USA > Michigan > Saginaw County > History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, Volume I > Part 42
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CASEVILLE, IIURON COUNTY.
"The first salt well put down in this locality was for Frank Craw- ford. This well starts at the top of the carboniferous limestones which outcrop near Wild Fowl Bay. From here it passes through the same formation as found on the Saginaw river, until a sand rock containing strong brine is struck at 850 feet. There was near 100 feet of this formation, being mixed withi sandy shales. The well was pumped at this depth for some time, nearly a year, but not being satisfied with the supply of brine, Mr. Crawford determined to put down another well, and this time he proposed to go deeper and see what he could find. Accordingly another well was started. After passing through the above mentioned formations a continued series of blue shales, followed by red and brown shales, was found, which continued until a sand rock was struck at the depth of 1,650 feet. Of this there was 100 to 120 feet, making the entire depth of the well from 1,760 to 1,770 feet. And now at this place I would like to correct an impression or re- port that has gone out, the rock salt was found in this sandstone formation. It was so given out at the time the well was bored, but subsequent borings and closer operations have disproved this statement. In this sand rock a strong brine was found, and an attempt made to pump from it alone, but the supply not being much greater, the tube was raised and the brine from the two sand rocks was pumped together, giving a supply for about 125 barrels of salt each day, it being calculated that the lower rock gave a supply equal to about 75 barrels. All the other wells of this locality have been put down to this lower sand rock, but no rock salt has been found.
"At Bay Port, 10 miles from Caseville, a well has been put down to the same deptli as the Caseville well, but as it has not been put in operation I cannot report the capacity of the well. This finishes the history of the salt wells on the south side of the Sag- inaw Bay that have any bearing on the prospect of finding salt brine in the lower sand rock of the Waverly group. Let us now cross over the Saginaw Bay and examine the record of salt wells there.
420
HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
EAST TAWAS, IOSCO COUNTY.
"The first well put down at this locality was for Grant & Son. This well starts in the same geological horizon . as the Port Aus- tin well, being just at the bottom of the gypsum formation, with outcrops at Alabaster, and in the sandstone formation of the upper part of the Waverly group, and which, at East Tawas, is com- posed of sand plains. After passing through the sand formation, the borings show a succession of blue and red shales mixed with sand until the sand rock is struck at a depth of 800 feet. Over 100 feet of this sand rock was found, yielding an abundant supply of brine of 85 degrees by the salinometer. The capacity of the well seemed unlimited.
"A second well was put down at East Tawas by the East Tawas Mill Company. This well, being only a short distance from the other well, passes through the same formations. It had about 100 feet of sand rock, passing from this formation to the black shales of Ohio, which as before mentioned underlaid the Waverly group and outcrop at Thunder Bay. This well also gives a very abundant supply of brine, actual running capacity of the well near 200 barrels of salt a day. Salinometer stands at 85 degrees. Analysis shows great similarity to the Port Austin and Case- ville brine.
AU SABLE.
"We now pass out of the Tawas Bay to Au Sable, where two wells have been put down during the last year. The first well was put down by Smith, Kelley & Dwight. This well commences in the sand formation similar to East Tawas, from which it is dis- tant about 13 miles. After leaving this there is blue shale mixed with sand, followed by the red shales and some black shale until the sandstone rock was struck at 960 feet, of which there were 80 feet. The supply of brine in this well is sufficient to make 70 barrels of salt per day. Brine shows salinometer strength of 92 degrees.
"Loud, Gay & Co. have also put down one well, and are now put- ting down another: The borings were as above described, but they were not so fortunate as their neighbors, and had only 60 feet of continuous sand rock, when passing into shales followed by 10 or 12 feet more sand rock. The entire depth of the well is 1,160 feet. The supply of brine is even less than the other well, being about 65 barrels of salt a day.
"Since the record of these wells was given, four wells have been bored at Midland, Midland county, within a few miles of the original well described at the beginning of this report. These bor- ings struck, at a depth of 1,200 feet, the same sand rock, contain- ing brine, which in the Saginaw Valley was found at a depth of 900 feet. The boring penetrated the sand rock about 100 feet, making the well in all 1,300 feet in deptlı. The strength of brine,
421
HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
as shown by the salinometer, was 115 degrees, but loaded with some impurities which made the manufacture of a good commer- cial article one of great care.
