St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-03-05

For number of years, and in fact ever since
the settlement of this section began the Man
kato quarries have been regarded as the best
in the northwest, but it has been within the
past few years that their real wealth and vast
commercial importance has been fully appre-
cated or their resources anything like prop
erly developed.
During the past year the enormous amount
of 10000 cars of stone for building and
bridge purposes have been shipped from the
different Mankato quarries to all points in
the northwest. A large bridge across the
Missouri at Blair, Nebraska, the great four
track viaduct bridge at Minneapolis over the
Mississippi, the Seventh street bridge at
st. Paul and numberless public and
private structures have drawn their
material from the inexhaustible
and incompatible Mankato quarries.
Besides W. B. Craig Il Co., Capt. j. R.
Beatty and some smaller dealers, the several
railroad companies who run in here have
quarries of their own and take out a vast
amount annually for their own use. The
supply is ample for hundreds of years to come
and the quarrying and caring OF their natur-
al resource employs host of men which is
being augmented year by year, as the de-
mand increases and the facilities for handling
and shipping become better. All companies
and individuals now handling stone are eX-
pecting to increase their force the coming
year and turn out more rock.
LIME.
The most valuable lime for brick or stone
work burned in Minnesota is the celebrated
Mankato lime. The elements which produce
cement seem to enter into the rock forma-
ton all about here to greater or less degree,
and hence fo7 building purposes the lime is
invaluable as its adhesiveness is so great.
Capt. J. R. Beatty, one of the heaviest deal
ers, expects to burn three times as much as
usual this year.
MANKATO CEMENT.
For over thirty years Capt j. r. Beatty,
who has been engaged in the stone and lime
business has studied the character of
the formation and has constantly been max
ing experiments to test the quality and value
of the lodges which exist here. Long years
ago he discovered that the lime which he
burned possessed greater adhesive qualities
when placed in contact with stone or brick
than any lime in this section. He also dis
covered unmistakable evidences of the alb
sence of drift in the formation which, to-
gether with the adhesive qualities
of his lime and the desire to invent con-
crete that would withstand our severe winter
frosts led him to experiment and inVesti-
gate still further. He became convinced
that the rock formation contained the ele-
ments of natural cement to a very marked
degree, and experiments revealed to him the
fact that his quarry contained layer OF thin
shale that was cement itself. This, however,
he found to be of insufficient quantity and
not easily enough accessible to be made avail
able. Being convinced that lodges of cement
rock must exist somewhere in this vicinity
he continued his researches, and was at last
rewarded about five years ago with the dis
covery of a cement stone ledge.
His diacoyery was followed up by careful
tests, which were so eminently successful in
their results as to at last attract the attention
of the Standard Cement company, of New
York, who came upon the ground and OBJ
tanned the property upon which the ledge
was located, and began last week the erection
of very substantial and valuable cement
works. The company have built their build
ings of stone, with iron roofs, and have ex
pended in buildings, kilns and machiner!