Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-08-06
MRS. LOTS FATE THEIRS.
A Man and His Burro Turned I,
Rock Salt In the Colorado Desert.

MRS. LOTS FATE THEIRS.
A Man and His Burro Turned to
Rock Salt In the Colorado Desert.
George H. Tucker, a mining pros
pector who has just returned from
trip through the Mojavo and Colorado
deserts, tells remarkable story Of the
discovery Of petrified man and burro
in one Of the large salt fields that
abound there. He told the story as fol-
lows to Gazette correspondent:
lone Of the most desolate places in
the Colorado desert is 80 miles south
east Of Dandy. Here is large deposit
of rock salt is miles in length and from
one and half to three miles In width.
There Is not spear Of grass or any
kind Of vegetation. In many places
the rock salt crops out Of the earth,
and anywhere in this section rock salt
can be obtained by digging 10 or IL
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 depth of rs
or 30 feet makes further mining i'm
possible without apparatus for pump
ing.
Some 10 years ago an effort was made
to bring this immense deposit Of salt
into commercial use. Two railroads
were built to connect the rock quarries
with the Santa Fe. It was found nee
essary to build house in the middle Of
the deposit, and for this purpose
enough blocks Of rock salt were cut to
build a shanty IA by 30 feet in dimen-
sions. A flooring and roof composed Of
the peculiar kind Of earth that exists
in that vicinity completed the building.
This salt house, or as the Mexicans
called it, La Sasa del SAL was used
for the purpose for which it was erec-
ted. But in a short time the salt min
ing operations were discontinued, and
the salt house was abandoned to the
coyote and desert owl.
For at least seven years before we
visited this building, about month
ago, it had not been inhabited, and pro-
badly very seldom seen by any one.
During the summer months in this 10
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 pc
culiar 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 Swede
named Johnson, who had been pros
pecting in the vicinity, started to cross
this dry lake of salt to Old .Woman's
Springs. When nearly half way across
a terrible sandstorm blew up. He
trudged ON until he came to the salt
house, where he and his burro sought
chelter.
"Under the caves Of the house he
found a number Of galvanized tanks.
partly filled with rain water. He con-
sidered this lucky find, for his can
teen was almost empty. He drank his
fill Of the water he found and permitted
his burro to do the same.
1.-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, evidencing the unusu-
al oavorjtv NJ tho Wea fhor
when we opened the door to this
desolate shack we were Mortified at see
ing what seemed to be a marble statue
lying on the floor. The head was Of
alabaster whiteness, the hair and whis-
kers having fallen away. The body
was outlined under thin blanket.
1.-THE sight was 80 uncanny that we
hesitated to remove the blanket; but
finally mustered enough courage to do
so. The body had undergone singu-
lar transformation, being nothing less
than complete petriication. The SUBJ
stance was of nature Of gypsum, very
friabue and pure white in color. The
outline Of the body was perfect.
1.-THE darkness Of the interior at first
prevented us from seeing the burro,
which was standing in one corner. One
Of our party advanced and laid his
hand on the animal, when It fell over
against him. The burro had under
gone the same Transformation as its
master The body Of the man was CIV
en- a decent burial near the house, and
the burro will be sent to the Smith
sonian Institute.
1.-The explanation Of this strange phe-
nomenon Is to be found in the kind Of
water that was drunk by the man and
burro and in the kind Of earth that
composed the roof and floor Of the salt
habitation. The water Is heavily
charged with chloride for sodium. The
earth that had been used for the roof
ing contained chemicals which were
taken in solution by the rain water as
it dripped through into the galvanized
tanks.
After drinking freely Of this water
the man and his beast lad evidently
frozen to death and were gradually
petrified." d."-Pittsburg Gazette.
WHOLESALE SUICIDES ad-
vices describe an appalling epidemic of
suicides of young women In southern
China.
The usual method Is for six or eight
oirls to tie themselves together and de-