New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-07-08

sian was sunk TO the depth OF 12l0 feet when per-
manent brine bed was found which is successfully
worked with a uniform yield of 30 gallons per minute.
The salt wells are lined TO the depth Of 800 feet with
poplar tubing, with inner tubing OF copper iron in
which the pumping rod works by steam power. A IS
horse power engine will pump two wells. There are
several wells in the city owned by different companies
The first formed in 1851 and called the Pomeroy Salt
Company; the second formed In 1853, was called tho
Dabney; In 1854 the Sugar Ridge, the Diamond the
Leadengton and Sugar Run Companies formed ;
all these together operating several wells and furnaces
For several wears each Company manufactured It's own
SALT and disposed OF it best II might but IL found
that the kanawha SAT- Companies, which were in
operation some time before the Ohio Companies, had
obtained sort of prestige, although there marked
difference In the quality OF the salt more general At
tention given to the manufacture of the staple
and much capital was invested in salt wells. The
Excelsior Company was formed in 1861; the Miners
vile and the syracuse Companies, five miles
above Pomeroy I'm 1864 On the Virginia side OF the river
there formed between the 1855 and 1851 the
Mason City, the Mason County, and the Union Compa-
MES the star Co nc Hartford City, Va the BeaconI
Co.; West Columbia Co.. Clifton Co.. and Bedford Coz
year there were organized the Bnap and jackson Com
panes; making in all 10 companies, each with several
wells and furnace.
Since the war an organization has been formed for the
sale and shipment of salt it is called the OHIO River
salt Company and has proved successful IN its opera
lions that the various salt companies mp the KanaWha
River, nine in ALL formed the compact last August and
sending their salt 10 PomerOy. The Ohio River
Company receives ana credits each manufacturing com
pany with the amount of salt sent, turns 1t all into com
warehouse ships ii 10 its agencies in Pittsburgh
Cincinnati elsewhere and makes pro rata division
OF the proceeds of the sales. The OHIO River Com
pany own and employ several steamers, which are en-
gagged exclusively IN the transportation OF SALT supply
Ing the trade all along the Ohio aud IFS tributaries and
disputing the territory Of the Southern Illinois nanuac
tories. which supply the Lower Mississippi country
The amount Of salt manufactured in this region la 1869
$4,000 bushels. This year, 6,O0OO bushels viii be
turned out for there eight new furnaces about 10
into operation, and the full capacity of those embraced
in the Ohio River Company was not tested IN 1869
The yield of brine at the Pomer0y Wells is not uni
form. some Of the wells yield five gallons only per
minute but others reach steady standard OF 80 IN the
time. The average yield Is % gallons per minute
The average depth OF ali the wells IN the region Is lUO
feet The process Of manufacture Is very simple the
brine is pumped into large wooden ciserns where II II
subjected To the action take of the chill and
by steam the etcrns the brine conveyed through pop
lar tubes into the kettles, which are casrOns pans eight
feet by three, and eight inches deep, weighing 1900
pounds each, riveted together IN such way as To nave
each pan little lower than the one before H. IRON
tube connects the and allows the brine to pass from
one 70 the other Under the pans, oil Nch ten ar gotu
together in section huge furnace Is kept In fun blast
day and night The crysalizng process commences to
appear IN the last and hottest pan anu Ter inc nOiS
which the brine has undergone steam heat only Is re-
quired TO complete the process ana preclptae the salt
There are three grades OF salt manufactured IN Pom
eroy and for the Ohio River Salt Company First,
coarse common; second fine third, dairy, which i
also used for table purposes. The P0meroy brine is
Of brine yield bushe OF SALT and IL requires u
bushel and quarter of coal TO boil ont bushcl Of
81 30 per day The skilled laborers paid from $50
to $50 per month"; The salt experts are Engllshmen
the labOrers are Germans, people OF color ana eW
Americans. .
The discovery and successful manufacture OF salt give
great importance to POmerOy which Is steadily lncies-
ing in population. The city lies on the river side on a
strip OF level country seven miles long and only few
hundred yards wide, whence rise the rocky buis rch
with coal that seen cropping i'm several feet
in thickness The population Of the city proper over
1000, but with the adjacent communities lac aIl en-
gagged in coal mining and salt manufacture, II VIII 1901
up in round numbers 1900 The place Is thriving wen
governed and is about equally divided in politics by the
Republican and Democratic Party lines