Show VALLBY A DESERT WITH UNBOUNDED BORAX DEPOSITS the following foll owing facts acts f in relation to death valley are given by mr henry melone who returned from there a few days clays ago mr melone went to death valley as deputy assessor the distances between the various points luts from independence to death vall valley ey are as follows to keeler 32 napes miles thence to darwin Darwit i 24 miles to shepherds calion cahon 27 miles to tice springs 20 miles to toCo Co lemana lemans road 80 miles to furnace creek in death valley 50 miles to total tat distance f from row independence miles at all the points named between darwin and furnace creek there is good water but no buildings of any kind and the traveler must take along everything other than water needed lor for himself and what animals he be may have the road traverses valleys valley among a succession of mountain ranges the mountains are high very steep and mostly bare rocks the narrow valleys between have a scant growth of sagebrush and cactus but are almost destitute of all other vegetation mr melone had bad no discomfort sleeping on the sand rolled up in one bl blanket aulet the weather was very verv plea pleasant ant A short distance beyond darwin he met with two men who were going to ohp the colorado river they had pack animals and a good outfit and he be traveled pleasantly with them till their wa ways I 1 yo separated before reaching death valley on arria arriving ing at Co lemans borax works mr melone inspected the works carefully borax is there in apparently inexhaustible quantity tae deposits deposit a are usually but a few inches in thickness when first opened but get thick as they are penetrated till they attain it a depth of two feet or more thousands of acres are covered by the deposit adjoining the borax deposits are vast deposits of soda and salt bait great mounds of salt lie around glittering white that contain thousands of tons the salt Is fit for use as mined the proportion of pure borax contained in the mass ranges from 80 30 to over 90 per cent great quantities of pure pare crystals are found vast masses are borate of lime containing 90 per cent of borax the the crude stuff is shoveled into large wagons and hauled to the reduction works close by here it is put pat through a process of boiling purifying gried and chrystal izing it is then dried and sacked ready tor for shipment the solution in which the borax is first dissolved is drawn off f from yom thia the tanks run into ground vats and is there evaporated the residuum Is taken up and worked over it contains a large percentage of borax and soda twenty horses are constantly employed delivering the crude borax at the reduction works seven white men and twenty nine Ohi namen are employed from the works the borax ia hauled in wagons to mojave a distance of miles the round trip is made in 20 days five teams are engaged in this work 20 animals in each team the wheels of the wagons are eight inches broad on the face and the tires when new 1200 pounds one new wagon costs 1200 at furnace creek ou on a tract of 80 acres near tile the borax works hay bay enough is cut to feed all the animals employed there the ground is planted with alfalfa nine months in each year vear a crop is cut monthly during the months of december january and february the animals are allowed to graze on the tract the dwelling for the superintendent stands ninety feet below the level of the sea the walls are adobe bricks alid are four feet thick the root roof is double the external covering extends eight feet beyond tile the walls forming orm a veranda entirely around the buildt building g A la in the hottest weather a person can be comfortable inside the building |