, 1891-01-09
BUILDING STONE.
It Receives Consideration at the
Hands of a Contractor.
Some Reasons Why the Business
Should be Developed.
Some Methods Suggested to En-
courage Home Industry.

~
convention on the subject of Wyoming
building S one. There is no subject more
worthy of practical attention than this one
of building stone. In addressing the con-
vention Mr.. Keefe said:
You have called upon me at a late day
to give a report of the stone industry Of
Wyoming and its adjoining neighbors.
In complying with your request | will
ask your indulgence for a few moments to
call your attention to the early days OF
1875. when permanent buildings were, l
might say, first started. A good quality
OF stone was then an expensive luxury,
and all the buildings up to 1876 aud 1877
were placed upon an interior stone, a som
position of prairie limestone, shells and
boulders.
When | first commenced business here
10 the year 1877, l found it difficult to Sc
cure good stone. 1 started to Granite
canyon, the nearest point to the railroad,
and there | found rock. which is of an
excellent quality, but very expensive to
quarry. l, however, employed men to
quarry the stone, and used them in the
erection of many buildings and continued
their use until the Fort Collins q~uarries
were opened and their product placed
upon the market. From that time on we
had a chance to erect good work. Short
ly after receiving the Fort Collins stone
in our market the question of Wyoming
stone began to be agitated. and soon be-
came the absorbing topic with our build
ers, and a search among the hills was
soon rewarded by the finding of an excel
lent quality OF building stone which was
at once put to practical use, and for the
fret time Wyoming building stone found
a temporary place in our market. The
stone found was used in the Central school
building, for trimming in the Knights of
Pythias block, South Side school house
and many other buildings, giving the most
perfect satisfaction in every case.
At this time we were Obliged to haul
by team all building stone used distance
of from fifteen to eighteen miles, from
Gilchrist's ranch to Silver Crown. The
people of Cheyenne instead Of using the
materials so abundantly placed by nature
at their very doors, and unlike our neigh
bors of Denver. have been content to pur-
chase their building store in other states,
sending their none away neyermore to
return.
l have watched with much interest the
people of Denver in the erection of their
magnificent buildings, and find that if one
quality OF stone does not suit their differ
ent customers, they traverse the noun
tains in search of what is needed to meet
the demand. and they rush ahead with
their work thus keeping all their wealth.
within the limits of their own state, and
giving employment to thousands OF their
own people, and inducing them to remain,
thus contributing vastly to their mineral
wealth.
Let us travel all over Denver, and you
will find with but few exceptions that
nearly every building is built Of Colorado
stone and manufactured by Colorado
workmen. The owners and architects of
Colorado, offered inducements to the
builders and mechanics to go to the hills
and take from her pregnant bodies the
valuable deposits of nearly all the stone
known to the craft. The stone industry
of Colorado is something marvellous.
Denver is today shipping stone to all
parts OF the union, and nearly all the
quarries are in operation, numbering over
thirty in the vicinity of Denver, and over
800 within the state, all of which have
villages Of their own, with comfortable
homes for their workmen. with a payroll
amounting to thousands of dollars every
fortnight.
Do the wives of those quarrymen send
to Chicago and New York for their dry
goods and groceries? Do the wives and
daughters of the building mechanics send
to the same place for materials and neces-
saries for thsir families2 No, every dollar
remains, even to the load that the
bread winner pays for and carries home
under his hat of a Saturday night.
The people of Denver hauled stone into
that city with oxen when she had not yet
the railroad facilities she has now.
Let us look at Cheyenne and her build
ings up to the present time. Go from one
end of the town to the other, and with
the exception OF a few buildings before
mentioned all the stone came from Colo.
RADIO. The, capitol commissioner were
indeed wise when they aio. ted stone
from Rawlins, which will compare
favorablY with any stone on the con-
t%iuenti the people of Cheyennc have never
offered any inducement to mechanic, to 90
into the mountains and develop the stone
industry, not even now, they seem u for
get that every dollar that is paid for labor
on those hills comes back into the pockets
OF our citizens and into the pocket of the
mechanic who shapes it into beauty from
its nude state. 1t Is nearly time that we
should consult ourselves in this matter.
All along the line of the Cheyenne &
Northern railroad are deposits OF all kinds
OF stone that has yet been discovered. Go
around this city and see the work hat is
going on now, and say, il you can, hat it
will not compare with any stone that can
be produced; its testing and lasting quail
ties cannot be surpassed, and | know
whereof | speak. l had the red stone
tested, aud 1t stood n test OF nearly 10000
pounds to the square inch, and the white
stone has stood a test OF $4,000 pounds u