The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-07-04
A GREAT MARBLE QUARRY,
THE EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY
IN A SOUTHERN VALLEY.
What Followed From Reading
Georgia Newspaper In a Train
A Marvellous Fortune Unearthed.

A Marvellous Fortune Unearthed
Eight years ago passenger saw /
newspaper upon an empty seat in ca
OF an express train. He unfolded Ii anC
yawned as he glanced over its columns
Finding nothing there of absorbing in
terest, he was about to lay it aside wher
the word "marble," repeatedly printed
caught his eye. 1t stirred the depths o.
his memory. 1t recalled boyhood day.
in the Green Mountains, and family
stories concerning the fortunes of al
uncle. Years before the passenger wa,
born, the uncle was forced to accept al
apparently worthless tract of land il
payment of debt. When perjury crept
upon him in the shade of old age, a marble
quarry was found beneath the surface OF
the neglected tract, The famous Rutland
quarries were developed, and the uncle
became one of the wealthiest men in Yer.
mont. The nephew had played in the
quarries with schoolmates, and had re.
peatedly heard his uncle tell the story OF
their discovery and development. And
ever afterward the word marble had for
him a peculiar fascination. He therefore
became deeply interested in the news.
paper.
The passenger was II. @. Clement, a
clothier of Chicago, and the newspaper
the Atlanta Constitution. The latter con
tanned an article describing the attractions
of Pickens County, Georgia. 1t was in
this description that the word "marble''
repeatedly appeared. The correspondent
asserted that he had seen the outcropping
of marble formation in the bed of Long
Swamp Creek. The story was told in
plain, unvarnished Anglo-Saxon. The
passenger read it with avidity. So deep
ly impressed was he that he crossed over
to Frank Siddall, the Philadelphia soap
man, who sat near by, and called his at
tention to the article. Siddall read it.,
and listened to Clements "reminiscences.
The latter averred that if there was a
shadow of truth to the story there was a
marble quarry in Georgia that would strip
the supremacy from Vermont. With an
eye to business, Siddall suggested visit
to Pickens County, and offered to shoul-
der share of the expense. The offer
was accepted.
The author of the article in the Con-
stitution was first unearthcd. He proved
to be Captain Evan P. Howell, better
known as the "wet editor" of that great
newspaper. Howell had travelled up to
Pickens County on the opening of the
North Georgia Railroad, and had written
up the country, with view of increasing
the circulation of the Constitution. He
said that the outcropping of the mar
BILE was to be found in the Long
Swamp valley, about two miles
from the railroad and forty miles north of
Marietta. With ready courtesy he offered
to go with the Chicago merchant and
point out the spot. They went to the
valley. Clement was buoyant with hope.
The bed of the creek disclosed the vein.
There were also other surface indications
The greatest proof of the purity of the
upheaval, however, was rough hewn mar
BILE blocks taken out by the mountaineers.
There were marble sentinels at the head
of graves in the little private cemeteries
set apart from every mountain farm. The
outcropping was on land owned by the
Tate brothers. 1t was originally discov-
cred by their father, who came to Pick
ems County while Andrew jackson was
President. The Cherokees had not yet
left the country. Mr.. Tate entered it as
the overseer Of new plantation. While
roaming the woods, gun in hand, he dis
covered the vein in the bed of the creek.
The gold mines of Dahlonega were only
thirty-fve miles away, and Tate was
probably prospecting for the precious
metal when he found the marble outcrop
It was dirty white In color and finty.
There was hardly an indication of the
wonderful rock beneath it. Tate, how
ever, seems to have had an intuitive sense
Of the value of the discovery. He fore
saw its future development, secured the
land for song, and retained it to the
day of his death. "Hold on to 1t, boys, :"
he frequently said to his sons. "Keep
your grip, and never let go of it,, Some
day it's sure to be more valuable than the
gold mines at Dahlonega."
The boys were hardy mountaineers.
What they lacked in education they made
up in horse sense. The advent of Glenn
ent did not surprise them. They seemed
to take little interest in his proceedings,
and calmly awaited the conclusion. The
Chicago man went to work with the ut
most caution. He was confident that
there was bed of genuine marble below
him and one Of remarkable purity. He
first ascertained its width, length and
depth. This was the work of experts
sent to the Long Swamp valley on his re-
turn to Chicago. They dug holes and
tested the marble at every point. The
vein was traced two miles and half up
the valley. 1t proved to be over 1000
feet wide. Its actual depth, however,
has never been ascertained. Nothing but
marble has been found after boring 1856
feet. It has been upheaved in solid
Block, and not in layers. 1t has neither
crack nor lamination. A chunk the size
of the Washington monument could be
taken from it. If the mass was heaved
above the earth church as large as St.
Peters In Rome could be carved from it..
Indeed, the pyramids of Egypt might
have been cut from it in solid triangles.
Upon the report of the experts com
pany was formed, and an effort to buy
the property was made. But the Tate
brothers mindful of their fathers in