The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-03-13

For those who love rocks and desire
to study the odd and beautiful miner
ais which nature strews around with
such lavish hand there is no necessity
Of taking long journeys or buying an
extensive equipment. All that is need
ed is quick eye, sturdy feet, strong
hands and a few everyday tools which
are TO be found in nearly every home
Any boy or girl who desires to go rock
hunting needs first something to carry
specimens ina small basket or bag
is just as good as a professional sat
chel. To break off pieces or to cut a
stone in half, a hammer, a cold chisel
and kitchen knife make a very COM
plete and serviceable equipment.
The first place to visit is a stoneyard
where housebuilders obtain their sup
plies. Here are the blocks which come
from the Quarries in one place. In anoth-
er are the stones after they have been
dressed by the stonecutters, and every
where are pieces and chips of the huge
powders which have been broken or
cut off in trimming the stone.
The commonest kinds found are the
sandstones and limestones. To the care
less observer they look alike, but a
little thought and a few experiments
will soon show anyone big difference
between them. The first difference be-
tween limestone and sandstone is in
the grain. A limestone is made up Of
little grains of sand, which under heat
and pressure have compacted very
much as a boy forces snow together
to make a SNOWFALL. In a limestone the
| particles are much finer and have been
brought together more by the action Of
water, in the form of mud and silt,
than in the form of little crystals.
When whitewash dries in a pail the
solid sediment which remains in the
pail is the beginning of limestone.
Another way Of showing the differ
ence is to rub two pieces of stone to-
gether When you rub the sandstone
the grains separate, and, no matter
how long you rub, there is always a
| roughish feel like sandpaper to the two
| pieces. When you rub two pieces Of
limestone the rubbing produces dust
/ and the surfaces become smoother and
smoother until they are almost like
glass. Of the sandstones, the common
est is the old red which is best known
as brownstone This is the material
with which so many living houses are
built Next to this is the pale red sand
stone, and then come yellow and gray
sandstones. In some parts of the world
there are greenish, blush and black
sandstones, but these are very seldom
found in the eastern part of the United
States. The coIoring comes not, from
the sand of the rock, but from other
substances which are mixed with it.
The limestones have a much larger
variety in color and appearance. They
begin at one end with snowwhite mar
BILE and range to yellow, gray, brown
and black. Some are variegated and
others notified. Now and then you run
across green marble, red marble and
rose marble
In selecting pieces Of sandstone and
limestone take the fragments from the
stoneyard and break them into pieces
a little larger than an egg. In striking
with the hammer you will notice that
limestone gives a clearer ring than
the sandstone and breaks in differ
ent way, producing much sharper
edges and smoother surfaces. Take a
specimen of each different color, have
one Of the workmen tell you what
quarry it comes from and write these
upon a little label which you paste on
one side of the specimen. In this way,
in any frst-class stoneyard, you can
get from 40 specimens upward of sand
stones and limestones, which will give
a very good idea Of those two valuable
materials.-St. Louis Star.