Salt Mines

Marvelous sketches of huge salt mines, the Salt Desert and a chapel of salt are in Aunt Martha's Corner Cupboard: or, Stories about Tea, Coffee, Sugar, Rice, etc, editions from 1895-1928. Other sources of salt which are pictured, range from salt licks to boiled down seawater.
More pictures added from various editions, 11 total. Click images to enlarge.

THE STORY OF THE SALT.
"HERE is something on the lower shelf of the corner cupboard, that is of more importance than many of its neighbours. You might contrive to live without either tea or coffee, as people were obliged to do in years gone by, when they drank stout ale for breakfast, and had dinner at twelve o'clock. But what would you do without salt? What would become of your nice relishing dishes, if salt did not season them? They would taste no better than white of egg. Nay, you would not have those rosy cheeks, nor be able to scamper about from morning till night as you do now. You would be pale and sickly; and I hardly think you could live, without the little harmless doses of salt you are always taking in some form or other.

A SALT-LICK. In a part of the world called North America, the cattle and the deer come a long way to get a taste of salt. The salt is in some well or spring that bubbles up among the grass; and the water leaves it behind like a crust on the stones that may chance to be lying about; and the grass all round tastes very much of salt. The place is called a "salt-lick," because the cattle keep licking at the stones. They are sure to find their way to the salt-lick, even though they live miles away. And they keep cropping the grass, and licking the salt, till they have had enough, and then they go home again. They make a path...

In some places the salt-licks are very far apart, and the cattle can hardly ever get to them. The cattle have plenty of food, and large rich pastures to browse in; but they long for a bit of salt, and there is none for them. Once a fortnight their master lets them come home to the farm, and gives each of them a bit of salt. The cows and horses know the right day as well as can be, and they set off at full gallop to the farm. The farmer is quite ready for them; and when they have had their salt they trot back again to the fields, as contented as possible. In Norway, when the farmer's wife goes out with her maidens to collect her cows and have them milked, she takes a bowl of salt in her hand. The moment the cows see it, they come running up from all parts of the field, as if asking for some. Their mistress gives each of them a large spoon-ful...

There is a desert in Africa where the ground under foot is not sand but salt. It is called the "Salt Desert;" and the salt sparkles in the sun with such a crystal whiteness that people who travel upon it are almost blinded. Because salt is so useful and so necessary, it is found in great abundance. The great wide sea could not keep sweet and fresh without salt.

BAY SALT AND ROCK SALT. People put the sea-water in large shallow pans, and let the sun dry it up. The salt found at the bottom is called bay salt," and is very bitter. And some-times it is mixed with other things, such as a relation called Epsom salts, that has a disagreeable taste, and is used as а medicine. But the salt makes its way from the sea by all kinds of secret paths under the ground, and then it is found in places called mines, and is named "rock salt." The mine is like a great deep cavern, and has tall pillars of salt to hold up the roof; and the roof, and the walls, and the pillars glitter as though they were covered with precious stones. When any person of consequence comes to visit the mine, the men who are at work make a great illumination. They stick torches here and there as thickly as they can, and then light them up, so that the place looks like a fairy palace.

A DEEP MINE. The mine I am speaking of is near the town of Cracow in Poland, and it is not very pleasant to be let down. The person is let down in a hammock by means of a rope; and he goes down, down, a very long way. When he stops, he is not at his journey's end; for he has to get out of his hammock, and go along a pathway that descends lower and lower, till it reaches the mine.

The pathway is sometimes cut into steps, like a great wide staircase, and glitters with the light of the torches that the miners carry in their hands. And the road leads through a great chamber or room where a thousand people might dine. When the traveller reaches the mine he finds himself in a country under ground, such as perhaps he had no idea of before.

IN THE MINE. A SALT-MINE. There is neither sun nor sky. But there are cross-roads, with horses and carriages going along them. And there are crowds of men, women, and children, who live always in the mine. Some of the children have lived there all their lives, and have never seen the daylight. Most of the horses, when once taken down, do not come up again. There are numbers of caverns, little and big, and some of them are made into stables, and the horses are kept there.

The roofs of the caverns are supported on pillars of salt, and roads branch from them in all directions. They reach so far, and wind about so much, that a man may easily get lost. If his torch happens to go out, he wanders about until his strength is quite gone; and if nobody finds him, he lies down and dies.

THE CHAPEL OF ST. ANTONY. I have read of a salt-mine [Wieliczka, since 13th cen. near Cracow] -also in Poland -in which there is a pretty chapel cut out of the salt, and called the "Chapel of St. Antony." [since 1698] The King of Poland used to be the owner of the mines; but Poland has no king now, and they belong to Austria.

There are some grand salt-mines in our own country and perhaps I told you about these first. They are at a place called Nantwich, in Cheshire; and people are let down in a great tub. When they reach the bottom of the mine, there is the same glittering light from the torches. The torches are what the miners have to see by..."

SOURCES

Kirby, Mary. Aunt Martha's corner cupboard: or Stories about tea, coffee, sugar, rice, &c. Phila: 1898. picture of 3 layers of salt mine and other pictures. my copy.
Kirby, Mary. Aunt Martha's corner cupboard: a story for little boys and girls. London: 1875 image of first salt mine picture
Kirby, Mary. Aunt Martha's corner cupboard: or Stories about tea, coffee, sugar, rice, &c. London: 1895 text
Kirby, Mary. Aunt Martha's corner cupboard: or Stories about tea, coffee, sugar, rice, &c. Boston: 189- horse and wagon
Kirby, Mary. Aunt Martha's corner cupboard: or Stories about tea, coffee, sugar, rice, &c. Chicago: 1928 salt lick
Image of pans - "Making Salt at Saltville, Va" The Great South 1875

BLOG POSTS

Civil War salt works - 500 bushels a day - destroyed HERE

Salt in the hearth - in Niche or Salt-box HERE

Future blog posts on salt HERE

TAPES & INFO

Salt making on the Solway. Andrew Fielding and John Pickin. 17th cen - Solway Coast Area UK 2020 TAPE HERE start at 13-14 min.

Royal Salt Mines in Wieliczka and Bochnia, Poland info and short tape. HERE

The Wieliczka Salt Mine 26min TAPE 2022 HERE

THIS WEEK'S TALKS deleted

CALENDAR OF VIRTUAL FOOD HISTORY TALKS HERE

©2023 Patricia Bixler Reber
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