Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-09-26
THE BARRE QUARRIBS.
a Glimpse Of nm Immense vermont In-
dustry.


A visitor to Barre and its quarries can
not be expected TO present a volume of sta
tistics bat he may easily tell of a few re-
suits Of the work of the past five years.
Nearly all the development Of this indus
try has taken place in the five years Just
past.
"Millstone Hill, distant about four miles
from Barre village, used to be looked upon
simply as sheep pastures and some of it of
poor quality, worth hardly anything. Now
it could not be bought for millions Of dol.
lars. It is stored with vast amounts of
wealth, unlimited excepting as human ca
pacity for development is limited On ev-
cry side of it are the quarries on every
side are bursting out aggregations of the
accumulated resources Of past ages which
know no limit in all probability. The rat
tie of the steam mill and the steady blow
Of the hammers can be heard in twenty
quarries at the same time aud the combined
output is something enormous.
From Barre village railroad has been
built TO the quarries four miles away. The
Wetmore and Morse quarry the terminus
than the land in the village. To overcome
this heavy grade the railroad switches back
and forth several times, each time mount
ing higher. The total length is fourteen
miles excluding the maze Of side tracks
leading to every prominent quarry. Three
| engines are kept at work all the time
and another will soon be needed. Two
stay all the time at the quarries and one
hauls or pushes the trains to and from the
village. Going up the engine is behind
and going down it is in front, thus reduc.
ing chances of accident to a minimum.
From twenty to fifty carloads of stone are
taken down each day the largest number
ever taken down in one day was hfty.sev.
en-. Good observation cars are provided
and the round trip costs only 40 cents The
road was built by the forming Of local
company aud bonding the town 1t was a
good investment, for without it no such de
velopment would have been possible in SO
short time.
To give people some idea of the vast
amount Of granite yet left in that hill, fol
lowing are the figures Of practical man.
one who understands thoroughly the busi
ness. The Wetmore and Morse quarry i.
| 1000 by 800 by 100 feet in size and con
tains 1000, 900 cubic feet worth Sl2j a
cubic foot making total value of SOP.
! 800, 900. 1t must be remembered that this
/ is only one Of the many quarries scattered
about the region, all yielding stone as valu.
able as this
The granite is used for monumental pur
| poses, building, paving, anything in fact
that such stone can be used for. For a
| long time the question Of waste troubled
| the quarrymen, but now it is worked ~
/ into paving stones - bys by4 inches, which
are placed on end For such purposes the
stone is unsurpassed.
In Willlamstown are what are known a,
/ boulder quarries, a somewhat different
| stone, aud better stock for monuments, for
1t Is darker and takes finer polish In
| this deposit seams divide the stone into
large pieces something like immense boul
| ders, hence the name
Great quantities of the lighter stone are
unfit Tor monuments because of iron spots
which rust on exposure to the elements
often utterly spelling a good block. Fraud
Is too often practiced and the purchaser
finds TO his sorrow that high priced stone
is valueless
The largest block ever quarried was A.
feet long, seven feet square at the base and
four feet square at the top. One lies in
the Gazeley quarry now 43 feet long and
one and one half feet square. 1t is worth
| $3.50 as it lies. Senator Leland Stanford
of California has just had this stone for a
tomb got out, costing a number of hundred
thousand dollars in the rough A Milwau.
kee society for the prevention of cruelty
TO animals has had stone shipped for a
fountain costing S2O, 900 Ali this from
the Wetmore and Morse quarry. Others
are doing just as much
| close this hastily written sketch, prom
lsing 10 tell you more later.