Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1882-01-14
NORTHERN TRIBUNE.
SATURDAY JANUARY IA, 1882.


Mach1SOh's SAT- InOustry.
Last week we gave from Michigan
and its Resources" the pamphlet conf
piled by Frederick Morley, Commission
er of immigration, the lumber industry
of our state. Below we give, from the
same work, what the commissioner has
to say in regard to another great indus
try, that of salt:
Long prior to the settlement of Michi-
gan by white men, the Indians supplied
themselves with salt from the saline
springs of the Saginaw valley, and those
who conducted the early and tOpOgraph-
ical and geological surveys of the
state predicted that systematic explOra-
ton would reveal the existence of subter-
ranean stores that might be developed
into great commercial Importance. Spas
mOdic attempts to manufacture salt
were made even under the territorial
government, but without success.
DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH OF THE SALT
INTEREST.
Shortly after the state was organized
its legislature made series of apprOpri-
atiOns to meet the expenses of a thor
Ough examination of the saline resOur-
ces by DR.. Douglass HOughtOn. His
work was valuable in many respects,
but did not yield conclusive results, and
for five years after his death the subject
received but little public attention.
Private enterprise, stimulated at the
outset by small state bounty, finally
added salt to the staple products of
Michigan. In 1859-60, the East Saginaw
Salt Manufacturing company sank
well at that city to the depth of about
$50 feet, and was the first to obtain brine
in paying quantity and quality. Great
er progress was made by it in four
years than was made in the Kanawha
valley in 80, and in five years its product
equaled that reached by the OnOndagO
salt springs of New York in the 42nd
year of the existence of the works near
Syracuse.
THE LARGEST SALT-PROBUCING STATE,
of late the Michigan product of salt
has largely exceeded that of any other
state, and in 1880 it nearly equaled the
entire annual salt yield of the United
States when its manufacture first be-
came successful on the Saginaw. The
salt producing territory of Michigan as
now developed covers over 5000 square
miles. The extent of the basin from
which the brine is taken is yet un-
known, "but 1t is fair to presume that
the supply is inexhaustible, and the in
crease in manufacture will continue as
the demand increases with the growth
of the great west.
CHEAP TRANSPORTATION AND ECONOMICAL
PRODUCTION.
The pre-eminence of Michigan as
salt-prOducing state is due to cOmbi-
nation of causes. The abundance and
superior strength of its brine does not
alone explain-it; neither does the fact
that careful inspection by state author
lty through series of years has, as
rule, kept its salt unsurpassed in chemi-
cal purity and in preserving qualities.
The fortunate location of the wells upon
the shores of navigable rivers has given
this Industry the advantages Of cheap
transportation and easy access to markets
in all the central and northwestern
states. Still more important is the
economy with which the salt blocks are
worked. In connection with saw mills
their operation involves large saving
of expense. Power is furnished by the
same engines; the evaporation of the
brine is forced, during the day, by the
exhausted steam from the mills, and
ated in the boilers by burning the refuse
slabs and sawdust; and the barrels are
made of slaves cut from the rejected
lumber and slabs. By this system SUI
periOr salt is obtained at a minimum
cost of manufacture. The same adj
vantages cannot fail to accrue to the
salt trade of the state in its competition
with other states hereafter.
CHIEF CENTERS OF MANUFACTURE.
The chief center of the salt manufac-
ture is the Saginaw river, and the blocks
on its banks produce nearly 6ve-sixths
of the entire yield of the state. There
are also paying wells at Caseville, Port
Austin, New River, Port Hone, Sand
Beach and White Rock, in Huron county;
ut OscOda, East Tawas and Tawas City,
IOscO county; at Midland and at Manistee.
The latter is the pioneer district of the
Lake Michigan shore, and has been de-
velOped within the last year.
HOW 1T is MADE AND WHERE. 1T rs SHIP
PED.
No rock salt has been found in the
state, and the brine is procured by bOr-
ing deep wells and pumping. The salt
is obtained by evaporation, and steam is
mainly used for this work, although
the solar process is employed by few
companies. All the product is carefully
inspected and branded by officers APP
pinted by the state, and the purity of the
brine, and the perfection Of the methods
of manufacture are such that the yield
Of 1880 did not contain two per cent of
second quality salt.
WHERE THE BRINE COMES FROM.
The reservoir of Michigan brine is
series of sandstones and shales, from
1000 to 1,200 feet in thickness, called by
biologists the Waverly group. 1t is
sea coast rock, in which the prints Of sea
weeds and the fossil remains Of enOr-
nous marine growths are found, and is