A HOT PLACE

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 4 May 1923, Page 5

A HOT PLACE

. »_ J. DEATH VALLEY. j' The hottest spot in the world is ' )eath Valley, au uriu, suuisen plain in . California, about t-.v^ivc miles m width-; aid 100 miles in ien^ta. j '' Its maximum temperature cf 160 decrees Fah. has never been equalled elsewhere. Even at midnight ti.e mersury hovers round 120 degrees, and so lot does the earth become that a rock )r a piece of iron scorches the,hand. It is from this district that the ivorld obtains its supply of borax. Until recently the commodity had to be hauled by specially-built motor lorries bo the nearest railway station. 165 miles distant. • j Driving these lorries in the more tor- j rid season proved fearfully trying., Before now drivers have been found dead, yet holding a canteen of water ir» their hand. In a few hours the water carried in the tank becomes so heated by the sun's rays that frequently it was pumped into the boiler at almost steam-producing stage. Engineers have now conquered this death spot by linking the most important mines with the outside world by railway. It has meant the erection of; miles of trestle embankments made from stout timber. What the men dreaded was not the loneliness of their surroundings, but the pitilesjs sun. Some idea of the intense heat experienced may be imagined when it is stated that a writingdesk provided for the engineer curled. split and fell to pieces in a few days. Now the railway has been completed and is bringing out borax at the rate at three million tons a year.