1 88 LOWER PENINSULA. 



feet, so framed as to admit of the steam passing out at the venti- 

 lators. In this building are set from fifty to sixty kettles, having 

 each a capacity of from lOO to 120 gallons. The kettles are set in 

 two rows over arches running from the mouth or furnace to the 

 chimney. These are called " arches." These arches run close to- 

 gether, with a dividing wall between them ; the kettles are set close 

 together in a row, resting on the dividing wall on the one side and 

 on the inside wall on the other. 



The fire arch or furnace at the front is 3 feet from the bot- 

 tom of the kettles ; from here the bottom of the arch gradually 

 rises so that under the back kettles the space is only 10 or 12 

 inches. Here the flue passes into the chimney, which is about 40 

 to 50 feet high. 



Between the arches and the salt bins, which are under the same 

 building, is the sidewalk. On this sidewalk the salt boiler operates 

 in drawing the salt from the kettles into the draining baskets, 

 which, when it is sufficiently drained, are wheeled off to the salt 

 bins on this sidewalk or platform. The bins, which run the entire 

 length of the block, are divided off in sections, and are made with 

 open floors for the proper drainage of the salt. 



Through the centre of the block, just on top of the middle wall, 

 two sets of pump logs or pipes are laid— one for fresh water, and one 

 for the settled brine, each of them being supplied with faucets for 

 each kettle. 



The kettles, after being well cleansed, are filled with brine, and 

 boiling soon commences after the fire is under good headway. A 

 scum rises to the surface, which is taken off with a skimmer. 



Of late years, owing to the dry and light material used for fuel 

 (being the refuse slabs from saw-mills), the first ten or fifteen kettles 

 in the arch are protected from the excessive heat by patent arches, 

 which are built over the fire flue, and directly under the bottom of 

 the kettle. By this arrangement and a narrowing of the flue, the 

 heat is distributed more evenly through the entire arch, and the 

 kettles boil more regularly. 



Soon after the brine commences to boil, the crystals of salt com- 

 mence to form on the top, and then fall to the bottom. When the 

 brine is boiled down to about one third, the salt is dipped out with 

 a ladle and thrown into a basket, which is placed over one side of the 

 kettle. The salt is allowed to remain in the basket for two or three 



