Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-10-12
PETITE .ANsE.
A Queer lslNsss tn Southern l.o,,;siessu
astG It's Wonderful Ss,lt Mines

I
Queer IslNad tn Southern l.o.sisiessu,
a',d It's Wonderful Salt Mines.
Apparently without cause there rises
out Of the marsh lands bordering the
Gulf OF Mexico, west of the Mississippi
River. q cluster of hills, forming what
is known as Petite Anse Isle, says a
letter to the Springfield NLass.,) Re
publican. 1t is the only high land to
he found in the southern part Of Louisi-
ana, and it will always remain q won
der that such an elevation should ap-
pear in so unexpected place. To ne
allze that it is an island is hard until one
tries to approach it, and then, especially
if the wind is in the right direction to
flood the marshes with gulf water, you
will think it tire islanllest island YOU
ever saw. There is but one way of
reaching it, and that is by 81 dislocated
plank road, some parts OF which are
buried in mud, while in places planks
llnger patiently about ffuctuating with
the tide. 1t is an exceedingly pleasant
sensation which one experiences when
the nigh horse all but disappears in
some unforeseen alligator "wallow,e es-
pecially as the road is marrow and a
deep canal fanking either side waits to
receive those unable to keep the straight
and narrow way.
Not content with the abs,,rdity of its
location, Petite Anse is wonderful in its
composition. Dig down anywhere
twenty-seven or thirty feet and you will
strike white salt 80! per cent. pure, the
plnest 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
anyone. Possibly 1t extends two hum
dred feet deeper, but no one knows.
Twenty five years ago Deacon Keller,
as honest an old darby as ever served a
master faithfully, was sent down into an
old we'll 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, receive a royalty of from $50 to
500 day from the New Iberia Salt
Mine Company, and Deacon Keller is
AT yo' services, sab. Use POI ole man,
but I'm trabbling de rode ter Zion
mighty ibely."
The main shaft to the mine is 100 feet
deep, radiating 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 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 a very short time satisfac-
torily, there being little variety to the
salt, and nothing to watch but the min
ers working with drill and pick by the
light of the little lamps they wear in
their caps, OF the lights which twinkle
in the distance, or go fitting by in a
spectral manner. Although the guide
assures you that the roof is sufficiently
thick to prevent it's caving, and that,
even should it fall, you would be we'll
preserved, it seems good to be shot up
the shaft in the elevator to the pure ali.
A conglomeration Of buildings of we'll
assorted sizes and shapes, most of them
filled with an endless variety Of wheels
and chains and belts and pulleys, con-
stitute the mills. The salt is first hoisted
to the top Of a high tower from whence
it goes down through series of crush
ers and sifters, finally to be bagged up
on the main floor and loaded into the
cars. Building and worlzmen are we'll
seasoned, clouds of fine salt filling the
all and giving everything hoary APP
pearance; and even outside the mill
clouds Of salt fill the air, killing OF
stunning vegetation in the immediate
neighborhood.