Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1868-07-07
The Alkaline Dews of the West.


A correspondent of the Chicago Tribune
writes of the country west of Laramie, on the
Pacific railroad ::
From Laramie to here the country is very
miserable and very curious. Here and there
a 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
ylisten with white where the alkali water has
evaporated. Almost all the small streams
here are impregnated with this alkali, 1t
renders the water almost useless for all practl-
cal purposes, but it produces some very queer
effects, as the workmen on the road and the
visitors can testify. IF one drinks much OF
it the same effect is produced as if strong
dose of salts is taken.
This greatly disgusted the workmen when
they were forced to drink it. Nor can this
water be used in the engines with any effect;
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
il produces on the skin of those who wash in
it it roughens the skin of the hand, just as
a cold wind chaps it in winter. 1t also peels
the skin from the face, SO that person who
uses the water has new skin about every seven
days. This is especially the case where soap
is used in washing. The graders west of here,
wherethe alkah in the water Is much stronger,
say that when soap is wantod for clothes, &C.,
they put some grease in the alkili water, stir
it up with 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 at
present. As it is, every man is his own soap
maker. The result of this bad water has
been to force the railroad company to dig deep
wells along the line of the road. But even
this is not always satisfactory; the we'll at
Wyoming, fifteen miles west of Laramie, is
almost useless on account of the alkali. In
some places along the road the country is
almost completely covered with the low, thick
sage brush, useless for anything, except in
some places where the wood is SO large that
it can be burned.
In this region, where the land happens TO
be free from the sage brush, it is often SO
impregnated with the alkali that for two or
three inches down the earth crumbles and
sinks beneath the feet Ike ashes. Every now
and then there are found in this region drifts
of fossils of fish, oysters, clams etc, thrown
up from the bottom of the sea quite time
ago. Some of these fish are so well preserved
that the glitter Of the gold and silver on their
scales is almost as bright as ever. The oysters
and clans are tremendous in size, and would
we'll do for the giants of the olden days.
Some of the snakes are quite large IN size,
but few of them are perfect. Some of them
are found imbelled in red sandstone, while
others lie loose in the earth. Along with
these are to be found many sea shells of various
kinds. In some cases the fish will be found
split 6penSS andalf the bones perfectly preserv-
eds Some offthese drifts are on the top of
bluffs, while others are low down.