line was commenced, was that it would be pushed through to California, crossing Nevada, and tapping some of the rich mining districts in that State. The project has not yet, so far as is publicly known, been entirely abandoned, and is still numbered among the contemplated projections. At present the line is made to pay by hauling ore containing precious metal, and by the conveying of iron ore to the smelters for fluxing purposes. It is standard-gauge and is a Union Pacific branch. W. W. Riter is superintendent.
ABANDONED ROADS.
Two short lines, at one time operated in Utah, have been abandoned- the Summit County road and the American Fork narrow-gauge. The former hauled coal from Coalville to Echo, in Summit County: the latter was designed to meet the necessities of the mines in the American Fork District, and then became an excursion line, the canyon through which it runs being noted for its beauty and grandeur. Being excessively unprofit- able it was ultimately torn up, and the material utilized in other directions.
PROJECTIONS.
Each year sees an increase in the number of roads projected, designed to operate in different parts of the Territory. Little reliance is to be placed
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UTAH GAZETTEER.
on. minor efforts, however, in view of the evil results that have attended similar investments heretofore. Two, however, likely to be consummated, are, the extension of the Utah Central to Iron Springs, and the operation of twenty-six miles of narrow-gauge by the Iron Mining and Manufacturing Company, to run between the coal and iron mines in Iron County. It is not unlikely the near future will see additional lines in Utah, but existing indications give no assurance as to their location, save in the two directions just mentioned.
TRADE AND COMMERCE.
There is little of striking interest connected with the history of Utah's commerce. The great bulk of the inhabitants of Utah are engaged in agriculture, with a tendency towards manufacture. It is but natural, both from the character of the people by whom this Territory was founded and because of the circumstances by which they were surrounded, that they should have leaned to the cultivation of the soil even in the face of later mining temptations; and for those engaged in mining the result has been more than favorable. It has given Utah an agricultural foundation sufficient for an unlimited growth, and, by making an abundance of breadstuff, has rendered the cheaper working of mines carrying low grade ores a possibility. The agricultural instinct lingers still with the people of Utah, even when, at times, other pursuits might be the means of bringing more available money into the Territory. While it is easy for Utah to produce vastly more than she requires for local consumption in nearly all agricultural pursuits, the need for a surplus, or rather the demand for a surplus, has not existed, because of the great distance of Utah farmers from any market, and because, also, of the high freight tariff which rendered it impossible, as a rule, to export grain and compete with other points. All told, Utah has not exported over 1,000,000 bushels of grain. Several efforts have been made to open markets, and while each single undertaking was perhaps a success, the results were not such as to justify a steady continuance in the direction. S. W. Sears, Esq., twice loaded sailing vessels in the San Francisco port, with Utah wheat, to be exported to Europe. The first attempt was made in Novem- ber, 1878, when the vessel Maulsden was loaded with 64,000 bushels of Utah wheat. Before the vessel put to sea, the wheat was sold and its subsequent destination was a matter of indifference. Later, in April, 1879, the sailing vessel Ivy was chartered by the same gentleman and put out for Hull with 78,000 bushels of Utah wheat. It was disposed of without loss on its arrival in Europe, but the profits on the undertaking were not sufficient to justify a continuance of such operations. Lately, grain, or wheat, has been converted into mill stuffs and exported in this form with profit to all con- cerned at a time when the wheat would have been a loss. The result is advantageous both ways, as it brings in more money, builds up local indus- tries and finds internal employment for additional labor. With the exception of the mines, live stock and wool, nothing is done in the exportation of Utah products outside of mill stuffs, dried fruit, potatoes, dairy products and hides, pelts and furs. It is within her power, however, to extend trade by energy, and secure a profitable market for farm as well as the man- ufacturing products which the near future is likely to see created in this
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UTAH GAZETTEER.
Territory. As it is, there must be a trifle greater exports than imports as there is a gradual increase in circulating wealth, which fluctuates, however, because of the peculiar effect the building of railroads has had upon Utah in the more recent years.
The West is now endeavoring to secure the trade of Utah as against the strong hold the East has, and if backed by the Central Pacific, Utah may have the advantage of two markets, with the prestige of rail- road favors looking to her assistance in exports with a view to securing the bulk of imports. This is possible, but it is a consummation more devoutly to be wished than likely to be realized in any reasonable period. The great power of railroads in the Territory is exercised to force imports in a certain direction, even as against the best judgment of merchants, and the better interests of the masses. I It can be no worse. Any change, consider- ing the rapid growth in population, and the steady advances made in material wealth, must be for good. The best method of making circulating medium plenty, if it cannot be done by an increase of exports, is to stop, as largely as possible, imports through local efforts looking to the upbuilding of internal industries. In hundreds of seemingly trifling directions, money finds its way out of the Territory that could as well be stopped, by but little effort. It is the opinion of many intelligent persons that if Utah farmers put their grain into pork products they would realize more per bushel and find a cash market constantly opened; while, in addition to the better price grain would bring in the shape of beef, a profit also would be made on pork- raising, and thus advantages would be realized both ways.
