The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-12-25

very short time on the discovery of natural
gas alone California is noted for its gas
and oil productions, and within the last
few months there have been wonderful de-
velopme1ts made in the states of Colorado
and Wyoming, their geological structure
being very similar to that of Utah. The
United States natural gas ana oil fields ex-
tend from Canada to California.
Natural gas IS destined to play a more
important part in the economy of the future
than it has in the past, for domestic pur-
poses in cooking and heating as well as
manufac turing requirements. For the
latter purpose it has been found more efi-
Gent than coal, at less than one-hfth its
cost, when the expense of storing and
handling coal for fuel is taken into consid-
Grafton.
The rapid development Of natural gas
here necessarily makes Salt Lake city and
its immediate neighborhood a great centre
for manufactures. For the manufacture of
glass on an extensive scale nothing has
been lacking heretofore save cheap fuel to
enable Salt Lake city to monopolize her
home markets and compete successfully
with Pittsburg outside. The silicas, lime
and soda requisite for its manufacture, of
the finest quality, are all found in the city
and county of Salt Lake in unlimited guam
titles, silica and lime being found in large
deposits on our hills and soda is produced
on the shores of our lake every winter,
fresh from natures laboratory, at the cost
OF hauling alone.
! Chemical works for the treatment of the
| orudn codo ba ba
country with it's varied productions are
now assured.
With the natural facilities possessed by
Salt Lake city, she is destined for all time
to be the chemical storehouse of the Unit
| ed States.
| The Great Salt lake is about fifty five
miles wide, by one hundred miles long, and
varying in depth from a few inches to
forty feet. The density of the lake
varies year by year, although the actual
amount of solid matter remains the same.
/ Since observations were first taken, the
density has ranged from saturation ga per
| cent? to 13 per cent, and is now Is per
cent.
| The solid matter popularity supposed to be
common salt consists of only about SO per
cent. of chloride OF sodium, the remainder
being sulphates of sodium, magnesium and
other compounds. These sulphates are
formed by the inflow of water from many
sulphur springs which empty into the lake.
In the cold winter season phenomenon is
observed, peculiar to the Great Salt lake.
The sulphate compounds separate from the
chIorides and are driven by the winds and
waves to the shore in enormous quantities.
By this process nature furnishes an IN
limited supply of sulphate Of soda, COM
pound which manufacturers Of soda ash in
other regions only obtain by means Of an
expensive plant and great cost Of labor
estimated at about $40 per ton. From the
native sulphates they produce glauber
salts, chemically pure table salt, soda ash,
largely used by glass works, wooden and
paper mills, carbonate and bi-carbonate of
soda, salsoda (washing soda), and caustic
soda, required in soap and paper manufac-
: ture, hyposulphite OF sodium "a solvent of
silver used in the teaching of ores), sui
phur and hydraulic cement.
The course by which these articles OF
commerce are obtained from the strange
deposit of Salt lake will be more readily
understood by the following diagram: