Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1890-12-19
SAGINAW SALT MANUFACTURE
Walking Sail w~Il--A sal, slock"-1hs
tarious proees.as

'l@h'"s a SAIL w~Il-A "san Biock"-The
various pracerses
IN making = salt well :. is necessary m
Keep out the surface water To Obtain
WIS result tive or six inch hole is made
oo"h 70 solid rock on which a
eH"''i 'ef X made. upon WHICH rests the
no" tuOihg or casting Below that
'ne ho'e Is narrowed TO two or three
INCHES and carries that size down 10
Urine OF san Where rock salt il the ma.
veIial al bottom fresh water IL forced
down from tive surface II dissolvas ,ho
salt loads itself with all IL can take mn
a"out q pei cent. and by the same
downward pressure Of surface wate,
vows u'to the Clustering through an in.
side p'pe as clear as distilled water
GOOD wei VIII yield from 400 TO 600 bar
reis OF brine per day But constant
pumping VIII clog up the pores of the
SAT- rock produce constipation of the
wei. 80 10 speak and the weld fals tn
such an extent that it becomes necessary
70 remove the pump and administer a
catllartIc In the form Of a nitro glycerine
torpedo.
ne water as II comes TO the surface
empties into huge cisterns built ON
tfestIes nigh enough to admit of draining
them into the settlers inside of The
''sait block The brine ia clear IA
pumped. but as the air acts upon il the
iron II contains in solution takes nm a
rust color To get rid Of this the brine
Is "hmed IN the cisterns A wash of
nfne Is stirred into it. which precipates
lhe iron and IN week the water stands
perfectly and permanently clear Then
y is drawn INTO other large cisterns in
the block that are called settlers. These
are lifted with four-inch galvanized iron
pipes through which a current of Steam
hows heating the water to us degs
Fahrenheit This heating does two things
IL throws down the gypsum which exists
10 the brine az sulphide, and il evapor
ates the water - per cent of which
must be thrown of in vapor before
Capitalization takes place But the
reader will understand me better if I
first show him a salt block.
One having a capacity of 225 barrels
per day may be described as follows
Inc block is 20S feet by 90. 40 feet
high under che center, which includes
the ventllator running the entire length
OF the grainers and rs feet high in the
posts 1t contains two settlers. " each
$40 feet long. feet wide and feet
deep AS the cisterns outside are high
enough TO drain into the settlers, so the
latter are high enough to drain into the
'gralners, Of which there are four. each
100 feel long. 10 feet wide and Is inches
deep Through these also run galva-
nlzed inch steam pipes To heat set
tiers and grainers there are 3.744 feet Of
such pipe, and other pipes connected with
the works make a total of 5000 feet.
The grainers stand about G OF s feet from
the ground and over their center runs a
platform upon which the salt as lifted"
Is left TO dram before being dumped into
the bins, of which there are about
twenty Connected with the bins are
the packing rooms. -" and al Joining the
block is the shed 230x $50 feet. with
capacity OF p. 600 barrels % salt.
Now let us go into the block again.
The settlers are full 1t is. say 8 0 clock
a. m The block is 40 full of steam that
you wi!l have to strain your vision to see
the floor on which you walk and guard
against missteps. The grainers are nearly
empty Of brine, hut their bottoms are
covered with the salt that has been
quietly falling there for twenty four
hours under heat of 49, degs Along
each side OF grainer the gang of eight
men IS strung out each with his ''stent
These men are naked to the waist, over
the lower limbs are drawn old wooden
drawers red being a fancy color, and on
the feet old shoes or boots with the legs
cut away Each man has a hoe and
shovel With the one he pulls the salt
from the center to the side OF the grainer
and with the other lie lifts it upon the
aforesaid platform On every man per-
splratlon stands in great beads or trickles
down his SKIN IN tiny streams. No need
Of Turkish baths foI these fellows! They
are as clean solid and hardy as well
trained athletes
The salt lifted, the grainers are refilled
with brine from the settlers. its temper
AZURE raised to lS5 degrees, and in a
short time YOU will see a film forming
over the surface of the saturated brine.
That IS salt Watch il a few moments
and you will see this film break into
pieces and take a header" down below
So the process goes on for twenty four
hours when the lifting operation is re-
peated, and so from day TO day through
the season By II clock the men have
wheeled the salt TO buns and there settles
over the granting room "a silence as pro
found as that which must have brooded
over the abyss OF nothlngness ere it was
said there should he light. Yet in that
silence goes on increasingly from hour to
hour a mystery as wonderful, as beau
ttul, a. divine. as is seen in the evolution
OF dissipation of a world The heat un-
folds the wings as it were, of the mole
cules OF water and they rise through
the air but the sodium is too heavy toe
earthly and cannot soar. Having got
the mitten, as 1t were, il turns to the
atoms OF chlorine hanging round. They
embrace and mate1alIze in tiny crystal
cubes. Charles Ellis in Chicago Herald
How People BECOME Known.
Yes we keep the name Of every