DEAD SEA SALTS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 72, 7 March 1933, Page 10

DEAD SEA SALTS

SCHEME FOR EXTRACTION HEALTH AND HOLIDAYS. LAND OF SUNSHINE. The scheme for extracting the potash, bromine and other salts from the waters of the Dead Sea is being rapidly developed by Palestine Potash, Limited, under the direction of Mr M. Novomeysky. This company was organised in London in the latter part of 1929, and now owns the 75 years’ concession granted by the Government of Palestine and trans-Jordania to Messrs Novomeysky and Tulloch The work of erecting the plant at the Dead Sea is proceeding rapidly and satisfactorily. The operations during the first, working season fully confirmed the results obtained by the experimental work of the preceding years and have proved the possibility of manufacturing potash from the waters of the Dead Sea by applying the. sun’s rays as fuel for evaporating and precipitating ilio chemical salts. The conipanys’ expectations concerning the. quality and quantity of the crude potash salts produced and the cost of production have been entirely fulfilled. At the end of 1930 more than 350 workmen were employed by Palestine Potash, Limited. Housing accommodation and sanitary conditions are ex'eellent. Should this year’s operations prove as satisfactory as those carried out in 1930, the company will have to consider construction of a narrowgauge railroad from the Dead Sea to Beisan, in order to create for itself direct communication with the port at Haifa. ENORMOUS SALTS DEPOSITS. Competent exports have cstiimitcd that there are in the Dead Sea approximately the following quantities of salts in metric tons: Potassium chloride, 2000 million; magnesium bromide, 980 million; sodium chloride, 11.000 million; magnesium chloride, 22,000 million; calcium chloride, 6000 million. Potash is used primarily in the manufacture of fertiliser. Bromine is required for medicines used in the treatment of nervous diseases and in the manufacture of chemicals connected with the dye-stuff industry. Magnesium chloride is used in the manufacture of magnesium metals and in the dressing i of cotton goods. This undertaking should, if successful, lay the foundations of a heavy chemical industry in Palestine and should stimulate the establishment of many other industries. Major T. G. Tulloch, one of the promoters of Palestine Potash, Limited, recently told a London “Star” reporter; ‘‘After living a couple of years on the shores of the Dead Sea, all my ideas of Palestine have been changed. 'flic country surrounding the Dead Sea, when properly explored, reveals some of the most wonderful scenery I have ever seen and the climate is marvellous. I have visited many health resorts — open air sanatoria and sun-ray establishments—but the little bay we have, discovered on the shore of the Dead Sea is Nature’s own sanatorium, and one of our schemes is to establish a health clinic there.” The wonders of the Dead Sea and the possibilities of this historic, but not very well-known region as a pleasure and health resort are dealt with by Mr Israel B. Brodie in an article in the publication “New Palestine.” He w rites:— TREATMENT OF RHEUMATIC TROUBLES. ‘‘Hundreds of English people who have wasted years travelling over the world in search of a cure for rheumatic troubles have been permanently cured in a week by bathing in the Dead Sea. It is a natural cure which is duo to a combination of unique conditions. In the fir. : place the waters of the Dead Sea contain 25 per cent, of salts of magnesium, magnesium bromide and potassium chlorides. No other waters in the world contain such a high percentage of these chemical compounds. The water is so dense that it is impossible to sink in' it, and the temperature so warm that one can remain for hours without any risk. ‘‘The atmosphere is extremely dry, and the sunshine is practically continuous for seven months, and the rainfall is only two inches per annum. The number of hours of sunshine is double that of the sunniest spot, in Europe. But the most important atmospheric fact, is that our proposed resort is the lowestlying open country in the world. The Dead Sea lies 1300 ft. below sen level, which means that the air there contains six per cent, more oxygen per cubic foot than at sea level. One health-giving effect of this is that the call on the heart is correspondingly reduced and a feeling of extra mental and physical energy is engendered. ABUNDANCE OF FRUIT. “Those arc the reasons wc are establishing a health clinic —and why wc are calling it a health resort as well as a pleasure resort.. Although there are no fish in the Dead Sea, there are many varieties i.i the trans-.lordanian streams and gorges where the sub-tropical vegetation, hot and cold bathing pools and the scenery arc marvellous. “While it may be snowing in Jerusalem—only 59 minutes away by ear on a new metalled road —it is always sifnshinc on the, shores of the Dead Sea. with strawberries, oranges ami ironical fruits growing all the year round.”