204 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
were removed, but no zine. In 1899, 6700 tons of lead and over 64,000 tons of 
zine ore were mined in this area. Most of the lead ore is smelted outside the 
state, while the zinc ore was smelted at Pittsburg, Weir City, and Girard; but 
now nearly all of it is smelted within the gas belt, at Iola, Gas City, and Cherry- 
vale. The great smelting company of the Southwest was the Cherokee-Lanyon 
company, whose Pittsburg works are now being torn down, as the company has. 
been consolidated with others at Iola under the name of Lanyon Zine Company. 
In and around Iola there are 23 blocks, of 600 retorts each, for the smelting of 
zinc. These works are the largest in the United States, and will soon be the 
largest in the world. The daily production of metallic zinc, or spelter, as it is. 
called, is nearly 200 tons, which requires 400 tons of ore, and, if gas was not used, 
would consume about 1200 tons of coal. This represents nearly one-half of the 
total production of the United States. Among the states of the union, Kansas. 
stands a close second to I\linois in production of metallic zinc. 
SALT. 
One of the necessities of life is salt, the record of whose discovery is lost in 
antiquity. Nature has dealt kindly in its distribution, for it is found almost 
everywhere over the world and in rocks of all geological ages. In the early days 
of Kansas, salt was obtained by the evaporation in kettles of water from the salt 
marshes located near the borders of the present developed salt area in Republic, 
Cloud and Jewell counties. The first salt well was used in 1867, at Solomon City, 
and the brine evaporated by the sun’s heat. These Solomon wells are in use to- 
day, and this is the only locality in the state where salt is obtained by the solar 
process. 
Out of the wreck of the disastrous boom excitement of 1887-’88 some good 
results came to Kansas. One of these was the development of the salt industry 
at Lyons, Hutchinson, Sterling, Kanopolis, and Kingman. At Lyons prospect. 
holes were drilled for oil and gas, resulting in the discovery of 300 feet of salt, at 
a depth of 700 feet. This is now mined at Kanopolis, Lyons, and Kingman. 
The quality is shown by analysis be 99.93 per cent. pure. At Hutchinson and 
Sterling, salt is obtained from brine, in wells 700 feet deep. The brine is evapo- 
rated by artificial heat, in pans, either by means of direct heat or by steam. The 
daily capacity of these brine plants is not far from 5000 barrels, though the 
present demand will not permit the works to run at their full capacity. 
The Kansas salt beds extend from Ellsworth and Saline counties southward 
to the southern line of the state, and in breadth cover from two to three 
counties, and there is evidence of salt outside of this area. The state holds third 
rank, after New York and Michigan. 
GYPSUM. 
Often associated with salt is found the sulphate of lime, or gypsum, which is 
burned into plaster of Paris or cement wall plaster. In this manufacture Kansas. 
has first rank among the states, on account of the high quality of the materials 
and the skill in manufacturing. Sixty thousand tons are used a year, and the 
value of the product is $263,000. 
The gypsum deposits form a belt tending northeast-southwest across the 
state. The belt of exposed rock varies in width from five miles at the north to 
fourteen in the central part, and thirty-six miles near the southern line, with a 
length of nearly 230 miles. This area is naturally divided into three districts: 
The northern or Blue Rapids area, in Marshall county; the central area, in Dick- 
inson, Marion, and Saline counties; the southern or Medicine Lodge area. These 