"More recently a boring has been made at Manistee with results which indicate the tonching of the same salt rock which has been found at Goderich, Canada. The well, however, is still incom- plete, and it is too early to speak more definitely.
WELL-BORING MACHINERY.
"The proper location having been selected for the salt well, a drill house, 16 by 30 feet, with a tower, is erected. This is large enough for a boiler, small portable engine, and a forge for repair- ing tools and keeping the drill sharp. The tower or derrick has a height of 50 feet, or is high enongh to draw out the drilling poles. The tool with which the boring or drilling is done is a drill, three feet long, shaped at one end like a chisel, and made of the best quality of steel. The drill is screwed into the sinker, which is a ronnd iron bar 40 feet long and three inches in diameter, and weighing about 2,000 pounds. Attached to the sinkers by strong screws are the "jars;" these are abont seven feet long and made of good iron. The 'jars' are two slotted 'links, moving up and down within each other, and are intended to increase the force of the blow of the drill upon the rock by allowing it to fall with a sudden jerk. The jars are attached by a screw to the drill pole, which is, in turn, connected by a swivel to a chain. The chain is fastened to an ordinary 'walking-beam' of wood, driven by an engine of small horse-power. The beam rises and falls continually over the mouth of the well, the chain which suspends the tool passing over the end of the beam being so arranged that it can be let ont as the hole deepens, at the same time lifting the tool or drill and allowing it to drop with measured stroke on the rock, which is thus gradually drilled out. A workman sits at the mouth of the well, having the pole grasped by his hands, and after every stroke the poles are slightly turned so as to turn the drill which is working on the bottom, thus keeping the well true and circular in shape.
" While the well is in process of boring, the tools are frequently removed and the sand pump introduced to remove the loose matter from the bottom of the well, which is done by means of a suction valve. The sand pump removes all the ground rock sand, and takes up at times stones an inch or more in size. In commencing the well, a strong wooden box eight inches square, made from 2- inch plank, is driven down into the ground, say from 14 to 16 feet. Inside of this an 8-inch iron tube or casing is put down as fast as the alluvial or drift material overlying the rock formation is broken up by the drill and taken out by the sand pump; this continues until the solid rock is reached.
"At this point considerable care should be taken that the opening into the rock is perfectly ronnd and well finished by the drill; for
422
HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
the casing should be set so firmly in the rock as to prevent any sand or gravel from running in under the tube, and thus getting in on top of the drill and endangering its becoming fastened in the. well.
"The rock-drilling now commences and continues to the depth to which it is proposed to sink the well. After the drilling is done, the sides of the well are smoothed off with a tool called a reamer. In most of the salt wells on the Saginaw river an offset is placed in the well at a short distance above the lower sand rock. Below the offset the size of the well is lessened half an inch in diameter. On this offset is made the so-called rock-packing, the hole being drilled beveling so as to receive a tightly-fitting iron collar or funnel-shaped piece of metal. A tube corresponding to the size of the upper part of the well is made to rest on this rock-packing as tlie offset, and runs to the top of the well; in this way all the weak brine from the upper rock and any fresh water that may come into the well above the offset are shut off. Below the offset the tube continues in reduced size to the locality of the lower sand rock, at which point the pumping chamber containing the pumping valves is placed.
"In the early history of salt well boring in Michigan, the pressure of the brine in tlfe well tube forced it within 100 feet of the surface. More recently, owing no doubt to the great demand for brine, it. does not rise so high. It only requires a small amount of power, after the pumping rods are properly balanced, to lift the brine out of the well into the settling tanks.
PUMPING BRINE.
"Often in starting up a new salt well the brine is weak, that is, shows a small percentage of salt by the salinometer. This arises from the fact that a large quantity of fresh water or weak brine from the upper formations has passed down into the well during the time the well was opened or being tubed. To test this point, and to bring the brine up to the usual strength of salt brines, the pump is put in operation and run for some time. If the brine con- tinues to show an increase of strength on being tested by the salinometer, the pumping is continued until the strength of brine remains permanent at such a percentage as wells of equal depth in the same locality have shown. If, however, the brine does not increase in strength, there are strong probabilities that there is a leakage of fresh water or weak brine into the well at the offset. This should be remedied at once-the more so if the well is a deep one, such as most of those in the Saginaw Valley are; for in this case the offset in the well is below the so-called gypsum formation, and you are drawing in and mixing with your strong brine a weak brine from these formations which has a higher percentage of gypsum.
