Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1907-10-19
DOWN a SALT MINE.
A Fantastic Inferno Full Of Scenic wonssrs--Ths
Roumsnian Deposits and How They Are Worked
The Manner Of Mining the Material.

! IL was almost possible 10 understand
the sensations Of Lots wife. The
| prevailing desire was an inordinate
/ craving for the immediate consump-
ton OF beverages by the bucketful.
remarked this 10 the director.
who told me two things. In the first
! place, the free workers in salt mines
acquire so perpetual a thirst that
very few OF them can resist the temp
tAtion 10 become habitual topsrs
During their work teetotalism is en-
forced, and they are always finding
! excuses TO make their way to the
tank OF fresh water which is kept
near the bottom OF the lift. But d.
rectly they emerge upon the outer
/ earth they make a stampede 10 the
/ nearest public house and spend most
/ Of the night, as well as the greater
/ part Of their wages, in & continual
! carouse. But they are not so much
/ 10 be pitied as might be imagined by
! readers Of sensational fiction about
/ the horrors undergone by Nihilists
/ in the salt mines OF Russia. In
. AE-.AH A=AN EENAAA 4aAA y NTH the III
/ rector told me was that the climate
Of a salt mine is the best in the world.
| Il is even said 10 be a certain cure
for consumption.
Though in summer the even tenn
perature Of the heart OF the EARN
must be very pleasant as a refuge
I from the roasting Roumanian sun,
md in mis- al ? To
/ atmosphere outside, the work is IN
/ doubtedly hard and probably mon.
/ otonous. To the stray visitor ii pos
sesses a charm Of its own. The
workers are divided up into squads
Of six. Each man takes for himself
an oblong piece Of mine, about as big
as tombstone. Il is his business to
scoop round it with his pick little
/ channel or moat some FIVE inches
deep. When he has done this he
/ summons the other five members OF
/ his squad and they stand beside him
upon his slab. Then they all raise
| their picks together and bring them
/ down simultaneously al the word Of
! command. A good deal OF force is
! necessary, but what is much more
important IS that they should strike
with Thythmicsl accuracy. If they
DO not strike together and in the
/ right place the whole effect is spoiled.
wondered that they did not sing
al their work as the Somalis do, or
I that the administration did not pro-
/ vide a band, but I was told that by
dint Of long practice they have be-
/ come extraordinarily expert. and that
/ they scarcely ever diverge a hairs
breadth from the point at which they
aim. This process does not last
many minutes, and as soon as the
squad has hammered away long
enough The men know by a kind OF
I instinct from the sound Of their blows
that the JOB is done. The persistent
blows have detached the slab, which
may now be raised by lever with z
long, strong pull OF the six men TO-
| gether. As soon as they have raise
one slab they proceed 10 the others
in turn, until they have raised all six.
Il is simple form Of cooperation.
Then each man returns 70 his own
slab and breaks it up into hunks.
which are placed upon a truck, sent
up by lift, and credited TO his account.
A very active man can earn from
half q crown TO three shHlings 2 day,
but beginners must be content with z
good deal less. Each man has q
particular mark or sign which he
carves upon one of the Jumps in his
truck before he sends it up to be
weighed.
The conTicts who work in the salt
mine Al DoftsnR are in many WAYS
almost as WEI on as the free miners,
except when their daily task is over
they cannot quench their great thirst
al the tavern and must return TO
their prisons. But they are actually
paid for their work from six pence
TO eighrpence q day, which is enough
TO encourage their industry and en-
able them TO obtain q few extra com
forts, such as tobacco.
The work of experimenting the
co1vlcts in the mines cannot be by
any means a pleasant one They
have an unpleasant habit OF dealing
with an unpopular tRskmaster. APP
parently without generalization they
gather into knots in his peighbor-
hood, and then all Of q spdden he
finds himself surrounded. In the
course of few minutes all the breath
has been squeezed out Of his body,
and on more than one occasion men
have actually been killed in this way.
The object OF this action is, like that
Of q round-robin, to shirk RESPONSE
bility. No one convict more than an
other has done the deed, and It is
difficult TO punish the whole gang TO
the same extent which would be pos
sible in the case Of one or two. AS
there is no capital punishment in
RoumRnia, the convicts are really not
much worse on when they have thus
added one more crime to their record.
The only possible punishment is to
knock on their small comforts and
privileges and TO infict solitary con-
hnsment, which in the case OF the
whole gang would mean knocking OF
work for some time.
Perhaps the chief charm Of q Rou-
manian salt mine is that it perpetu-
ates the same old methods and the
same old implements which have
been in use ever since the darkest
ages. An attempt was made at one
time TO introduce machinery, but this
was found to add too much TO the
cost Of production. II is true that
the machines produced more salt in
given space Of time, and that manual
labor wastes about twenty-five per
cent. by Crumbling and powdering
the salt with picks; but as men, and
particularly couviCts, are much
cheaper than machinery, and as the
supply Of salt appears practically In
eIhaustible, it is better economy 10
adhere TO the old methods And q
visitor to the mines will not regret