Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1895-07-07

The Great Salt lake is 20 miles long
and so miles across in its widest part.
1t has an area of 1000 square miles and
Of late years its greatest depth has not
exceeded 40 feet.
In early summer this remarkable sea
is two feet higher than it is in the fall,
owing to the melted snow brought down
by its three largest tributaries, the
Bear, Weber and Jordan rivers. This
influx of fresh streams does not ap
preciably lessen the sadness Of the mai
body of water, though its proportion
OF solid matter varies with the oscilla-
lions of its surface, being naturally
! greatest when the lake is shallowest.
Those engaged in the manufacture o.
salt here say that it takes six gallons
of water to make one gallon of salt. If
any one doubts that the water of the
lake IS taken up by evaporation, and
leans to the hypothesis of an under
ground outlet, let him expose to the sun
and wind of this high altitude vessel
of this same water and see in what an
incredibly short time the liquid is re-
duced to solids.
The Salt lake shores are mostly gray
flats of indescribable barrenness. The
scant dwarf sage on the waters edge is
often beautifully lowered with a deli
cate frostwork of salt spray. On the
northern slope and down the western
| border there are numberless springs
running pure brine. But stranger than
this is the fact that in several places
| fresh water gushes out Of the sand on
East Antelope within 10 feet of the
brimming lake basin.
The one perfect beach is at Garfield, a
! dozen or so miles west of where the
Jordan river is crossed and at the feet
of the Oquirrhs-a grandly picturesque
range, in whose clefts throughout the
summer the snow lies like fallen clouds.
The first bathing in the lake was done
at Black rock, on Garfield beach, which
has been a resort for picnickers since
the early ffties.
The various groups of islands in this
Dead sea of the Western continent are
fragments of mountain chains graceful
| ly strung out on the flashing bosom of
this strange water The largest and
best known is Antelope, which was once
used by the MormOns as q cattle corral
for the church herd. This island is 16
miles long by four wide, and lies 20
miles off the south coast
The four largest islands are used as
winter pastures for sheep or cattle. but
all are uninhabited and without fresh
water except at Antelope, whose one
house-an ancient adobe, built here by
! the MOrmons 30 years ago-is occupied
by the island herder and his family
There are hundreds of acres Of good
grazing on the eastern slope. and a few
years ago. when the government set
apart the Salt Lake Islands as reser-
walton for cur nearly extinct buffalo,
some so American bison and 40 elk were
transported to Antelope.
The owners of the island endeayored
to breed the buffalo in with Attorneys,
but 50 far have not succeeded, the
shaggy, fierce-eyed beasts rebelling at
every approach to domestication. The
elk proved even more unsatisfactory,
for after a few days Of restless roaming
they took it into their antlered heads to
swim back to the main shore in a body,
and landed on point - miles from An
| telope, where they were promptly shot
down by the settlers thereabout.
Along the shores of the lake and in
many of the island bays the water pre-
sents a remarkable appearance, kind
Of madden red spread out for acres Up
on investigation the cause of this san
culinary color is found to be a thick lay
er Of floating larve, the chrysalides of
worms the size and shape OF an oat ker-
mel
In the fail of the year the marshes at
! the mouth of the rivers that empty into
! the lake are covered by flocks of wild
geese and ducks, with sometimes a
! stately blue heron or swans with beau
tiful white plumage. Their cheerful
catter and the fresh green Of the coarse
grass and singing weeds contrast de-
lightfully with the dreary tints and So
litariGess of the immediate desert
There are also numbers of seagulls,
| which visit the marshes to fish, coming
80 miles from their roOkeries on Gun
nison and its neighboring isles. The
main food of the guls is known to be
the infnitesimal live things found in
the bitter lake brineMa Small winged
shrimp, a smaller fly and It's larye, the
black worm before alluded tO-the
three atomic creatures that comprise
the animal life Of the lake
Bathing in the lake is one of the most
delightful experiences imaginable. It
is next to impossible to sink in such
dense water, and one floats easily with
posed and this without moving so much
as a finger. The bathers wabble this
way and that like so many corks cast
adrift. Swimming the old way is evil
IDENTIFY hard work, but an habitue OF
these waters will throw his body high
out and 20 hand over hand with a speed
not excelled in fresh water.
Salt Lake people will tell you what
hard work the famous BoytOn made in
1856 Of his attempted swim to Antelope
island and the terrible suffering he en-
dured while buffeted about in his rub
Der suit all of one night. A wind from
the northwest blew stiff breeze, and
the spray dashed in his face and hard
ened there into salt. In the morning tina
exhausted man was thrown up like
rubber ball into the marsh east Of Black
rock on the main shore, and afterward
declared
"a man can't get this water on his
head and stand it. II l were 40 feet
under water in the worst storm the At
lantic ever knew it wouldn't be as bad
as being under one foot here. 1t was
the weight of the water that knocked
me out, and there isn't enough money
in the world to tempt me to try it
again"
One Of the first things that strikes a
newcomer is the comparative absence
Of boat life on the Great Salt lake. A