The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1908-05-29
pExxsyLvAsiA's CEMENT BELT.
II Furnishes More Than Half the
Worlds supply ef That Material

Wot.a Rnfty " $3.50 ~@~s~fs~@
Mi4a si.e hissay u the cvnsrat iaius
~ i snsisH hsprh sls2fe masi l.e irNes'
II ~ The lshlsA Iestoa = noithrAs,srh
\ fonnsl Il AHA nAeIp. Nay barb ~ iSs
~IsrhhsA itAniA sirErnAn, siae hal hrA1d
lhAi The AlsAlg PYRAMIDS u hssia. epn
mAie II i0sA sa0nnd ~ and baked inla
hass hls.ks, isasan rAf,rsm-nling elih
lAc naks ahirh cropped cot ~ The
sn,and near hls hanae. AMI finally found
oil a business ahlch noA, iroin q naitoa
siFip II iAni aiasg eilhrf eide II the ir
hish ngrF, furnishes oNef a. lscr rrnl, II
l the worlds Supply II tho material shlch
10 ihrse days - b1eanling 80 extensively
ass.i ia eseiy latn II hailiins operation,
ilrIe, eiihla a b-it less than = mlle
gl,ie and alsaul II miles long, neaiiy -
ISL men afr employed eyrfy day VA the
year. turning the eement rock into the
. ordinary forms Of ceinent and oomhlning
!, with limestone 90 form Portland 60
mrni. which takes ils name. not iron the
Mains city, a. generally Is believed, but
from the hlile town II Portland, Ia.
A ia the steel industry, - with the
oemenl basiness. the chemist plays the
most lmI.ottant part. Portland cement u
simply q combination of arsilauoons lime
stone with the natural orneni rock, but
iheFe are samr socTrts Ia the combining
process 10 be suanlei. and the cement
masnatrs surround their mills with an al
most impcnniIahle veil Of mystery, No
stranger l. allowed 10 enter and even q
near approach Is met with iorcible pro
test, 10 he followed with q strenuous eloc'
ton should the wandemr venture too
near.
Ia the early days o. the industry the
Processes were crude IN the extreme. The
Aaat. an
ovens. much like pottery kllns IA appear.
anoe and construction. and then ground
"a mills run by horso or waterpower,
Nowadays. once the rock !. holsied from
the auaTTies, everything Is done aniomat
irally, Machinery conveys u Ia uPiodaie
naasiefs, from the roasten Il ~ carried 90
the efushefs aud from them Il goes 10
the stock houses and into barrels without
being touched by a workman.
There Is much of the romantic IN the
development Of the cement belt from
farm land. none too rich AZ that, TO a
iecming valley filled with laborers. skilled
aud unskillcd, Farmer who for years
barely succeeded IN making enough from
their farms 10 meet the mortgage interest
suddenly found themselves nch beyond
the most extraordinary flights 81 their
Imagination. Barren. rocky soil, upon
which the wild carrot, the goldcnrod and
the Canada thistle were the most prolific
crops and where the tiller of the '-oh
more frequently than not damned the
rocks which were 10 prove his fortune.
suddenly became worth hundreds Of dol
lars an acre.
For a limestone and cement rock quar-
ry-thc two kinds of rock often lie but
few feet apart located on farm OF l51
acres, the owner received slOJ.y1 ~ cash.
For the honest. simple minded old man
put no faith in promises or checks and de
manded spot cash. and be had TO feel the
gold IN his hands before he would sign the
deed. And when il came 10 signing the
deed his good wife would not attach her
name until she was assured new dress,
and the dpss she was given before the
deal was contaminated.
But the era for high prices for cement
land is past. No longer viii a few acres OF
the rock elevate a man from shankss mare
TO an automobile. The average price paid
for property containing the deposit so
much in demand is now about 800 an
acre, although there are many tracts
which the big cement companies have not
because the owners are holding
out for more money. Probably the pres
ent owners and their sons and grandsons
will own the land before it is sold, for II
is said that the manufacturers now own
enough land to supply the expected de-
mand for a half-century TO come.
The cement belt has been so thoroughly
defined that map shows its sinuous wind
ings as clearly as the courses OF river.
Beyond its confines no cement exists that
has a commercial value. The deposits OF
cement rock seem almost ineXhaustible,
but there is an appreciable lack OF the
right kind OF limestone, and man who
owns land upon which there is goodly
quantity of argillaceous rock need have
no fear OF the wolf ever bowling about
his door. Today much limestone is being
brought to the Lehigh region from distant
points, and il is said that fortune awaits
the man who can devise some method by
which ordinary limestone can be made to
produce equal results when fused with ce-
ment rock as the sort that now is used.
What titanic CONFUSION of nature threw
up the two ridges OF rock, sometimes close
together, sometimes with one superim-
posed upon the other, no one knows, but
il aptly illustrates what fortunes dwell
upon the hazard of die and what fate
had in store for the one man who dared
to put it to the touch to win or lose 1t all.
William j. Richardson, in Popular Me