AN UNDERGROUND CITY OF SALT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3029, 3 April 1912, Page 83

AN UNDERGROUND CITY OF SALT.

(By Harold J. Shepstoxk.) ' One oi the strangest facts about the salt industry is that no particular country ■would appear to possess a monopoly of this commodity, it being found in most countries. In some, of course, it occurs in much greater quantities than in others. The places where it is really scarce is in certain parts of the interior of Africa. But ■wherever there is sea -water salt may be obtained by the simple process of evaporation. This is the reason, probably, why one hears very little about this pictureque and ancient industry, the prevalence of_ great beds of salt in all parts of the world, and the comparative ease with which it can be obtained, successfully mitigating against the establishment of any form of trust powerful enough to control its output or price. The masses being able to obtain their salt—a no mean item when it is remembered that each individual in Great Britain consumes 221 b of salt annually—the limelight has not been turned upon this industry that would no doubt have been the case if its production was restricted to any defined area or country; hence the progress made in obtaining the commodity, and the scientific way m ■which it is now purified and made ready for the table has been more or less overlooked in recording the development oi the -world's great industries. Salt is widely distributed in two forms —rock salt, and in solution in sea water or brine springs. Some beds or deposit* of rock salt have no doubt been formed by the slow evaporation of large bodies of salt water, which oy One means or another —by a sandbank, for examplehave been cut off from communication with the sea. This process would sometimes be repeated by sea water again getting in through a breach in the bank and this again being filled up. There are instances where it has certainly been formed in this way on a limited scale. But geologists seem to be of opinion that beds of rock salt have more gene rail v arisen from the long-con-tinued evaporation of large inland lakes without outlets; these had long been fed bv rivers or streams which dissolved salt out of the soil or strata Over which they flowed. The Dead Sea and the Great bait Lake of Utah are examples of lakrs without outlets at the bottoms of which rock salt is forming. All salt, wherever found, has probably come ogininally in seme way or other from the sea. It is of course, obtained by mining and bv solution. In the latter case water is allowed access to the salt, and the solution that results is brought to the surface by pumping. By far the greater portion of the salt used in Great Britain, or exported from it, is obtained by the latter process, being pumped up from the great kit or brine springs. In Cheshire alone 2 000.000 tons of salt is produced annually in this way, the rock salt rained inEngland amounting to but about tons annually. . , The salt beds at [Northwich are about 240 ft in thickness, and are situated some 250 ft below the surface. They have been known since Roman times, and have been worked since 1670. The salt is cut from the bed in masses of sft to Bft in diameter, and then crushed with rollers. Afterwards it is dissolved in salt water, evaporated and crystallised. —The Largest Salt Mines.— Famous as are the salt mines of Cheshire, they are mere pigmies compared to the "mines of Roumama and Galicia, There are four in the firstnamed country, that at Slanicu being perhaps the best known, and declared to b- the largest in the world. It has an annual output of 78.400 tons, and though it has been worked for nearly IObO years, it is computed that if the annual output were increased to 100.000 tons, the mine would not be exhausted for 200 years. This mine belongs to the Government, and is largelv worked by convict labour, with the result that it lacks that up-to-date machinery and modern methods of production found at some of the other largo mines, and even the smaller ones of England. . . . , , Indeed, there is no gainsaying the fact that the most wonderful salt mines in the -world are those of Wieliczka, a little municipality about six miles from Cracow, in Polish Austria. Their origin is lost in the darkness of the times, while their history is traced to about 1000 a.d. After being * temporarily abandoned as a consequence of Tartar incursions and the resulting depopulation and impoverishment of the country, they were restored during the reign of Boleslas by immigrating Hungarian miners. The Wieliczka mines, the historv of which is closely bound up with that "of Poland, during the invasion of the federated troops, were the scene of many combats until 1772, when, after the annexation of the country by the Austrian.