New-York tribune., 1909-09-25
STEAM SULPHUR MINING
Undue Method Used in Taking Mineral
from Swamp.

the heart aud sou! of one of the most import1n;
Industries in the United states Tie chief sui
phur field of the New World.
The land is fat and vet. the foliage bears the
discouraged appearance Of that part of TN,
cOuntry. Where there cIumps OF trees ana
ranges o. tired looking forests. they bear
strearuers OF ft.nereal moss that makes one
think of death and the end Of all things h-.-l1n.
A. a matter Of fact the intense human industry
of the district Is diametric..Iiy opposed to the
aspect OF nature. for out of those sodden low
lands moro wealth is produced than could pos
sibIy result from intensive cultivation Of the
garden SPOT cf tile world
AgricuItur.tIIy the land Of Calcasieu Parish
is dey oted in large measure To the cultivation
Of rice. and il there is anythinS drearier aad
more depressing To the general ran of ukind
than q rice field Il surely would be hard L. decide
just what f. rs. Here and there among the Iov
standing trees there are pipes sticking out "f
tins earth. These pipes the traces of ell
pro- pcytiug .a the district, and ii the foreman
Of thc Union Sulphur Company. who accom-
r.,nies unc a trip of inspection through the
fields cares 20 open tine upright faucet az tho
top of one of these pipes. the oil. black ami
rich looking. Will leap into the air in Hood
There are numerous plugged oil prospects &c
this character on the property OF the Union
Sulphur Company at sulphur. CaiCasieu Parisa.
La. but they not operated for their oil pro-
duction hy the company.
1t i something vastly mere important than
few hundred barrels OF oil a day that the corl-
pany IL after The sulphur mining field looks
a. httle Ikc "a mine as anything Imaginable. Ii
lies under the rice fields and cCrie seeming for
ests. There are hills nor hedges ont
cropE ing rocks nor guiches nor anything else
that would remind a real miner of any Of tire
typical scenes about a mining camp, But nev-
crthels>> the mine is there. and it is a trenien-
dnus producer.
Deep in the earth underlying the surface
strata ~ Oil and swamp gas that cause the
capped wells TO spout spasmodicairy. is a vast
blanket of sulphur. practically fNO Per cent
pure. Its presence was discovered many years
ago In boring for oil throughout 4 de stretch
of territory in Calcasieu Parish. but il lay
below se. level in q country where the surface
and subson saturated with swamp water
and where such . thing as natural drainage WAS
unhrard Of the engineering problems involved
IN mining the deposit by shafts and tunnels and
drifts were complex that they iutcrposcd u
barrier that proved too great for the sulphur
men of that day 10 surmouut
Aside from that difficulty. mining BY cstab-
iishcd methods was far too costly 10 attemp,
And So for year after year the great virgin
nanufactorieS in the United States that REQUIRED
sulphur in their operations were Obliged To i'm
port the mineral from Sicily or other foreign
countries 1t great cost.
Then came the brilliant idea that laid the
great deposit of sulphur in Louisiana at the feet
OF the American manufacturers. IL was found
that while the scepIng waters OF the swamp
proved too much for mining by shaft and drift
they would not prevent the sinking of wells
slightly larger than the borings for oil. These
holes were cased with iron pipes as soon as a
penetration Of the sulphur deposit had been
recorded TO certain depth. the drills we've with
drawn and the pipe left clear. extending from
the surface into the clear sulphur
II would be manifestly impossible for the com,
paty 10 lower man through the pipe 20 choD
OUT sulphur far in the depths OF the earth. he
cause such proceeding would mean COSTLY
holSths machinery and costly labor so the
matter was solved in quite a different way. IL
was found that u jet of superheated steam sent
uo"h INTO the well and continued for few min
u'eS AT temperature we'll over 400 degrees
Wou'u melt the mineral sulphur like WAX When
'hS steam under pressure was continued for
several Eours. all the sulphur within a radius
oi many feet would be reduced to liquid form.
Then suction pump of great force would be
attached to smaller pipe let down through
the casing. and. at signal from the engineer
IN charge. the energy of the steam would be
inverted TO the pumping machinery A few
suokeS OF the engine. and AT the vent of the
pipe appeared thick yellow stream of molten
sulphur. This stream so directed as to flow
into pit that had been prepared for it, As
long as The pump continued to suck up the sui
phur this process continued. and when the
molten supply had been exhausted more steam
was applied 20 the same hole or the DumD was