Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1919-05-22
HANNAH GRANITE
IS FINE PRODUCT

-, Karl G. Frank, the Kamiah monu-
= mcnt dealer, "a ID in Grangeville last
week i'm the interest Of his business,
and while heer remarked that he en-
~ ploys more men in his plant at Kamiah
~ than is employed by any monument
- firm in the northwest Mr.. Frank has
7 fourteen zen on his payroll
f The school of mines OF the Univer
sity OF Idaho recently made public the
statement of a test of the granite OF
the Kamiah Granite & Marble Works
from the quarry at Kamiah. This lat
est analysis shows that the Kamiah
granite, as a stone for monumental
work, is hardly to beequaled among the
various GRANTEES quarried in America.
1t his the same elements as the ancient
r. synite mined in upper Egypt and used
in adjoining tie tOmbs Of the Egypt
ian kings of the pyramid age. The
Egyptian granite became known as sy-
mite and is still considered as sort of
super gfanite in its hardness and av-
avilibility TO use in monuments, monu
statemet of the school of mines with
reference to the Kamiah granite is as
follows:
Universitys Test
1.-The hand specimen shows a very
fine grained, gray, granite rock with
a slightly gneissic structure. Quartz,
white feldspar and biotite mica are
visible to the naked eye The light
colored minerals are slightly in excess
of the dark, giving rise to blush gray
color. The rock takes very smooth
polish and has a very pleasing appear
ance to the eye.
Under the microscope the rock is
seen to be entirely crystalline or gra-
Mite in texture The light colored min
erals consist hiefly of feldspars, of
which the principal is a plagioclase
probably aybite or oligoclase. There !
is also a considerable amount of mic
rOlne present and 4 few crystals of |
orthoclase
"Quartz is presant but is in smaller
amounts than the feldspar and as a
rule exists in much smaller grains
than the latter. Some of the quartz
appears as small rounded grains in
cluded in the feldspar OF the dark
minerals, biolite is in excess, probably
comprising over 80 per cent of these
few small crystals of hornbIend II
can be seen and one crystal OF pyrox-
enc is visible in the slide The acces-
sorry minerals are garnet, apatite and
magnetic in very small amounts
Stain shadows are noticeable in
most of the crystals which are ex-
planned by the slightly gneissic strue-
ture of the rock. The large number
of small iuterlocking feldspar crystals
should donate rock of great strength
and consequently very suitable build
ing stone for foundations or other places
whore this attribute is desired.
The rock is more nearly mon
zonite than a granite, geologically,
speaking, though for all practical pur-
poses thee latter name is correct 1t
contains no minerals which would
be detrimental to its usefulness as a
monumental building stone.''
Karl c. Frank, owner of the Kamiah
quarry, was a visitor today and in ex-
planning the analysis of the granite
said that the university test showed
that the granite is decidedly free from
iron, the presence Of which mineral
makes stone unsuitable for monument
tai and building purposes. Mr.. Frank
stated that the fact that there is no
iron in kamiah granite makes il one Of II
the best GRANTEES to be found in any II
country. II
The granite works and qualrv at ii
Kamiah now employs ten to fifteen men II
seven or eight of which are stone cut ii
ters The cutters are far behind in III
their orders and new cutters are being III
sought daily by the quarry. Mr.. Frank II
employs only the best mechanics and
stated that they are scarce at this sea III
son of the year. He expected that
hat there will be number of exper-
enced men avaible from the differant III
luarrie in the east Immediately after III
Decoration day and said that at that II
ime he viii probably employ ten or
weve cutters.
Constant inquiries are received from Hi
eales in monuments for the granite III
1r Frank stated that he does not iii
Wholesale the granite. II Hi