Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1904-01-01
MARBLE FROM VERMONT.
Value Of Quarries Now Being Worked
in State Runs Into Millions.


The early settlers of New Englan
did not know what a mistake the.
made when they called the mountain
of New Hampshire white, and those o
Vermont green. II Is true the beautiful
color of the verdure which covers TIT
Vermont peaks seems to give them AZ
appropriate name. but In places WHERE
the top has been scraped off masses o.
marble have been found which are al
most equal to the famed products Of
Italy. The story goes that one OF these
deposits, worth literally millions OF
dollars, was traded by the man who
owned 1t in the early days of the state
for a mule. so that he could move his
household goods into a country where
the soil was richer. From this stone
farm" have come monuments and sta
tuary which can be seen In all parts of
the United States.
It was in the colonial days that the
first Vermont marble quarry was open
ed in the little town of Dorset, but like
some other great resources of New
England, the extent Of the marble beds
was not realized until about 25 years
ago. Since then, however, the industry
has advanced so rapidly that within
the last 10 years the capital invested in
it, as well as the production, has In
creased over so per cent.
At present over 100000 worth OF
marble is being taken out yearly by the
5000 men employed in the quarries,
while nearly 1000 others are busily en-
gagged with chisel and mallet or power
tool in cutting it into various forms
for ornament and use. While the
marble embraces a vaYiety Of hues,
from deep black to the purest white.
the bulk of it is Of exceedingly fine
grain, and so durable that 1t is being
used for public buildings and edifices
throughout the country, as well as for
mere ornamentation.
In the vicinity of Rutland and Proc
tor one can look into holes in the noun
tain side actually large enough to ac-
commodate the biggest office building
in New York city. for some of them
are 800 feet in depth and nearly half a
mile in length, yet the walls are prin-
cipally composed of solid marble, al
though the blocks have been cut out
so regularly that they appear to be
built up like the palaces of the Greeks
and Romans. Even at this depth, how
ever, the beds continue downward ms I
far as the drill point has yet pierced. |
and only few openings have thus far |
been made.
Such is the abundance of the mater |
al that 1t is seldom extracted at a
iepth below three hundred feet, owing
% the distance it must be hoisted from
is bed but the most modern machin-
Try is used for cutting and hauling it.
machines which will do the work of
hundred men. Marble is too valuable
o be blown out with explosives, so
what are called channelling machines
ire used, which, operated by electricity
md compressed air, cut out blocks
rom the walls of white, some of which
re 90 feet in length and eight feet in
thickness. The machine is composed
4 set of powerful drills which bore ,
Ioles from six to eight inches apart in
he blocks. Thus weakened, The block Is
etatched from the wall by wedges.
Perhaps at the very mouth OF the
pening from which the marble was
aiken hundred men and boys are
ashioning it into various forms. Some /
( these artisans have also become ex \
ert sculptors--NewY York Tribune. q