St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-06-15
4 STRANGE TOWN.


Q0eerc0e O@e IN 608kA00 10 II tho CA0o0Ar0
Salt District.
Northwich. the center of the Chinese
salt district, has been we'll called the
queerest of queer towDs. II is, as m
American visitor lately expressed it,
about the SIX ewest of askew towns in
all creation"
The main street il . series Of short
upand-down curves; many Of the
houses appear as il they had just got
into their places in . hoplesssly-intOx-
icated condition. and the face Of the
land presents such succession of
small and large lakes that > stranger
begins to wonder il he has wandered
into . lakeland on . lilliputian scale
all of which peculiarities are owing to
the pumping of brine from under
ground for the manufacture of salt
These subsidences are constantly
taking place. A pedestrian, not very
long since, was walking along the
Davenham road when the ground sud-
denly disappeared few feet in front
of him. leaving = yawning chasm TWEEN
ty feet wide and Of very uncertain
depth. Some hundreds Of cart loads Of
rubbish were required.for its filling up.
A stable, with the horses it con-
tanned, also disappeared one night
Two ponies were grazing in . field; the
earth opened. and one of them was en-
quilted. BY IN order Of the local au.
thorities large hotel. which had be-
come SO dangerous from the subsistence
of its foundation that it threatened to
topple over on to . haberhasher's shop
opposite. was taken down.
On my last visit but one to North
wich called 1T . house, and ON my en-
trance went mp two or three steps,
1t the same house the other day, but
ON this occasion I went down three
steps, the house having settled" in
the meanwhile In fact, buildings in
this district have = trick Of settling" !"
. well-built police station and chapel
among the number. In . room in
which dined the floor was SO uneven
that several inches had been sawn ofI
the legs ut one end of the dining table
in order to keep tho top level.
As already mentioned. large tracts Of
country are under water. and meadows
are exchanged for meres- In some
cases the subsidences have taken
place near the banks of the rivers
Weaver and Dane. Then the streams
have instantly supplied the place
of tho missing land by widening them
selves. thus making what were only
comparatively narrow water courses
swell out here and there into goodly
lakes.
Another cause of the subsidences is
to be found in the salt-rock mines
When = mine is worked out and aban-
doned water gets in and floods the old
workings. In this water the support
ing aud dividing pillars of rock salt are
gradually dissolved, and the superin-
cumbent earth. deprived of support.
naturally falls in.
By the brine-pumping compensation
for subsidence) act, the owners of the
urine pits, who are now known as the
Salt union, are henceforward response
BILE for damage done to land and build
ings alike.
The builders Of the Salt Countrie
have . plan of their own. When they
arc instructed to put mp house or
shop, they first make . frame or skele-
ton in massive beams Of wood,
screwed and clamped together in the
strongest manner possible. Then, in
the interstices, bricks or other mater
ial are built, thus forming = substan-
tial and compact box-like affair.
which, to = great extent, is independ-
ent Of any foundation.
Should the building show any signs
of going under, or taking to crooked
ways, lacks" are inserted under the
bottom beams, and the wandcrer il
put right again. Thus it comes about
that, every building being . law unto
ITSELF. the streets Of Northwich pre-
sents some Of the most incongruous
perspectives imaginable. - Pearson's
Weekly.