A REMARKABLE SALT DEPOSIT* 



By Charles F. Holder 



THE deposit of salt at Salton is 

 one of the sights of California. 

 It lies in a depression almost 

 300 feet below the sea-level, and was 

 at some time in the past the bed of 

 the sea or extension of the Gulf of 

 California. t From the train, which 

 passes near b}^ the tract looks like a 

 vast snow field, and in the early morn- 

 ing is frequently the scene of beauti- 

 ful mirage effects. The salt deposit, 

 which is essentiall}^ rock-salt, covers 

 about 1,000 acres, and is at present the 

 center of interest on account of the dis- 

 pute of rival companies over the posses- 

 sion of the propert3\ The compan}^ in 

 possession has shipped from this place 

 annuall}^ about 2,000 tons of salt, valued 

 at from $6 to $34 per ton. The outfit 

 of the salt mine consists mainly of a 

 crusher, a drying building, and a dummy 

 line from the salt beds to the Southern 

 Pacific Railroad, not far distant. 



The work is carried on chiefl}^ by In- 

 dians, who can withstand the intense 

 heat of the desert — 150° in June — and 

 the glare better than white men. The 

 work is interesting and novel. The dry- 

 ing house is a building 600 feet in length, 

 about which hundreds of thousands of 

 tons of salt are heaped, having all the 

 appearance of snow. Here the salt is 

 dried and milled. 



The salt is collected at first with a 

 plow — a singular machine with four 

 wheels, in the center of which sits an 

 Indian guiding it ; the motive power is 

 a dummy engine some distance away, 



t See the Natk^nal Geographic Maga- 

 zine, vol. xi, no. 9, p. 340 el scq. 



which hauls the plow along by cables. 

 As it passes, the steel breaker is seen to 

 cut a broad but shallow furrow, eight 

 feet wide and three feet long, throwing 

 up the ridges on either side. Indians 

 now follow along, and with hoes pile 

 up the salt in pyramidal forms, which 

 later is transported to the mill. Each 

 plow harvests 700 tons of salt per day. 

 A singular feature of this bed is that the 

 salt is being deposited daily by springs 

 which run into the basin, and as the 

 water evaporates it leaves a crust of al- 

 most pure chloride of sodium, which 

 ranges from 10 to 20 inches in thickness, 

 over the lake. It will be seen that there 

 is no danger of exhausting the supply, 

 which is forming all the time ; and, 

 in point of fact, the plows have in the 

 past years worked almost continuously 

 over the same area, only about 10 acres 

 having been plowed. 



The salt, when delivered at the plant, 

 is hoisted to the upper floor and placed 

 in a bulkhead breaker, where it is re- 

 duced to particles of the same size. It 

 then passes through a burr mill and is 

 well ground After this it is sifted and 

 is finally passed through an aspirator, 

 which cleanses it of all foreign material, 

 when it is ready for packing in bags. 

 The salt is used for a variety of pur- 

 poses, and is of several different grades, 

 the lowest being unrefined — a product 

 called hide salt, used in manufactories. 

 Earge quantities are sold for sea-bathing 

 purposes, a certain amount producing 

 a very similar chemical equivalent to 

 sea water. Other grades are prepared 

 for the table, dairy, and for the use of 

 druggists. 



* From Xht^ Scientific American. 



