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diff --git a/old/69590-0.txt b/old/69590-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0f4523a..0000000 --- a/old/69590-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4689 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Salt and the salt industry, by Albert -F. Calvert - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Salt and the salt industry - -Author: Albert F. Calvert - -Release Date: December 20, 2022 [eBook #69590] - -Language: English - -Produced by: deaurider, Charlie Howard, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was - produced from images made available by the HathiTrust - Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SALT AND THE SALT -INDUSTRY *** - - - - - -Transcriber’s Note - - -Italics are indicated with _underscores_, boldface with =equals signs=, -and superscripts with ^{text} or ^text. - - - - -[Illustration: VIEW OF THE COMMERCIAL SALT COMPANY’S BRINE RESERVOIRS -AT RODE HEATH, CHESHIRE, - -Showing the Brine being pumped up from a depth of 250 feet - - _Frontispiece_ -] - - - - - PITMAN’S COMMON COMMODITIES - AND INDUSTRIES - - - SALT - AND THE - SALT INDUSTRY - - - BY - ALBERT F. CALVERT, F.C.S. - - AUTHOR OF “SALT IN CHESHIRE”; - “THE SALT DEPOSITS OF THE WORLD”; ETC. - - - LONDON - SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, LTD., 1 AMEN CORNER, E.C.4 - BATH, MELBOURNE AND NEW YORK - - - - - PRINTED BY SIR ISAAC PITMAN - & SONS, LTD., LONDON, BATH, - MELBOURNE AND NEW YORK - - - - -PREFACE - - -The fact that salt is almost universally distributed over the surface -of the globe, and has been worked in a number of countries from time -immemorial, will explain the impossibility, in the limited space at my -disposal, to consider the mineral and its manufacture comprehensively -as the staple of a world-industry. The salt deposits of China, India, -Russia, Japan, and Austria would each require a volume of the size -of this if the subject was to be even adequately represented. I -have, therefore, dared to assume that the public will accept a book -practically restricted to one phase of the matter, and allow me to -concentrate upon our Cheshire salt district and its industry. - -Caesar’s _salinators_, who found the natives of Cheshire procuring -brine from little natural springs in the neighbourhoods of Northwich -and Nantwich, taught them to boil the brine and precipitate the salt -crystals in open pans set over open fires, and in the following 1,700 -years all the salt of Cheshire was manufactured by that process. -With the discovery of rock salt in 1670, mining was introduced, and -for another 200 years both rock salt and brine salt were produced. -But from causes which I have described, the mines collapsed in rapid -succession from about the middle of the nineteenth century, and fresh -water breaking into the abandoned workings converted them into the -brine reservoirs from which the salt-men have since obtained their -inexhaustible supplies of brine. - -But, although the salt industry is one of the oldest in the country, -it has received scant treatment at the hands of authors, and this is -accounted for by the fact that the trade has been conducted by a -comparatively small group of men who have resisted all attempts of -outsiders to participate in either their secrets or their profits. The -desire for information has been consistently rebuked, and practical -details relating to borings, working expenses, levels of brine, and -quantities raised have been jealously concealed. It was my good fortune -to be able to prosecute most of my researches on the spot, and to -supplement the knowledge gained from books, pamphlets, scientific -papers and periodicals, with material contained in private records and -documents placed at my disposal, and information obtained by word of -mouth. - -There is romance in every industry, and a modicum of it enters into -the development of the Cheshire salt trade; but for the most part the -story is a chronicle of bitter struggles to maintain a monopoly, of -money thrown away, of produce sold at ruinous loss, of obsolete methods -stubbornly persisted with, and of hardship and injustice callously -inflicted--in a word, of the sordid determination of the salt magnates -to crush competition and control prices. The methods of the Dark Ages -survived both in the manufacture and the marketing of the produce, and -the industry has more than once been reduced almost to ruin through -the war of extermination in which for so many years the salt-men were -engaged. It is not a pretty story, but it is one of unusual interest; -and I have endeavoured in the telling of it to retain the interest and -preserve the essential facts. - - ALBERT F. CALVERT. - - ROYSTON, - ETON AVENUE, N. W. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAP. PAGE - PREFACE iii - - I. THE CHEMISTRY AND PROPERTIES OF SALT 1 - - II. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE SALT INDUSTRY 8 - - III. THE CHESHIRE WICHES 32 - - IV. DEVELOPMENT OF BRINE PROCESSES 56 - - V. FORMATION AND EXTENT OF THE CHESHIRE DEPOSITS 83 - - VI. THE CHESHIRE SUBSIDENCES 97 - - VII. LATEST METHODS OF SALT-MAKING 125 - - VIII. THE SALT MARKET 142 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - VIEW OF THE COMMERCIAL SALT COMPANY’S BRINE RESERVOIRS AT RODE - HEATH, CHESHIRE _Frontispiece_ - - ANCIENT SALT WORKS 13 - - ANCIENT SALT WORKS 19 - - WIELIEZKA SALT MINES 21 - - SLANICU, RUMANIA, INTERIOR OF SALT MINE 25 - - WIELIEZKA SALT MINES 29 - - SUBSIDENCE OF LAND, NORTHWICH 41 - - DUNKIRK SUBSIDENCE, NORTHWICH 49 - - THE CANAL-BURST AND LANDSLIP NEAR NORTHWICH IN 1907 59 - - A SALT STORE-SHED 67 - - WITTON BROOK, SUBMERGENCE OF AGRICULTURAL LAND 75 - - WORKING IN DANGEROUS GROUND AFTER SUBSIDENCE, DUNKIRK LAKE, - NORTHWICH 81 - - STREET-RAISING IN PROGRESS--HIGH STREET, NORTHWICH 89 - - THIS ROAD WAS RAISED TWENTY FEET IN TWENTY YEARS. NONE OF - THESE BUILDINGS IS NOW STANDING--NORTHWICH 93 - - INTERIOR PENNY’S LANE MINE, NORTHWICH 99 - - REMARKABLE SUBSIDENCE IN NORTHWICH 111 - - A ROW OF OPEN PANS 119 - - ILLUSTRATION OF FOUR SCOTT PATENT DOUBLE EFFECT SALT - EVAPORATORS, WITH AUTOMATIC SALT DISCHARGERS, SALT - CONVEYORS, AND HYDRO-EXTRACTORS 131 - - THE HODGKINSON PATENT SALT-MAKING PLANT 137 - - - - -SALT AND THE SALT INDUSTRY - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE CHEMISTRY AND PROPERTIES OF SALT - - -“Salt” was the name which was given in the first place to the residue -left by the evaporation of sea-water, but the designation was -subsequently employed to include the other substances held in solution -in the sea, and, at a still later period, the name was still further -extended by chemists to cover all the combinations of a base and an -acid which are now classed as “salts.” Sodium, or sodic chloride Na Cl, -which is now distinguished as “common salt,” is an example of the -simplest type of chemical salt, its molecule consisting of one atom -of the metal sodium combined with one atom of the gas chlorine, both -sodium and chlorine being mono-valent elements, _i.e._, one atom of -each being able to unite with, or displace from a compound, one atom of -hydrogen. - -Rock-salt is rarely found in an absolutely pure anhydrous state, in -which it is colourless and perfectly transparent. In most rock-salt -mines such specimens are regarded as curiosities, but in the deposits -of Nevada and of Wieliezka, in Hungary (where the salt, containing -100 per cent. NaCl, is the purest in the world), large masses of -quite transparent salt are encountered. The white opaque mass which -the ordinary person is accustomed to think of as rock-salt, is the -purified product of commerce. The colour of sea-water is affected by -its percentage of salt, the colour changing from blue to green as the -quantity of salt decreases; but sea-salt is generally white, although -not transparent owing to the presence of minute particles of water, -air, etc., in its intercrystalline spaces. But rock-salt is never more -than whitish inclining to grey, and, as a general rule, it is coloured -by earth or mineral impurities. The Salt Range in the Panjab yields -a substance that varies from pink to red, according to the different -quantities of iron present as impurities. That found at Marston, in -Cheshire, varies from yellow to red and brownish-red in colour. Small -blocks of transparent salt of a deep sapphire blue are occasionally -found in the Wieliezka mines. The colour disappears on heating, and -when the salt is ground to powder. It is attributed by some chemists -to the presence of subchloride of sodium, by others to the presence of -thin cavities having parallel surfaces with gas inclusions. - -Common salt, which is classed as “sweet” to distinguish it from the -bitter-tasting salts of magnesium, has a peculiar saline taste which -gains in pungency with refinement, and in its pure state is odourless. -In solution, the smallest quantity perceptible to the taste is about 15 -grains to the litre, roughly, 68 grains to the gallon. - -Common salt is highly soluble in cold water, and rather more so in hot -water, but while it dissolves slightly in alcohol, neither ether nor -oil has any effect upon it. One hundred parts of distilled water at -60° F. (15·5° C.) will dissolve 35·9 parts of chemically pure NaCl. A -saturated solution of common salt, therefore, contains 26·42 per cent. -NaCl. The increase of solubility of NaCl in proportion to the rise in -temperature, calculated by Gay Lussac and Poggiale, is particularly -marked between 100 deg. and 110 deg., when boiling point is passed, -the increase amounting to ·74 parts of 10 deg., as compared with an -increase of one 1·09 parts between freezing and boiling points. In a -double solution of NaCl and some other more soluble salt, as sodium -or magnesium sulphate or magnesium chloride, the solubility of sodium -chloride is very greatly reduced. - -The evaporation of brine is slightly less rapid than that of ordinary -pure water, and the boiling point of brine varies with the amount of -NaCl present in solution, from 100·21 deg. when only 1 per cent. NaCl -is present, to 108·99 deg. when the solution contains 29·4 per cent. of -NaCl. A saturated solution of refined table-salt (_i.e._, a solution -containing 26·4 per cent. NaCl) has, at normal temperatures, specific -gravity 1·2. Salt crystals have specific gravity 2·167 at a temperature -of 17°. The salt which separates at high temperature contains no water -of crystallization. But when the thermometer falls much below -15° C. -the crystals have the composition NaCl.2H₂O and are prismatic in shape. -When heated, these give up their water of crystallization and take the -simple composition NaCl. - -Pure sodium chloride is not deliquescent (_i.e._, it does not dissolve -and become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air), but, owing -to the presence of minute quantities of magnesium chloride (one of -the most deliquescent substances known), all except the most refined -table-salt appears to be so to a slight extent. Even the finest -table-salt is slightly hygroscopic, its crystals absorbing as much as -·6 per cent. moisture from a damp atmosphere. In some of the mines of -Cheshire and Austria the very fine saline dust that is diffused through -the atmosphere is found by the miners to be extremely irritating to the -eyes and lungs, but all the more usual kinds of salt are sufficiently -hygroscopic to indicate plainly the condition of the atmosphere. - -Sodic chloride melts at a very high temperature, and at a still higher -temperature it evaporates, while at white heat it forms thick clouds. - -It would be supposed that in the same ocean areas, the proportion of -the salt contents, except where marked differences in temperature -occur, would be fairly constant, but it has been demonstrated that, -even where masses of water of varying densities are superimposed upon -each other, no very complete process of diffusion takes place between -them, and practical salt-makers are familiar with differences in -density which occur in different parts of the same salt pan. - -The hardness of a mineral depends upon the degree of cohesion of its -particles; but although no unit of hardness has been determined upon, -and therefore no accurate method of measuring hardness has been arrived -at, minerals have been approximately classed in a comparative table -of ten substances, of which talc is placed at one end and diamond at -the other. In this table, rock salt appears in the second place, and -its hardness is estimated at 2·5. Its cohesion or power of supporting -pressure is, therefore, about twice as great as that of bricks, and the -practical advantage of this property is fully employed in rock-salt -mines, where galleries and roofs are supported upon pillars of salt. - -Common salt is a crystalline substance which crystallizes in the -Isometric, Monometric, or Tesseral system. That is to say, each crystal -has three equal perpendicular planes of symmetry and six equal diagonal -planes of symmetry. The crystals generally form cubes having six -rectangular and equilateral faces. When these form on the surface of -brine the sides often collapse, giving the distinctive “hopper-shaped” -forms. More rarely the crystals form in octahedra, having eight -equal, equilateral triangular faces, or in long needles under certain -modifying conditions. - -The hollow quadrangular pyramidal form with an irregular inner -surface arranged in steps, which manufactured salt generally takes, -is the result of continuous depositions of crystals from a constantly -saturated solution of brine during a considerable period, being -superimposed layer after layer upon each other. - -In his exhaustive explanation of these phenomena, given in his -_Principles of Chemistry_, Mendeléeff says: “If a solution of sodium -chloride be slowly heated from above, where the evaporation takes -place, the upper layer will become saturated before the lower and -cooler layers, and therefore crystallization will begin on the surface, -and the crystals first formed will float--having also dried from -above--on the surface until they become quite soaked. Being heavier -than the solution the crystals are partially immersed in it, and the -following crystallization, also proceeding on the surface, will only -form crystals by the side of the original crystals. A funnel is formed -in this manner. It will be borne on the surface like a boat (if the -liquid be quiescent) because it will grow more from the upper edges. -We can thus understand this, at first sight, strange funnel-form of -crystallized salt. To explain why the crystallization under the above -conditions begins at the surface and not at the lower edges, it must -be mentioned that the specific gravity of a crystal of sodium chloride -is 2·16, and that a solution saturated at 25° contains 26·7 per cent. -of salt and has a specific gravity 1·2004 at 25°; at 15° a saturated -solution contains 26·5 per cent. of salt and has a specific gravity -1·203 at 15°. Hence, a solution saturated at a higher temperature -is specifically lighter, notwithstanding the greater amount of salt -it contains. With many substances, surface crystallization cannot -take place, because their solubility increases more rapidly with the -temperature than their specific gravity decreases. In this case the -saturated solution will always be in the lower layers, where also the -crystallization will take place.” - -The acoustic properties of common salt render it an excellent medium -for the transmission of sound, and as it possesses in a high degree the -power of staying decomposition in dead organisms, it is, perhaps, the -commonest of all preservatives. It is largely owing to its preservative -property that common salt is an absolute necessity to the life of man -and the higher animals, from a quarter to half an ounce a day being -sufficient to prevent the putrefaction of food in the digestive tract -in the case of an adult. In agriculture, salt is not only valuable -as a destroyer of weeds and insect life, but used sparingly and with -knowledge, it forms an excellent manure; while its more strictly -chemical value in the manufacture of soda, chlorine, etc., causes it to -play an important part in many branches of industry. - -Even at the highest temperatures, heat cannot effect the decomposition -of common salt. At a red heat, pure sodic chloride melts and becomes -liquid, and if cooled again, a solid crystalline mass is formed. -Ordinary salt fuses at a lower temperature and volatilizes when heated -in an open vessel. But even in a closed vessel the purest salt will -volatilize at a white heat. When gases or fluids are present in the -crystalline cavities, heat causes decrepitation. - -On the subject of the composition of brine, it is only necessary to add -that it is so extremely variable that no two districts produce brine -springs of the same strength and density, while the composition of -ocean brine varies not only from ocean to ocean, but also for different -parts and different depths in the same plane of water, and with the -different distances from the mouths of large rivers. In the Cheshire -district, the Brine test or Salinometer is graduated to show ounces in -the gallon; but the gallon is the old Winchester Gallon of 231 cub. in. -and not the Imperial Gallon of 277·274 cub. in. These are related to -each other in the proportion of 10 to 12, therefore the Imperial Gallon -will contain ⅕ more than the old gallon. Fully saturated brine by the -Salinometer contains 42 oz. (2 lb. 10 oz.), therefore, in the Imperial -Gallon 50·4 oz. As brines vary from 2 lb. 8 oz., or 40 oz. old measure, -or 3 lb. or 48 oz. Imperial to 2 lb. 10 oz., or 3 lb. 2 oz. Imperial, -so 1,000 gallons, which has been chosen as the measure for assessing -brine-pumpers--under the Brine Pumping Compensation for Subsidence Act -of 1891--will contain under the old measurement 2,625 lb. and under the -Imperial 3,125 lb. of salt. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE BEGINNINGS OF THE SALT INDUSTRY - - -Salt, being existent in all animal and vegetable life, is coeval with -life itself; it was present in the first herbage which gave nourishment -to the first beast that, in its turn, became food for the first -omnivorous man. In the beginning, man consumed the saline essences -that were required to preserve his body in health, in the form of -sodium chloride, which he absorbed in the uncooked flesh of animals, -birds, and fishes, and in raw green-foods. The herbivorous animals were -equally dependent upon salt, and, finding it in only infinitesimal -quantities in the grasses upon which they fed, instinct directed them -to the sea swamp pasturage and to the outcropping salt deposits. So -long as man’s diet consisted of uncooked foods, his fresh meat provided -him with a sufficiency of salt, but directly he employed a cook-pot -in the preparation of his food, the boiling processes denuded it of -70 per cent. of its natural salt, and it became necessary for him to -make up the deficiency. It must have been at this period that his herds -directed his attention to the “salt licks” from which they satisfied -their own saline wants, and enabled him to secure salt as a distinct -and separate condiment. - -It is probable that, from the Palaeolithic Age down to the time of the -early Roman writers, man was content to season his victuals by the -simple process of licking a piece of rock-salt, and we have no record -to indicate the period when salt was first employed in the cooking of -food. From varieties of grain and fragments of pottery that have been -discovered in the dwellings of the cave-men of Belgium, it is supposed -that salt was employed in the cooking of wheat and barley some five -thousand years ago. Thirteen centuries before Christ, fish preserved -in salt was eaten in Ancient Troy, and, according to Herodotus, the -Egyptians not only salted ducks, quails, and a species of sardine which -inhabited the Nile, but also employed salt or brine as an antiseptic -in preparing the bodies of the illustrious dead for the process of -embalming. - -We cannot determine the period in which salt came to be regarded as -a symbol of sanctity or entered into the religious ceremonials of -the ancients. We know that in the Levitical Law, promulgated in 1500 -B.C., every meat-offering was seasoned with salt, and salt is referred -to in the “Verbal Instructions” which were enunciated by the founder -of Buddhism, five centuries later. By the time of Pythagoras, about -600 B.C., salt was regarded as the emblem of justice, but who shall -say when the Arabs first employed it as a token of friendship, or -the Chinese offered their first oblation to Phelo, the salt deity of -Celestial worship? We read in Herodotus that caravans brought salt -from North Africa, and Schleiden tells us that the priests of Egypt -preferred the salt of Hammomen to that evaporated from sea-water; but -these references do not help us to fix the date when salt became an -article of commerce, or tell us when or where or by whom it was first -produced in a manufactured form. It was rock-salt which the Egyptians -procured from the salt basin of the Sahara, and rock-salt from the -margin of the Red Sea was the variety that is referred to by the -compilers of Biblical history. But, although the natural crude product -was probably the sole form in which it was known in the Western world -by the Ancients, and through the vaunted golden epochs of Babylon, -Byzantium, and Greece, the Chinese--who had invented explosives before -the Romans had perfected the catapult, and had learnt to navigate by -the compass while yet the mariners of the Mediterranean were dependent -upon the stars and their wits--had probably been familiar for ages -with a salt manufactured by a process, the origin of which they had -forgotten, but the practice of which was to remain in operation, almost -without revision, for further thousands of years. - -The first mention of salt in the Chinese language is found in the -annals of the Emperor Yu (2205–2197 B.C.), who ordered the province -of Shantung to supply the Court with that commodity. During the Chow -dynasty (1122–249 B.C.) the administration of the salt industry was -conducted by Court officials, but the Crown monopoly of salt was not -instituted until the days of Kuan Chung, who died 645 B.C. Between A.D. -561 and A.D. 583, references to various taxes on salt lead us to the -conclusion that salt was produced at that period from sea-water, salt -marshes, and salt springs, and at the present day salt is produced -in China in three varieties--sea-salt, lake-salt, and well-salt. As -the success of the boiling operation (which antedated by unnumbered -centuries the comparatively modern industry of extracting salt from -sea-water by evaporation in the sun) depends mainly on the condition -of the brine and the time allowed in each stage of the process, -the details were the subject of many series of experiments in the -pursuit of the perfect system, but since about the twelfth century -the following method has been consistently followed by the Chinese -salt-makers. The whole of the sea-shore in the neighbourhood of the -salt works is measured out and divided into a number of small, regular -squares; the surface layer in each is dug out; the bottom of each pit -thus formed is then strewn with straw, and the earth that has been -removed is thrown back upon it. When these brine ovens, as they were -called--which are shaped like chests, 9 ft. long, 2 ft. broad, and 3 -ft. deep--are prepared, they are soaked with sea-water. The sea-water -in the interior of the ovens forms brine, and flows through little -ditches into wells which have been dug for its reception. From these -wells, which are about 8 ft. deep, the brine is drawn out and carried -to the boiling ovens. These brine ovens are furnished with large -evaporating pans, three to five of which are attached to each oven. The -boiling takes place at once and is continued without interruption, from -11 p.m. until 10.30 on the following morning, and during this period -the salt is taken out six times. As soon as the salt begins to harden, -pods of the _tsao-chio_ tree are thrown into the pans, in order that -the particles of salt may combine more quickly, and as soon as it is -precipitated, it is removed and the pans are refilled with fresh brine. -On an average, 600 cathés of the best brine yield 140 cathés of pure -salt, which is produced in three qualities and colours--white, dark, -and yellow. The white is the best, the dark is less esteemed, and the -yellow, which is much inferior, has a bitter taste. - -Since the fifteenth century, the Chinese have produced salt by solar -evaporation of salt water, according to a simple but satisfactory -process. Pits are dug on the sea-shore and bamboos are laid crosswise -over them. The whole is covered with double mats, and sand is strewn -over the top. Every morning and evening the covering of sand is soaked -with sea-water by the tide, and the salt liquor finds its way into -the pits. As soon as the water has receded, the salt workers appear -with flaming bundles of straw, to test the saline character of the -moisture, which is not regarded as fully impregnated unless the salt -vapour arising from the pits extinguishes the fire. The brine thus -produced is drawn off and run into secondary or crystallizing ponds, -the level of which is set a foot or so below the first series of pits. -The secondary ponds, which are smaller and of less depth, are provided -with carefully-rolled, hard clay bottoms. When a sufficiently thick -crystalline deposit has been formed at the bottom of the secondary -ponds, workmen, starting at the centre, scrape the bottoms, working -outward spirally and finishing at the corner of the pond, where the -coarse crystalline product is collected and allowed to drain. When -drained and dried, the salt is ready for transfer to the market. - -In Japan, where the manufacture of sea-salt by boiling or by -spontaneous evaporation was introduced more than two thousand years -ago, the process is similar to that employed in China, but in some -parts of the kingdom the evaporation basin generally employed in solar -evaporation is dispensed with. In the latter method, a level field is -formed close to the sea and sprinkled over with fine sand. Sea-water -is then poured into the field, and, after evaporation of the water, -the salt crystallizes and adheres to the sand. The mixture of salt and -sand is next thrown into a kind of extracting apparatus and sea-water -is poured upon it, whereupon the salt is dissolved and filtered in -the form of a thick salt liquid. In other Japanese salt fields the -concentrated liquor is poured into a crystallization basin prepared for -the purpose, and, upon evaporation of the water by the sun’s heat, the -salt crystallizes. - -[Illustration: ANCIENT SALT WORKS - - _A._ Wooden Ladle. _B._ Cask. _C._ Tub. _D._ The Master. - _E._Assistant. _F._ The Master’s Wife. _G._ Wooden Spade. - _H._ Boards. _I._ Salt-baskets. _K._ Hoe. _L._ Rake. _M._ Straw. - _N._ Bowls. _O._ Bucket for Blood. _P._ Beer Tankard. - - _From an Old Print_ _Published in 1556_· -] - -In Italy most of the salt is made by solar evaporation. The salt -grounds, which occupy extensive areas, are furnished with reservoirs -for the preparation of the sea-water by saturation and for the -deposit of salt. The former are known as condensers and the latter -as crystallizing beds, and in both the work is carried on by solar -evaporation only. Every salt-ground, or salt-garden, as it is called, -has a feeding channel for the inflow of sea-water, a drainage channel, -and a network of internal channels at low and high levels, as are -required for immission or drainage purposes. In Portugal and Spain, -salt is made by solar evaporation from sea-water, and although there -are differences between the several methods, they apply only to details -regarding the areas of the salt-grounds or the sizes of the reservoirs. - -Let it be clearly understood that all commercial salt is produced -either from the sea or from rock-salt. Sea-water is evaporated to -precipitate its salt either by the heat of the sun or by artificial -heat. Rock-salt is mined and refined for market purposes, and it is -resolved into brine from which the salt is extracted by solar heat or -the process of boiling, but whether the salines are obtained from salt -lakes or from natural brine springs, or are prepared by flooding salt -deposits with water and pumping it out in the form of fully saturated -brine, rock-salt is the foundation for them all. And in all the -processes of manufacture the basic principle is the same, and consists -of applying heat to drive off the liquid which contains the salt and -collecting the crystalline deposit which remains. - -The principle of what is described as the boiling process is -fundamental and unalterable, and for thousands of years the plant and -utensils employed in the process underwent no material change. Since -the sixteenth century in England, variations in the shape, size, and -capacity of the pans have been introduced, and experiments have been -made in the re-arrangement of the receptacles and redistribution -of the furnaces, while coal fuel has been substituted for straw and -wood, but it is only in the past twenty-five years that any material -success has been achieved in the matter of economizing and accelerating -the process of production, controlling the heat in order to regulate -the grain of the salt, producing more than one grade of salt in one -operation, or of automatically and continuously collecting the salt as -it is precipitated from the brine. - -The earliest exact and detailed description that we have of salt-making -appears in _De Re Metallica_, a famous work by Georgius Agricola, of -Saxony, which was published in 1556, and which for the following 180 -years, remained the standard text-book on mining and metallurgy. In -Chapter XII of this work, the preparation of which occupied Agricola -for a quarter of a century, he gives the exhaustive particulars -relating to the boiling process from which the ensuing account is -compiled. - -After explaining the method by which sea-water is received into -the first series of prepared trenches, in which the first stage -of evaporation takes place and is thereafter carried into the -second basins, where