The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-08-31
MRS. LOTS FATE THEIRS.
Man and His Burro Turned to
Rock Salt in the Colorado Desert.

From the Pittsburg Gazette.
George H. Tucker, a mining pros
pector who has just returned from a
trip through the Mojave and Colorado
deserts, tells a remarkable story of the
discovery of a petrified man and burro
in one of the large salt fields that
abound there. He told the story as
follows to Gazette correspondent:
zone of the most desolate places
in the Colorado Desert is thirty two
miles southeast of Dandy. Here is a
large deposit of rock salt IS miles in
length and from ~ to 3
miles in width. There is
not a spear of grass or any kind of
vegetation. In many places the rock
salt crops out of the earth, and any
where in this section rock salt can
be obtained by digging ten or twelve
inches. No one knows how deep the
salt goes. A number of prospect holes
have been sunk, but the great amount
of water encountered at a depth of
twenty-five or thirty feet makes fur
Their mining impossible without appara-
tus for pumping.
Some ten years ago an effort was
made to bring this immense deposit of
| salt lHIO commercial use. WO rail-
roads were built to connect the rock
quarries with the Santa Fe. 1t was
found necessary to build a house in the
middle of the deposit, and for this pur
pose enough blocks of rock salt were
cut to build a shanty IA by 80 feet In
dimensions. A flooring and roof COM
posed of the peculiar kind of earth that
exists in that vicinity completed the
building. This salt house, or as, the
Mexicans called it, La Casa del SAL
was used for the purpose for which it
was erected. But in a short time the
salt mining operations were discontin-
ued, and the salt house was abandon
ed to the coyote and desert owl.
For at least seven years before we
visited this building, about a month
ago, it had not been inhabited, and
probably very seldom seen by any one.
During the summer months in this To-
cality fine saline dust is blown in
great clouds through the desert. The
heat is almost unbearable. What water
is found is undrinkable, and woe to
the prospector who finds himself in
this section with an empty canteen "A
peculiar feature of the climate is that
no matter how hot the day, the night
is invariably cool, even cold enough
for forming ice.
During the summer of 1900 a Swede
pecting in the vicinity, started to cross
this dry lake of salt at Old Wornan's
Springs. When nearly half way across
a terrible sandstone blew up. He
trudged on until he came to the salt
house, where he and his burro sought
shelter.
Under the caves of the house he
found a number of galvanized tanks,
partly filed with rain water. He con-
sidered this a lucky find, for his can
teen was almost empty. He drank his
fill of the water he found and per-
mitted his burro to do the same.
THE night was cold and the storm
continued. He determined to camp in
the hut over night. The dead embers
of the fire were still to be seen when
we visited the place, eyidencing the
unusual severity of the weather.
when we opened the door to this
desolate shack we were horrified at
seeing what seemed to be marble
statute lying on the floor. The head
was of alabaster whiteness, the hair
and whiskers having fallen away. The
body was outlined under thin blan-
ket
1.-THE sight was so uncanny that we
hesitated TO remove the blanket. but
finally mustered enough courage TO do
so. The body had undergone a sin
gular transformation, being nothing
less than complete petrihcation. The
substance was OF a nature of~sypsum.
very friabie and pure white IN color
The outline Of the body was perfect
The darkness OF the interior al
first prevented W from seeing the
buss which was standing IN one cor
ner. One Of our party advanced and
laid his hand on the animal. when IL
fell over ana against him TheAw@~rr0
had undergone the same transforma-
ton ~ ifs master. The body ~ the
man Was given q decent burial near