The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1907-12-12
Americas . Supply.
by w. FRANK McCLURE.

ut bItdteT part OF Amcflcao san
supply comes from New York State,
which furnishes forty per cent. OF the
total production OF the United States
Michigan comes second with twenty
five per cent and Ohio, Kansas and
Pennsylvania are next in line. Our
States in the aggregate produce near.
ly a quarter OF the worlds supply
and this is saying good deal. for
salt exists in practically every coun.
try In the world. The total output
of the United States annually Is close
to 30,000,0 900 barrels.
Originally salt was obtained by the
evaporating OF sea water. In some
OF the newly discovered beds of Lou
isiana It is easily extracted from
mounds by mining operations. In
the Eastern and Middle States Il Is
often necessary to go down into the
earth 1000 feet before the great beds
are reached. Some of these beds un.
derlie our great cities and cover miles
OF territory.
The diameter of salt we'll is about
q. half foot. Into its depts reach two
pipes. Water is forced down one OF
these pipes and comes up In the par
allel one. On reaching the bottom
of the we'll the water mixes with the
salt, and on its return journey carries
a supply of brine TO the surface,
which is Immediately transferred to
vats called vacuum pans" These
pans are cone shaped at the top and
bottom and of wide circumference IN
the middle. The vacuum is. of course.
formed by pumping out the air. Heat
is furnished within by a system of
steam pipes. At the right tempera-
ture the brine Will boil and evapor-
: ize.
Within the vacuum pan, the brine
circulates freely, and after the con-
centration takes place the finer salt
falls into the buckets OF an endless
belt, upon which 1t is carried up and
over a wheel which is in little room
on the roof of the factory. At this
point salt resembles slushy snow
AS the buckets on the belt pass
over this wheel. they discharge this
slushy looking salt into a chute,
through which 1t is conducted into
bins. Then, when a goodly portion
of the moisture has drained off, a
very wide belt conveys the product to
big cylinders, which are known as
dryers" AS these revolve, and the
salt is thrown about within them, it
is simultaneously subjected to contin-
uous blasts Of hot air. The cylinders
are on an incline, which enables the
salt to deliver itself at one end as
fast as 1t becomes sufficiently dry, af-
ter which it goes to the storehouse
Still another plan provides for
bringing the brine from the wells into
a vat 20x70 feet long and five feet
high. Heat is furnished by steam
pipes submerged within. The salt, in
accordance with this process. comes
to the surface in crystals, which later
divide themselves into smaller parti-
cles and settle to the bottom. A pad
die passing over the bottom draws
them off at one end ready for the
other operations. This is known as
the "graining pan process"
The packing of salt into sacks and
barrels employs many men. Barrels
are filled in great warehouses. where
the piles Of salt often aggregate 40.-
900 to $4,000 tons. The small sacks
of fine table salt are filed automati-
cally, twenty-four at time. These
sacks are first sewed up, very small
opening being left at one corner.
Each sack is fitted over one of the
twenty-four small projections of the
filling machine. AS fast as sack Is
filled, 1t drops into trough. The
sole work of the operator. who is
usually woman, is to put new sacks
In place and stack the filled ones in a
nearby cart.-From the American In
ventor.