Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1871-04-06
The Capitol stone.
orterd oolite.

On Thursday last, having . curl.
osity to sec the famous quarries oi
ool,te limestone, or marble. near Or.
tord, about which SO much has been
said since the award of the Capitol
Commissioners, selecting this quarry
10 furnish the foundations of the new
State Capitol, we took the morning
train tor that place. Reaching Or.
ford, distant from here some twenty
four miles, we soon found Hon.
Phineas Helm. one of the proprietors,
and in due time were conveyed to
the quarry, distant a mile and half,
at little hamlet known as Indian.
town. We had for company besides
Mr.. Helm, Col. 0. H. p. Scott, to
whom the contract for stone was
awarded, Mr.. Stein, Of Muscat,nc,
one OF the Capitol Commissioners,
and Hon. James Wilson, of Buck.
,ngham, Representative from Tama
county in the last General Assembly.
The quarry is opened in the side Of =
hill. Near it are the works Of Messrs.
Helm d Richardson, tho owners Of
the quarry, where the stone tor orna
mental purposes and buildings is
sawed out and worked into the va
rious forms for which It is adapted.
Here we saw some very fine table,
tops, with variegated colors. For
these there is q considerable demand.
The marble is also used extensively
for the corners aud bases of build.
ings and Tor these various purposes
fin.is . considerable market in Coun.
Gil bluffs, Omaha, Stock City aud
other places. The proprietors also
have : large lime.kiln close at hand,
IN which they manufacture yearly
some $4,000 10 $4,000 bushels oi
superior quality, which finds ready
sale. This has been heretofore the
leading branch of their business, but
OF late the demand for stone tor use-
tul and ornamental purposes has 60
increased that it now constitutes he
larger branch OF th,ir trade.
After looking over the nnauufatur'
ing works We examined the quarry
The oolite stone, which il the kind
used here, consists OF layer four.
teen feet in thickness, superlmposed
upon which is the ma0ncs,an lime
stone, which is 80 largely developed
few miles west ia Marshall county
The oolitic stone Is crystalline and
takes . higher polish than the mag
nesian stone and is superior to it. I,
10 taken from the quarry in very
large blocka aud whatcver may be
it, value on long exposure to atmos
pheric influences, has the appearance
Of great solidity, tenacity and dura
bility. We had seen 90 much incer
tain papers to the disparagemsnt o.
this stone, that We were scarcely pre-
pared to find . rock that seemed &C
little likely to cleave or crumble. Al
taken from the quarry it is muci
softer, We were told, than after ex
posure aud drying out OF the no's
ture. We were shown house nea
by, the foundations Of which wcr,
laid, - We were told, seventeen
iyears ago. OF somo OF the upper ant
more exposed layers, which IS ye
exhibit no signs OF disintegrat,on Q
scaling. The quarry from which it !
proposed to take the stone tor tn
Capitol is halt mile from that vii
itcd by us, and there tho oolitic ston
is nineteen feet in thickness. w
did not 60 there, but understand it
substantially identical with the fir,
quarry, in tho character Of materia
i The Tama Citizen, lsome tim
since, cited there instances whel
the Oxford stone had been used
that vicinity.