A CITY OF SALT.

Mataura Ensign, 14 January 1916, Page 7

A CITY OF SALT.

WORLD’S LARGEST MINE. THiT uONDERM IT CONTAINS. | Tile largest and most lanioils salt mines in ilie world are those <>l II 'el- , u-zka, ill Ga'iehi. iome eight aides south-east of Cracow, which has lieen the sente of lighting between Hie Russians and the Austrians. Tile interest, jin those mines (we learn from an in- ! t/Testlug article in 'Gre-it I’honghts signed hv H. .1, Sliepsione) dues not lie so in noli in their size hut rather at 'n j wonders they contain. lime, iu the [ bowels of the earth, hundreds of feel j below the stirfaee, are roads, houses. ' churches, chapels, shrines, rest in ants and monuments all hewn <d v)i e [solid rook salt. Descending Hie a.me j one enters i A MAGNIFICENT RALLROOM.

boasting of galleries, pillars, an I mia’.ideliers all earn'd otlt of salt. <’llo end of the chamber is adorned w th a colossal Austrian eagle and with transparencies painted on slabs of salt. In an alcove at the other end ol the room stands a throne of green, the crystals of which (lash green and ruby-red,. r l he ballroom is 'J 1 (311 below the siirlace, he ing the first seven storeys in the mine. . ■From the scene ol gaiety and splendor it. is hut 11 step to tin 1 house ol (liiielude and prayer. Mere, oil one ol the main pasages, is the noted

ST. ANTHO NV ‘ S Cl IA I’ KL

the result of thousands of tin' devout ■since it was hewn in Bilk'. The vestibule to the eliapel coiin.ists ol a symmetrical archway with figures at the ! sides. The interior is beautified by an altar, showing the Crucifixion, and on the steps of me altar are file forms of two kneeling monks. On the sides ol , the chapel may lie seen smaller altars and the .statues of saints. Many times [each year the priests of ihe district | perform their pnms duties in this singular chapel, not only in memory of SL. Anthony himself, but as a t-rihute to tlie mmtr who, unaided and persevering, built the chapel its it (stands to-day Hard hy St. Anthony’s Chapel ihe torch ol Hie guide illuminates a magnificent shrine and archway hewn in one of the packages. Again, as we move along, we see figures of saints in the altitude of prayer, and a few minor rooms which we pass hurriedly through hear the names of martyrs. The Queen's Chapel, with its magnificent altar, carved with expert skill in solid salt, contains on one of its sides a view of Bethlehem. Tradition has it that one man spent many months of silent effort in this picturesque sculpture. The descent Irom the first to the second storey is made by way of a long ’•enes of steps of solid salt. At Hie foot of this remarkable s-fairem-e the sightseer is fascinated by a beautiful sight. The giant chain her Miehalowtee lies before him—vast, fearsome, and stupendous —finished in 17(51, aftei •ID vears of dailv labor. It measures I of) ft huig. 92 ft broad, and MSl't high, the roof being supported hy a wooden framework. In the interior a salt chandelier of .‘((K) lights throws brilliant beams on to tlie rugged sides of this imposing room. STATION AND - RESTAFRANT. Descending by another lliglu 01" steps, the visitor enters some .-mailer chambers, cm-it carved out doling the ordinary eonr’-c ol salt quarrying am! afterwards named alter someone of high position. A turn in the passage brings nnc to a little bridge, in front of which loom up to massive pyramids of still, silent guardians of this lonelv spot. These iTionumenrs to the- memory of Franz I. and Carolina. Emperor and Empress of Austria. dale from ISlik On thi' third floor of the mine are the railway station and rcseaurant. Of the many -marvels of t.lds underground city perhaps the most remarkable is the subterranean lake, lying 709 ft below the surface of ihe earth. The waters of the lake tiro dark, thick, a.nd heavy, and over theu - death-like is! illness 11 ponderous silence broods. This silence is sometimes broken wii.t startling effect upon the nerves of visitors, for whose benefit a sit list a nfiol boat plies niton the ghostly sheet of water. It i* guided through the Stfephiiriie mid Rudolph grottoes bv rnp,. s 1 tinning on pulleys alongside the sich's of flu* boat, :mi.l propelled hy a boatman, who. with his hands resting on the stern of the curious craft, pushes it with Ids feet braced against the rope. The trip aero-s and hack take- Id to 20 as the ’boat moves slowly through the sluggish brine. When a gun, shot oil" in ihe middle of Hie lake, wakens a thousand echoes, .and the challenging voice of the boatman evokes loud responses front each corner of the "tills and roof, it r-eems as it pandemonium had broken loose, or ilia: imprisoned giants of the itiiilenvorld were indignantly warning oil" trespassers.

(17 AII LItS OE RAILWAY. There are l(i of these lake- in diifereni naris of the mine, hut this is the only one open (o visitors. The lower Btoreys aTe occupied by over KXKJ miners, who, working eight hours a day each, manage in the course of a year to produce IiIAKKI toils of salt. The mine comprises eight main nil.-, some of which are upwards of fM.Xlft >” depth, in addition to as many sis fi() shaft* of upwards of two miles in aggregate depth. The mines form a lengthy oval figure below the town of Wieliey.ka of considerable d'meiisions. heino 22 miles in lenglh ami one and a-half miles in central width. The. aggregate length of the galleries at mesent accessible is upwards of (>7 miles and that of mining' railwavs 2~y mile's.