Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1854-03-21

ltHOuSuUu Icets1.|tte ftiio Rt6dt6St ueSC6nl dl
+. one time falling s,s6Fs OF Two hundred Iee,
? ln no pari was tla airunpeasani; the great
er GOODNESS wa5eompensaled by the con-
!. slant exercise md The thick miners dress.
Several lines we'famc upon large chambers
which showed Ni|', no briliancy as our poor
candles made ,lieif darkness visible, because
The sallspar is liked up with large masses
of eaf,h. iheugh some fine crystals are
shown a, a lide b0seum, in the center Of
the mountain. A||6f.his succession Of sim
liar passages had ea1n 10 be monoionons, q
ndmber Of li.de sis began 10 spring up
all around me. ~ j In fairy,land; and the
guide 10 fiat bosI Nhichan invisible Cha
ron sci in noiionf once across this lake Of
sal,, over three j sa6f6a lse, in lape,hs-.-
Here was The secre, secf6l> e|1sfAef
is excavaled. wood n>s 1Fs led N II md
from ii--ihe first 1|'01 5..11 be r6sh
water from mounia Sn.in4s which 6rddldl-
ly inpregnaies Use With s,rona brine: tben
after period Of m16ihs sFe lower pipes afe
opened, and The nso1mcufed IisiIe occa0
runs off 10 soms pIf16 where tood is plen,
ly-where alread seen Il aia distance Of
thirty miles, boiliae down in,o . beautiful!
peaily white ariel iof commerce. Twas
not lille perplexet at first, and find 9th.
er travellers have come away without oscer-
tanning how the-saIt was procured, by not
seeing the whole process going on a, once,
and from supposng9hai lhispond was made
by nature, and had no special concern with
The Government manufacture. But, as fast
as this lake is formed and the fresh water
dissolvng the salt and separating il from the
clay, another is prepored where The mineral
is ihoughllo be more abundant; and only the
worthless earth isseen in process o. removal
in little carts, while The precious salt carries
itself OUT, silently and away from obserya.
tion, in followed trunks Of ,rees. The great
care is to preven. The earth from falling in
upon the workmen and crushing them, us
has been the case repeatedly; but The most
surprising puzzle TO an uniniiialed observer
is, why, in the process OF six months or year
this water does not run off through some
natural outlet, by dissolving The salt in lis
way. These ponds mus. sometimes lie very
near together, and directly above one another
bes ides, as their roofs are entirely fla,, lre-
querdy destitute Of artificial support, and
what rock there Is crumbles 10 the touch, we
might expect these wide sheets Of water
would break through. Accidents however,
are rare, though there are sometimes forty
excavations in single mountain.
How parties Of pleasure feel in crossing
!over this death like lake a, sucha funeral
pace wiihno, o sound 70 break the oppressive
stiffness, und rdssiy4a single crystal reflect.
ling the feeble twinkle OF the illumination for
for which you have paid. can not say
but, to lone voyager like myself, il was one
OF the most solemn moments OF lile-datk.
ness seemed 70 rest like n tom bstone upon
me-none but fearful images filled my Wis
ions-ihe repose Of my body added to the
gloom Of my mind--and it was a blessed
relief when | could use my own limbs on
: whai seemed solid earth again:
: Sill other slides came, one at an angle oil
fifty degrees, and ons of The longest in all
The works, of four hundred and sixty eighl
. feet. This brought me as far down as The
! four miles Of winding road had carried me
up; but as there was none of its sudden
changes of view, no wild forest, merry
mounan- stream, knot Of cherry faced peas
ant girls, laughter Of happy childhood TO
, "cheer lhe toll and cheer the way" may
f be pardoned for wishing myself out.
But now came new vehicle. | stood
, alone in The very hear. Of this mountain oil
limestone, gypsum, and mari, when two wild
. boys mounted me between them upon a
wooden horse, on q rude enough wooden
railway, and, in moment, my seeds began
, 10 show their mettle, and was run through
passage of mile ,unneled in the solid
stone; once only The ragged coils paused to
, take breath, and to lie, me admire the ligh
from the mouth, which seemed nothing else
than brigh, blue star. Very soon genuine
daylight came 10 our relief; and. but slightly
> weared, bounded from the cavern mouth
10 take the Eilwagen on lis return 10 Salz
burgh.
learned liule more Of the salt trade o
Austria. lis q government affair, and sz
thousand men are said 10 be employed, some
in preparing the rock crystal for the market
some in boiling or evaporaling the sea water
: and more in connection with mines like tht
Durnberg. The men did not seem verJ
: healthy and one part Of the process mus
/ often cause The sacrifice Of life. A, Ebense,
! found them boiling down the water brough
q from Hallien, in thirty miles of pipes, and
z learned that whenever the iron vat leaks.
!. workman is obliged 10 wade through ,h'
n boiling liquid TO The injured place upon
" kind Of sllts--if his fee. should slip, h
would certainly boil to death. and if moi Q
q strong lungs he is likely 10 slihe--a horrbl
} fate either wny. For more than wee
= these fires are continued day and nigh,
= eating sadly into The forest, the salt bein
% removed as las. as it is crys,allized, and (res
Y brine poured in. Then the fire is exIing
!" uished, the pan, which is foot deep an
{, sixty round, thoroughly relinkered, the cal
" cnreous crust which aGheres 10 the bo,lor
!. and sides broken of, and poor plates replac
! ed by new.
a So much for tho great salt mine Of centr'
" Europe, great source Of wealth TO its Gov
ernmen,, and man dependence for prim
N necessary OF life Of southern Germany, an
Ia The countries 10 the eastward upon the Me-
N ilerraneah Sea. tg t.s4
ne
y Erie mt Last Triumphant.