El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-11-21

more or less uncommon in southwest
ern New Mexico.
that is operating a similar deposit
near Uvalde The one at Pilot hnogI
however, has never been worked
Our laboratory has recently tes tSu
rock from a large limestone deposit
situated near Austin, and within one
half mile Of a railroad. we 1ound II
has a strength almost equal to grahile
and that it is a splendid material LOT
road building"
Dr.. Phillips does not have any IalLn
in the recent reports of the discovery
OF a large deposit Of nitrate of potash
which is said to have been made by
James IafareIle in Brewster county,
about 100 miles south of Alpine
Il made an investigation of this al
legged nitrate of soda deposit several
weeks ago." he said. 1T exists there
in small quantities but there is NOT
enough of it to make 1t commercial
proposition. The spot where II Is
found was evidently one time the ste
of an indian camp, or maybe OF the
people Of some prehistoric race Near
by is a waterhole,' and I found plenty
of evidence that it was an old camping
ground.
Nitrate Of potash is formed from
human excrement and for that reason
it is almost hopeless to expect that the
substance will ever be found in pay
ing quantities in any one spot in Tex
as. That which I gathered in Brewster
county is of wonderful purity and II
there Wes enough of it, it would be
very valuable, as it sells for Is cents
per pound retail.
In a shelving cave on Devils river,
in western Texas, some nitrate of pot
ash was found several years ago. The
cave had been used as a camping spot
of indians for probably hundreds OF
years and a debris several feet thick
had accumulated upon the rock floor.
This debris was thoroughly explored
for the valuable substance, but not
enough was found to be worth talking
about In the debris were brought to
light bushels Of indian arrOwheads,
ancient pieces of pottery and other rel
les OF bygone age"
Rain Spells Nitrate of Soda.
DR.. Phillips says it is surprising the
number of ordinarily well informed
people who do not know the difference
between nitrate Of potash and nitrate
Of soda Nitrate of soda is so dissolu-
bic that it cannot exist where there is
even a minimum amount of rainfall
The only trace of the substance that
has ever been found in Texas is located
near Candeleria, in Preside county. In
a dry spot there little seams of it may
be seen in the rock. The worlds sup
ply Of nitrate of soda comes from a
desert region in Chill where it never
rains 1t is used for fertilizing, in the
manufacture of sulphuric acid and as
the basis of other soda salts.
While there are known to be ura-
MUM ores. from which radium is OBJ
tanned in Texas, DR.. Phillips does not
hold out encouragement for the devei-
oDment of these properties. He says
own their own deposits of ores and that
there is no demand for outside ore of
that character.
Asbestos and Graphite Found.
There are some deposits of asbestos
and graphite in LlanO and Burnet coun-
ties,,' he said, but they have not been
developed at all and we don't know
anything about them"
The fact is very little known, even by
the people Of Texas, that there exists
in CulbersOn county, in the far west
ern part of the state, a deposit of sui
phur that contains many hundreds OF
thousands and probably millions of
1T IS estimated that this Culberson
county sulphur deposit contains 800, 600
tons of the product within 80 feet of
the surface" remarked DR.. Phillips,
but I am unable to say personally
whether that estimate is correct The
deepest test pit upon the deposit is Il
feet and it was still in sulphur
This sulphur deposit is situated about
Is miles from the railroad. 1t is To-
Gated partly upon state land and part
" upon private owned land. It is said
that it can be mined at much less cost
than the underground sulphur deposits
of Freeport, Texas, and Sulphur, La
where the steam and pumping process
has to be used.
Is Of High Grade.
The Culberson county sulphur is of
high grade and it is considered re-
markable that this possible source of
enormous wealth has been permitted to
lay idle for so long.
Several Years ago a small refining
plant was established upon the prop
erty and a shipment of the product
was made to st. Louis, but for some
reason that is not remembered at this
time development operations ceased
and were never resumed. DE-. Phillips
saws he has received recently a num-
Der Of inquiries from parties wanting
information in regard to the existence
of sulphur in this state and it is con-
sidered probable that something may
be done in the near future towards
utilizing the deposit IN Culberson
county.
The subterranean sulphur mines
at FreepOrt, Texas. will soon
have an output of about $780,
600 tons per annum, which added
to that of the mines at Sulphur
La, will bring the total annual produc-
ton of the product in the two states
up to approximately 700, 900 tons per
aJD1r1 The DrOduct is worth from S2O