The Cairo Daily Bulletin

SALT IN EGYPT.

CAPT. HALLIDAY'S WELL AT ST. JOHNS, NEAR DU QUOIN.

A FINE WELL CAPABLE OF FURNISHING SUFFICIENT WATER TO MANUFACTURE SIXTY BARRELS PER DAY—A DIFFICULTY IN THE WAY—TOO MUCH LIME,

[From the Du Quoin Tribune, June 10th.]

We have before us a specimen of salt manufactured from the salt well at St. Johns mines, one mile north of this city. So far as we are able to judge, it is a superior quality of salt.

We are informed that this well is capable of furnishing sufficient mineral water to manufacture sixty barrels of salt per day. If this be so, it is a mystery to us why it should be allowed to remain idle so long. It is now over a year since the well was sunk, and so far there has been but little done with it beyond mere experimenting. The greatest obstacle in its manufacture is said to be the difficulty of eliminating the lime, with which the water is strongly impregnated; or rather, its adhesion to the pan in which the process of evaporation is effected. In fact this seems to be the only difficulty to be overcome. It does seem that this difficulty ought to be overcome in this age of science. That this matter has not been referred to scientific men for a solution, is, to us passing strange. It may be more difficult to obviate than we imagine, but the advantage and value to this part of the country, to manufacture its own salt can hardly be estimated, and ought not fail for want of proper effort.

The expense, we understand, is comparatively light, in converting this brine into salt. It is claimed that with the difficulty above mentioned, the profits of the well would excel that of our coal mines. This, however, we very much question. But remove this drawback, and we know of no reason why salt manufacturing should not be as profitable here as elsewhere. More than this, we will venture the assertion that, whenever this difficulty is overcome, salt wells in Du Quoin will outnumber coal mines, employ equally as many skilled and unskilled laborers. When that time shall be we cannot now tell, but we hope the time is not far in the future.