The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1941-11-21

factory, the boat works and other
smaller industries. Mr.. Nan, AlStyne
raId tribute here tO tlT6 enterprises
that were not successful and did not
nrc"me permanent Institutions. but
rendered great service and their leu-
pie were entitled To much credit for
not becoming discouraged by an occa-
>ional failure
In 1913 the WyandUtte Rolling Mill
Company went out of business. having
been taken over by the Eureka iron
company. which Went on until 1887.
MIR. Van Al>tyne, in his reminiscenct ;.
said
This brought uS To the last scene
IN the iron drama. which unexpected
~ proved veritable transformation
scene. one that eventually changed the
rl>twhile iron city into "a city whose
basis WAS salt.
III WAS III the summer Of 1881 that
the directors determined To test the
question of fuel. and ascertain if gas
OF oil could be found beneath Us. The
initial step WAS IL singular one for "A
.rolp of such hard headed business
men. There WAS III Cleveland a man
10y the name of Latiner, chief engin-
Ger of the y. \. L. X O. Railroad Co.
who had Il local reputation in the USE
of the divining rod. and who claimed
10 have the power with his divining
rod of discovering what lay beneath
The surface 10 the depth of thousands
II feet. He WAS sent for, came, and
drove him i'll my buggy out on one
road. and Ill on another all the way
from the Goddard road to SibleyS
quarry. He held the rod which was two
pieces of whalebOne tied together at
one end and held apart at the other
When the point dipped or turned
down. he would say what was below
lis and how far down. As we were
hunting for gas or OIL he would say
is We drove along when we were over
Il gas belt, and when in barren ground.
Car, fiji memoranda being kept. we re-
turned To my office. and on map of
The region passed over, We marked the
result. He had laid out the whole
country into set of belts or strips
from the northwest To southeast and
very near to the course or dip of the
anticlinal ut Sibley'S with wonderful
regularity when We consider that he
had never been in the locality before
and that he could not see from one
road 10 another
The next morning we Went To be
troit and met with the directors; he
made his report and | showed the map
a> il was marked with his STATE mentS
rs We had driven over The country.
Of course. il looked very rosy, but one
ny one the directors. each with an i'll
crIlulOuS smile OH his face and with
ont remark. or the expression of an
opinion, went out until none were left
but Mr. Miller and myself. As rose
To follow. Mr.. Miller said, Wait IA.
minute, and when We were alone, DO
You take any stock la this | replied,
Not bit He said, Then you don't
think we should bore l replied that |
did not think that what we had heard
was of any consequence, or had any
bearing On the question; that we
should not be going through the pro-
Per motions, or doing our duty to the
company, without boring and know
ing what was belOw Us. Should we
find gas or oil and they were found
all around us, the cost would be a
mere bagatells i'll comparison with the
value Of the information obtained.
We'll. the Result was that on August
:. 1881. we made contract with
Me>SrS. Ianey 4 Churchill of Indian
dpoll> To drill well.
They began work on the 18th OF
August and prosecuted the work Tor
nearly two years. or until May, 1879.
reaching depth Of 2,64O feet. the last
thirty feet in Trenton rock, and at
cost To the company Of about SlO.OOO
without finding any gas except one
small pocket at LOO feet i'll connec-
ton with heavy vein of sulphur
water. But at various places from 10
to l23j feet, we found veins III salt
aggregating about 800 feet in all. AS
We passed through the strata or salt
samples Of the boringS We're sent from
time Ia time to Captain StearnS, then
come cted with the firm Of Church &
Co. and on examinatiOn and analysis
II WAS found 10 be Of excellent quail
lty. SO that in connection with the
pure water of the Detroit river. and
the pure limestone from Slbleys. the
whole formed a combination nara 10
beat for the manufacture of soda ash
and It's concomitant products. Inc
finders did not realize the value Or
Importance Of their discovery untii