St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-24
RUBBER GROWS LIKE POTATOES.
Utah Has q Deposit of Great Value
and Singular Origin.

Utah, the newest of the states, seems
to be neurological freak. George
Eldridge, of the geological survey, 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 a large part Of the popula-
ton Of the United States:~ TT is black
and it looked and felt exactly like ordi-
nary rubber. li1''N ---
You see it is quite elastic said Mr.
Eldridge, bending piece with his fin
gers. There is no telling how many
valuable uses it may be put to in the
future, but I imagine that it will be
employed largely mixed with the. vege-.
table rubber of commerce. For roof
ing material it has already been proved
excellent. In the mining towns of
Utah, mineral rubber is utilized COM
monty for roofing, being prepared in
sheets consisting of a layer of burlap
with the rubber on both sides. Moth
ing could be more thoroughly water
proof. Because 1t is new not much Is
known about this peculiar stuff and
it's possibilities Only a few tons of it
have been mined. near the Uintah res
ervation, where it is chiefly found. 1t
OCCui Ill NClhS,tF Jul Lie llulliOCl anu
size of the latter are not really known
as yet.
Mr.. Eldridge took from his desk
aueer-looking, blackish chunk of some
thing not easily identified, that felt
soft to the touch. THAT is another
unexplored minera.." said he. "It is
called mineral wax and is found in
veins like the mineral rubber 1t has
not been mined at all. but many uses
for it are likely to be discovered in
the future To electricians it will be
valuable. doubtless. inasmuch as it is
one of the best insulating materials for
employment in their business. But
here is another interesting mineral
substance also from Utah
The specimen of this latter looked
exactly like piece Of obsidian, or
black volcanic glass. 1t was hard as
rock. "Thart is gum asphalt" said
the expert. "My chief business in
Utah was to examine the deposits OF
this mineral. It is wonderful sub
stance, and represents a great mineral
resource that has hardly been touched
yet 1t is nothing more nor less than
an exceedingly pure kind of asphalt,
| and it's important usefulness is in the
manufacture of yarnishes.
"The substance is found under con-
ditions so extraordinary that nobody
| Ids DeGu @dDle " dCCOuII LII tHCiii
! very Satisfactorily The deposits are
| chiefly within and in the neighborhood
! of the Uncompabgre reservation. You
! are walking across the country and
! come upon a queer looking streak
that runs straight as an arrow flies
! You brush away the sand and beneath
/ it you find that the streak is perfecly
! black 1t is a vein of gum asphalt.
There are many such veins near the
| c odOp of Utah and M
| them run into Colorado They have q
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 eighteen feet, an6
they are from half a mile to six miles
in length. Nobody knows how deer
they are. The greatest depth reached
is 125 feet. Thus far mining for the
stuff has hardly got beyond the pros
pecting stage. The veins are perfectly
vertical
These veins of asphalt represent
cracks in the crust of the earth, made
In distant geographical epoch, ant
subsequently filled in with the gun
asphalt. The stuff has much the ap
course, 1t is only useful in making
black varnishes.s No, it will never b'
used for paving streets, unless, per
| hapS, as an adnaixture with ordinary
asphalt, to improve the quality of thu
latter; it is too valuable, you see.
cannot tell you from what source thu
substance was originally, derived. 1
is believed that .falld'asphalts are O.
| vegetable origin. We know that dur
ing the coal forming period vast &C
cumulations ofse yezetable materia
were laid downk3n beds and @becam,
transformed in Harfpus ways, subse
quentIy by chetacaA processes. Ac
cording to the conditions governing
they were metamorphosed into deposit
of coal. petroleum er bitumen-th
last being what We Call asphalt"