Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-09-14
Its Worth in Construction of
Big Buildings Becoming Gen
orally Recognized
STATES NATURAL RESOURCES
Geolos cal Survey to Report on Build
ing Stone, Cement and Brick Clay
Deposits to Be Found in Iowa = An
Expert Opinion on the Products of
the Quarries.
special to Times Republican.

Special to Times RepuDilcdH.
Des Moines, Sept. 14.-Hon. Leslie
NJ. Shaw, ex- governor of Iowa and ex-
secretary of the treasury. cannot have
the CT edit for building the Iowa his
torica building out of Iowa materials.
Mr.. Shaw laid claim to such honor.
| The honor belongs to Curator Charles
Aldrich, of the historical building.
Yesterday Mr.. Aldrfch received per-
sonal letter from the proprietor of the
IIeGrs.nd quarries near MarshalltoWn,
thanking him for his efforts in getting
the use of that stone. The fact is that
Shaw voted as a member of the eXecu-
tive council while he was governor to
use the Marshalltown stone but the
other members of the council did the
same The sentiment in favor OF using
Iowa material was started and fos-
tered by Mr.. Aldrich.
The matter is not of such vital I'M
portance except from the fact that
Iowa building materials are not being
used extensively by Iowa builders Ihe
MarshalltoWn stone is used in the
east. The interior of the Boston pub
lie library is built of it just as Is the
interior of the historical building here.
1t is used elsewhere both for interior
and exterior work The LeGrand quar-
ries have two kinds Of stone-a lime
& II. P.H,~ ytoYi
which gets very white after II mas
been exposed in a building, and some
'yellower stone used for interior Worf
Curator Aldrich has been continual
and consistent booster for Iowa mater
ial. Iowa people generally have been
of the inclination to go to Bedford,
Ind. for their stone Mr.. Aldrioh IN
sisted from the first that building
to perpetuate the history Of Iowa
should be built of Iowa material and
finally carried his point and practically
everything in the Iowa historical:
building that could be had in Iowa
wars had here.
Tue coming biennial report from the
geological department is to be de-
voted entirely to the building materials
TO dc sIOuuu III loNci sthSa NSRSSS-S~'ts
the stone and cement and brick clay to
be .ound in the state. The entire vol
u1n,s, uniform with the other regular
rep orts, is to be devoted to this sub
jec' and 1t may accomplish some
thing toward dispelling the idea that
has gained currency from some mys-.
ferrous source that Iowa stone is OF no
account for building material some
pecple claim that this belief is due to
the fact that when the capitol build =
ing was started it was argued that u
she uld be built of Iowa material ana
the first foundation put in at a cost
of over $4,000, had to be torn out be-
cause the stone was no account ana
failed to stand the frost of the first
winter.
,rhis Is supposed to have soured the
st. tie on Iowa building material and 1t
hasn't gotten over it yet, when the
re;ll trouble was that poor stone was
SC, ected. Those who boost for Iowa
building material claim that every
quarry has good and bad stone alike.
Nature doesn't always do a perfect
job and only the good should be Sc
le,ted for the building material
In the coming; report by the geolog-
ical department an attempt is to be
made to show the worth of the building
stone of the state. The report will
also tell where the stone is located.
Aside from the Marshalltown quar-
ries there are extensive quarries down
a.. Cedar Valley owned by ex-Repre-
sentative Bealer, Of Linn county, and
tile Anamosa quarries are well known.
The worth of Iowa stone for building
material, however, has other excellent
a. authority. No less person than Gen.
C. A. Gilmore has pronounced the Mar
s1alltown stone as good building ma
t,srial as there is in the United States.
lie reported so to the government in a
government report Curator Aldrich
secured his approval Of the stone be-
fore advocating it's use in the historic
al building. General Gilmore was a
graduate of the military academy at
West Point and held the degree Of A.
NJ. from Oberlin University. He was
enc Of the most distinguished generals
of the army during the civil war and
was an army engineer. He was assist
amt construction engineer in the con-
sitruction of Forts Monroe and Call
lloun that guard Hampton Roads,
served as instructor in military engi-
neering lat West Point and acted as
construction engineer at Fort Pulaski,
Georgia, and afterward on orders from
General Grant during the civil war,
battered the fort down. Culle1n's cy-
clopedia Of biography has an extens-
i've sketch Of him as has also Apple
tons and other biographical encyclo-
pedias and there is no question but
in his lifetime he was an authority
Of note. He conducted for the govern
ment tests of building stone from prac-
tically every state in the union, includ-
ing that of Iowa and pronounced the
Iowa stone as good as any.
BIG DAY AT BURLINGTON.