Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-10-24

| With ;Ec rope h&ulaGe, connects these
small anG numerous islands. as they
| were. with the mainland. So rapid l.
the foM u the liquid asphalt, which
| amounts 10 ten million tons annually
into tho lake. that the entire body, Of
surface is constantly moving, thu:
| neceSSitating . continual relaylnS oI
| the tracks ana surveyed pegs. So cNl-
| dent is this movement ana SO peculiar
| is This substance than an excavation
worked one day completely disappears
| in two or three days.
As to its dcRfh, it might be added
| that at the springs or centre 81 me
!,kc sJun:tin2S have been made 70 a
| depth Of l5o feet without finding bot
tom The asphalt deposits, however,
extend only to a depth Of about ninety
feet in TIE centre and eithteen ret
along The edges OF the shores. The en-
tir mass is supposed to be supported
by a body of water
After the freshly eXcavated asphalt
Is loaded on cars and conveyed I" III"
shore, where the tups, with a capacity
Of one thousand pounds each, are lifted
ny hydraulic power to the aerial tram
,yay. whence it is rapidly conveyed 70
the pier some four thousand feet Gus
lunt, ana dumped directly into the
holds Of the vessels.
As over Is per cent Of its bulk is
water, its Sollhity can readily b" m
agineu V hen the pressure upon itself,
The heat :;nI The motion of the boat
eliminate this volume of water as well
as gas becoming agglomerated int"
solid mass on It's voyage, it has TO hc
again broken up by picks in order t.
be removed from The vessel. Upon its
arrival lit The factory it is heated until
I'll" water is expelled and the earthN
material east to the bottom Of the
large watts 1t is then poured through
a sieve into barrels, where it solidiIles.
The ordinary Trinidad asphaitmn
Davns mixture is made by adding ard
tmoughiy mixing with hot asphalt
about l. ner cent. of its weight of res
lduum oil the mixture serving to ce-
nrnt together the sand and powdered
limestone which enter into the paving
mixture The proportions Of the n3fe-
dientS vary according to their phySlcal
and chemical quality, rs Well as TO the
climates IN which the pavement IS to
be used. hot climates requiring less
cement than cold.
As to the asphalt deposits of South
America, just what causes thes" hot
springs of asphalt is still unknown. the
great philosopher, Millet contellHlnS
that it is due to the decomposition Of
a, foundations of vegetation, winnie
Daubrir holds forth the theory that III
origin j. formed in a like manner 70
that of coal. 1t is found in deposits
varying from q mere bubble TO
severance tract all through Venezuela.
the earth often being So saturated with
it as 10 appear mingled With the SOIL
and rocks. Both the Pitch Lake OF
Trinidad and the Bermudez Lake. IN
Venezuela. continually overflow their
banks. thus casting large amn
into the rivers and the sea.
Who Mas the first man to introduce
this natural re. source into the CONNER
cidi world il not certain. but The credit
is laid al The door Of one Nj. Merriam. q
Swiss engineer. who laid a portion of
the road from TraVers to Poitaiitr i'll
1919 with this smooth material. The
first pavement, however. was not laid
until 1884, when Il small section Of Il
street in Paris was paved.