Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-02-03

Many people have heard Of lndio, and
some have read Of the salt deposit which
the s. ?. Co. are taking out at that
point in the Colorado desert, but few
have read any detailed description Of
the weird spot in the desert where SO
rich mine of wealth is being success
fully worked. From Mr.. G. W. Dear.
born. superintendent Of the works,
HERALD reporter few Days ago CLEANED
some interesting facts concerning this
curious deposit Of salt
The salt mine is situated in the ex-
treme bottom Of the Colorado desert, in
the "6ink,' as II is called, 264 feet
below the level of the sea. The sur.
rounding country is shaped like a saucer,
and for many miles all the rainfall Of
the desert at all points Of the compass
runs into this sink. This rainfall Is not
Insignificant in amount, but as there is
no protection from the direct rays OF a
burning sun, or from the sweep of very
hot and dry winds, the evaporation is
very rapid, SO much so as to prevent
any accumulation Of water, in spite Of
the fact that there is no outlet,
for this sink OF the desert.
Yet in many places, the spirit of adven-
ture has led the hardy pioneer to settle
in this desert spot, where he has re-
claimed small areas to the uses of civ
ilization. The water falling from the
clouds all sets toward the sink Of the
desert, and near the bottom very soft
marsh has formed in circular shape.
The salt deposit is in the very center Of
this sink, but in the shape of an insu-
lar formation with the soft marsh all
round it, and the deposit higher than
the marsh and always dry.
The works are built at the outer edge
of this marsh on solid ground, and the
spur track built from the s. p. Cos
station, some distance away, passes the
works and crossing the marsh reaches
to the saltish land beyond. So soft is
this marsh ground that the ties are con-
tinually sinking quite out Of sight in the
mud.
The deposit is seemingly inexhaustible,
for as fast as it is dug out the hole soon
fills with new deposit. The ground is
very salt and the water sweeping
through carries the salt along. and as it
reaches the higher ground near the is
land of salt, evaporates, depositing the
valuable commodity. All round the
outside Of the marsh there is thin de-
post Of salt, particularly after a rain,
but it is too thin to pay for gathering
it and purifying it from the earth.
These signs all point, of course,
to remote age-when the
desert was a great inland sea,
which has disappeared through evap-
Grafton. The salt in the water was de.
posted in the desert, and has been
washing down into the sink for thou
sands Of years. From the surrounding
hills there is still more or less saline
matter washed, so that the sources Of
supply are kept from becoming ex-
hausted. From Salton, the location Of
the works, one looks in all directions
towards the edge of the great saucer
shaped pit over a weird, bald desert,
with no tree, and hardly a rock, TO cast
shadow from the cleaning sun. The
works employ good many men, and
even the water they drink has to be
brought from distance.
In the late storm the wind and rain
were something terrific. Great streams
cut deep gullies down the desert in
which the waters ran in floods. A high
wind from the eastward struck the rail
road track, low as titles to the groundan
1t was carried, between the gale and the
foods combined, out Of place, so that it
lay almost afoat halfmoon shaped, the
center of the bulge being over 100 feet
out of place. The Company lost 1000
tons Of salt which was ready to ship.