Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1868-01-23
THE RUTLAND HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY -, ISIS
Marble Va. =.
DIFFERENT struop, 90 g, ,urN,No.

States, WAS rude ia the extreme, aud Wa,
virtually continuance Of, the same pro-
cess which is used in the development Of
the quarries The force ni powder wa,
the principal agent in use 10 loo,cn and
shake up the marble, As though it had
not already received sufficient rending in
Natures process Of oonyulsiye agitation,
Deep holes were barred into the solid lay
ers Of marble, pcr>iStently charged with
the explosive agent, until the mass in
front was sufficiently looSencd to admit Of
being removed or separated into blocks hy
the appliance Of wedges and har, Ry
this early mode Of quarrying thrcc-iourths
of all the marble was wasted, or nearly
destroyed by the jar and fracture, for any
useful purpose, and much If it was lost
after being sawed into slabs, as il would
fall IA pieces in its removal from the saws,
leaving the small balance saved 10 be
charged with all the expense Of quarry
ing. transportation 10 the mill. and the
saving both the good and bad. The best
quarrymen soon saw that better and
more economical system OF mining marble
Was necessary. or the business could not
long remain remaReratire CT 81 Il r-fma-
nent character, as the process then in use
was so exhaustive that the supply must
soon cease, il not more carefully boarded
than was possible under that system. Ex-
pertinent and investigation led to the
adoption Of the present mode, and upon
most Of the large quarries in Vermont the
system Of channelling was introduced,
and soon found to be much more econom-
ieal, and mighty stride in the march of
Improvement, saving enough, that was
unavoidably lost by the old process, To
more than pay the difference in the mode
Of working, besides saving the supply and
increasing the value Of the product. The
method Of quarrying marble is, however,
very different in different localities. and
each viii need separate description.
The system of channelling by hand la
Dor, now in use upon most of the quarries
in Vermont, was adopted about twenty
years since, and has been found to work
well, in saving the marble, to the present
time. OF late, steam machines have been
introduced upon some of the quarries,
which claim TO do the work Of chan
nelling at much less expense and in a
shorter time than it can be done by hand
labor, which claim seems TO be founded in
fact, where me machine can be adapted
to the situation of the marble in the quar-
ry; yet the application of steam machin-
cry to cutting marble ia, 80 far, an exper-
iment The process of channelling con-
sists in cutting off the layers of marble
at right angles with the line of their STRAIT
i6cation, either towards their natural
beds, or on the line Of the dip when it
can be raised from the bed or broken
across to the bottom of the cut, and easily
separated into blocks, by the use of
wedges, driven into holes bored for the
purpose, beneath the layer and on its sur
face or side. By which means marble
blocks Of any required size or shape
called for in the trade, can be broken out
safely, and with the least expense, or
waste of material Blocks that are pro-
cured by cutting these channels are much
superior in value to those obtained by the
old process of blasting. They may be
square in form, and are reliable when
sawed, and the slabs are more perfect
when finished, not showing the evidence
Of being Jared, as marble always does
when quarried by the blasting process.
These channels when made by hand la
Dor, are cut by the use Of tools, known to
quarrymen "a ''ball drill" consisting Of
a round bar of iron, armed at each end
with cutting, or chisel point of best cast
steel they are usually about six feet long,
gradually swelling in the middle to about
one and one-half inch in diameter. With
this instrument an experienced quarry
man can cut continuous channel along
the layer Of marble three feet long and
four feet deep, in about six day, and thir-
ty men, working side by side, in cut
having the appearance of a sawed chan
mel, can liberate layer Of marble six feet
wide and four feet thick, about eighty
feet long, in six days, which would con-
tain about two thousand cubic feet OF
marble. About twelve days work would
be necessary in drilling the holes in and
under such layer, after which it would
be ready to raise from the bed and break
UP into blocks to be hoisted from the
quarry and piled on the surface, by the
use of crane or derrick, when it is
ready, in this country, for mill or market.
Foreign marble, after being taken from
the quarry, is all subjected to the pick,
the corners or sharp angles knocked off,
and the entire block roughly dressed over,
which rough hewing serves to improve
the appearance and hide any slight I'M
sonndness or close cuts that may be in the
block
At the very extensive quarries of soft
marble on the Chesapeake Bay, another
and an entirely different process Of quar-
rying is in use. At these quarries the
marble either lays in a compaetness
or is in strata of great thickness
Some Of the layers that are worked are
from ten to twenty feet thick. These
layers are cut off by continuous channel
worked by hand labor, the channel is cut,
in what is called 'cliffs" by the miners,
the men following each other about three
feet apart, cutting out channel wide
enough to admit the workmen, each about
-. R.oI halnur fhn ,,n., L. - r