The San Francisco call., 1906-04-16
More Than Thirty
Thousand Acres
in Review.
Powder Materials
Cover Surface
of Desert.
Move Will Be Pro-
ductive of Large
Results.

been the reliance of all armies and navies
for the material which forms the basis
of gunpowder. Already, as reported ex-
clusively in The Call. Senator Perkins
has called the attention of the army and
navy departments of the United States
to the inter deposits of California. the
Senator basing his representations on in
formation supplied by State Mineralogist
Aubury of California.
Niter being contraband of war IL fol-
lows that unless the United States pro-
vides inter in its own territory for its
own uses ii must. in time of war, either
secure the material at greatly enhanced
cost and under obstacles, or else aceumu-
late great supplies from Chile in time of
peace at the mercy of the trust which
now controls the Chilean output
Three great projects engage the atten-
tion of the Geological Survey in this
State. One is the investigation concern
ing detritus. which may lead to the
placing of the wash of streams and the
sickens from mining deposits in such
beneficial way that the entire State shall
reap great benefits. Another Is the in
vestigation that relates to irrigation and
also to reclamation. The one regarding
inter may have as vast consequences as
either of the other projects.
If the expectations of State Mineralogist
Aubry are fulfilled it will be demon
strated not only that California has
enough inter to supply the United States
for many years, but also possesses suffi-
eient to enable it to compete with Chile
for the trade of the world. The result
may be the building UP of a vast industry
that will benefit the State and especially
this commercial port, through which
inter will largely pass outward. Since
the publication of the exclusive story in
this paper about the inter investigation
many facts of great interest have been
collected, the great Importance of the
subject being manifest.
BEDS IN TWO COUNTIES.
: Nearly all the inter beds that have
been discovered in California are in the
northern part of San Bernardino County
and extend across the border into the
southerntpart of Inyo County. They are
found along the shore line of old beaches
that mark the boundary of Death Valley
as it was during. the Eocene times The
outlying beds are located along the beach
lines of dried up lakes, The nitrates in
this State are found in rounded knobs,
buttes and ridges, that range in height
from 30 to 500 feet. The resemblance
between the Californian and Chilean inter
fields are marked and numerous. They
are enumerated by the State Mining Bu-
reau as follows:
Both occur in the typical hot rainless des-
erts; both occur in beds where the inter is as
SOCldlcu Win gypsum. common Sdlt, glduDer
salt, sulphate OF magnesia. etc. both are found
on the margins of dried-up sea bottoms or the
residuum of evaporated oceans: the Chile beds
occur on the sides of ravineS and in the hoi-
lows OF The foothills and along the edge of the
foothills. and those in Death Valley are in ra-
vines in the holoWs of foothills and in the old
terraces that mark the former shore of a lake:
the deposits of inter in both countries are IN
terrupted by deposits of salt borax borate of
lime. soda, ETC.. the niter beds of Chile vary in
breadth, the average being 1900 feet and also
vary in thickness; in California the beds run
from 1900 feet TO more than two miles in width
and from three to more than six miles in
length
In both Chile and California the caliehe va
ries widely in depth. even in spots close to-
gether, running from a few inches to several
feet; in both countries spots found that
are very pure; in Chile the beds covered
with a crust called costra, that is very hard
which is composed of the debris of earthly mat
ters cemented together into cong glomerate
that contains sand, salt, gypsum and other sa-
lines; in California the beds have a costra of
sand. gypsum. etc, that is soft and friable; in
both lands there often layers OF boric acid
compounds; no inter strata are found below the
caliche in Chile but in California nitrates have
been found in more than of the alternating
strata OF the terraces; In brief, the inter of
both countries formed under the same geo.
logical conditions and on the same huge scale,
the chemistry of both is practically the same
and in both Chile and California the inter is
peculiar and unique product of the desert re-
gions
ESTIMATES OF QUANTITY.
Some interesting estimates are given by
the State Mining Bureau of the quanti-
ties of inter that may be found in the
discovered inter districts OF California:
The number of acres located in, the Owl
district" so it is reported, rs more than
600; Saratoga district more than 5000;
Upper Canyon 1000: Lower Canyon about
300; Round Mountain and Round Valley
more than 5000; Confidence 2500; Salt
Springs about 5000; Tecopah $500; Pilot,
Dandy. Needles and Volcano 30OO-a total
of about $1,000 acres. The minimum depth
of the surface inter is six inches. One
acre contains 1880 feet of ground and
this, at the depth of six inches, is equal
to q, ,7S0 cubic feet; this at 70 pounds per
cubic foot amounts to 1924, 600 pounds or
760 tons per acre, say $50 tons; 5000 acres,
allowing 500 acres to be rejected, at $50
tons amounts to more than 22,000, zoo TONS
"In some places the caliche is known
to be from three to five feet in depth and
the acreage of the coatings OF the high
hills is considerably more than If the
ground were level. Some of the strata
from three to ten or more feet In thick
ness, have been found to contain values
from 15 to more than 40 per cent Of
inter-
CHILE'S RICH HARVEST.
The annual imports of inter from Chile
to the United States amount in value to
more than 100000. The total inter ex-
ports of Chile amount to more than $780,
600 900 year. These figures indicate the
Importance that may be attached to the
coming investigation of the California
inter beds by the Geological Survey, If
the 5urmises of the State Mineralogist
concerning the extent of the California
inter deposits are verified. In addition
to the value of the inter Chile reaps large
profits from the processes through which
the niter passes and great sums are an
nually paid to the miners who take the
niter from the Chilean deserts. The ship
ping industry involved I'm the transpor-
tation OF inter to all parts of the world
is also a large consideration for Chile.
The largest nitrate works in the world
are known as the Of1icina Ramirez, which
have capacity of 200 tons a day. At
Antofagasta are works that rival the
Ramirez in size The length of time that