*, they were turned over to the new Government, in whose control they have remained to the present day. Th vicissitudes of history throughout this long period have been accompanied by many changes in the aspect and management of the mines, and the once primitive methods have been gradually replaced by the most up-to-date processes, including an extensive use of electricity for the operation of wire-rope railways, and other improvements. Apart from their interest to engineers, these mines, however, contain a number of attractions that appeal to the mind of ordinary visitors as keenly as to that of the expert. —An Underground World.— Tn fact, they are in themselves some kind of underground world, with its roads, streets, houses, and monuments hewn in the rock salt that commemorate the art- and industry of bygone ages. In the light- of electric lamps and Bengal fires, Chose underground halls, comprising churches as well zs profane buildings, in

their weird splendour, remind visitors of the marvels of the Thousand-and-One-Nights' palaces. ! .before being permitted to inspect the mines, visitors are equipped with the miners' shirts and hoods, and are introduced in parties of five each into the upper and lower compartments respectively of the hauling cage, which will carry them down to the first storey ot the mine—that is, to a depth of about 200 ft. This downward journey occupies but 30 seconds. At the "eye" of the Rudolph pit, tourists are awaited by a partv of miners, each of whom will act as guide to three visitors and light their way with his lantern. The first station on the round tour through the mines is the St. Anthony Chapel, which during the first decade ot the eighteenth century had been hewn by some unknown miner from a single piece of rock salt. The altar of this underground chapel is adorned with twisted columns, to the right and left of winch are placed statues of St. Cleinence and St. Stanislaus. Two praying monies are kneeling on its steps, and in°a noon, behind it is seen a crucifix with a statue of the Virgin in front of it. Two smaller altars, situated to the left and right respectively of the entrance, are likewise adorned with figures of saints. The pulpit, with the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul and a statue of King August 11, carved from pure salt spar, in front ot the main entrance, is a real masterpiece. I Tois hall was formerly used for the reli- i gious service of the miners, which is now . held in the more modern chapel of St. j Cunegund. —A Salt Ballroom. — After visiting this first compartment — a reproduction of which excited admiration at the Paris Exhibition in 1900 —the Leutow Hall is reached through a pit 210 ft in length. This hull, which had been produced in 1750 by the working of a rock salt wall, was converted into a dancing hall in 1808 during the Russian occupation bv General Suvaroff, its floor being lined with planks. The portal and six lustres hewn from crystal salt were made in 1814, in honour of the Russian Emperor, Alexander I, who in that year visited the mine. Further decorations of this hall comprise a large transparency in : the foreground, symbolising Knowledge and Work; two statues of Neptune and ! Vulcan hewn into the rock, and finally j a gallery running alongside the hall, the walls of* which are lined with salt slabs and planks. i As visitors are generally received here by a merry orchestra, they sometimes in- j dulge in some dancing before proceeding on their way to the Chapel of St. Cunegund, which is their next station, reached through a pit 450 ft in length. This be- , longs to the most remarkable curiosities of the mines, and having been opened in 1896, is of relatively recent date. Across 46 steps hewn out of the salt blocks visitors climb down to the chapel, which forms an amphitheatre besides the lower platform destined for the orchestra. on the right-hand wall is to be found a holy water font artistically shaped from salt, with a statue of Christ above it. In fact, this underground church, which is 150 ft in length, 45ft in width, and 30ft in height, contains a number of religious statues. The pulpit, which is hewn from a single piece of salt, is a real masterpiece, due to a local miner. In the foreground will be noted, in a nook walled up with salt-slabs, the main altar hewn from rock salt, with a picture of St. Cunegund, the patron of the mine. The hall is lighted by three chandeliers made from crystal salt" and several candelabra, i —Crystal Chandeliers. — The next hall to be inspected is the ' Michalowice Hall, situated at 327 ft depth j on the second main floor of the mine. ! Being 84ft in length, 54ft in width, and 108 ft in height, this hall