it is thickened by further evaporation to the -constituency in which it is ready to be converted into salt, Agricola -tells us that the liquor is then boiled in pans placed in sheds -arranged for the purpose. Each shed is divided into three parts. In the -first part is stored the firewood or straw, and in the second is the -fireplace on which is placed the caldron. To the right of the caldron -is a tub for the brine that is to be converted into salt, and on the -left is a bench upon which the salt is placed before being removed to -the third compartment, where it is moulded into cones or tablets and -left to dry in the warm air. - -The fireplaces are made 8½ ft. long and 7¾ ft. wide; if wood is burned -in them they are nearly 4 ft. high, but if straw fuel is used, they are -6 ft. in height. The caldrons are rectangular, 8 ft. long and 7 ft. -wide, and 6 in. deep. They are made of sheets of iron or lead, “not -very thick so that the water is heated more quickly by the fire and -is boiled away rapidly.” To prevent the brine from leaking out at the -points where the metal plates are fastened with rivets, the caldrons -are smeared over with a cement of ox-liver, or ox-blood, mixed with -ashes. As soon as the first dipperful of brine is poured from the brine -tub into the caldron, the wood or straw is ignited in the fireplace. If -the firewood consists of faggots or brushwood, the salt will be white, -but if straw is burned the salt is not infrequently blackish from the -sparks which rise with the smoke and settle upon the water. - -In order to accelerate the condensation of the brine, the salt-maker -adds and mixes into it bullock’s blood, or calf’s blood, or buck’s -blood, which dissolves and is distributed into all the corners of -the caldron. When the boiling water seems to be mixed with scum, it -is skimmed with a ladle, and from the firing of the furnace to the -skimming of the boiling scum is the work of half an hour. After this it -boils down for another quarter of an hour, and thereafter it begins to -condense into salt. When the brine commences to thicken with the heat, -it is stirred assiduously with a wooden spatula, and then allowed to -boil for an hour. At this stage beer is added to the contents of the -caldron, which is protected from the wind by boards, and the salt is -then withdrawn with a shovel and thrown into baskets. The remaining -brine is allowed to boil for another three-quarters of an hour, when -the salt is again removed and placed in the drying compartment. In -this manner the salters alternately boil the brine and collect the -salt, “day and night, with the exception only of the annual feast -days.” No caldron is able to stand the fire for more than half a year. -New caldrons are washed out three times in the first two weeks, and -afterwards once a week. In this manner the incrustations fall from the -bottom of the caldron, and if this is not done the salt would have to -be made more slowly over a fiercer fire, which not only requires more -brine but burns the plates of the caldron. If any cracks make their -appearance in the caldron, they are filled up with cement. The salt -made during the first two weeks in a new caldron is usually inferior in -quality, being stained by the rust at the bottom where incrustations -have not yet adhered. - -Agricola’s description is full of technical exactness in regard to -those parts of the apparatus and the process which are of comparatively -insignificant interest, but it is, unfortunately, silent about details -on which fuller information would be useful. He tells us the capacity -of the tubs in which the brine is conserved, but not of the caldrons -in which it is boiled, and we cannot calculate the quantity by the -dimensions of the receptacles, since he omits to mention the depth -to which they are filled. He explains that it takes half an hour to -fill the baskets with the salt that is drawn from the caldron, but -as he does not give us the dimensions of the baskets employed, or -the amount of wood or straw consumed, we cannot determine the length -of time required to make a certain quantity of salt, or the cost in -fuel. But, condensed and simplified by the elimination of extraneous -particulars and complex technicalities, the foregoing enables us to -obtain a fair idea of the methods employed by the salter of Halle, in -Saxony, assisted by his wife as helper and a youthful stoker--working -naked, on account of the great heat, save for a straw cap and a breech -cloth--in the first half of the sixteenth century. - -The subject of the formation of rock-salt deposits will be treated in -a later chapter, in which a description will be given of rock-salt -mining in Cheshire. The primitive methods that characterized the brine -industry have been adhered to with equal tenacity in the winning of -rock-salt. It is extraordinary that, in the manufacture and in the -mining of salt, each successive generation of salt-men, in inheriting -their methods from their forefathers, or adapting them from the miners -of another country, have always preserved the intense conservatism that -appears to be inseparable from the industry, and have resisted all -innovations that have promised to simplify or expedite their labours. - -[Illustration: ANCIENT SALT WORKS - - _A._ Sheds. _B._ Painted Signs. _C._ First Room. _D._ Second - Room. _E._ Third Room. _F._ Windows. _G._ Window in Roof. - _H_ and _I._ Wells. _K._ Casks. _L._ Pole. _M._ Forked Resting - Sticks - - _From an Old Print_ _Published in 1556_· -] - -It would be an interminable and unprofitable undertaking to conduct -the reader upon a tour of the salt mines of the world, and explain -the different methods that are adopted to conform with the local -and geological conditions which obtain in the various salt regions. -The systems followed in most countries are governed by traditions -that have their origin in immemorial times, and the disposition to -perpetuate the operations without change through succeeding ages is, -perhaps, traceable to the races that work the mines rather than to -the deposits in which they work. The process of solar evaporation -which is employed to-day on the shores of the Mediterranean and the -Adriatic is practically the same as it was when the civilization of -China was in its infancy; the implements and methods in present use in -the salt mines of Austria, Russia, and Rumania were introduced by the -discoverers of the lodes in the darkest ages. We cannot even fix the -comparatively recent period in which it was decreed that the Rumanian -mines of Tirgu-Ocna and Ocnele-Mari should be exploited by convict -labour, while the Slavic mine was to find employment for free workers -only. Every country, every salt district, and almost every mine has its -peculiar and distinguishing rules, customs, and methods of work, which -are interesting in themselves but of insufficient importance to warrant -detailed consideration in a treatise of this scope. There are, however, -certain salt regions and mines which, by reason of their magnitude and -the possession of unprecedented features, have obtained rank among -the lesser wonders of the world, and for this reason we must devote a -little space to “the Great Salt” of Wieliezka, in Hungary, and to the -great Rumanian salt deposits. - -The famous mines of Wieliezka, in the lower Carpathians, about -eight miles from the city of Cracow--with their underground roads, -houses, and monuments; their churches, ball-rooms, and restaurants; -their lakes, bridges, and railway stations--constitute a city -commemorative of the art and industry of bygone periods, and present -a spectacle, weird and splendid, that reminds one of the marvels of -the Thousand-and-One Nights. The Wieliezka system, which has been in -operation since the thirteenth century, extends over an area of about -twelve square miles, and reaches a maximum depth of some 12,000 ft. The -various galleries at present accessible have an aggregate length of 65 -miles, and the total length of mining railways is about thirty miles. -Each mine consists of five storeys. The first storey is about 200 ft. -below the surface, and between the different storeys a body of earth -or salt from 80 ft. to 100 ft. thick is left. As in Northwich, many -of the old workings in Wieliezka have fallen in, and whole chambers -and streets have been engulfed in the holes. Broad staircases connect -the various storeys, each of which boasts its distinctive chambers -and thoroughfares. The air in the upper levels is much more moist than -in the lower excavations, with the result that the salt statues in -these apartments are gradually losing their shape. The head of one is -nearly gone, the arms of another are wasted; while the deeper furrows, -which are observable upon the sculptured bodies, give them a grotesque -appearance. The smoke of lamps and wicks adds to the moisture of the -air and darkens the surface of the statues, which might be carved in -black marble. Onward and downward one proceeds, the stairways appear -to be innumerable; the visitor loses all sense of depth, distance, and -direction; chambers and passages lead to further chambers and passages, -until the tour of the workings leaves one with a dominating impression -of limitless repetition. Everything is of solid salt, except where -some insecure roof is supported by huge timbers or a wooden bridge is -thrown over some vast chasm. As depth is attained the air grows drier -and purer, and the points and faces of the rock become more crystalline -and beautiful. Onward and downward still, through labyrinths of shafts, -galleries, and chambers, up crooked passages, and under vaulted -archways, that lead into innumerable, unnamed smaller apartments. - -[Illustration: WIELIEZKA SALT MINES, GALICIA. THE BEAUTIFUL FRANCIS -JOSEPH BALL ROOM, MADE OF SALT. THE CHANDELIERS ARE MADE OF POLISHED -SALT CRYSTALS] - -Groups and gangs of miners, naked to the hips, are everywhere busy -with pick, mallet, and wedge, with which they block out and separate -the salt slabs from the solid mass. The process has the simplicity -of the age in which it was first employed. The blocks are marked out -on the surface of the rock by grooves. One side is then deepened to -the required thickness, and the face is split off by wedges inserted -under the block. It is then divided into pieces of 100 lb. each and -removed to the shafts, where it is hoisted, stage after stage, to the -surface. The number of labourers continually engaged is from one to -two thousand. The miners, who are muscular, healthy-looking men, are -divided into gangs. The work is carried on in shifts of six hours each, -and in each shift a gang will quarry out about 1,000 lb. weight of salt. - -The Letow ball-room, which lies at a depth of 216 ft. below the -surface, dates from 1750, and has been the scene of many Royal visits -and splendid entertainments. One end of the spacious chamber is adorned -with a colossal Austrian eagle, and in an alcove at the opposite end -is set up a crystal throne. The giant chamber which bears the name of -Michalowice, a fearsome and stupendous excavation, was completed in -1701, as the result of forty years of continuous labour. It is 59 ft. -long by 92 ft. broad, and the roof, supported by a wooden framework, -has a height of 118 ft. The chamber is lit by a salt chandelier -furnished with 300 electric bulbs. The Francis Joseph ball-room is -another of the wonders of this subterranean city. It is an immensely -large and immensely lofty apartment, lit by six large chandeliers -fashioned of crystalline rock-salt. Salt statues of Vulcan and -Neptune, which adorn the hall, reflect the electric light from myriad -brilliant points and angles, and contribute to the general impression -of flashing splendour which the scene conveys. Beneath these great -reception rooms, are smaller halls, each beautiful in itself, bearing -the names of royal or princely personages. Massive pyramids of salt and -sculptured monuments, with carved inscriptions, perpetuate the memories -of Emperors and Empresses of Austria, or commemorate their visits to -the mines. Near to the Letow ball-room is the celebrated St. Anthony’s -Chapel, which was hewn in 1698, and for upwards of two centuries has -been the resort of thousands of the devout. The vestibule in the -chapel consists of a symmetrical archway with figures at the sides. The -interior is beautified by an altar bearing a sculptured representation -of the Crucifixion, and flanked by salt effigies of kneeling monks. -Hard by St. Anthony’s Chapel a magnificent shrine is hewn in one of -the passages, peopled with figured saints, which leads to the Queen’s -Chapel, with the superbly-chiselled altar and its view of Bethlehem -carved in the solid salt. - -The central railway station in the third storey, and the great -restaurant, with its ponderous pillars and its long vista of latticed -galleries, are among the many marvels of the mines, but nothing it -contains is so wonderful as 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 slumberous wavelets -roll up against the sides of the grotto with a ghost-like swish. A -ponderous solitude over weighs all. The Styx alone of all the legendary -rivers of death could rival this in stillness. The boat is guided -through the Stephanie and Rudolf grottoes by ropes running on pulleys -along the sides of the curious craft, and the boatman, with his hands -resting on the stern, pushes it with his feet braced against the rope. -Of the sixteen lakes in different parts of the mine, this is the only -one upon which visitors are allowed to go. The report of a gun fired in -the centre of the lake fills the vault with long and lingering echoes, -and the voice of the boatman sounds like a giant’s voice uprising from -the depths of chaos. - -The illumination of the mine is arranged according to a regular tariff -based on the number of visitors sharing the expense. For any number -of persons up to twenty, the illumination, which comprehends the -employment of over a thousand candles and electric lamps, costs about -ninety shillings, but for an additional sovereign, which is charged -when a party numbers over thirty persons, the whole mine becomes a -blaze of light. - -[Illustration: INTERIOR OF SALT MINE AT SLANICU, RUMANIA - -This famous mine has been worked since the time of the Romans.] - -Serious calamities at Wieliczka are now practically unknown, owing -to the care exercised by the officials, but minor accidents are -unavoidable. Some few years ago a huge mass of rock-salt, weighing -some 200 tons, fell from the roof of one of the chambers; in 1868 the -mines were flooded by the bursting of a subterranean salt lake; and a -fire in 1815 resulted in the loss of several hundred lives. The early -history of the mines contains the record of several terrible disasters, -including an incendiary fire in 1510, which caused a great number of -deaths, and another fire in 1644, which raged for over a year, and -consumed all the people, horses, and mules who were in the mine when -the fire occurred. - -The working of the three great Rumanian salt deposits present other -examples of the persistent survival of ancient methods, but it must -be admitted that an attempt was made at one time to introduce modern -machinery. It was demonstrated that the machine produced more salt in -a given time, and that the waste of about 25 per cent. of the salt -attendant upon manual labour and the use of picks was saved, but as -the supply of salt is practically inexhaustible, and there is no -limit set upon the time of winning it, and as man-power, especially -convict man-power, is cheaper than machinery, the authorities soon -reverted to the old system. In the Slanic mine, in which the salt is -crystalline, white, and almost absolutely pure, the free labourers, of -whom about 500 are employed, are divided into gangs of six men. Each -man takes an oblong piece of the floor of the mine, about as big as -an ordinary tombstone, and, using his pick, scoops round it a narrow -groove about 5 in. deep. This done, he summons the rest of his gang, -and, standing beside him on the slab, they raise and bring down their -picks simultaneously at the word of command. Force is necessary, but -rhythmical accuracy in the planting of the blow is more essential, and -by long practice the men have become so extraordinarily expert that -they scarcely ever diverge a hair’s breadth from the point at which -they aim. In a few minutes the persistent blows detach the slab, which -the six men raise with the aid of a lever. The gang proceed from slab -to slab until all six have been detached and lifted, after which each -man breaks his own slab into chunks and loads it into a truck for -removal to the shaft, through which it is hauled to the surface. An -expert miner’s earnings at this work range from half a crown to three -shillings a day. - -The convicts employed in the Tirgu-Ocna and Ocnele-Mari mines are -paid from sixpence to eightpence a day for their work, and, save that -liberty and the hospitality of the local taverns are denied them, -their condition is little worse than that of the free labourers. As -capital punishment does not obtain in Rumania, the convict miners -include murderers, brigands, and the worst class of criminals, and -armed soldiers escort them to and fro between the prison and the mine, -and remain on guard while they are at work. Dashes for liberty used to -be common, and organized attempts to escape have also been attempted, -but now, on the first sign of suspicious behaviour on the part of the -convicts, the order is given for the whole gang to throw themselves -flat upon the ground. As those who disobey the order are immediately -shot, instantaneous compliance with the command is usually observed. On -one occasion a body of disaffected convicts had recourse to a form of -passive resistance, and when the day’s work was over they refused to -leave the mine. The guards and overseers thereupon withdrew and left -the mutineers to reflect in an intolerably salt atmosphere upon the -virtues of fresh water, of which they had no supply. After two days -of torture, the men capitulated. But the work of superintending the -convicts in the mines is a delicate and dangerous task. The overseers -are compelled to mix with the men, and it is but the work of a few -silent minutes for a gang to overpower an unpopular official and -squeeze the breath out of his body. As the murder is a communal affair, -and the practice of making an example of one man _pour l’encourager les -autres_ is not adopted in Rumania, the extent of punishment inflicted -upon the whole gang is less than would be meted out to individual -offenders. As the salt reserves in the three principal mines of Rumania -are estimated at 8,774,000,000 tons, and the annual extraction has -never exceeded 150,000 tons, it follows that, at the present rate of -progress, the deposits cannot be exhausted for several millenniums. - -Where the salt deposits are composed of a mineral that is white, -odourless, and practically pure, as in the Wieliezka system and the -mines of Rumania, and particularly if labour is abundant and cheap, and -the industry is a monopoly of the State, rock-salt mining will always -hold its own. - -[Illustration: WIELIEZKA SALT MINES, GALICIA. THE RAILWAY STATION ON -THE THIRD LEVEL] - -Even in this country, when the old open-pan system of evaporating -salt from brine produced only two tons of salt for the consumption of -a ton of fuel, rock-salt could be raised, purified, and marketed in -competition with white salt, but the modern boiling processes have -effected such substantial improvements and consequent economical -advantages, that the rock-salt industry appears to be doomed to -decay. Rock-salt, as quarried from its native bed, is found in many -variations of colour, from grey and yellow to green and brick red, -according to the nature of the impurities of the locality in which -the deposit lies, and such salt must be cleansed from all traces of -iron, clay, gypsum, or bitumen before it is fit for domestic use. Many -processes have been experimented with for the removal of impurities. -One of the most plausible methods was based on the fact that salt fuses -at a temperature of about 1,750 degrees, and the theory was to remove -all impurities from the fluid mass by the agency of compressed air. The -principle was unsuccessfully experimented with in Würtemberg nearly -half a century ago, but a modern adaptation of the process claimed -to be more successful. The molten material, in this case, ran into -rotating pans and gradually overflowed; and it was then shovelled into -another receptacle and, while subjected to the action of compressed -air, raised by small buckets to a certain height and emptied into -inclined screens, through which it was automatically graded. It was -claimed that from the time of casting the crude material into the -furnace, until the perfect white salt appeared, the process occupied -only fifteen minutes, and that rock-salt could be broken in the mine, -transported, fused, and packed ready for table use in less than two -hours. - -At the time when the master-patent for this process was taken out, the -latest brine-evaporating systems were unperfected, and there was some -possibility that the invention might be capable of taking the rock-salt -direct from the mine, eliminating at one stroke all its impurities, -and in the course of an hour or two delivering into the warehouse an -anhydrous salt “at a fraction of the cost of the ordinary process” -of evaporating salt from brine. But by the time that this bold claim -was put forward on behalf of the process, the admitted total cost of -production had been advanced from 4s. to 5s. 8d. per ton, while the -latest patent brine-evaporating system was producing the manufactured -article at a total inclusive cost of 3s. 6d. per ton. Since then, this -rock process was installed in Mexico, persevered with for a while, and -finally discarded because, in the words of Mr. W. L. Bonney, the United -States Consul, “the experiment proved a failure.” Even if the latest -brine process has not “relegated rock-salt mining into the limbo of -extinct enterprises,” it appears certain that it will never be able to -be worked in competition with the process by which salt is manufactured -direct from brine where brine is available. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE CHESHIRE WICHES - - -If we turn from the study of salt as one of the staples of world -industry to the history of the salt industry in England, we find -that it is practically comprised in the records of the development -of the trade in rock-salt and brine in the county of Cheshire. The -first documentary reference to the existence of saline deposits -in this country, as well as the earliest mention of the method of -native manufacture and of the introduction of the open-pan system of -salt-making, dates from the time of the Roman occupation. The Caesarean -soldiers, who penetrated as far north as the Northwich district, found -the people obtaining salt by the process of pouring brine upon faggots -of charcoal and scraping away the resultant crystalline formation. A -little spring which existed at that period in Sheath Street, Northwich, -furnished the Romans with a limited supply of brine, and from this -source, with the crude plant improvised on the spot, they produced the -first salt ever manufactured in England by the boiling of brine in open -pans. - -The Britons named the brine spring at Nantwich “Hellath Wen,” or the -White Pit, on account of the whiteness of the salt produced from its -waters; while the spring at Northwich received the name of “Hellath -Du,” or the Black Pit. The suffix “wich” may have been introduced into -Cheshire direct from the Vikings of the North, or brought there by -way of the south-eastern counties. In Camden’s _Britannia_ (published -in Latin in 1607, and translated by Philemon Holland, 1610), we read -that the word Wiccij “may seeme to have beene derived of those _salt -pittes_ that the old Englishmen in their language named _Wiches_,” -and William Smith, a Cheshire Man and author of a work which is known -as King’s _Vale Royal_ (1656 edition), says: “The house in which the -salt is boiled is called the Wychhouse; whence may be guessed what -_wych_ signifies, and why all those towns where there are salt-springs -or salt made are called by the name of _wych_, viz., _Namptwych_, -_Northwych_, _Middlewych_, _Droitwych_.” But the Norse word _wig_ and -the Anglo-Saxon _wic_ signified, in the original, a dwelling-place, -and in the latter form of _wich_, it is seen in the names of Woolwich, -Norwich, Harwich, Sandwich, etc. The Norse and Danish pirates -who visited our coasts to pillage and procure salt, established -_wigs_--afterwards wiches or hamlets--on the bays and inlets, and -wherever they located themselves they proceeded to make bay-salt. The -word _wich_, in course of time, became identified not with the village -but with the salt manufacture that was carried on there, and when the -Cheshire towns developed the industry they may easily have adopted the -nomenclature that was already regarded as indicative of the manufacture. - -In the records of Droitwich, which was also called Durt-wich “by reason -of the wettish ground on which it stands,” we learn that in the year -816, Kenulph, King of the Mercians, gave Hamilton and ten houses in -Wich together with their salt-furnaces, to the church of Worcester, -and that in 906 the same church was endowed by Edwy, King of England, -with Fepstone and five salt-furnaces; but the next earliest references -to the Cheshire Wiches must be searched for among the entries in -Domesday Book, which was prepared between 1084 and 1086. William the -Conqueror’s authorized inquiry as to the several places in which salt -was being made, and the persons who had held proprietorial rights in -them since the time of Edward the Confessor, was productive of much -detailed information. From the zincograph reproduction of the original -made by Mr. William Beaumont in 1863, it would appear that the Cheshire -brine-springs and salt works were strictly held, and were subject to -certain well-defined customs. In several localities the existence of -solitary salt-houses is mentioned, and it would seem safe to infer -that the supply of brine was obtained in the vicinity and the salt was -only made for local consumption. Salt-making for commercial purposes -was confined to Nantwich, in Warmundestron Hundred, and Northwich and -Middlewich in the Hundred of Mildestvic, and, although no figures -relating to output or revenues are given, the laws governing the trade, -the prices charged, and the method of dividing the moneys accruing from -rents and sales are concisely set forth in the following paragraphs-- - -“Mildestvic hundred. Hugh and William held of the Earl Rode Godric and -Ravesa held it for two manors and were free men.” - -“In the same hundred of Mildestvic there was a third Wich called -Norwich (Northwich), which was in farm at eight pounds. In it there -were the same laws and customs as in the other Wiches, and the King -and the Earl divided the receipts in the like manner. All the thanes -who held salt-houses in this Wich gave no Friday’s boilings of salt -the year through. Whoever brought a cart, with two or more oxen, from -another shire, gave 4 pence for the toll. A man from the same shire -gave for his cart 2 pence within the third night after his return home. -If he allowed the third night to pass, he was fined 40 shillings. A man -from another shire paid 1 penny for a horse load. But a man from the -same shire paid 1 styca within the third night after his return, as -aforesaid. A man living in the same hundred, if he carted salt about -through the same county to sell, gave a penny for every cart, for as -many times as he loaded it. If he carried salt on a horse to sell, -he gave 1 penny at Martinmas. Whoso did not pay it at that time was -fined 40 shillings. All the other customs in the Wiches are the same. -This manor was waste when Earl Hugh received it. It is now worth 35 -shillings.” - -“_Nantwich._--In King Edward’s time there was a Wich in Warmundestron -hundred, in which there was a well for making salt, and between the -King and Earl Edwin there were 8 salt-houses, so divided that of all -their issues and rents the King had two parts and the Earl the third. -But besides these, the Earl had one salt-house adjoining his manor of -Acatone (Acton) which was his own. From this salt-house the Earl had -sufficient salt for his house throughout the year. But if he sold any -from thence, the King had twopence, and the Earl a third penny, for the -toll. In the same Wich many men from the country had salt-houses, of -which this was the custom-- - -“From our Lord’s Ascension to Martinmas, anyone having a salt-house -might carry home salt for his own house. But if he sold any of it -either there, or elsewhere in the county of Chester, he paid toll -to the King and the Earl. Whoever after Martinmas carried away salt -from any salt-house except the Earl’s, under his custom aforesaid, -paid toll, whether the salt was his own or purchased. These aforesaid -8 salt-houses of the King and the Earl, in every week that salt was -boiled or they were used on a Friday, rendered 16 boilings of salt, of -which 15 made a horse-load. From our Lord’s Ascension to Martinmas, -the salt-houses of the other men did not give these Friday’s boilings. -But from Martinmas to our Lord’s Ascension, these boilings were given -according to custom, as from the salt-houses of the King and the -Earl. All these salt-houses, both of the lord and other people, were -surrounded on one part by a certain river, and on the other part by -a ditch. Whosoever committed a forfeiture within these bounds, might -make amends, either by the payment of 2 shillings, or by 30 boilings -of salt, except in the case of homicide, or of a theft, for which the -thief was adjudged to die. These last, if done here, were dealt with -as in the rest of the shire. If out of the prescribed circuit of the -salt-houses, any person within the county withheld the toll, and was -convicted thereof, he brought it back and was fined 40 shillings, if -a free man; or if not free, 4 shillings. But if he carried the toll -into another shire, where it was demanded the fine was the same. In -King Edward’s time, this Wich, with all pleas in the same