In the years preceding the completion of the Pacific railroads, the imports of Utah, according to the most careful estimate possible, were between 10,000 and 12,000 tons per annum. The exports were almost nothing. The overland emigration, the stage lines and the troops, bought the farmers' grain and surplus stock, and these were almost the only cash resources of the Territory. The railroad, constructed both from the East and West, joined tracks on Promontory Summit, May 10, 1869, and the same year the Utah Central was built from Ogden to Salt Lake City, con- necting the capital of Utah with the trans-continental railroad line. The second year thereafter, the exports and imports of the Territory, as indi- cated by the books of the Utah Central Railroad Company, were 80,000 tons, a seven-fold increase. Since that they have averaged about 125,000 tons yearly, two-thirds of which were imports, and about one-half of which (coal in part, coke, charcoal, bullion, lead ores, lead, iron ore, machinery in part) were incidental to mining. Of the rest, the largest items were mer- chandise, building material, lumber, railroad material and produce. Sundries, includes wagons, live stock, wool, hides, dried fruit, salt, hay, etc. The importation of iron ore and charcoal has practically ceased. The Territory will always have to import its hard and finishing woods, but in this respect , it is no worse off than the entire prairie and mountain parts of the country, including the Pacific Coast. It must also expect to always import, more or less, its lumber, sash, doors, blinds, wagons, agricultural implements and furniture, for not only does it lack the hard and finishing woods of native growth, but the best quality of clear lumber cannot be cut out of native timber. The importation of produce includes corn, oats, some other grains and seeds; fruits and vegetables from California (out of season in Utah); oys- ters, salmon, fresh fish and shell fish. The item of live stock embraces livery horses and blooded horned stock, blooded bucks and swine. The making of leather, or at least of its products, may be expected to increase, as also the manufacture of home-grown wool, and the importation of these kinds of merchandise to correspondingly diminish. Our machinery is largely made here, exclusive of new silver mills, engines of more than 100-horse power, agricultural and railroad machinery. There is no data upon which
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UTAH GAZETTEER.
to strike an accurate balance sheet, but the following is not far out of the way, as showing the condition in 1882:
Imports.
Books, stationery, paper, music, musical instruments, $ 186,000
Clothing, furnishing, hats, caps, carpets, oil cloths, . 798,000
Cigars, tobaccos, wines, spirituous and malt liquors, 615,000 Crockery, glassware, watches, clocks, jewelry, 242,000 Dry goods, millinery. fancy goods, notions, 1,740,000
Drugs, chemicals, paints, oils, photographers' materials, 348,000
Groceries, provisions, canned goods, confectionery, . 2, 135,000
Hardware, stoves, gas fixtures, rubber goods, rope, powder, fuse, 960,000 Leather, boots, shoes, harness, saddlery, belting, 600,000 100,000
Varieties, sewing machines, brewers' materials, marble, guns, Grain, feed, fruits, vegetables, seeds, salmon, oysters, 100,000
Lumber, sash, doors, blinds, furniture, upholstery, 300, 000
Wagons, agricultural implements, stock of same, 880,000
Coal, coke, charcoal, live stock, machinery, sundries, 840,000
Balance, 1, 566,000
Total,
$11,410,000
Exports.
Silver, lead, gold, copper matte, $ 9,000,000
Wheat. flour, barley, seeds, dried fruit, 300,000
Live stock and slaughtered beef, 1,000,000
Wool, hides, pelts, tallow, furs and skins, 725,000
Eggs, butter, poultry, green fruits and vegetables. 400,000
Sundries, fire brick, beer, hauled out by peddlers (estimated ),
100,000
Total,
$11,525,000
In making this table, no pains have been spared to get at the facts, although it is after all largely an estimate. Returns were solicited and pro- cured from 200 persons and firms engaged in all kinds of business, including all the heavy dealers in the Territory, of the value of their imports and exports, severally, for the calendar year, 1878. Twenty per cent., substan- tially, was then added, to represent the increase in four years. It is believed the balance in favor of the Territory is too small rather than too large, for of the mining output probably one-fourth goes to non-residents in the shape of profits, while the deposits in the banks grew from $1,021,491 in .November, 1878, to $3,375,974 in November, 1881, and the people are generally better fixed, showing that on the whole they are accumulating a surplus, slowly .*
Merchandise, . 195, 226,618
Temple Rock, 37,757,199
Coal,
607, 195,043
Lumber, 1 17,902, 608
Charcoal,
11, 260,050
Matte,
4,669, 995
Ore, 446, 742, 390
Grain, .
