An important Discovery.
The difficulty of procuring acids since the blockade of our ports has been a serious one to the telegraph lines in the Southern Confederacy. Operators have resorted to various expedients — such as blue vitriol, copper batteries, &c. A short time ago the President and Superintendent of the Texas Telegraph Company concluded, as an experiment, to try Sour Lake water instead of sulphuric acid.--A battery was fitted up, giving a large surface of zinc to the action of the water, and the result was satisfactory. The line of this company is now worked by a battery of Sour Lake water.Sour Lake is a small lake or pond of water situated in Hardin county, Texas, a few miles from the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, and about 35 miles from the city of Houston. The waters are quite acid to the taste, those of the surrounding springs bearing a close resemblance to tartaric acid water. It is believed that for telegraphic purposes the water of this lake might be transported in barrels to any part of the Confederacy.