hundred, -rendered 21 pounds in farm. When Earl Hugh received it, except only one -salt-house, it was waste. William Maldebeng now holds of the Earl the -same Wich, with all the customs thereto belonging, and all the same -hundred, which is rated at 40 shillings, of which 30 shillings are put -on the land of the said William, and 10 shillings on the land of the -Bishop, and the lands of Richard and Gilbert which they have in the -same hundred, and the Wich is let to farm at 10 pounds.” - -“_Middlewich._--In Mildestvich hundred there is another Wich between -the King and the Earl. There, however, the salt-houses were not the -lord’s, but they had the same laws and customs that have been mentioned -in the above-mentioned Wich, and the customs were divided between the -King and the Earl in the same manner. This Wich was let to farm for 8 -pounds and the hundred wherein it was, for 40 shillings. The King had -two parts, and the Earl the third. When Earl Hugh received it, it was -waste. The Earl now holds it, and it is let to farm for 25 shillings, -and two wain-loads of salt. But the hundred is worth 40 shillings. From -these two Wiches, whoever carried away bought salt in a wain drawn by -four oxen or more, paid 4d. for the toll; but if by two oxen, 2 pence -if the salt were two horse-loads. A man from another hundred gave 2d. -for a horse-load. But a man of the same hundred gave only a halfpenny -for a horse-load. Whoever loaded his wain so that the axle broke within -a league of either Wich, gave 2 shillings to the King’s or the Earl’s -officers, if he were overtaken within the league. In like manner, -he who loaded his horse, so as to break its back, gave 2 shillings -if overtaken within the league, but nothing if overtaken beyond it. -Whoever made two horse-loads of salt out of one, was fined 40 shillings -if the officers overtook him. If he was not found, nothing was to be -exacted from any other. Men on foot from another hundred buying salt, -paid 2d. for eight men’s loads. Men of the same hundred paid 1d. for -the same number of such loads.” - -The first private record relating to salt appears in the foundation -deed of Combermere Abbey, dated 1132, in which Hugh Malbane, the -founder, caused it to be written: “And I also grant to the same monks -the fourth part of the town of Wych, and tythe of my salt and of the -salt pits that are mine, and salt of Blessed Mary the Virgin, and salt -on Friday, and salt for the Abbot’s table as freely as I have it at my -table.” - -Ancient Deeds in the Record Office contain occasional reference to salt -properties in the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries which show that -salt was made in limited quantities in Cambridgeshire and at Rye, -Mimera, and Brembre (formerly Hayerskys), in the County of Sussex. - -Protests against the importation of salt from abroad, and of -salt-making by foreigners contrary to the liberties and ancient -customs of the borough of Northwich, are recorded in the Harleian -MSS. In response to a complaint made on behalf of the burgesses and -inhabitants of Northwich concerning the mischievous irregularities -committed in the making of salt by “p’sons forrayne and not inhabiting -w/thin the Sḍ towne,” King Henry VIII issued an Order to the Justice -and Chamberlaine of the County Palatine of Chester to the effect: -“_WHEREFORE_ we will and command you that in any case such forrayne -p’son or p’sons not inhabiting within the s/^d towne, do, or hereafter -at any time shall attempt to use makeing of salt contrary to the -lib/^{er}ties and ancient customes of the same within the same towne -without lycence of the burgess and the rulers thereof. _THAT_ then -without delay ye and ether of you from tyme to tyme upon complaynt -or of the rulers and govnors of the same towne do send for all and -every such forrayne p’sons as do or hereafter shall attempt to make -any salt within the s/^d towne of Northwich contrary to the libties -and ancient customes of the same, without the assent and agreem/^t of -the s/^d Burgess and ruler by o/^r writts of subp: to appear before -you in o/ Castle of Chester at there appearance to punish and reforme -them: And also further to order them as right and good conscience shall -require according to the lawes and customes heretobefore used now in -other wyches there abts w/^{th}in o/^r s/^d County Palatyne, for the -reformacon of such transgressions fayle ye not hereof as ye maye intend -to please us.” - -In the time of the Tudors, the salt-makers of Cheshire were composed -of natives and “forrayners,” or residents born outside the boundaries -of the county, and in the Northwich Book of Orders is given a list -of ten “outliers” in the town of Northwich who occupied between them -no fewer than eighty-nine salt pans or leads. Although we have no -information as to the exact size and capacity of the evaporating pans -of the period, it is evident that they were made to a regulation scale, -and we read that it was the business of an officer of the Court Leet -to examine the leads and see that they conformed with the standard -dimensions. If the prescribed measurements were exceeded, the official -cut a piece out of the corner of the pan with a pair of shears with -which he was furnished for the purpose, so as to reduce its capacity to -the legal limit. - -Only three of these old salt-pans have been recovered, and, of these, -one was cut up and sold as old lead. One which was drawn out of the -river at Northwich in 1866 was forwarded by the River Weaver Trustees -to the Warrington Exhibition, and was transferred subsequently to the -Northwich Museum. This pan measures 3 ft. 8 in. long on one side, and -3 ft. 4½ in. on the other; it has a width of 2 ft. 8 in., and is 4 in. -deep. The thickness of the lead is about half an inch. and the weight -of the pan is 2 cwt., 1 qr. 18 lb. There are raised patterns on each -end of the pan, which was evidently cast, and the sides are rounded up -from the bottom. In 1878, in the vicinity of Ashton’s Salt Works at -Witton, was found a smaller pan made out of a sheet of lead 2 ft. 8 -in. square. The sheet was bent up to form a pan and the corners were -hammered together. This lead is 25 in. square by 3 in. in depth, and -has a capacity of about 7 gallons. - -In the early years of the reign of James I we have particulars of the -salt districts in Camden’s _Britannia_, and in a letter received in -February, 1605, from Chomley written by one George Johnson. Camden -explains that the Cheshire _Wiches_ were so-called because “there -bee here very notable _salt pits_ and many salt springs often-time -have been found which notwithstanding are stopped up, because it was -provided (as wee read) that for the saving of woods, salt should not be -boiled but in certain places.” - -[Illustration: SUBSIDENCE NEAR THE DANE BRIDGE, NORTHWICH] - -Meagre as these accounts are in exact particulars, they constitute the -only information we have concerning the supply and treatment of brine -in England in the early days of the industry, and, consequently, they -invite attention. Camden is responsible for the following details-- - -“At _Northwich_ there is a deep and plentiful brine pit with stairs -about it, by which, when they have drawn the water in their leathern -buckets, they ascend, half naked, to their troughs and fill them, from -whence it is conveyed to the wich-houses about which there stand on -every side many stakes and piles of wood. - -“_Nantwich._--There is but one salt pit here (they call it the brine -pit) distant about 14 ft. from the river. From this brine pit they -convey water by wooden troughs into the houses adjoining, where there -stand ready little barrels, fixed in the ground, which they fill with -that water; and at the notice of a bell, they presently make a fire -under their leads, whereof they have six in every house for boiling the -water. These are attended by ‘Wallers’--a name probably derived from -the Anglo-Saxon _weallere_, a boiler; German, _wallen_, to boil--who -with little wooden rakes, draw the salt out of the bottom of them and -put it in baskets, out of which the liquor runs, but the salt remains -and settles.... - -“The depth of the salt springs is in some places not above three or -four yards. In Nantwich the pit is full 7 yards (deep) from the -footing about the pit: which is guessed to be the natural height of -the ground, though the bank be 6 foot higher, accidentally raised by -rubbish of long making salt or “walling,” as they call it. In two -places within our Township, the spring breaks up so in the meadows as -to fret away not only the grass, but part of the earth, which lies -like a breach at least half a foot or more lower than the turf of the -meadow: and hath a salt liquid ousing (oozing) as it were out of the -meed but very gently. - -“_Droitwich_ possesses three fountaines yielding plenty of water to -make salt of, divided asunder by a little brooke of fresh water passing -betweene, by a peculiar gift of nature spring out: out of which most -pure white salt is boiled for six months every yeare, to wit, from -Midsommer to Midwinter, in many set fornaces round about: wherewith a -mighty deal of wood is consumed, _Fakenham Forest_ (where trees grew -sometime thicker), and the woods round about, if men hold their peace, -will by their thinness, make manifest more and more....” - -Of the two wells of salt-water at _Middlewich_, which are separated -by a small brook, we are only told that “one stands not open but at -certain set times, because folke willingly steale the watere thereof, -as being of great vertue and efficacie.” - -More informative on essential points is the unknown correspondent of -George Johnson, who writes as follows-- - - “_Namptwich._ - - “There is in the town of Namptwich two hundred and sixteen - salt-houses of six leads apeece, and every of the said houses - doth spend in wood per annum eight pounds so as there is spent - in wood yearly within the said town in omnibus annis.... £1728 - - - “_Middlewich._ - - “There is, in the said town, one hundred and seven salt houses - of six leads apeece, and one of four leads and every of the - said houses doth spend yearly in wood the sum of £13. 6. 8, so - as there is spent every year within the said town, £1435. 4. 0. - - - “_Northwich._ - - “The said Northwich is a Burrow and holden of the Earle of - Chester by the service of twelve armed men to serve at the - Watergate in Chester in the time of wars betwixt England and - Wales. There is, in the same towne or Burrow, one hundred and - thirteen salt houses, every one containing four leads apeece, - and one odd lead and one four leads which was given to the Earl - of Derby by the Burgesses, occupiers of the said Town, for the - portion of his house, and no land in the Town for it, and every - four leads must have in provision of wood, nine quarters and so - rateable, whether it be four leads or six leads, so that there - is spent in wood in the said town 1026 quarters and a peece - after the rate of five score to the hundred and after the rate - of forty shillings per Quarter comes to £2056. 10. Spent in the - wich houses yearly in wood, £5219. 14.” - -The particulars which are given of the salt manufacture in the Wiches -in 1605 and 1607 by George Johnson’s correspondent and by Camden, are -repeated with only the slightest variation half a century later in -King’s _Vale Royal_. But in the latter account we are able to glean -a little more information about the towns themselves. Concerning -Northwich, we are told that it had the mischance to be burnt in July, -Anno 1438, and was “most part miserably consumed with fire,” in -December, 1583. “But through the Benevolence gathered throughout the -Realm, it is new builded, and is in as good case or rather better than -before.” The town in 1656 was divided into two parts, one of which -was called the Cross, while a “very fair church of stone,” called -Northwich Church, stood “without the Town’s-end.” But although it was -called Northwich Church, we are told that it was only a chapel and its -proper name was Witton; a combination of coincidences which caused -the chronicler to conclude “that the town was named first Northwich, -after the finding of the salt.” Of Nantwich, we are only informed that -the town was visited in 1617 by the gracious King’s Most Excellent -Majestie, who, with his own eyes beheld the manner of the brine well -and the labours of the drawers of brine--who, in the course of their -work, “spend the coldest day in frost and snow, without any clothing -more than a shirt with great cheerfulnesse”--and “with his own hand -most princely rewarded them.” Middlewich is described by the same -authority as no market town: “yet may it pass amongst them, as well for -the bigness thereof, as also it hath Burgesses and other privileges, -as the other wiches have, yet it hath a small market of flesh and -other things every Saturday, and yearly two fairs: that is to say on -Ascension Day and St. Luke’s Day. It hath divers streets and lanes, -as King Street, Kinderton Street, Wich House Street, Lewis Street, -Wheelock Street: Pepper Lane: Cow Lane and Dog Lane. But the chiefest -place of all is a broad place in the middest of the Town, in manner of -a market place, called the King’s Mexon.” - -A large accumulation of matter of great local and antiquarian interest -is to be found in the Northwich Book of Orders, the Court Rolls, and -the Walling Booke of Northwich, which consist of documents and records -relating to the government of the town and the regulation of its salt -industry about the middle of the seventeenth century. The “Ancient -Customes of the Burrow and Town of Northwich,” the inventory of “The -Liberties and Priviledges of Burgesses,” and the Orders “concerning the -making of salt,” were collected and set down by Peter Warburton, of -Chester, Esquire, Steward of Northwich, and afterwards a Justice of the -Court of Common Pleas at Westminster. At a Court held on 18th December, -1608, this compilation, “so full of interest and instruction,” was -ratified and confirmed by Thomas Berrington, Gentleman, Steward of the -said Court, and a jury of Burgesses, and Thomas Poole, Gentleman, Clerk -of the said Court, was instructed to write them into a Booke “to the -end the same may remain upon record to future ages.” - -The Nine Customes, numbered 10 to 18, which were written in 1638, -were supplemented in 1641 by other Nine Customes, numbered 1 to 9, -which had been “heretofore omitted merely through forgetfulness.” Of -the eighty-four Orders relating to salt-making which appear in these -records, the first sixty-one were agreed upon by “The Steward and -Jury at Diverse Courts” up to 1629, the seven following were added in -1630, and seven more appeared on the rolls before Master Poole made a -fair copy of the Orders in 1638. In the following year eight further -regulations were issued. Order No. 84 bears the date of December, 1656, -and only three subsequent unnumbered enactments were included up to -1666, when the record comes to an end. - -Although these old Orders (1629–1666) include directions relating to -the general behaviour of the townspeople, injunctions concerning the -sales of liquor and butchers’ meat, the malpractices of begging at -men’s doors, piking or stealing wood, “scoulding or chideing ... to -the trouble or disquietness of the good and honest neighbours,” and -rules for the maintenance of cleanliness in the streets and public -places and the publication and preservation of Proclamations put forth -by the King, the bulk of the laws are framed in the interests of the -staple industry of the district. No detail connected with salt-making, -from the drawing of the brine to the transport of the manufactured -product, is left to chance or the discretion of the individual. The -rights and privileges of Burgesses, and particularly of such as occupy -salt-houses or wallings, are set forth in the Ancient Customes, but -in all particulars relating to the making of salt, the Orders are -paramount and precise. Space does not permit of the reproduction here -of the whole of the regulations, but a few of the Items may be quoted -as evidence of the care and thoroughness with which they were framed. - -“7. Item. It is ordered that no man shall enter into the Lead-looker’s -book any more walling or occupation for one Wich-house than six leads -walling upon paine for every offence ... 10s.” - -“15. Item. That if any Person or Persons receive into their Houses -any Wood by Night or by day by the way of Exchange for Candles, Meat -or Drink every such Person as well the Changer as the Receiver shall -pay fine to the Lord for every default 5s. or to be punished by the -Steward.” - -“17. Item. That every Waller shall sell the salt she maketh by the -Walme or Cranock and not by the sack or load, and at the price which -the officers sett down to be the com’on price of the Towne upon pains -for every default 3s. and also to make up the full price to her Mr. -upon her wages.” - -“18. Item. That no Waller nor no other Person shall make any fire in -the Wich-house streets in the night time, and every such offence to -be presented by the Bailiffe at any single Court and punished by the -Steward according to his discretion.” - -“22. Item. That no person shall deliver any bryne to be carryed out -of this Towne either in Hodge heads or Barrels (except upon Woemen’s -heads) upon paine to forfeit to the Lord for every such offence ... -20s.” - -“24. Item. That there should be left at every pile made at the end of -any Wich-house or Wood roome a yard and a halfe between the said pile -and the Crest of the Pavement to the intent that waynes may have better -passage upon paine of 6s. 8d. presentable at any single Court.” - -“26. Item. It is ordered that no Person from henceforth shall be -suffered to wall or occupy any Odd Lead as 3, 5 or 7, but 2, 4 or 6 -Leads for avoiding of trouble to the officers except in such case as -cannot be remedied upon paine of ... 10s.” - -“27. Item. It is ordered that henceforth no Person shall occupie -Walling unless they first continue a householder for the space of three -years and after such time expired to be allowed by the Steward or his -Deputy, and the Lead-lookers (except he be a Burgess) upon paine to -forfeit for every lead ... 13s. 4d.” - -“33. Item. That all Inhabitants and Occupiers of the Towne do aide and -assist lawfully every Officer of the Towne in Executing their office -lawfully upon paine every one that offendeth to pay for every offence -... 10s.” - -“40. Item. It is ordered that if any Waller be found making of Course -Salt when they might make it better if they would, the Lead-lookers or -Salt-viewers so finding them and making presentment thereof e’ry such -Waller so offending shall fine to yr Lord for e’ry offence therein ... -2d.” - -“43. Item. We do also order that every Occupiers’ Leads of this town -shall henceforth be made Tenn stone weight a peece to the pan before -they be cast, upon paine of the Lead-casters forfeiture to the Lord of -this Towne for every default in casting any Leads contrary to this -order the sum of ... 10s.” - -“63. Item. It is also ordered that every occupier of Walling or his -Waller, or his Serv^{ts} shall weekly make cleane ye pavem^t ag^t their -Wich-Houses one yard and a half from the middle of the pavement upon -paine to forfeit for every such offence ... 12d.” - -Duly set forth in these records are the forms of oaths to be -administered by the Court to those who “shall well and truly execute -the office” of Constable, Lead-looker, Overseer, Salt-viewer, Assessor, -Killer of Salt, Market Looker, Sealer and Searcher of Leather, -Ale-Taster; Skavinger, Gutter Viewer, Wood Tender, or Pan Cutter. Each -of these important officers in the prescribed form must “swear by the -holy Contents of this Booke,” to “spare no man for any love, favour or -affection” in the fulfilment of his several duties but “of all Defaults -and Defects that you find in the execution of yo^r office you shall -present at every Single Court to be holden after such Default made--So -help you God.” - -The compiler of _Vale Royal_ (1656) does not admit that he is indebted -to the Northwich Book of Orders for his information, but he alludes in -general terms to the “authentique rules and customes” which regulate -the manner of making salt in the Cheshire wiches, and adds: “All these -things I leave to be read other where, knowing well their jealous love -to be such towards this their beloved commodity as I should soon incur -some reprehension for being too busie to look narrowly upon such a -beauty.” - -[Illustration: DUNKIRK SUBSIDENCE, NEAR NORTHWICH] - -In “A Copie of The Walling booke of Northw^{ch},” amongst the Harleian -MSS., the earliest list of occupiers of wich-houses with the number of -leads, together with the names of such persons as had wich-houses of -Inheritance in the town, with their number of leads, was compiled in -1565, and gives a total of “five score and thirteene Salt houses and -one lead.” A list of owners and of salt-houses arranged in the form of -a street directory was drawn up in 1593, and, about 1600, a revised -list, compiled in accordance with the location of the houses, and -giving the number of leads in each, was supplemented by a street plan -of the town. In the list of 1589 it is recorded that-- - - “Our Soveraigne lady the queene hath two salt-houses of free - occupa’ion, and toulfree wth all and one is Judger of Cogshall.” - -In the list of 1604, the King appears as the owner of two salt-houses, -and it is assumable that His Majesty acquired an additional half -of a salt-house in the following year, since, in the more detailed -compilation drawn up in 1605, we read that-- - - “Our Soveraigne Lord the Kings Maj^{ty} hath two Salt-house and - a halfe which be both towle free and ffine free and is Judger - of Cockshall.” - -The King’s name as the owner of “2½ towle free and fine free” -salt-houses heads the list for 1619 and that for 1636–1638. This last -contains the names of forty-six lords and owners of salt-houses, having -an aggregate of over 400 leads. - -It was the custom to repeat the legend either at the beginning or the -end of each succeeding list that-- - - “There is and tyme out of mynd hath been within the Towne of - Northwich 112 four leads and one odde lead and noe more; and - four leads called the Running Wich-house. Soe the totall is 113 - four leads and one odde lead.” - -This formula was evidently only a fable. The discrepancy between the -figures and the statement was pointed out by a scribe in 1630, who, -having cast up the number of leads tabulated in the list of 1589, -appended the following note: “These leads answere but unto 308 leads -whereas there is 453 leads yearly walled for ut pateat ante: soe that -there wanted 145 leads to make up the full accoumpt for 308 leads and -145 leads make but just 453.” - -There are about 450 leads accounted for in the next list, which was -drawn up in 1593, but the clerk persisted in the assumption that what -had been “time out of mynd” could suffer no change, and he formally -declared, despite his own figures to the contrary, that “the totall -some is 113 four leads and one odde lead, which stand in the Towne rowe -as is before written and declared.” - -On folio 61 of one of the Harleian MSS., following the list of -Northwich salt-owners for the years 1636–38, are undated lists -of salt-owners of Middlewich and Nantwich. The clerk admits the -incompleteness of the list of twenty-two owners in Middlewich, but he -explains that the names he gives are “as manie as I can learne for the -p’sent,” and he adds, “But the number of their sev’all and respective -howses and leads I cannot learne.” Only five owners appear in the -returns for Nantwich, and the meagre particulars that the clerk has -been able to acquire respecting the other salt districts of Cheshire -are contained in the following note: “There is another Wiche where -there is a great store of Salt made in Cheshire And w^{ch} is of greate -Antiquitie called Fulwich, also Durtwich, and my Lo: Brereton is an -owner of sev’all wich-houses theire. But whoe are owners of the rest I -cannot learne.” - -Nantwich was long famous among the Wiches for its production of the -finest and best white salt. The Welsh named it Hellath Wen, and -the _London Magazine_, in 1750, translated the words as the “White -Salt Town,” but there is no reference to the quality or colour of -its output in the present name, which is derived from the Welsh -word “nant,” a vale, and the Saxon “wyche.” That its salt was good, -plentiful, and of considerable commercial value would seem to be shown -by the fact that under the Saxons the supplies were in the hands of the -princes and nobles, and William the Conqueror had not been in England -more than a year before he divided the salt production of Nantwich -between himself and Earl Edwin, who owned some salt-houses in the -district. - -According to Leland, there were 400 salt works at Nantwich in the reign -of Henry VIII, but the number was reduced to 216 under Elizabeth, and -in 1624 only 108 were in existence. Nantwich was described in the -_London Magazine_ of 1750 as the largest and most considerable town in -the county next to Chester, but its salt industry at that period was -fast declining. An Act of Parliament which had been obtained in 1734 to -extend the navigation of the river Weaver from Winsford to Nantwich, -was never put into operation. In 1778 the salt works had been reduced -to two, each containing five large pans of wrought iron. The Nantwich -salt industry was practically moribund in 1849, but some twenty-five -tons per week were produced by one maker until 1856, which is the -last year in which salt was made in the district. In 1891 a company -was registered for the purpose of acquiring property in Nantwich and -manufacturing salt from brine, but the necessary financial support -was not forthcoming and the project was abandoned. The decline of the -Nantwich salt industry is ascribed in Poole’s _History of Cheshire_ -(1778) to various causes, including the frequent destruction by fire -of the works in the town--“fourteen of which in the memory of persons -living lately, having been destroyed in one day”; to the discovery and -exploitation of new salt springs in adjacent localities; and to the -superior advantages in the matter of accessibility which were possessed -by Northwich and Winsford. - -Northwich, described by the Welsh as Hellath-du, became the chief of -the Cheshire salt towns in the seventeenth century, and its output -of brine is still greater than that of any other district. In 1605, -Northwich had 449 leads, against 642 leads at Middlewich and 1,296 -leads at Nantwich, but the comparative superiority of the brine pumped -at Nantwich over that of her rivals is demonstrated by the relative -amount of boiling required to precipitate the salt. In Northwich, the -annual expenditure for wood fuel was £2,056; Middlewich, with nearly -one-third more leads, consumed wood fuel to the amount of £1,435 -yearly; while Nantwich, working twice as many leads as Middlewich, and -nearly three times the number operated at Northwich, had an annual wood -bill of only £1,728. - -In 1670, Winsford, which had only just started as a salt producer, -had two salt works in operation on a small scale. In 1675, Lord -Brereton ignored the output of Winsford in his calculation of the -total annual salt production of the Cheshire works at 26,927 tons. -In 1878, or practically two centuries later, the Cheshire output of -salt was calculated at 2,055,000 tons, made up as follows: Winsford -and District, 1,036,000 tons; Northwich and District, 880,000 tons; -Middlewich and District, 21,000 tons; and the newly-developed Sandbach -District, 118,000 tons. But while Winsford has surpassed her older -competitors in the matter of salt production, Northwich is still the -commercial centre of the industry and the greatest producer of brine; -whereas, in the case of the other districts, the brine is converted -into salt on the spot, the Northwich brine, to the amount of hundreds -of millions of gallons annually, is pumped out of the neighbourhood -through the Marbury pipe, to be employed in the chemical works of -Brunner, Mond & Co., and be manufactured into salt at the Salt Union’s -works at Weston Point. - -Compared with the other salt-making centres, the record of Middlewich -is of slight importance, and although the ancient town boasts an -honourable place in the history of the Cheshire Wiches, it now takes a -secondary position among the salt-producing districts. - -Lawton, in the south-eastern corner of the Cheshire salt region, is -a comparatively modern entrant into the local industry, for although -the place is of historic importance as the scene of the discovery of -the bottom bed of salt in 1779, white salt has only been manufactured -there for something over 130 years. The deposits, which are found at -a considerable height above sea-level, are of great but undefined -magnitude, as the lowest strata has been bored through for a thickness -of 72 feet, without penetrating the formation. The rock salt here -was acknowledged to be purer than any previously encountered in -Cheshire, and the brine derived therefrom, containing 26·100 chloride -sodium by weight, yields on evaporation an exceptionally high class -of white salt. The Commercial Salt Company, Ltd., which was formed -to work the Hodgkinson Patent Salt-making Process, to which further -reference must be made later, have their works at Lawton, where they -are most conveniently situated in the important matters of transport -and fuel, being on the canal which brings them nearer to the markets -of the Midland Counties than any other salt works in the country, and -obtaining their coal from workings within two miles of the property. -The rock salt formation is so vast that the supply of brine, if not -actually inexhaustible, will allow of an enormous production of salt -for many generations to come. The output of white salt at Lawton for -nearly a century and a half has not appreciably depleted the deposits -and is not at present being drawn upon, as the Commercial Salt Company -are pumping from an excellent “brine run” which is pumped without the -damage to property and subsidence of land that have occurred in other -parts of the Cheshire salt districts. - -The chronicle of the salt industry of Winsford is one of the romances -of commerce. Until the river Weaver was made navigable, the Winsford -salt manufacture was limited to the output of only four pans of -unrecorded dimensions, which were probably worked by Middlewich makers. -In 1758, the first year in which the Winsford shippings were recorded -separately, the export of white salt was 1,055 tons. By the end of the -century, Winsford sent 44,384 tons down the river Weaver, and, in the -year 1850, their shipments had increased to 324,249 tons. This output -had risen in 1880 to 794,824 tons of white salt. In the ensuing ten -years there was a slight increase, followed by a sharp decline (in -1890) to 501,548 tons, or a fall from the high-water mark of 834,306 -tons in 1881, of no less than 332,758 tons. The decline in the Winsford -make of salt was not arrested by the formation of the Salt Union in -1888, and ten years later the output of white salt had decreased to -403,455 tons, and the export of rock-salt from Winsford, which had -recommenced with an output of 141 tons in 1856 and risen to 28,236 tons -in 1886, ceased in 1898. