New-York tribune., 1901-02-24
FACTS ABOUT ASPHALT.
WHERE IT IS OBTAINED-ITs ORIGIN
AND COMMERCIAL USE

The dispute between two rival American cor
poratiOns over the possession 0f an asphalt
lake in Venezuela has caused especial in
terest in what asphalt lake is like and how
asphalt is mined and shipped TO market. As
phalt or asphaltum, is the solid form Of bitumen.
Bitunlen is q generic term which is applied TO
variety O: substances. ranging from natural gas.
naphtha. petroleum and mineral tar 10 asphalt.
The asphalts Of different localities vary greatly
In composition. as Is shown by their chemical re-
actions. Nearly al are anonymous and have the
general appearance Of pitch, melting al about
the temperature Of boiling water Asphalt. il Is
thought by scientists. has resulted fro.n the
hardening of the maltha and petroleum elt--
ments. through oXysenation and eTapora-'n
one OF the most interesting asphalt beds II
the world is the pitch lake in the State Of Ber-
mudez. Venezuela. This valuable deposit was
unknown TO American capitalists until lsss,
when an American engineer, Ambrose Howard
Garner. received a title TO the property from the
Venezuelan Government This he sold 10 the
New-York and BermuGez Company, which is
closely allied - the sO-calleG Asphalt Trust o.
which General F Y. Greene is president The
several square miles which are included in the
concession obtained have in the last thirteen
years been steadily improved The company
has cleared the Maturin River 10 navigation so
that deep sea cT4-l from All A-eil l1.S "a N-~
globe can run in from the Caribbean Sea, past
the British possession of Trinidad Island and
inland L. the docks Of the company al Guanoco.
The town Of Guanoco is the river terminus
70 the Rerrludez companys railroad. Here
a-e hundreds Of native EeneZuelans, work
ing under the eye Of an American supeTln-
tendent The raw asphalt i- brought from inc
lake. five miles distant, on fiat cars and shoF-
eu-d into the holds Of the vessels. Al Guanoco
this operation is much simpler than a. Irlnldao'
whore lighters are necessary because OF the
lor shelving beach Of the harbor. Ihe ran
road follows an old Indian trail which leo from
the river TO the shores Of the pitch lake Ihe
surface Of the lake is so hard that for some
distance from the shore it supports the weight
~ a loaded train. As one looks over the sur
face OF this great deposit he at first sees moth
ing OF a striking or unusual nature He views
only black plain. resembling anthracite coal
or flint upon which are groups Of natives work
ing with picks and shovels Closer eXamina-
.ion however shows that portions Of the sur
face are soft like tar. whore the asphalt is
sticky and bubbling. Asphalt is disJinguishable
from anthracite not only by its form, but be-
cause il is soluble in bsulphide of carbon and
benzole These pitch pools resemble somewha
the not springs q the Yellowstone region. They
slowly cool and become hardened after many
years. AS al Trinidad. they vary in depth.
some Of them have never been fully sounded,
and are thought by the natives TO extend into
the bowels OF the earth
The asphalt which is mined az Bermudez Lake
"a more or less hardened and is obtained with
some difficulty as it retains the suns heat to
a trying degree.
The Bermudez company, after years Of expert
,,eot. has succeeded in putting on the market
asphalt which Will neither crack from cold nor