Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-09-19
QUARRYING GRANITE.
WHERE THE STONE COMES FROM
AND HOW DISCOVERED.

FNNS ''S'' S'SSSF S'hSS'
skim inning on Sod and Soil and Blasting
Out a Ledge-spIitting the stone-Pav-
Ing Granite-Red Granite Of Aberdeen,
Scotland.
A reporter in an interview with an old
time contractor obtained the following infor-
nation in regard to granite: AIN the first
place, granite appears to be the fundamental
rock Of the earths crust and is nearly always
found in its perfect state in mountainous
regions. To be sure, it is occasionally found
as the superficial rock in fiat or rolling
plains, but most always is found in hills and
mountains 1t is the hardest to get at of any
Of the more valuable of the building rocks,
but when uncovered and opened up is COM
paratively easy to work into rough shapes,
but polishing is another matter"
"How is il discoveredF
"Genernlly it crops out on the face Of a
cliff high up on a hill or mountain, hundreds
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 out ledge for the workmen.
Then they hunt for seams and fissures to lessen
tiic WI VI DDufiliIltN
acres have to be skinned before single seam
or crack can be found But when they find
a seam they have half solved the problem of
quarrying, because the seams show which
way the granite will work most easily"
Then granite has grainlr
SPLITTING THE STONE
"Yes, a sort Of grain-enough, anyhow, to
make 1t split accurately by proper manipula-
allel 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 from five to ten inches
apart"
Then be blasts it out and that's all there is
of it,
Scarcely. When he has drilled around a
section ten or twenty feet wide by forty TO
eighty long he takes lot Of half round irons,
pointed like the drills, and sets them in the
holes in pairs, fiat sides together, of course.
Next he sets in his feathers, which are moth
ing but small, slender, and very tough steel
wedges He goes along with light hammer
and begins driving in his wedges with equal
force, so that the strain increases evenly all
along the line. Pretty soon there is sharp
report and the big granite rectapgle jumps
up OUT Oh l1s PED WIN dep hollow on lts
uhoer suriace' tnere oeihg no means OF get
ui's at tne po'loih center VIII haii rouhds
ahd teatheS
Is tne granite Then hauled 10 the cities 70
be worked upr
NO 10 you suppose they nave derricks
up there op the mountains big enough 10 MT
Z,oVo or o,oVo tois' Inc same process Is re-
he"eo aiohs the gram 10 oFeak the stone
INTO long strips, and II Is then broken apart
nteraiy py sharp Tools ana hammers. VI
course there Is enormous waste, but when
granite found at an there Is generaiIy an
abundance OF II, 50 u lsnt much Oh an OBJECT
10 save IL Ihe difhculty IN working 1t Is
what makes IL cost The granite blocks used
In these streets are worked down from the
great rectangular masses Just as 1 have said
OUR PAVING GRANITE
:" mere does our paving granite come from,
TO be definite"
Kockport and Quincy, Mas, and the coast
OF Maine are furnishing the most oil what we
are usin here; but nne paving and building
granite Is found IN tine Thousand Islands and
VI New brunswick
How Is IL shippedr
Pretty much as its laid on the sidewalks.
only not in as great bulk. A hox car will
hold l ,2oV blocks, which are worth only about
slso car 80 you see the railroads get "A
mighty TAT thing out oil the transportation, as
compared with the value OF the stuff
Nv here Is the finest granite foundF
Aberdeen, Scotland That Is tse red gran,