The Washington herald., 1919-03-03
POTASH
IN CONNECTICUT
Holland Says Government
Is Testing Story Of De-
posts at Cheshire.

of chain which Is used in deep drill
ing for oil. He was able to obtain
the chain but the wellers were curl
Gus, not knowing what purpose a man
in Connecticut. not associated with
the artesian well business, had In
mind when he bought an expensive
chain of peculiar construction a thou
sand feet In length. The purchaser
was willing to explain In part. He
said that he represented persons who
were drilling In the town Of Creshire
which Is about ten miles north OF
New Haven.
The drill had reached the depth OF
4 thousand feet when II broke and
no ingenuity could devise a plan by
which IL could be withdrawn. There
fore 1t was necessary to begin drill
ing in a new place nearby the one
where the accident occurred. He would
say no more than this nor was 1t
possible to find any explanation for
the drilling to a great depth in a
town where, excepting for copper and
pyrites there had been no important
mineral resources and certainly no
oil.
Copper Resources Large.
Cheshire has produced considerable
copper. 1t was one of the few sources
of the copper supply for the colonfc~
and for the United States in the early
years OF the government. The other
source of supply was in the town OF
CRANKY, some forty miles north. IN
evitably the enormous development or
copper in the Michigan district ana
in the Far West made the Cheshire
mines of no special avail although
they were for a time worked. They
are certainly not drilling for copper
there.
Why are men investing money In
expensive drilling operations In
Connecticut town where no one had
suspected than any mineral resource
other than copper and that in small
amount and pyrites exist. At last
was learned which JUSTIFIED
a surmise that the government at
Washington may be furnishing aid to
those who suspect that II they can get
deep enough they can find either pot
ash deposits or fespar in such large
amounts as to make 1t available for
use in abstractins the potash. about
10 per cent, which 10 known to exist
in It.
The incident is of interest. and OF
some Importance. in fact, especially
II II be true that the government
Is encouraging this prospecting in
Connecticut for potash, because 1t
demonstrates how extensively and
how widely the search for potash
resources In the United States is now
being carried on.
Informal reports have come from
intlmating that the gov
ernment authorities have recently
become much encouraged over the
possibility of speedy high develop
ment of the various kinds of potash
resources which the United States
Is known to contain. The govern
ment has been assisting, informally.
at least, those who are undertak-
ing to extract potash which is con-
tained in that sea plant5 known as
kelp which is found in such aoun-
dance of the coast of California. 1t
be of especial advantage if
science, industry and capital should
be so combined as to make this one
of the most important of our potash
resources because kelp is rapidly re-
produced.
The more Of the kelp weed that Is
taken, the more new growth comes up
So also some of the lakes of the Far
West or the dry beds Of what former
ly were lakes are found to yield pot
ash in considerable quantities. and
science is understood to have discoy-
cred how TO extract to commercial ad-
vantage the potash that is contained
in the great alunite mountain in Utah.
The government has encouraged the
study of felspar. for that is known to
contain on the average of 10 per cent
Of potash. Hitherto the distance OF
the larger felspar deposits from trans
portation and the cost of extracting
potash have not made this resource
Of considerable commercial utility.
The determination of the government
and the willingness of capital to un-
dertake the development to the hlsh-
est point possible of our potash re-
sources leads to the hope that in the
course Of time the United states may
be independent so far as her need OF
potash Is concerned. Our resources OF
this kind would have remained idle
had it not been for the war, exactly
as has been the case with the dye
industry. Presumably the government
IL in one way or another aiding those
who are drilling in Cheshire. Tor IL
seems to be inconceivable that private
capital would make the needed invest
ment in an experiment which might
or might not be successful.
unanimous Coal Resources.
There appears to be no danger OF
the exhaustion of our bituminous coal
resources. even though some or tne
experts have ventured to predict that
AZ the present rate of consumption Oh
anthracite coal our supply will be eS-
hausted in about fifty years. occa-
sionally somewhat vague estimates
have been made by some who are
deemed experts Of the life of our re-
sources in bituminous coal, some haV-
ing put that life at little over a CEN
tury and some at, perhaps two CEN
turies.
There Is no better authority, not
merely as an expert, but also as a
man of great practical experience as a
producer of bituminous coal, than h
B. Simpson. who is president OF the
West Virginia Coal Company. Mr..
Simpson says that up to a recent time
Il was estimated that less than l per
cent of the total bituninous coal area
in this country had been exhausted
the great develop
mentof bituminous coal mining in
West Virginia, and the recent large
in the Clinchfield district
that State alone could supply the coal
of this country as they
now are for 100 years. That estimate.
Mr.. Simpson says, is that in West Vir-
ginia there are now more than 6o.0o0,-
COO, 900 tons of bituminous coal. In all
enough bituminous coal lies
beneath the soil throughout the United