600 FARMERS' REGISTER— GEOLOGICAL REMARKS, &c. 



openiuf^ was about two hundred feet in depth. 

 Kinp^ liad marked out the spot and declared lie 

 would g'o on till water was found, and ■Sichol 

 withdrawing; from the concern, on di2:p;ing twelve 

 ieet deeper, the well fdled to witliin forty feet of 

 the surface of the earth, witli salt-water of which 

 thirty-two gallons would make, on dryino- tlie salt, 

 a measured bushel of 50 lb weight. This was on 

 the 6th of April, 1797, and the quantity of water 

 being inexhaustible, by any use made of it, salt 

 was reduced from $5 to .§1 50 cts. per bushel; 

 and a more liberal rent was given General Preston 

 of .99,000 per annum, tor !)is w ell, Avhicli (hen 

 ceased to be v/orked ; and the j)arlies continued on 

 the most friendly terms towards each others' wel- 

 fare. William King having in view to encourage 

 every branch of industry, and calculating that 

 thereby immense wealth would flow to him.self, 

 enlarged his mercantile pursuits, dealt with great 

 liberality, and becoming very ])opular, his wealth 

 so increased, that at his death, the 13lh Oct. 1S08, 

 his personal estate was estimated at above one 

 million dollars. 



Preston's and Kii\g's works were then conduct- 

 ed by his widow now Mrs. F. Smith, James King 

 and Wm. Trigg, as devisees of a lile estate; and 

 since by Col. James White ; at present by Wm. 

 King & Co.; Mr. King being the only son living 

 of James King and devisee oi' the estate in remain- 

 der from his uncle Wm. King, who died without 

 children. Gen. Prestons' and Kings' works in 

 the first lease to Col. Whit# Avere rented at 

 $30,000 each per annum, but have not been so 

 productive of lato years as is understood. 



During the year 1832, Gen. Preston not being- 

 satisfied with the goodness of his well, employed 

 Mr. Anthony, an ingenious mechanic and partner 

 of Dubrough's, in a patent plan of boring, to sink 

 cast iron tubes of 5 inch bore 218 feet or the depth 

 necessary, where was found a supply of salt-water, 

 sufficient for 400 bushels of salt daily, the water 

 being stronger than any known, 22 to 24 gallons 

 producing 501b. salt. 



The space in which good salt-watei' can be pi'o- 

 cured in large quantities is very small — in the 

 vicinity of Saltville has been expended above 

 $40,000 in fruitless digging and boring liy the 

 owners of land. Preston's new tubed well is only 

 . 40 yards irom Kings' and an experimenton King's 

 land, within 40 feet of the old well made last month, 

 produced no water at the depth of 270 feet, thouah 

 the borings were for many feet through the salt 

 rock, and })artly through gyj)sum, blue and red 

 clay and half formed sand-stone. — The fijrmation 

 below the depth of 200 feet, in which salt-water is 

 found, seems to be on a slaty basis, at an inclina- 

 tion of about 15 degrees facing the south east, and 

 in King's old well, whence has been drawn water 

 for 40,000 bushels of salt in the last 60 days, there 

 are large irregular columns of jdasfer or gypsum, 

 and a plaster roof supporting the ground above, 

 the interior clay for 40 or more feel in some direc- 

 tions having been washed away. Into these open- 

 ings near 100 cords of v/ood were thrown, but all 

 disappeared. From all the borings and the most 

 careful observation, it is evident, at this place, that 

 both the sand-stone and plaster arc above, and of 

 more recent formation than the muriate of soda. 



TheCratur like sides of the transition rocks ex- 

 posed around Saltville, at some points, into which 

 the plaster never intrudes, has given rise to a con- 



jecture, that at some ancient period, the plane on 

 which stands Saltville, was as higli as the adjacent 

 hills; and that by a dissolution of the saline sub- 

 stratum which, the river (being lower) may have 

 received, the upper earth gave way, throwing the 

 rocks into their present disjointed state, and the 

 surficeof all which has been levelled by the v.'ash- 

 ings from the hills, and by the imperceptible 

 workings of time ; and this conjecture would seem 

 to l:e supported by the numerous bones and teeth 

 of the JMastodon and other animals found at any 

 de})th yet approached. 



The surface of the salt-v.'aler being som.e thirty 

 feet higher th.an the river v.ater, has suggested to 

 Mr. Anthony, the use of a Sj'plion, half a mile in 

 length to draw tlie water from the v/ell, without a 

 force pump; and the facility of conveying the 

 v,ater to u'ood or more convenient points of navi- 

 gation, is nov/ clearly tested by its transfer in tubes 

 two miles. Salt at the works is now reduced to 

 two cents per pound, which will, no doubt, cause 

 more economy to be used in its manufacture and 

 transportation; so far, there ap]icars, however, to 

 have been no advantage taken of the great evapo- 

 rating improvements used at the salines in New- 

 York, or the sugar factories of the South. At 

 Saltville, the furnaces are trenches dug in the earth, 

 the kettles several inches thick — the furnace doors 

 large and open, and placed under open sheds ; and 

 in some instances slrean^.s of fresh water sweeping 

 from t!ie hills, issue out of the furnace flues; but 

 doubtless the present proprietors will make the 

 necessary improvements. The salt made is free 

 trou) all impurity, its chryslals are large by slow, 

 and line by rapid evaporation; and white and bril- 

 liant, and when thrown from the basket, soon 

 becomes as dry as corn meal ; never deliquercing 

 or giviiigofTany water, even ivvihe wettest weather. 

 No settling or clarifying process is necessary, the 

 v>ater being a clear senu-transparenl, somewliat 

 whitish fluid, which after being released from its 

 great pressure in the deej) parts of the avcH, seems 

 incapal'le of holding in solution, tlie former quan- 

 tity of saline material. The slight excess of 

 muriatic acid over the soda is united in the boiling 

 with some free gypsum and precipitated to the 

 bottom, where attaching itself to the mettle and 

 becoming heated, additions of salt are constantly 

 made, till it endangers breaking the kettle, and is 

 very difficult (once weekly) to separate from the 

 iron by pick-axes. In the v, hole process of manu- 

 facturing this water, no trace of iodine or bittern 

 water is to be found — and no species of settling or 

 clarilying is necessary, the salt being deposited as 

 soon as milk warm, is three or four times daily 

 ladled out of kettles of 96 gallons each. At pre- 

 sent, meadow lands, pasture and farming to the ex- 

 tent of 2,500 acres ap])oars to be in use ; a saw 

 mill, two gristmills and al. out 100 persons and as 

 many horses compose the force of the place; but 

 as the market is limited, and not more than four 

 cords of wood are necessary to nmkc 100 bushels 

 of salt, the apparatus of the place is unnecessarily 

 large and wasteful. 



The gy]isimi-beds on the Saltville lands are per- 

 haps the most convenient and abundant in the 

 world, being only five to ten feet from the surface 

 of the earth and of the very best quality. Hun- 

 dreds of boats and wagons could be usefully employ- 

 ed in its transportation, as the whole lands of this 

 interior country arc admirably adapted to its use, 



