What is Digg?87 Comments
- thefirelane, on 10/12/2007, -0/+30salt .... sal ... salary. That's where it comes from. Soldiers used to be paid in salt (a salarium). Good soldiers were said to be "worth their salt", which we still use today.
- victron, on 10/12/2007, -1/+28It must be a horrifying experience to trip and skin your knee in that place.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+23I love Detroit. But I don't care for the stupidity of getting rid of our only decent mayor in forever, I don't care for the way we painted up the outsides of buildings so they looked better for the Superbowl (while the insides were still rotting away), I don't like how our police department refuses to answer calls to 7-11's or other marts like that because they're sick of being called all the time, I don't like people like you who mod other people down for having differing opinions, and I don't like that the Target down the street is too dangerous to let your kids walk in it alone.
I love Detroit, and it's got a lot going for it, but the bulk of the stuff going on here...isn't worth preserving. - ra3ndy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14As soon as they stopped leaving dead mules in the mines, I'll bet some consumers wrote the company asking "Why doesn't my salt taste as good as it used to?"
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........Salted Ass
- beejay, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15It's mostly "ghostly" because of the sepia tone pictures.
- DogHumpsMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11When I worked for the Dept. of Transportation, I took a tour of a salt mine near Buffalo. Pretty amazing place, from the elevator ride down to actually going through the tunnels. Working in that environment must be a pretty healthy living, because a lot of the miners were in their 60's, having worked there for forty+ years, and they seemed to be in tip-top shape for old guys.
- digga, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Actually, pretty salty.
- kevinmtu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11"salt has always been a precious commodity, often traded ounce for ounce for gold" very interesting. I knew that is was a valuable resource, but as much as gold? Awesome read! Digg++
- nyccharlie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I just love history.
- EnricoFermi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12I wanna find the opening, would be a good place to hide If I'm wanted
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Here's some pics of a nearby salt mine still in production:
http://www.wcpn.org/news/2001/01-03/0301salt-mine-2.html - Enitime, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Can't really measure up to the salt cathedral in Wieliczka, Poland.
http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/ice/lec14/wielicz.htm
Walls, floors, decorations.. all carved out of salt. Even the chandeliers are made from salt. - CygnusTM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Google Maps satellite view of the mine opening:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=12841+Sanders+Street,+Detroit,+MI&ll=42.285818,-83.151312&spn=0.002857,0.005922&t=k&om=1 - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Yeah, wish there were some updated pics
- bmorrow, on 10/12/2007, -8/+14Don't F with the D
- kevinmtu, on 10/12/2007, -9/+15move someplace else if you don't like it in Detroit. REPRESENT!
- kevinmtu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7must you repeat yourself? (same comment as above)....
- dmsteg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Don't know why this comment got buried.. I always defend Detroit when people bash it for no good reason but this comment is no lie.
Detroit for the most part is by far no worse than any other major city in this country. But you take I-75 a couple miles south of the Ambassador Bridge just before you get to the Downriver area, it's all processing plants of all sorts and let me tell you... it's not pretty.
But this of coarse is no slam on Detroit, I've seen these areas in every state I've ever visited, Kentucky and Tennessee being the worst (no offense to those two states). - prockcore, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7It's satisfactual.
Zip a dee doo dah - bigstinky, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9Right on Kevin, lived in Detroit my whole life, and would not live anywhere else. Berean, take a look at some of the architecture downtown some day...Well, at least what's left of it...Enjoy an afternoon on Belle Isle, Catch a Tiger game. There's tons of stuff in Detroit to do and be proud of. Most people just associate this city with the negative stigma that's been attached...Which is cool in some ways because it keeps the idiots out. Detroit will always be one of this countries best kept secrets..Whether or not some people think it's a pit...It's my pit and I'm damn proud. Threeonethree son....
- bmorrow, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9Detroit has contributed alot to this fine country
The Automoblile
The Assembly Line
Motown
Techno
Dow Chemicals
Vernor's (The worlds oldest soft drink)
Coney Island Restraunts
Dave Coulier from Full House (J/K)
Many more
Anyone who bad talks the D can find somewhere else to live. I want to hear solutions not whining. - flintmich, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5that crazy salt-vampire alien from Star Trek (1960's) that sucked the salt out of people just read this and is planning an invasion...
http://sttos.epguides.info/?ID=360 - Dradis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Headline from a few thousand years ago...
"SUDDEN DOWNPOUR WIPES OUT ECONOMY: Treasury empty after leaks in roof melts all of the coinage" - Bishoco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4As the articles suggests, salt has a very interesting history. From what I understand, the book Salt: A World History, is great a read on the subject. It's on my list.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142001619/sr=8-1/qid=1145644463/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-7132212-6874207?%5Fencoding=UTF8 - diggtard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Where miners of coal and other minerals and metals often suffer from debilitating respiratory diseases salt miners experience none of it. In fact studies have shown that they have stronger immune systems which has been attributed to the environment they work in.