astounds its visitors by its huge dimensions, and especially its enormous height. It is timbered with numberless round trunks, arranged so as to form an architecturally pleasant reinforcement of the hall, which during 44 consecutive years—from 1717 to 1761 —was used for working the salt. In the centre of the hall is suspended a colossal chandelier of crystal salt nearly 7ft in diameter and 18ft in height, with 200 candles. When lighted with variegated Bengal fires and lustre candles, this hall produces an impression of overwhelming majesty, which is enhanced by the sweet strains of the mining orchestra, in- j stalled on an elevated platform. The illumination of the mine, wo may i add parenthetically, is carried out by the authorities according to a regular tariff, the basis of which is the number of persons who may on certain days wish to visit the mine. A first-class illumination, j which comprehends the lighting up of the ' thousand-and-one candles and electric I lamps scattered in all parts of the mines, costs 110 kroner (about £4 10s) for any number of people up to 20. For 30 to 40 people the charge is 130 kroner (about £5 10*). For this the mine becomes one . blaze of light, and seems nn enchanted fairy-land. An illumination of the fourth class, to say nothing of the intermediate grades, costs 40 kroner for one-ten per- ; sons, and 60 kroner for 20-30 persons. ! These lesser charges include ordinary illumination by Bengal lights, fired by at- : tendants, in order that the general feat- ; ures of the chambers and chapels may be I seen. —ln Fantastic Regions.— After traversing the Emperor Francis Hall, which contains two commemorative ! salt pyramids, the Drozdowioe Hall is : reached. Work was begun here in 1743, and it is at present 84ft in height. It was considerably higher some years ago, but was partly buried, so that its floor now coincides with the second main floor of the mine. The beautiful wooden galleries running alongside its walls are used in supervising the latter, arid impart to the hall a most artistic appearance. The station next reached on the tourists' round is the Archduke Frederick •

Grotto, 90ft in height, the floor of which lies at a level with the third main floor of the mine. During the descent over serpentine paths once more is enjoyed the merry strains of the mining orchestia, installed at the lowest point of the hall, in which numberless red flames burning at a distance conjure up the most fantastic regions. Beside a, rock salt lustre and a monument of the Archduke Rainer hewn from pure salt spar n a nook of the hall, one passes on to tin - iird main floor or horizon—situated at slOft depth, where a beautifully-preserved artistic statue of the Archangel Michael, dating from 1691, can be admired. Thence the way leads to the Count Qoluchowski Hall, 153 ft in length and 48ft in height, which was worked during 1b52 to 1656. In 1864 this hall, in honour of the Galician Governor, Count A. Goluchowski, was named after him and converted into a mining railway station on account of the number of mining ways terminating hero. Its beautiful platform, decorated with a number of coloured lanterns and provided with many benches, readily accommodates 400 persons, and tourists generally avail themselves of their stay in this part of the mine for taking a short rest and refreshment —there being a restaurant here, —after which they may watch leisurely the Bengal fires lighted on a pyramid of loose salt blocks. Subterranean Salt Lakes.— Now comes what is probably the most wonderful of the many marvels of this underground city—namely, the subterranean lake, lying 700 ft below the surface of the earth. " The waters of the lake are dark, thick, and heavy, and as the boat glides over its surface the spreading waters roll up against the sides of the grotto with- a ghost-like swish. A ponderous solitude overweighs all. The Styx aione of all the death-like streams in legend could rival this in stillness. The boat is substantial, and carries many people. It is guided through the Stephanie and Rudolph Grottos, eaoh 112 ft in length, 4faft in" height, and about 15ft in width, a.nd connected by a tunnel 31ft in length, by ropes running on pulleys along thv sides of the boat, and the boatman, with his hands resting on tho stern of the curious craft, pushes it with his feet braced against the rope. There are 16 of these lakes in different parts of the mine, but this is the only one upon which visitors are allowed to go. Tho trip across and back takes 15 to 20 minutes, as the boat moves slowly through the sluggish brine. A gun shot off in the middle lake wades a long and lingering echo, and the voice of the boatman, as he calls out that all is ready, seems like the voice of a giant from the depths of chaos. The history of the mines has at times been shadowed by grief. Two terrible catastrophes have occurred, the first in 1510, when an evil-minded labourer wilfully lit a fire. Many people were smothered by tha smoke. In 1644 another fire occurred, which lasted for over a year. All the people and horses who were in the mine at the time perished either through suffocation or by desperate jumps into tho dieadful abysses of the mine A considerable portion of the town fell in. 