New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1904-02-20
GREATEST Of SALT MINES ARE
FOUND IN LOUISIANA.

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Avery island, or Petit Anse
meaning "Little Goose" as it wa!
originally called, is one of the fiv'
so-called islands ON the gulf coas
south Of New Iberia. They are no
now islands in the present sense
but rather knolls that rise from tn,
level of the surrounding marshes
On the other hand they are indeed
such, from the fact that they are
surrounded by narrow bayous.
Belle Isle, Cote Blanche, Weeks
and Jefferson's or Orange Island,
are the others Of the group. Their
geology is peculiar but Avery's is
the most remarkable of the five.
Capt. Dudley Avery and his fam.
lily have held possession Of it for
the past three generations. Under
Spanish grants running back to
l7G5 it was originally parceled out
to a number of holders. After the
early French voyagers came the
Acadians aud later the Spanish
settlers from the Iberian peninsula.
On the abolition of slavery in New
Jersey in the beginning of the cen.
tury, John G. Marsh, the grand
father of the present owner, came
south with his slavsa. He bought
out John Hayes, who was the first
actual settler, having located on
the island in 1871, and Jesse Nc.
Call. MIR. Marsh at once began
clearing up plantation, for at
that time the entire island was
heavily wooded.
Salt springs were known to ex.
ist before then, the discovery hav-
ing been made by John Hayes in
1895. At the time Hayes was a
young man living with his mother
who was of Pennsylvania Datch
ancestry. Young Hayes made his
discovery by accident. He had
been out hunting, had killed a fine
buck and was carrying it home on
his shoulders. The day was warm
and when he came to a clear beau
tiful spring under q great oak he
threw the deer up in the forks Of
a tree and stopped to get a drink.
He was chagrined to find the water
intensely salty. When he reached
home he told his mother OF the in
cident. Salt was very scarce in
those days and the old lady
shrewdly realized that the saline
fluid might be made available for
domestic use. She accordingly
sent the boy for jug full of the
water, boiled it down and obtained
the salt. In this way the family
continued to get their supply Of
that article. Mr.. Marsh pursued |
the practice after he had obtained |
and during the war Of 1912, IA
wells some IL or 16 feet deep were
sunk and the water boiled. The
planter continued this primitive
practice until 1928, all the time
clearing the land and cultivatinR
sugar cane. In the year mentioned
the price Of salt was so low and
The difficulty Of getting it to mar
ket from the island so great that
it did not pay to manufacture it
and operations were abandoned.
The existence Of the salt wells be-
came almost a tradition until 1861
when the price of salt was Oil per
barrel in New Orleans.
HOW ROCK SALT WAS FOUND.
In December Of. that year John
Avery, a brother Of Capt. Avery
and then youth Of II, asked his
father to allow him to repair the
old kettles and begin again the
manufacture of salt. The request
was granted but it was soon found
that the spring was not Of sum-
cient capacity, that it had been
drying up and then the process Of
digging we'll began in order to
increase the supply and then at
The shallow depth Of 10 feet the
rock salt was found. This discov-
Fry at once attracted the attention
If the entire south and the Con-
'ederate government which was
badly in need Of salt, set aside a
portion Of the island to be worked
'or the benefit Of the soldiers in
he field. It has been estimated
hat there is nearly 1000, ,00O, 900
ons Of salt in sight under these
stands, enough to supply the
worlds markets for generations.
The Southern Pacific Railroad
has now built its tracks
light into the salt mines, and the
American Salt Company, the lar
yest concern OF its kind 10 the
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