The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-12-22
The Biting Wind.

Freeze, freeze. thou bitter sky!
Thou dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot.
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
AS friends remembering not
The Coarser Mills.
Less singing in a spiritual sense. the
air and its Vapors are nevertheless inc
usOst effective though the least noticed
of the physical agencies thaI wear,
grind and eat the rock, mix the product
and so prepare the earth for human
habitation.
All are aware, in some degree, of the
work done by natures rougher and
larger instruments for soil making-the
visible means by which the rock ma
terials are shattered, blasted Spit
anart. worn away. then shifted, mixed
and sifted-the snow, the ice, the frost,
the rain. the river and the sea. VINO
is there that does not know something
of the processes by which the rocky
crust of the earth, and, most notlceaoly
the rock of the mountain ranges Is
broken up and ground into SOL. Inese
welI-known operations are impressive.
often spectacular; but they do not COM
mare in importance with the work ac-
conplished by other noiseless, 1nVlsl-
HE workers that act everywhere, daS
and night. throughout the whole year
New facts are continually emphaslLIls
the amount and significance or results
achieved by natures unseen ana silent
Iahorers tha foremost among which are
certain gases in air and water.
The Harmless Dry Air.
- =. ...Is cams innocent and
harmless. II is composed of two gases,
one of which. nitrogen, is inert and not
at all disposed TO do anything The
other. oxygen. is lively enough under
certain conditions. Oxygen causes
many other substances to burn. produc-
ing fame and intense heat. Its active
combination with carbon in any form
wood. coal. oils. fats, sugar, starch
in rapid union with which, the oxygen
consumes them In f1ame-produces car
bon dioxid chiefly, which escapes into
the atmosphere and so forms small
part of the ordinary air. This is one OF
the facts to be borne in mind while
studying the action of air upon the soliC
rock. Common air, especially when dry
has it's tremendous energies securely
locked I'D. In spite of the fact that i
contains enough go per cent? of tina
incouceivably powerful agent, oxygen
10 consume the whole globe In one vas
confederation should 1T once ignite ye
this awful power is nicely counteracteC
and held in check by a mere mixture,
simple dilution, with inert nitrogen A
a result, 1t refuses to SINCE the gossa
rner wing of the tintest insect or Z
harm a hair of the slumberlng cnilo
Here in the west we often perceive nov
harmless the air Is when dry. Oh
sdohe structures, Aztec remains, Indial
and prehistoric relics have been pre-
SERVED without substantial DETACHMENT
an some cases for untold centuries, al
because the dry air does not readlI.
corrode them.
Finds its Teeth.
Rut once give to the air certain
amount of moisture 0t always contain
some water), and II has acquired II
teeth. 1t can now gnaW INTO any M u, l. :
,,ot excepting the hardest rock, Whll
+he softer kinds speedily give way un
der IFS hungry biting. The more mois
tura the air has, the more OF the roc
suhs+ance IL consumes. witness IN
lid changes upon the tombstones !
,Doist climates, as compared Win III
MIA rnished and uneaten surfaces {
~ memorials in our own cemeteIle'
~. n-han carbon dioxid is added 10 IN
,,,oisture the teeth OF the atihosphei
ars greatly sharpened- II TINS gas
continuously supplied, the teeul ID
kant whetted, so TO SPEAK anu We - &c,
not find a rock so hard tidt II 10 ~
nc IN resist their silent out cohllh.
80 -.,,,,jDg As the rain falls, IL al
aorhs air and so gets hlled WIN OK
.,en the active agent OF FIRE, OF deca'
oS rusting-au these processes beli
forY,as of oxidation.
Action of Oxygen.
The atmospheric gases most actlNe
consuming rock are oxygen ana carpo
dtoxtd. The former attacks IRON an
tber rnetaIliferous ores found In mo-
- the rock formations. We may OF
serve this process in the rapid rustin
81 bright. metallic tools. that have bee
exnosed to the rain. 1t is not usuaI
tbe rain that cOrrodes the metals, Oh
~ oxygen, which acts more freely
~ presence Of water. The oxyge
ats into the metal, combining with
10 form a compound called an oxi
end leaving the metal rough, corrodt
and more readily open to the destru
tive action of coarser mechanical ageI
cies The rocks that contain iron al
chiefly the states, sandstones. granite
ord hasalts. In perfectly dry air ne
ther class is attacked: but air is new
rArfectlv dry, and water in its natur
state always contains some oxyge
The Joints of basaltic rock absorb II
moisture. The free oxygen lays no
of any iron It meets, causing reddlsi
brown patches to appear in the vel
eanter of what seem TO be hard and in
nervious stones. This rust is soc
washed out, so that the freezing wat'