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -DEVELOPMENT OF BRINE PROCESSES - - -It has been said that _De Re Metallica_ of Georgius Agricola, published -in 1556, was regarded as the standard text-book on the subject for -nearly two centuries, and in that long period the method he describes -of salt-making by the artificial evaporation of brine underwent no -material change. But from the last half of the seventeenth century, -various attempts were made to effect improvements in the open-pan -process in this country, and the history of these endeavours is -set forth in a sequence of interesting publications. Among the -most important of these is an article, which was printed in the -_Philosophical Transactions_ of the Royal Society of England, in 1669, -in which Dr. William Jackson, in the form of a catechism, gives a -number of particulars concerning the salt springs of Nantwich and the -ways of salt-making as practised in that town. It appears from this -account that each of the salt houses was still furnished with six -leads, but one learns that this number of leads had, in the case of -the majority of the salt-houses, been converted into four iron-pans, -rather more than 3 ft. square by about 6 in. deep, and containing the -same quantity of brine as was previously distributed among the six -leads; while still more recently the four pans had been again changed -into two larger pans, and some salt-makers had re-fashioned these two -receptacles into one great pan. The description which Dr. Jackson gives -of the process is so concise and lucid that it may be reproduced here -without the alteration of a word. The question that he propounds to -himself is-- - -“What is the manner of their (the salt-makers) work? or what time of -boiling the salt water? Whether they use any peculiar thing to make it -granulate, and, if so, what that is?” - -In the course of his reply, he says: “They use for their fuel pitcoals -brought out of Staffordshire. These pans are set upon iron bars, -bricked in very close. They first fill their pans with brine out of -the pit: which comes to them in several wooden gutters: then they put -into their pans amongst the brine, a certain mixture, made of about -20 gallons of brine, and two quarts of calves’, cows’, and, chiefly, -sheep’s blood. Of this mixture they put about 2 quarts into a pan that -holds about 360 quarts of brine: this bloody brine at the first boiling -of the pan brings up a scum which they are careful to skim off: they -continue their fire as quick as they can till half the brine be wasted, -and this they call boiling upon the fresh. But when it is half boiled -away, they fill their pans again with new brine out of the ship (so -they call a great cistern by their pan sides, into which their brine -runs through the wooden gutters from the pump, that stands in the pit) -then they put into the pan two quarts of the mixture following: they -take a quart of white of eggs, beat them with as much brine, as before -was done with the blood; and thus that which they call the whites is -made. As soon as this is in, they boil sharply till the second scum -arise: then scum it off as before, and boil very gently till it corne; -to procure which, when part of the brine is wasted they put into each -pan of the size aforesaid, about a quarter of a pint of the best and -strongest ale they can get: this makes a momentary ebullition, which -is soon over, and then they abate their fires yet not so but that they -keep it boiling all over though gently: for the workmen say that if -they boil fast here, it wastes their salt. After all their leach brine -is in, they boil gently till a kind of scum comes on it like a thin -ice: which is the first appearance of the salt: then that sinks and the -brine everywhere gathers into cornes at the bottom to it, which they -gently rake together with their loots, this they continue till there is -but very little brine left in the pan: then with their loots they take -it up, the brine dropping from it, and throw it into their barrows, -which are cases made with flat cleft wickers, in the shape almost of a -sugar loaf, the bottom uppermost. When the barrow is full they let it -stand so for an hour and a half in the trough where it drains out all -the leach brine, then they remove it into their hothouse behind their -works made there by two tunnels under their pans, carried back for -that purpose. The leach brine that runs from the barrows they put into -the next boiling, for it is to their advantage being salt melted and -wanting only hardening. - -“This work is performed in two hours in the smaller pans, which are -shallower, and generally boil their brine more away: wherefore their -salt will last better, though it does not granulate so well, because -when the brine is wasted, the fire and stirring breaks the cornes. -But this salt weighs heavier and melts not so soon: and therefore is -bought for many sales to a distance. But in the greater pans, which -are usually deeper, they are above half an hour longer in boiling; -but because they take their salt out of their brine, and only harden -it in their hothouse, it is apter to melt away in a moist air: yet of -this sort of salt the longer the grain is, the longer it endures: and -generally this is the better granulated and the clearer, though the -other be the whiter. And I think it is rather the taking of the salt -out of the brine before it is wasted, that causes the granulating of -it, than the ale, to which the workmen impute it. - -“They never cover their pans at all, during the whole time of boiling. -They have their houses like barns open up to the thatch with a -cover-hole or two to vent the steam of the pans.” - -[Illustration: THE GREAT CANAL-BURST AND LANDSLIP, OWING TO SUBSIDENCE -NEAR NORTHWICH, 21ST JULY, 1907] - -On the subject of the supply and quality of the brine obtained at -Nantwich and Middlewich, Dr. Jackson explains that the springs are rich -or poor in a double sense, as a spring may be rich in salt but poor in -the quantity of brine it affords. Thus, the chief pit at Middlewich -contained a rich brine yielding a full fourth part of salt, but the -supply was so meagre that the inhabitants were “limited to their -proportions out of it,” and their requirements were made up out of -pits furnishing a weaker brine. The pit at Nantwich was so plentiful -as to supply all the salters, but while the brine contained only a -sixth part of salt, “such quick use of it extremely strengthens the -brine, perhaps to a degree little less than that of Middlewich pit.” In -support of this statement that freshly drawn brine is richer than the -liquor that has stood for some days in the pit, Dr. Jackson testified, -as the result of personal experiment, that “a quart of brine, when the -pit has been drawn off three or four days first, to supply five or -six wich-houses, has yielded an ounce and a half more of salt than at -another time, when it has had a rest of a week or thereabouts.” - -In the Droitwich locality of Worcestershire, the quality of the -brine closely resembled that of the Cheshire salt springs. In the -account by Dr. Thomas Rastel, published in 1678 in the _Philosophical -Transactions_, the writer says: “In the great pit at Upwich, we have -at once three sorts of brine, which we call by the names of first-man, -middle-man, and last-man, these sorts being of different strengths. The -brine is drawn by a pump: that which is in the bottom is first pumped -out; which is that we call first-man, etc. A quart measure of this -brine weighs 29 ounces troy, but of distilled water only 24 ounces. -This brine yields about a fourth part of salt; so that four tons of -brine make about a ton of salt. The other two sorts less, or 28 ounces. -And the pit yields 450 bushels of salt per day. In the best pit at -Netherwich a quart of brine weighs 28 ounces and a half; this pit is 18 -feet deep and 4 broad, and yields as much brine every 24 hours as makes -about 40 bushels of salt. The worst pit at Netherwich is of the same -breadth and depth as the former: a quart of brine out of which weighs -27 ounces and yields as much brine daily as makes about 30 bushels of -salt.” - -Although Dr. Rastel’s account of the salt-making methods in use at -Droitwich coincides with that employed about the same period in -Cheshire, he explains one or two minor variants and the reason of their -adoption. “The vats we boil the brine in,” he writes, “are made of -lead, cast into a flat plate 5 feet and a half long and 3 feet over: -having the side and ends beaten up, and a little raised in the middle, -which are set upon brickwork called ovens, in which is a grate to make -the fire on, and an ash-hole which we call a trunk. In some seals are 6 -of these pans, in some 5, some 4, some 3, some 2. In each of these pans -is boiled at a time as much brine as makes 3 pecks of white salt. For -clarifying the salt we should have little need, were it not for dust -accidentally falling into the brine. The brine of itself being so clear -that nothing can be clearer. For clarifying it, we use nothing but the -whites of eggs, of which we take a quarter of a white, and put it into -a gallon or two of brine, which being beaten with the hand, lathers -as if it were soap, a small quantity of which froth put into each vat -raises all the scum, the white of one egg clarifying 20 bushels of -salt, by which means our salt is as white as anything can be: neither -has it any ill savour, as that salt has that is clarified with blood. -For granulating it we use nothing at all, for the brine is so strong -of itself, that unless it be often stirred, it will make salt as large -grained as bay-salt. I have boiled brine to a candy height, and it has -produced clods of salt as clear as the clearest alum, like Isle of May -salt: so that we are necessitated to put a small quantity of rosin into -the brine, to make the grain of the salt small.” - -“If it is asked why we use not iron pans as in Cheshire,” Dr. Rastel -concludes, “I answer there have been trials made of both forged iron -pans and cast iron. The former the strength of the brine so corrodes, -that it quickly wears them out, the latter the brine breaks.” - -The first serious attempt to effect a real improvement in the making of -salt from brine was communicated to the Lords of the Admiralty in 1746 -by Thomas Lowndes, and under the title of “BRINE SALT IMPROVED or the -Method of Making Salt from Brine, that shall be as good or better than -FRENCH BAY-SALT.” It was published in the same year in a handsomely -printed, block-type brochure of 40 pages by S. Austin, of Newgate -Street, Lowndes, who had spent his infancy in Middlewich and had -acquired in his youth a thorough acquaintance with the Cheshire manner -of salt-making, employed several years in travelling in France, during -which he studied the process employed in the making of salt by solar -evaporation from sea-water in the neighbourhood of Rochelle. At this -time the bay-salt of Rochelle was regarded by merchants, victuallers, -and fishermen as the best in Europe. He afterwards visited Holland for -the purpose of ascertaining why the Dutch white herrings were superior -to those cured in England, and he learned that the cause was explained -by the method employed by the Dutch in purifying their salt. Armed with -the knowledge he had acquired in France and Holland, and allowing for -the difference between the French, Dutch, and English brines, Lowndes -offered to enter into an agreement with the Admiralty to supply them -with a better article than the French bay-salt, made by the following -process-- - -“_Let a_ Cheshire _salt-pan_ (which commonly contains about eight -hundred gallons) _be filled with Brine, to within about an inch of the -top; then make and light the fire; and when the Brine is just lukewarm, -put in about an ounce of blood from the butcher’s, or the whites of two -eggs; let the pan boil with all possible violence; as the scum rises -take it off; when the fresh or watery part is pretty well decreased, -throw into the pan the third part of a pint of new ale, or that -quantity of bottoms of malt-drink; upon the Brine’s beginning to grain, -throw into it the quantity of a small nutmeg of fresh butter; and when -the liquor has sailed for about half an hour, that is, has produced a -good deal of Salt, draw the pan, in other words, take out the Salt._ -By this time the fire will be greatly abated, and so will the heat -of the liquor. _Let no more fewel be thrown on the fire; but let the -Brine gently cool, till one can just bear to put one’s hand into it; -keep the Brine of that heat as near as possible; and when it has worked -for some time, and is beginning to grain, throw in the quantity of a -small nutmeg of fresh butter; and about two minutes after that, scatter -throughout the pan, as equally as may be, an ounce and three quarters -of clean common Allom pulverized very fine; and then instantly, with -the common iron-scrape-pan stir the Brine very briskly in every part of -the pan, for about a minute; then let the pan settle, and constantly -feed the fire, so that the Brine may never be quite scalding hot, nor -near so cold as lukewarm; let the pan stand working thus, for about -three days and nights, and then draw it._ - -“The Brine remaining will by this time be so cold, that it will not -work at all; _therefore fresh Coals must be thrown upon the fire, and -the Brine must boil for about half an hour, but not near so violently -as before the first drawing; then, with the usual instrument, take out -such Salt as is beginning to fall, (as they term it) and put it apart; -now let the pan settle and cool. When the Brine becomes no hotter, than -one can just bear to put ones hand into it, proceed in all respects -as before; only let the quantity of Allom not exceed an ounce and a -quarter. And in about eight and forty hours after draw the pan._” - -This process, as will be seen, involved the use of much slower fires -than were usually employed in Cheshire, and allowed the liquor to -simmer instead of boiling for a longer period. For this purpose, Mr. -Lowndes proposed to use a large proportion of cinders in his furnaces, -“since long boiling with great fires not only deprives salt of its -spirit and strength, but causes its grain to become loose and soft, -since cinders are better than coals in preserving a constant, equal, -and gentle heat.” In order to correct the ill-effects suffered by the -salt through being made in an enclosed, intensely hot room, filled -with steam and smoke, he had recourse to the use of alum, which, he -claimed, would restore to the salt its “natural cubical shoot and give -it a proper hardness.” He further claimed that by this process the -hot-houses or drying-houses could be dispensed with, waste in carriage -would be avoided, and the pans would last three times as long; while, -in order to anticipate the inevitable objections of the salt-makers -and dispel the pretended difficulties that the workmen would find in -executing his directions, the inventor explained that he had been -careful to accommodate his process, as near as possible, “to the -present practice in Cheshire.” - -At the request of the Admiralty, the College of Physicians conducted -several examinations of salt made by the Lowndes process, and reported -that it was “in all respects, a strong and pure salt, equal at least, -if not preferable to any we are acquainted with.” On the strength of -this testimonial, Mr. Lowndes applied to the Admiralty to allow him -a six months’ trial to prove the goodness of his salt for domestic -purposes, twelve months to prove its excellence for the purpose of -the Fishery of America, and two years in which to prove its efficacy -in preserving beef and pork for the Royal Navy. If in this series of -tests it should be proved that salt made by his process equalled French -bay-salt, he proposed that they should pay him a total sum of £7,000, -and should the trials demonstrate the slightest inferiority, he would -be content to make his country a present of his labours. When the -Admiralty declined to enter into negotiations with him, Mr. Lowndes -laid his scheme before the House of Commons, which petitioned the King -to instruct the Admiralty to make the tests on the inventor’s terms, -but the sudden death of Lowndes in 1748 closed the controversy. - -But the determination to bring the art of salt-making to “greater -perfection” was not abandoned, although, as Dr. William Brownrigg -admitted, the success achieved by Thomas Lowndes was thought by -some people “to supersede the necessity of any further attempts for -improving or extending our salt manufacture.” Brownrigg commended -Lowndes’s method and testified to the purity and strength of his salt -which had been exhibited before the College of Physicians, but he -maintained that by other methods a purer and stronger salt might be -made at a less expense. In point of fact, Dr. Brownrigg’s objection -to the Lowndes’ method was that it was applied only to salt made from -brine, or a solution of English rock-salt often prepared with impure -water, and that the salt so produced, in his opinion, was inferior to -marine salt. Brownrigg, only half realizing Lowndes’s intention, would -appear to have grasped the fact that his process aimed at economy of -fuel combined with uniformity in the degree and distribution of heat, -but he does not seem to have appreciated the value of the improvement -anticipated therefrom. - -It must by this time have become evident to scientific investigators -and practical salt-men that the solution of the problems of economical -manufacture and increased output lay in the application and regulation -of heat. Christopher Chrysel, of Leipsic, after fourteen years of -“great industry, much pains, and cost” spent in the practice and study -of salt-making in Cheshire, published the result of his labours in -1787. Chrysel claimed that by his method “with the least Fire and -Coal the most Salt can be made and the greatest Profit received such -as in no other way can possibly happen,” but curiously enough the -improvement for which he obtained a Royal Patent, was primarily based -upon a more advantageous arrangement of the brine pans, while the -improvement effected in the furnace was treated as a matter of only -subsidiary importance. Chrysel demonstrated his method at Bye Flat, -near Northwich, in Cheshire, in June, 1776. The experiment was carried -out in the presence of witnesses, the same pan was used in testing both -the old and the new methods, the same two salt-boilers were employed in -conducting both operations, and the amounts of fuel consumed and salt -produced were carefully weighed and attested. The results were recorded -in the following report furnished by the Liverpool Agent of Mr. -Richard Kent’s salt-works at Bye Flat-- - -[Illustration: A SALT STORE-SHED] - -“In three ‘firings’ of 2 Furnaces under a salt pan set up on the old -plan ten years ago and constantly worked till the present time--24 feet -long: 15 feet broad and 12 inches deep--filled with Brine three times -in a half week, and boiled down each time in 24 hours and the salt -drawn out there was burnt 5½ tons of Coal and made 7 tons 31 bushels, -or 155½ cwts. of salt. - -“After the experiment the Patentee, Mr. Christopher Chrysel, set up -the same pan on his improved Patent Method, and then in three similar -firings in half a week as before there was only burnt 3 tons 5 cwt. of -coal and made 8 tons 2 cwts. or 162 cwts. of salt=2 tons 10 cwts. of -salt per ton of fuel.” - -Chrysel says in his treatise that the pan mentioned in his -experiments--24 ft. long, 15 ft. broad, and 12 in. deep--will be -regarded by his German readers as of phenomenal bigness, but he -explains that in England it is looked upon as only a medium-sized -receptacle. The pans in use in Cheshire at this period were of various -sizes, but the tendency was to introduce pans of increasing dimensions. -“Indeed I can with all truth say,” he writes, “that in England I have -seen with my own eyes, pans two, three and four times as big (as the -one he used at Bye Flat) and have measured them with my own hands, and -have proved each one designedly and have seen and marked and become -persuaded that from large salt pans the greater advantage and the most -noted cheapness in the manufacture of salt depend and proceed.” - -In the course of his experiments with pans of all sizes, he proved that -in a small pan, 8 ft. square and 9 in. deep, heated with one furnace, -he obtained in five weeks a clear profit of £35 15s. 2d., while in -one pan, compounded out of five of the small pans, and heated with two -furnaces, the profit of one week’s working was £42 15s. 5d., or a net -additional profit of £7 0s. 3d., and the saving of four weeks in time -and labour. - -He further experimented with three of the largest pans for one week, -with the following results-- - -“The first--36 by 25 feet and 13 inches deep holding 975 cubic feet of -Brine--burnt in 3 Furnaces in one week 12 tons of coal and made 32 tons -2 cwts. of salt. - -“The second--40 by 27 ft. and 13 inches deep holding 1170 cubic feet of -brine--burnt in 3 Furnaces in a week 15 tons 18 cwts. of coal and made -34½ tons of salt. - -“The third--52 by 26 feet and 13 inches deep holding 1464 cubic feet -of Brine--burnt in 4 Furnaces in one week, 24 tons of coal and made 62 -tons of salt.” - -Chrysel is himself amazed that pans containing 360, 900, and even 1,400 -cubic feet of brine can be boiled into salt in the same space of time, -and he is feign to admit that “up to now, nobody, to my knowledge, -has proved what length, breadth, and depth of pan is calculated to -make the most salt with the least consumption of coal. Consequently -everywhere are to be found many different pans, and other varieties are -continually being tested. And I myself cannot feel that I am capable -of deciding the question, nevertheless I will, from my experience and -conscientious conviction, say what I consider is the best, cheapest, -and most reliable pan for this purpose.” - -After long search, and close inquiry in numerous salt-works, and as -the result of his study of salt-making in pans of every size, Chrysel -came to the conclusion that a single pan--“26 feet long, 18 feet -broad, and 12 inches deep, with two furnaces, in a roomy salt-works -with sufficient room for the workmen and baskets on both sides of the -pan”--was to be preferred to all others. But this considered judgment -was amended after further application to the problem by advocating -an increase in length without changing the breadth of the pan. His -ultimate verdict was in favour of a pan 52 ft. long, 18 ft. broad, -and 1 ft. deep, with a capacity of 936 cubic feet of brine, equipped -with two furnaces, and he declared that this pan, producing about 638 -cwt. of salt per week, at a cost of £10 5s. 6d. for fuel, and selling -for £127 15s. 6d., and giving a profit of £117 10s. was “the perfect -article.” - -Although, as I have pointed out, Chrysel’s patent was principally -concerned with the arrangement of the brine pans, which were so -arranged as to obtain the maximum amount of heat from the fuel consumed -in the furnaces, in the course of his experiments he evolved an -improved, if by no means a perfect, furnace. The peculiar nature of -the superiority effected was based on the common knowledge that it is -the natural tendency of fire heat and smoke to escape into the open -air and disappear. He proceeds: “If, however, they are confined and -shut up in a furnace under a salt pan they still require an opening to -escape to the chimney else the fire cannot burn and is extinguished. -If however the opening and place of exit into the draughts and chimney -is too large and wide, as it is generally, and particularly under salt -pans, not only will the draught of Air cause Wood and Coal to be more -rapidly consumed and changed into Ashes which will choke the fire but -also the fireheat and smoke will, by the draught of the air, hasten -into the draughts and chimney, and the bottom of the pan will hardly be -touched and scarcely half the work be done. On the contrary, if the -opening and exit into the draughts and chimney has a proper proportion, -according to the different sizes of the Pans and to the requisite Fire -in the Furnace under the pan, the Fireheat and Smoke will be longer -contained under the pan and that, steadily coming from the Furnace, -will be increased and strengthened, so that double work under the pan -will result, and wood or coal will not so rapidly be burnt to ashes but -last longer and consequently do more work. All that is required in this -is to calculate the mathematical proportion between the different sizes -of the pans, the Furnace and the Fires and between the opening and Exit -into the draughts and chimney, and to apply it.” - -It will be recognized that both Lowndes and Chrysel were on the way -to the solution of the problem of the perfect salt-making plant when -they devoted themselves to the improvement of the furnace, but another -century and a half was to elapse before the secret that eluded their -efforts should be revealed. The luckless Furnival, some fifty years -later than Chrysel, approached nearly to the goal to which they were -all striving, and he, in common with his forerunners, had his share -of the savage jealousy and persecution that the salt-men have ever -visited upon those who venture into the lists with them. “No malice -has been wanting to bring a disreputation upon my salt; and every -wicked art will be practised to render its virtues ineffectual. The -Salt Commissioners are my avowed enemies; for the miscarrying of my -attempts will be their gain.” Thus wrote poor Lowndes, and Chrysel had -similar grounds for complaint. “Before the above proof (the result of -his experiment at Bye Fleet) was made openly, nobody believed in the -anticipated saving,” he says, “but everybody doubted and some declared -it to be impossible. After, however, the thing was made known, -everybody on the contrary was in a state of wonderment. In a short time -wonder was changed into envy, ill-will and malice, and many attempts -were made to suppress me and destroy my patent, although it was not -possible for any one to point out any failures or errors.” We shall see -presently how the salt-men dealt with their successor, William Furnival. - -Henry Holland, writing in 1808 on “The Production of Salt Brine,” -furnishes some reliable details concerning the manufacture of -brine-salt as it was conducted in Cheshire at the beginning of the -nineteenth century. According to this authority: “The pans used in -Cheshire, for the evaporating of the brine, are now made of wrought -iron. The dimensions of these vary very much; but, in general, those -of modern erection are considerably larger than what were in use a few -years ago; and they usually contain from 600 to 800 superficial feet. -One or two pans of still larger dimensions have been erected, each -containing nearly 1,000 feet. Their usual form is that of an oblong -square, and their depth from 12 to 16 inches. To a pan containing 600 -to 800 superficial feet, there are usually three furnaces, from six -and a half to seven feet long, and 20 to 24 inches wide. The grates -are from two and a half to three feet from the bottom of the pan. The -furnace-doors are single, and there are no doors to the ash-pits. - -“The different pans are usually partitioned out from each other, and -there is a separate pan-house to each pan. Within this pan-house, at -one end is the coal-hole; the chimney occupies the other end, there -is a walk along the two remaining sides of the pan, five or six feet -wide; and between these walks and the sides of the pan-house, which -are generally of wood, long benches four or five feet wide, are fixed, -on which the salt is placed in conical baskets to drain after it has -been taken out of the pan; a wooden or slated roof is placed over the -pan-house, with louvres to allow the steam to pass freely out. - -“The manufacture is conducted in several different ways, or rather -heat is applied in various degrees, to effect the evaporation of the -water of solution; and according to these different degrees of heat, -the product is the stoved or lump salt; common salt; the large grained -flaky; and large grained or fishery salt.” - -In the making of stoved salt, the brine was brought to a boiling -heat--which in brine fully saturated is 226 degrees of Fahrenheit--and -the pan was twice filled in the course of twenty-four hours. In the -making of common salt, the brine was first brought to boiling heat, -for the double purpose of expediting saturation and clearing the brine -of any earthy contents, and then, moderating the fires, the process -of crystallization was completed with the brine heated to 160 or 170 -degrees of Fahrenheit. The pan in which common salt was made was filled -only once in twenty-four hours. The large grained, flaky salt was made -with an evaporation conducted at the heat of 130 or 140 degrees, and -the pan was filled once in every forty-eight hours; while in the case -of fishery salt, the brine was brought to a heat of from 100 to 110 -degrees of Fahrenheit, and five or six days were required to evaporate -the water of solution. In the course of these several processes, -various additions were often made to the brine, with the view of -promoting the separation of any earthy mixture, or the more ready -crystallization of the salt. These additions varied in different works, -and many of them seem to have been made from ill-founded prejudices -without any exact idea as to their probable effects. The principal -additions made at various times were acids, animal jelly and gluten, -vegetable mucilage, new or stale ale, wheat-flour, resin, butter, and -alum. - -Holland believed that the addition of acids to the brine was an -innovation based upon the mistaken idea that the use of acid accounted -for the superiority of the Dutch salt, but at the time at which he -wrote the practice had been discontinued in Cheshire. Animal jelly -and gluten for clearing the brine and promoting the separation of the -earthy contents, were much used in preference to blood, which, while -excellent for the purpose when fresh, was difficult to procure in -sufficient quantity and to preserve from putrefaction. White of eggs, -glue, and jelly procured by boiling cows’ and calves’ feet, were also -found to answer perfectly well for the purpose of clarifying brine, but -the use of new or stale ale and beer grounds as a brine clarifier, had -been abandoned as inefficacious by Cheshire salt-men. Dr. Brownrigg -was of opinion that salt-boilers had little to plead in favour of the -addition of butter during the evaporation process, beyond immemorial -custom, but Holland considered the salt-makers had ample grounds for -their belief that butter assisted the granulation of the salt and made -the brine “work more kindly.” On the question of the addition of alum -opinions varied. Lowndes ascribed the superiority of his salt to the -use of alum, but Brownrigg declared that “the goodness of Mr. Lowndes’ -salt does not seem to be owing to the alum with which it is mixed, but -may be attributed chiefly to the gentle heat used in the preparation.” - -[Illustration: WITTON BROOK, NORTHWICH. SUBMERGED TRACT OF AGRICULTURAL -LAND] - -Holland combated the general impression obtaining at the time, that -salt formed from the same brine varied by the application of different -degrees of heat, not only in external appearance but also in quality, -and the equally prevalent idea that salt formed from natural brine -was inferior in its power of preserving animal flesh to bay-salt. He -proved by quotation and experiment that such prejudices were entirely -unfounded, and proceeded to show that the action of bay-salt is exactly -similar to that of the large-grained salt, and that neither variety -has any advantage over the salt prepared by a boiling heat except -in the size and compactness of its crystals and in its containing a -somewhat smaller proportion of the water of crystallization; and as -the large-grained fishery salt is more than equal to the bay salt in -these important points, it at least equals the latter in its power of -preserving animal flesh or provisions. - -The first person who introduced steam heat into the manufacture of -salt, and, in so doing, anticipated the revolutionary improvements -which were achieved some three-quarters of a century later by the -Vacuum System and the Hodgkinson Patent Salt-Making Process, was -William Furnival. For our knowledge of the intentions and achievements -of this bold and persevering innovator we have to rely almost entirely -upon his “Statement of Facts, Humbley and Respectfully submitted to -the Consideration of His Majesty, His Majesty’s Ministers, and Both -Houses of Parliament.” In this document we have a story of oppression, -conspiracy, and persecution which the author describes as “unparalleled -in free England,” and since his narration of the treatment he endured -has never been refuted, we must conclude that the gist of what he -writes is substantially true. It is to be regretted that in this -only available account of his activities, Furnival is so intent upon -exposing the wrongs to which he had been subjected that he omits to -furnish us with a detailed description of his process. We know that in -1823 Furnival erected works at Droitwich and commenced making salt, -and we have his assurance that his patent answered every expectation -he had formed of it. Moreover, its working was investigated by Messrs. -S. Fowler, Fardon & Co., who, on 17th April, 1824, certified that -the advantages of the Furnival method over all existing processes, -consisted-- - -“Firstly.