Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1872-03-27

for Barre granite is increasing every year ;
nit far from | 900 tons, or 10000 cubic feet
have been quarred the past season. A large
rart Of this has been sent TO western Yer.
mont and northern New York Orders for
it, understand, have been recently received
from Ohio and Illinois Let the same amount
Of money be expended and the same energy
put forth for developing the granite Of Wash
ngton County as there have been in the mar
bic enterprise Of Rutland County, and no one
would doubt the success Of the undertaking
To quarry marble, to dig gold, to mine coal,
copper or iron, and raise them to the surface
Of the earth, oitentimos requires an immense
outlay Of funds for mere preparatory work :
and frequently all the efforts Of the projectors
Of these enterprises prove abortiyc. To
quarry the granite Of Washington County
there is no risk in the undertaking; the ma
terial sought is seen enough lies above the
general level of the surrounding country to
supply, for hundreds Of years, any reasonable
demand.
On the two hills 10 Barre the granite is
found in nearly horizontal strata varying in
thickness from two inches to ten feet. From
this some biologists suppose it to be gncs'-
which rock is composed Of the same minerals
and differs only from granite by having a dis
tincily stratifed or slaiy structure. There
are cases. says President Hitchcock, where
it is very difficult to decide whether the rock
be stratifed or not even those rocks which
all biologists concode to be granite, such as
these at Barre. when worked evince such
disposition to split in certain direction that
the workmen generally regard them as strait.
fed rocks the strata corresponding with the
rift or cleavage planes, and intelligent quar-
rymen working upon granite are as careful
to determine the direction Of the rift as
those engaged in quarrying slate"
Granite can readily be split at right angles
with that of the rift or cleavage, but not in
diagonal direction For pillars designed to
sustain great weight, the utmost care should
be taken to have the length correspond with
the cleavage or rift. Taking advantage Of
this Characteristic, the quarrymen run their
lines on the rift from ten to two hundred feet
in length aud with the aid Of half-rounds
aud wedges, the blocks are separated from the
tables or sheets. 1t often happens when blocks
of large dimensions are wanted, that a new
face or edge Of sheet must be laid open I;
to remove the edges Of the everything sheets,
and expose layer Of suitable thickness, pow
der is used to throw off the upper strata. To
a man who has never seen granite quarried,
it seems a mystery how blocks seventy-hye or
hundred feet long, six feet wide, and from
four to six feet thick, can be cut almost as
straight as if sawed from bed Of solid rock.
One block, quarried last season on Cobble
Hill, seventy-fve feet long, contained no less
than 800 cubic feet, aud weighed not far
from % tons.
Granite like all the other productions Of
nature, requires the incorporation Of human
industry to give it an exchangcabIe value.
The water of the Merrimack, for thousands
of years, flowed over the rapids opposite the
cities of Lowell, Manchester and Lawrence
and no one sixty years ago considered it Of
any practical account but directed by in
telligence aud human skill, it is the source Of
great wealth, aud its loss would be felt not
only at home but throughout the world.
The timber Of our forests in the place OF
its growth has small commercial value, but
as soon as it is combined with the labor OF
the umbermen, it becomes an element Of the
utmost importance to the prosperity Of the
State
The inherent energy and the hidden actiyi-
ty of the soil left uncontrolled by human in.
dustry aid intelligence, would never spring
up into the golden corn, or clo;hc our field.
with the rich haryests of grain.
The thousand streams Of Vermont will al
ways, as they ever have, continue to leap from
rock to rock in their channels until the men
Of energy and means shall direct their power
to effect such changes in the raw materials Of
our State as shall confer upon these sub
stances an intrinsic value that will not only
enrich the producer, but in the change leave
a large margin for the manufacturer.
In like manner the granite of Washington
County, to become valuable to its owners and
a source Of wealth to the County, needs for
its development the hand Of human industry
and skill to give it form and direct its mqve-
ments.