The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1893-09-16

haps, twenty or thirty feet wide and
from seven to eight feet In height A
section Of salt some thirty feet in\
thickness Is left between each
room rs n support to the solid mass
above. A thickness Of Eve or six feet
e left above as roof. and . substan-
tini roof II makes, as tho salt IN ita nat
ural state Is almost as hard as rock
There are no other supports than the
columns Of salt that nre left
''0f these rooms mentioned there are
fifty Or sixty AZ the present time. aud
the workmen arc distributed about.
working IN several .rooms at time.
There Is no necessity of a foreman in
each room, as the number OF carloads
Of salt delivered AZ the shaft tells the
tale as 70 whether tho men are shirk.
ing their duty or not. railway runs
through the main tunnel and branches
extc nd IN all directions The cars arc
hauled from the several rooms by large.
powerful mules. and there are some
thirty Of those In the mine.
There Is n blacksmith's shop In tho
mine where tho tools are repaired and
the mules are shod, and there Is also 4
large stable where the mules are shell
tered during tho night. OF course they
would he well sheltered In the mine,
anyway, but II allowed TO roam about
they could find nothing TO cat but salt
and the railroad truck. and the average
mule cannot exist on adict OF this kind.
This stahlcsisAfar ahead of the ordinary
stables about the country, and there Is.
every convenience and luxury for his
mulcship 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 eonbustible substance there
Is about the mine, and there are no OK
posed lights nuywhere about IT. Di-
reetly in the rear OF the stables Is what
Is known as the barnyard This Is n
large room cut III the solid salt, and
here the mules are turned ont for re-
enpcration.
.'0ne may imagine that snlt mine
h bad place To work, but inside from
the fret that It u little dismal there
are no bad features about ii. Unlike
q coal mine, il Is clean, and there II
almost I'M avan Temperature the year
around, ranging from ilftx-cight to
sixty degrees, winter ANA summer.
Tho ventilation Is perfect and the sya-
tenn for supply ing fresh mir IS not ex-
cellcd BY any mine la the world. In
some Of the passageways the air rushed
through with such velocity as To ex-
tinRuish the lights
THE experience In going up tho
shaft Is somewhat different from that
while going down Tho signal Is given
from below after you have boon safely
stationed Iii tho car. and away she
goes Your hat sinks down fitiy
ION your head and your clothing seems
10 sit right down tight whore II
belongs A person who Ii q lit
tie weak Ii the knees would also have
o tendency 10 cit right down tight on
the bottom Of the chr. The roar Of
tho wind as you hustle up toward day
light is about NIL that can be heard.
When near the top the speed Ii
lessened, md It Is then that one Inn
ngines that he Is going down agnin at
the rate Of about a thousand miles q
minute. but finally the daylight begins
to peep down Mt you and you are landed
safely on top, only few seconds hav-
ing elapsed since you walked upon the
car below