Evening star., 1952-03-25
The Indians Called It Moqic White Sand
By yioIet Foulkner

Dy Vtotet foulkueT
Is salt "just salt" to you Z. j
something that is used To- season
food. to preserve meats and fishl
or to make Q gargle or mouth
wash?
The history Of salt reads like q
dramatic novel. Garnett Laidlaw
Eskew, in his book. salt, the Fifth
Element" published by ]. c.
Ferguson & Associates ($3). 4
tells the story in a human. con-
versational manner, recountingI
numerous anecdotes and fascinat-
ing bits of history. Since the be-
ginning of time salt has played
a picturesque part in mans life.
When primitive man gave up raw
meat as his only food which con-
tanned a natural salt and branched|
out into the vegetable kingdom.
he discovered his need Of salt. By
seeking the same salt licks the
animals found, he located the
spots which influenced the eStab-
lishment of cities and even Of ma
tions. But the crude. brownish
substance of those days is far
cry from the pure, f1aky, nom
clogging salt Of today.
Sources Of Solt
There are three great sources
of salt the sea, the mine and
the well. The first actual refining
of salt was done on the shores
of the Dead Sea, where the coarse
salt. mixed with sand. was placed
in a stone vessel of water and
dissolved into brine again. After
the sand had sunk to the bottom
the brine was run into shallow
stone troughs and exposed to the
suns rays until the water has dis
appeared, leaving a rough but
fairly pure salt.
Today we have come a long
way in developing an easily OBJ
tanned pure, white salt that is a
common commodity in every
household. The crude use of the
sun or a fire to evaporate sea
water has given place now to three
major refining methods for salt
aug from salt mines or pumped
from salt wells that>bear a strong
resemblance to oil wells. In fact,
drillers of oil wells often bring in
gushefS that spout salt water in
stead of oil.
The solar evaporating system is
still used in some places. the
vacuum pan method of refining is
popular. and a new process. called
the Alberger process. produces O.
fine, pure table salt that insures
pouring on a damp day. One
company employing the latter
method asks you to make this test:
Put a couple tablespoons of the
weatherproof salt in q shaker,
drop five drops of water on the
salt and mix thoroughly by shak-
ing vigorously. You'll find the
salt really pours just the same.
Being a doubling Thomas myself.
I tried it and it does work! Some
thing to bear in mind during the
sultry, humid days Of a Wash
ington summer. No magic in
volved just the use of calcium sill
cate which absorbs the moisture.
SoIty Facts
Roman soldiers were originally
paid in salt, which explains the
saying that man sis not worth
his salt" Each fighters allow
ance was called his "salarium, :"
or his portion of sal, the Latin
word for salt. Later, when money
was introduced, the term stuck.
and we commemorate that early
Roman practice in our use of the
word salary.
Many superstitions marked the
use of salt. The Indians called it
magic white sand" since it
played an important part as a.
source of protection against sick
ness and evil. Austrians say a
few grains Of salt in the pan will
keep witches from Souring the
milk. Norwegians say that a man
who spills salt will have to shed
as many tears as will dissolve
the amount thus wasted. The
Greeks had a saying that no one
should trust a man without first
eating a peck of salt with him.
This, however, was based not so
much on superstition as on the