The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1892-10-15
How 1t Is Operated a Thousand
Feet Under Ground.

like to go down that shaft, but let II:
tell o that hen you once stood oil
the verge of that yawning hoe waiting
for the car to let you down, it is two
to n that your courage would fai
you and you would inform tn,
guide that you would postpone
the trip until some other day. Super
intcndent ChapIn was the one who
went with lis, and, of course. there
was no cause for alarm. as he know.
the workings of the whole plant from
one end To the other. Well, We jumped
into the car and waited for the sigma
to start and we did not have t. wait
long before the gong sounded and thai
was the signal to let her go. From
that time until we reached the bottom
no man will ever be fully able TO de
scribe the experience.
When the signal sounds. the frs
thing you do Is to hug your hat dowr
on yOur head for keeps. and by tn,
time that you have got that act accom-
plished it seems as though you were
going down at about the rate of 4 thou
sand miles a minute. You have seer
one streak Of creased lightning chas,
an~other-well, it's no comparison. II
seems as though the cable has been cut,
and You are just dropping down to the
bottom. SOu can't see, and the only
thing to be heard is that terrible roal
of tn" air aS you rush through space.
After the first two or three hundred
feet there is n feeling it would be hard
to explain, sort of goncncss as it were,
and yOa don't care much whether
school keep, or not, and the changes
are SO different and varied that one be.
gins TO wonder what will come next.
when near the bottom the car on
which you are riding begins to slow up,
and then comes the most peculiar ex-
perirncc of all. You imagine that Won
are shooting upward, and you will soon
he among the stars. Iou can imagine
the sensation from going down at the
rate of about one hundred miles a min
ute to going up at about seven times
that rate. Finally the car lands at the
bottom of the shaft, and you breathe a
sigh of relief as you step out.
We'll. the first thing You do is to
look for salt; it's there, all around you,
above, beneath, on all sides. but it
don't look like salt near the bottom of
the shaft, as lights are burned con-
~stautly and the smoke has blackencd
the walls. You look away to the east.
through "A long. dark tunnel, and you
discern in the far distance some flicker
ing lights, aud you arc informed that
they are lights used by the workmcn
who are engaged in mining the salt.
Your guide steps up To a man near
where you land and says: Three lights.
please and three tallow candles are
handed out. IL may seem a little
strange hat tallow candles are used in
this age of kerosene. gas and clectrici-
ty, but such is the case. and they are
the Only lights used in the mine, and
each man carries one. and they are
hung up from the ceiling where the
mining of salt is going on, and they
are the handiest lights that can be
used. They don't purchase these lights
by the dozen or hundred, but by the
carload.
The candles were lighted, and with
them in hand we followed the guide
and proceeded to make a tour of the
mine: we might add. a partial tour, for
it would take a person something like
n week to walk all over the mined ter
ritory. We followed the guide along
through dark and winding pathways,
until we relched n point where the
workmen were busily engaged mining
the salt. They were not ut work with
posed. but were breaking up the large
Jumps and ~shoveling it into the cars,
the salt having been blasted out ahead
OF them While some were engaged in
shoveling the salt, others were drilling
holes INTO the solid mass, making ready
Tor a blast, machines IL by COM
pressed air oeihS used Tor TINS purpose.
AS before stated, the main tunnel
directly east, and Is nearly n half
mile In length. Near the shaft two
other tunnels branch OF from the main
one on either side, and run par
ailei WIN IL lhcse, we believe, are
termed alrshaltS FROM these shafts
oofns oranch on ooth north and south,
aco IN THESE rooms Is where inc salt Is
mined. ihese rooms are nothing more
less IMAM snort unneis ana III time
Pr"oaoiy oe iehSthehed out rs Tar
aS the MAIN tunnei or even farther as
Iii ~ any unee'ioh anu
are per,
- al"
"a
,Ltainaa : IL. -
- ~ e'e"
'o"Ai a. S"Pioib u" 'Hc S'iiu Hidss