The Coolidge examiner., 1933-01-06
DEAD SEA SUPPLIES
LIFE~GIVING SALTS

y
ed In a workmanlike survey OF the
Dead sea and Its amazing proper
ties. This deepest hole in the world,
outside the ocean basins. Is the
subject of a bulletin from the Ma
tional Geographic society.
Sea Once Much Larger.
Before Behring straits separated
Alaska from Asia and before the
Straits of Dover marked Off Eng
land from France, the Dead sea was
four times its present length and
its level was that of the Mediter-
ranean." says the bulletin. "Most
of the salts from that larger sea
still remain In the smaller evapora-
ton pan now known as the Dead
sea. From pipes sunk l75 feet be-
low the surface of this natural con.
centrate compounded by sun and
wind, new chemical company Is
now pumping saline water. This
super-sea water, so dense that or
ganic life cannot exist In 1t. is
spread out into 500 acres Of arti-
fetal evaporation pans contained by
Eve miles of dikes. The savage sun
does most of the work. but 400
Arab and Jewish laborers are al
ready employed In mining the
precious salts from the sea.
-Four principal salts are being
extracted; muriate of potash. used
In the manufacture of fertilizer:
bromine, used In medicines, photog-
raphy and dye-making; chloride Of
magnesium. used In textile and ce-
ment manufacture. and common
salt, formerly a Turkish monopoly.
"From this sea In which nothing
can live, finer crops are to come.
Salts which failed to heal Herod's
illness will help In world healing.
Although the pillar of solid salt
which is pointed out as Lots wife
still rises on the slope of Jebel Us.
dunn, close by the Dead sea shore,
common salt. byproduct Of the
Palestine Potash company. sets up
a strong competition In the local
market
Five and a half miles of new
road link the seaside factory with
the well-paved road to Jericho.
made famous by the Good Samari-
tan; but the limiting factor In pres
ent operations is not the low price
of chemicals but the availability
of transportation. Diesel -engined
trucks now haul the chemicals out
of the worlds deepest land depres-
sion and up to the Judean plateau
At Jerusalem Il is loaded In trains
bound to Egypt. Jaffa or Haifa.
Depression Now Malaria-Free.
''In spite of the almost inexhaust-
ible supply of Dead sea salts, there
seems little chance of flooding the
market unless agricultural condi-
tions alter radically. The demand
! for potash has doubled every dec
ade In recent times. At present
100000 tons of muriate of potash
a year are produced. principally In
Germany and Alsace-Lorraine.
There Is gold In the Dead sea
water-as there is in the waters of
every sea-but no process for get
ting 1t out commercially has been
developed.
"For centuries the Ghor, as the
Arabs call the great depression of
the Dead sea. has been an unhealthy
locality. The local population-ex-
cepting the hordes of prewar pill
| grims and tourists who crowded
the Jericho road at Easter time
was confined TO few miserable
Arabs with negroid features. One
triumph of the new company has
| been its health record. The former
pest-hole is now a healthy spot In
spite of the terrific heat, for ma.
laria. a former scourge, has been
abolished
1.-The millions of tons of salts to
be hauled from the Dead sea will
probably avoid the present 1000
foot climb to Jerusalem by means
of a railway which may Se built
up the Jordan valley to Beisan.
historic site where the plain of Es-
draelon breaks away to the Ghor.
From Beisan the chemicals will 60
to Haifa. there to be transshipped
into ocean liners accommodated be-
hind the fine new breakwater, which
is reaching out from Mount Carmel
| toward Acre"