726 



SALT-MINING IN NEW YORK. 



chlorides of calcium and magnesium grew less 

 as the proportions of pure salt increased, yet 

 the chlorides were so deliquescent as to make 

 the brine unavailable for the manufacture of 

 good salt. Although this was a disappointing 

 end, yet it was resolved to give an eighth and 

 final test by boring to a depth of 2,000 feet. 

 The new boring was known as the " State 

 Well," and the result was the finding of the 

 same bitter and useless brine at a depth of 

 1,600 or 1,700 feet below the old wells of the 

 reservation. This proved the statement that 

 the Hudson river group is the lowest formation 

 that contains springs or brine. In the State 

 well the Niagara limestone was reached at 578 

 feet ; the true limestone at 650 feet ; the Clin- 

 ton ore at 995 feet; and the first quartz rock 

 at 1,005 feet. The Medina sandstone appeared 

 at 1,075 feet; after 1,815 feet gray sandstone 

 alone was encountered for 25 feet, followed at 

 1,840 feet by a mixture of gray sandstone and 

 black slate in various proportions, to the end 

 of the well, except 4 feet of blmVh-black slate 

 at a depth of 1,854 feet. The total depth of 

 the well, 1,969 feet, is greater than that of any 

 other salt-boring in America. 



All the indications based upon scientific re- 

 search were in favor of the success of the ex- 

 periments Nearly fifty years ago thorough 

 surveys in the central and western parts of the 

 State of New York showed salt-springs in 

 many localities that served for the salting of 

 cattle. These springs were along the northern 

 edge of the great basin of salt deposits that lay, 

 as was afterward found, with a dip toward the 

 south. The similarity of the salt deposits of 

 New York, Michigan, and Canada, and their 

 origin from evaporation of overflows by an 

 inland salt-water sea, have been often recorded. 

 The theory of Prof. Goessmann advanced 

 nearly twenty years ago was that " the brines 

 of Onondaga issue from rocks of the Upper 

 Silurian aga ; they indicate with great proba- 

 bility, by their composition and copiousness, a 

 close connection with quite an extensive salt 

 deposit of that age." In 1865 a thirty- foot bed 

 of rock-salt was found at the depth of 964 feet 

 near Goderich, Canada. Soon afterward, in 

 the same locality, a bed of rock-salt was found 

 at the depth of 997 feet, succeeded by five 

 more the total thickness of the beds being 

 126 feet. To show that the best of geologists 

 may be at fault in regard to these matters, it 

 may be said that, in commenting upon this, 

 Prof. T. Sterry Hunt said : "The discovery in 

 Ontario of rock-salt in solid masses, interstrat- 

 ified with the base of the Onondaga formation, 

 leaves, however, but little doubt of the cor- 

 rectness of the views long maintained by the 

 New York geologists, that the source of the 

 brine is to be found in this formation. Borings 

 like those of Godericli will probably one day 

 show the existence in the vicinity of Syracuse 

 of similar beds of rock-salt, which now yield 

 to the action of infiltrating waters the brines 

 that accumulate in tha gravel-beds occupying 



the reservoirs just described." Rock-salt had 

 also been discovered at Manistee, Mich., at a 

 depth of 1,930 feet. The succession of mate- 

 rials and the number of feet were as follow : 

 Surface, saod, etc., 570; lime, 45 shale; and 

 lime, 85 ; shale, 105 ; black slate, 25 ; yellow 

 marl, 15; black slate, 5; lime, 5; black slate, 

 95 ; lime, 575 ; brown shale (caves), 100 ; rock- 

 salt, 34. 



In consequence of the failure to find rock- 

 salt at Syracuse, the State began to experiment, 

 with the object of finding the localities where 

 the strongest brine could be found. A large 

 appropriation from the Legislature tor ten new 

 wells, together with the necessary pipes, en- 

 gines, etc., led to an increased supply of brine 

 that is of a better quality than hitherto. New 

 iron pipes, in place of the old wooden ones, 

 have also had their part in placing the salt 

 reservation of the State of New York upon as 

 good a footing as it ever had. And yet, while 

 the brine at Syracuse was growing weaker, it 

 was still obliged to pay a duty to the State. 

 The desirable thing, for many years, was there- 

 fore, to find brine of better quality away from 

 the State reservation. The several experiments 

 noted above were undertaken to meet, if pos- 

 sible, the objection of weak brine with the solid 

 salt itself. The failure to do this led not only 

 to the furnishing of better brine at Syracuse, 

 but also to the development of the deep borings 

 in the valleys of the Oatka, the Genesee, and 

 the Wyoming. 



The central and western parts of the State 

 of New York had always given evidence of 

 the presence of immense beds of salt. Over 

 forty years ago extensive surveys were made 

 from Oswego to Niagara, and salt-springs were 

 found in many places. In the hollows toward 

 Lake Ontario the brine was discovered in such 

 quantities as to make unnecessary any ad- 

 ditional salting of the cattle that were pastured 

 in the vicinity. It was discovered that salt 

 might be found south of this belt; but not 

 without considerable boring. No one, how- 

 ever, suspected that the valley would yield salt 

 as far as Warsaw. Therefore, when the Vacu- 

 um Oil Company, of Rochester, began to bore 

 for oil at Wyoming, just north of Warsaw, the 

 enterprise was thought to be only a natural ex- 

 tension of the oil-fields of Pennsylvania, which 

 lie fifty to seventy-five miles southward. The 

 man that directed the boring had been a boy in 

 the Wyoming valley. He had faith enough in 

 the existence of oil to lease the neighboring 

 farms for ninety-nine years, with the agreement 

 that he would put down a test-well, and, if suc- 

 cessful, a well should go down on every man's 

 farm, the owner to have one eighth of the 

 product in every case. Oil was not found, but 

 brine cams in sufficient quantities to show that 

 salt was there. It is evident that the average 

 depth of the salt-bed thereabout is eighty feet, 

 and that the depth required to reach the bed 

 becomes less as the prospector travels north. 

 This southern dip has given hopes to the dwell 