"This mixing of the two brines in the well and tubing causes a precipitation or separation of the gypsum upon the pumping rods
423
IIISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
and in the pumping chamber. If this is not stopped, it will eventually close up the valves and prevent them from being drawn out of the chamber. More than one instance has been known where parties have suffered much extra expense in not attending to this kind of leakage.
"A manufacturer, in starting up his well pump, may also find that he has a short supply of brine, and the brine in the well tube runs down as soon as the pump is stopped. In this case he may have strong suspicions that his well tube is defective, or that the joints are not put together tightly, causing a leakage. To ascertain where this is, the tubing should be lifted out, the lower valve being allowed to remain in. As tubing is being drawn, the pressure of the column of brine in the tube on the joints or imperfections will show where the leakage is. If the tubing is imperfect it should be taken out and replaced by perfect tubing. When the leakage is at the joint, a new thread should be cut upon it, or the joint should be screwed together more tightly.
"It is very important that the manufacturer should ever be on the lookout for these leakages, as they may and do often arise from a jarring of the tubing by running the pump faster than the supply of brine comes to the pumping-chamber, causing a vacuum and pro- ducing the so-called pounding of a well. The capacity of a well has been very materially affected by such a leakage, increasing the expense of pumping from 50 to 100 per cent.
"The supply capacity of a well is also very materially increased by the position of the pumping chamber in the well. In the early history of salt wells in Michigan, the pumping chamber was gen- erally placed a short distance below the offset. More recent tests go to prove that the best location for the pumping chamber is at or very near the point where the largest supply of brine comes into the well, and that point is the lower portion of the sand rock, or within a short distance of the bottom of the well.
"In pumping a well it is also important that the weight of the pumping rods should be evenly counterbalanced by a weight on the other end of the walking-beam; this relieves the engine, the only weight to be lifted being the brine. The stroke of the piston in the pumping chamber should be made as long as possible, and the motion of the engine should not be over 32 revolutions to the minute. In this way about the entire supply of brine in the well is obtained without forming a vacuum, thus preventing the pound- ing of the well and the danger of parting the pumping rods or jar- ring the tubing loose at the joints, causing leakage.
"The capacity of salt wells varies in different localities from 12 to 20 gallons per minute-the size of the well and porosity of the sand rock having much to do in increasing the amount. A good well will fill a cistern 20x30x6 feet in about 20 hours. A salt well in Saginaw City, owned by Pierson, Wright & Co., produced enough brine during a manufacturing season of eight months to make over 26,000 barrels of salt. At East Tawas the wells, 33 inches in diameter, fill a cistern of the above size in about 12 hours. At Port Austin the well fills a cistern in 17 hours."
424
HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
TESTING THE STRENGTH OF BRINES BY SALINOMETER.
The following is extracted from Alexander Winchell's report on the Geology of Michigan, published in 1861. It has been thought advisable to reprint it at length as a guide to our salt manufactur- ers:
"Pure water dissolves, at ordinary temperature, a little over one-third its weight of salt, or from thirty-five to thirty-six hun- dredths. The amount varies somewhat with the temperature; and the results of different experiments are, moreover, not perfectly accordant; but from the most accurate observations, it appears that 100 parts by weight of pure saturated brine, at temperatures from 32 ° to 70 ° Fahr., contain from 26.3 to 26.7 parts of salt. Some earlier determinations, however, gave but 25.7 parts, and upon this figure the table was calculated.
"Tlie specific gravity of a saturated brine at 60 ° Fahr. is 1.205, pure water being 1.000. The salinometer employed in many salt works for fixing the value of brine is an areometer with an arbitrary scale divided into 100 parts. The density of water on this scale is represented by 0° and that of saturated brine by 100 °. Each de- gree of the salinometer, therefore, corresponds very nearly to one- quarter of one per cent. of salt."
The following pages, on analyses, manufacture, etc., are also from Dr. Garrigues' report.
It must also be borne in mind that brines of the same strength possess different densities, depending upon the temperature, the density rapidly diminishing as the temperature rises. It is con- sequently necessary to experiment on brines at a uniform or stand- ard temperature. The ordinary standard for hydrometrical opera- tion is 60 º Fahrenheit's thermometer, but the standard tein pera- ture at the Onondaga salines is 52°, that being the natural tem- perature of the brine as it issues from the well.
