Arizona republican., 1899-02-27
NEW SODA DEPOSITS.
An 1nexhaustible Supply of Pure
 Su1phate in Wyoming.
A New Industry That Promises to Make the American Market In
 dependent of Foreign A, Concerns,

By the opening up of the vast nat
 ural soda deposits of Wyoming an- l other industry is to be added to the
 rapidly growing list in which the United States can outstrip the world. Natures laboratory, which is workin g
 underground, and without a pay roll. is turning out 'an ineXhaustible sup
 ply of pure sulphate of soda which is :he base of a large number of by-prod- ucts that are used in one form or an- other in almost every sort of manufac- ture and in every household in civiliza- ton. Natures product is one stage nearer the point of consumption than is the manufactured article. Over 70
 per cent. of the latter consumed in this country is imported and practically all
 cf the remaining 30 per cent. is made
 in factories that are branches of the
 foreign establishments. The quantity
 thus far taken from the deposits is not sufficient to supply small fraction of
 the glass makers of the Indiana gas
 belt alone, though the latter can use it at an immense saving over the man.
 ufactured and can turn cut a better quality of glass. The elimination of the expensive processes of manufac
 ture puts the native soda in a position not only to command the American
 markets, but ultimately to pay for ex- porting it to the very countries from which the American supply is now com ing. Despite the fact that only be- ginning has been made on the home trade there is every indication that its 1for T 40o int where it can command the world will be very rapid. To accomplish this re- ault the native soda must supplant the 40O, 900 tons of soda ash used by the window and plate glass makers of this country each year, and then take care of the immensely greater demands of the baking powder, soap, saIeratus. washing crystal, sal soda, concentrated lye, pulp, glucose, smoke!ess gunpow- der and match manufacturers, and also the tanners, bleachers, woolen mill men, dyers, packers, printers, pho- tographers, starch makers and a host of other users outside of the medicinal. All of these demands and quantities more can be supplied from the three lakes or beds lying 1 miles south west of Laramie, and which comprise the bulk of the deposits. in workable quantities, of the state. These deposc- it's are known as Red lake, Track lake and Big lake, and are fed by countless springs which constantly replenish the supply as fast as it is drawn upon. These deposits contain Al per cent. of pure sulphate of soda. trifle less than 54 per cent. of water and about two per cent. of other matter, chiefly car bonate of soda and chloride of sodium, or common salt. All that is necessary, it is said. to put the product on the market is to eliminate the moisture. It can be sold throughout America at an immense profit. even at the lowest fig ures ever quoted here, though the branches of the foreign factories have frequently sold their output be- low the cost of production to freeze cut the small American establishments that have been started in opposition tc them within the last 50 years.
 The soda properties have always proven immensely profitable, and great efforts have been made by the English and German makers to keep compet- itors out of the field. The largest of the English concerns, which also con. trols the largest concern in this coun- . try, has paid dividends of 35 to 50 per cent. to it's shareholders ever since it was organized. The American branch pays even larger profits. but its shares are closely held, and no information concerning the profits ever reaches the public. The base product of the arti- i fciaI article is salt or salt water, which, | after reduction to the form of sulphate ! of soda, must be clarified by expensive processes before it can be used for . many of the purposes for which it is intended. Before it can be used for plate glass the iron, which all . salt contains. and which the ammonia . or leading artificial process does not ! eliminate. must be removed by the in- | troduction of one part of arsenic to nine i of suIphate. The arsenic alone costs at the rate of $75 per ton. The native soda, having no impurities, makes much clearer as well as stronger and tougher glass, and it is even claimed i that it is better than the French plate. The Laramie deposits, which are the purest as well as the most accessible i'll the state, passed into the control of one of the largest firms of importers of heavy chemicals west of New York several years ago. and this firm recent ly transferred it's holdings to Chicago which is preparing to vastly increase the output by the erec- ton of plant capable of turning out ] 200 tons of product per day. The ex- treme limit of the plant now on the ground is 15O tons per day.
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