Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-06-20
|sALToN DEVELOPMENT
Preparations to Boil the
Salt Hereafter.
THE pUREsT SALT KNOWN
The Differences Between Sun
EvapOrated and Boiled Salt
Explained.

Mr.. Geo. w. Durbrou, Superintend.
emit Of the salt works at Salton, in the
sink of the Colorado desert, and Mr.. g.
| N. Shaw, one of the principal owners,
are in the city and stopping at the
Depot Hotel. They will visit the
Puente oil fields within day or two to
inspect some of the oil-bearing lands
with view to purchasing slice OF it.
If the negotiations now pending are
closed, well will be sunk on the acqui.
sition at once for the purpose Of develop
ing oil for fuel at the salt works on the
desert. Heretofore the brine has
been evaporated by sun heat entirely.
and very fine article has been manu-.
featured. The deposit at Salton is Of
unusual purity, the whole mass being
almost pure chloride OF sodium. A lot
was sold some time since to mining
firm in the upper part of the State to
be used for the purposes of lixiviation,
in the reduction OF ores. The mining
superintendent wished to know If 95
per cent chloride Of sodium would be
| Forthcoming from the salt, and the agent
said he could guarantee more than that.
The best Liverpool or imported salt
made by the process of boiling is only
81 pet cent. purity on account OF the
amount of extraneous matter, magnesia,
etc;, in the English deposits. The min.
ing man, after a thorough trial, said the
desert product could safely be guaran.
teed to furnish 96 per cent. chloride OF
sodium. This was for coarse salt, sum
evaporated, such as is usually sold for
rough work, like mining. The Oliver
pool" Is fine salt, boiled and made the
best possible for meat-curing and dairy
use. Made by the approved methods
of modern manufacture, properly
ground, etc., the Salton article is GER
tain to run 80 close to 100 per cent. as
to be practically absolutely pure.
The difference between the two meth
DDS is in the main as follows: When
the brine is sun-evsporated the process
Is comparatively slow. As the water is
reduced and the brine becomes too
strong to hold all the salt in solution a
certain amount is precipitated. This is
done of course very gradually. Until
the brine gets to certain point all the
salt Ia held in solution. When it passes
that point at once 1t begins to be precipi-
tated. In precipitation the solid parti-
cles Of salt crystalline into very small
cubes. These are lighter than the heavy
brine and float to.the top at the moment
OF their formation. Floating to the sur
face they make series of very fine lay
ers as thin as sheets of paper one under
the other, When this reaches certain
thickness the brine will no longer bear the
mass up and tue cake falls to the bot
tom. SO the work goes on until the
water is all evaporated and nothing re-
mains but the dry salt. This Is after
wards ground in q salt mill so as to re.
duce it to q graduated or pulverized
state. In the boiling process the work
is done more rapidly and can be per-
formed with any desired speed. The
more quickly the work Is done the finer
the form Of capitalization. The boiling
of the water throws up the small crystals
very rapidly and the films are as thin as
tissue paper. The cubes, moreover, as
they rise to the top on the effervescing
water on reaching the air curl up, as it
were, SO that the little fakes become
small hollow cubes. In the slower pro-
cess of sun drying the cubes are solid as
we'll as larger in volume. When this
product Of the rapid boiling is ground up
the salt is of an exceedingly fine grain.
Those not experienced might think
that the advantages of this fne article
were more imaginary than real, mat
ter OF luxury for the tables OF fastidious
people. This would be great error.
1t Is the meat curers and the butter
makers who buy the greater part OF this
fine salt. They are very particular
about this. So much so that certain
brands take long lead of all others in
the market. These fine salts are all
known as Liverpool" salt, although
much OF what is so named never saw
Liverpool. It means simply that it is
fine salt made by the boiling process. A
great deal of it is made at Liverpool,
near which place are great deposits OF
the crude rock salt, and great deal OF
other salt is imported there in crude
shape and worked up at that great cen.
tor of activity. The benefit to meat
curers and butter makers in this fine ar
ticle is that when rubbed into the
meat or worked up in the butter, being
very fine, and the cubes being mere hol-
low films all the salt dissolves in the
meat OF butter. and in q moment. A
handful of such line salt rubbed on
meat is all absorbed by the juices of the
meat in the twinkling of an eye. There
are no Jumps left to offend the nice
palate of some epieure. and all the salt
becomes effective in the curing of the
meat or the flsvoring of the butter.
II Mr.. Durbrow secures well OF
good fuel oil, Salton will supply the
whole country west Of the Rockies in a
very short time with the purest and
finest article of salt known to the COM
merce of the world.