New-York tribune., 1869-06-05
TIE SLATE BUSINESS or NORTHERN
NEW- YORh.

IMITATION MARBLES AND MOsAICs, SLATE
ROOFING AND TILES, BILLIARD TABLES, ETC.
lFRoM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT.
MIDDLE GRANVILLE, May 27-The township
Of Granville is situated in the northeastern part of Wash
ngton County about 60 miles northeast from Troy and
contains the villages Of Granville Corners North Gran
yille West Granville and Middle Granville the last
named being now the largest and most important and
here are situated the quares and works OF the Penrhyn
Slate Company, to examine which was the principal OBJ
ject Of my visit here. The village stretches for three
quarters Of mile along the western edge of beautiful
valley, and with its picturesque white houses nestling
among empowering naples and OvershadOwed by mag
ncent ems presents very attractive appearance. on
its western SIDE extending for than 20 miles north
and south and rising to hight of 400 800 feet above
the bottom Of the valley is the ridge Of hills in which the
Quarries situated The whole eastern face Of this
ridge to be formed of slate rock which crops out
here and there all the surface Generally this rock
is covered with gravely soil Of from few inches to 10
or 10 feet in depth, which supports short but thick
growth Of rich grass and affords excellent pasurage and
the summit Of the ridge covered with heavy growth
Of forest trees The Metawee or Powlet River winds
along the eastern base Of the ridge and affords the
qured power for cutting and manufacturing the slate
The Washington and Rutland Railroad, extending north
and south through the whole length Of the valley
Meeting with the Troy and Boston Road the south and
the Saratoga and Whitehall Road the north, gives
ample facilities for transporting the finished TO
market.
When presented myself to Mr. Jones' the manager OF
the Penrhyn Works. land expressed my desire to know
something Of the slate business that gentleman caedfor
his horse and buggy, and remarked " We will 60 first to
the quarres." On way thither, we took a round
about route by the railroad depot to show the ship
pngyard adjoining the track where large quantities OF
roofing slate Of various sizes packed up ready for
Shipment was informed that last year nine hundred
and fifty carloads each containing about thirty squares
OF roofing slate sent from this point all OF which
came from the quarres OF the Penrhyn and Middle Gran
vile Companies The states are Of various colors,
green purple. and dark brown deepening into black,
and sometimes two or cOlors appear in the same
piece the ground being OF tnt dapped all over with
spots Of another These different varieties lie in contact
with another in the beds, and color TO have
nothing to do with the quality From here followed
the company private road the fields crossing the
rvepon embankment and bridge erected by them last
year. at cost OF about $1,000 TO give them direct acccss
TO the railroad from their works Turning into the main
road before reaching the "mil" to group OF
small, onestOry cabins shops, where number OF
workmen were engaged in making roofing slate. The
process at first glance seemed very simple Irrregnlar
fiat slabs Of slate feet'n length and BREADTH and
inches to foot in thickness brought here from the
quarry The workman sitting upon low seat takes the
slab between his knees and with broad steel chse and
maet splits 1t into thin sheets by driving the chisel
carefully into the edge OF the stone. Another man. sitting
near takes the thin sheets they fall and placing them
across the sharp edge of steel bar fixed In block Of
wood in front Of him, with one blow OF heavy knife
breaks the edge of square, then, quickly turning 1t
around repeats the operation with each sde and forms
rghtangled obong sheet Of the largest size that can
be obtained from the block The whole process looks
simple picking up chips, but was assured that long
practice and experience required TO make sklful
workman. Those who intend to follow the business
must commence when they boys oftweve or fourteen,
and the manager told Inc that in all his experience he
never knew full grown man who could become a sue
cessfu slate maker All these wOrkmon as In fact nearly
all the men employed by the Penrhyn Company, are
Welshmen who learned their business as boys In the
slate quarrcs Of Wales Among themselves they speak
the Welsh language exclusively aud many OF tho older
men do not understand q word OF English With their
families they form little community OF their own,
dwelling in neat white cottages erected for their use
by the Company its own land. They have two
churches a Presbyterian and a Methodist, where
services are held every Sabbath In the Welsh language
Although minglng among Tue people OF lc NaRt' tHey
do associate with them 10 any extent but seem 10
take pride Am maintaining their nationality, even In
foreign land and among strangers Inc younger cmI-
English or Welsh iudercnty, but noticed that while
they only used tho latter language In their intercourse
with their parents and the other older wqrkmen among
each other they generally employed the English, which
seemed TO come to them with more facility than INC
other. The workmen as whole are me looking pOdy
of men, mostly tall, all strong aud athletic, with clear,
ruddy compexiOns and countenances indicating hlgh
degree Of intellect aud good humor shOud Judge tht
10 be superior 70 any other class OF abOng men ~ the
country. They do not appear 20 be talkatiye. when
i'm reference to task in hand but in the intervals Of
their labor they chat in lively manner win iIeguenI
bursts Of laughter The manager od me tiht ~ se'eIa
quarres attempts had been made to employ Irlsl ana
German wOrkncn but they dld not succeed as wen as
first visited Is the entrance TO the first quarry long,
passage cut for some 60 or ~ ieet INTO INC u9 m
ont OF the rock 10 y rods IN length by or ln
breadth and open to the & 1Ey & 1n aS oaSd S Wedges @
breaking out huge blocks Of tho slate rock Inc WhOe
hin In which the quarries are situated appears 10 consist
of one mass OF slate which has been upheayed by some
mighty cOnvulsion Of nature ana now lies paItaHy on
~ norton The eastern slope Of the hill Is the face or
surface Of the bed The upper layers OF iOCk however
from the action Of water and the atm0phee nave De
came shaky or rotten, and will not split without break
ing Hence necessary TO cut through hs III oIuC 10
yck lies I'm LAYERS above another separated by seams
parallel 10 its upper surface ana these daJSIS & T ~
the first and generally parallel to each OtheI Inc M3h
men, by careful inspection discover THESE eeas a9 Dy
rin wedges into them separate the blocks according
TO their natural divisions. In order 70 obtain gVo oeaE
il is necessary that the split should begin al ln9
LAYERS and so all the everything refuse rock ana
earth has to be removed and the quarry u open 70 Io
sky The OF the refuse rock VIZ
y m exnense in working slate quarres. Inc PchrIyh
0uarries possess great advantage over most ~
matter in each case the eaanEe " 80, , h s}o of fbe
lin until the required depth Is oDialh&9u & III inH u,S @
rock well as the serylceaoS @ s1, - Where the waste
IA dunyped down the hill and the go0d nateiM i0aeu
non wagons 10 be taken TO the mill or sptuhg SHOPS
tnIs ayold the great labor and expense OF hOlshS
ali is quantity matter 70 the top Of the quarry %oh
st he done Where quarres are sunk In level ground
nc jeve entranee also affords the means OF natural
drainage and avoids the no neSsss Gaa1 q ong oSs q
t1atr onerriss fbe first which | visited, has DeeL
sunk below the level Of tine the rSa s to
80 bed ~ the river below affords efficient drainage ny
natural means without the expense OF empoyng PUTel
The company are now working four dnerehI quaosi
i onened npon this plan, and are also GfNDB luhnel
70 reach new vein OF black slate when mas Pgen or S
Gently discovered-ofa softer quality than any hInStG
Tonn3 and better adapted for purposes OF OIDalhWi ~
XgoIking When this Is accomplished tney , 'Inu J ~ ~
nO1{S,ce IN new SPOT near the bottom or inc H az
,,,cb lower level than quarry has ever yet pec