The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1896-04-24
VOLUME xxx.
MINERAL RUBBER.
The New State of Utah Has a
Strange Freak of Nature.
Material from Which Gum shoes for
the Multitude May BE Made-It
Grows in the Ground
Like Potatoes.

TO be meteorological freak. Mr.. George
Eldridge, of the geological survey, says
a Washington %. c. correspondent,
was sent out there few weeks ago
for the purpose of looking up certain
natural resources, and he has returned
with a most interesting report. Among
other things, he found great deposits
of mineral rubber-enough to make
gum shoes for large part of the popu-
Iation of the United States. 1t is black.
and it locked and felt exactly like or
binary rubber.
You see, it is quite elastic" said Mr..
Eldridge, bending a piece with his
fingers. There is no telling how many
valuable uses it may be put to in the
future, but l imagine it will be EN-
Ployed largely mixed with the vegetable
rubber of commerce. For a roofing
material it has already been proved
excellent In the mining towns of Utah
mineral rubber is utilized commonly
for roofing, being prepared in sheets
consisting of Il layer of burlap, with
the rubber on both sides. Nothing
could be more thoroughly waterproof.
because it is so new not much is known
about this peculiar stuff and its posi-
bilities. Only few tons of it has been
mined near the Uintah reservation.
where it is chiefly found. 1t occurs iii
veins. but the number and size of the
latter are not reliably known as yet
Mr.. EIdridge took up from his des,,
u queer-lookiug. blac<ish chunk oi
romCthing not easily identified, that
felt soft To the touch.
That is another uncNplorcd min
s,ral.'' said he 1T is called mineral
wax. and is found in veins like mir
.ral rubber. 1t has not been ia.l d al
10. but many uses for IT are likely H. l-o
'.scoycred in the future. To clevf.i-
.-unS it viii he valuable, doubtless. ia.
r- much rs Il iS one of the best iTsUlat-
re materials fer employment IN their
business. But here is another intcresr-
-ug mineral substance. also from Utah
The specimen of this latter looked
a-actIv like a piece OF obsidian. or black
.olcanic glass. II was hard as any
-oui, That is gum asphalt" said tn,
..,-fscrt MY chief business in Utah was
9o cvaminc the deposits cf this ma
lerfal 1t is wonderful substance au,l
.a--cSents q great mineral resource
Lat has hardly been touched Is yet
: is nothing more nor less than an cN-
-scdiugIv pure kind OF asphalt, and lis
important usefulness is in the manu-
facturc of varnishcs.
The substance is found under COZ
dftt0rs 50 extraordinary that nobody
has been able to account fer them vcIy
satisfactorily. The deposits are chiefly
within and in the neighborhoOd Of the
f-ncompahnrc reservation. You are
--TE-ir-r across the country and co=-v
tE0u "a quccr-loOiling streak that iua+
.yrafg:it as an arrow flies. You b. II :,
Iaay the sand and beneath il you find
| hat the streak is perfectly black. !;
| is q vein Of gum asphalt.
There are many such veins near the
eastern edge of Utah. and some OF ther
run over into Colorado. They have a
/ t-ndcucy to run parallel to each othCs-
With a trend from northwest To south
1 cast. They vary in width from quar-
ter of an inch to Is feet, and they a-c
from half mile to six miles in length
! Nobody knows how deep they are. The
| greatest depth reached is 125 feet. Thus
far mining for the stuff has hardly get
! beyond the prospecting stage. Tho
| veins are perfectly vertical
| These veins Of asphalt represent
J cracks III IHt crust VI Illt fstt III ltI'iNi'
! in a distant geological epoch and sub
! stautially filed in with the gum asphalt
| The stuff has much of the appearance
! and hardness of Jet. OF course it IS only
useful for making black varnishes. NJ
| it viii never be used for paving streets
| unless. perhaps. as an admiXture will
ordinary asphalt to improve the quality
of the latter; it is too valuable, you
! see. | caunot tell you from what source
| the substance was originally derived
| 1t is believed that all asphalts are o.
| vegetable origin. We know that dur
ing the conforming period vast ac
| cumulations of vegetable material were
! laid down in beds and became trans
| formed in various ways, subsequently
! by chemical processes. According to
| conditions governing, they were meta
| rlorphosed into deposits of coal, pc
| troIeum or bitumen-the last being
! what we call asphalt st. Louis Re
| public