Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1904-10-07
Vermont's Marble Industry.
The Beds Are lnexhaustlble and the Va
riety the Finest In the World-Methods
of ouarrylne and Finishing.

ne DEUS arc lneNndubtiDle anu lne va
riety the Finest In the World-Methods
of ouarrylns and Finishing.
tSpringfed Republican letter.
The Green mountains contain some Of
| the largest artificial holes in the world
| They are really vast chambers which have
| been excavated under ground in working
the great marble deposits. While marble
is quarried in Vermont, 1t is also ac-
tually mined, as some openings are in
the form of channels extending hun
dreds Of feet under ground. A visitor to
one of these openings gets idea of
the magnitude of this industry when he
realizes that from this space has been ex
| tracted nothing but marble. The Shell
don quarry, as it is called on the prop
erty of the Vermont Marble company, is
| the deepest quarry Of its kind in the
world. The bottom is nearly 300 feet from
the surface. This quarry contains cham
bers more than 200 feet i'm height and
spacious enough to seat 5000 people with
out crowding. They form vast amphi-
theatres whose walls and ceilings, as well
as floors, are solid marble, for none Of
these quarries have been worked out, in
spite of the enormous quantities that
have been taken from them.
While marble was known to exist in
the Green mountains a century ago, the
quarrying of 1t is one of the new in
dustries of New England but so rapidly
| mas IL ueNClOpeu lilbL kulldnu county pro-
duces more marble than all of the other
beds in this country combined From 1t
comes material for not only banks, Of
flee buildings, postoffices and court houses
but also for statuary slabs and other in
terror work for buildings and cemetery
decorations. Such is the variety which
has been discovered that IT is being used
for every purpose for which marble was
formerly imported. and has been put to
new uses besides. The beds contain va
rieties similar TO the Pentelic marble,
from which the buildings of ancient
Athens were constructed. Another va
rlety is almost identical with the famous
marble OF Carrara. From this the tints
range all the way to black, including
blue red and green. with tints inter
mingled. Experts believe that the beds
are practically inexhausuDle They have
been traced more than so miles and all
the indications point to the existence of
a deposit almost continuous for 25 miles
Although nearly 10000 tons a year are
being quarried. only an insignificant Dor
ton Of the beds have been removed
, Senator Proctor has been called the
father of this industry in New England
for he was first to realize it's importance
He had a complete investigation made of
the resource. and the extent of the in
dustry is largely due to the plans which
he carried out. Some of the branches
} which he founded are located I'm and
/ around this place, each forming n town
in itself At the little town of Proctor
which is named after him, plant where
; machinery Is employed not only for OBJ
r tanning the marble from the deposits. but
Z for preparing 1t for commercial use Here
! can be seen the material in every form
from the rough block IT comes from
the bed to the finest ornamental work.
the product of a modern sculptor with
l pneumatic chisel In obtaining the mar
BILE channelng machines operated by
steam and electric power, are used. They
: are placed upon the top of the deposits
and make vertical cuts with sets of CHS
els which punch through the material to
, the required distance. When the chan
nelers have completed their work the
surface OF the marble looks like field
of ice which has been blocked out for
| saving. Holes are drilled in the sides
of the formation in regular rows, each
hole about six or eight inches from the
D next Then the blocks can he easily sep
e arated by driving a wedge beneath them.
: | No explosives are used except when alb
= | solutely necessary. and the waste from
. this cause. which has been such a loss in
G | the Italian quarries. Is avoided. The
. | channelng machines require about eight
/ horse power each and will cut so 10 100
e square feet OF marble daily, according 10
= the hardness OF the formation. In cut
. | ting away the marble no artificial sup
e ports are used in coal mining but
e buttresses. some of them 100 feet or
5 moro in height are left here and there in
the sides OF the excavation to support the
r weight above.
= The blocks, Weighing 20 to 25 tons each
J, are hoisted by derricks operated by
n steampower. a variety of apparatus is
n used for handling these great weights
/ The Vermont Marble company, which has
= plants at Proctor and several other points
e in Rutland county, employs the largest
n crane in the district. This will lift 50
c tons. and is used in the storage yards
y II is operated by electric motors and will
L carry block Of marble from one end OF
= its bridge to the other. a distance OF l6C
feet, and lift 1t 40 feet in air Locomo-
motive cranes operated by steam power
run on tracks In the yards at Proctor and
elsewhere, carrying blocks weighing uI
e TO 10 tons, which they load and unload
>. by means % a long boom attached &c
e the truck of the crane. Electric travel
l, ing cranes are used in the shops fol
O transferring marble while the Vermont
q company has railroad about 20 miles
e long for transporting the marble from
y various luarries to the works.
n All the material is sawed into proper
d sizes by gangs. which consist OF a series
OF blades of soft iron moving back and
: forth on the surface of the block in q
O solution OF sand and water, the grit In
y the sand being the principal cutting
n agent These gangs are run night ant
l. day by water-power. each set being at
n tached to wooden walking beam driver
t by the power shaft. After being sawed
It the marble, which is to be smoothly fin.
e ished, is placed upon revolving slabs OF
e metal, which are covered with sand an6
I water or mixture of pumice stone. The
e finest marble is finished by hand, but q
i large quantity of the material is fin
e ished by bufhng with special machinery
j.
Seed potatoes are often planted Who'll,
in Germany, as the Germans claim tn,
"a vines are not as strong II the pota-