The Meeker herald., 1895-04-20
A STRANGE rowr.
eueerest One In England IL 4. N
Cheshire Salt District

S"eefest One In England IL IN thA
Cheshire Salt District.
Northwich, the center of the Chinese
salt district, has been well called the
queerest Of queer towns. 1t is, as an
American writer lately expressed It,
about the skewest of askew towna In
all creation"
The main street is a series of short
up-and-down curves; many Of the
houses appear as If they had Just got
into their places in hopeless into1I-
Gated condition, and the face of the
land presents such a succession of
small and large lakes that a stranger
begins to wonder If he has not wan
dered into lakeland on liliputian
scale-al Of which peculiarlties are
owing to the pumping of brine from
underground 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
~ feet wide and of very uncertain
depth. Some hundreds of cart loads of
rubbish were required for Its nlling
up.
A stable, with the horses It con-
tanned, also disappeared ono night.
Two ponies were grazing in a field;
the earth opened, and one Of them
was engulfed. BY an order of the local
authorities a la,ke hotel, which had
become so dangerous from the subsi-
dence of its foundation that it threat
ened to topple over on to a haberdash-
sr's shop opposite, was taken down
On my last visit but one to North
w1ch l called at house and on my en-
trance / went up two or three steps,
l cannot now remember which. l call
ed at the same house the other day,
but on this occasion l 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 Off the
legs at one end of the dining table in
order to keep the top level.
AS already mentioned, large tracts
of country are under water, and mead
ows 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 in
stantly supplied the place Of the miss
ing land by widening themselves, 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 a mine is worked out and aban-
doned, water gets in and floods the
old workings. In this water the sup
porting and dividing pillars of rock
salt are gradually dissolved, and the
superintendent earth, deprived of sup
port, naturally falls in.
By the brine pumping Compensation
for subsidenceJ act the owners Of the
brine pits, who are now known as the
Salt union, are hcnceforward respons-
iDie for damage done to land and build
ings alike.
The builders OF the Salt Countrle
have a plan of their own. When they
are instructed to put up house or
shop. they first make n frame or skel-
eton In massive beams OF wood, screw
ed and clamped together in the strong
est manner possible. Then, in the in
terstices, bricks or other material are
built, thus forming substantial and
compact box-like affair, which, to O
great extent is independent Of any
foundation.
Should the building show any signs
of going under, or taking to crooked
ways, jacks are inserted under the
bottom beams, and the wanderer Is
put right again. Thus Is comes about
that. every building being law unto
Itself, the streets Of Northwich pre-
sent some of the most homogeneous
perspectives imaginable. - Pearson's
Weekly.