The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-09-07
MINING MEERSCHAUM.
Turkish District Wherein the Most
Valuable Clay Is Secured.

Scientific American.
The British Foreign Office has issued a
report upon the meerschaum mining indus
try of Constantinople. This product, which
is extensively utilized for the manufacture
of pipes, is almost entirely confined to
Turkey. The merschaum can be mined by
any person at Sair-sou. Sepetdje. Gheiki
and Menlou on payment of pias to the
administration of mines-the cost of
permit. The mines of Sair-sou are stu
ated at distance of about seventeen miles
to the east of Eskichehir. The pit at Sair-
sou was opened twenty years ago, but to-
day there are 5000 mines opeped, of which,
however, only 1900 are worked the re-
mainder having been abandoned. Some
1900 miners work these mines, and every
Friday market is held at which they
dispose of the blocks of meerschaum they
have extracted during the week For the
accommodation of the workmen some 1000
huts have been erected.
At Sepetdje, about eighteen miles to the
northeast of Eskichehir, there some
10000 pits in space Of six miles, of which
only $50 worked, all the others being
exhausted. 1t is said that these mines
were opened 1000 years ago, which is not
incredible, as 1t is we'll known that mag
nesa formerly used for many pur-
poses other than the fabrication of pipes;
moreover. Fuler's earth used to be worked
| on vast scale by the ancients. The
| meerschaum mines are worked by some 500
miners, who live in the surrounding viii
lagos. At Gheiki. in the neighborhood of
Sepetdje, there are 5000 pits, of which only
| 100 are worked, giving employment to 400
miners.
| The only place where the administration
of mines authorized meerchaum to be ex-
| tracted is Meniou, and here there are only
twenty pits actually worked by one hun
dred workmen. The working of these meer-
Gsss Gaaa tne
worked, is reduced to LOO pits, giving en-
| ployment to some 5000 miners. the greater
proportion of whom are Kurds and Per
| slams. These deposits are worked on the fol-
| lowing primitive systems:
| foreman or ganger, having from two to
| fifteen men under his supervision, having
pegged out a piece Of ground. generally a
| meter wide, pit is sunk until a red, clayey
| earth, which is the first signe Of the exist
ence of magnesia, is reached. Sometimes
| this is reached at a few meters from the
| surface, but a rule the miners have to
dig down some twenty meters, and often
forty or even up to sixty meters. before
| reaching the red earth. wherein the meer-
schaum is disseminated in kidney and other
| irregular forms The volume of these
blocks seldom exceeds thirty to forty cubic
the size OF a walnut or an apple.
On reaching the gangue containing the
| blocks of magnesia, the miners drive hori-
zontal shafts through the red clay. This,
however. is no easy matter. as they cannot
detach or pick Off more than forty grammes
of the clay at stroke Some of these gal
leries are no less than a quarter of mile
in length, and 1T sometimese happens that,
owing to these being pierced at random, diff
ferent gangs meet underground. They work
night and day, the galleries being lighted
with petroleum.
After a certain quantity Of blocks have
been extracted, the meerschaum still envel-
oped in it's gangue is drawn out of the pit
and stacked In the miners barracks. These
blocks are bought by the manufacturers of
Eskickhehir in job lots every Friday, and
there are some $50 persons who regularly
attend these markets. The meerschaum r.
then taken to- Eskickhehir. where the
blocks are cleaned, the operation consisting
in scraping and cutting the blocks with a
sharp instrument or knife. the meerschaum
being soft and easily cut into any shape or
form.
Over LOO persons are occupied in clean
ing and shaping these blocks, which, after
being thoroughly cleaned, are separated
into four classes, according to size and
quality. These blocks being ready for sale
a bargain is struck between the pipe manu-
facturers and the commission agents and
merchants of Eskickhehir, of whom there
are about dozen. The latter then pack
the blocks of these four classes with very
great care into boxes of equal size each
block being wrapped in cotton to avoid any
friction or shock between the pieces
The actual annual output of these mines
varies from 120 to $50 tons. The Eskickhe.
Europe on account of its superior quality
and these deposits, notwithstanding that
they have been worked for centuries, are
still considered to be inexhaustible.