Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 196, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 August 1920 — How German Petash Is Mined. [ARTICLE]

How German Petash Is Mined.

Potash in Germany occurs In the form of a rock salt and runs in seams of 30 feet or more in thickness. As mined, 'thas about the same consistency as the common rock salt of commerce and its grinding is easy. It is ground to about the fineness of a coarse sand; in this form it is used for domestic agriculture and at the present time it is also mostly exported in this form. The depths at which sie true potash deposits are situated render it necessary to sink, shafts leading to levels of as much as 5,000 feet below the surface, horizontal' cuttings extend up to two miles in length. » The mingys themselves are, unlike coal miners, entirely free from the danger of fire damp. Occasionally danger arises from hydrogen, the blue flames of which may sometimes be seen flickering on the walls after a blasting operation in a newly opened mine. Sulphuretted hydrogen has Caused the death of a few miners and carbonic acid gas renders suffocation possible.