'The year 1815 witnessed the loss of several hundred lives by fire; and in 1868 the mines were flooded by the bursting of a large lake of liquid salt. Some years ago a huge mass of rock salt weighing 200 tons fell from the roof one of the chambers. Many minor catastrophes have taken place, but accidents aire now practically unknown owing to the strict care exercised by the officials. Twenty-two Miles of Railway.— The mines comprise eight main pits, some of which arc upwards of 90Gft in depth, in addition to as many as 60 shafts of of two miles aggregate depth. In connection with some of the main pits are installed rock-salt mills and electrical lighting plants, and with the "' Elizabeth " pit a smithy and fin'shing shop. In the "Rudolph" pit will be found a si cam engine especially intended for operating the elevator conveying the visitors to the mine. The mines form a lengthy oval figure below the town of considerable dimensions, being 22 miles in length and one-half mile in centra] width. The aggregate length of the galleries at present accessible is upwards of 65 miles and that of mining railways 22 miles. Enormous cavities amounting to 106.000,000 cubic feet have been produced during (he last century below tho town of Wieliczka by working the rock salt, and as these cavities —kept up artificially by timbering—are continually increasing, the inhabitants of Vvieliczka some time ago were fearing lest their town be exposed to the risk of collapsing, and the local building activity was, therefore, temporal ily confined to the erection of wooden structures. However, present regulations, according to which those cavities have to be filled in, in due course gradually removed that apprehension. From the centre of production the salt is conveyed bv horse tramways to the pit. in order thence to be taken to the railway station on a standard-gauge mining railway. The horses, which are located in spacious stables, are said to thrive relatively well in their underground dwellings. The shafts of the Wieliczka mine are equipped with all up-to-date arrangements, comprising fine steam engines of modern design, and are lighted by electricity. Special pumping plants installed in each of them are worked periodically in order to remove any slight amount of brine, part of which is utilised for tTle improving t)f fodder. The average supply of brine amounts from 455,000 to 625,000 cubic feet per year. How the Mines are Worked— The mines also contain some plants installed above ground—namely, an electrical station, a (smithy, locksmith and carpenter's shops, a wire-rope railway, three steam mills and a locomotive shed. The central electric station supplies cur-

rent for the lighting of the mines as well as for part of the town and for operating the wire-rope railway and the woodworking machinery installed in the carpenter's shoji. The salt mines in each of the shafts are worked independently of one another. The process of working the mines is as follows :--The head of the gallery having been limited by two vertical and two horizontal cuts, the block, thus marked, is loosened by inserting iron wedges or blasting by means of powder mines. This loosening is made possible by the natural cleavage of the salt due to its structure. Each block is severed by means of wedges or chisels into fragments about 88ib in weight, in which shape it is put on the market. The relatively primitive process based on the use of wedges is generally preferred to blasting, because of the greater stability of cavities secured thereby. The salt, obtained by blasting is sold either in the shape of fragments to a local soda factory or ground as kitchen or factory salt, factory salt is either pure or denatured by means of 70 per cent, of calcinated soda. The last product marketed is fodder salt, which is s'old in tlie ground condition denatured with various substances. The mines employ upwards of ICOD permanent and a number of temporary workmen. The working time is fixed at eight hoars in the mines and 12 hours above ground per diem. The yearly production of these mines amounts to no less than 65,000,000 tons of salt. The aeration of the mines is mainly natural, artificial ventilation being used only in connection with remote working sites.—The World's Work."