Evening star., 1919-08-31
FIFTY YEARS AGO IN THE STAR

f, agricultural and manufacturing sec
tion. This discovery is told OF in The
| Star of August 25. 1863:
I'm boring for oil in Michigan somt
! of the operators have struck orine
| instead of petroleum. and one OF the
results is the establishment OF a new
and profitable business in that state.
They are now sinking salt wells az
various places. AT Alpena. after driil-
| ing to the depth of LILO feet. thev
reached a great salt basin that seems
| to underlie the whole of the lower
! peninsula Of Michigan, and at a depth
of 1125 feet tthe depth they have
now reached) the brine is SO per cent
and continues 10 grow stronger as
| they advance. At the depth of 600
| feet a fountain of beautiful mineral
| water. equal in some respects to the
Saratoga waters. was opened. which
continues to flow over the top of the
| well at "A powerful rate The salt pro
duced from the brine is very white
| and pure and evidently quite free OF
all impurities. -Four more wells viii
| be started this fall and winter. Salt
| is also being manufactured to some
extent at Goderich, Ont. Here, too.
| the discovery of brine was acci-
dental and was made while boring
| for oil. The wells. which were eight
in number, average from iooo to
| feet into rock san The brine is per
| fectly clear and coloriess and no
| traces of peroxide ,ot iron is found.
The subject of the removal of the
capital from Washington proved a
boon during the
Capital Removal summer ,of 1859.
where the-e was
Becomes a Joke. -
lively little happening in polhics
and the news from Europe had fallen
into small measure. In The Star on
August 2s. 1869, the matter is thus
surveyed:
Some of the papers that at first
| fell into the movement for the re
moval of the capital are withcrawins
which has furnished most of the data
used by those favoring removal. now
! says that the call for a conVention
| in St. Louis to consider the question
of the removal OF the capitsl TO ina
city is not meeting with the unam-
nous response so desirable as an
aueur of success.
/ "The Gazette, which at one time
seemed to think that the proper place
| for the capital would be in Ohio. has
now come to the conclusion that IT is
! idle to talk about fixing a central
point for the capital when our coun-
| try is in a formation state ana our
center is nowhere-maybe in Santa
| Fe if we annex territory south, or
( Detroit if We take in the Canadas-
and that the time. If ever. for fixing
| the site of the new capital should he
| when our national. boundaries have
been settled with some precision ana
our populate has ceased to be mi
gratory.
| .aThe present proposition for the re-
! t,l uv ~
| a kiting sensation started by the Chi
cago Tribune. in the absence OF any
| big divorce case or other local excite
ment The St. Louis papers at hrst
! fought shy of it as piece of Chicago
banter. but. the spectators there bit
eagerly and the Tribune. with its
tongue in its cheek, worked the thing
up as industriously and with as keen
a relish for the fun OF the pother II
! was creating as ever the New york
! Herald did in calling out a brand-new
candidate for the Presidency. The
convention started i'm this way will
| probably be an abortion. but that VIII
/ not indicate the death of the project
! 1t will be brought up again in some
more deliberate form, quite certainly.
and pressed with vigor. But wash
| ington in the meantime has the op-
! portunity afforded to put its best foot
| forward. 1t is significant fact that
| the press of the country. whether Ia
voring or disappearing the project OF
removal, have taken occasion to berate
Washington. Unanimously they set
down Washington as a most unattracs
tive and infelicitous place for the
/ seat of government. to be Endorsed or
| tolerated only on account of the cost
of removal and the difficulty of fixing
upon the proper site elsewhere. 1t
| remains now for our citizens to put
| this argument for removal out of the
hands of our opponents as speedily as
possible-at once. indeed. The mud
and dust of Washington must be put
under by paving on comprehensive
| scale; the canal must be cleaned at
once, without regard to conflicting
plans for it's permanent improvement;
| the miserable market sheds on Penn
| sylvania avenue must cease to be an
| eyesore there, even if we have no
| center market: the nuisance of hogs
/, running at large in our streets, which
| causes such astonishment to stran-
gers. must be abated. An effort in
earnest must be made to improve our
Communications with the country in
every direction to cheaper market
| supplies These are some of the things
| that must be done at once. Other
needed work suggests itself. but this
is imperative. Shall we set about it.
or wait. as heretofore. to see what
Congress will do for us'?''