The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1900-05-05
THE BEAVER DAM oUARRIEs.
Wnefe the Beautiful Maryland Marble
Comes From-An Inexhaustible
Supply-Process of Raising
the Stone Etc


the Stone, Etc.
The marble industry in Maryland represent
capital in machinery alone of nearly $SO0.0O
furnishes employment for over 500 people, an
Yields value of more than 100000 per annur
IN raw material. says the Baltimore american
Inc most important Of the Maryland quarrie
are within easy reach of Baltimore.
maryland marble is especially valuable for tn
builder, being of smooth and even texture, an
The new Court House. the Mount ROYAL pump
Ing statlon on North avenue. the handsomest o
recent buildings. are formed from the produc
OF the Maryland Quarries.
One of the laI gest and most important marble
9uarrles In the United States is located a
beaver Dam, near Cockeysville. One of thu
teaIgest contracts out of the many completed
from these quarries was that which called TO
Lne entire supply of white marble for the new
court House in this city.
Inere are two great pits owned by the Beaver
lam marble Company, and an inspection o.
tnem Will suffice to give an idea of how the worl
- carried on The largest of these pits repre-
eents an area OF about four and a-half acres eX
cavated to the depth of about one hundred feet
Inc walls descend in a ferries of high and narrow
terraces, so that the area at the bottom is con-
slueTaDiy less than that at the top; while in the
small pits in what may be called the floor of the
excavation the water of innumerable little
springs collects and is pumped to the surface by
steam pumps, which are worked for about two
hours each day. But for this, the Quarries
would speedily fill with clear water. But the
wafer Is Kept down in this way, and at any time
tin soldiers,
Small steam and hydraulic engines, used for
9rlllng, are in operation under their guidance.
Inere is no economy in blasting, and under
modern methods it is rare that blast is used.
II USED TO be said of the famous Italian quarries
tnaJ Tor every ton of marble taken out, three
were wasted. The loss in the Maryland Quarries
is Slight and even the fragments and the dust
nave commercial value.
.The excavation seems to have been begun on
the brow of a low hill. There is a strata of per-
haps twenty feet of earth above the stone on
6 the>north, which Trims out toward the south
until the soil becomes too poor to support album
dant vegetation.
The presiding genius of the place is man who
ought to- and probably does, know more about
Maryland marble than any other man in the
State-Thomas Mcdonald, Jr., who has spent
the greater part of his life at the quarry, where
his father was before him.
1.-The supply of marble here" said Mr.. Nc
Donald, lis practically inexhaustible. The stone
underlies all the country about here in all di-
rections. This pit speaking of the larger of the
two) has been worked for over sixty years sys-
tematically, and in desultory way for years
before that. My father was the first to work
these quarries on a large scale, and what you
see here is the natural outgrowth of what he
commenced. Now, when we have large order
to fill you may see as many as four hundred men
at work about the quarries. The terminal of
the Pennsylvania line at Canton is faced with
slabs which were cut here, and you can see the
work done here in every stage.
t"Down there, as you see, is steam drill, oper-
ated by one workman, who is able, with modern
methods, to accomplish as much as half dozen
could have done generation ago. A series of
ever depth the width of the block should be,
and when all of the holes have been drilled,
wedges are introduced, hammered in, and the
natural vein of the marble causes a separation
with fairly clean-cut lines.
when the block has been thus cut out of the
solid rock it is brought to the surface by the
great steam derricks, which you see, and is
turned over to wOrkmen to be dressed down
before being shipped away.
1.-The next pit is somewhat smaller than this
one, but the surface area of the two together
would hardly be less than eight acres. 1t has
been excavated to about the same depth, and
the operations conducted in it are on exactly
Nearly all of the Maryland marbles are either
white or gray. We have an abundance of pure
white stone, fit for monuments, etc., and few
yards from the spot from which we take this
grade of stone you will find a gray which grows
deeper and deeper and may be succeededin turn
"Once in while we come across stone with
a dull red streak, but this is rare, and, in the
natural order of things, we only expect whites
Leaving the pitside short walk brings one to
the enormous steam crusher, in which the frag-
ments or scraps of marble are reduced to bal
last, in which form it meets with ready sale.
Near the crusher is large heap of marble
dust, and this has value for many different
uses. 1t is valuable as fertilizer, to manufac-
turing chemists, to soda water manufacturers
and for use in certain kinds of cement The
dust is shipped by the carload and is readily dis
posed OF at price Sutnclent TO make 1t worth
while to keep it together.
Beyond the crusher comes the great mill in
which the marble is sawed. Power for this es-
tablshment is furnished by 100-horse- power
engine. A block of marble of any
size is placed on fixed bed, over which is
moved by power from the great
engine. into which the saws are inserted. The
saw are lcng, thin blades of steel, toothless.
for Sharp sand and water are the real teeth of
the saws, and they move with rapid. even mo-
ton over the surface of the marble, sinking
with each second line deeper into The little
grooves. which are the first indications of their
wQp't; and, in the course of a few hours, the
laf g Sblock becomes a series of from two to a
slabs Some Of theaseer ga fA6a sft
hsf5,gft rice today would be greatly 0"O
it the marble is used in the form anS II this is
accdlSStH often he given fine nnlsn 1n iron
plate. SiH;aiad nv the use OF f so55d. IF
it is to bSufIntas aud per g radifS Work or in
scriptions of any kind his, too, can be done on
the premises" For this purpose the slabs
would be loaded on car and taken to the low
marble building. which is the first of those to be
seen on entering the territory of the company.
Here the skilled marble cutters have their head
quarters, and large sign, conspicuously posted,
informs the visitor that admittance is strictly
forbidden, and that he should apply for informa-
tion at the office of the company. In this house
are men who are capable of reproducing In
marble any design which may be furnished
them, and who have spent the greater part of
their time in so doing.