The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-09-02
ENGLISH QlARRIES
 BY THE SEASIDE Curious Customs of Marble Workers On British
 Coast. ODD GROUP OF HOUSES Many Strict Rules of the Ancient Guild Pre-
 served.
ODD GROUP OF HOUSES

1 late 1t that it is not surprising it's in habitants possess characteristics of their own even to this day. It is from these hills that the famous Pur-
 beck marble comes and the men who quarry it are almost race apart, says the London Globe. Many years ago, it is said a large number of them came from Normandy, and their swarthy complexion and slow speech proclaim their foreign origin.
 The hills behind beautiful Swanage are scored with hundreds of little quarries and their attendant piles of rubbish, and all day long the chip, chip, chip" of their tireless workers can be heard far and wide. Rough roads and uneven cart tracks cross the town in every direction, and as evening comes on they are thronged with groups of quarrymen returning to their stone cottages, which are to 1 be met with in the least likely places, or which form isolated hamlets here and there. The biggest of the quarry villages around Swanage are Langton ' Matravers and Worth Matravers, the latter on the breezy uptands close to 1 St Alban's Head To those used to the big open quarries owned by large firms these little Purbeck workings seem very strange Two or three men own and work a quarry according to ancient custom, by which no stranger is allowed to enter partnership with natives, and all workers must have served their seven years apprentice ship.
 7 A narrow sloping shaft is driven some thirty feet to 100 feet into the hillside, from which @ tunnel is bored directly into the seam of stone, This 1 tunnel is narrow and damp, and the stone has to be hewn out by hand, the work being long and arduous, for of course, no blasting is permissible. The. bottom of the sloping shaft is paved with stone slabs, and the rough hewn rock is levered on to low trucks which are hauled up the slide by means of a chain and winch. This is in the form of a rough wooden horse whim, such as may sometimes be seen working chaff cutting machines in farmyards. A few Of the little quar- ries possess a donkey whose duty it is to haul up the stone, or one donkey may do the work of two or three of these little syndicates,
 Each quarry is usually surrounded by a low wall of piled up stones, an opening being left al one place to serve as an entrance, When the men are away a pole will often be put across this entrance as a sign that it is closed for the day. Roughly built sheds and shelters of slabs of stone, in which the workers shape the blocks are constructed against the inside of this wall. Here may be seen the large flat slabs which afterward form the pavement of towns In one corner of the enclosure is the sloping shaft overgrown with orfar bracken and wild flowers; in the slabs which form the slopng slide up which the little trucks of stone ar drawn deep, rusty colored channels are worn by the chain.
 Southward and westward along the coast between Peveril Point, Swanage and St. Alban's Head are old quarries cut in the face of the cliff, in some places only few feet above high wa ter mark The well known Tilly Whim Caves, one of tho show places of the ,SYanage, once formed quar- ". The owner, who bave his name to the place, worked the quarry against the advice of experienced men who said it would be found valueless. But that was long ago, for now the rubbish has been cleared away, stone seats scattered about and elevating texes cut in the rock for the mental improvement of the holiday maker. Close at hand are other quarries no i longer worked but which bear un- mistakable signs of their origin; slabs of stone are lying about surrounded by piles of chips and other rubbish, while a rusty tool may sometimes be found by the searcher.
 l In olden times the rules of the guild of stoneworkers were very strict. No one was allowed to marry outside their order and no quarryman from other parts of the country was per mitted to work among them. But nowadays many of the customs of i the Company of Marblers and Stone | Cutters of the Isle of Purbeck have lapsed. However, the industry is still carried on under bylaws and ] regulations issued by the two war dens and stewards elected by the men every year. These officers see that the rules are carried out and inflict penalties for any infringement of them, but the accused may appeal to an open meeting of alI the quarry men.
 Every Shrove Tuesday the Purbeck Miners Guild meets at Corfe, when general business is transacted and those desirous of becoming appren- tices must produce satisfactory evid- ence of their percentage. He who de- sires to enter the trade brings to the warden presiding at the meeting a small loaf in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other. together with the prescribed fee of bs. Sd. lie then signs allegiance to the company, and is declared @ freeman, which entities him to become an apprentice. At the end of his seven years he is admitted to all privileges of the guild. Under certain conditions the wives of free men can become members, which en- ables them to work their husbands quarries should they become widows,
 In earlier times the test of par entage was very severe, the men of Purbeck being very anxious to keep out any outsiders. Even to this day =snany of the rules are very strict on