Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-04-04
HOW STONE is QUARRlEO.

Reporter ofthe ST. Louis Globe Demos rst Visited
the Granite Quarries from whence the City Re-
ceives its Pavement Blocks, and Describes the
Modus operandi of Qusrryng as Follows:
The mechanical equipment OF the
quaries is as follows Four hosting
engines and derricks, tour blacksmiths'
shops, two travelling derrlcks, two stone
cutting sheds With their apparatus, four
steam drills, and kits OF tools for 300
men, the tools being made of the best
English steel. There is a similar plant
to this at Knob Lick, besides which
there are there the lathes and other mach
1nery used IN polishing granite. On the
day when the reporter was at the quar-
RES there were 236 men..at work, of whom
about half are skilled workmen. who.
working by the piece, earn wages aver
aging 300 month. Nearly all of these
skilled workmen are Scotchmen who
have come fresh over from the quarr1es
OF Perthshire and Aberdeenshire, and the
skill they exhibit in handling and cutting
this most refractory of rocks is some
thing marvellous to one not used to the
sight. From the moving of an enormous
mass many tons in weight from its bed
IN the quarry face, to the final gentle
chipping of the "reeler," who reduces
the paving blocks to regularity of shape,
all seems to be done with as much ease
as ii the material wrought upon were as
light and easily cut as a bolt of Calico
In one OF the great quarry holes there
were two men gently tapping, with their
steel hammers, little steel pegs set hori-
zOntally in row at intervals of about
three inches along the face Of mass of
granite at least fourteen feet long and
and six feet from it's upper surface. The
| pegs above spoken Of were found to be
short wedges of steel, about four or FIVE
inches long and half an inch in diameter
at the base The holes In which they
were set had, of course, to be drilled for
their reception, the drill holes being sew
eral inches deeper than the length of the
"plug" and made large enough to re-
ceive the "feathers," while leaving
space for the insertion of thesteel wedge
between them. The Feathers are two
, pieces of half-round iron, about four
inches long and tapered slightly at one
end. These, inserted in the drill holes
and separated at the outward ends, leave
space enough for the wedge-shaped steel
"plug" to be driven securely in. When
row of the "plugs and feathers are
driven ID, the skilled stone-cutter walks
slowly up and down, hitting each plug
in turn a sound tap and listening to the
return sound. The ear plays as import
ant a part III this work as either eye or
hand. For long time the successive
blows, In the case referred to, were
followed by sharp singing
sound almost alike to, but much
more acute than, the ringing buzz of the
mosquito when he is about to settle. 1t
Is peculiarly lively noise, acutely ring
ing on the ear. After each successive
blow the operator waited awhile, listen
ing as cautiously as though he were
afraid he might disturb wasp's nest.
Said the reporter:
"Why do you wait and watch so after
striking the plugs ?"
To gle it time, mon; TO gle the pooer
time to operate, ye keD."
1t seems that too much hurry would
defeat the design of the labor.
The hammer blows would only crush
out useless holes in the granite, or wear
away steel or iron if they were too vio-
lent or too frequently repeated. Time
must be given to allow the vibration of
the particles to penetrate along and
through the plane of the line of attack.
Until the vibration is complete and the
shock has reverberated, additional blows
would but check the rhythmic operation
of the force, and, if they did not crush,
would tend to create uneven fractures
and to waste valuable material. After
many SUGGESTIONS of blows had been Civ
en- there came a sudden change in the
sound-sudden, though slight at first.
The clear, ringing hum was duller. The
workman stopped and listened. A slight
ripping sound was heard, and seam
gradually stretched from end to end of
the row of plugs. Each of them was
promptly driven home with powerful
strokes of the hammer and as promptly
removed. The immense mass, weighing
about seventeen tons, was free from the
bed in which it had slept since the
worlds creation, and it's subsequent re-
moval was but question of levers and
derricks, with the preliminary of further
"plug and feathering" in lateral direc-
tions IN order to reduce III into blocks of
reasonably manageable size.
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