Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1889-05-19

others lodging in various positions alo..
both sides of the rsvine.
The original ledge, though it can ac...
ly be so called in the ordinary accentaDS
of the term, since its greatest depth in -
hill is only 40 o. 45 feet and il face, sl. VI
the north side of the ravine scsreslv ~.
feet, is near the top Of the steepest no,,i -
of the hill and lies on a stratum of ~
rock, which here and there merVes LA "a
masses of regularly and irrfgularly s,r ~
fed sandstones; in one place this urda'I
ing rock, which approaches congloms.iy
in it's character, has been 80 worn h. ~ ~
floods that before long another As
boulder will be precipitated into tn -, ase
below. In all probability this singlss - .,ss
will weigh between 1,5o0 and 2,O00 , ,OcS
The best OF reasons can be given ~ .'a'
signing to these sandstones a LsursS,.!4' a.
origin. In the first place, they do no1 -''aa
stitute an integral portion Of any ofAs ~, ~"
Of this neighborhOOd, SINCE they do No, 'r ..
out in other and more favorable locs,g'.'0
for such out-cropping. Secondly 6l''ls
no contained fossils in the rock, even n''
rhizopod, cocoon canGdense, supposed !, l'
ist in Lsurentian rock, is lacking ~. 1
The rocks are entirely too massiue n 5-Il
signed to any of the strata of this ~,
borhood, or, in fact, to any the la,s, -
generally, one large, fat, trisDgus, ,. .r.r
measures over 40 feet in length aas,..oS
Is feet thick, without a single 7-1!
seam in the whole mass. FOURTH
qualification Of the rocks when seen IN =.
ton, would convince the most skeo,io.;
of their origin; the unmistakable. ono.
seen, er-to-be-forgotten, irregular. wa,
qualification OF Lsurentian sandsto,:.
would Of itself assign TO them their pron.,
place. There would be no difficulty her.
in quarrying stones to measure 3Oxl5xlO.
where proper care is exercised the rock.
split true, remarkably so for this clas
OF stones, the only tools required bsia,
picks, sledges aud wedges; but as stones d
this size are no required, those being q ua,.
ried now rarely exceeding 6x2x2 feet. M
Dolbee resorts TO the use of drills and pov.
der, to get the boulders into slabs of s1i,.
able thickness.
Since the ease with which these bD,.
boulders are laid open, results not LINZ
in the skill shown in manipulating then
the method pursued may interest yo7,
readers; one illustration will suffice
A large rock stood on end in the rsvi,s
the small stream trickling around lie has
1t WAS nearly square at the bottom ann,
l6x20 feet, one side narrowing eighty ~
wards the top, portion of another si6s
was broken off near the top which mas,-
ured 10x12 feet, the rock when irsct1rss
measured 90 feet in the perpendicuhr. tbs
mass was roughly calculated by Nj. DJ.
bee to contain about 5000 cable f.e, NJ
good stone, the average waste in the Who'll
quarry being hardly one ton in i've hun.
bred.
The trees, including several dogwooi.
one being twenty-five high, vines a.,
other accumulated rubbish was cles,si
off; hole twelve feet deep was drlS
near the center of the top of the rock, tie,
with the picks triangular gutter lbol;
three inches deep was made across The
short diameter, the wedges were inserted
and hammered well down. When all vas
ready nearly two pounds of powder was IN.
serted and discharged. The report was
not audible one-eighth of a mile away, but
the rock was, for all practical purposes,
split perfectly true from top to bottom; q
double charge of powder was then inserted
and discharged, when the lower portion Of
the rock quietly toppled over into the rs
vine belo Y with hardly splinter broken
off by the fall The upper portion va.
slightly larger and, being wedged at the
base by rocks higher up the gulch, re-
NAMED stationary.
Altogether, the quarry probably con.
tains nearly half million tons OF rock
hey occupy such odd positions that, COZ.
cred as they are by bushes, ivy and iefns
they cannot fail to interest all who behold
them, ever present though silent witnesses
of one Of natures most gigantic move
ments.
Their beauty is slowly but surely de-
parting; az their sides reverbersie
under the continual blows Of the sle1gss
one can easily imagine each noisy, resonant
echo to be an oft repeated protest sgsins.
the iconOclsstic instincts of man. Shs.
we say Justly or unjustly?
Beyond a doubt, the structures ito
which these stones will enter, must cr1n.
BILE away before even an sppreciable laps
of time has occurred when compared with
the ages during which these rocks have
quietly rested in that little rsyine, alone
the eternal silence of the fores, broken
only by the warbling Of birds, The eyes OF
wild beasts and the occasional war whoops
of Indians.
The utter insignificance Of mans works
in endurance, passes beyond any Just esu'
mate as we lay our band on one OF these
boulders end feel of its scared and
wrinkled face, and think Of it's probable
age, of its many experiences in that one
great and memorable trip on and in
glacier, of how often the elements Of tbs
same rock have been wrought and re
wrought, submerged and elevated, hested
and cooled during the gradual lapse Of age
in which this our home was being made
for us, being fitted in fact for the varyin.
conditions and requirements attendant
on the necessaries of our being and or
social progress as race.
THE PROFESSOR.