Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1859-12-15

entered another and loftier chamber, yawning
downward like the mouth of hell with cavern
Gus tunnels opening out of the further end
In these tunnels the workmen, half naked,
with torches in their hands, wild cries, fire.
works, and the firing of guns (Which here so
| reverberate in the imprisoned air that one can
feel every wave of Souud,) gave a rough rep
reSentation Of the Internal regions, for the
benefit of the crowned heads who visit the
mines. The effect must be indeed diabocal
| Even we. unexceptionable characters as we
were, looked truly unearthIy in our ghostly
| garments, amid the livid glare of the fireworks
| A little further, we struck upon a lake four
fathoms deep upon which VIC embarked in a
heavy square boat and entered gloomy tun-
mel, over the entrance of which was inscribed
in salt letters Good luck to you !" In such
place the motto seemed ironical \ Abandon
! hope, all ye who enter here" would have been
more appropriate. Midway in the tunnel, the
halls at either end were suddenly Illuminated,
and q crash as of hundred cannous below
! ing through the hollow vaults, shook the air
and water in such wise that our boat had not
ceased trembling when we landed in the furth.
er hall. A tablet inscribed Heartily well
come !" saluted US on lauding Finally, at the
! depth of four hundred and ffty feet, our jour
ney ceased, although we were but half way to
the bottom. The remainder is a wilderness of
shafts, galleries, and smaller chambers, the ex-
tent of which We could only conjecture We
then returned through scores of tortuous pass
ages TO some vaults where a 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 diff.
| fering from tha: of the ancient Egyptians in
quarrying granite. The blocks are first mark
ed out on the surface by a series of grooves
One side is then deepened to the required thick
ness, and wedges being Inserted under the
! block, it is soon split off. 1t is then split
transversely into pieces of one hundred weight
each, in which form i. is ready for sale
Those intended for Russia are rounded on the
edges and corners until they acquire the shape
of large coccons, for the convenience of trans
portaton into the interior of the country.
The number Of workmen employed in the
miues 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. aud relieved every six hours Each
gang quarries out, on an average, a little more
than one thousand hundred weight of salt 10
tha, space Of time, making the annual yield
, four million FIVE hundred thousand hundred
weight The men We saw were fne. muscular
healthy looking fellews, aud the officer, in
answer TO my questions, stated that their san
itary condition was quite equal 10 that of the
field laborers. Scurvy does not occur among
them, and the equality Of the temperature Of
the mines-which stands at 81 degree OF
! Fahrenheit all the year around has a favora-
bic effect upon such as are predisposed TO dis
eases Of the lungs. He was not aware of any
| peculiar form of disease induced by the sub
stance in which they work, notwithstanding
where the air is humid salt crystals form upon
/ the wood work. The wood | may here re
mark never rotS, and where untouched retains
/ It's quality for centuries. The officer explicit
ly 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 a stretch Of imagination to con-
ceive the extent of this salt bed As far as
explored, its length is two and a half English
miles, Its breadth q little over half a mile, and
Its solid depth six hundred feet below the sur
face. and Is then interrupted by sandstone, such
as form the peaks of the Carpathan mOua.
tains Below this there is no probability that
1t again reappearS. The general direction is
east and west, dipping rapidly at its western
extremity, so that it may, no doubt, push much
further in that direction notwithstanding
the immense amount already qGarried-and il
will be better understood when | state that
the aggregate length of the shafts and galleries
amount to foRr hundred aRd forty rgiies-it is
estimated that at the present rate OF explora
ha Lnlu -r'r 10 lo- -
under three bundled years The tripartle
treaty, or the partition of Poland, limits Aus
tria 10 tine present amouut-four million FIVE
hundred Thousand hundred weight annually
of which she is bound TO furnish thirty thou
sand huudred weight to Prussia, aud eight
hundred thousand TO RnSSia, leaving over
three million hundred weight to herself This .
sum yields her net revenue from the mines, ,
OF Two million forms, Isl, 900, 600, annually
1t IS 10. known how this wonderful deposit
more precious than gold itself-was origi- /
naliy discovered. We know that it was work
co 10 the twelfth century, and perhaps much
earlier The popular faith has invented sew
eral miracles to account for it giving the merit
TO faTorit saints. Que, which gravely publish .
I'd in s. The History Of Cracow,7 states that
Polish King, who wooed a princess Elizabeth .
u 1uu-aEf kuol luc SAINT Ol aTlouIEJ III +
the tenth century asked what she would choose /
as a bridal gift from him. Something that /
would most benefit his people. The marriage I
ceremony was performed in q chapel in one of .
The salt mines Of TrsBsylEsnis- Soon after 1
being transferred to CrscoE, Elizabeth went /
out TO Wiclieaka. surveyed the ground. and
alter choosing sPoL commanded the people /
to dig. In the course Of few days they found .
salt crystaL which the Queen caused to be /
set IN her Wedding ring, and wore until the /
day Of her death She must have been . WOO
derful geologist for those days TIE bed ae-
liw snGf@vmr ha