The Arizona sentinel., 1888-09-15
PETITE ANSE ISLE.

PETITE ANSE ISLE.
 A Queer Island in Southern Louisiana ana
 Its Marvellous Salt Mine.
 ! Apparently without cause there rises out of the marsh lands bordering the Gulf of Mexico, west of the Mississippi river, a cluster of hills, forming what is known as Petite Anse Isle. It is the only high land to be found in the southern part of Louisiana, and it will always remain a wonder that such an elevation should appear in so unex- pected a place. To realize that it is an island is hard until one tries to ap- proach it, and then, especially if the wind is in the right direction, to flood the marshes with gulf water, you will think it the islandest island you ever saw. There is but one way of reach ing 1t, and that is by a dislocated plank road, some parts of which are buried in mud while in places blanks finger patiently about fuctuating with tho tide. It is an ex- ceedingly pleasant sensation which one experiences when the nigh" horse all but disappears in some unforeseen alli- gator ''wallow," especially as the road is narrow and D deep canal fanking either side waits to receive those un- able to keep the straight and narrow way.
 Not content with the absurdity of it's location, Petite Anse is wonderful in its composition. Dig down anywhere twenty-seven or thirty feet and you will strike white salt ninety-nine and half per cent. pure, the purest found on the face of the globe Dig down two hundred feet and you will still find salt, and when you have dug thus far you will know as much about the extent of this big salt rock as any one Possibly 1t extends two hundred feet deeper, but no one knows. Twenty-Five years ago Deacon Keller, as honest an old darhy as ever served master faithfully, Was sent down into an old well to clean it out. and in so doing struck his spade against rock, which proved to be salt To-day the Avery brothers, owners of the Petite Anse Island, re- ceive a royalty of from S60 to $l00 a day from the New Iberia Salt Mine Company, and Deacon Keller is "At yo' services, sah. rse a DO ole man, but I'm trabbling de road ter Zion mighty libely."
 The main shaft to the mine is 190 feet deep, radiatfng from which are several immense caverns varying in height from ten to sixty feet, grottoes with solid salt roof and walls Do not expect the walls to sparkle. The miners lamps have smoked until a scurf has formed which shuts in the glittering salt Only where blast has been made recently does it look pure. It is mine that can be visited in very short time satisfactorily, there nothing to watch but the min CTS working with drill and pick by the light of the little lamps they wear in their caps, or the lights which twinkle in the distance, or go fitting by in a spectral manner. All though the guide assures you that the roof is sufficiently thick to prevent it's caving, and that, even should it fail, you would be well preserved, it seems good to be shot up the shaft in the elevator to the pure air. A conglom- eration of buildings of well-assorted sizes and shapes, most of them filled with an endless variety of wheels and chains and belts and pulleys, consti- tute the mills. The salt is first hoisted to the top of a high tower from whence it goes down through series of crushers and sifters, finally to be bagged up on the main floor and loaded into the cars. Buildings and workmen are well seasoned, clouds of fine salt filling the air and giving every thing hoary appearance; and even outside the mill clouds of salt fill the air, killing or stunting vegetation in the immediate neighborhood. Springfield (IMGSs.) Republican.