The times., 1899-06-18
WONDERS OF THE
GREAT SALT LAKE
Utah's Dead Sea Contains Vast
Wealth.
Unused Salt and Soda Worth Bill
lions of Dollars.
Mysteries of the Inland Depths
Secret of Swimming in the
Strange Waters.


not its MCrmons." said an inhabitant of
that State, but its great salt sea, which
always seems to me like a mystery, only a
little less weird than the Dead Sea which
rolls over Sodom and Gomorrah Every
time | look at this great American dead
sea l get to speculating about its past and
its probable future. which will be more in
than to the present. The origin OF the
lake is only matter of curiosity. but its
future will be question of dollars and
cents to this country. / have lately been
figuring out the probable value of this dead
sea to the company which will exploit it.
At first | was surprised at the magnitude
of its wealth, and then astonished beyond
measure. The fact is, that Utah is the rich
est State in the Union, and all by reason
of this great American dead sea. Her salt
is worth more than all the gold and
diamond mines in the world. The est-
mated value of the products of this salt
lake is. in round numbers. nearly slOS.-
500,O0O000. Think of over one hundred
billion dollars lying unused and untouched
right in the heart of cur country!
How do l figure out such value? it is
simple enough. According to analyses the
waters of the lake have an average of more
than 16 per cent of salt and sulphate of
soda; that is. about sixth of every
bucketful of the water dipped out of the
lake is of commercial value. About One
eighth of this is sulphate of soda and
seven-eighths common salt. Now, to find
out the value of the lakes contents one
has only to figure out roughly the amount
of water in it. To make the calculation
easy we will say the lake Is 100 miles
long, with a width varying between %
and 80 miles. or approximately 2.T00 square
miles in surface area or 75.271 $50, 900
square feet. The average depth of the lake
can be safely placed at twenty feet, which
would make sos, ,433 500, 900 cubic feet of
water. Now, one-sixth of this total is
common salt and soda or 25O, ,9O5 800, 900
cubic feet. A cubic foot Of suphate of soda
weights fifty pounds, and a cubic foot of
salt eighty pounds. The ordinary valua
tion OF sulphate of soda is one cent
pound, or $40 a ton, and common salt Is
worth half cent pound, or $40 ION.
According to my figures there would be
7s4. .0S0, 900 tons of sulphate of soda in the
lake. and S,789. 1863. 900 tons OF common salt.
Now, at the ruling prices for these two
commodities given above the total Valua-
tion of the lakes products would amount
to s1O3. 4S3. .296, 900. What State can pro-
duce a better showing than that?
But it is not only the money value OF
this great inland sea that attracts me. The
lake is a mystery which appeals to one,
even though he lives on its rim for
lifetime. There are four large rivers pour
ing fresh water continually into the lake,
but the saltiness does not diminish l per
cent at any season of the year, not even
when the freshets of summer pour mil
of nf tor he
tain side into the lake. There is no Wis
ible outlet, and yet the lake rises and
falls from year to year only trifie. There
is no visible source of the great salt beds
or mines that must underlie the lake some
where The reason for the saltiness of
this sea is almost as great a mystery to
the scientists of today as II was to the In
dians a century ago. There is simply no
explaining the matter. In ages gone by
the lake was much larger, covering at cne
time total area larger than that of Lake
Huron. In places the sea must then have
been at least LOCO feet deep. Its greatest
depth now is about sixty feet. 1t is salt
ier than the Dead Sea OF Palestine. al
though many people are not aware of it,
for the simple reason that they compare
only the percentage of solid matter in the
water of the two lakes. The Asiatic dead
sea contains % per cent of solids and the
besides common salt and sulphate of soda
this solid matter includes magnesia, sui
phur, calcium, bromide potassium, lithia
and boracic acid. When these solids are
taken from the water of the Asiatic salt
it will be found that the salt and soda form
far less than one-sixth of the whole.
Compared with the Atlantic Ocean the
Salt Lake of Utah produces another sur
prise. You talk of the salt sea that washes
cTnaG CT kfafr ,.iI IL, h.
cooling breeZes that sweep across it in
| summer II you should come out to Salt
Lake City We would give you a genuine
| surprise. Your water contains only 3.5
| per cent OF solids and only 2.6 per cent OF
salt. Your salty breezes have only tinge
of salt in them. When the wind blows in
| the right direction across the full length
| of Salt Lake it is SO laden with salt that
| it will leave a crust or coating of salt on
the face and clothes that gives a shostly
| appearance to you. In the summer time
people go down to the lake and take salt
baths without going into the water. They
| simply dress in their bathing suits and rest
| on the beach. With the windows open al
night when the wind is blowing OFF the
| lake, people wake up with decided salty
| coating.
| "Our summer resorts on the lake are as
attractive as any you have along the coast
Everybody goes to the lake in the summer
| to take a bath. This is a delightful and
novel sensation You dive under, but il
is impossible to go down far. The water
resists your effort, so that you soon come
to the surface, where you float about like
corks. We don't have suicides from
drowning out there. They couldn't do il
very well If they tried. They might hold
their heads under water by sheer force OF
will, but if they jumped into the water
they would only float about until some
body picked them up. Eastern people who
boast of being good swimmers come IL
Salt Lake and make a laughing stock Of
themselves. 1t is better than a circus tC
see one go into the lake for the first time
If he attempts to sit down in shallow water
he never reaches the bottom, but slides
along in the most unearthly fashion. Il
you dive you come up with eyes smartinl
from the effect of the salt For a few
minutes you wonder if the burning OF tht
eyes will ever cease, and you imagine tina
you are going blind The only way to re
lieve this smarting is to suck the finger!
a few minutes to wash OFF the salt. anC
then rub the eyes with the cleansed fingers
When you get through and can see again
you will find that all the other bathers ar,
laughing heartily at your predicament
Then if you attempt TO float it will taxi
some time TO learn how to balance your
self. You are more apt TO stand on you
head than on your feet in the water, FOL
the simple reason that the upper part o
the body is heavier than the lower. You
skill as a diver and swimmer in othe
bodies of water counts for little Yol
must begin and learn all over again.
THE lake has receded from the cit.
proper about twenty miles, and the train
run down to its edge all through tn
| is as