Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1897-11-10
DR.. |. C. WHITE TALKS.
Entertaining Story of the Re-
cent Trip Which He Made.

FeSterday-WOnd Salt Mines
Underground FARMLAND - Immense
Coal Field-A Monster Oil Well and
Across the Caucasus-Sublime Seem
ery-Snow Storm Enc0untered-The
Cossack Escort of Daring Riders
Descent into Georgia. the Land of
Beautiful Women.
1.-The Congress having adjourned
we took the second excursion" con
tinued DIR. White. this time it was
what is known as the Caucasus ex-
cursion You know that the govern
ment controls the railroads anu We
were taken on special trains at no
expense to us. Arriving at the end
of the first stage OF our journey we
went through the coal basin of Do
metz. This is one of the greatest
coal fields in the world and some
very interesting processes were seen
in it.
But the most interesting and beau
tiful sight of this part of the trip
was that afforded by the salt mines
of Charakow. Shafts are sunk to
the salt beds which lie about SEQ
feet below the surface. The part of
the bed which is mined is about 80
feet thick although the whole de
post is several hundreds Of feet in
thickness.
The mines are among the most
beautiful things one can imagine.
The miners have carved out the
salt in a fantastic fashion, leaving
arches, columns and pillars of yari-
ous kinds and shapes and all kinds
of fancy cuttings which their caprice
has directed. The salt is transpar
ent or nearly so and the effect Of
the array of crystals is bewildering
The mines are all lighted with cleo
tricity and when the lights are all
turned on the splendors of the tabled
castles in Arabian Nights are out
shone. We spent hours traversing
the galleries and viewing as much
as possible of the beauties of this
underground fancy land.
During our stay in the mines a
tremendous blast was set off This
had been arranged especially for our
benefit and no other blasting had
been done for several days. The
system and regularity with which
the mining is carried on is most
striking thing.
The next thing to engage ones at
tention was visit to The Grosney
oil fields along the sea of Azov at the
northern base of the Caucasus. This
Gil field is one of apparently limit
less possibilities. Among the many
wells which have been struck here
was the largest producer in the
world. For fourteen days after the
oil began to flow 100000 barrels per
day ran out to waste All efforts to
control it were futile. The derrick
was destroyed by the force Of the
flow, the casing was blown out and
the sides blown to pieces so that
they caved in but the greasy flood
continued. Thousands of dollars
were spent in building an immense
hill of dirt and stones over the
mouth of the well hat still it flowed
After weeks of labor it was finally
subdued. Now it flows about 10000
barrels after nearly two years pro
duction.
However such a well is not nearly
so rich as a similar one in the Uni
ted States. The Russian oil is a
heavy black substance looking very
much like black strap molasses.
Only about 20 per cent of it can be
obtained for Illuminating purposes.
The residue is a heavy substance
like pitch and is extensively used
for fuel. About half of the railroads
in Russia use it and a great many
steamers also make use oft. Several
days were spent in these fields, we
then started across the Caucasus.
The mountains form an impassa-
BILE barrier to railroads. The engi-
neering difficulties are so great that
all efforts to pierce the barrier have
been set at naught. The only way
to cross them is by military road
called the Georgian road. This is
one of the most remarkable pieces of
engineering skill in the world. The
length of the road is 100 miles. At
one point it rises to more than 5000