BRINE ANALYSES.
The first practical attempt at salt-well boring in Grand Rapids was commeuced Ang. 12, 1859, and finished Oct. 14, being 257 feet deep. A sample of brine taken at this time was analyzed by Prof. Fish, with the following results:
Specific gravity. 1.01752
PER CENT.
PER CENT. Sulphate of lime. 0.13120
Fixed constituents.
2.33385 Chloride of calcium.
0.27641
Carbonate of iron
0.00145
Chloride of magnesium 0 07196
lime. 0.00473
Chloride of potassium
0.015€1
Free carbonic acid.
0.00603
Loss. 0.08841
Silicic acid.
0.00025
An analysis of brine from the first East Saginaw well, made by Prof. Douglass, April 11, 1860, is as follows:
Specific gravity.
1.179 Sulphate of lime. .116
Saline matter, per cent. . 23.017
Carbonate of iron. .105
Chloride of sodium (salt).
17.912
Chloride of potassium. .220
66
calcium ...
2.142
Water. . 77.983
magnesium
1.522
100.000
magnesia
0.00084
Chloride of sodium (salt). 1.73696
425
HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
.
The two brines, as the depths of the wells will show, are from the upper salt-bearing sand rock, and are quite characteristic of this formation, as shown by the large percentage of gypsum and low percentage of chlorides.
Swift & Lockwood's well, Saginaw City. Depth of well, 860 feet. Brine, 86 ° salinometer:
Sulphate of lime (gypsum).
0.0983
Chloride of calcium
2.6430
magnesium. 1.0685
sodium (salt). 17.5103
Saline matter 21.3201
Water. 78.6799
100.0000
East Saginaw Salt Manufacturing Company, East Saginaw. Depth of well, 806 feet. Salinometer, 80 ° :
0.1516
Chloride of calcium ... 2.2665
0.9629
magnesium
sodium (salt). 16.8636
Saline matter 20.2446
Water 79.7554
100.0000
These three specimens of brine, as the depth of the wells will show, are from the lower salt-bearing sand rock, called the Napo- leon sandstone by Winchell. The analysis shows a decrease in the percentage of gypsum, an increased percentage of the earth chlo- rides, and increased quantity of salt.
These are the representative brines of the Saginaw river, and are those which are mostly worked for their salt.
The analyses of these brines show a marked increase in the earthy chlorides, and are without doubt from a lower saliferous horizon, located in the Devonian strata, and consequently intermediate be- tween the Onondaga formation and the Michigan salt group-this same formation having been struck at Caseville, Huron county, at the depth of 1,750 feet, and at Blackmar's mills, 13 miles east of East Saginaw, at the depth of 1,675 feet. The new wells going down at Oscoda, Mich., are without doubt in this formation also.
The following analyses of Michigan brines, made by H. C. Hahn, Ph. D., will show the chemical composition of other brines not in- cluded in the above list:
Oneida Salt Company, Crow Island, Zilwaukee. Specific gravity of brine, 1.1864:
Sodic chloride (salt). 19.304
Ferrous carbonate 0.0054
Calcic chloride.
2.623
chloride.
0.0032
Magnesic chloride. 1.343
Magnesic bromide trace
Calcic sulphate (gypsum)
0.080
Carbonic acid.
carbonate. ..
trace
Water 76.269
Magnesic carbonate
99.6276
Sulphate of lime (gypsum).
426
HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
Analysis of a Saginaw City brine, inade by E. M. Vanflint, C. E., of Union College. Depth of well, 741 feet. Salinometer, 90° at 56 ° Fahrenheit:
Sodic chloride
17.940
Aluminous carbonate. .. 0.022
Calcic sulphate.
0.119 Bromide of magnesium.
0.236
chloride 2.591
Iodine, potassium, and lithium trace
Magnesic chloride.
0.627
Water .. 78 373
Ferrous carbonate.
0.092
100.000
RECEPTION AND SETTLING OF BRINE.