- Rosco, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6This is cool, to bad the surface (Detroit) is a complete dump. And this statement is coming to you from someone that live in Michigan.
- ByteGuerilla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I don't think that was standard practice for the Romans, but they did do it to Carthage just as a matter of spite after a long war that had the Republic so scared they had to consult the tomes of the Sybil to tell them what to do. Salting the earth there I believe was the idea of a legionary rather than the general. The general actually wept at the sacking of Carthage, but I can't remember his quote.
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Really would be gutting to find that your enemies hated you so much that they created salt mines under your city, just to make sure. - felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The bit of trivia I didn't know was that ancient Chinese and Romans made coins out of salt. I'm sure they were more solid than I imagine, but I can't help thinking of them as if they were table salt. Imagine forgetting your money in the wash...
- dweeb73, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3" Mules, lowered by rope down the narrow shaft into the mine, were used in the early mining operations. Once down in the mines, they stayed there until they died."
What? Ewwww, wouldnt the bodies be preserved and smelly? "Watch out Larry, don't step in ole Beaulah's corpse right there" - MugatuOT, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8I'd rather live in/visit that salt town than Detroit itself.
- ByteGuerilla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Just the Chinese. The Romans paid their soldiers in actual salt, not fashioned into coinage.
- 1ivewire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I was surprised to learn this about 7-elevens. If the 7-elevens can't survive in a city, what can? Here are some other interesting Detroit facts:
The following statistics were gathered by the Detroit Free Press
The suburbs have about 85 percent of the region's retail establishments and 87 percent of the jobs.
Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties have 110 bowling alleys combined; Detroit has two.
The suburbs have 130 7-Elevens; the last one in Detroit recently closed.
The suburbs have more than 400 first-run movie screens; Detroit has 10.
The suburbs have Northland and 20 other malls. Detroit has none. - kevinmtu, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4It is a wonderful city. glad some people finally got to see the real detroit during the superbowl. nightlife is starting to thrive and I look forward to going down early and staying late for sporting events. There is so much history to see and experience. The salt mine is a prime example of some of the history of Detroit that most people do not know about.
- Sentinel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I went down there a few years ago for a tour, it's really an amazing sight.
- 3lite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2In fact, a salt mine environment is so healthy they even built a hospital into an old salt mine somewhere in poland. There, respiratory diseases are treated, but studies show that the positive effect does indeed help with other diseases as well. Very interesting topic concerning biophysics. Sure worth some more research.
- thewise1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Awesome read. I love this sort of thing, usually can only find it on modern marvels or the like, though.
- audiomidiman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Cool. I remember going on a tour of this mine twice. Once when I was in grade school and once on a church field trip.
Bill - geodanny, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My bet is that they were hauled right back up after they died. If not, the bodies could have been mummified by burying them in salt; it would dessicate the bodies.
- diggtard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Every time I hear/see another special on salt someone always brings up that saying. But come on who really uses it today.
- alanspach, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Extremely cool and factual
- BlindIrishman, on 10/12/2007, -9/+11If your ever driving through industrial detroit (the southern part), keep your windows rolled up and hold your breath, it smells pretty bad. Interesting article though, never new how big they were.
- Essefgy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I wish my scanner still worked. I've got a bunch of photos from back when the mines were open for tours.
- doctechnical, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There's a similar salt mine in Cleveland, undernearth Lake Erie. IIRC, the company I used to work for sent it's backup tapes down there for safe storage.
- GeorgeZimmer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1woot , a fellow detroiter right here!
there are so many cool places here in detroit, the salt miines are just the tip of hte ice berg so to speak - anagoge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Far too many uses of the word 'salt', dont' you think?
- JayRod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm not sure if it was Discovery channel or National Geographic channel that has the show Modern Marvels. They had an episode about salt and it explained everything about salt and salt mining. Very Interesting. I remember them saying no matter how much salt gets dug out of the ground there is still infinite amounts of salt in the world. Maybe that's why salt is only like 50 cents for a big round container of it at the local grocery store.
- arafoz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah, I toured the salt mines in Wieliczka two summers ago while in Poland.
They even had a statue of the Pope made out of salt! - Amp300, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This was an interesting article... and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it... but did anyone else notice the spelling mistakes/typos? I caught at least two. This is disappointing coming from a large commercial newspaper.
- scrimp212, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Its a good thing Michigan has all this salt, they need it to melt all the snow we get ;-) Im kinda interested as to where these salt mines are at now. They mentioned a place not too far away from where I live...gonna need to do some research....dugg for good info
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