Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-31
o every one dollar they pay into the treas

to every one dollar they pay into the treas
ury.
Near by is free public library, with 5000
volumes on its Shelves which Is also sup
rroGy I'd its employees Everything here
seems to be on cooperative basis, even the
Thanksgiving celebrations, for on that oc-
casion the company sends basket contain
ing a turkey and the appropriate trim
mings" to every married man In Its employ.
Most of the married employees own their
homes. The remainder rent houses from
the company on reasonable terms, SO that
it may realize 4 per cent upon the invest
ment after the insurance and repairs are
paid. The company encourages and helps
its men to buy homes because it considers
such an arrangement the most certain pre-
caution against labor disturbances. II Will
sell any married employee piece Of land
and advance him money enough to build
comfortable house, taking his notes without
interest, so long as he remains in its en-
ploy But if he is discharged. or becomes
dissipated, or wastes his wages, the inter-
est begins and the mortgage Is ultimately
foreclosed. Experience has taught the men
that so long as they are sober and indus
trious they are generously treated. If they
get to drinking or loaf1ng they have to
leave. This is a very orderly town, how
ever, for it is strictly prohibition. A man
has to go to the city Of Rutland to get
savings banks instead.
The quarries are open shops" Some Of
the men belonged to unions before they
came to Proctor but there are none here,
and several attempts to organize them
have failed. There was little dissipation
a few years ago, but 1t was early settled,
and there has never been serious strike.
Yearly Output 5000 Carloads.
The total output of the company Is about
SGOO carloads of marble a year, valued at
three and half million dollars Two
fifths is cemetery work, and three-fifths in
terror decoration flooring, etc. The latter
part of the business is increasing very rap
idly. An enormous amount Of money is
being expended these days in banks, office
buildings, hotels, apartment houses and
private residences for marble floors. stair
ways, wanScoting and other interior work.
A good deal of such supplies is shipped to
Australia, and several orders have been re-
ceived from England during the last two
or three years for interior finishings for
banks, hotels, restaurants and counting
rooms. All Of the marble is finished in the
shops according to plans furnished by the
architects, and is adjusted IN place before
it is shipped.
The company has a monopoly Of supply
ing switchboards for telephone and cleo
trio light companies and other concerns,
because the Rutland marble is peculiar in
furnishing perfect Insulation. There Is an
entire absence of metallic substances In
it's composition.
The twenty quarries controlled by the
company are quite different In their geo.
Logical formation, but all are worked prac-
ticaly upon the same plan. The marble
differs also in color and quality One Of
the quarries is already 10 feet deep. In
others the marble lies near the surface of
the ground Most of them worked in
the open, while others have shafts and
tunnels like a coal mine, and the blocks
of marble are brought out upon little tram
ways.
Quarrying the Marble.
In most of them it lies in perfect layers,
which are first cut into strips by electric
drills, then divided into squares like a loaf
of cake or a cheese The blocks are then
lifted out and placed upon fiat cars by
enormous derricks The machinery Is so
perfect and powerful that it seems an easy
task Great blocks of pure white crystal
lized stone, cut into almost perfect cubes,
are handled with such ease and speed that
one would think they weighed pounds in
stead of tons. Railway cars carry them
to the shops, where they are sawed into
slabs of the required sizes, and are then
dressed according to the purpose for which
they are to be used The cutting is done
with hard steel saws and sand. The latter
is brought in large buckets on a curious
overhead trolley five miles long from de-
posts in the neighboring mountains near
the village of Pittsford. The buckets are
loaded at the pit and at intervals of thirty
feet hooked on to endless cable, which
moves continuously at the rate of about
four mics an hour, with power furnished
by the electric light plant. Everything
methods, with a view to the economy of