Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-03
DOWN IN A SALT MINE.
What Men Do There a Thousand Feet Un-
der Ground.

What Men Do There a Thousand Feet Un-
der Ground.
From the Geneseo Democrat
As our readers are aware, we have been work
ing for the past three or four years to get pass
down into the Retsof salt mine at York 1t SC
happened one day recently that two personal
friends of ours had business down in the mine,
and, meeting US afterward, they gave us a very
graphic description Of the trip, so much so that
we almost imagined we were with them from
the time they left the top until they returned
again, and for the benefit of our readers we will
give their description of what they experienced
and what they saw. Referring to the matte,
they said:
You may imagine that you would like to &c
! down that shaft, but let us tell you that when
you once stood on the verge of that yawning
| hole waiting for the car to let Won down it is
| two to one that your courage would fail you
| and you would inform the guide that you would
| postpone the trip until some other day. Supt.
| Chaplin was the one who went with us, and OF
course, there was no cause for alarm, as he
knows the workings of the whole plant from one
end to the other. We'll, we jumped into the
car and waited for the signal to start and we
| did not have to wait long before the gong
| sounded, and that was the signal to let her
| go. From that time until we reached the bot
| tom no man will ever be fully able to describe
| the experience.
when the signal sounds the first thing YOU
do is to hug your hat down on your head for
keeps, and by the time you have got that act
| accomplished it seems though YOU were
| going down ut about the rate of 900 miles n
minute. You have seen one streak of creased
| lightning chase anOther-well, it s no compare
son. 1t seems as though the cable has been GU,
and you are just dropping down to the bot
tom. You cant see. and the only thing to be
heard Is that terrible roar Of all as You rush
through SPACE. After the first 200 or 800 feet
| there Is a feeling il would be hard to explain
sort OF n goneness. as it were-and YOU don't
care much whether school keeps or not. and the
changes are so different and varied that one
begins to wonder what will come next.
when near the bottom the car which you
are riding begins to slow up. and then comes
the most peculiar experience of all You i'm
agine that YOU shooting upward. and You
viii soon be among the stars. You can imagine
the sensation from going down ~ the rate of
about 100 miles a minute 10 going up at about
seven times that rate. Finally the car land, at
| the bottom of the shaft. and you breathe q sigh
of relief az you steU out.
well. the first thing Won do il to look for
salt; it 3 there. all around you. above, beneath,
on all sides. but il don't look much like salt
near the bottom of the shaft. as lights are
burned constantly and the smoke has b!ackened
he walls. loI look away to the east through
| a long. dark tunnel, and Won discern in the far
distance some flickeriHg lights. and you are in
formed that they are lights used by the work
men who are engaged in mining the salt. Your
guide steps mp 10 man near where YOU land
and rays: Three lights, please, and three tai
low candles are handed out. 1t may seem a
little strange that tallow candles are used in til
age OF keroSene. gas and electricity. but such 3
the case. and they are the only lights used in
the mine. and each man carries one and thev
are hing up from the ceiling where the mining
of salt is going on. and they are the handiest
ia ~ he hay a n'f
these lights by the dozen or hundred, but BY
the carload.
1.-The candles were lighted. and with them in
hand we followed the guide and proceeded to
make tour of the mine; we might add par
tial tour. for it would take a person omething
like week to walk all over the mined territory
We followed the guide along through dark and
| winding pathways. until we reached a point
where the workmen were busily engaged MN
ing the salt. They were not at work with picks
| picking 1t out as might be supposed bat 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 for a blast,
machines run by compressed air being used for
| this purpose.
| AS before stated. the main tunnel runs d.
rectly east and is nearly half mile in length.
! Near the shaft two other tunnels branch off
| from the main tunnel. one on either side and
run parallel with it. These. we believe, are
, termed air shafts From these shafts rooms
branch off both north and south and in these
rooms Is where the salt is mined. These rooms
are nothing more nor less than short tunnels
and in time will probably be heightened out az
far as the main tunnel or even further as they
can 60 miles in any direction and still be in the
salt. The rooms are. perhaps. twenty or thirty
feet wide and from seven to eight feet in height.
4 section of salt some thirty feet in thickness
/ Is left between each room as q support to the
solid mass above. thickness of five or SIX
! feet is left above a roof and Substantial
roof 1t makes. the salt in its natural state is
almost as hard as rock. There are no other
/ supports than the columns of salt that are left
"Of these rooms mentioned there are fiftv or
sixty at the present time. and the workmen are
distributed about, working in several rooms at
IA time. There is no necessity of foreman in
! each room as the number Of carloads Of salt
delivered at the shaft tells the tale as TO whe
the men are Sinking their duty or not. rail-
way runs through the main tunnel, and
branches extend in all directions. The cars are
hauled from the several rooms bv large, POWER
full mules, and there are some thirty OF these in
. the mine.
J There is a blacksmith's shop in the mine
where the tools are repaired and the mules are
shod. and there is also large stable where the
mules are sheltered during the night. or course
/ they would be well -heltered in the mine. any
way, but 1t allowed to roam about they could
| find nothing to eat but salt and the railroad
track, and the average mule canno. exist on q
diet OF this kind. This stable is far ahead of
the ordinary stables about the country, and
there Is every convenience and luxury for hi.
muleship. The stables are some forty or fifty
feet in length and twenty or thirty feet wide
with wood floor and wooden stalls and Managers
| This is the only combustible substance there j,
about the mine, and there are no exposed light
anywhere about it, Directly in tho rear of the
stables is what is known as the barnyard. Thi.
Is a large room cut in the solid salt and here
the mules are turned out for recuperation.
lone NAV imagine that a salt mine is a bad
place 20 work. but aside from the fact that it i.
little dismal there are no bad features about
1t. Unlike q coal mine, i; is clean. and there i.
almost an even temperature the year around
ranging from So to 60 degrees winter and sum
mer. The ventilation is perfect, and the sys
tenn for supplying fresh air Is not excelled by
any mine in the world. In some Of the passage
WAYS the air rushed through with such velocity
as to extinguish the lights.
The experience in going up the shaft is some
what different from that whise going down. Tn,
signal is given from below after you have be e,
safely stationed in the car, and away she goes
your hat sinks down firmly on your head ant
your clothing seems to sit right down tigh
where it belongs. A person who is a little veal
in the knees would also have tendency to 81
right down tight on the bottom of the car Tn
roar OF the wind as you hustle up toward day
light is about all that can be heard. When nea
the top the speed is lessened, and it il then tina
one imagines that he is going down again at tn
rate Of about 1000 miles o minute, but fnall,
| the davli0ht bAOins DAou dorm AZ q