50,946,561
Lead,
12,350, 252
Live Stock,
3,791,155
Building Material,
16, 127,618
Green Fruit and Vege- tables, 11,042,327
Railway Material, 99, 299, 890
Flour and Mill Stuffs. 9,892,469
Wool and Hides, 9,618,391
Coke, 264,843,394
Fire Brick and Clay. 10, 152, 302
Bullion, 155, 186,664
Sundries.
364, 216, 562
Iron Ore, Total,
123, 237,795
2,551,459, 283
" Resources of Utah. 14
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UTAH GAZETTEER.
The preceding items are taken from the Utah Central Railroad books. and give the totals of the articles enumerated for four years and four months. from January, 1880, up to May of 1884, inclusive. The importations are : merchandise, charcoal, building material, railroad material, coke, lumber. live stock, and most of the fire brick and clay. The exports are: lead, flour and mill stuffs, bullion, matte, grain, green fruit and vegetables-mainly potatoes-and wool and hides. The ore, iron ore and temple rock, together with some of the sundries, are of local handling only. The item sundries. however, is composed mainly of importations-of grain and flour and mill stuffs; while a small amount was imported during the cut rates which prevailed into Utah over both through lines from the east in 1883. that amount was so trifling as to be scarcely worthy mention. Oats and flour were the only articles; and, of the latter, barely any; eastern houses, with the advantages of tremendous cuts, being unable successfully to compete with local millers in supplying the demands of the home market. The annual output of hides is about 600,000 pounds; the average value per pound not being less than 13 cents, the income from this source is $78,000, while not less than 150,000 pounds are used in home tanneries. The shipments of pelts and furs will probably swell the income for this department of commerce, including hides, to about $125,000 annually. Wool, next to the mines and to live stock. it would seem, brings more wealth into the Territory than any other branch of commerce, and the output and consequent income from this source grows with astonishing rapidity. Not less than 3,000,000 pounds of wool were exported in 1883, the average value of which would be 15 cents per pound. at which figure it would realize to the Territory, in interchangeable wealth. $450,000. The wool clip for 1884 will exceed that for the preceding year not less than 500,000, increasing the income to fully half a million dollars. Not less than 500,000 pounds of wool are used annually in local manufac- tures, and the demand for it in home departments grows yearly. The above figures do not comprise all the freight brought into the Territory by a very considerable amount. Freight for points north of and including Ogden and sections both east and west are not accredited in this statement; nor is there included the amount shipped over the Denver and Rio Grande, which touches most of the area through which the Utah Central runs, and a grow- ing country where the latter road does not reach. This would swell the amount imported for a year past not less than one-half, and would greatly increase the aggregate of the tonnage. Twelve million dollars will represent the amount of money that leaves the Territory annually for imported articles. while the income must be somewhat larger as wealth is being steadily accumu- lated. By far the greatest income is derived from mines, though they do not touch the amount of real value annually produced. The latter is less notice- able because less easy of conversion into coin. The absence of any authentic source from which to secure information on this topic, or on any other touch- ing Utah's productive capacity outside her mines, is lamentable in the extreme, and shows how indispensible is a bureau of statistics in a country where legislation is supposed to enhance, in as large a manner as possible. the material welfare of the commonwealth.
GENERAL BUSINESS.
It is assumed that the amount of business done by jobbers and retailers. annually, would be fairly represented by adding 20 per cent. to the above total of imports, making it about $14,000,000. There is doubtless all of $5,000,000 engaged in the business. No merchants stand higher in the East on the score of credit than those of Utah. Not, perhaps, that they are more upright than other merchants, but from the situation and circumstances a larger percentage of cash than usual is employed in doing the same amount of business. Some of the heavier houses have paid cash down altogether.
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UTAH GAZETTEER.
Probably the mean time on all goods bought by Utah buyers would be but little more than double that required for them to make the trip out, say sixty days; and 20 per cent. of their value, delivered, is freight charges, always paid in cash on delivery. There have been but 119 failures, with aggregate liabilities of $1, 358,000, in the last eight years and a half, according to the reports of R. G. Dun & Co's Agency. A good many houses import in a small way, but the weight of the business with the outside is done by a very few houses, which have ample capital and do not require long credit. One of the heaviest of these is Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution, of Salt Lake City, which, with its branch houses at Ogden and Logan, imports one-third of all the merchandise used in the Territory. It has 800 stock - holders and a cash capital of $1,000, 000, with a surplus of $150,000. There is a co-operative institution in nearly every farming settlement, buying in general from the "parent" institution at Salt Lake City, and selling through it the produce they take in trade, but they are not branches. They were organized about fifteen years ago and everybody able to carn or buy a share of stock took one. Their anxiety to carn and disburse big dividends has created opposition in many places, and in others the large owners in the start have become almost the sole owners. Still they have thousands of stockholders, and perhaps two-thirds of the people patronize them.
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