The salt manufacturer having satisfied himself in regard to the quantity and quality of the brine supply, must now be prepared with cisterns to store his brine during the process of settling. These cisterns, or outside settlers, were formerly built in size 20 by 30 feet and six feet deep, having a capacity of 25,000 gallons. More recently the size of these has been increased to suit the wants of the manufacturer. They are built of sound two or three-ineli plank, well and properly keyed together by strong gripes, and are also called to prevent leakage. These cisterns are elevated on piling or framed timbers, high enough to allow the settled brine to flow through pipes to the blocks. The connections from the cisterns into the pipes are six inches above the bottom, the flow of the brine being controlled by gates. The supply pipes from the cisterns are usually made of wooden pump logs having a three-inch bore.
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The brine, as shown by the analyses, contains a small percent- age of carbonate of protoxide of iron, held in solution by an excess of carbonic acid. If the brine was boiled down or evaporated with this iron in, it would give the salt a red color and very ma- terially affect its commercial value.
As soon as the cistern is filled with brine, preparation should be made to settle it. A tight box large enough to hold a barrel or more of water is placed on the top of the cistern. In this a proper quantity of fresh burnt lime is slacked with fresh water, enough being afterward added to fill the box so as to make a whitewash or milk of the lime. This mixture being a caustic lime is freely sprinkled over the brine. The brine is then thoroughly "plunged" -that is, it is stirred up until the lime is well mixed with the brine. The caustic mixture of lime having a strong affinity for the carbonic acid, extracts the same from the brine, thus releas- ing the iron which is precipitated with the lime to the bottom of the cistern as an insoluble peroxide of iron. The brine is then al- lowed to rest for 48 hours, when it is quite clear and ready for the boiling house or block. This process is called "settling," and on the care with which it is conducted depends much of the success in making good salt.
427
IIISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
EVAPORATION OF BRINE.
Having made a stock of settled brine, the next process in the manufacture of salt is the evaporation of the brine ; and this is ef- fected by three different methods :
1. By the direct application of fire-heat to kettles or pans.
2. By the use of steam-either exhaust steam from saw-mills or steam generated by flue boilers built expressly for the pur- pose.
3. By solar evaporation,
In Kettle Blocks .- A kettle block for evaporation of brine con- sists of a wooden building 140 feet long by 45 to 50 feet wide, with an elevation of 18 feet, so arranged as to admit of the steamn passing out of the ventilators. In this building are set from 50 to 60 kettles, having each a capacity of 100 to 120 gallons. The ket- tles are set in two rows over arches running from the mouth or furnace to the chimney. These are called "arches." These arches run close together, with a dividing wall between them; the kettles are set close together in a row, resting on the dividing wall on the one side and on the outside wall on the other.
The fire arch, or furnace, at the front is three feet from the bot- tom of the kettles ; from here the bottom of the arch gradually rises so that under the back kettles the space is only 10 to 12 inches. Here the flue passes into the chimney, which is about 40 to 50 feet high. Between the arches and the salt bins, which are under the same building, is the sidewalk. On this sidewalk the salt boiler operates in drawing the salt from the kettles into the draining baskets, which, when it is sufficiently drained, are wheeled off to the salt bins on this sidewalk or platform. The bins, which run the entire length of the block, are divided off in sections, and are made with open floors for the proper drainage of the salt. Through the center of the block, just on top of the middle wall, two sets of pump logs, or pipes are laid-one for fresh water and one for the settled brine, each of them being supplied with faucets for each kettle. The kettles, after being well cleansed, are filled with brine, and boiling soon commences after the fire is under good headway, A scum rises to the surface, which is taken off with a skimmer.
Of late years, owing to the dry and light material used for fuel (being the refuse slabs from saw-mills), the first 10 or 15 kettles in the arch are protected from the excessive heat by patent arches which are built over the fire flue and directly under the bottom of the kettle, By this arrangement, and a narrowing of the flue, the heat is distributed more evenly through the entire arch and the kettles boil more regularly.
Soon after the brine commences to boil the crystals of salt com- mence to form on the top and then fall to the bottom. When the brine is boiled down to about one-third the salt is dipped out with a ladle and thrown into a basket, which is placed over one side of the kettle. The salt is allowed to remain in the basket for two or
428
HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
three hours, the bitter water containing the earthy chlorides being thus drained off. Thorough drainage is considered an important point in this mode of manufacture. The balance of the brine or bitter water remaining in the kettle is now bailed ont and thrown into the drainage trough. The kettle is then rinsed ont with fresh water and again filled up with brine.
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