Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-04-04

Some New Facts Concernim4 Hts Pro-
ductiOn.

From the San Francisco Chronicle.
There is one article Of merchandise enumeT-
ated in the new tariff bill on which an import
has been laid for the purposes Of discouraging
Its importation and encouraging it's home pro-
auction, which Is largely California product
This is borax, OF which large quantities are
gathered In this state and in Nevada. Few peO-
pie, except those engaged directly in its pro-
duction and sale. are likely to take much inter-
est in the tariff on borax, and yet it is an article
of almost universal use. Prior to the discovery
of the California and Nevada fields large guam
titles of the mineral were imported from Turkey
and Italy. It's value then was about thirty-five
cents pound. At present the production of
American bOrax has depressed the price to ten
cents pound, and it would have gone still
lower and caused the cessation of mining oper-
atoms in California If mining it can be called.
upon the foreign product. This duty Is five
cents pound, and is to be levied after July LIST.
The local producers look forward with much
satisfaction to that period
The production of borax in the United States
at present is not sufficient to SUNNY the de-
mand But it is thought that when the price
shall have risen few cents under the fostering
influence of the duty first imposed the produc-
ton Will Increase sufficiently to supply the en-
tire market. At now ruling prices, borax MAX
yields great profit. There are, it is true, i'm
nense fields Ofthe mineral, but they are in dis
tant districts not easy of access, and while the
cost of condensation is not great, the cost of
1 naign Int Is SO heavy that there re-
r-lmber of Incorporated companies,
Who, in the enthusiasm sitngen-
dered by the first discovery undertook the bust
ness, have gone the way of all flesh. Some years
ago there was one company which operated
n Sflll1v in, I IL.
in the employ of this company young engineer
who sometimes struck an idea. The bOrax in
that particular locality was conducted from the
waters of little lake, which was very strongly
lmpregnated with the mineral. The engineer
therefore. conceived the idea that if the water
on top contained so much borax that under
ground must contain much more. He therefore
induced the cOmpanytO bore at the banks Of the
lake. The augur went down and struck not
bOraX, but good, strong stream of fresh water
which began to flow into the lake and thinned
it so much that it did no longer pay to condense
its waters for the sake of the mineral
The bOraX fields which have been worked 30
far have been generally small in extent. Only
those in the neighborhOod of good roads have
been operated upon. These are easily exhausted
and the operators have to hunt for new borax-
fields. This is the cause and origin of the num-
erOns b0raX mining companies which are incOr-
porated each year. Several of those lately
formed are to operate in Inyo county, where the
borax-feds are very extensive. The water of
Lower Owens lake contains a very large per
centage Of borax. In early days prospectors
loved to wash their gray or black wooden blank
cts In this water, because it removed not only
dirt, but also all color. They also liked to battle
in it, because the poorest swimmer would float
in its saline fluid. But the water was not good
for drinking or cooking purposes. and a very
small quantity is sufficient to produce sea-sick-
ness The use OF bOraX has materially increased
OF late years. 1t is now used for great many
manufacturing purposes. such as making agate
household ware, pigments, &c. The trades, also,
use it in liberal quantities. and so do the soap
makers and housewives. who hate grease-spOts
and cockroaches: The industry promises to be-
come important in California