Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1864-04-07

IL Is sawed anu prepared tor market.
They employ seventy-fivc men and ope-
rate sixteen gangs" OF saws.
North of this opening, Messrs. Shell
dons & Slason have another quarry, the
beds of which are somewhat curved, and
have strike N. l0e w., with a dip of
from 500 to COO Il. The working statis-
tics OF this quarry are included in the
account of their first quarry, already
given.
The most northern opening yet made
is that lately incorporated under the
name of the vermont Marble Compa-
ny" The strike OF the bed in this is
N. l5e w., and the dip 700 to 85e K. A
steam mill with six gangs" of saws
has been erected on the premises, With
In the past year the property has changed
hands and has been but little in OPP
Grafton.
In the north part of the town of Rut-
land, on the line of the Rutland and
Burlington railroad, six miles north of
the quarries already described, the
Sutherland's Falls" quarry is situated.
The character of the marble in this
quarry does not correspond In color or
texture with the marble known in the
trade as " Rutland Marble" No white
marble is taken from this quarry. The
strike of the bed is different, being both
east and west, and at an angle varying
from, 900 to soc. The company have
two small ,aills in operation on their
premises and have the advantage of
one Of the f,ne--. natural water powers
in the State. They employ tofIy men.
On the same side of the railroad, ,."Tec
miles southwest of the village OF Bran
don, is the quarry of Mr.. E. ID, Selden.
Some very fine marble is taken from this
quarry and sawed at his MILL He en-
ploys from forty to fifty men.
The different quarries to which have
referred comprise all the openings a.
present worked within the limits of
Rutland county, and are, in fact, tie
quarries from which most of the Amer
lean marble used in the United States
and the British American provinces As
taken.
have described Sir different quarries
or openings at West Rutland. They all
lie upon the same slope or side hill, and
from the most southern to the most
northern opening the distance is not
more than one mile. From these to the
quarry at Sutherland's Falls the distance
is six miles, and from the latter quarry,
north to that of Brandon, nine miles
Thus, within u distance of fifteen miles,
on northern and southern line, all the
marble Of Rutland county is found.
The marble in the quarries at West
Rutland is usually overlaid by pure
limestone rock, and is reached by blast
ing into the limestone and removing it
from the surface of the ledge. This is
carried on until a sufficient quantity is
uncovered for years business.
The reader will bear in mind'tha the
marble in the quarries, especially at
West Rutland, runs down into the hill
on an average angle of about 45e. Also,
that the lodges are made up of different
layers of marble, one above another, ly-
ing together like the leaves of book,
or rather like number of books of diff
ferent thickness, one above another, on
an angle corresponding with the dip of
the marble in the earth. The layers
vary in thickness from hco to nine. feet.
the quarrying of blocks is commenced.
Suppose that the blocks to be taken out
are required to be sic feet in length. A
strip from the upper layer in the ledge is
lined na, Gin aevt III truth, and any de-
sired length, and all along the line thus
drawn men with "churn- drills" of steel,
ground to an edge and made somewhat
like crow-bar, take their position for
work at distances apart convenient for
working. With these churn- drills q
channel is cut upon this line fright
angles with the clay" of the marble,
and to depth required for the thick
ness of the block. This depth or thickness
usually reaches what is called by quar-
rymen "raismg-bed" This is always
seam, or point in the layers where the
marble is known to divide or split easily.
After the channel is cut, the same drill
is used for making circular holes under
meath the marble, on the line of the
raising bed" the whole length of the
channel above. These holes are made at
distances apart and to depths depending
altogether upon the difficulty of separa-
ting the block ADORE from it's bed Jelo,c.
These drill-holes are from one and half;
to two inches in diameter. When all is
ready for raising, two pieces of half
round iron are inserted in each drill
hole, and between them are inserted iron
wedges in such way that when they
are driven In the pressure will be ~
para The drill holes ON the whole
length are thus provided with keys and
wedges, and the workmen commence
driving in the wedges evenly and grad
ually, so that the upward pressure along
the whole length of the channel block
will be as nearly equal as possible
These are gradually driven in, until the
pressure from below is so great that
seam is opened, and the whole block is
released from it's bed. We have now a
block, say, forty feet in length and six
feet in width. This is too long to be
used for any purpose, and is so heavy
that no machinery can handle it. The
next process is to reduce this great mass
to sizes which can be handled by the
ordinary facilities for this purpose, and
which correspond with the dimensions
of the mill gangs" under which they
must be placed for saving. This is done
by the process of again drilling and
wedging. If blocks are wanted six feet
long, they are broken off crosswise if
longer than six feet, they are broken