--In the saving of fuel which may be stated at about one-half. - -“Secondly.--In the production of twice the quantity of salt, as usually -made in vessels of the same size, in a given space of time. - -“Thirdly.--In the superior quality of the salt, arising out of the -regular distribution of heat to the bottom of the brine pan.” - -In April, 1825, Furnival disposed of his salt property at Anderton, -and three years later, to a month, he bought property at Marston for -£1,550. On this ground he erected works covering an area of about -twelve acres, and installed some three miles of pannage at a cost of -upwards of £135,000, capable of producing some 130,000 tons of salt per -annum. He subsequently bought and started to erect works intended, when -finished, to occupy nearly six acres of ground at Marston. He asserted -that these Wharton and Marston properties were the only two in the -kingdom possessing the peculiar advantages of inexhaustible supplies -of fully saturated brine and dry rock-salt on the same premises, and -he claimed that he could not only deliver rock-salt at fully 25 to 30 -per cent. less than any other mine in the country, but, further, that -the salt made on his principle was admitted to be superior in quality, -owing to the regular distribution of heat, by which more uniform and -superior crystals were produced. In the autumn of 1829, he opened -negotiations in two separate quarters to lease on royalty certain -portions of his salt-works at Wharton, and two committees, each -consisting of three men, were appointed by the prospective tenants to -investigate the system. On 22nd August, 1829, the two committees drew -up a joint report, from which I extract the following-- - -“The first committee entered upon the investigation on the 15th August, -1829; remained on duty eight hours; was then relieved by the second -for the like period, and so continued the investigation, alternately -superintending the weighing and delivery of the coals and salt, and -taking note of the temperatures every hour. - -“The following is the result of working for 162 hours, a steam boiler, -constantly fed with brine, the specific gravity from 23 to 25·100ths. - - Length of the boiler, 20 ft.; width, 8 ft. - A triangular flue pan, 80 ft.; width, 8 ft. - A triangular steam pan, 101·6 in.; width, 8 ft. - forming a surface of 1,612 superficial ft. of brine. - The quantity of coal consumed was 8½ tons. - The quantity of fine salt produced was 356 cwt. - Ditto of common and fishery 404 „ - -------- - Making 760 cwt. - ======== - -“Being a product of four and a half tons of salt for every ton of coals -consumed.” - -It will be convenient here to explain what became of these several -Furnival properties, and then describe very briefly the stages which -led to the inventor’s incarceration in Horsemonger Lane Gaol and -caused him to address his Statement of Facts to the Government. In -April, 1825, he sold his works at Anderton to the British Rock and -Salt Company, which continued to ship salt until 1829. The Marston -property appears to have been worked until 1847. The Wharton works -were managed by Trustees until 1839, when they were taken over by the -National Patent Salt Company, which became one of the most important -firms in the Winsford trade. In 1875, Justice Manisty, the surviving -leaseholder, transferred his interests to Stubbs Brothers, who, in -1888, disposed of the business to the Salt Union. - -Furnival had no sooner established himself as a salt-maker at Anderton -than the old salt proprietors, “who had contrived in the past to ruin -all, or any one who should dare to enter the lists against them,” -became seriously alarmed at the apparent magnitude of his plans and -the great improvements which threatened both their exorbitant profits -and their hitherto unchallenged monopoly. Furnival, to employ a -colloquialism, proceeded to “back himself both ways.” Having more than -once proved his strength by breaking up “the Coalition” (which the old -proprietors had formed to regulate the output and price of salt), and -bringing down the price of common salt from 20s. to 8s. per ton, he -offered to erect his patent apparatus at his own cost and risk on the -works of his wealthy rivals, and to allow them two-thirds of the saving -effected by its application. According to Furnival’s unsupported but -uncontradicted account, they ridiculed his offer, declaring that they -wanted none of his patents, that they could command their own profits -in defiance of him, and that they would never sanction any improvements -or innovations in the trade. - -Furnival, who had secured patents for France and the Netherlands, -thereafter gave his English competitors a rest and proceeded to erect -salt-works at Rotterdam and Ghent capable of taking nearly 60,000 -tons of rock salt annually from the British market. But the English -salt refiners prompted their Dutch and Belgian _confrères_ to bring -official discredit upon the enterprise, and Furnival and his partner -were compelled to abandon their works, which had cost them £13,000 to -erect, and to forgo the £33,000 they were to have received for their -patent rights. - -Furnival returned to England and set up his salt-works at Wharton, -where he “produced some of the finest rock-salt in the kingdom.” The -old proprietors decided that no sacrifice was too great that would -have the effect of crushing this competitor. They lowered the price of -rock-salt 50 per cent., and kept manufactured salt so low that every -establishment was worked at a loss. A meeting of proprietors, convened -to consider the situation, resolved that while “they deeply lamented -the low price of salt, they considered, at the same time, that it would -not be prudent to raise the price until Mr. Furnival was disposed of.” -The salt manufacturers admitted, in a circular published in 1829, that -this cutting-out operation had, in four and a half years, involved the -trade in a loss of £282,194 14s., but it had the effect of frightening -away Furnival’s financial supporters, and landed him in further -misfortunes. - -[Illustration: WORKING IN DANGEROUS GROUND AFTER SUBSIDENCE, DUNKIRK -LAKE, NORTHWICH] - -In 1826, Furnival had entered into a contract with a Peter Bouvain -to erect a salt-works in the Isle of Rhé, but the month that was -required to prove the capabilities of the patent plant was sufficient -to demonstrate the commercial worthlessness of the Frenchman, and -Furnival cut his loss and returned to England. Bouvain brought a -claim against him for the loss of prospective profits and obtained a -judgment for £8,000, against which Furnival appealed to the Court of -Cassation in Paris. Before the case was heard, Furnival was inveigled -to the Netherlands by a forged invitation, purporting to come from a -wealthy Belgian salt-refiner, driven over the frontier, arrested in -France at the suit of Bouvain, and thrown into gaol. Finding that -legal redress was unobtainable, Furnival escaped from prison after four -months’ incarceration, and in January, 1830, was again in Cheshire. -He was engaged in a bitter and protracted altercation with his two -sets of tenants in the Wharton salt-works in August, 1832, when he -was arrested for the non-payment of his debt of £8,180 to Bouvain, -and lodged in Horsemonger Lane Gaol. In January, 1833, he brought -an action for perjury against Bouvain, who fled to France to escape -the warrant that was issued for his arrest, but this moral victory -brought Furnival neither release nor amelioration of his lot, and he -found himself “foully and unjustly charged by a band of conspirators, -defeated in every attempt to obtain justice, and left without a hope -or prospect of being able to vindicate himself, or extricate himself -from a confinement more close than that awarded to a felon.” The end -of Furnival need not occupy us; he came into the salt trade in 1822 -with a sufficiency of financial backing, an unusual stock of confidence -and energy, and a patent which “created a sensation through the whole -salt trade”; we take our leave of him eleven years later in a debtors’ -gaol--a victim to the methods which the Cheshire salt proprietors -invariably adopted in ridding themselves of an obtrusive competitor. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -FORMATION AND EXTENT OF THE CHESHIRE DEPOSITS - - -The theories propounded and the conclusions arrived at on the -subject of the formation of the Cheshire salt beds do not differ in -any important particular from those which have been put forward, -investigated, and accepted with regard to rock-salt deposits in all -parts of the world, but, because of the enormous geologic and climatic -changes that have occurred in the English county since a salt basin -was in course of formation there, scientists were slower in accepting -those conclusions in respect of our home deposits than in the case of -the salt areas which are found in the Runn of Kutch, at Lake Elton, or -Black Gulph on the eastern side of the Caspian Sea. - -The facts that the chief accompaniment of every known deposit of -rock-salt is clay, and that clay is deposited in water, formed the -basis of the erroneous theory that because salt is a deposit out of -water, and sea-water contains salt, all salt beds must have been -deposited in the sea. But salt does not mix mechanically with water and -has not been deposited like sedimentary rocks; it forms a solution, and -not until the solution becomes super-saturated does it crystallize out. -Now sea-water rarely contains more than 3½ per cent. of salt, and since -the solution must contain at least 26 per cent. of salt before the salt -will crystallize out, and, provided it is left from contact with the -air, a solution of this strength may be left for an indefinite length -of time without a single particle of salt depositing, the old theory -that all salt beds were deposited in the sea had to be abandoned. - -The theory of the sea-water deposition of salt beds having been -disposed of, it was long a popular idea that the beds of rock-salt -owed their formation to volcanic action. Professor C. Thompson was -of opinion that some enormous electrical force had been at work in -its crystallization; Professor Silvestri found quantities of chloride -of sodium varying from 50 to 90 per cent. in different sublimations -in the lava which was erupted from Etna in 1863; Bunsen discovered a -considerable but less important sublimation of chloride of sodium in -the lava erupted from Hekla in 1854; and G. F. Rodwell and H. M. Elder -also recognized small traces of sodic chloride as one of the products -of volcanic action. In a paper contributed to the Manchester Geological -Society, in 1842, on “An Inquiry into the Origin of the Salt Field of -Cheshire,” so respected an authority as Ormerod stated his conclusions -as follows-- - -“(_a_) That from the lithological character of the accompanying -beds and partings, and from the regularity in the thickness of the -respective beds, as far as the same were now known, these salt beds -were, in his opinion, deposited from an aqueous menstruum, and had not -been injected. - -“(_b_) That from the absence of marine remains, from the salt deposits -containing matter not found in the ocean, and from similar beds of salt -not being in any place known to have been formed from the ocean, he -considered that there were not satisfactory reasons for ascribing the -origin of the salt found in the new red sandstone of England to marine -deposits. - -“(_c_) That from the minerals found associated with the salt, and -adjoining red sandstone rocks, being similar to those found together -with it in volcanic districts in other parts of the world; that from -former or present volcanic action being apparent at localities in -various parts of the globe, at which beds of salt of similar character -are found, and the origin of which can be evidently traced to that -cause, and from the salt beds in England being always found accompanied -by neighbouring traces of volcanic action, he considered that there -were satisfactory reasons for ascribing the origin of the salt fields -of England to volcanic agency.” - -Ormerod was not only convinced that the Cheshire deposits were -the result of volcanic action which had impregnated neighbouring -lagoons and formed the aqueous menstruum from which those beds were -precipitated, but that these lakes lay in depressions of the upper -New Red Sandstone, and that the alternation of the strata of rock and -salt had arisen from subsidences, followed or accompanied by fresh -discharges of the same impregnating matter. - -This theory is untenable, for beyond the fact that salt has been -ejected in volcanic eruptions there is practically nothing to support -it. Volcanic action is always accompanied by intense heat, and the fact -that the pure rock crystal is one of slow growth in a cool liquid, and -is not of rapid formation in a hot fluid, conclusively disposes of the -volcanic theory. Particles of chloride of sodium in volcanic ejections -were no explanation of the formation of huge deposits of rock-salt, and -since it was realized that salt in large quantity can only be obtained -from salt water, and that it cannot be got naturally from the sea, it -became evident that what man does in isolating tracts of sea-water to -produce salt by solar evaporation, must have been practised by nature -on an extensive scale in all ages. And as an isolated tract of salt -water is a salt lake, we are directed to the obvious conclusion that -all rock-salt formations have been deposited in salt lakes. - -In support of this theory we have the evidence of the salt-forming -process that is now in operation in Southern Russia, America, and -India. It is evident that at one time the low-lying country to the -west and north of the Caspian Sea was part of that inland sea, and -that, when its surface was contracted by shrinkage, the retreating -water left behind it numerous swamps, which now form salt lakes, and -tracts of intervening land which, in the dry season, are covered with a -saline afflorescence. The large quantities of salt which, in ordinary -seasons are deposited in these salt lakes, are collected by the Russian -Government. In India there are many salt lakes, such as Lake Sambhur, -in Rajpootana, which in the rainy season has a length of from fifteen -to twenty miles, but in the dry season is only three or four miles -long, the remainder of its course consisting of a succession of small -salt pools alternating with stretches of salt-encrusted ground. In the -great desert of Mongolia many square miles of country are spread with -salt incrustations; and in America similar tracts are found which once -formed the beds of considerable lakes. In Nevada, at the sink of the -Carson River, is an area of five square miles which was once the bed of -a salt lake. The famous Great Salt Lake, between the Wahsatch Mountains -and the Nevadas in America, is the remains of a large inland sea which -once covered the district, and should the climate become drier than it -is now, the shrinkage, which went on for ages, will be resumed, and a -huge salt deposit will be formed. - -The salt lakes in rainless districts soon dry up, and the salt, being -quickly deposited, is almost pure, but such instances are not usual, -and, in dealing with existing salt-depositing lakes, we find continual -references to the salt and clay mixtures, or alternations of the -deposits. Herr Cech tells us that the yearly layers of salt in Lake -Elton are separated from one another by a layer of black mud; beneath -the fourth layer is found black clay, and beneath this are further -layers of salt of a more solid quality. Schleiden, in speaking of -Lake Elton, says: “On this old salt is deposited a blackish mud layer -(salt clay) which separates the salt from the next succeeding layer. -In 1805 Göbel bored, in the very shallow lake, about 1½ miles from the -shore. He found forty-two distinctly separated layers of rock salt, -the uppermost from 1 to 4 inches thick, the lowest 9 inches thick. The -deeper he bored the more solid the salt was, and the more pure. At the -hundredth layer the salt was so hard that the iron tool broke.” - -From the foregoing, which are among a great collection of accepted -data, it will be seen that, in whatever quarter of the world salt -lakes occur, the same characteristics are encountered, viz., salt -depositing on mud and covered by mud. Every shower of rain creates a -certain amount of mud or sand, and every brook and stream running into -the salt lakes during the rainy season brings in a certain quantity of -the same material. The mud represents the wet season of the year, and -the salt the dry season. The geological conditions must have been the -same when salt was deposited in Cheshire, and with the instances of -modern salt-forming regions before us, and the strata of the Cheshire -salt country to guide us, it must be concluded that the genesis of -rock-salt, modified by local circumstances, must have been the same -in every case. Indeed, in the face of the evidence, it seems certain -that the Cheshire beds of rock-salt have been crystallized out of the -saturated waters of salt lakes, and that their admixture of marl has -been caused by streams running into the lakes during the wet seasons, -and that the peculiar amorphous mixture of marl and salt known as -rock-salt is the result of the continual growth of pure salt crystals, -and their partial destruction by mud-bearing fresh waters. - -This conclusion on the subject, which is now generally accepted, is -based on the theory that the Cheshire salt lake was situated in a -desert, or more probably a salty _steppe_, such as are found in the -region of the Caspian Sea, and that the climate was divided into wet -and dry seasons. The presence of rock-salt supports these ideas, -because the marls could only be formed in periods of heavy rainfall, -and the salt could only crystallize out in dry, water-evaporating -periods. It is further evident that the lake, though extensive in area, -was shallow, and that the dry seasons produced extensive shrinkages -and caused salt to form in the saturated water that remained in the -deeper parts, while the occurrence of the deep deposits in a shallow -lake is explained by the constantly varying elevation and depression -of the earth’s surface. The difficulty of explaining how the salt in -this lake could be renewed to enable the waters to go on depositing for -a geologic age is recognized, but it is no greater than that which is -presented by scores of existing salt lakes out of which thousands of -tons of salt are taken annually without causing any apparent diminution -in the salt which forms year by year. And when it is considered that, -in a lake having a probable area of from 500 to 1,000 square miles, the -known salt deposits do not occupy 50 square miles, and in many portions -contain 50 per cent. of marl, the difficulty does not seem to be -insuperable. It is, moreover, safe to conclude that, when the bar rose -that eventually cut off the Cheshire lake from the sea, it would be -many years before the high tides ceased to wash over it and replenish -the lake, and Dr. Ball’s theory as to the enormity of the tides that -occurred in past ages--owing to the moon being nearer to the earth -than at present--reveals a means by which the lake might continue to -receive fresh accessions of sea-water for many generations. - -[Illustration: STREET-RAISING IN PROGRESS--HIGH STREET, NORTHWICH] - -Irrespective of all theories, the outstanding fact remains that -enormous beds of salt were deposited in the Cheshire salt lake, and an -examination of the strata in the appended Northwich section will enable -the salt to tell its own history. - - _Depth._ _Thickness._ - - Ft. in. Ft. in. - 1 6 1 6 Soil. - 9 0 7 6 Drift composed of brown sand mixed with clay - varying from 1 to 100 ft. in thickness. - 27 0 18 0 Brown clay with greenstone, etc., boulders. - 132 0 105 0 Marl in thin bands, brown and blue with thin - beds and streaks of gypsum to the rock head. - 216 0 84 0 Rock-salt, top bed. - 222 0 6 0 Upper blue marlstone mixed with brown, which - falls on exposure. - 229 0 7 0 Brown marl and marlstone, with vein of red - rock-salt. - 234 0 5 0 Lower blue marlstone, very compact, hard, - and does not fall on exposure. - (This forms the foundation for the - wedging-curb of the shaft cylinders.) - 246 0 12 0 Marl and rock-salt mixed in about equal parts. - 330 0 84 0 Rock-salt, bottom bed. - 334 0 4 0 Brown and blue marlstone, with rock-salt. - 417 0 83 0 Ditto with thin veins of rock-salt, ramifying - in various directions. - 320 0 3 0 Rock-salt, almost pure. - 501 0 81 0 Brown and blue marlstone, with thin veins of - rock-salt. - 507 0 6 0 Rock-salt, almost transparent. - 525 0 18 0 Hard blue marlstone, not sunk through. - -The formation has only been bored through to a depth of 525 ft., where -we find an unpierced stratum, 18 ft. thick, of hard marl. Above it -are 6 ft. of pure rock-salt, then 81 ft., of marl with thick veins of -rock-salt, then 3 ft. of nearly pure salt, then 83 ft. of marl with -thin veins of salt, and above it 4 ft. of marl and salt. So far it is -evident that the wet seasons predominated, and that marl was deposited -far more extensively than salt. For a time, a cycle of dry seasons -prevailed; a great change occurred, and a bed of rock-salt, 84 ft. in -thickness, was deposited. In other parts, the bed of rock-salt varies -from 80 ft. to over 100 ft. in thickness, none of which is perfectly -pure, and not more than 20 ft. of it is sufficiently pure to be of -commercial use. The greatly changed seasons are indicated by these -formations. A portion near the bottom, containing less clay, shows -a less copious or less protracted rainfall, and these periods were -followed by wet seasons and the presence of much clay. After a time, -so much rain fell that for a period sufficiently long for about 30 ft. -of marl to deposit, practically no salt formed. Here and there in this -deposit are veins of salt, and as these are perpendicular and run as if -deposited in rifts or cracks of the marl, the salt doubtless belongs to -the next period, when another change occurred and another bed of salt, -varying from 50 to 80 ft. in thickness, was deposited. The whole of -this bed is fairly full of marl, and, for an untold period, marls were -deposited, covering up the rock-salt. - -The cycles of greater or less rainfalls are traceable in the varying -preponderance of marls, in the crystallization of salt, and in the form -in which the rock-salt is found. Each minute cube starts as a crystal -from some independent point of rock salt, and these increase in numbers -until they form a mass of crystallization possessing no distinct lines -or features. Had the dry season continued for a long period a thick -mass of rock-salt would have been formed. The floor of the lake would -have been covered with salt crystals, like the crystal floor of a -mine, and the moment the rainy season commenced, and the brooks began -to bring in fresh water and mud, these crystals, being attacked by -non-saturated water, immediately lost their sharp angles and became -covered with a fine layer of mud. As soon as the crystals became -completely covered they ceased to dissolve, but the angles and cubes -disappeared, and a shapeless mass of mixed salt and mud was formed. -With the next dry season, crystallization again set in and another -crystal floor was produced, to be again destroyed by the succeeding wet -season. This constant growth and destruction of crystals went on for -ages, until the salt beds were formed and the water ceased to become -super-saturated. - -Scientific exploration work and a great number of borings have enabled -us to form a fairly accurate estimate of the area of the Cheshire -salt-beds, except in the region to the north of the deposits, where -systematic examination has still to be undertaken. Without quoting the -exact locations of bore-holes and distances between them--particulars -which would convey little or nothing to the general reader--it may be -broadly stated that the proved salt area in the Northwich district is -about four square miles, while the increasing quantity of marl that -is mixed with the salt to the northward favours the probability that -the beds soon die out in that direction. The Winsford salt district -comprises an area of six square miles, while it is calculated, with -less preciseness, that the Middlewich, Nantwich, and Lawton districts -all contain large quantities of rock-salt. At the bore-hole at Marston, -which appears to be on the highest proved portion of the salt-bed, the -salt is found at 47 ft. below ordnance datum, and from this central -point the surface of the salt falls away gently in every direction. -Mr. James Thompson, a recognized local authority upon salt and -salt-mining, writing on the subject nearly fifty years ago, gave the -thickness of the upper bed of rock-salt at about twenty-five yards, but -that thickness was only maintained within a circle of about three miles -in circumference, beyond which he found that it thinned off rapidly on -the upper surface. The extent of the second or bottom bed, from which -all the rock-salt produced in Cheshire since 1780 has been extracted, -is less clearly defined, but it is known to underlie not only the whole -of the upper bed, but a further considerable area in all directions. - -[Illustration: THIS ROAD WAS RAISED TWENTY FEET IN TWENTY YEARS. NONE -OF THESE BUILDINGS IS NOW STANDING] - -Professor Thompson, in calculating the period of time that was required -to lay the salt contents comprised in these deposits, fixed upon an -inch in ten years as a fair estimate of the rate of progress at which -it was accumulated, and found that it must have taken 21,000 years to -lay 60 yds. of rock-salt. With this figure before us, it is interesting -to study the following calculation of the salt contents of the Cheshire -deposits and of the quantity of mineral that is extracted from the -interior of the earth in the form of brine to produce the salt that is -made in the Cheshire districts. - -Calculating the Northwich salt area at 3 square miles or 1,920 acres or -9,292,800 square yards, and - - Taking the upper bed of rock-salt at an average of 25 yds. - thick, we have 232,320,000 cubic yds. of rock-salt. - - Taking the specific gravity of rock-salt at 2·125, a cubic yard - of rock-salt weighs 32 cwts., therefore weight of rock-salt in - -upper bed - - 232,020,000 × 32 tons / 20 = 371,702,000 tons. - - -Taking the bottom bed as extending over the same area, but having a -thickness of 35 yds., we find in it-- - - 9,292,800 × 35 × 32 / 20 = 520,396,800 tons, - -or, in both beds together, 892,108,800 tons. - -The Winsford district, taking the beds of rock-salt at an average -thickness of 65 yds., which is 5 yds. less than the figure given by -Dickinson, we have 1,932,902,400 tons. - -As the whole of the white salt has been manufactured from brine derived -from the rock-salt, it represents so many tons of rock-salt pumped -up. Now, as the specific gravity of rock-salt is 2·125, a cubic yard -contains 32 cwts. This being the case, we find the cubic yards of -rock-salt pumped up annually in each district to be, viz.