Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1886-09-09
GRANITE.
How 1t Is Quarried and Prepared for Tss-
Where the Stone Comes From

How Ii Is Quarried and Prepared for Tss
Where the Stone Comes From.
A reporter of the Cincinnati SIM !,
an interview with an old time contractn.
obtained the following information i,
regard to granite; IL the frrt nlaco
granite appears to be the Fundamental
rock of the earth's crust, and isnearlv al
ways found in its perfect state in NOM.
famous regions. To be sure. il Is 40
casionaiiy found as the superficial rocL
iii flat or rolling plains, but most ALWAYS
Is found in hills and mountains. IT'S
the hardest to get at of any of the more
valuable of the building rocks, but when
uncovered and opened up is compare
lively easy to work into rough shapes
but polishing is another natter
How is it discovered?n
Generally it crops out on the face of
a cliff high up on hill or mountain hun
dreds of feet above convenient avenues
of travel. The first thing to be done is
to climb up and skin the quarry that is
strip off sod and soil and blast ont n
ledge for the workmen. Then they HINT
for seams and assures to lessen the work
of blasting Sometimes acres upon acres
have to be skinned before single seam
or crack can be found Bat when they
find seam they have half solved the
problem of quarrying because the seams
show which way the granite will work
most easily
Then granite has grainy"
"Yes, a sort Of grain enough, sny how,
to make 1t split accurately by proper
manipulation. Frequently the seams
traverse in parallel lines, in which cases
the workman has comparative picnic
First he drills long rows of holes from
three and half inches to ten feet in
depth and five TO ten inches apart
"Then he blasts it out and that's all
there is of it ~
Scarcely When he has drilled around
section ten or twenty feet wide by forty
to eighty long he takes lot of half round
irons, pointed Like drills, and sets them
in the holes ia pairs, fiat sides together,
of course. NEXT he sets in his feathers,
which are nothing but small slender, and
very tough steel wedges. He goes along
with light hamAler and begins driving
in his wedges with equal force, so that
the strain increases eventually all along
the line. Pretty soon there is ? sharp re-
port and the big granite rectangle jumps
up out of its bed with deep hollow on
| its under surface, there being no means
of getting at the bottom center with halt
rounds and feathers
as the granite then hauled to the cities.
to be worked up"
"No. Do you suppose they have der
ricks up there on the mountains big
enough to lift two or three hundred tons?
The same process is renewed along the
grain to break the stone into long strips,
and it is. then broken apart laterallY by
sharp tools and hammers. OF course
there is enormous waste, but when gran
lite is found there is generally an abund-
ance of it, so it isn't much. of an object
to save it. The difficulty in working it is
what makes ii cost The granite blocks
used in these streets are worked down
from the great rectangular masses just as
/ have said.'
where does our paving granite come
from, to be definitey"
"Rookport and Quincy, Mass, and the
coast of Maine are furnishing the most
of what we are using here; but fine paw
ing and building granite is found in. the
Thousand islands and IN New Bruins
wick
How Isl it shipped"
Pretty much as it's laid on the side
walks, only not in as great a bulk. A
box car will hold 1900 blocks, which are
worth only 1920 car. SO you sec the
railroads get mighty fat thing out of the
transportation, as compared with the val-
ne of the stuff"
"Where is the finest granite in the world
foundgn
Aberdeen, Scotland That is the red
granite, which is full of quartz. 1t takes
on magnificent polish, but you've prob.
ably noticed that they don't carve II
, deliberately. If a mGn,vants monument
Of Scotch granite to hold his csdaFel
down he must be satisfied with very g1liet
designs. But it holds its sharp edges
when they're once On, for ages, almost
The Hgyptians had tAe granite business:
{ down to a finer point than any other peo
! pie on the round earth. They we1en
! satisfied with shinGmg it up, but they
carved it and worked it as a baker work:
{ gingerbread.
Another thing 5he people dent gen
orally know, is thGt many of the so-ealleo
= precious stones ere nothing bus quartz
\ one of the principal constituents of gran
; ibe. Agate, amethyst, carnelian> cats
Y eye, chalcedony. geode, and Jasper arr
Y all quartz formations, and oar pleasure
5 maps and ga1age carts arc trundlins
e over acres of saGh rubbish cTery day o
= the year.
s. "Yet people call us 0ineInnatian
: stingy Science found way 10 counter
: felt these stones in paste though, jus
a about the same time she Discovered hoN
+ common is 5hs natural article, so that tn
g market is sarfeiied with both, and neithe
2 Is wanted Brazilian pe1dle' spectacle
are made from quartz. and Californl
), diamonds, when not arti dcial, are worket
). from large clear masses OF quartz, whlc'
( are found In Madagascar"
I The Niagara whirlpool.
Philadelphia North American.