The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1896-04-18
MINERAL RUBBER.
Material fron which Gum Shoes loe
tho Multitude Nay he Hsde-It
grows In the 0FounA
Like Potatoes.

tho Au1c1c00o my DO Ao00-xe
Grows In the Groana
Like Potatoes.
Utah, the newest of the states, seems
to be mineralogical freak. Mr.. George
Eldridge, of the geological survey, says
Washington %. C.) correspondent,
was sent out there few weeks ago
for the purpose of looking up certain
natural resources, and he has returned
with most interesting report. Among
other things, he found great deposits
of mineral rubber-enough to make
gum shoes for. large part of the popu-
lntion of the United States. 1t is black,
and it locked and felt exactly like or
dinary rubber.
"You see, it is quite elastic" said Mr.
Eldridge, bending piece with his
fingers. There is no telling how many
valuable uses it may be put to in the
future, but / 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 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. It occurs in
veins, but the number and size of the
latter are not reliably known as yet"
Mr.. Eldridge took up from his desl;
queer-looking, blackish chunk OF
something not easily identified, that
felt soft to the touch.
'sThat is another unexplored min
eral," said he. "It is called minera!
wax, and is found in veins like the mir
eral rubber. 1t has not been mined at
all, but many uses for it are likely to be
discovered in the future. To .electri-
clans it will be valuable, doubtless, in
asmuch as it is one of the best insulat
ing materials for employment in their
business. But here is another interest
ing mineral substance, also from Utah. .
The specimen of this latter lookes!
exactly like piece of obsidian. or black
volcanic glass. 1t was hard as any
rock. "That is gum asphalt" said the
expert. ''My chief business in Utah was
to examine the deposits cf this ma
terial. 1t is wonderful substance and
represents great mineral resource
that has hardly been touched as yet.
1t is nothing more nor less than an ex-
ceedingly pure kind of asphalt, and its
important usefulness is in the manu-
facture of varnishes.
''The substance is found under con-
tlitions so extraordinary that nobody
has been able to account for them very
satisfactorily. The deposits are chiefly
within and in the neighborhood of the
Uncompahgre reservation. You are
walking across the country and come
upon queer-looking streak that runs
straight as an arrow flies. You brush
away the sand and beneath it yon fine;
that the streak is perfectly black. It
is vein of gum asphalt.
"There are many such veins near the
eastern edge of Utah, and some of theni
run over into Colorado. They have a
tendency to run parallel to each other,
with trend from northwest to south
east. They vary in width from a quar-
ter of an inch to Is feet. and they arc
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 got
beyond the prospecting stage. The
veins are perfectly vertical.
These veins of asphalt represent
cracks in the crust of the earth, made
in distant geological epoch and sub
stantially 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. No,
it will never be used for paving streets
unless, perhaps. as an admixture witt.
ordinary asphalt to improve the quality
of the latter; it is too valuable, you
see. I cannot tell you from what source
the substance was originally derived.
1t is believed that AL asphalts are OF
vegetable origin. We know that dur
ing the conforming period vast ac-
cumulations Of vegetable material were
laid down II beds and became trans
formed in r9rious ways, subsequently
by chemical processes. According to
conditions governing, tAy were meta
morphosed into deposits OF coal, pc.
troleum or bitumen-the last being
what we call asphalt" ST. Louis Re-
public.
TO Roast Fore-Q -Qoarter Of Lamb.
Take q nicely cut fore-quarter Of
lamb, place it before quick fire, and
baste It we'll all the time it is cooking;
ot,o,,<s a 1n,,o rter ,f nm hoalr before il is