Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1892-02-11

a Wonderful Island Of Salt In the Gu
OF California.

LoWcT ldiiiofuid, IN buc OulI OF
California, lies a small island known
to the Mexicans as the Isla del Car
men.
Carmen Island, although only nine
teen miles In length and six miles in
width at its broadcast part, Is noted
as one of the most remarkable islands
on the American continent. Al this
place is found the only pure white
natural salt deposit known, and the
value OF such mine Is secondary
only to the tabled gold mines OF
King Solomon. The island Is owned
by Spanish-American named James
.Viosca, who went to Lower California
thirty years ago and married daugh-
ter OF the Governor.
1t was not until 1856 that the salt
deposit was utilized for commercial
purposes In that year a Mexican,
who OWNED the value of the mine,
bought the island from the govern
ment, but after owning it only two
years he sold his title to Ben Holli-
day, Of famous overland stage-line
notoriety, for 800, 900. The new pro-
prietor engaged James Viosca to man.
age his acquisition, but after Holli-
day died the bankrupt estate was glad
to realize ready cash for the salt
treasure, and Viosca became the own
er of Carmen Island. To him it has
become veritable gold mine.
The salt deposits cover a surface of
1000 acres. About one-third of this
acreage is a mass Of pure, clean, white
salt; the remainder is covered simply
with layer of soil, brought there by
rains from the adjacent mountains,
and also in places with thin coating
OF coral, all of which when removed
show the pure white salt beneath.
The salt deposits in this basin have
proved by actual investigation to be
fourteen feet in thickness, but il is
hard to work at any depth below the
surface, as the briny water seeping
through creates new layer of salt
of from five to eight inches in thick
ness in fifteen days. The most re-
markable thing about this deposit is
the fact that, although the salt has
been taken from the basin for ages,
the surface of the lake has never been
lowered, but always retains the same
level. Like the widows cruise of oil,
the supply is inexhaustible.
The method of obtaining the salt
is very simple. A man armed with
an iron bar breaks off chunks of the
crystalline mass, which are then
loaded into carts and hauled to dry
land, from 600 to 500 feet distant.
Here the stuff is dumped, reloaded
and taken to the wharf, half mile
away, where lighters receive the salt
and convey it to the vessels lying in
the bay. Crude as this system is,
the cost of mining the salt and con-
veying II to the wharf averages
trifie less than % cents ton. With
Improvements that have been sug-
gested and that are now under con-
sideration, the principal features OF
which are the building of a narrow
gauge line to the salt deposits and the
erection OF pier extending $500
feet to the anchorage in the bay, it
will be possible to handle 1000 tons
of salt day. Under the new ar
rangement proposed it is hoped that
the present delay in loading vessels
will be avoided. The demand for
Carmen Island salt is so great that
there are seldom fewer than five
boats awaiting cargoes in the bay,
and sometimes there have been as
many as fourteen vessels lying at
anchorage.
Many theories have been advanced
accounting for the presence of this
wonderful salt deposit, but the one
most generally accepted is that the
surrounding hills and mountains con-
tain immense sodium deposits, which
are dissolved by natural courses of
water, either rain or underground
veins, and then carried TO the lowest
ground, which in this case is the ba-
sin that contains the salt deposits.
All creeks in this vicinity discharg-
ing their water into this lake have
salt water before getting to point
even several feet higher than the sur
face water of the lake, which has no
communication whatever with the
sea. 1t is only fed from these creeks
flowing from the adjacent hills and
mountains. According to tests made
on the ground, where standing pools
of water from four to eight feet
higher than the lake were found in
the creeks, the water on the westside
of the lake contains more sodium
than that on the east side, due 1t is
thought to the fact that much larg-
er deposit Of sodium exists in the
mountains to the west of the lake.
The salt found on this island is of a
very superior quality and is believed
to be the only pure, white, natural,
refined salt--deposit or mine-in ex-
istence. Guy Lussac, in his chemical
analysis Of the Carmen Island salt,
defines it as followsa Natural sea
salt, or rock salt, In state of purity,
consists OF go per cent. of chlorine
aud 40 per cent. of sodium. Its spe-
cific gravity varies from 2 to 2.25.
This important species of the saline
class possesses even in mass crystal
line structure, derived from the cube,
which is its primitive form" In its
natural deposit it is found in even
layers from five to eight inches in
thickness. 1t forms even and pure
white crystals, and is ready for the
mill as taken from the lake. When
fine table salt is required no other re-
filming process is needed than that of
milling.
The supply is inexhaustible. The
actual deposit, extending over $40
acres, at uniform depth of twelve
feet, gives $40, ITO, 900 cubic feet, or
IL, 14S, 92S tons of pure, perfectly re-