The Iowa transcript. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1858-1866, 1859-02-10

enough to supply the 4o,ooo,ooo inhab-
itants in Austria one year.
Two obclisks Of salt commemorated
the visit Of Francis ], and his npress
in another spacious irregular vault,
through which VIC passed by means Of a
wooden bridge resting on piers Of the
crystalline rock. After We had descend
cd to the bottom Of this chamber, a boy
ran along the bridge above with . burn
ing Bengal light, throwing flashes Of
blue lustre on the obclisks, on the scar
red walls. vast arches, the entrance to
deeper halls, and the far roof, fretted
with the picks Of the workmen. The ef
feet was IN agical-wonderful. Presently
" we cntered an til r and loftier chamber,
yawning downward with cayernous tun-
nels opening out Of the further end.
A little further, we struck upon a
lake four fathoms deep, upon which We
embarked in heavy square boat and en-.
tered a gloomy tunnel, over the entrance
of which was inscribed-in salt letter
"good luck to you!' In such place
the motto seemed ironical. "Abandon
hope, oil ye who enter here" would
have been more appropriate. Midway
in the tunnel, the halls at either end
were suddenly illuminated, and crash,
as of hundred cannon believing through
the vaults, shook the air and water in
such wise that our boat had not ceased
trembling VIXEN we landedin the further
hall A tablet inscribed hearty welcome,
saluted US on landing. Finally, at the
depth of four hundred and fifty feet, our
journey ceased, although we were but half
way to the bottom. The remainder is
wilderness Of shafts, galleries and 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, ma
ked to the hips, were busy, with pick
mallet and wedge, blocking out and sep
arating the solid pavement.
The process is quite primitive, scarce
" different from that Of the ancient
Egyptians in quarrying granite. The
blocks are first marked out on the sur
face by series Of grooves. One side
is then deepened to the required thick
ness, and wedges being insarsed under
the block, it is soon split off. Itis then
split transyersely into peices Of one
hundred weight each. 1inghich form it
is ready for sale. I Intended for
Russia are rounded on the edges and
corners until they acquire the shape OF
large cocoons, for convenience Of trans
portation into the interior of the coun-
try.
The number Of workmen emplopedin
the mine is fifteen hundred, all Of whom
belong to the upper crust that is,
they live on the outside Of the world
They are divided into gangs, and re
lieye each other every six hours, Each
.gaug s4uarries out, on an average, lit
tie more than one thousand pounds Of
salt in that space Of time, making the
annual yield 100000 pounds. The
men we saw were fne, NJ VASCULAR, healthy
looking fellows, aud the officer, in an :
s|er to my questions, stated that their
sanitary condition was quite equal to
that Of the field laborers. Scuryy does
not occur among them, and the equality
Of the temperature Of the mines-which
stands at 540 Fahrenheis all the year
round-has favorable effect upon such
as are predisposed to diseases Of the
lungs. He was not aware of any pecu-
form Of disease induced by the substance
in which they work, Notwithstanding
whero the air is humid, salt crystals
form upon the wood work. The wood.
! may here remark, never rots, and
where untouched retains its quality for
centuries. The officer explicitly denied
the story Of men having been born in
these mines, and having gone through
life without ever mounting to the upper
world
It requires stretch Of imagination
TO conceive the extent Of this salt bed.