Daily Republican., 1888-09-18

y employed John Crathers is Mr..
Walkers blacksmith, and took pleas
ure in showing the different implements
employed Ia quarry ing, emitting and
dressing stone. Hammers made II steel
blades boited together are used in cut
ting and squariDg stones. The hammers
are designated by elk cuts and eight cuts
but the more cuts the finer the cutting
After the operation of cutting lengthwise
and c'ossw ise the stone Is ready for the
polishing process. 0niy of late years
has our Brandywlne granite been pol
lshed into monuments and grave stores.
IL makes very foe, smooth glossy sur
face but owing to the hardness and tough
texture of the stone 1t viii not be brought
into active competition for polished work
with other stone more easily and eheaply
polished, Mr.. Walker employs about
one half italian labor but hcne of the
very cheap sort. He pays to his laborers
tro n 30 TO Sll week, while skilled stone
cutters make So, 81 and t5 per day.
George Camperson, Mr.. Walkers veteran
foreman, has been working In this quarry
for 40 years. A little farther on down
the hill slope we come to John MeKen-
DIR ck's quarties, who also employs about
eight hands. Here the same n ode of
quarryiDg is carried on a, description of
which vuld be a repetition of tn at of Mr..
Walkers quarTies Mr.. r.MeKendrick ffndsa
ready market for NIL his curbing in Ches
ter, West Chester and Norristown, P4 !,
u being generally acknowledged that the
Brandywine granite Is superi to any
other known stone for curbing, steps,
coping and gut'eripg.
William Scott is foreman OF these
quarries and Mr. McKendri k is his own
blacksmi h. BE makes a speciality OF
line cui stone according to the drafts for
buildings, A description OF the sizes and
shapes Of the stone needed is sen; to him
when he supplies them in cube squares
octagOns, pentsgons and all other shapes
and when he oils the orders according to
toe drafts he numbers each stone so that
there can be no trouble for the builder to
Place them in their respective places In
this manner he furnished stone Tor the
kennett Square bat k last summer and In
like manner he Is furnishing stone for
another building in that town this sum
mer. A few rods across the brow of the
bill brings us TO George Ooshran's quar-
rles, operated In a similar manner to
taose already described. There three
quarries are all subleased from the Bran
dywine Granita Company under stipula-
lations that not more than eight hands
are to be employed wi hout the consent
of that company. Last but not least we
coue now to the
BRANDYwINE GRANITE COMPANY,
-Four years ago the Baltimore AID Ohio
X abroad Company was building branch
road from Bsllimoe 9 through W lImington
TO Philadelphia. In crossing the b andy
wine bridge over 100 feet high was re-
quired. Mr. Milo Locke was the super.
lnten ent Of the constru tion of that
bridge, and the pillars and abutments
built by him Of Brandywlne granite are
admitted to be the finest and amongst the
most substantial pieces of masonry In the
United States.
The difficulty confronting Mr.. Locke
in building these piers and nbutments was
how to get this granite down from
Ridd es' Banks and up II the tops OF the
piers without mourning an immense ex-
penditure of money. To q man of Mr..
Locke's temper and ingenuity of thought,
this was q small obstacle. The result
was the invention Of the wire cable sys-
tenn operated by small steam engines, by
which huge blocks OF granite were Crap.
pied by monster chains, carried across
the Brandywine and laid in place upon
the highest piers. This invention was
patented by Mr. Locke, and he is IN aet-
ing with a ready sale Of bis valuable
patent. Upon the completion of the
bridge, Mr.. .Lncke, impressed with the
superiority OF the Brandywine granite, be
came resident of Wilmington and com
meneed the organization of the Brandy
wine Granite Company. In this he has
been entirely successful, and the rock
bound hills on the Riddle estate on both
sides Of the brandywlne, are turning out
granite In almost every conceivable shape
and bulk o be shipped to different parts
of the Union. Wire cables span the
Brandywine and upon them granite is
shipped across the c eektp aced upon flat
cars and started for its destination. The
Is now shipping granite to the
great aqueduct at New York, to Reedy
Island and to the Breakwater. Besides,
the company has contract for delivering
~ COO feet of eurbing in Washington
city, which they are now filling,
A speciality Is also made of getting out
Belgian blocks, made from stone not suit
able for many other purposes. Men get
out these blocks by the piece, being paid
two cents apiece, and they make from So
to s. per day. Great skill Is exercised in
making these blocks By knowing ex-
actly where to strike a cube with the
sharp edge of hammer, 1t flies open like
a piece Of straight grained wood. A few
days ago stone weighing 10 tons was
furnished for the Wilmington Electric
Light Company for bed for one of their
engines BY the aid OF wire cables car
20 tons can be load d In Is or 20
minutes. The company employs about
200 hauds at their works aud 100 addi-
tional at points of delivery for stone. A
large proportion of the hands are Italians,
who are said to work more regular and
are less intoxicated than other workmen.
Wages are the same to all, ranging from
10 to Sl2 per week, but skilled workmen
Of whom there are about 30, work By the
piece and make from s. to "a per day. |
Steam drills are almost exclusively used
In these guarries
Mr. Locke says the country is just |
awakening to the superiority of the
granite, and the more that is |
known OF it the more popular it will be
come. Mr. Whiteel is manager at the |
works and Is enthusiastic oyer the great
success of the company.
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