The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-20

driIIs at work. These knives and drills move slowly over the blocks on car riaees while. the knives and drills cut their way slowly through the marble. which lies on an incline. These knives cut about 100 superficial feet day. The stratas are from nve to ten ftet thick and when the block Is cut through it is lifted out of its place by crowbars weighing over 1000 pounds and which are operated by steam.
 At each end of the opening there are massive derricks. the lifting capacity of which are forty tons. One of these derricks Is eighty-six feet high. The blocks of marble are gotten out in or in weight from ten to thirty tons. The average output of this quarry is about 1900 cubic feet day. This ma terial is lifted to the banks of the opening and a large part of 1t is load ed on cars alongside the quarry for shipment to the finishing mills of the East and the North.
 PeIishing sad Finishing.
 Independent of it's business of ship ping rough marble blocks the company operates its own finishing plants which include a marble saving mill. a cut ting shed and polishing and finishing department. The blocks to be utiliz- ed in the finishing plant are taken from the quarry on the company's own rail- road equipped with engine and cars. to the mill yard where there are two more big derricks. The blocks are nut in the gangs sor under the wire saw for cutting. Here on one side is the wire saw, an endless wire, fed with sand and water. There is also butt on saw, a saw resembling big buzz saw. with chilled shot inserted In the blades. On the other side Is the big mill. with ten steel gang saws at work These gang saws. are car riages, hanging inside of a steel frame. and worked with a long pitman from big jacks. or three strand iron hurst frames The marble is cut with soft steel i1ades, set firm in the carriage which runs forward and backward over the marble. with sand and water pouring in. Here 1t is cut to slabs of any dimension, sometimes as many as fifty one-inch slabs being cut from one block. The thickness of the slabs Is measured by the number of saws set in the frames. Sometimes as many as fifty saws are set in one frame when the slabs are to be cut especially thin. Thse gang saws cut through the marble at the rate of two inches an hour They are run night and day ev- cry. day in the year. excepting Sum- day.
 In the Polishing Rooms.
 From the gang saws the slabs are carried to the rubbing beds where they begin the first process of polishing. Two of these rubbing beds have been installed. They are big steel revo1v- ing. flat wheels fourteen feet in diameter and four inchs thick. A lay CT of sand and water an inch thick pours on these revolving wheels and ;..4 9t.t~ I1 c1ol Ia;I til fine edge is rubbed on either side. The slabs are then ready for the finer polishing, which Is done In the finish ing plant. Here about thirty men are engaged in putting the final touches on the marble with various polishing machines. after which the marble Is ready for setting. The first process of fine polishing is the sandstone. Then follows an emery wheel. after which the marble is rubbed by hand. In each of these processes chemicals and fine sands are used
 There is also a building. known as the cutting shed, in which marble Is cut with pneumatic tools In various designs, and another building where draftsmen are at work i. designing plans for building materials of mar ble.
 About forty per cent of the men en- ployed by the Alabama White Marble Company are skilled workmen who have come here from the marble quar- ries of Georgia and of Vermont. All of the employees are white men. They are paid well and the company has provided them with good homes. schools for their children and a house of worship where inter-denominational services are held each Sunday.
 Marbles of Various Hue.
 Unlike the marbles in the northern part of Talladega valley, the beds here at Gantt's Quarry lie in the valley or on the plateau and do not jut out from the mountain side. While the white marble Is the most valuable. there are colored marbles here in ap- parently unlimited quantities. There are stones of grenish tints. dull red marbles and marbles of gray and pink ish hues. On weathering, it is said that most of these colored marbles be- come more or less shaly. The coloring in the marbles is due to vegetation and consequently the presence of coIors in white marble causes it to be reject ed as defective.
 The promoters of the Alabama White Marble Company express the opinion that the years will bring vast devel- opment of Alabama marble, but they do not fear this competition as the de- mand will always be greater than the ahiIttv fo sunpfy if