The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-08-10
IN A SODA FOUNTAIN.
Many Varieties of Marble Used In
Construction.

Many Varieties of Marble Used In
Construction.
From, the Baltimore Herald
"You wouldn't think" remarked marble
polisher, as he stood slipping vanilla cream
in Baltimore street drug store; ''you
wouldn't think what an amount of time and
labor has been expended in bringing that
soda water fountain into it's present hand
some shape. Look at the varieties of mar
bic and recall the names of the countries
from which they came. We have plenty of
white marble here, but the highly colored
varieties mostly come from Italy, Spain,
France, Mexico, Algeria, Belgium and
Portugal
THAT marble, white, vernal and clouded
with bluish-gray, is Italian. The pure por-
celain white is Etruriau. The other, a
shaded cream white, veined with dark
gray, is Saragossa marble. That exquisite
piece of stone in the fountain which you
see is a transparent white, veined with
Opaque yellow, is the Mexican onyx The
golden yellow marble over yonder, that
piece clouded with white and veined with
olive and brown, comes from quarries at
Sienna. The Bardiglio is that marble of
a delicately veined gray, while that other
gray of pearl shade, das red wi h cor
nelian red, is the Sarrancolin. The speci-
men of Tennessee marble is not bad; you
notice it, that chocolate, frosted with white
The pronounced green block came from
Genoa, and that reddish piece near by is
Lisbon marble; the deep red shaded with
brown is Gryotte of France. and the
purplish red, notified with pearl white, what
is known as the Gryotte Fleure The Bel
gian marble is the velvety black, very rich,
ana that piece of yellow stone with the pur-
pie veins is an African specimen
(Which is the better stonep
"Well, the colored marbles retain their
freshness longer. They can be repolished
after many years use."
Then the Stone-polisher, who was In an
instructive mood, proceeded to trace the
marble from the quarry to the soda foun-
tain.
1.-THE marble" said he. 'tis extracted from
the quarry in oblong blocks, cut out by
means of wedges. Except when designed
for statuary or building purposes, the first
thing the manufacturer does is to place the
block of marble under gang saw in order
to saw it into slabs The gang saw
consists merely of a series of par
allel saws, to which an oscil-
lating motion is impaired while they are
kept fed with sand and water. When they
come from the gang-saw the slabs are gen
orally about one and one-eighth inches
thick, so that they may dress to one inch
when rubbed on both sides. The slabs are
then inspected. To the inexperienced eye
the rough slabs are much alike, and, while
the good qualities of the slab are only fully
brought out under the polisher's mop, the
imperceptible defects are also magnified
very much. 1t is, therefore, necessary to
detect flaws before the polishing begins.
The perfect slabs are cut into required
lengths by rip-saw and passed to the rub
hirrr ha6 RI h1A hhaI cu1OOfh Tho h
bling bed consists of solid horizontal cast
iron wheel about four inches thick and
usually about IL or IL feet in diameter
This wheel is fixed to vertical shaft which
revolves on two chilled steel friction balls,
placed one upon the other, and inclosed in a
cast iron box which is kept well supplied
with OIL The box itself is firmly imbedded
in a stone foundation, and the entire struc-
ture is made rs true and as steady as pos
sible. 1t requires great deal
of care and attention to keep
the rubbing bed perfectly true; and
it is sometimes necessary to rub 10 down for
a whole week with bluestone in order to
keep the surface smooth.
when the slab leaves the rubbing bed it
is comparatively smooth, and is ready to be
cut out by hand into its final shape. 1t
then passes into the hands of the polishers,
who are provided with rubbers made of
ordinary ticking rolled up into mop of
about three or four inches in diameter and
sewed firmly through and through. With
these they rub the surface of the slab, back
and forth, hour after hour, until they bring
out the high polish, so much admired. The
marble is first rubbed with grit them with
pumice stone, aud then with hone. On
some white marbles oxalic acid is then used,
and finally the finishing touches are given
with putty of ENC. On colored marbles
emery and French putty, prepared with
sulphur and lead, are used. 1t is estimated
that each square foot of surface of polished
marble costs one man about four hours Of
work.
"In gliding four or five leaves are blown
into q cushion made of board, covered with
chamois. The glider cuts it into strips q
quarter of an inch wide, lays it on the
marble with his tip then 'cottons' it on,
after which he rubs it down with a fine
hair brush in order to smooth the laps and
form an even and continuous surface. He
then cleans off the edges with cutie fish.
Great dexterity is acquired by gilders,
and they seem to handle with the greatest
ease the delicate gold leaf which the
slightest breath of air is sufficient to carry
off, and which in inexperienced hands is
utterly unmanageable.
1.-THE variegated, dark-colored marbles
are most expensive, but they are also gen.
orally harder and more durable, as well AZ
more beautiful than those that are white
or light colored. The common white
marble, which is not so valuable from an
ornamental point of view, has another value
as being the best basis for the production
of carbonic acid gas for the manufacture Of
soda water and all other carbonated bev-
erages, and large trade is dove in it for
this purpose. 1t has succeeded whiting and
bicarbonate of soda in this respect on ac-
count of its cheapness. A barrel of good
marble dust, weighing about 400 pounds,
costs about 81 %. An equal quantity Of
whiting costs about So 80, and produces no
more gas A like weight Of bicarbonate Of
soda produces double amount of gas, but
costs about 81.
"As far os chemical composition Is con-
cerned, marble and whiting are analogous
both are carbonates of lime, and, when
equally pure, both contain about the same
amount of carbonic acid. Whiting, how
ever, is rarely, il ever. as pure as marble.
It consists chiefly OF the remains of ex
tremely small animalcul@."
Are you weak and weary, overworked
~