ndred feet
long and one hundred and ninety feet high, with beautiful chandeliers,
and in it is a carven throne whereon the Emperor Franz Joseph sat when
he visited the mine. There are lakes crossed by ferryboats. There is a
railroad station for the mule trains which bear the precious mineral
salt, for this is a salt mine, and shrines, statues, churches,
chandeliers--everything--are all cut out of salt.

This mine has been worked for at least eight hundred years and still
has salt enough to supply all Europe for ages. The mass of salt is
believed to be five hundred miles long, fifty miles wide, and nearly a
quarter of a mile thick. It is so pure that it is sold just as it
comes from the mine, either in blocks or finely ground. This mine is a
wonderful place to visit, almost like an enchanted palace, for as the
torchlight strikes the crystals of salt, they flash and sparkle as if
the wall was covered with rubies and diamonds.

There is nothing like an enchanted palace in any salt mine of the
United States, no statues or chapels or chandeliers. There is only a
hole in the ground, where mining is carried on in much the same manner
as in other kinds of mines. The shaft is sunk and lined with timbers
to keep the dirt from falling in, just as in other mines. In working
salt mines, however, water is almost as bad as earth, and therefore a
layer of clay is put between the timbers and the earth. There are the
usual galleries and pillars, with roof and floor of salt. The workmen
try to get the salt out in lumps or blocks as far as possible, and so
they bore in drill holes and then blast with dynamite or powder. The
salt is loaded upon little cars, running on tracks, and is carried up
the shaft and to the top of a breaker, usually more than one hundred
feet above the surface of the ground. There it is dumped upon a screen
of iron bars, which lets the fine salt fall through. The large lumps
are sold without crushing or sifting, and are used for cattle and
sheep.

One of the great deposits of salt is in southeastern California. It is
thought that the Gulf of California used to run much farther north
than it now does, and that the earth rose, shutting away part of it
from the ocean. This imprisoned water was full of salt. In time it
dried, and the sand blew over it till it was far underground. A better
way than digging was found to work it, as will be seen later; but
while digging was going on, the workmen built a cottage of blocks