The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1917-07-20
A GREAT INDUSTRY.

salts taken lIoiii lho i"ho hO"i OAo'hh
srom which the chief supply has beel
drawn during the past two years ant
which is practically tied up by litiga
lion Messrs. Stewart Calvert own ,
similar salts lake, in area some thre,
times as large as the Oroville lake
situated in British Columbia, some /.
miles north of town. The contents O.
This large lake are not always acces
sble for extraction. owing to climatic
conditions If a season is unusually
wet and cold water remains on the sur,
face opthe lake and the salts are MOI
available. No salts could be removed
from this lake last year, owing to the
excess of water, but a considerable
mantity was hauled down the year be.
fore This season the conditions are
exceedingly favorable. Between the
drouth and extreme hot weather the
water of the lake has evaporated, leav-
Ing a vast surface deposit of pure salts
that can be easily removed. This de.
posit is now being extracted by large
. force of men on the ground and hauled
10 the plant at this place, where it is
screened and classified. Already local
auto trucks have been on the run for
week or more, delivering salts at the
plant. and it is the intention to put
on eight or ten of these huge motor ve-
hcles, operating day and night. 1t is
believed that four round trips can be
made between the lake and the plant
during the twenty-four hours. Some, if
not all, of the trucks will carry trail
ers, thus increasing very materially
the amount of salts that can be deliv-
cred by this process of transportation
every twenty-four hours, which is
some salts when you come to think of
It, and the wonder is that such vast
amount can be absorbed through the
channels of commerce. Messrs. Stew
art and Calvert expect to handle 5000
tons of salts while the surface of the
lake is workable, all of which is ship
ped east, and it may be added in pass
ing that there is market for all they
can produce.
When the firm first commenced haul
ing salts across the line a duty was
demanded and paid under protest. The
matter was taken up with the govern
ment authorities at Washington, anf
as result recently the firm received a
considerable sum from the government
as a rebate, as under the tariff law
there s no duty on this class of salts.
This industry built up by Messrs.
Stewart and Calvert is one of vast i'm
portance. although little has been said
about it in public print in recent
months. Everybody was aware of the
fact that the plant was in operation,
that heavy shipments of the product
were being made with regularity, and
that quite number of men were en-
ployed, but it was a private concern,
seeking no publicity, and hence receiv-
ed only such notice as is given to
other old, established enterprises
when something out of the usual trans
pred At the time of the transfer of
the property to the Stewart-Calvert
company, and the subsequent improve
ments made, the Gazette published
full particulars of the singular salts
deposits, the improvements inaugural
ed by the company, and the fact that
large quantities of the salts were be-
ing steadily shipped to the markets of
the east. From time to time mention
has been made of the legal complica-
lions that have grown out of the deal,
since operations commenced, without
comment, as the issues are pending
IN court, and are of special interest to
none but those directly interested in
the cases. The rights and wrongs of
tne controversy are not public prop
erty, and for that matter it is sOmeth-
ing the public has nothing to do with.
only it is known and appreciated by
one and all that the Stewart-Calvert
company took hold of a dormant prop
Dsition that had lain dormant from the
lime of the first discovery of the de-
posit, spent much money in prelimin-
ary work, and it is taken for granted
mat the company has profited by the
'estment, otherwise the members
would have thrown up their hands and
luit long ago.
The salts lakes remained natural
valueless to all concerned
Is locators, Notwithstanding the extent
and purity of the deposits, because
me European product could be placed
IN the eastern markets at price that
barred competition from this distance,
"here so long haul at an al
most prohibitive freight rate ate
Up all the profit. The war cut off the
european supply, and the price of salts
scared upward with every every other
commodity that formerly was import
"a In quantities. from across the wa
er' The increased price invited in
'estment in the local deposits. Stewart
calvert proved to be the investors
and they inaugurated an industry that
spread the name of Oroville all over
NE east and provided a pay roll where
no pay roll existed before, that has
oeen the agency OF distributing much
money through the channels of loca
BUSINESS. The supply of salts to all ap'
pearances is inexhaustible, and the
otewart-Calvert company will continue
ts production in marketable snaps sc
'ohg as the price justifies the contin
lation of the work Mr.. Calvert states
mat the company has sufficient sup
ply In the British Columbia lake tt
keep the plant in operation indefinitely
even If not another ton is extracted
from the lake near at hand. There IL
satisfaction to the genera
public in this announcement, as i
means the continuation of a very i'm
portant enterprise for a long time.