The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-06-29
The Alkaline Dews Of the West.

Tne AIRhl1ue DeHS Oh Tie "esas
A correspondent of the Chicago Tribune
writes of the country west Of Laramie, on
the Pacific railroad: -...
From Laramie ohere the country is very
miserable and very curious. Here and
there patch Of Buffalo grass may be seen,
but rarely anything except sage brush and
cactus. The ground seems incapable Of
producing anything else: The banks Of all
the streams glisten with white where the
alkali water has evaporated. Almost all
the small streams here are impregnated
with this alkali. 1t renders the water al
most useless for all practical purposes, but
it produces some very queer effects, as the
1orkmen on the road and the visitors can
testify. II One drinks much Of it the
same effect is produced as if 8 strong dose
Of salts is taken. ..r, ...,-..s t5,..
This greatly disguised the workmen when
they were forced to drink it. Nor can this
water be Used in the engines with any eff
feet the steam it makes has no power. The
water expands itself in froth and suds, and
it eats and corrodes the boiler. This has
been great source Of annoyance, and is
one of the worst obstacles that the road has
to overcome. Another popularity Of this
water is the effect it produces on the skin
of those who wash in it, it roughens the
skin of the hand, just as cold wind chaps
it in winter. 1t also peels the skin from
the face, so that person who uses the
water has now skin about every seven days.
This is especially the case where soap is
used in washing. The graders west of here,
- IN ho ia
stronger, say that when soap is Wanted fol
clothes, &C., they put some grease in the
alkii water, stir it up with q stick, and
there is soap. Naturally it costs but very
little, and when freights are reduced on
the road it is proposed to supply the whole
| United States with cheap and good soap
Unfortunately there is no demand for that
article among the Indians, and the Great
Western Soap Factory cannot be started o.
present. AS it is, every man Is his owl
soapmaker. The result of this bad water
has been to force the railroad company t
dig deep wells along the line Of the road
But even this is not always satisfactory
the well at Wyoming, fifteen miles west o
Laramie, is almost useless on account of thu
alkali.s In some places along the road thu
! COuutry 10 dluOet luplotoiy SofeASe w.
the low, thick sage brush, useless for any
thing, except in some places where the woot
is 80 large that it can be burned. -. =
In this region, where the land happen
to be free from the sage brush, it is oftel
SO impregnated with the alkali that for tw
or three inches down the earth crumble
| and sinks beneath the feet like ashes
Every now and then there are found in thu
region drifts of fossils Of fish, oysters
CLANS, etc., thrown up from the bottom
the sea quite time ago. Some of thes
fish are so well preserved that the glitte
of the gold and silver on their scales i
almost as bright as ever. The oysters an
CLANS are tremendous in size, and woul
well do for the giants Of the olden days. =.
Some of the snakes are quite large i
size, but few Of them are perfect. Some
them are found imbedded in red sandstone
while others lie loose in the earth. Alo1
with these are to be found many sea shell
Of. various kinds. In, some cases the ifs
will be found split open, and all the bone
perfectly preserved. Some Of these drift
are on the top of bluffs, while others ar
low down. s..4g.sg