New-York daily tribune., 1858-08-16

fsthors deep, upon Thicb We embarked n heavy
,qua,e bo:t sid entered g. any tlaael over :te
entrsnce Of which wss inscribed Cil 81. le.,ers)
"GooI luck 20 you n suct Pscs :he 7 ,.t3
,eemed iropicsl. Abandon hope. all ys WIZ en,er
here" would have been more sporoPr.s.. MI
way il TIE t1nnel tie halls s, sitke- ED we're
suddenly illumins.ei and crash, ~ o. s tlo1cei
csDncD, believing through tie holio vaults. - ,ok
the sir AID wster in sucb Ei.e ia: ou' oo.. ald
not ee.sed trembling when re landed n re fdr.ter
hsD. Res3 Tssso:
y-Ts. e 81, .p,i,.s !, s.. ~, ,v,, ,s,,n.
if you wsnt 70 hear the ,ound Of i. table. ic-
.cribed heartily welcome - saluted us il lsni
Ing. Finally at The depth Of $50 fee. our journey
ceased, although we were bu. hall way to the hos-
tom. The remainder s wilderness Of shsfLs,
galleries snd smaller chambers the extent Of which
we could only conjecture. We then returned
through scores Of tortuous passages to some vaults
where lot Of gnomes, naked to the hips, were
busy with pick mallet and wedge, blocking out
and separating the solid pavement. The process is
quite primitive, scarcely differing from that Of the
sncieDt Egyptians in qu.rryng granite. TIE
blocks are first marked out on the surface by
series Of grooves. One side is then deepened to
the required thickness, and wedges being inserted
under the bleck il is soon split off. Il is then split
tIsnsyersely into pieces Of cwt each, in which
form it is ready for sale. Tho,e intended for
Russia are rounded on the edges and corners uati
they acquire the shape of large cocoons. for the
convenience Of transportation into the interior OF
the country.
The number of workmen employed in the mines
is 500 all of whom belong to the upper crust
that s, they live on the outside Of the world.
They divided into gangs, and relieve each other
every six hours. Each gang quarries out, on an
average, a little more than 1000 cxt. Of salt in
that space of time, making the annual yield ,5OO-
600 cwt. The men we saw were foe, muscular,
healthy looking fellows and the officer, in answer
to my questions, stated that their sanitary condi-
tion was quite equal to that of the field labOrers
Scurvy does not occur among them, and the equality
of the temperature Ct the mines-which stands at
"a Of Fahrenheit all the year round-hss favor
able effect upon such as are predsposed to diseases
of the lungs. He was not aware of any peculiar
form of disease induced by the substance in which
they work, notwithstanding where the air is humid
ialt-cry,tals form upon the woodwork. Tne woe1,
l may here remark, never rots, and where un.
touched retains its quality for centuries The
officer explicitly denied the story of men having
been born in these mines, aud having gone through
life without ever mounting to the upper world.
So there goes another interesting fiction of our
youth.
1t requires stretch of Imagination to conceive
the extent of this salt bed. AS far as explored its
length is tive and half English miles, its breadth
little over half mile, aud its solid depth 600 feet
1t commences about 200 feet below the surface,
and is then uninterrupted to the bottom, where it
rests on bed Of compact sandstone, such as forms
the peaks of the Carpathan Mountains. Below
this, there is no probability that it again reappeara.
The general direction s east and west, dipping
rapidly at its western extremity, so that it may no
doubt be pushed much further in that direction.
Notwithstanding the immense amount Slrea1y quar-
ried-and il will be better understood when state
that the aggregate length of the shafts and galleries
amounts to four hundred and hcenty miles-it is es
timated that at the present rate of exploitation, the
known supply cannot be exhausted under 800 years.
The trpartite treaty, on the partition Of Poland,
limits Austria to the production of the present
amount 500, 900 cwt. annualy-Of which she is
bound to furnish SOC, 900 cwt. to Prussis, aud
500, 600 to Russia, leaving 400 600 cwt. for herself
This sum yields her net revenue from the mines,
of two millions Of forins ($l OOO,O ,OOO) annually.
1t is not known how this wonderful deposit
more precious than gold itself-was originally dis
covered. We know that it was worked in the
twelfth century, and perhaps much earlier. The
popular faith has invented several miracles to ac-
count for it, giving the merit to favorite saints.
one, which is gravey published in 1.-The History
of Cracow," states that POli,h King, who wOoed
Princess Elizabeth of Hungary (not the saint Of
the Wartburg) in the tenth century, asked what
which che replied Something that would most
benefit bis people. The marriage ceremony was
performed in chapel in one Of the satmine Of
Transy lvania. Soon after being transferred TO
Cracow, Elizabeth went out TO Wieliczka, surveyed
the ground, and after choosing spot, commanded
the people to dig. In the course Of q few days
they found saltcrysta which the Queen caused
to be set in her wedding ring, and wore uotil the
day of her death She must have been wonderful
peologist, for those days. The bed actually follows
the Carpathisns, appearing at intervals in small
deposits, into Transyl7sns, where there are e1ten
sive mines 1t is believed, also, that it stretches
northward into Russian Poland Some years ago
the Bark Of Warsaw expended large sums in boring
for salt near the Austrian frontier. There was
much excitement and speculation for q time; but
although the mineral was found, the cost Of quar-
ring it was too great, and the enterprise was
dropped.