Almost a year in Sweden! Although this is my 52nd blog entry, our mission didn't begin until February 20, 2017, so we have two more days before it is officially one year. Still, it is hard to believe we have been away from home this long. I have to confess, though, that I have moments of homesickness, like yesterday when we were eating lunch at a lovely restaurant. As I ate, looking through the window at the frozen lake and snowy evergreens, I kept thinking of home and my similar view. Before we could leave, I was the only one of our party that had to take a walk on the ice, to feel the snow and icy slush beneath my feet and the dimming sun on my face...just like home!
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| John "developed" this picture and posted it on FB, but honestly, this was more like how it looked when I went walking. :) |
So, while I am on the subject of yesterday, I may as well begin there--with our last minute decision to visit the Sala Silvermine (silvergruva), about 1 1/2 hours northeast of Stockholm.
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| Our tour guide Camilla, and our friends, the Bells and the Halls |
Here are my notes from the tour:
Legend teaches that a Finn found the silver under a root;
the word “sala” in Finnish means “hidden.”
By the 16th century, King Gustav Vasa realized the value of
this one square kilometer and its rich veins of silver. Prior to this time, the silver was mined, but
with inadequate techniques (primarily, of piling the slag on top of the working
area) which eventually lead to a collapse.
However, as time went on, techniques were improved, and a serious mining
industry thrived from 1621-1962.
Always challenging, the labor was difficult. Early on few people wanted to work there, so
prisoners were forced to labor in the mine.
They were marked as prisoners by having one ear cut off. As the mine
grew so did its population. Cottages
were built for miners and their families, with nicer homes for managers. At its height, 300 miners worked below, while
1000 worked above the surface in various means of employment—pumping station, smelting,
hoisting men and rocks to and from the mine.
Even the women and children worked, breaking up the rocks into smaller
pieces more suitable for refining the silver.
Miners worked 12 hours a day 6 days a week. Dressed in leather stockings to the knee,
tied with a rope, wooden clogs (more like a sandal), and a brimmed felt hat for
protection, they arrived for work an hour early for the one hour mandatory
sermon appealing to God for protection. As they entered the mine, they again
sang hymns. The cavernous acoustics
echoing their sacred pleas for safety.
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| Model of a miner |
Entering the mine itself was dangerous. One could walk or ride the “barrel” down to his
assigned area. Younger, more agile
workers, preferred the quick and thrilling ride on the edge of the barrel,
holding onto the cable rope, with mining tools in the bowl of the bucket at their
feet. Shouts to the hoisters above would
determine when to stop or begin lifting.
When the workers arrived at their designated area, they would make the barrel
swing so a fellow miner in the gallery could grab it, and the men could jump
off onto the solid ground. Eventually,
access to a deep, vertical shaft called a “sloss,” was
only by ladder.
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| A barrel--miners stood on the edge and held onto the hoisting rope, with a torch in one hand and their tools in the barrel. |
In the 1880’s, King Oskar II became the last king to enter
the mine on the barrel. Throughout the
centuries, royalty made commemorative visits to the mine in recognition of its
economic value to the kingdom, signing their names on a wall. King Oskar Il’s fear of heights encouraged
him to consume several drinks before entering the barrel. In the gallery, a choir of children welcomed
his arrival, but he cut their performance short by rapidly signing his name,
announcing that “No king will have to go down in the barrel again,” and quickly
returning to the surface. Obedient to the king, workers prepared stairs
in time for Oskar’s successor, King Gustav’s visit to Sala. Today a plaque with the signatures of the
king and queen is mounted to a wall, commemorating their contemporary visit.
Workers ate lunch while on the job until the mid 18th
century, when working conditions were improved by providing a lunch break. One treat they had was a hot cherry beverage,
flavored from the cherry trees that grew nearby.
Young miners were quickly taught the value of light. They were given a small torch that would soon
burn out. When their light was gone,
they had to grope around in total darkness.
From then on, they always carried extra material to keep their torches
burning.
Naturally, additional minerals and metals occur in the
rocks. Talc, the softest mineral, maintains
a metallic scent from its surrounding materials. Dolomite marble, lightly colored stone,
cracks when gunpowder was used, making it a much-too-dangerous method to
use. Quicksilver (or mercury), as well as
the distracting iron pyrite exist in the mine.
Lastly, dark, heavy veins of lead house the silver.
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| The nugget in the back is silver; the front is pyrite. |
The miners used a long pike to pull at the rock, a hand-pick
and a hand sledge. (The pick and the
sledge, crossed, create the symbol for mining.)
They also had small wooden carts to haul the rock.
In the early 1600’s new techniques for mining were needed,
so Sweden turned to Germany for help.
German engineers brought skills to construct vertical shafts and
galleries, going 300-450 meters. “Fire-setting”
was the common means of mining. A
controlled, substantial fire would be built against the wall and allowed to
burn all night. By morning, the rock was
“softened” enough to mine. Only 10
centimeters would be softened and cleared away before another fire need to be
set, taking about 3 days. Approximately,
1 meter was mined per month. A rich
location employed generations of miners to extract the ore. Sometimes miners worked for years without
finding any silver, leaving behind a “blind gallery”—essentially an
unproductive dead-end. Everything was dug by hand until the late 1800s when the
dynamite revolutionized mining. What
took several years could then be accomplished in weeks. One drawback, however, was that the small
particles of dust affected the miner’s lungs.
Transporting the ore from the mine was also enabled by trains during
this time.
Because the water table in the area was naturally at 16
meters, pumping has been a necessity throughout the mine’s history. Early on, the pumping system was made of
hollow logs wrapped in leather. The
water would be siphoned upward to the next level and collected in a pool. From that pool, another leather-wrapped log
would siphon it to the next level, and so on.
Ironically, water was needed to run the hoist system that mechanized the
pumping system so water was collected from lakes to supply the power needed.
Today, a modern pumping system keeps the water level at 155 meters, while one
of the pumping shafts is used for the elevator, which descends to 155
meters. (Our tour went to 60 meters, and
thankfully, the elevator transported us to the surface!)
Check out
John's Facebook page for more and better pictures! (I finally figured out how to add the link, so pictures aren't so repetitive!)
Saturday's outing was a wonderful diversion from our busy week of transfers and helping the Andersons move elders into their new apartment.
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| Our new group! (John took this picture) |
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| Saying goodbye to 7 special sisters! |
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| Assembling a new desk |
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| Elders Winkle and Fortuna in their new apartment (Beds still unmade!) |
We are so grateful to be part of this work, surrounded by positive hardworking people who love the Lord. There isn't anywhere we would rather be right now, and we are so thankful that we have the means and the opportunity to show our gratitude with our service.
