Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1917-11-16
GRANITE PLANT IS OPERATING

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1fANUFA0TJRE OF STONE BEGUN
THIS WEEK UCUEss SEEMS
The granite industry, which, it is pre-
dicted, win in the future be one of the
leading industries of Little Falls, is
now an established tnlng here. The
finishing plant Of the Little Falls Black
Granite company, o. which Messrs.
Sparry and johnson are the proprietors,
started turning out it's product Tues
day afternoon, the formal opening TAX
ing place at 1:42 p. M, in the presence
Of q number Of local business men. The
finishing plant is located near the Jet:
ka warehouses, on the N. P. right-of-
way on the East side. -, s
Charles Sylvester, president Of the
local Commercial clue, after short
talk on the granite industry and the
securing Of this plant, connected the
switch and set the machinery Of the
finishing plant in motion. -
In his talk Mr.. Sylvester said that
of all industrial prd positions that the
local Commercial club has helped bring
to this city, none Of them gave any
such promise of success as this one
does. He expressed the belie1 that the
granite industry would eventually re.
place the numbering industry, which
will soon be lost by Little Falls. and
he 4asid he was confident that the men
who were starting in the granite in
dustry here new their business thor.
oughly and would succeed. Mr.. sylves-
ter credited John Vertin with being
the one who. really bt6ught the indus
try here but he said that the CONNER
cial club also feels partly responsible
for its auspicious start, the club hav-
ing worked hard to help get the plant
started and having secured the cooper.
ation Of the city and county to this
end.
Mr.. Sylvester stated tnat at present
the quarry owners are handicapped be-
cause of the condition Of the road lead
ing from the quarry to the railroad,
and they have experienced difficulty in
getting men to haul stone: 1Ac present
the stone is being hauled direct to this
city, but when the road to Belle Prai.
rie is completed and in good shape, the
stone will be hauled there and shipped
down here. The present cost of haul
ing tho stone is about 35 cents oer foot,
he said, whereas Mr.. sparry' 8 original
estimate was 18 to 20 cents.
Unlike others who have started indus
trial projects here, the owners of the
granite plant here, Mr.. Sylvester said,
have not asked for a single cent in the
way of q bonus, all they having asked
for being the cooperation Of the Com.
mercial club and citizens to makeA the
industry a success. He closed by say
ing that the quality Of the stone quar-
ried by this concern was equal to any
and he asked, that the Commercial club
and citizens help make competitive
conditions as easy as possible for the
concern. q -~.., 49, ~ -. =.
- John Vertin In q few remarks thank
ed the Commercial for the compliment
paid him through the president. Mr..
Sylvester, and he went on to say that
no one man can handle proposition of
this kind without cooperation.
Mr.. Sparry - called upon next. He
expressed his appreciation Of the cour-
tesy and cooperation extended to the
company by the business men Of this
city He said that there is enough
granite in the quarry to keep fifty or
more finishing plants busy for centu-
ries, and the quality of ne stone was
very good, much better than he had
expected. The only thing which might
hinder the success of the industry
would be the hauling conditions, he
said. He then explained the workings
Of the finishing plant, showing how the
rough stones are first lined by hand
and then surfaced with power sur.
facer. From this machine they 20 tt
the polishing machine. The surfacel
can turn out about 65 to 70 square feet
OF granite in day and two men car
line enough stone to keep this machine
going: The; polishing macnlne can fin
ish about 40 square feet Of stone 6
day: Carving and lettering is done by
hand and with air-pressure chisels ani
drills. The plant is at present equip
ped with two polishing machines. Al
8.ton crane carries the stones from ont
machine to another. This crane il al
present operated by hand power but
will later be propelled by an electric
motor. The power for the plant is fur
nished by 60-horse power motor anc
the air drills and surfacer are operated
by an engine capable of pumping 26(
cubic feet of air per minute. The plant
is of the one-unit kind ard will tur1
out 40 to so feet of finished stone in {
day. Twelve men are now employed
at the plant, six men at the quarry ant
an equal number are hauling stone
from the quarry to the plant. The crew
at the plant will soon be increased t.
about eighteen men.
The Little Falls Blaci Granite com
|pany will do wholesale business only
its owners state, and dealers can Sc
Icure their product in whatever shap
they desire, finished, rough or partl.
finished.
| AGED NAN A su|c|D|
|HENRY TUTTLE OF ST. MATH1A,
KILLS SELF WITH A