The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1903-12-17

BY the final decision that Bethe
granite is to be the material used in
building the new 81, 600, 600 union sta
ton in this city, the products, of YER
inoDt's quaIries will receive gener-
GUS bit of advertising that ought to
be great stimulus to the industry.
Vermont marble has been employed to
greater or less extert in the con-
struction of the public and other
buildings in Washington, the pure
white "Times building on Pennsyl-
vania avenue being notable and
beautiful example of exterior con.
struction, and the ceiling of the ia
nous Senate marble room among other
instances about the Capitol, library
and other government buildings show.
ing its adaptability for interior work,
but in spite of all this the browning
monument of the States quarries
will be the great depot which when
completed will be one of the city's
most magnificent structures.
That Bethel granite could be used
in building the depot has for some
time been foregone conclusion, but
it was not definitely settled until the
report of Capt Chester Harding. who
recently visited Vermont to inspect
the quarries, was laid before the COM
missioners of the District of Columbia
and apnrovad hv tbap, Tho oo,,o,;e
sioners did not select the material for
the building, but under the act of
Congress permitting the erection of
the structure the material employed
must be approved by the board. The
railroad companies selected Bethel
white granite and the commits sioners,
after the inspection by Captain Hard
ing, were unanimous in their approx
al.
The matter came before the board
in the form of report from Captain
Harding, on his recent inspection, ac-
companied by the general report of
Col. John Biddle, the engineer COM
missioner In speaking of the Bethel
granite the latter report says: 1.-THE
railroad company has submitted a
sample of stone it desires to use in the
building. 1t is white granite,
fiecked with dark spots, and is of a
very handsome texture. The cost of
the building, if constructed of this
stone, would probably be but little.
if any, less than if constructed of
the grade of marble ordinarily used
for such purposes. The architect of
the building, Mr.. d. H. Burnham of
Chicago. states that he desires this
granite because in his opinion it is
superior for such purpose. Samples
were submitted to the Washington
Chapter of the American Institute of
Architects and the Washington Archi.
tectural Club, which bodies are be-
lieved to be representative of the
architects of the city. The samples
were also shown to the supervising
architect Of the treasury and to
leading architects from New York and
hiiouOiPhia' IL 10 tno uHduiuOus
opinion that the material is pre-emi-
nently fit for such building as the
proposed union station.
Capt. Harding, in his report to the
commissioners, states that the Bethel
quarries are situated on hillside
about three and one.half miles north
east of Bethel, VT, on the main line
of the Central Vermont railroad. The
site of the quarry, he states, is esti-
mated to be at an elevation of about
500 to 900 feet above the grade of the
railroad. AT the time of his visit the
ground was covered with several
inches of snow, and it was impractic-
able to verify by inspection the state
ments that the granite outcrops over
the entire area of the deposit; but
he states that he did see the stone out
cropping at numerous points along
the hillside for distance of about
half mile. A vertical face exposed
by the quarrying operations, says
Captain Harding, gave a good indica-
tion of the uniformity of the stone in
quality and color, and also of its abil-
ity to resist atmospheric influences.
At about one-fourth inch or less below
the weathered surface of the stone no
discoloration or disintegration was dis
cernible. Continuing, Captain Hard
ing says that while tine quarry is only
slightly developed and the operations
are now on a small scale, it is appar-
emily only question of sufficiently
multiplying the number of derricks
in order to obtain any desired rapid.
ity of output from the quarry.
The report mentions the matter of
transportation to railroad as an i'm
portant one, but states that it is un-
derstood branch of the Central
Vermont from Bethel is provided for
in case the union station contract
goes to the Ellis quarry. Further.
Captain Harding states that while the
contract calls for the delivery of 440,-
e. \ .