The Indianapolis journal., 1902-12-30
RICHES In DEATH VALLEY
VALUABLE DEPOSITS of NITRE SAID
TO HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED.
May BE Worth Millions of Dollars, but
Are Difficult to Work-Nearest
Water Many Miles Away.

SAN FRANCISCO. Dec. 29-Hundreds of
miners and prospectors have begun rush
TO the mysterious region of California
known as Death Valley, where great fields
of nitre were recently discovered.
The great importance of the discovery
was made known by Lewis E. Aubury,
state mineralogist of California, who sent
out an expedition under the leadership of
Prof. Gilbert E. Bailey. This corps of ex
perts found deposits of nitre sufficient to
supply the world with valuable mineral at
its present rate of consumption for many
years to come. On the strength of the Off
cial report of their Investigations, dozens of
prospecting expeditions have already been
fitted out by capitalists of the far West.
The deposits that have been discovered
are located from thirty to 145 miles from
Daggett, no to 100 miles from Randsburg
and forty-five to seventy miles from Bal
larat. They extend over a territory more
than twenty-five miles long and fifteen
miles wide. No water can be found in the
vicinity of the nitre. Furnace creek. thirty
five miles distant, being the nearest point
to the nitre beds at which water can be
obtained. Shafts have been sunk In the
nitre beds from five to forty-five feet with
out encountering any moisture. These
].
According to those who understand the
situation, there will be a stampede to Death
Valley during the coming winter, and the
excitement will be as great as that which
followed oil and gold discoveries. Certain
ly the preparations which are being made
warrant the belief that a boom is approach
ing for the Death Valley region, and the
nitre fever may become national. AS great
outlays of cash are required to send out
exploring parties, Ii is likely that the poor
mans chances will dwindle as the rush
grows stronger.
Besides these parties, many individuals
have started for the Death Valley to stake
out claims for themselves. Hundreds of
miners are leaving their camps at Daggett.
Berate, Randsburg and Mojave for the re-
gion of death and mystery, which to them,
with information as to its perils, seems to
hold no terrors for them. For some time
more than 400 men were waiting at last
accounts. at Ballarat for advance pros
pectors who were to return and report what
portion of the terrible desert was the best
on earth to make their rush.
The nitre deposits are reported by the
discoverers in such a way to lead the
prospectors to believe that great individual
fortunes can be made at once from the
fields, which, Ii seems certain, far surpasS
those of Chile. which is practically now the
only source for the supply of the entire
western hemisphere. AS yet, Of course, the
real range of the California deposits Is not
definitely known, but many square miles
have been examined
Calculating from data furnished by Pro-
that millions and millions of dollars worth
OF nitre are in plain sight, ready to be
picked up. This means that in the Death
Valley there are undoubtedly vast deposits,
worth millions of dollars.
Those who have so far made claims to
the nitre beds are poor men. "Borax
King Smith, Lord Humphreys and Mr.
Singleton. millionaire. are the capital
lists who have taken the greatest interest
in the discovery, but they have not vet
made. claims. Nearly 100 men have been
Smith and Lord Humphreys. The expense
attached to their operations now is in the
neighborhood of $780,
Professor Bailey accounts for the fact
that while the existence of nitre in the low
rolling hills along the Armagosa river has
been an open secret, at least in California.
for perhaps twenty years. very little i'm
pOrtance was attached 10 the first discover
les. and they were allowed to lapse
One reason that the beds have lain neg
lected is that very little intelligent pros
pecting was done. Immense hills were
sampled in the most superficial way as
explorations in this weird desert neces-
sarily very expensive. and the explorers
Were handicapped by the lack of capital
Difficulty in obtaining accurate analyses
was another drawback If the clews OBJ
tained from the numerous analyses had
been followed up these beds would have
been worked long ago.
There is a commercial Importance i'm the
similarity which Professor Bailey has
found to exist between the nitre deposits
serts that they are found in both coun-
tries under conditions strikingly similar.
The nitre beds of Chile vary in breadth.
the average being 5000 feet, and they also
vary In thickness.
In California the beds run from 500 feet
in depth to more than two miles in width,
and from three to six miles in length The
nitre of both countries was formed under
the same geological conditions and on the
same huge scale In both countries the
nitre is peculiar and unique product OF
their great desert regions.
The chance for great profits in California
nitre is found in the export duty of Chile
Nitre enters this country free. but the ex-
port duties in Chile in the period from 1875
to 1892 amounted to S15s. $50 66f. and the total
value OF the exports between and inclusive
of those dates is given at $685.. .1S2, ,599
Professor Bailey says that the size of the
hills of nitre varies from fifty feet high and
covering two or three acres to those 800
feet or more in height and covering nearly
section OF land. In some hooks and cor
ners the rounded appearance of the nitre
beds has been broken into ridges and fur.
rows. or even into castella ted and pima cled
forms that remind one of the ruined
| cities OF the bad lands of the Dakotas.