Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1858-11-25

"THE SALT IF YOU PLEASE "-Everybody has a
partialty for dinner, and one of the most frequent
expressions at dinner table is the one which forms
our caption and in order that readers may
know something of the substance they using
we will tell them few facts about salt Salt is
chemical compound of twenty three parts by weight
of beautifully silver white but soft metal. called
sodium, discovered by Sir H. Davy n 1907, and
thirty five parts of pungent yellowhh green gas,
called chlorine, discovered by Scheele in 1774-
these two combined form this, the most widely
diffused and useful of any one compound in the
world. 1t is found in the sea, and in the rocks,
from which principal supply comes The most
wonderful deposits are in Poland and Hungary,
where it is quarried like a rock one of the Polish
mines having been worked since 1921. The Polish
salt mines have heard the groan of many poor
captive, and have seen the last agOnies of many
brave man-for until lately, they were worked en-
trely by the State prisoners of Austria, Russia or
Poland, whichever happened to be in power at the
time; and once the offender of fanced hindrance
to some other persons advancement, was let down
into this subterranean prison. he saw the light
of day again. So salt has its history well
science. Other large deposits found in Cheshire,
England, where the water is forced down by pipes
into the SALT and is again pumped up as brine,
which is evaporated and the salt obtained. To such
extent has this been carried that one town in
the salt country" as it is called, has scarcely
upright house in it. all the foundations having sunk
with the ground, to fill up the cavity left by the ex
tracted salt.
In Virginia there are beds of SALT and the Salmon
Mountains in Oregon, capable of affording large
quantities of the same material The brine springs
of Salna and Syracuse are we'll known. and from
about forty gallons of their brine bushel Of salt
is obtained There also extensive salt springs
in Ohio. The brine is pumped up from wells made
in the rock, and into which it flows and runs into
boilers These boilers large iron kettles set in
briclwork, and when fires are ighted under them
the brine is quickly evaporated. The moment the
brine begins to boil it becomes turbid from the COM
pounds of lime that it contains and which are solu-
BILE in cold but not in hot water these first sedi-
ments taken out with ladies called bittern Ia
dies" and the salt being next deposited from the
brine is carried away to drain and dry. The remain
ing liquid contains great quantity of magnesia in
various forms, and gives it the name of IS ittern
from the taste peculiar to magnesia in every form.
But how did this salt come into the rock }" is
the natural query, and the wonder seems greater
when recollect that salt beds found in nearly
every of the strata composing the earths crust
This fact proves another: that as the majority Of
these saltbeds have come from lakes left in the hoE
lows of the rocks by the recedence of the sea- the
sea has through all the geologic ages been as salt
it is to-day. Let take the great salt lake an
illustration, it being the largest salt lake in the
world but by no means the only one, such in
land masses of saline water are found over the
whole earth; but is the greatest in extent,
it will form the best example 1t is situated at
elevation of 1920 feet above the sea- on the Rocky
Mountains and has an area of 200 square miles
yet, high it is ''once upon time" the story
books Of juvinility used to say, it was part Of
the sea- which retired by the upheava of the rocks
and that great basin took its salt water up with it.
Should this in time evapOrate and its salt become
covered with mud and sand, and the land become
again depressed then at distant future age the
people would be wondering how the salt got there
little thinking that the Mormons had ever built a
city on its shores when it was great salt lake
There are ALSO however, salt rocks taking theil
place in regular geologic series with other rocks in
terspersed between red sandstone, magnesia and
carboniferous strata these only account 70,
as we do for other stratified rock viz: that they
were deposited from their solution in water or car
ried mcchaniclly to the spot where now found b,
that ever mobile liquid We fear we should be &C
cused of attempt to put readers in pickle Sc
will stay our pen, hoping they will remember thes'
bits of information when they say, The salt, 70,
please."-Scientifc american.