SODA. 



547 



ties retain the early methods of sick benefits, while 

 still others have introduced life insurance as an im- 

 portant feature of their beneficial methods, though ' 

 the legality of this attempt has been seriously ques- 

 tioned. Others add to the mutual aid idea purposes 

 of self-defence against the encroachments of capital, j 

 and of aggression against the liquor interests and , 

 the ravages of intemperance. The mutual aid feature ; 

 of these societies is of the utmost importance and j 

 value to the industrial portions of our population, 

 they forming, in a majority of cases, the only bul- 

 wark of their members against want in case or sick- 

 ness and accident, and assurance of relief to their 

 families in case of death. (c. M. ) 



SODA. Of all the chemical products used in hu- 

 man industries soda is far the most im- 

 ^aio'c^^a^i P ortan '> anf l th e increase in its con- 

 Am Kep) sumption has borne an intimate relation 

 to the progress of civilization. For- 

 merly, of the two salts soda and potash the latter 

 was the more important, being most abundantly and 

 cheaply produced. The chief source of soda at that 

 time was the ashes of certain sea and sea-shore 

 plants. In 1791 the Le Blanc process of producing 

 carbonate of soda directly from common salt was 

 perfected, and since then the use of soda has grown j 

 enormously. In this process salt is decomposed by ! 

 the aid of sulphuric acid, and sodium sulphate or 

 " salt cake " produced. Sodium carbonate is then | 

 produced by mixing the salt cake with limestone and j 

 charcoal, or small coal. This process has never 

 been employed in America, except on a small scale. 

 In 1866 Ernest Solvay, of Brussels, devised what is 

 known as the ammonia process. In this a solution 

 of bicarbonate of ammonia is mixed with common 

 salt, and decomposes it, yielding a bicarbonate of 

 soda precipitate and a solution of ammonium chlo- 

 ride. This process is growing in favor, and is em- 

 ployed in the soda manufactories now existing in 

 the United States. Of recent years the American 

 production of this substance has largely increased, 

 though it is yet far below that of Europe. About 

 one-fourth of the soda now used is made by the am- 

 in<nii;i process. A factory employing this process 

 was established at Syracuse, N. Y., in 1881, using 

 the salt of the wells of that state, and has now a ca- 

 pacity of about" 40,000 tons annually. Another fac- 

 tory has been recently started at Syracuse, to make 

 fine sulphate of so<la for glass-makers' use. Yet the 

 soda used in this country continues to be in large 

 part imported from England, the proportions being, 

 in 1885, 167,083 tons imported to 15,000 manufact- 

 ured. The importation of the various salts of soda 

 in 1886 amounted to 368,766,594 Ibs., while about 

 10 per cent, of this quantity was produced in the 

 United States. In the manufacture of soda, it is in- 

 teresting to observe how greatly the industry has 

 been diverted from its original object. Soda, orig- 

 inally the only valuable product of the. Le Blanc 

 process, has now become but a by-product. The 

 hydrochloric acid yielded in the process first became 

 valuable through the glowing demand for chlorine, 

 and more recently the production of soda and chlo- 

 rine hare both become unprofitable, and the chief 

 profit comes from the utilization of the process in 

 the wet method of extracting copper from its ores. 

 The growth of the ammonia process comes from the 

 growing abundance and cheapness of ammonia, 

 which is now obtained commercially from coke-ovens 

 and from the gases of blast furnaces. It appears 

 'ile, indeed, to collect and utilize a portion of! 

 the nitrogen of nearly all fuels, and it has been sug- j 

 gested that the soda-maker shall cease to use raw j 

 coal as fuel, but coke it, collect for sale the oil and j 

 ammonia evolved, and use for heating the gases 

 yielded in coking and the coke itself ; thus obtain- 

 ing his fuel virtually without cost. 



The materials for making carbonate of soda are of 

 unlimited abundance in this country, yet the cheap- 

 ness of foreign labor has hitherto prevented success- 

 ful competition. Soda is made in limited quantities 

 at Philadelphia from the cryolite of Greenland, 

 while caustic soda is manufactured somewhat largely 

 in that city and elsewhere, though the main supply 

 is still obtained by importation. Soda for baking- 

 powders is also extensively produced in American 

 factories. One San Francisco concern is manufact- 

 uring soda for this purpose from the native salts of 

 Nevada, while great progress is making in the pro- 

 duction of carbonate, bicarbonate, and other salts of 

 soda from these western alkaline deposits. 



These deposits are perhaps destined in the future 

 to become the world's great source of soda. In the 

 rainless region of the far west is a broad " alkaline 

 belt " in many parts of which the earth is deeply im- 

 pregnated with alkaline salts, principally those of 

 soda, while there are many lakes whose waters con- 

 tain a considerable percentage of soda salts, and in 

 certain places crystallized soda occurs in thick de- 

 posits. This varies from nearly pure carbonate in 

 some instances to chloride and sulphate in others, 

 while the quantity is abundant beyond any possible 

 demand. The alkaline belt lies in the least explored 

 region of the United States, its lack of rain render- 

 ing it unfit for agriculture, while its prospectors are 

 mainly in search of minerals, and pay little atten- 

 tion to its alkali beds. Yet some of these are coming 

 into use as sources of commercial soda, and others 

 are likely to do so with the development of railroad 

 facilities of transportation. Up to a recent period 

 the only natural deposits worked to any extent were 

 those situated in the Carson Desert, Churchill Co., 

 Nevada. Here there are two lakes, their beds evi- 

 dently the craters of extinct volcanoes. The soil is 

 saturated, with soda, which is leached by the springs 

 and streams flowing into the'lakes, and, as the waters 

 of these lakes evaporate during the summer, the 

 soda is deposited in crystalline form. This crystal- 

 line mass, containing a considerable percentage of 

 carbonate of soda, is collected, dried, and sent to 

 market. Several smaller deposits in Nevada have 

 been worked to some extent for the San Francisco 

 market. The lakes in this region have no outlet, 

 and all are more or less saturated with the alkaline 

 leachings of the soil, which vary from nearly pure 

 carbonate in some cases to sulphate and chloride in 

 others. Large deposits of nearly pure sodium sul- 

 phate occur in Nevada near the California border- 

 line, where the crystalline mass is said to be from 2 

 to 8 feet thick over an area of 100 to 200 acres. 



Wyoming Territory possesses numerous small soda 

 lakes, some of which are now worked for commercial 

 purposes. About 13 miles nearly due south from 

 Laramie City lie the " Union Pacific Lakes," to 

 which a branch railroad has been extended. There 

 are here five lakes, while the soil is everywhere im- 

 pregnated with sulphate of soda. In wet years the 

 soda in these lakes is almost fluid. In dry years, 

 from large evaporation, it becomes solid in four of 

 the lakes, and a saturated solution in the fifth. The 

 soda of these lakes has been worked since 1885, over 

 60 tons of caustic soda being produced in that year. 

 It being the sulphate salt, the first step in the Le 

 Blanc process can be dispensed with, but the trouble 

 and delay in getting rid of its abundant water largely 

 negatives this advantage. The deposit is practically 

 inexhaustible, it being now more than 9 feet thick 

 over an area of more than 100 acres, and annually 

 added to by the inflow from saturated springs. It 

 is estimated to contain about 50,000,000 cubic feet 

 of chemically pure sulphate of soda. The Donney 

 Lakes, about 18 miles southwest of Laramie, com- 

 prise three lakes, covering about 520 acres. In one of 

 these the deposit is 11 feet thick, in the others 5 to 



