Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1899-12-23


tlon. In the San Rafel mountains. some
thirty miles from Castle Gate. jet W
found. jet Is n deep black In color and
has n high lustrc. II receives n bril-
liant polish and Is set In jewclry. jet
has been known from the time of Pliny,
and has been used by all civilized and
semi civilized peoples. In time the out
put OF this mineral Will constitute n
| paying Industry on large scale.
Mineralogists tell us that the best as
| phaltum comes from the Dead Sca and
In the ncghborhood OF the CaHplnn. \
| remarkable locality occurs ON the island
| OF Trinidad. whore there II lake OF
IL about "A mile and half In clrcum-
| ference. hut now Utah ~ coming to
the front In the production OF this
article. II Is found At Thistle and on
| the Uintnh reservation. also along the
Green and Grand rivers. and the
quantity ~ 10 great Ms TO Insure the
support Of the nsphaltum Industry FOR
/ years TO come. Hundreds OF tons OF as
phaltum have been shipped already. but
II Will take railroad to the large mine
producing II To make Il great and
profitable Industry.
NATURAL GAS.
or the simple hydrocarbons our
natural gas comes first. Natural gas
varies In composition according to its
source. our product which " obtained
through boring. II chiefly pure mnrsh
gas, with some nitrogen. carbonic acid
and n little hydrogen. our largest ras
wells In the United States are In Ohio
and Pennaylvnnia. Natural gas was
first used for lighting In Frcdonn, Erie
county. N. Y, where IL " given out
from springs. AZ early as 1879, Penn
aylvania and New York began TO use
this compound. and since then many
western States have put II to use. after
discovery. The first use Of natural gas
| for lighting and heating was In China.
In the petroleum region OF Bahu. on the
| Caspian seas are eternal fires" regions
where this gas IN forming down In the
| bowels OF the earth. So Utah has
natural gas. II " found at almost any
point between Ogden and the shores OF
Salt Lake. Some think our gaH wells
have proved failure. But n we judge
from what we have experienced al
ready the natural gas resource will
| prove u profitable investment for cnpi-
talists Think what u saving II would
be TO the citizens OF Salt Lake, With
gas Of average composition. 1000 cubic
feet have. theoretically. the heating
power OF about bi.i pounds OF bitumin-
Gus coal and 5s.i pounds OF anthracite,
so that II 600 cubic feet OF gas are
equivalent TO 2,2t0 pounds. or n ton OF
coal. Says J. 4. Lesley. 1T II safe to
say that 10000 cubic fect of gas II equal
In heating power to one ton OF coal" I
quote these figures In order to show the
great value that our gas wells have
for us. providing they are constant In
their How. More gaH wells are 10 be
discovered no doubt, and II will mean
untold wealth and saving for Utah's
people.
PETROLEUM.
Docs petroleum occur In Utah7 Tho
members Of the Chamber OF Commerce
have often been asked this question.
This hydrocarbon exists over "A con-
siderable area OF our State. II shows
un at scores OF points along the Grand
and Colorado rivers. II oozcs from the
ellis and assures. As yet very little
work has been done ON the Utah pc
troleum zelda. Petroleum II yet 10 be-
come "a chief natural resource OF our
State. and when II does II VIII con-
stitute u large per cent OF our mineral
wealth. Petroleum II from the Greek.
''petros." and the Latin 'olcum'' oil.
and when found In the rocks II has been
formed through the decomposition OF
animal and vegetable substances. II
occurs In the rocks OF all ages from the
lower silurian To the most ancient.
Surely we have plenty OF II In Utah
SO much for the hydrocarbons. Ma
ture has especially blessed us by plac-
ing within our reach such valuable re-
sourco1. They are yet undcvcloped.
Capital and labor are yet to put them
into all the markets OF the world.
THE GREAT SALT LAKE.
The most wonderful feature NJ all this
beautiful State Is our salt Sea. For
many years II has been question
among scientific men whether or not
Its waters could not be put to some
practical use. Many elements and com
pounds were found In solution. and
now. after thorough examination. we
can call II the great bonanza OF the
west. wealth nbounds here" II ~
said That there are 1906. 1883 500, 900 cubic
feet OF water, OF this 10 go per cent IN
salt and sulphate of soda. In other
feet OF these solids. This salt IL OF
purcr quality" says DIR. j. n. Kings
bury, than any other found and
there II enough to supply the world for
century. Down underneath the sandy
bottom, there II II layer OF sodium sui
phnte ranging one foot to three feet in
thickness II has been rcckoncd that
there are over thirty-onc billion cubic
feet. This compound could easily be
hauled to some factory near the limo
stone auarries OF the whsatoh. ana
with coal, In connection with the lime
stone. II could be converted Into the
best sodium carbonate and bicarbonato
In the world. Today, carbonate or soda
IN made according ID the lie Blanc pro-
cess. Common salt Nv used and ~ CON
verted by sulphuric acid into sulphatc
OF sodium and then dccomposng the
sulphate by carbonate OF calcium and
charcoal NJ u high temperature 30 ns
TO yield carbonate OF sodium. The sui
phate. first dried Ia mixed with it's own
weight OF ground limestone, and half
Its weight OF small coal, ground and
sifted, and tNt whole Ii heated In Il
reverheratory furnace. and after due
heating the carbonate OF sodium Is pro-
duced This In the chemical process.
when soda In artincinlly made Note.
now how nature has done almost all OF
the work for us. There nre millions OF
tons OF the sodium sulphate prccipl.
tnted In the winter on the shores and In
the bottom of the lake. Near by are
coal and limestone, and all that would
be needed IL n reverbcrntoiy furnace
and the proper mixing OF the ingredi-
ents. Even by the artificial method or
lie Blanc's way OF making carbonate OF
soda, there are Millions OF dollars made
annually by somebody In the United
States. Here In Utah man would
have TO understand little or no chomis-
try In order to manufacture both the
cooking and the washing sodas, Figures
viii tell something. III sodium suphate
We're worth $50 per ton N would net tho
Investor something like $4,000. 600 If
common salt sold FOR S. n ton II would
mean something near Si5,00O0O0 | do
not write these figures haphazarlly.
They are. facts. Says one OF our noted
chemists. The compounds and clc-
ments In solution In Great Salt Lake
viii yet mean millions OF dollars for
the state"