walls made from loose rock, empty dynamite boxes and later fi re-resistant brattice cloth. We view examples of all three. Anything brought into the mine must


Topside entry to the Kansas Underground Salt Museum in Hutchinson.


told, by wedding couples hoping to demonstrate the depth of their love. “It’s a great place for business gatherings, too,” the guide


adds. “Attendees don’t get distracted by calls since cell phones don’t work down here.” The tour passes the remains of a large fan once used to


ventilate the tunnels. To keep the breeze blowing only to work areas, miners blocked off closed passages with gob


fi t into the elevator. For the big stuff, that means disassembling it topside and rebuilding it below. Rather than reverse the process, crewmen simply stashed worn-out gear in played-out portions of the mine. An abandoned truck occupies one passage. In a place where air must be import-


ed, internal combustion engines were seldom used. The vehicle we see ran on electricity. Unlike today’s plug-in hybrids with rechargeable batteries, this truck required an extension cord—a very, very long extension cord. We learn that the salt mining process


begins with undercutting. Miners, using a machine that looks like a small trac-


the Earth EnCompass September/October 2011 35


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