-- - -In WINSFORD DISTRICT-- - - 687,000 × 20 / 32 = 429,375 cubic yds. - -In NORTHWICH DISTRICT-- - - 587,000 × 20 / 32 = 366,875 cubic yds. - -In MIDDLEWICH DISTRICT-- - - 14,000 × 20 / 32 = 8,750 cubic yds. - -In SANDBACH DISTRICT-- - - 78,000 × 20 / 32 = 48,750 cubic yds. - -Making a total of 853,750 cubic yds. This represents 176·5 acres of 1 -yd. thick. - -This is entirely independent of the rock-salt, which, at a low -estimate, equals 120,000 tons per annum, or, say, 75,000 cubic yds., or -15·5 acres of 1 yd. thick. - -In these calculations no allowance has been made for wastage, and this -is very large. During the year every pan requires picking from six to -twelve times, the stoved oftener than the common. This necessitates the -pan being swept out and an enormous quantity of brine wasted. Besides -this, the pan scale contains a large percentage of salt. Again, in -_drawing_ the salt out of the pans a large quantity of brine is wasted. -Add to this also the leakage in pipes, overflow of cisterns, leakage -through defective pans, etc., and the total of wastage will be very -large. It is scarcely possible to estimate this, but if we calculate 10 -per cent. we shall be under the mark. Thus, for waste, we may set down -136,600 tons. This would represent 85,075 cubic yds., or 17·65 acres 1 -yd. thick. - -We thus see that 209·65 acres of rock-salt 1 yd. thick is every year -consumed in the Cheshire salt district. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE CHESHIRE SUBSIDENCES - - -The salt industry of Cheshire may be divided into three periods, viz.: -the natural brine period, the rock-salt period, and the prepared brine -period. From Saxon times up to the last quarter of the seventeenth -century the manufacture of white salt from brine had been continued -without interruption, but the output had never been large. In 1675 the -production of the three “Wiches” was returned at 20,000 tons, and all -the evidence shows that the total annual make had never exceeded 30,000 -tons. In 1670, rock-salt was discovered in the county, and for the next -hundred years, although brine continued to be worked, rock-salt mining -was the chief producing industry. With the collapse of the mines, the -salt proprietors turned once more to the brine supply, upon which -Cheshire has since risen to its present commercial eminence as one of -the great salt-making centres of the world. - -In 1670, a rock of natural salt was discovered on the Marbury Estate, -about one mile north of Northwich, by one John Jackson, of Halton, who -was engaged at the time in “searching for coals on behalf of the Lord -of the Soil (or Manor, I should say), William Marbury, of Marbury, -Esquire.” The event was communicated to the Royal Society by Mr. Adam -Martindale in a letter dated 12th December, 1670. He added that the -liquid issuing from the rock was “a vigorous sharp brine beyond any -of the springs made use of in our salt works,” and, being asked by -the Royal Society to visit the place and send a further report, he -subsequently wrote: “The rock of salt, by the relation of the workmen, -is between 33 and 34 yards distant from the surface of the earth, -about 30 whereof are already digged and they hope to be at the Flagg -which covers the salt rock about three weeks hence.... That piece of -natural salt which the instrument brought up (divers saw it, a pure -ore) was as hard as alum and as pure.” - -The records of the rock-salt mining period are singularly incomplete, -inexact, and disappointing. It is not known for certain which was -the first mine sunk after the discovery of the salt-bed in 1670. It -may have been the one which is described as “very near to a small -brook which drains Marbury Mere and joins the Witton Brook, near the -Buttevant Bridge on the Marbury Estate.” Or it may have been another -early mine which was situated “close to a small runnel or gutter which -runs into this small brook near the Dairy House Farm but passes across -the land of Mr. Lyons and over the old Marston mine.” If the curious -inquirer is not yet satisfied with these conjectures, he is further -informed that there is yet another subsidence of an old mine, “close to -the Forge Lane or road leading to Budworth across the Fields, where the -road branches off at the cottages and salt-works of Mr. Lyons’ property -... and this mine is probably the earliest sunk.” - -But if little is known about the beginning of the salt-mining industry -in Cheshire, there is not much more to be learnt about its development -and ultimate decay. To-day, only the Adelaide Marston Mine at Northwich -is working, and of the nineteen mines that were open in Cheshire in -1881, only nine were at work, while from an undated plan and key -showing the rock-salt mines in the Northwich district, which was -probably published a few years earlier, we learn that of the fifty -rock-salt mines that had been abandoned, twelve had been sunk to the -bottom bed and the rest had been worked as top-bed mines. - -[Illustration: INTERIOR PENNY’S LANE MINE, NORTHWICH] - -The story of the exploitation of the top and bottom beds is one that -is soon told. The top bed was worked until the mines began to fall -in and the subsequent breaking in of fresh water converted the old -workings into brine reservoirs. In 1779, the discovery of the lower -bed of rock-salt at Lawton prompted the owners of the Marston Mine at -Northwich to sink below the top bed in which they were working, and, -in 1781, a trial shaft which was sunk from the top mine by means of a -horse gin, demonstrated the existence of the bottom deposit in that -district. Other owners transferred their operations from the top to the -bottom bed, and for the next fifty years practically all the rock-salt -was excavated from that source. In 1830 the roofs in these workings -began to crack, and attention was directed to the insufficiency of the -pillars by which they were supported. A competent surveyor, who did not -hesitate to declare that the workings were in a dangerously insecure -condition, was regarded as an alarmist by the old salt proprietors, who -commissioned other “experts” to examine the pits, and were satisfied -with their assurance that they considered each pit to be entirely free -from any danger, and that they should not hesitate to work in any of -them. Three years later the roof of the first bottom-bed mine fell in, -others collapsed in rapid succession, and by 1840 some twenty mines had -collapsed, let in water, and become filled with brine. In 1881, only -nine rock-salt mines were at work, and eight of these had a combined -area of 123 acres. - -Rock-salt mining in England is a dead industry, but it will be of -interest to outline very briefly the methods that were employed in -Cheshire during the comparatively short period of its existence. The -old top-bed mines were operated, in the first place, with one shaft -to each mine, and they were ventilated by means of an air-pipe and a -fan. A horse gin was used for winding, but the winding-shaft in which -the gin rope worked did not go into the rock-salt, but only to within a -short distance of it, and it was out of this shaft, at a distance of 2 -or 3 yds. from the bottom, that a side drift was driven. From this side -drift a windlass pit was sunk into the rock-salt, and it was up this -windlass pit that the rock-salt was drawn to the drift and thence taken -to and up the gin shaft, the part of the gin shaft below the drift -being used as a sump or lodgment for water. These top-bed workings -did not usually extend more than 100 yds. from the shaft, but, as the -number of the mines increased, the workings from adjoining shafts -occasionally become connected. In this way one shaft became a downcast -and the other an upcast, and the air-pipe and fan at each were able -to be dispensed with. The thickness of rock-salt worked averaged from -30 to 36 ft., and pillars of natural rock-salt, usually about 5 yds. -square, were left to support the roof and superincumbent strata. - -Although the bottom-bed mines were worked upon the same plan, the -inadequacy of the supports employed in the top-mines was rectified by -an increase in the size of the supporting pillars and in the thickness -of the rock-salt roof that was left between them. Steam engines with -direct shafts to the bottoms of the mines were substituted for the -horse-gins and windlasses, and improved methods were introduced for -preventing water from breaking into the shafts. Two winding-shafts -were sunk, placed about 10 to 15 yds. apart, and a pump-shaft was -sunk to the depth to which the surface water penetrated. One of the -earliest precautions taken in the rock-salt shafts, and afterwards -in brine shafts when they came to be sunk through rock-salt, was to -protect the sides from the ravages of fresh water. All the shafts were -roofed over to keep out rain or snow, and the wood casing, which was -originally used, was replaced, in 1845, by cast-iron tubings, similar -in construction to those used in colliery shafts. - -As soon as the miners had sunk the shaft to the depth of the sole -or floor of the mine and had made an opening large enough for their -purpose, they proceeded to blast off enough rock to form a chamber -about 5 ft. high. This formed, they advanced by blasting off the -rock-salt from the face of the seam. The salt was loaded into waggons, -which ran along small railways to the mouth of the shaft. The men -engaged in blasting the rock and squaring the walls and pillars (for -these were left quite square and well hewn) were called _miners_; those -who loaded the trucks and conveyed them to the shaft were _ferriers_. -They were a fine set of men, and their occupation, compared with -coal-mining, was a very healthy one. The mines were of an equable -temperature, and were sufficiently warm for the men to dispense with -their shirts. Being lofty, the air was pure, except when excessive -blasting was undertaken. The greatest number of men employed in one -pair of shafts was about eighty, and the quantity of blasting powder -used by that number in the course of a day averaged 1 cwt. Safety fuses -were seldom used, the charge being fired by a straw filled with fine -powder, which was lighted from a candle. - -Many of the mines were of considerable size, and some of them increased -at the rate of about an acre annually. The quantity of rock-salt mined -was small compared with coal. No mine in the district yielded above -40,000 tons per annum. - -Rock-salt is more free from danger than most kinds of mining; no -explosions occur, for there are no deleterious gases, and accidents are -rare. In a general way the rock-salt strata are remarkably free from -carbonic acid gas, and in only one instance in Northwich, and twice at -Meadow Bank, Winsford, does fire-damp appear to have been met with, and -then only at pipe veins and in very small quantity. There are no falls -of earth, as in coal mines, for the rock-salt is extremely tenacious, -and the miners never undermine it but blast it, which is a much safer -operation. The two great dangers to which rock-salt mining is exposed, -though they rarely result in loss to human life, are the falling in -of the mine bodily, or of the shafts and neighbouring earths, and the -breaking in of brine either at the head of the top-rock shaft or from -old mines, long disused, and full of brine. - -Neither the name of the first mine that fell in, nor the date of its -collapse, is recorded. We know that a mine in Witton fell in in 1750, -and another to the north of the Northwich Town Bridge followed in 1759, -and that many others collapsed before 1770. Lakes, or “flashes” as they -are called locally, have formed over the larger of these sinkings, -but the sites are more commonly marked by what are known as rock-pit -holes, and large tracts of country are scored with these funnel-shaped -indentations. There can be no doubt that a number of these old mines -were worked with pillars that were too few and slender for the purpose, -and these supports gradually weakened to their ultimate collapse under -the pressure of the superincumbent earths. As the sinking did not take -place evenly all over the mine, but most frequently occurred near the -shafts and at the greatest distance from the sides of the cavity, the -roof would curve down towards the sinking centre and the falling-in -formed the V-shaped apertures on the surface which are described as -rock-pit holes. But, while in a percentage of cases the collapse of the -mine could be traced to the crashing of the pillars, the destruction -of the majority of the mines was caused directly by the influx of -water, although this water, having become saturated with salt, would, -if undisturbed, cause no further havoc in the interior of the mine. - -But the manufacture of white salt from brine, which was temporarily -surpassed in importance by the rock-salt industry, was not -discontinued, and a copious supply of brine flowing over the rock head -of the upper bed, was tapped by shafts and pumped to the surface. -When, about 1850, this supply showed signs of failing, attention was -directed to the enormous reservoirs of brine in the old inundated -mines, into which had drained a great quantity of the rock-head brine. -The attempt to pump brine out of the abandoned workings was successful, -and for some years an abundant supply was obtained. After 1870 the -pumping operations caused further collapses, the land overlying the -mines subsided, and lakes were formed which, at intervals, broke into -the partially exhausted reservoirs, and, pouring through the top-rock -workings into the mines in the bottom bed of salt, replenished the -supply of brine. A great collapse which occurred in the Dunkirk -district in 1880 let down the waters of Cranage Brook and the -Wadebrook, together with a huge quantity from the river Weaver. The -subsidence resulted in the formation of a large lake, which, following -upon a later subsidence in the same area, suddenly disappeared into the -earth and literally flooded all the underlying strata. - -Surprise has frequently been expressed that in a salt country in which -brine has been manufactured for over twenty centuries, the existence -of the rock-salt deposits should only have been discovered in the last -two hundred and fifty years, but it must be borne in mind that not -only was the brine the best custodian of the secret of its own source, -but that, when the problem of the supply had been solved, the danger of -tapping and controlling it had still to be overcome. When the supply -of brine in many of the springs was cut into, it proved so copious -that the sinkers had to flee for their lives and to ascend the shaft -among the brine. The fact that the depth at which the brine would be -encountered was unknown, explained the inability to provide a safeguard -against the sudden inrush of brine, but subsequent observation showed -that when the workmen met with the “flag,” or bed of hard marlstone -that existed above the top of the rock-salt in many districts, the -brine might be expected to be found at high pressure. It was then -the practice to case the shaft sides down to the flag to prevent the -entrance of surface water, and either to blow through the flag with -powder or pierce it with boring rods. At a later period, the shaft was -sunk to the approximate point of encounter with the brine, and cased -with iron cylinders, the bottom cylinder being furnished with an iron -bottom pierced with two pipe holes. A column of pipes was erected in -the cylinder, and a set of boring rods was let down each pipe, so that -when the flag was bored through, the brine rose until it attained its -level in the pipes, while by means of a tap attached to each pipe it -was possible to stop the entry of the brine and to empty the shaft. - -In the brine-shafts employed in the case of the old rock-salt mines, -in which the brine was met with at a much higher pressure than in -the rock-head brine-shafts, the tapping operation was attended with -extraordinary difficulties. The brine in the old workings rose to a -height corresponding with that attained by the brine found at the -rock-head, and as it had to be tapped through a pillar near the bottom -of the old workings, the pressure was proportionately higher. When -the holeing was first effected into the brine in the old bottom-bed -workings, the rush of the incoming brine was so strong that it passed -through the two 5 in. bore holes and rose up a 4½ ft. shaft to a height -of 67 yds. in eight minutes. The shaft for tapping this supply of brine -was sunk in a pillar of rock-salt, and a drift, fitted with two 5 in. -bore-holes, was worked through the intervening face and into the brine. -When these bore-holes were knocked through, the brine entered with the -report of a cannon, and the engineer and his assistant, leaving their -tools behind them, leapt into the bucket and were hastily drawn up the -shaft, closely pursued by the rising brine. - -An improved process for tapping the brine, which entirely removed the -danger attending the operation, was subsequently introduced. This -was effected by boring the last part of the main bore-hole through a -stuffing-box at the other end--an innovation which prevented brine from -escaping during the boring. A drift, with the usual ⅝ in. bore-hole -in advance, was driven 61 yds. into the barrier, until the small -bore-hole showed that only 10 yds. remained between the face and the -brine that was known to be present in the old workings. Into this -remaining 10 yds. of barrier a hole 11 in. in diameter was bored until -nearly through, and a closely-fitted pipe was inserted into the hole -for a distance of 7 ft. The pipe was 10 ft. long, but at 7 ft. from the -inner end was a disc 3 ft. in diameter to rest against the face of the -drift, leaving the remaining 3 ft. of pipe in the drift. About midway -between the disc and the outer end of the pipe, were placed two strong -iron uprights, let into a trench cut 1 ft. deep in solid rock-salt in -the roof and floor to secure the pipe against the pressure. These two -uprights were placed close together at the top and bottom, but in the -middle they were curved so as to form a circle for the pipe to pass -between them. The face of the drift against which the disc had to rest, -having been carefully dressed, and a disc of india-rubber covered with -red lead having been placed between the iron disc and the dressed face -of rock-salt, the iron disc was secured up tight against the face by -means of six set screws. A stop-valve was then fitted to the outer end -of the pipe, and to this, for the temporary purpose only of completing -the bore-hole, was attached an end piece with a stuffing box and a hole -in it large enough for the bore rod to be worked through. The bore rock -was then withdrawn and, the valve being closed, the stuffing box and -the temporary end piece were removed. A range of pipes was attached to -the stop-valve and, in this range, the brine was taken through the old -workings and up one of the shafts to the surface. - -Many geologists have subscribed to the theory that the Cheshire -meres were formed by subsidences which occurred in pre-historic -times, but the evidence based on the phenomena attending the modern -subsidences proves that the latter were the result of artificial and -readily-identified causes. Leland, in 1533, reports a sinking near -Combermere and the formation of a pit containing salt-water; in 1657 a -small sinking occurred at Bickley, near Malpas; and a third took place -in 1713 at Weaver Hall, to the south of Winsford. No traces of any of -these subsidences now remain, but, from the descriptions handed down -to us, these sinkings belonged to the class of funnel-shaped holes and -were of limited diameter and no great depth. - -Of the modern subsidences, which are of three kinds, we have no -documentary evidence prior to 1777, and the earliest distinct record -belongs to the year 1790. From that time to the present day this class -of sinking has continued to increase in extent year by year. In 1790 -the sinking portion along the Witton Brook was recorded as being 130 -yds. long by 90 yds. wide. In 1837, the subsidence had obtained an area -of 1,230 yds. long by 130 yds. wide. In 1811, about 20 statute acres -in Witton commenced sinking, and in the ensuing thirty-three years -some portions of this area had sunk 24 ft. In 1880, the piece of water -called the Top of the Brook had subsided over an area of 4,370 ft. by -1,470 ft., and in the same year it was estimated that no less than -2,700 acres of land in Northwich and Winsford were inundated. - -These modern subsidences usually consist of funnel-shaped holes caused -by the falling-in of top-rock mines, and of trough-shaped hollows -which cannot be connected with rock-salt mining, and are frequently -found in places far removed from the localities of the old workings. -Of two dozen subsidences, two are nearly four miles distant from the -nearest old workings or from the brine shafts, fifteen are upwards of -two miles, and only one is less than a mile from either a mine or a -pumping station. The subsidences could not be caused by volcanic action -or the shock of earthquakes, as nothing of the kind has occurred in -the districts, and it is impossible to explain them by the action of -natural brine springs running to waste in the brooks or rivers, because -it is known that no such springs now exist, while evidence accumulated -from all parts of the world confirms the conclusion that where brine -springs escape into the streams, no subsidence has ever occurred. -Yet it is evident in Cheshire that some subterranean denudation must -be taking place which is removing portions of the lower strata and -allowing the super-incumbent earths to sink into the excavations -thus made. Many theories have been advanced to explain the phenomena, -but even those people whose interests have caused them to seek for -alternative causes must realize that it can only be attributed to the -simple and most obvious agency. - -When the number of brine pits was multiplied and the natural springs -of a weak solution of salt decreased in volume, it was necessary to -sink down to the rock-head brine, which was a highly-saturated solution -consisting of one part salt to three parts water. When this supply is -pumped up, its place is taken by fresh water, which, flowing over the -rock-beds, takes up its quota of salt on its way to the pumping shafts, -and is raised to the surface in the form of brine. - -It is not the presence of water over the beds of salt or in the old -salt workings which causes the damage, because when such water has -taken up salt to the extent of a fourth of its bulk, it remains -inactive and makes no further ravages upon the mineral earths with -which it is in contact. But when the saturated brine is pumped up -and its place is taken with a new supply of water which collects its -tribute from the salt strata, and that water, in its turn, is raised, -to be replaced by more, and when it is known that each 100 tons of -water that traverses the salt-bed to the pumps carries away with it 25 -tons of solid earth, the work of destruction that is continually going -on is explained. - -It may be convenient to explain at this point that the subsidences -caused by this simple operation of removing rock-salt from the earth in -the form of brine are divided into three classes, viz.-- - -1. Shallow troughs, with sides not terraced or broken up. - -2. Very shallow depressions extending over considerable areas. - -3. Deep troughs, much broken up, and with stepped or terraced sides. - -With these three classes in mind, it is easy to follow the results of -the action of the subterranean brine and associate the causes with the -effects produced. At first the water flowed over the salt in irregular -channels and reached the pumping centres by devious routes, but after a -time it made defined courses for itself exactly as the rainfall carves -out for itself channels on the surface of the earth. These underground -streams of brine all gravitate towards the pumps, widening and -deepening as the continually renewed water takes up its supply of salt. -Where the earths overlying these brine “runs” are not too tenacious, -they soon follow the hollow or trough formed on the surface of the salt -bed, and a corresponding hollow or trough is formed on the surface -of the ground. Where the hollow forms at an early stage, it rarely -attains any considerable depth, for the sinking earths impede the -course of the flowing brine stream and cause the fluid to spread and be -diffused over a wider area. These subsidences are the shallow troughs, -not stepped or terraced on the sides, and are best seen in streets -and roads where the weight of the houses and the constant passage of -traffic cause the earths to gradually follow the wasting surface of -the salt. Where, at a considerable distance from the shafts, the water -has not formed for itself a definite channel, it percolates over a -wide area. The denudation in such cases is more generally spread, and -a very extensive shallow trough or basin is formed. Again, where the -pumping stations are close together, or in the same line, the various -rivulets or streams of brine converge into one broad and deep channel, -in which the denudation proceeds with great rapidity. The magnitude of -these channels causes the super-incumbent ground to subside swiftly, -forming deep troughs with stepped or terraced sides, where the earths -have broken away in huge masses. Where the earth consists of strong -marls and a kind of flagstone they are very tenacious and remain -suspended for a considerable time over these deeper cavities. When -they will bear no longer, a sudden fall occurs in one spot, and tens -of thousands of tons of suspended earths fall into the trough below, -forcing out the stream of brine at the weaker places and leaving a -huge, crater-shaped hole on the surface, which fills with water. - -[Illustration: REMARKABLE SUBSIDENCE IN NORTHWICH] - -In addition to the three classes of subsidences already mentioned, -there is another which is the result of a combination of collapses of -the surface earth caused by the rock-salt mining operations, and the -denudation of subterranean strata caused by the pumping of brine. The -pumping from the reservoirs formed by the flooding of the old mines -does not empty these huge receptacles, as the place of the brine -is continuously retaken by fresh water, which naturally gravitates -to these centres and proceeds to dissolve and take up its quota of -rock-salt. When a subsidence occurs on the site of these old workings -it is of the most destructive nature, and as all the top-rock mines -were in the neighbourhood of streams and brooks, the surface waters -flow into the cavity until it is filled to the level of the earth -and allows the streams to pursue their proper course. But as fast as -the fresh water becomes saturated and is pumped to the surface, the -overlying stream or brook lets in further supplies of fresh water to -fill the vacuum, and the work of internal destruction is followed by -further subsidences of the suspended earths. - -The immense bodies of water in the neighbourhood of Northwich and -Winsford, locally called “Flashes,” which cover a total area of many -hundreds of acres, are the work of subsidences. The Flashes are not -shallow swamps, but lakes varying in depth over many acres, from a few -yards to 50 ft. The largest Flash, known as the Top of the Brook and -resembling the letter =L= in shape, has a length in each arm of about -half a mile, an average breadth of a quarter of a mile, and attains a -depth of 150 ft. In an account of these subsidences, written in 1879, -we read: “The whole of the surrounding district still sinks rapidly, -and year by year the water covers more ground. The land subsides -gradually here; but when we go a quarter of a mile to the north-east -of the Top of the Brook, we come across a subsidence of a still more -alarming character. Here the ground sinks bodily in immense masses to -a great depth. A tiny brook or ditch that a child could skip across -passed over flat fields some five years ago. Gradually the land began -to sink, and cracks opened in the surface right across the course of -the brook. The water went down the crevices. The land immediately sank -more rapidly; huge cracks, wide enough for a man to slip down, formed, -and very soon a district extending fully one thousand feet in length -by as many in breadth, sank rapidly to a depth of forty or fifty feet -in the centre, and was filled up to a certain height with water, which -covered the hedges and trees. At times cracks opened in the bottom of -this lake, and the whole of the water rushing rapidly below, caused -still more extensive sinking.” - -One of the most extraordinary subsidences, which was described in -_Chambers’s Journal_, occurred in Dunkirk, on the outskirts of -Northwich, in December, 1880. The earliest intimation of impending -disturbance on an unusual scale was a rumbling subterranean noise, the -violent bubbling of the water in all the surrounding pools, and