The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1893-02-28
DOWN IN .A SALT NINE.
How It ID opeFatcd q Thousand
Feet Under Ground

AS onr readers are rs are, We hare
been working fF the past three ~
four years 10 get ! pass down into The
Retsof salt mine az York. 81 ne Cen
eseo Democrat II 50 happened one
day recently that two personal friends
81 ours had business down In the mine.
and, meeting Us afterwasd. they gave
us very graphic description Of the
trim. so much sd that we almost mag
ined we were with them from tho time
they left the top nsitii Trey returned
again, and for tie benefit ~ onr read
ers We viii give their description Of
what they experienced and what they
saw. Referring ID the matter they
said.
You may i;ns.gine that Won would
like 10 20 down that sliaft, but let us
tell yoa that when you once stood On
the verge Of that yawning hoe waiting.
for the car 81 let yon down, II II tEyo
10 one that your conragc wonld fail
you ana you would inform the
guide that you syonld resstpon
the trip until some other dag Super
intcpdcnt Chapln WIS the one who
went with rs, and, IA eeufsc- there
wis no cause Tor alarm, as he knows
the workings If the whole plant from
one end 10 tho other Well, 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 i've reached the bottom
no man will ever be fully able 10 de-
scribe the experience
when the signal sounds, Tire FIRST
thing you do IS to hug your hat down
on your head for keeps, and by the
time that You have got that act accom-
plished II seems as though sou were
going down at about the rate of a thou
sand miles a minute You have seen
one streak Of creased lightning chase
another--well it's no comparison II
seems as though the cable has been cut,
and you are just dropping down to the
bottom You can't sec, and the only
thing TO be heard is that terrible roar
of the air as yen rush through space
After the FIRST two or three hundred
feet there Is feeling it would be hard
to explain, sort Of goneness as 1t were,
and you don't care much whether
school keeps or not, and the changes
are SO different and varied that ono be-
gins to wonder what viii come next
When near the bottom the car on
which you are riding begins to slow up,
and then comes the most peculiar ex-
periencc Of all You imagine that you
are shooting upward, and you will soon
be among the stars You can imagine
the sensation from going down at the
~,
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 asgou step out.
Well, 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
Il tile shaft as lights are burned com
stautly and the smoke has blackenea
tile walls. You look away to the east
Through long, dark tunnel, and you
diseernin the far distance some flicker
ing lights, and yon are Informed that
they are lights used by the workmen
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 arc
handed out 1t may seem little
strange that taliow candles are, used Ia
this age Of kerosene, gas and electrici-
", but such Is the case, and they a.,e
yhe only lights used in the lniFie, and
u 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
carloGd
Ihe candles were lighted, and with
them in hand We followed the guide
and proceetled to make i tour III the
MING; we might add, partial tour for
ltwonld take person something like
week to walk all over the mined ter
ritory We followed the guide along
through dark and winding pathways,
untll we reached q point where the
syorkmen We're busily engaged mining
the salt They were not at work with
picks picking it out, as might be sup
posed but We're breaking up the large
Jumps and shogeling it into the ears.
the salt having been blasted out ahead
Of them While some were engaged III
shoveling the salt, others were drilling
holes into the solid mass, making ready
for a blast, machines run ~ com
pressed air being used for this purpose.
As before stated, the main tunnel
runs directly east, and is nearly half
mile in length Near the shaft two
other tunnels branch off from the main
tunnel, one on either side, ana run par
aliei with it These. we believe, are
termed airshafts From these shafts
rooms branch of 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 ia time
VIII probably be heightened ont as faf
A. the main tunnel Or even farther, a.
they can 60 miles in any direction and
stall be IN the salt The rooms are, per-