Show The Distribution of Asphalts Bituminous substances apparently appar-ently of organic origin are found in various parts of the world Some times they occur In a free state as in the Island of Trinidad and others oth-ers impregnating calcareous rocks serving as a cement to hold the particles together as at Val de Trav ers or Seyssel For several reasons the asphalt lake of Trinidad possesses special interest for us The island which is the southern most of the Lesser Antilles lies off the northern coast of South America and is easily accessible ac-cessible from any of 0 our seaports Here amid the most luxuriant vegitation is a lake three miles in circumference on the surface of which lies a crust of asphaltum of such tenacity that in the rainy season sea-son a person can walk across it but under the influence of the hot sun it softens to a thick tar This crust receives accessions from beneath be-neath and formerly it would overflow over-flow and run into the sea more than two miles away A similar substance sub-stance known as Jews pitch is washed ashore in considerable quantities quan-tities around the borders of the Dead Sea In Texas south of Shreveport there is said to be a pitch lake containing large quantities quanti-ties of bitumen but little is yet known about it In Southern Cali fornia there is accumulations of asphalt as-phalt on the coast utSantaBarbara San Luis Obispo etc which resembles re-sembles when pure that of Trini dad It promises to supply the wants of the western coast as Trin idad will that of the eastern part of this country In Kentucky there is a considerable I consider-able quantity of aaphaltic mineral whIch may some time b utili7ed for road making An interesting and valuable as phaltic mineral known as Albertitc is found in Now 1 Brunswick and a similar one called Grahamite oc and other curs in West Virginia I parts of the country In the mountains moun-tains west of Denvei in Colorado is a vertical bed of hard and brittle asphalt not unlike Grahamite while Albertite is found in small quantities in Lorraine County Ohio and Casey County Kentucky Bitumen is likewise found in Cuba and is brought into commerce under the name of cJiapdpote or Mexican asphalt In Europe asphalt occurs chiefly in limestone which forms when crushed and packed an excellent pavement The principal points at which it is found are the following Val de Travers in the Swiss Canton Can-ton of Neufchatel fourteen miles from Neufchatel and sixteen or seventeen miles by rail from > the French borders Seyssel on the Rhone in the French department of Ain about thirtythree miles from Geneva Lobsann a small town in northern Alsace Vorwohle in Braunschweig and Limmer near the city of Hanover The Italian province of Caserta in the neighborhood neigh-borhood of Naples supplies Rome with an asphalt much used for terraces ter-races and flat roofs Popular Science Sci-ence Monthly December |