The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-15
STREETS MADE OF SALT
DIGGING LONG PASSAGES AND ROOMS
OUT OF ROCK SALT.
The Famous Subterranean City, with
Fifty Miles of Streets i'm the Great
Rock Salt Mine of Austria.
New York Sun.

Rice county, Kansas, is nearly in the
center Of the State 1t lies almost on the
border of that western part Of Kansas
where, as a well-known writer has said,
! crops are very uncertain and the farmer
must work ten days in the week and sleep
only on holidays" Its population in 1900,
14,.45, increased in ten years only by 294
souls. But Rice county has attained
/ claim to distinction that is almost unique
/ in this country. 1t is mining rock salt
nearly a quarter Of a mile under ground
/ and has dug out of this mineral wealth
about as many streets there are in
/ Lyons, the capital OF the county, little
/ city of some 100 inhabitants.
/ Fourteen years ago some prospectors
/ were searching for natural gas oil when.
much to their surprise, their drill, at
depth of $50 feet, penetrated a body of rock
/ salt. They kept their drill at work, but it
\ was not till they had reached a depth Of
/ LOO feet that they got to the bottom of the
/ thick bed Of salt. Several years later
company was organized to work the salt
/ bed and so a shaft was sunk about three
/ fourths Of a mile from the city Of Lyons.
/ The shaft penetrated the bed of salt to
/ depth Of 265 feet, the bottom Of the shaft
i being LOGS feet below the surface There
were thirty or forty feet OF salt below the
bottom Of the shaft
One vein of salt eighteen feet in thick
4 ness ana or exceptional purity, was selected
i for mining, and il is through this vein that
/ the underground works have been extended.
/ The bottom of the shaft is the center OF
| operations and the works extending from 1t
| resemble the rectangular streets of well
/ laid out town. The main streets are TWEEN
/ ty1ve feet in width, running east and
west. At frequent intervals they arc
/ crossed by other streets of the same width,
/ running north and south. From these cross
/ streets rooms or chambers are dug out,
/ each having a width of fifty feet; and be-
/ tween each room and the one next TO II
\ a pillar of salt is left, fifty feet wide, to
| support the ceiling, or, In other words, the
/ salt roof over the workings, which Is only
/ is yielding nearly 100000 barrels of salt
/ every year 1t will be readily understood
/ that the qualifications of these streets far
/ below the surface have become quite ex-
/ tensive.
MINING MACHINERY.
/ Ingenious machinery is used for mining,
the operation being comparatively simple.
A mass of salt is first undercut on level
with the floor of the adjoining street by
/ channeling machine operated by COM
/ pressed air. Holes are then made with air
drills in the salt above this cut. The next
step is to place dynamite in these holes.
/ which is exploded by electricity, bringing
the salt down TO the floor OF the mine. The
/ loose salt is then loaded on cars, each hold
ing about two tens, and the cars are run
on rails through the streets 10 the smart.
The cars are hoisted to the top of a five
story mill that has been built directly over
/ the mouth of the shaft. The salt Is dumped
/ automatically from the mine cars into
\ crushers, and passes by gravity down
| through different sized crushers TO the
/ screen room, where by screens Of various
sizes IL is separated into nine grades. 1t
/ is then conveyed into large bins, whence
/ it is loaded into railroad cars. The salt Is
so pure that 1t requires no cleansing opera
lions.
In spite Of the large Western demand
considerable of the product, particularly
the dairy and table brands, now finds its
way into the markets of the Eastern
/ States. Kansas also produces great deal
of salt by evaporation from brine wells,
the total product OF the State, according to
census bulletin just issued, being l,645,3 800
| barrels in 1900, or 1O.S per cent of the total
production of the country. Kansas is sur
passed only by Michigan, which yielded In
/ that year 34.3 per cent, and New York,
/ with 32.2 per cent, OF the total production.
No one knows yet how extensive this
| Kansas bed of rock salt may be, but the
| prospect is that IL will be the scene of in
! dustry for many years TO come. 1t. OF
| course, suggests the wonderful mines at
| Wieliczka- Bochnia, Austria, which have
! been excavated in the midst OF a mass OF
| rock salt that is believed to be 300 miles
long, with an average thickness Of ], 200
feet, sufficient to employ a great number
| of miners for many centuries. These ia
| nous Austrian mines are among the Won
ders of the world. Some fresh details with
regard to them have recently appeared
from the pen of DR.. Wilhelm Bersch.
DISCOVERED BY A HERDER.
Ancient documents seem to show that
these immense deposits of rock salt were
discovered by a herder named Wielicz,
whose name was given to the town of
Wieliczka. which now stands over the most
important area of mining development In
rTrt,1
to have attracted attention IN the eleventh
century and mines have been opened at
various places along them, particularly
from Wieliczka to Bochnia. The largest
development underlies the town of VIE
liczka, the streets, squares and passages
OF the subterranean city occupying much
more space than the town above it The
works extend over a distance of about four
ffths OF a mile from north TO south and
about two miles and a half from east to
west. The depth below the surface Is less
than that in the Kansas mine. being about
700 TO 900 feet; at one Of the entrances the
mine is only about 200 feet deep.
Ten shafts lead TO the bottom Of the mine.
only two of them having their mouths In
the town above In one Of these a spiral
stairway, with 470 steps, leads down to the
mine. The other and shorter shaft has an
elevator, and this is usually employed in
carrying visitors up and down.
In the mine. where over one thousand
workmen are constantly employed, there is
a perfect labyrinth Of passages The streets
eighty-fve miles. Most of the alleys are
only wide enough for the passage of a man
and are preliminary to digging out the salt
on either side On the lowest parts of the
floor sixteen ponds. canoes being pro-
vided TO carry the workmen across some of
them. AS mining progresses immense halls
are formed. IN the older part OF the works
the roof is supported by woodwork. and, as
the air is very dry, the timbers have been
admirably preserved; in the later eXcava-
tons, however, massive pillars Of salt are
left here and there to support the ceiling.
| The most spacious OF the rooms, made by
the incessant work OF excavation, are
used for storage purposes. Ten of these
apartments are wide and long and about 15G
feet in height The miners have been per-
mitted TO exercise their skill and fancy in
adjoining their underground city with cary
| ings in the salt. The walls of some OF the
rooms, polished till they glisten like mar
BILE, are adorned with sculptural figures
and emblems which have a rather artistic
effect. There is a prOfusiOn OF columns
statues and lamp posts. all made of the
same abundant material. Two chapeis
| with a full equipment OF affairs, statues OF
saints and other sacred adornments, have
been fashioned out of the salt. Mass is oo-
casionaly celebrated in one of them
peCt 10 the gray city and the resplendent
reflection from the walls of salt is a feature
that always impresses visitors.
About sixty thousand tons OF salt are
| raised from this mine every year. The salt
is not white like that OF the bed in which
! the Kansas miners are now working, but is
grayish IN color, containing impurities that
must be extracted before the product is
| marketable.