Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1865-09-14
RUTLAND HERALD.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER Z, 1865.
Rutland Marbie--No. A,

pIeSenL are lHOSt AZ pNeANAAshN "''Nl
near the north line of Rutland, and
within a few rods OF the Rutland q
Burlington railroad. At this place there
are two quarries, one worked by the
Sutherland Falls Marble Company"
and the other by the "Pocohabajac Mar
BILE Company"
This last company, of which Mr..
lockwood Barrett of Rutland is Presi-
dent, was organized last year, and com
menced operations in their present To-
cality, little north Of the preceding,
on the 26th of last April. They employ
about 80 men, and have as yet taken out
but small quantity Of marble.
The Sutherland Falls Company en-
ploy about 10 men, and work four Of
the steam cutters. The marble in this
quarry does not appear to be stratified
as in other places, but TO lie in mass
like granite.
On this point we make the following
extracts from the Geology Of Yer
mont" "At the time of our first visit
we were unable TO determine the dip
and strike Of the beds, for the stratifl-
cation planes are wholly obliterated,
and in the quarry there are no "riving
seams, the marble being cleaved with
nearly the same facility in all directions.
But at subsequent visit, in a rainy
day, the beating storm had wet the
sides of the quarry SO that the color of
the shaded bands on the exposed ends
of the strata enabled us to determine
the dip and strike We ascertained the
strike to be nearly north and south.
with avariable dip from an anti-clini-
cal axis, both east and west, at an angle
OF from 200 to coo" 1t may be well to
remark that an "anticlinical axis" may
be illustrated by the ridgepole of a
house from which the two portions Of
Of the roof slope or "dip" outwards. A
"synclinical axis" may be Illustrated by
the line in the middle of book partly
open, towards which the opposite leaves
slope inwards. An other illustration is
found in the letter V.
There is no white marble in this quar-
ry; it Is nearly all of beautiful dove
color, and presents, when sawed and pol
ished, notified appearance. at is not
a pure carbonate of lime, but silica en-
tiers so largely into its composition as
to render it remarkably durable when
placed in exposed situations, but not in
such profusion as TO prevent it from re-
ceiving an excellent polish" The quar-
ny was opened u or IS years ago, and
has been worked successfully for eight
years. The present company was Or
ganized in August 1864. Mr.. John u.
Reynolds is the gentlemanly agent.
The large monument erected in Hub
bard.on to commemorate the battle
fought there in 1777 was from this
quarry. We may remark that elegant
specimens of this, and many other kinds
of Vermont marble, presented by the
respective proprietors, are to be found
in the State Cabinet at Montpelier. The
company have mills at the Falls with a
capacity Of 10 gangs Of saws. An i'm
mense sand bank near by furnishes the
best Of sand and with ample facilities
for transportaticn by railroad, it would
seem as j. the proprietors had nothing
mcge to ask. Visitors might be in
clined to ask for comfortable hotel
somewhere in the immediate vicinity, as
it is a place where lovers Of the pictures
cue and beautiful would be pleased to
linger.
Hitherto we have referred only in
cidentally to the business Of saving.
We shall close with description OF the
machinery for this purpose, and the pro-
cess by which blocks are converted into
slabs of any required thickness. We
quote from the Geology Of Vermont,
and also from an article prepared by
Mr.. S. M. Dorr Of Rutland, for the Re
port of the U. S. Commissioner Of Agri
culture for 1862.
Previous to 1904 marble was not saw
ed in New England, but quarries were
selected where Sheets could be split of
which afterwards were worked smootl
and to the desired shape with Chisels
In the year 1904 Eben W. Judd, Esq, 0
Middlebury, adopted the plan OF Tn
marble workers who lived in the days O
Pliny, and sawed the first marble in tn
state with a smooth strip Of soft iror
with the help Of sand and water. Block
are placed under gang Of saws,
which consists of strong framework {
timbers, four or five feet wide, and frol
eight to twelve feet long. The saw
which are nothing more than plates
soft iron, one eighth OF an inch THO
three inches wide and as long as Il
framework, are stretched from end
end Of this frame and fastened by sui
able contrivances. Several Of the'
saws are fastened into one frame al
kept at suitable distances apart by meal
OF wooden gauges. The gang is su
,,andad above the block hv means Of IN,