Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-07-11
The Building Stones of the United


The range that the census work is
taking in Washington will make the re-
port, when completed, an exposition of
the resources Of the United States in
every branch of production the most
thorough that has ever issued from any
press. One of the investigations now
going on relates to our quarries of build
ing stone and of slate and stone used for
ornamental purposes. The report will
cover the capital employed in this branch
of business, the quarries from which the
stone is taken, the mode of quarrying,
the wages of skilled and common labor
engaged in getting out. dressing and Or
namenting stone, and also an inquiry into
the qualities of the several kinds of stone,
whether of sandstone, limestone,
granite, marble, cOquina or any other.
To this end multitude of cubes four
inches long have been sent to the bureau
from different parts of the country for
investigation. One of the objects of
this investigation is to find out what
minerals each of the buildings and orna-
mental stones contains, and to ascertain
the strength of each. and how each will
be affected under different conditions as
to temperature. DIR. George w. Halves,
who has charge of this particular
branch of the census work, has
been explaining to a correspondent
of the New York Tribune how differ
ent stones are affected by differences of
climate, and what they show under mi
croscOpic and chemical analysis. Taking
up block of cOquina-a species of shell
rock out of which the old Spanish fort at
st. Augustine, Fla, is built-he said
that, while it answered admirably for a
building stone in Florida, if house were
built of it in New York it would soon
tumble down. "On the other hand,
those gfgnite blocks, which are appa-
rently indestructible, and which are
so valuable a building stone in
New York, would soon deteriorate-
rot, so to speak-in the Florida
climate" Portland sandstone, if set on
edge in walls, will flake from the absorp-
ton of moisture and the alterations of
the weather Examples of this fact in
respect to most sandstones are seen
everywhere in our cities. In Florida
there is a quarry of a kind of sandstone
which, when examined by the bureau,
was found to contain sixteen per cent.
of phosphoric acid, and was, therefore,
more valuable as fertilizer than as a
building stone. DIR. Halves explained
the reason why Quincy granite flies
all to PIECES IN ne BY BY showing o1 iIt;
'.ns1 1t is full of cells containing air and
minute bubbles of water, easily to be
seen under microscope Many other
blocks of stone were taken up and com
mented upon. and their uses and defects
pointed out. An examination of this
kind with the facts bearing upon the
adaptability of the stones for building
and ornamental purposes, and the climate
to which they are best suited, when en-
bodied in the census report, will be
of great value to quarrymen, stone
cutters and builders, as well as to those
who propose to use stone for Orna.
mental purposes in editices for residence,
or in stores and warehouses. The
strength of stone is not difficult to ascer
tain, but its resisting and absorbent
powers, how it is affected by wet and
heat and cold and by exposure to fire, is
a branch of knowledge that has been
acquired by few architects in this coun
try, and to the general public is not
known at all At the great Chicago
and Boston fires it was found that the
stone structures that were thought
most secure crumbled away under
the glowing furnace heat of flame, while
the walls of those built of well burned
brick stood in many cases firm and
strong in the midst of the surrounding
ruins. The Census Bureau is, therefore,
doing good service in instituting an
inquiry into the qualities of the different
kinds of stone used for building or orna-
mental purposes, and in bringing for
ward and giving publicity to varieties
that have not yet been put to any struc-
tural or architectural use.