The suburban citizen., 1902-01-04
STREETS MADE OF SALT
KANSAS MINERS A FOURTH OF A
MILE UNDERGROUND.

Rice County, Kan, is nearly in the
centre of the State. 1t lies almost on
the border of that Western part Of
Kansas where, as n well known writer
has said, "crops are very uncertain
and the farmer must work ten days
in the week and sleep only on holi-
days" It's population in 1900, 14,745,
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
underground and has dug out Of this
mineral wealth about as many streets
as there are in Lyons, the capital Of
the county, little city of some 100 in
habitants.
Fourteen years ago some prospectors
were searching for natural gas or
oil when, much to their surprise, their
drill, at a depth Of $50 feet penetrated
n body Of rock salt. They kept their
drill at work, but It was not until
they had reached depth of HOO feet
that they got to the bottom OF the
thick bed Of salt. Several years later
a 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 a depth of 1856 feet, the
bottom of the shaft being 1905 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
thickness and Of exceptional purity,
was selected for mining, and it is
through this vein that the underground
works have been extended. The bot
tom Of the shaft is the centre Of oper-
atoms and the works extending from
it resemble the rectangular streets Of
a well laid out town. The main streets
are twenty-five feet in width, running
east and west. At frequent intervals
they are 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 between
each room and the one next to II
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 about ten feet above the floor.
AS this bed is yielding nearly 100000
barrels of salt every year, it will be
readily understood that the ramiflca-
| tions of these streets far below the
| surface have become quite extensive,
Ingenious machinery is used for
mining, the operation being compare
lively simple. A mass of salt is first
undercut on a level with the floor OF
the adjoining street by a channelling
machine operated by compressed 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, bring
ing the salt down to the floor of the
mine. The loose salt is then loaded
on cars, each holding about two tons,
and the cars are run on rails through
the streets to the shaft. 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 grav-
ity down through different sized crush
ers to the screen room, where by
screens of various sizes 1t is separated
into nine grades. 1t is then conveyed
into large bins, whence 1t is loaded
into railroad cars. The salt is so pure
that it requires no cleansing opera
| tions.
In spite Of the large Western de-
mand, considerable Of the product, par
| ticularly the table and dairy brands,
now finds its way into the markets
Of the Eastern States. Kansas also
produces a great deal Of salt by evap-
grafton from brine wells, the total
product Of the State, according to
Census Bulletin just issued, being
| 1,645,3 barrels in 1900, or 1913 per
cent, of the total production Of the
country. Kansas is surpassed only
by Michigan which yielded in that
year 34.3 per cent, and New York with
| OG.A pei NGhts VI iuc bOldA
No one knows yet how extensive this
Kansas bed of rock salt may be, but
the prospect is that 1t will be the
scene Of industry for many years to
come. 1t, of course, suggests the won
derful 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 1900 feet, suf-
Acient to employ a great number Of
miners for many centuries. The ia
nous Austrian mines are among the
wonders Of the world. Some fresh
details with regard to them have re-
Gently appeared from the pen Of Dr.
Wilhelm Bersch.
Ancient documents seem to show
that these immense deposits Of rock
salt were discovered by herder
named Wiellcz, whose name was given
to the town Of Wieliczka, which now
stands over the most important area
Of mining development in this vast
region of salt. The deposits seem to