The daily Alaskan., 1922-08-26
EARTHs HOTTEST SPOT
 IN THIS COUNTRY

q hottest spot on earth is? Death Valley" That is right! There Is no other place on the globe, outside of l active volcanoes etc., which Is able to register over 100 degrees in the shade year in and year out. But Death Valley Is interesting outside of being just a place in which to sig gle. It supplies the world with bor. ax-th0t valuable friend of the housewife and aid to industry.
 Death Valley is a narrow, arid. sunken plain between the Pauamint and Funeral mountains in Califor- mia. It is about 12 miles wide and l5O miles long. It Is traversed by the .Amargosa river, now dry chan mel, though probably once full of wa ter. The level of the valley Is cov- cred with salt, supposed to have been brought by torrents from the sur rounding country and left on eYapor-
 atiOu of the water. Death Valley is not only considered to be the hottest place, but is also recognized as the dryest It was so named because party of immigrants lost their lives there from heat and thirst in 1849.
 A maximum temperature of l60 deg F. has been registered. In sum-
 mer 40 degrees is common and at midnight the mercury hoYers at 120. It is so hot in August that @ piece Of rock will .scorch the hand like live
 coal. Yet from this inhospitsble re- zion men have wrested vast fortunes.
 The two principal borax mines are said to he capable of supplying the world indefinitely. Until a railroad bridged the arid wastes the hauling had to be done by mules over l65 miles of the toughest country That Is the reason why one of the greatj boraX firms adopted for It's trade
 mark: "2O-mule-team borax" De- posits of borax were discovered in the deserts of California and Nevada as far back as 1856 but no move was made todeveloD Death Valley un- til 1880.
 Water was to be had from Fur mace creek and the men habituRlly slept in it. Few of them stood the
 heat more than a month or two; 1t either drove them crazy or brought on nervous trouble A writing desk brought from the outside world is 1 known to have split and Crumbled away Meat killed at night and cooked right away was spoiled by the next morning. A handkerchief dip- ped in water and held up to the sun dried in one and One-half seconds. The animals, too, lasted but short . time, The bOrGx was hauled byi teams of Is to 20 mules in the larg- est wagons ever made-costing about 5000 each, fabulous sum in those days. Bllnding white dust hurt the mems eyes,.
 Tractors later displaced the mules. When the steam vehicles first made their appearance the Piute Indians called them fire devils" and would not venture near. All .eight-mlle stretch of road had to be buiIt over solid reach of salt. It is satd that the tractors could raise steam with out fire, simply by heat of the sun. Now, however, the Death Valley rail- road-a British enterprise-Dut the mines in rail communication with the outside world. It stretches for 20 miles and spans great openings with trestle work. An old auto equipped with langed wheels akesv.sdaily trips for mail. Occasionally the ma chine is blown from the rails by ter rife gales of hot wind.
 The Death Valley mines produce about 3,OOO,OOO pounds of borax al year. Uses to which it is put contin- ually increase. Besides being used l for ordinary kitchen and scrubbing | work. it is employed to make enamal
 coatings for wire and steel ware. It also finds application in the glass h. dustry, it is a convenient water soft-l ] ener and is often found in starches
 designed to give a high gloss.