The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1893-11-23
ARTIFICIAL STONE.
CUNNING MAN INITIATES THE
PROCESSES OF NATURE.
A Raphiy Growing Industry slabs
Canoe Made Larger Than Can
be Quarried - Beautiful
PRODUCTS of the Art.

IpINhuN huN ihpiuis kip"ihN
Il the industries of the United
States.
Over a hrge part OF this country no
natural stmes for building purposes
are fouird, An area almost destitute
of consolidated rock is the great plain
forming tue eastern edge of the
United States, from northern New
Jersey soutpward to Florida, extend
ing around ihe gulf coast. and stretch
ing IA far uf the Mississippi Valley as
Cairo. Ill. There is practically no
material OF The sort to be had in the
southern cot, on belt.
Fortunatel., in nearly every portion
of this regidu, nature has provided
abundant stta which can he formed
into otone by lrtifice. However, arti-
fetal stone is used not only in distcicts
devoid OF the natural product. II is
manufactured extensively in the very
neighborhood Of great quarries. In
Vermont the debris of the marble
querries is ground up aud made into n
cheap grade of marble. In Illinois
aud Indiana, where there is plenty of
limestone, sandstone is produced arti-
ficiully in immense quantities.
The kind of artificial stone most uni
versally used is Portland cement
mixture of clay. lime and silica.
Silica is obtained bv dissolving flint,
which may be combined in liquid form
with soda. making what is called "sili-
cate OF soda " This silicate. poured
over sand. cements the particles to-
getaer and forms artificial stone. Such
mixtures of silica are the great ce-
meuting materials of nature. The
beds of sandstone aud conglomerate
now uuarried were once loose sand and
pebbles which have been solidihed by
slicates.
Now, the clay, lime and silica, which
compose Portland cement are pre-
pared and mixed in a dry state. When
moisture is added, the silica is dis
solved and Clues the PARTICLES of lime
and clay together i'll solid mass. The
value of the Portland cement manu-.
factured in the United States annually
is s., 500. 900, and rs much again is inn
ported, though there is no reason why
all OF it consumed iu this country
should not be made here, the raw ma
terials required being lesdily svailable
in unlimited quantitie.
Crockery, chinawsrl and nll clay
products are artificial stones. The
methods employed in n. aking them are
merely WORKSHOP imitat ons of the pro-
cesses adopted in the laboratory of ma
ture. In every case tte ordinary rock
materials of the earth are taken and
mingled IN definite pr, portions as the
Great Designer has m. sed them, sill
Gates being added for tementing and
solidifying the particlK Sometimes
the results are accomph he'd by means
of moisture, as with PoMlsnd cement,
and in other instances bs heat, as with
crockery and bricks. All artificial
stone products may he divided into
these two classes, Just as the rocks of
the globe have been formed by water
or by fire, being classified accordingly
as "sedimentary" or "'igneous.
Perhaps the most successful appli-
cation of this interesting art is the
production of ''granolithic" pavement.
The imitation stone so called is equal
to the natural in all ways, and in some
respects is more useful. 1t can be made
in larger slabs than can be quarried,
and they are often formed with grooves,
30 as to expand and contract without
breaking, whereas those cut out of
rock are soon cracked by changes in
temperature. The counterfeit may
easily be shaped into elaborate pat
terms for cornices or what not, thus
saving much expense for costly carving.
Other forms of artificial stone are
manufactured out of gypsum, fsmil-
iarly known as plaster f-psris, of
which vast beds underlie great areas
in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas and
Colorado. In the mining of these val
liable deposits only a beginning has
been made. From this source WAS oh.
tanned the stuff resembling marble.
called "stafi," of which the buildings
of Chicago Exposition were construct
ed. The most common use of gypsum
is for wall-plaster, which is an artif-
cial stone. But for this purpose it is
not employed here nearly as extensive
ly as in countries inhabited by the
Latin races, where beautiful effects
are obtained with it in the shape Of
''stucco, nodded to initiate cut and
carved stone and laid over brick, One
reason for this fact is that the climate
of tie United States lis not suitable,
the stucco not enduring moisture and
extremes of temperature as we'll as ar
tifcial stones OF silicious composition.
In MexiC the use of artificial stone
is very general. Under that head may
even be included the crude adobe, or
burned brick, employed for building,
which is simply mud bound together
with straw, Nearly every plaza in
that country is adorned with large and
massive fountains and benches of lime
aud sand. Some of them are two CEN
turies old.
Artificial stone has been used almost
-. ,...tl. Il