The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1900-12-01
ISLAND OF FAMOUS GRIP,

from Jefferson Island, which is owned by
Joseph Jefferson, the veteran American
actor, says, the Cincinnati ENQUIRER. He
bought the property a few years ago for
winter residence, and it was entirely
py accident that he discovered, recent
~, the fact that the piece of real estate
IN question was situated directly over an
immense mass of solid salt-the largest
block of salt known to exist anywhere
In the world. 1t is of the utmost purity,
too, being wholly composed of the finest
quality Of table salt, without the slightest
admixture of any other mineral, and Its
quality Is such that one may take a
block Of 1t and read a newspaper through
1T, just as if it was SO much glass. ~.
Apparently, the whole island, which is
about 300 acres in extent, is underlaid Dy
one great body Of salt, which is struck ut
depth of 100 feet or. so. Mr. jefferson
came across it while boring hopefully for
mineral waters, and since then it has
oeen penetrated through vertical dis
lance or 2,lOO feet or more than a third
of mile directly downward, without
reaching the. bottom of it. This was
accomplished by means of drills, which,
yielding cores, made it possible to study
the material through its successive strata
with the utmost accuracy. But there
was no variation with the depth in the
quality of the stuff, which throughout
=. WILDERNESS OF MARSHES.
All the southern edge of tho state Of
Louisiana Is a wilderness Of almost i'm
passable marshes, traversed by natural
tidewater> canals, as they might be term
ed, which are called "bayous" The water
comes in from the Gulf of Mexico. with
the tide, and flows out again on the ebb,
so that there is an iEundation twice in
every twenty-four hours. Nothing grows
on these salt marsh lands except salt
grasses and other semi-aquatic plants,
and for a distance of ten to twenty miles
from the coast the whole country is
dismal and unvarying level On the
edge of the marshes, where the arabic
land begins, are sugar plantations.
Along a straight line, running from
northwest to southeast, a series of five
peeuliar'o r, hills rise out Of the
though, except in one instance, surround
one farthest toward the northwest IS
Anse Grand Cote. Cote blanche and and
Belle. Isle. The last named is~on .:Atcha-s
On every ~ one ne Of these :islands.'' Which Witch
are elevated from 80 to $50 feet above the
marshes, great salt deposits have been
face, similar to that Of jefferson island,
but less remarkable The deposit on
Petite Anse has been mined ever since
1852, and was considered to be without a
actors property.
WORTH AN ENORMOUS FORTUNE.
Like his favorite character, Rip Van
Wrinkle. Mr.. Jefferson woke up to find
himself exceedingly surprised-in this in
STANCE rather agreeably; however, in as
possessor Of a block of salt worth an
enormous fortune He is as vet rather
puzzled to know what to do with his won
oef19 a. mine; put before Long doubtless it
as the similar deposit on Petite Anse
The method adopted Is very interesting
shaft being sunk 100 feet or SO into the
body of the salt when series of cham
bers are excavated along a level, the
pickax being aided by blasting. A cham
per per thus n s made 200 feet long, Is feet wide
Of salt, mined without the use of single
stick of timbering.
Pillars nine feet square are left between
the chambers for support, and, as soon
as a given level has been worked out
on this plan, the shaft is sunk another
l0O feet, and another series or story Of
chambers IS excavated in the same man
by this process, with their piers and
arches of pure crystalline salt, present,
especially when scintillat1ng under the
trio light: a most impressive appearance,
not paralleled by underground views in
ordinary mines. They might easily be
fanc1ed to- be the subterranean abodes
OF FAIRIES or other supernatural beings.
CONTINUOUS RIDGE OF SALT.
Now, the origin Of the salt deposits de-
scribed Is profound mystery, no sa It's
factory theory having yet been worked
out by biologists. It is imagined that
the five Islands" are merely humps, so
to speak, on q continuous ridge of
salt extending beneath the marshes from
AtcEafalaya bay, fifty miles northwest
to Jefferson island. and perhaps beyond
But how did such immense bodies Of salt
come to be deposited? And what is to
account for the astonishing purity of the
material: All other rock salt beds known
IN the United States have layers of salt
from two to eighteen feet thick, al
ternat1ng with limestone, sandstone, gyp-
sum and other mineral strata, so that the
product Of the mines is mora or less
impure as 1T comes out. - On the other
hand, beneath Jefferson island is found a
block of solid salt more than 2,1O0 feet
thick, and containing no impurity what
ever: 1t Is simple table salt of the finest
me salt, after being dug out, is all
equally pure, and so has to be put only
through such processes as render it
available for various uses. The coarsest
crushed salt Is utilized principally by
| meat packers; the second and third sizes
are largely employed in refrigeratins and
in sailing hides, and there are four ora des
or higher hneness, produced by grinding.
with emery wheels, screening and blow.
| Ing, the finest of all being sold for table
salt. - - - y y