The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1902-02-25
STREETS MADE OF SALT
KANSAS MINERS A FOURTH OF 4
MILE UNDERGROUND.

| " oAAetNr III the 0reOA SAT- Mine
| OF Austria.
hice County kan, is nearly in the
! centre of the state. 1t lies almost OH
| the border of that Western part of
Kansas where. as well known writer
mas said. crops are very uncertain
ana the farmer must work ten DAYS
! III the week and sleep only on holt
days It's population i'm 1900 HIS.
increased in ten years only by POI
souls. But Rice County has attained
claim to distinction that is almost
unique in this country. 1t is mining
rock salt nearly quarter of n mile
underground ana 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
a body of rock salt. They kent their
! drill at work. but it was not until
they had reached n depth of 100 feet
that they got to the bottom of the
thick bed of salt. Several years later
n 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 $50 feet. the
bottom of the shaft being 1865 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 hot
tom of the shaft is the centre of oper-
atoms and the works extending from
1t 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
width of fifty feet: and between
each room and the one next to il \
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 ramifco-
uons of these streets far below the
surface have become quite extensive.
Ingenious machinery is used for
mining. the operation being compare
lively simple. \ 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
ana the cars are run on rails through
the streets to the shaft The cars are
hoiSted to the top of a fve-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 gray
lily down through different sized crush
ers 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 it requires no cleansing opera
tons
In spite of the large Western de
mand. considerable of the product. par
ticulariy the table and dairy brands
now hnds its way into the markets
of the Eastern States Kansas also
produces a great deal OF salt by cvap
grafton from brine wells. the total
product of the State. according to a
Census Bulletin just issued being
l,Gij,3J0 barrels i'm 1900. or 1913 pel.
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
- 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 80 will bc the
scene Of industry for many years TO
come. II. OF course suggests the won
derful mines at Nirliczka- Bochnia.
Austria which have been pxcavatcd iu
Sine midst of 20 mass of rock salt that
is believed to bee 300 miles long. with
gu average thickness OF 700 feet. sur
hcieut To employ 90 great number of
miners for many centuries Tho fa-
nous Austrian mines are among the
wonders of tho world Some fresh
details with regard to- them have rc.
Gently appeared from thr pen oi Dr
Wilhelm Bcrsch
Ancient documents seem io show
that these immense deposits Of rock
salt were discovered by "a hcrdrr
named WicIicz whose name was given
to tbo town or Wicliczka. which now
stands over thc most important area
of mining Development u this vast
region of salt The deposits seem to
have attracted attention in the eloy
cuh century aud mines have been
opened 900 various places among them.
particularly from WieUe1E1 t0 BocI.
uH. The largest ese'oumcut under
l.ns Ihe town of Wi.IcIsu thc streets
uuHrps and passages off ihc eubtpr.
rHue1u city occupying much more
space lnau hc town above &c. Tho
works extend over d..uucc of about
-FOUR tfths off milo from north to-
south and about two mlcs aud haiI
from east io west Th. depth below
OBJ. -urfao. is Jess .hu uat boo Ono
Kansas mime being 9brrl 400 o 900
feet. uI Ir. obi IH. .u|I..I... Gina. Dbl. .f..