The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-07-06
A DOOMED TOWN
UNDERMINED BY W1TER, IT IS
 GRADUALLY COLLA PSING
And Sinking Beneath the Surface of
 inc Earth.

whole underlying country is simply one mass of salt. When descending a shaft one passes through successive thick strata of the mineral The mining of the salt constitutes the staple industry of the district, and from Norwich alone 1 200, 900 tons of salt are shipped annu- ally. The product is obtained by two methods-quarryin and brine pump ing. In the former case, which is the method generally adopted, a shaft IS sunk about three hundred feet, and the salt rock blasted and eXcaVated in the usual manner. The brine pumping, al though 1t is still continued upon large scale, is gradually falling into disuse. When the industry was started 1t was considered that only one stratum or salt existed and that was only a 1eW feet below the surface. Fresh water found it's way to this extensive salt oe- posit, with the result that the salt dls- solved like snow A huge subterranean lake of water, charged with twenty SIX her cent. of salt, was thus formed
 Punnng engines were then installed to convey this brine to the surface to large evaporating pans, in when heavy deposit of salt was left alter the water had evaporated. The result of this extensive pumping IS that NOT
 wich now rests, as it were, upon shell of earth, which at times proves insufficient to support the weight ol the houses and with the inevitable con- eeorenca that the buildings are con- stantlv sliding and collapsing in every direction. As a result of subsistence one building fell over upon it's back Ill the course of a single night ana It IS noteworthy that the house, owing lo the cara observed in its constructloh' fell over intact. not a crack being pro- duced on it's walls, nor even pane or class being broken. This is by no means a single instance. Throushou' tbo town the same effects are to be ob- sarved mon all sides. There is scarce ly a perpendicular wall to be seen, Ill numerous cases the doors ana "lhao" frames of houses are aWry; the ioao9 are extremely uneven, and are oileii closed, owing to the falling in or DOT tfons Houses are continually petlS condemned as unsafe for human hapl-
 tation and demolished. The deprecla-
 ton of public property IS enormous No matter how substantially house
 may be built, or how great the care observed to obviate.. subsistence, the
 building is bound to sink sooner or
 later Tn one instance. house that coet thirty thousand dollars to erect
 was shortly aftsrward sold Tor seven tv-fve hundred dollars, it had been so | injured by subsiding. In some eases
 the sinking is very gradual While III otbers if is unexnected and instantane- ous One of the principal thorough | fares took forty years to sink fifteen feet while another grew appreciaply wider every day. Examinations
 nroved that one side Of the street was | sliding completely away In thiS IT. | stance the foundations of the houses I were three feet distant from the pulid- l ings which they originally supporteu.
 The shop of q dry goods merchaht | sank one fifth of its height m ten
 wears. and in the subsequent seven
 years subsidad another fifth several i houses may be seen the windows or the l oround floor of which are level with ! inc roadway. It is no uncommon cir | crmstance for a building to be con-
 structed and have to be abandoned | shortly after it's completion
 The inhabitants, however, endeaVor
 to mitigate the danger of their build | ings collapsing by constructing them
 upon the frame principe, with massive l timber beams securely bolted together | Rv this means if subsistence occurs the | house does not necessarily collapse, but
 heels over in toto Tn this instance the | house is raised to it's normal position | onca more by means of jacks, the caVi- ,tv filled in. and the building once more
 rests upon firm foundation Should ! another subsistence occur, the process
 of lifting is repeated
 | yawning chasms are constantly ap- bearing in the streets, and in some ln- | stances the cavities are so extensive as
 to necessitate the closing of the thor
 oughfara.
 The area in which these subsidences l occur covers about two square miles. l A few years ago the matter was
 b-oupht before the attention of the 1 British parliament, and the result of l tbcir invest cations showed that dam l age had been inflicted upon S92 build
 inea cf which total e36 comprised
 houses and cottages. Some idea Of the
 extent of the excavations in this area | may be gathered from the fact that as l a ton of salt represents cubic yard,
 and i 200 GOO tons of salt are produced
 every year. therefore 100000 cubic
 wards of solid material underlying the | fo,v,, ;r rauovpd annually.
 The water from the river also gray
 itates toward these subsidences, caus-
 ing huge inland lakes, which aggravata i tha daneer. One of these lakes, loeal-
 1v called flashes" covers no less than | one hundred acres and varies from for i ty to fifty feet in depth.
 1 Notwithstanding the frequency or these subsidenees and that they are of | ten unexpected, strange to say not ! single life has been lost. Havoc has
 been wrought among cattle, however i several animals having been complete < Iv engu1fad. The tall shafts of the
 puuping stations are also another 1 source of danger, since they are gradu- ! ally thrown out of plumb, the list con-
 tinuine until the stack heels over,
 burying and destroying every thing in
 its path.
 A few years ago compensation
 hoard was founded. This corporation | leyies a tax of six cents upon every 1 ion of brine that is pumped to the sur
 face the revenue derived from this
 eot,rca heinz devoted to compensating