the -uprushing of air and foul gas through rifts which its passage tore in -the ground. It was quickly discovered that Wincham Brook, a channel of -water nearly 20 ft. in width, had broken into the earth about 1,000 -ft. from its entrance into the Top of the Brook, and the uprush of air -from the old mines, was caused by the force of the descending waters. A -series of alarming, but comparatively small, subterranean displacements -caused extensive rifts in the ground about Ashton Salt-works, and these -were followed by a sudden explosion in a neighbouring pool, which -ejected a geyser of mud and water some 30 ft. into the air. In the ruin -that ensued, stacks of timber, an engine and boiler, a salt pan, and -other material disappeared into the gaping earth, and a massive chimney -stack, some 90 ft. high and 9 ft. square at the base, tilted towards -the centre of subsidence and collapsed with a terrible crash. Scarcely -had this subsidence ceased, says the writer in _Chambers’s Journal_, -“when an enormous sinking of the whole of Ashton’s Old Rock Pit Hole -and the surrounding land, for an area of over five hundred feet in -diameter, took place, leaving two very deep holes. The land was riven -and cracked all round, and fell in steps of two feet. Over ten thousand -tons of water went down into the subterranean cavities. A huge brine -cistern was riven in two, and the brine all lost; and two large brick -kilns cut completely in halves, and the bricks scattered about. The -whole surface of the Weaver and the Top of the Brook was lowered fully -a foot over one hundred and sixty acres in about four hours; and if -we add to this the whole of the water of the Wincham Brook for twelve -hours, we shall find, on a careful computation, that not less than six -hundred thousand tons of water rushed below.” - -From the time of the “Great Subsidence,” as this event is described, -the sinking has been continuous throughout the locality. In some places -meadows have been converted into swamps, roads have sunk fully 30 ft. -below their original level, and small brooks have become lakes of -many acres in extent; sunken and distorted fences, roads, and streams -are common objects of the country-side, the tenure of pastoral lands -is precarious, and property is valueless for building purposes; and -nothing but its inexhaustible reserves of brine saves the district from -abandonment as a place accursed. - -The shallow, gradual, almost imperceptible subsidences which occurred -in the neighbourhood of the towns of Northwich and Winsford were at -first infrequent and of comparative unimportance, but as time went -on the damage to property increased so rapidly that, in 1860, the -house-owners of Northwich combined in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain -legal redress. By 1880, many parts of the towns were rendered unfit for -habitation. In Northwich alone, nearly 400 houses and other property -to the value of over £100,000 were more or less seriously affected, -while water-mains, sewers, and gas-pipes were being continually -repaired; houses were condemned, pulled down and rebuilt, and bridges -had to be raised. The rents of many lots of property were absorbed in -keeping them in repair, and in some districts property had been raised -and rebuilt three times in eleven years. “The area of the mischief -is extending yearly,” wrote Mr. Thomas Ward in 1881, “and a larger -proportion of property is becoming affected, and more and more land -is sinking beneath the water and increasing the area of the already -existing extensive lakes. Very few, except those conversant with the -district, have the slightest knowledge of the amount of suffering -caused to property owners by this subsiding of the land.” - -For over half a century the appearance of Northwich, with its -undulating streets, its ramshackle, dilapidated houses, its fissured -walls, and its system of shoring and bolting-up of property to postpone -as long as possible its inevitable condemnation and demolition, has -presented a tragico-comic spectacle. “If a stranger were to be set down -some morning in the town of Northwich,” wrote a _Times_ correspondent, -“without any previous knowledge of its peculiarities, he would be -struck with a startling and novel spectacle. He would see buildings of -every sort, from the humble, two-storeyed cottage of the artisan to -the solidly built church or chapel, standing many degrees out of the -perpendicular, and suggestive, all of them, were it not for the props -and iron stays with which they are secured, of some recent convulsion -of nature. In main thoroughfares and back streets alike there are -houses whose sloping floors and cracked walls would lend considerable -colour to such an effort of the imagination. The inhabitants seem to -take this tumble-down state of their dwellings quite as a matter of -course. They have, in fact, to make the best of a condition of things -from which there is absolutely no escape. The effects described are -produced, not indeed by any sudden catastrophe, but by a slow, though -equally effective process of subsidence, which may be detected in -continuous operation over nearly the whole area of the Cheshire salt -field, and which will continue to operate so long as the earth yields -its vast stores of salt for human consumption.” - -But although newspaper representatives could philosophize upon the -matter-of-fact spirit in which the inhabitants of the salt towns -faced existence in their tumble-down surroundings, and the salt -proprietors desired that they should make the best of a condition of -things from which they wished them to believe there was absolutely no -amelioration or escape, a feeling of resentment was rapidly growing -in the neighbourhood. The people of Northwich and Winsford were being -pumped out of their houses and out of their lands, and the future -held every promise of a continuation and extension of the damage. -Lord Delamere, who, as an owner and letter of salt lands, benefited -by the brine industry and suffered from the depredation it wrought, -admitted the damage and the cause thereof. Indeed, nobody but the salt -proprietors doubted that the pumpers were wholly responsible for the -destruction, and most people recognized that their wrong-doing was -twofold in character. Standing on the ancient assumption in law that -everything beneath a man’s property belongs to the owner, the owners -of property in the affected districts contended that they were not -only being deprived of the rock-salt which legally belonged to them, -but were further despoiled by having their land made worthless by the -abstraction of the salt for which they received no payment. The justice -of the protest was obvious, and it became a public question how far -these operations, useful in themselves, but involving consequences of a -disastrous nature, should be allowed to proceed. In December, 1880, the -_Daily News_ asked who was to compensate the sufferers, who had neither -caused nor contributed to the disaster. - -Following the failure of the property owners to obtain compensation -from the salt proprietors for the damage attributable to the pumping -operations, an application was made to the Trustees of the River Weaver -to devote a portion of their surplus revenue for compensation purposes. -The application was refused, and an appeal to Quarter Sessions failed. -The evil was allowed to drag on until 1871, when the Board of Trade, -in response to representations made to them by the Northwich Salt -Chamber of Commerce, instructed Mr. Joseph Dickinson to report upon -the salt districts of Cheshire. Mr. Dickinson, one of the most eminent -Inspectors of Mines in the service of the Government, after a prolonged -investigation, reported his conclusions that the subsidences and the -resulting damages to property were caused by the pumping of brine, -which constituted a public danger and inflicted heavy losses upon -many persons totally unconnected with the salt industry. A further -report by Colonel Cox, corroborating the conclusions arrived at by Mr. -Dickinson, came before Parliament in 1879, and upon the recommendation -of the Local Government Board, the local Boards decided to promote -the Cheshire Salt Districts Compensation Bill, “to make provision for -the assessment, levy, and application for compensation for damage by -subsidence of land in the salt districts of the County of Cheshire, and -for other purposes.” - -The salt proprietors exerted every effort to frustrate the plans of the -promoters of the Bill; they declared that a tax upon salt would cripple -the trade and ruin the entire neighbourhood; they endeavoured to create -local ill-feeling by insisting that the movement was an attempt of -the property-owners to saddle the ratepayers with the expense of the -proposed measure. Briefly stated, the case that the promoters were -asked to make required them to prove (_a_) the subsidence in the salt -district; (_b_) that the subsidence was caused by the pumping of brine -for the manufacture of salt; (_c_) that the subsidence was of a most -extensive and serious character, and affected the property of persons -deriving no benefit either from the manufacture of salt in the form of -compensation from the salt manufacturers for the salt extracted, or for -damage done to the property by such abstraction; (_d_) that there was -no legal remedy for the injury suffered; and, finally, (_e_) that the -moneys required to adequately compensate for the injury done, if levied -upon the manufacture of salt, would not injuriously affect the salt -industry. - -[Illustration: A ROW OF OPEN PANS] - -A copy of the Bill was lodged in December, 1880; it was read a first -and second time on 21st January and 4th February, 1881, and referred to -a Select Committee, which commenced sitting on 5th May, and on the 20th -of the same month announced their unanimous opinion that the preamble -of the Bill had not been proved. In the preamble of the Bill it was -estimated that a contribution not exceeding threepence for every ton of -salt in brine in the district covered by the Act would be sufficient to -provide the required compensation. The opponents of the Bill declared -that a compensation tax upon the salt trade would severely injure the -industry and act as a restraint upon trade; they put forward expert -witnesses to contend that if the brine--which they contended was -produced by rainfall percolating through the superincumbent strata and -reaching the salt--was not pumped out, it would run away to the sea, -and the consequent subsidence of land and injury to property would -not be arrested. The theory that brine, in quantity sufficient for -the manufacture of 1,600,000 tons of salt per annum would, without -pumping, have been carried away into the rivers by natural agency and -deposited in the sea, was supported by such ingenious misstatement -and misrepresentation, and the fictitious instances of brine springs -overflowing and causing damage in other parts of the world were quoted -with so much specious authority that they succeeded in wrecking the -Bill. - -After a further ten years of continued subsidences and attendant damage -to public and private property, the Brine Pumping (Compensation for -Subsidence) Bill was introduced in 1891, to authorize the formation of -Compensation Districts and Boards, with power to levy a yearly rate not -exceeding threepence per 1,000 gallons of brine pumped. Shortly after -the passing of the Bill, the action of Northwich, which memorialized -for the formation of the whole of the County of Cheshire into one -district for purposes of compensation, led to an inquiry by the Local -Government Board, as the result of which Middlewich and Sandbach were -excluded. The Provisional Order uniting Northwich and Winsford in one -area was opposed by Winsford, and a Select Committee of the House, in -1893, quashed the Provisional Order and made Northwich an independent -compensation district. - -The next great struggle in the salt district, known locally as the -Battle of the Brine, arose out of the action of the Salt Union, which, -in 1909, enlarged its works at Weston Point with the intention of -manufacturing salt at that place from brine pumped at Marston, near -Northwich, 11 miles distant. In pursuance of their policy of stalling -off competition and safeguarding their monopoly, the Salt Union, in -1890, had successfully petitioned against the Bill that was promoted -to obtain powers to convey brine from Cheshire to be made into salt -at Widnes, in Lancashire, and at Middlewich they had obtained an -injunction to restrain trade competitors from laying pipes under one -of the streets of the town for the conveyance of brine from their -own pumps to their own salt-pans. In 1766, 1833, and 1861, the Trent -and Mersey Canal, the Grand Junction Railway, and the West Cheshire -Railway, respectively, received authorizations from Parliament, but in -each instance a clause was inserted prohibiting the several companies -from conveying or permitting to be conveyed in or upon any part of -their properties, any brine for the making of salt to any district -beyond the district in which salt was then made. In 1884, when the -London and North-Western Railway sought to gain the repeal of the brine -clause in order to enable brine to be carried from one salt township to -another adjoining, Parliament refused to sanction even such a limited -modification of the prohibition. The logical objection which the salt -districts opposed to the removal from the several pumping centres of -the brine upon which the prosperity of the towns entirely depended, had -thus consistently been upheld by Parliament, but in the face of these -facts, and of their previous attitude on the subject, the Salt Union -insisted upon their right to carry brine from Marston to Weston Point, -and announced their intention to defend their position to the utmost of -their power. - -It must be explained that the Marbury Pipe Line had been laid in 1882 -by the Mersey Salt & Brine Company, who carried it, by agreement, -across lands belonging to private landowners and over a canal belonging -to the North Stafford Railway. The railway made a formal protest, but -an amicable settlement was ultimately reached by which the Mersey -Salt Company agreed to pay the North Stafford Company £5 a year and -to remove the pipe on receipt of a three months’ notice. The railway -company appear to have persisted with their opposition in order to -force an admission from the Mersey Company that they possessed no -permanent right to carry the pipe across their canal, but the concern -was of such trifling importance that it was practically ignored by the -people of the district, and for twenty years after the property of -the Mersey Salt Company and the Marbury Brine Pipe had been acquired -by the Salt Union, the question of the removal of brine from the -neighbourhood in which it was raised had found all classes of the -salt community united against such proposals. But with the completion -of the works at Weston Point, and the enlargement of the Marbury -Pipe and the installation of powerful engines, capable of driving -millions of gallons of brine from Marbury to be converted into salt -at the sea-board, a new menace was organized against which the Urban -Authorities and Local Councils made a long and spirited, if fruitless, -resistance. - -In the autumn of 1910, the North Stafford Railway served the Salt Union -with a notice to remove their pipe line from the Trent and Mersey Canal -by the end of the following March, and the Salt Union proving obdurate, -the towns of Northwich, Winsford, and Middlewich promoted the Brine -Pumping (Cheshire) Bill, “to regulate the conveyance of brine pumped, -raised and gotten” in the county. The original draft, which proposed -to permit the removal of brine by pipe to a distance of three miles -within the county from the place at which it was raised, was amended -to permit manufacturers to carry brine by pipe from one set of works -to another in their own occupation, and they further attempted to meet -the alleged rights of the Salt Union by the insertion of a clause -allowing the Marbury Pipe to be used for the conveyance of brine to -the extent of 250 million gallons a year. But the Salt Union declined -all conciliatory overtures, and combated the Bill before the Select -Committee on the grounds that it was a proposal to alter the common -law of England and interfere with the sacred rights of property. The -injury that was sought to be done, not only to the Salt Union but to -the export trade of the country, was enlarged upon, and the Committee -may have been impressed by the assurance that the Union, so far from -intending to leave Winsford and Northwich, expected to do an even -greater trade in those districts in the future than had been done -there in the past. In the result, the Salt Union’s insistence upon the -legality of a course of action which they had previously denounced and -opposed as totally illegal, carried so much weight with the Select -Committee, that they made an unsavoury meal of the Parliamentary -decisions of 1766, 1833, 1861, 1890, 1891, and 1893, and announced that -the Bill could not proceed. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -LATEST METHODS OF SALT-MAKING - - -In tracing the development of the salt-making industry in this country, -it will be observed that, until the last quarter of a century, the old -open-pan system defied improvement, and the salt-makers from generation -to generation successfully resisted the endeavours of all who suggested -innovations or hinted that better methods could be introduced in the -manufacture. It is true that experiments were made with the sizes and -arrangement of the pans, that coal replaced wood and straw as fuel, -that the locomotive superseded the wain as a means of transporting salt -from the works to the markets, and that pumps were employed instead -of buckets to raise the brine and deposit it in the cisterns which -supplied the pans; but these several developments produced no change -in the system of manufacture, which consisted of lighting a fire -beneath a pan of brine, driving off the water in the form of vapour, -and collecting the salt crystals that form and sink to the bottom of -the pan. The salt-men were devoted to their primitive, rule-of-thumb -methods, and the most enterprising among them regarded the process as -unimprovable. In the construction of salt-works there was no attempt at -engineering exactness; the size of the pans was regulated roughly by -the dimensions of the plates of which they were made; and the heights -of the brickwork of the furnaces, etc., was usually reckoned by courses -of bricks. - -The fireman, the real salt-maker, whose business it was to attend to -the fires and see that the proper degree of heat was maintained to -produce the variety of salt required, did his work almost entirely -by rule-of-thumb. It was only rarely that a thermometer was used. The -technical knowledge acquired by experience enabled a man to see at -a glance whether the pan was working properly, and the quantity and -quality of the salt showed whether his work had been well or ill done. -The late Thomas Ward was a greatly respected authority, one of the -most reliable experts of the Salt Union, and a voluminous writer and -indefatigable lecturer on every aspect of the subject of salt, but he -failed to persuade himself that it was even thinkable that the open-pan -system should ever be abandoned in favour of a more scientific, more -rapid, or more economical process. - -Mr. Ward admitted that the process was archaic, but he was at pains to -demonstrate that the trade was justified in desiring it to remain so. -He argued that the price of salt was so low, and the product was so -bulky, that costly and elaborate apparatus was both inappropriate and -ineffective. He compared the life of an ordinary open salt-pan with -that of any of the innumerable patented pans that had been tried, and -found that the ancient article produced salt at less cost than the -patent contraptions, and was far easier to repair. “The chief business -of the salt manufacturer,” Mr. Ward wrote in 1894, “is to utilize to -the best purpose, for the production of salt, the heat obtained from -the fuel. To this end, innumerable patents have been taken out, but -few have been so successful as the simple application of direct heat -to open pans. The method seems a very primitive one, and most visitors -to salt-works think they can improve upon what they consider a rude, -antiquated system. I have had brought before me, and have seen working, -scores of patented plans. In all, or nearly all, the idea was to -economize heat; and if the whole of salt manufacturing consisted in -evaporating the greatest quantity of water with the least quantity of -fuel, doubtless many of the schemes would succeed instead of fail, as -they do now.” - -Since the open-pan system of manufacturing salt from brine was in -general and uninterrupted use in this country from the time of -Julius Caesar to within a few years ago, we must study the interim -developments from direct-fire to vacuum pan evaporation in the industry -of the State of New York. The salt springs in New York State were -discovered by Jesuit missionaries about the middle of the seventeenth -century, but the manufacture of salt on a commercial scale was not -begun until 1788, when the industry was established in the vicinity -of Syracuse. Solar salt is still manufactured in large quantities -at Syracuse, where the evaporating surface covers an area of over -12,000,000 square feet, and the season’s output amounts to about -3,500,000 bushels of salt, but between the solar and the vacuum -processes the American salt-men have exploited the Pan and the Kettle -processes of direct-fire evaporation, and the Steam Kettle and the -Grainger processes of steam evaporation; all of which methods are -employed to-day in the State of New York. - -In the Pan process, several pans, having a width of 20 to 24 ft., a -length of 100 ft. in two sections, and a depth of 12 in., are placed -under one roof. Adjoining this front row of pans at the back are -arranged a second row of pans, 20 to 24 ft. wide, 30 ft. long, and -12 in. deep, set from 12 to 16 in. higher than the front pans, to -enable the easy transfer of brine by syphon from the back to the front -pan. The grates are 3 to 4 ft. wide, by 5 to 6 ft. long, and the pan -bottoms, which are directly over the fires are protected from a too -intense heat by fire-brick arches, which decrease in width from the -front to the back of the pan, while the air spaces between the arches -increase in width in the same direction. Beyond 20 ft. from the front -of the first section of the pan they cease altogether. To convey the -heat as close to the pan bottom as possible, beyond the last arch, -the flues are usually filled in with earth or plaster, and thus the -distance between the pan and flue bottom is between 3 and 4 ft., or -even less, at the end of the first pan, where a perpendicular wall, -called a bridge wall, reduces the space to about 1½ to 2 ft., through -which the products of combustion pass under the back pan and finally -into a common chimney. - -After the pans are properly cleansed they are white-washed with a thin -milk of lime to prevent their rusting before they become thoroughly -heated; the fires are started, and the pans are filled by syphons to a -depth of about 6 in. with brine from the back pans. The former are so -inserted that a constant flow of brine passes from the back pans into -the last section of the front pans, and from these under the partition -into the first section. Into the back pan flows a constant stream from -the outside cistern, until the front pans are sufficiently full, when -the flow is stopped. After a sufficient amount of salt has collected -in the first section of the front pan it is removed to the “drip” for -drainage. This is called drawing or raking the pans. The front pans are -refilled from the back pan in which the brine has become considerably -heated, and thus is prevented a too rapid cooling of the brine in the -front pan, which would seriously interfere with the formation of a -properly grained salt. For the same reason, the partition is placed in -the front pan, since it prevents any cold brine from coming suddenly -into the first section, but is compelled to enter at the bottom of the -pan, where the temperature is at the highest. - -For the purpose of aiding the formation of fine grained salt, butter, -specially prepared soft soap, gelatine, or white glue are added, and -when this variety of salt is made the pans are drawn every 45 to 60 -minutes. In the manufacture of coarser grained salt, the drawing of the -pans take place at intervals of from two to twelve hours, while the -temperature is reduced from 229° F. to as low as 148° F., according to -the size of the grain. - -The Kettle process, which is exclusively employed on the Onondaga Salt -Reservation, consists of from 60 to 100 hemispherical cast-iron kettles -suspended or hung on “lugs” or pins in two parallel flues, called -arches, ending in one chimney, which has a height of 50 to 100 ft., -according to the length of the flues. In front the arches are provided -with cast-iron, flat-topped grates, 3 ft. in width and 5 ft. long, -perforated with holes ⅜ in. in diameter and 1 in. apart. These are well -adapted for the burning of anthracite dust, which is now exclusively -used for the purpose. The necessary artificial draught is furnished by -a pressure blower. The kettles are from 23 to 26 in. in depth, and from -3 ft. 10 in. to 4 ft. 2 in. in diameter, with a capacity of 100 to 150 -gallons. The distance from the bottom of the kettle to the top of the -grate is 3 ft. 6 in., with a solid fire-brick arch in each, extending -somewhat beyond the length of the grate. The distance from the bottom -of the kettle to the crown of this arch is 10 to 12 in. Beyond the -grate the fire-brick arches are constructed in sections, the air spaces -between the arches increasing in size with the advancing distance from -the grates. This construction allows the heated gases to pass through -these spaces without striking the kettle bottoms directly. While the -distance between the bottom of the front kettle and the top of the -grate is 3 ft. 6 in., these flues decrease in depth as they advance -towards the chimney, so that under the last kettle the distance is but -6 or 8 in. The kettles are hung as close as possible with their rims -against each other, and the space between the walls and kettles above -the lugs is properly covered by masonry, etc., for the purpose of -confining all the heat as much as possible within the two arches. - -The system of kettles is fed by means of a conduit connected with large -wooden cisterns situated outside the building and sufficiently elevated -to supply the brine contained therein by gravity to the kettles in the -block. - -The manufacture proper of salt is commenced by lighting the fires under -the kettles and filling them partly with brine as soon as they become -warm, and from within 3 to 4 in. of the top when evaporation has well -commenced. When salt commences to separate, the pan is withdrawn and -the evaporation is allowed to go on undisturbed till a sufficient -amount of salt has separated, when the contents of the kettle are -well stirred with the ladle and dipped into the basket resting on the -so-called basket-sticks laid across the rim of the kettle. While the -process of taking the salt from the kettle is going on, the workman -opens the faucet for a few minutes to add some fresh brine to the -concentrated pickle of the kettle, and washes the salt, so to speak, -with this mixture, thereby freeing it as much as possible from the -adhering calcium sulphate and the calcium and magnesium chlorides. - -[Illustration: ILLUSTRATION OF FOUR SCOTT PATENT DOUBLE EFFECT SALT -EVAPORATORS, WITH AUTOMATIC SALT DISCHARGERS, SALT CONVEYERS, AND -HYDRO-EXTRACTORS] - -The panning process, though carried out in the best possible manner, -will not completely remove from the kettle all the separated calcium -sulphate, but some of it, together with separated salt, will bake on -the bottom and sides, forming an incrustation constantly increasing -in thickness, though at every refilling of the kettle with fresh -brine much of this adhering salt re-dissolves. This incrustation -increases much more rapidly in the front kettles than in those nearer -to the chimney, since, a front kettle is usually drawn every 4 or 5 -hours, while a back kettle often requires from 24 to 36 hours before a -sufficient amount of salt has separated. Moreover, a front kettle holds -150 gallons of brine, while those nearest the chimney contain but 100 -gallons. Usually, in 5 or 6 days the incrustation becomes so thick that -it interferes very materially with the evaporation, causing a great -loss of fuel, as gypsum is one of the poorest conductors of heat. The -workman therefore draws the salt from the kettle, removes the remaining -brine to within a few gallons, and refills the kettle with fresh water. -After a continuous boiling of about half an hour, the greater part of -the adhering salt has dissolved and the rest of the incrustation can -easily be removed. - -The time a salt block is in operation is between 10 and 15 days, and -the manufactured salt, according to the State laws, remains undisturbed -for 14 days for drainage. A salt block usually cools sufficiently in 24 -hours for the kettles, grates, arches, etc., to be properly cleaned and -made ready for the next run, so that about two runs can be accomplished -per month. The quantity of salt produced in 24 hours in a good salt -block, with average good coal dust and brine, is from 500 to 600 -bushels of 56 lbs. each, and the amount obtainable by the burning of 1 -ton of 2,000 lb. of this fuel varies from 45 to 50 bushels. - -There are two salt blocks at the Wyoming Valley, at Warsaw, in which -the Onondaga kettles are heated by steam instead of direct fire. Here, -in place of the brick arches in which the kettles are hung at Syracuse, -they are supported by a framework, and each kettle is surrounded by -a steam jacket covered with a non-conductor. Moreover, the kettle is -made much thinner for the better transmission of the heat. The steam -enters the jacket at the upper end of the kettle at one side, and the -condensed water escapes by a valve below it, to be returned to the -steam boiler. The method of manufacture of the salt does not differ in -any particular from the Onondaga method. - -The grainer or Michigan process is, like the “kettle method,” a purely -American invention, and consists in passing live or exhaust steam -through a set of iron pipes immersed in long, shallow wooden or iron -vats. These vats rest on a strong wooden frame. They are from 100 to -150 ft. long, usually 12 ft. wide, and from 20 to 24 in. deep; provided -with four or six steam pipes having a diameter of 4 to 5 in., and hung -on pendants 4 to 6 in. above the bottom of the vats. These pipes are -within a few feet of the same length as the grainer, and so arranged -that the salt can be conveniently removed towards the outer side of the -grainer. - -To obtain the best effect in a grainer system, the temperature -of the heated brine is kept at or near the boiling-point when no -lifting or removal of salt is in progress. To do this an abundance -of high-pressure steam must first be supplied to the grainers, and, -secondly, the constant supply of brine required for the grainers while -evaporation is going on, must enter at a temperature but little lower -than that of the brine in the grainer. For this purpose two large -tanks, called settlers, are employed, which are usually as long and -wide as the grainers, but 6 ft. deep, and provided with four rows of -steam pipes about 1 ft. above the floor to heat the cold brine drawn -into them from the outside cisterns as required. Although the six rows -of steam pipes in the grainer have an entire length of from 550 to 750 -ft. (suspended in the brine 4 to 6 in. above the bottom of the grainer -and with 8 to 10 in. of brine above them) and a heating surface of from -700 to 1,000 square feet, a great deal of the steam supplied to them is -not condensed, and, therefore, passes from the grainer pipes into the -settler pipes (sometimes passing through a steam trap to separate the -condensed water) to heat the brine of the settlers. - -The main difficulty with which the manufacturers of New York State have -to contend is the calcium sulphate. In fact, it is this impurity which -causes the interruption of the process, and the laborious cleaning out, -whether the kettle, the pan, the grainer, or the vacuum pan is used. -It not only entails a great loss of heat in consequence of its slow -conductivity, but it also causes the overheating of the metal exposed -to direct fire, wherever this is employed. Suggestions and experiments -have been made to overcome this difficulty, involving the expenditure -of great sums of money, but without any practical results as far as -mechanical means are concerned. - -From the time of the introduction of the open-pan system in Cheshire, -until the beginning of the present century it was found impossible, -owing to the nature of the furnaces employed in the process, to -maintain a sufficiently high and uniform temperature to produce salt -which, without grinding, is marketed as finest table salt, or to -make more than 2 tons of salt from the consumption of 1 ton of coal. -Experiments for the purpose of economizing fuel appeared destined to -perpetual failure, and the hand-stoking of the furnaces entailed so -many variations of temperature that the production of salt crystals -of uniform size was impossible. Then, within the same decade, two -processes were invented which, between them, solved the problems that -had hitherto eluded all the efforts of the scientist, the engineer, and -the practical salt-man. - -In order to understand the advantages secured by the operation of -the Vacuum System, which comes to us from the United States, it must -be remembered that, under atmospheric pressure, brine boils at a -temperature of 226° F., whereas in a vacuum of 28 in. mercury, the -boiling temperature is reduced to about 100° F. It will thus be seen -that evaporation _in vacuo_ renders it possible to use multiple effect -apparatus without causing unduly high pressure in the first vessel, and -it has this further advantage, that the low-pressure steam, in passing -through the evaporation gives up its latent heat, whereas if the steam -went to the condenser direct from the engine, the heat employed in the -steam engine would be only the difference between the heat contained -in steam at 170 lb. and the steam at 5 lb. pressure. By multiple -effect evaporation, a great economy in the amount of steam required is -effected. Between the evaporation of brine and that of other liquors, -the chief difference to be noted is that in the multiple effect system, -each pan or unit is supplied with its brine independently of the -others, and graining goes on in the pans, whereas in concentrating -other liquors the pans are fed from the first to the second and from -the second to the third. The removal of the salt from each pan has, -therefore, to be arranged for. The method of working a triple-effect -plant may be briefly described as follows-- - -Each of the three pans having been charged with brine to the proper -level, exhaust steam from the engines is admitted to the calandria -of the first pan in which the highest temperature is maintained. The -brine in this pan becomes quickly heated, and the steam given off -enters the calandria of the second pan, where it serves to raise the -temperature of the brine. After doing its work in the second stage, -the steam is condensed, and thus creates a partial vacuum in the first -pan. The atmospheric pressure being thus reduced, violent ebullition -of the brine in the first pan results. The same process takes place in -the second pan, owing to the calandria of the third pan acting as a -condenser of the vapour and producing a vacuum. The vapour given off by -the brine in the third pan is condensed by means of a jet condenser. -It will, therefore, be seen that the highest vacuum and the lowest -temperature exist in the third pan, while the highest temperature and -lowest vacuum are found in the first pan. As the salt is precipitated -it falls to the bottom of the pans. The bottom of each vacuum pan is -connected with the boot of a continuous bucket elevator, which is -carried in a cast-iron, water-tight casing to a level sufficiently -above that of the brine in the pans to ensure that they shall be -brine-sealed. The salt is delivered into waggons and the brine drainage -returns to the pans. The further treatment of the salt crystals varies -with the purpose for which they are required. For table salt they are -subjected to grinding, but for export they are simply allowed to drain. - -The general aim of the Vacuum apparatus is to divide the boiling -process into two stages, in order to prepare the brine beforehand by -purification, and out of the purified brine to produce the purest salt -possible--chiefly by boiling under atmospheric pressure--and to acquire -another liquor of the highest content in medium salt. Balzberg, in his -_Die Erdesalz Erzeugung_, has to admit that the process results in the -most complete purification of the common salt, but in the conclusion of -his critical summary of the vacuum plant, he says: “At the same time -it must be admitted that a complicated machine, which only gains, at -a high cost, advantages that can be achieved by more economical and -simpler means is of no use in practical business. The question then -arises as to whether it is necessary, for the production of domestic or -table salt, to have pure chloride of sodium, and whether it pays to use -complicated machinery to attain this end.” - -[Illustration: THE HODGKINSON PATENT SALT-MAKING PLANT] - -While the largest size triple-effect vacuum plants are capable of -turning out 1,000 tons of salt per diem, with brine at or near -saturation, and produce about 6 tons of salt for the combustion of 1 -ton of coal, it is a very expensive process to operate as well as to -install. The cost of the plant ranges from £26,000 to £100,000, and a -large percentage of skilled labour is required in its manipulation. -But, despite the high initial cost, and the fact that it only makes one -grade of salt, it is extremely complicated, and has to be stopped for -4 hours in each 24 for the purpose of boiling out and cleaning up the -pans, the vacuum plant is a highly efficient piece of mechanism, and -for a while it remained the best and most economic system on the market. - -But the Vacuum process was not destined to remain long without a rival. -In point of fact, the merits of the American invention had scarcely -obtained recognition when a new furnace was designed which, when -applied to the open-pan system and subjected to practical tests, proved -an entire success. The late James Hodgkinson, the patentee, was not a -salt-man, but the head of a Manchester firm of engineers and machinery -manufacturers, and it was a professional visit to a salt-works which -revealed to him the crudity of the brine-boiling operation and gave -him the idea of adapting to the salt furnaces a mechanical stoker -of his own invention, which was already being operated for other -manufacturing purposes. In the development of his idea, and with his -mechanical stoker as its foundation, he perfected the Hodgkinson Patent -Salt-Making Process, the advantages of which over all other processes -for the manufacture of salt from brine have been summarized by Sir -Thomas H. Holland, D.Sc., F.R.S., under the following six heads-- - -1. Complete utilization of the heat derived from the fuel employed. - -2. The absolute maintenance uniformly of this heat. - -3. The fact that finely-divided first-quality table salt can be -produced in the dry form fit for dispatch to the market without -grinding or other preparation. - -4. The fact that coarsely crystallized salt can be produced at the same -time as the finest table salt. - -5. That the proportion of the different grades of salt can be varied -at will, as well as maintained constantly, to suit the varying -requirements of the market. - -6. The automatic and continuous removal of the salt as fast as it is -precipitated from the brine. - -The essential features of the Hodgkinson plant consist of (_a_) a -mechanically-stoked furnace for the production of heat; (_b_) a primary -closed evaporating pan, 30 ft. in diameter; (_c_) two secondary -circular pans, 25 ft. in diameter; (_d_) four open rectangular pans, -60 ft. by 25 ft.; (_e_) a series of folded steam-jacketed pipes for -heating the inflowing brine by the waste steam; and (_f_) a condensing -arrangement to produce a partial vacuum in the closed pans. - -The Hodgkinson furnace is not placed under the pan, as in the old -system, but in front of the plant, and the heated gases pass under -the primary pan, where the temperature ranges between 1,800 and -2,000°F. In this primary pan is made a finer and better salt than -can be manufactured by any other system in the world. Moreover, by -means of the mechanically-stoked furnace, and the consequent uniform -high temperature, it is possible, for the first time, to control the -character of the salt produced. Where the temperature varies, as in the -open-pan system, crystals of varying shapes and sizes are produced, -and this mixed salt must be ground to make it suitable for table -purposes. Where steam heat is employed, as in the vacuum process, the -temperature is not high enough to make crystals of the smallest size. -By the Hodgkinson system the primary pan produces a precipitation which -requires no grinding, which flows in a cascade of salt from the pan, -and can be delivered to the consumer without having come into contact -with the hand of man in the whole course of the operation. - -The heated gases, having passed under the primary pan, are then divided -and sent under the two secondary pans, and from thence they pass -under the open rectangular pans, the gases being distributed by the -broken columns of brickwork on which the pans stand. The temperature -of the gases passing under the open pans commences at about 600° F., -and gradually decreases to about 200° F. under the farthest pans. -By the automatic regulation of the temperature, the waste gases -are utilized to produce salts of the various degrees of coarseness -required for the dairy, the stock-yard, and fishery purposes. In the -two secondary closed pans, finely divided table salt is also produced, -but it is possible, by opening the manhole traps in the covers, to -increase the size of the crystal and make dairy salt in these pans. -The coarser crystals and flake salts are made in the open pans in -which the crystallization is at the lowest rate. The grain of the salt -can be altered at will. In order to meet any change in the market -requirements, coarser salt can be produced at a moment’s notice in the -secondary pans. One very marked superiority of the whole system over -all other processes is seen in the fact that a change in the type of -salt produced can be immediately effected, and a constant and uniform -output of any combination of products can be absolutely guaranteed. - -The improvements which the Hodgkinson plant has effected in the -open-pan system are: the increased production of from 2 to 7 tons -of salt from the combustion of 1 ton of coal, the production of the -finest table salt without grinding, and of every grade of salt from -the flour-fine table to the coarsest fishery salt, in one and the -same operation, and the saving of time that is required in all other -processes for scraping and cleaning the pans. Its superiority over the -Vacuum system lies in the facts that its initial cost is about £4,000, -as against anything from £26,000 to £100,000; that the majority of the -work being automatic, the expense of specially trained, skilled labour -is dispensed with; that it is operated for 24 hours a day as against -20; requires no grinding process in the manufacture of table salt; -and produces every grade of salt simultaneously. Sir Thomas Holland, -while studying the Hodgkinson process in operation, is said to have -exclaimed: “This is not an improvement, it is a revolution”; and in his -subsequent report upon the process, he has declared that it “has an -enormous advantage over any known process for the production of salt.” - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE SALT MARKET - - -Although no purpose would be served by dealing in detail with other of -the many schemes that have been elaborated in the past three hundred -years for the improvement of brine salt manufacture, the complete -list of patents that have been taken out for the purpose constitutes -a record of almost unrelieved failure which would occupy many pages. -It has always been obvious to every intelligent investigator outside -the little circle of salt proprietors, that the open-pan process -was a survival of the dark ages, but the principle governing the -precipitation of salt from brine is so simple that the equal difficulty -presented itself to the practical salt-men, of either effecting further -simplification or of securing further economies by the elaboration -of the process. Individuals in every generation recognized that the -methods of mediaevalism cried aloud for revision, but the salt trade -resolutely and consistently set their faces, and their hands, against -every suggested innovation. The salt-men were the avowed enemies of -Thomas Lowndes, they drove Chrysel back to Saxony, they loaded Furnival -with misfortune and landed him in gaol. In 1890, an official of the -Salt Union reflected with grim complaisance that, although no trade had -had more patents applied to it than the salt trade, no trade could show -so large a percentage of failures in the matter of reformed methods, -and since all the companies that had brought forward new plants and -processes in competition with the Salt Union had come short of success, -he piously concluded that the system which had survived the trial of -generations must be the fittest. - -The opposition of the salt trade to the introduction of new methods of -manufacture is explained by the fact that the profits accruing from -the old, clumsy, crude, and wasteful process were so large that the -proprietors could see no possible reason for welcoming innovations. -Moreover, the manufacture under established conditions was in the -hands of a comparatively small number of makers, who could not adopt -new measures without letting in more men, and the long tenure of -their monopoly made the salt-men intolerant of a competitive system. -Opposition was so abominable to them that, while they would combine as -one man to keep out the daring intruder, or to crush such an one if he -succeeded in getting in, they were not at all averse from employing -similar tactics for the purpose of exterminating one another. Although -it had cost them over a quarter of a million sterling to dispose of -William Furnival, the game of price-cutting was not discontinued after -1833. In order to safeguard themselves against the periodical falls in -prices, which, if persisted in, would mean wholesale ruin, all sorts of -associations, syndicates, trusts, committees, and pools were formed for -the regulation of stocks and prices, but each successive combination -was successively abandoned, and was followed by another period of -bitter jealousy and trading loss. Between 1846 and 1880, the trade was -being continually reorganized for offensive and defensive commercial -purposes, but, in 1881, it was admitted that, in spite of all attempts -to encourage a better feeling among the leading manufacturers, “the -spirit of envy, hate, malice, and all uncharitableness, which has -so long been the bane of the salt trade, has again become rampant,” -with the result that the price of common salt--4s., less the brokers’ -discount of 5 per cent.--was the lowest that it had touched since the -American Civil War. Two years later it was declared that the trade, -instead of being ruled by common sense and business experience, was -being ruined by personal animosities and trade jealousies. - -The files of the _Northwich Guardian_ at this period chronicle the -development of a state of affairs which must be almost without parallel -in any other trade. During 1883 the violent competition continued, -resulting in heavy loss, the closing of many works, and a large -increase in bankruptcies. In 1884, the _Guardian_ declared that “the -battle is fast becoming a war of giants.... Capital is showing itself, -almost everywhere, a remorseless Juggernaut, crushing thousands of -victims beneath its ponderous wheels.” In that year a proposal to form -the trade into one huge company was frustrated by the bitterness of -internal jealousies. Further attempts to bring all the salt proprietors -into a combination for mutual protection and profit were made and -abandoned from the same cause. “It is easy to make laws and regulations -and to carry them out successfully when men are governed by the -ordinary laws of business and common sense,” commented the _Guardian_ -in 1886, “but when sentiment or passion is allowed to interfere, it is -impossible either to make sensible laws or carry them out successfully -when made.” - -In March, 1888, we read that “the great struggle for mastery still goes -on”; in April, “the process of exhaustion is not yet complete,” and the -deplorable state of the salt trade was attributed to “a few men who -seem to have made more money than they know what to do with, and are -spending it in seeing what amount of injury they can do to each other, -and as a necessary consequence to numbers of others who are innocent -of offence.” In May, a correspondent of the same journal deplored the -material damage the trade was suffering through the perversity and -selfishness of the salt proprietors, and he came to the conclusion that -their object was “not really to do business but to kill one another -out.” “Is there more morality,” he asked, “in the man of means starving -out the man without means by selling, below cost of make, than there -would be in stopping him on the highway and picking his pocket?... When -the intention in the two cases is the same--the plunder or ruin of the -opponent--how can the morality differ? It does seem a most grievous -thing that when the greater number in the trade are anxious to do -business at a profit to themselves ... they should be prevented because -a few--a very few--should think only of themselves, and care nothing -for the sufferings of others, and carry on the fight to the bitter end, -causing enormous suffering and distress....” “We can see very clearly,” -he concluded, “that if something is not done shortly to bring about a -better state of affairs, some defensive action must be taken by those -firms outside the present strife which will result in no good to the -parties now responsible for the mischief.” - -The “defensive action” referred to was already being formulated, -and in October, 1888, was issued the prospectus of the Salt Union -Limited, which was formed with a capital of £4,000,000 for the purpose -of consolidating the undertakings of the Salt Proprietors in the -United Kingdom, “with a view to ending reckless competition which -injuriously affects the salt industry without conferring any adequate -advantage on the public.” By virtue of the sixty-four agreements, -covering the purchase of properties involving the inclusive payment -of £3,704,519, the Union became the greatest salt proprietors in the -world, and the success of the flotation was described as “almost -unprecedented.” Apparently the only two newspapers that had the least -dubiety concerning the success of the venture were _The Times_ and the -_Northwich Guardian_. _The Times_, while recognizing that the primary -object of the movement, viz., that of “curtailing supply and creating -an artificial scarcity”--would be gained if an effective monopoly could -be secured, pointed out that: “The Syndicate has not acquired the -control of all the mines or works at which salt is produced, and unless -they do this they will not have an absolute monopoly.” The _Guardian_ -admitted that with careful management the company would prosper, but, -speaking from its intimate knowledge of the spirit which animated -the salt-trade, it cautiously predicted that the first few months’ -operations would show whether the enterprise could go on successfully. -“The scheme is a gigantic one, and may prove either a great blessing or -a great curse, according to the principles on which it is conducted. -Let us hope that a spirit of justice and fairness towards shareholders, -servants, and the public at large will make the scheme a blessing.” - -The warning voiced by _The Times_ with regard to the Salt Union’s -inefficient monopoly was justified almost immediately by the issue of -prospectuses of rival salt schemes, and although opposition of this -kind was treated by the Union with affected contempt, and the public -was assured that the insignificant salt lands secured by rash outsiders -were “such as to break the hearts of all investors who might visit -them,” the fact remained, as was noted in November, 1889, that “the -most remarkable thing in connection with salt has been the continuous -fall in the price of Salt Union shares.” The principle on which the -valuation of the Union’s acquisitions was made did not transpire, -but _The Times_ understood that “the selling price has been quite -satisfactory to the vendors,” and the Chairman of the Union, in 1896, -was feign to confess that “never were covenants so ingeniously framed -as to cause lawsuits.” It is not overstating the case to say that the -terms upon which the Salt Union purchased their properties provides -one of the most amazing instances of reckless optimism in the history -of comparatively modern finance, and the subsequent administration of -the Company’s affairs was as unfortunate as the preliminary settlements -had been disastrous. In one law case with a vendor from whom they -had purchased for £600,000 a property which their own representative -valued at £400,000, they had to pay a further £60,000, and they -settled another action by selling for £125,000 a tract of land which -they had originally acquired for £372,000. In 1895, they increased -their capital to £4,200,000 by issue of further debentures to the -amount of £200,000; and, in 1901, the capitalization of the Union was -reduced to £2,600,000. Up to 1913, they had paid away £117,451 for -directors’ fees, travelling expenses, etc., £99,236 for preliminary -and Parliamentary expenses, law charges, etc., and £723,985 for -administration charges, and from 1896 to 1914 they had only paid (in -1907) one dividend of ½ per cent. on the ordinary shares. - - - - -INDEX - - - Agricola (Georgius) on salt-making, 15, 18, 56 - - America, salt-making in, 127–135 - - --, vacuum system in, 135 - - - Brine, battle of the, 121 - - --, composition of, 7 - - --, economy in production of, by Furnival, 78 - - --, evaporation of, 3 - - --, Dr. Jackson on the process, 56–60 - - --, old reservoirs of, 104 - - --, output at Northwich, 53 - - --, treatment of, in early days, 40 - - Brine-making, methods of Dr. Jackson, Rastel, Lowndes, Brownrigg, - Chrysel, Furnival, Holland, 56–73 - - Brine-tapping, improved process described, 106, 107 - - - Camden’s _Britannia_, derivation of suffix “wich,” 32 - - --, supply and treatment of brine described, 40, 42 - - _Chambers’s Journal_, a subsidence described, 113, 114 - - Cheshire, the “wiches” of, 32, 34 - - --, extent of deposits in, 83–96 - - Chrysel, persecution of, 71 - - - Domesday Book, references to salt works in Cheshire, rules governing - the trade, 34–37 - - Droitwich, salt-making there, A.D. 816, 33 - - - Furnival, Wm., introduces steam heat, 76 - - --, economy in production by; alarm of salt proprietors, 78 - - --, persecution of, a victim to Cheshire salt proprietors, 76–82 - - --, his patents, 77; - - --, his end, 82 - - - Hodgkinson (Jas.), his system, 76, 138–141 - - Holland (Philemon), 32 - - Holland (Sir Thos.), his eulogy of the Hodgkinson process, 141 - - - Jackson, (Dr. W.), 56 - - Johnson (Geo.), account of treatment of brine by, 42, 43 - - - King’s Vale Royal, particulars relating to Cheshire salt districts, - 43, 44 - - - Lakes, or “Flashes,” 103, 104, 112, 113 - - Lowndes (Thos.), improved method of brine-making by, 62, 65 - - --, persecution of, 71 - - - Marbury, discovery of salt at, in 1670, 97 - - Marbury Pipe, 54, 122, 123 - - Martindale (Adam), Communication to Royal Soc., 97 - - Mendeléeff, on crystallization, 5 - - Middlewich owners and number of salt-houses at, 51 - - --, output at, 54 - - - Nantwich owners and number of salt-houses at; decline of industry at, - 51, 53 - - Nevada, rock-salt at, 3 - - New York, salt-springs in; methods employed there, 127 - - Northwich, Adelaide Marston mine, 98 - - --, earliest manufacture in England, 32 - - --, output of brine at, 53 - - --, the “Walling Booke” of, 48 - - - Ormerod, on the origin of the salt field of Cheshire, 84, 85 - - - Rainfalls, cycles of, affecting salt deposits, 91 - - Rastel (Dr. Thos.), method of evaporation of brine at Droitwich, 60–62 - - Rock-salt, purest in Hungary, 1; - rarely found pure, _ib._ - - Rock-salt Mining--a dead industry; method of working, 101–103 - - Royal Society, _Phil. Trans._, 56, 60 - - Rumania, deposits in, 20, 26 - - --, estimated reserves and annual output, 28 - - - Salt, Adelaide Marston mine, 98 - - --, ancient orders concerning, 44–48 - - --, beginnings of the industry, 8, 9, 10 - - --, chemistry and properties of, 1 - - --, Chinese methods of making, 11 - - --, colour of, 2 - - --, convict labour, 20 - - --, crystals in, 4 - - --, decline of industry at Nantwich, 52, 53 - - --, depth and thickness of deposit at Northwich, 90 - - --, discovery of, at Marbury in 1670, 97 - - --, Domesday Book--reference to salt in A.D. 1084, 33 - - --, earliest manufacture in England, 32 - - --, effect upon sea-water, 2 - - --, experiments for removal of impurities in, 30, 31 - - --, formation and extent of Cheshire deposits, 83–96 - - --, importation of, 38 - - --, Italian method of making, 12 - - --, Japanese methods of making, 12 - - --, lectures on, by Ward (Thos.), 126 - - --, Mendeléeff on, 6 - - --, method of working top and bottom beds, 100 - - --, name first given, 1 - - --, Portuguese and Spanish method of making, 14 - - --, preservative property of, 6, 9 - - --, Rastel’s account of clarifying, 61, 62 - - --, solubility of, 2 - - --, symbol of sanctity, 9 - - --, theories respecting deposits, 85–90 - - --, Prof. Thompson’s calculations, 92–96 - - --, value in agriculture, 6 - - Salt-beds, area of Cheshire, 92 - - “Salt-licks,” 8 - - Salt-makers, conservatism of, 18 - - Salt-making, methods of, 125–129 - - --, methods employed in America, 127, 135 - - --, processes of, 127 - - --, vacuum system, 135, _et seqq._ - - Salt-Market, the, 142–147 - - --, mines, collapse of, various dates, 103, 107, 108 - - Salt-pans, recovery of old, 39 - - Salt-trade, competition in, 144, 145 - - Salt Union, 54 - - -- --, alleged rights of, 123, 124 - - -- --, “Battle of the Brine,” 121 - - -- --, brine carrying by, 122, 123 - - -- --, large capital of, 145 - - -- --, newspaper comments, 146–147 - - -- --, opposition to new processes by, 142 - - -- --, Wharton Works, 79–81 - - Subsidences, 97–123 - - --, causes of, 108–112 - - --, described 113 - - --, damage to property, 115, 116 - - --, Compensation Bill, 120, 121 - - --, legal aspects of, 117–121 - - --, resentment of townspeople, 117 - - --, pumpers responsible for, 117 - - - Thompson (Prof. Jas.), his calculations, 92–96 - - - “Wallers,” derivation of name, 40 - - “Walling Booke of Northwich” (Harleian MS. in British Museum - containing earliest list of “wich-houses” and their owners), - 48, 50, 51 - - Ward (Thos.), lecturer on salt, 126 - - “Wich,” derivation of the name, 33 - - Wieliezka rock-salt at, 1 - - --, works at, 20–26 - - Winsford, output at, 53, 55 - - -THE END - - -_Printed by Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd., Bath, England_ - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a -predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they -were not changed. - -Archaic spellings were retained. - -Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation -marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left -unbalanced. - -Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs -and outside quotations. 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