The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1920-12-13

forth for developing the granite OF
Washington county as there have been
in the marble enterprise of Rutland
county, and no one would doubt the
success of the undertaking. To quarry
marble, TO dig gold, to mine coal, cop
per or iron, and raise them to the sur
face of the earth oftentimes requires
an immense outlay of funds for mere
preparatory work and frequently all
the efforts of the projectors of these
enterprises prove abortive. To quarry
the granite of Washington county
there is no risk in the undertaking;
the material sought is seen; enough
lies above the general level of the
surrounding country to supply, for
hundreds of years, any reasonable de-
mand.
On the two hills in Barre the gran
tie is found in nearly horizontal strata,
varying in thickness from two inches
to ten feet From this some geologists
suppose it to be gneiss, which rock IS
composed of the same minerals and
differs only from granite by having a
distinctly stratified or slaty structure,
"There are cases" says President
Hitchcock "wherc it is very difficult
to decide whether the rock be strait
fed or not even these rocks, which all
biologists concede to be granite, such
as those at Barre, when worked evince
such disposition to split in certain
direction that the workmen, generally,
regard them as stratified rocks the
strata corresponding with the rift or
cleavage planes, and intelligent quar-
rymen, working upon granite, are as
careful to determine the direction of
the rift MS those engaged in quarry
ing slate"
Granite can readily be split at right
angles with that of the rift or cleav-
age, but not in a diagonal direction.
For pillars designed to sustain great
weight the utmost care should be TAX
en- to have the length correspond with
the cleavage or rift. Taking advan-
tage of this characteristic the quarry
men run their lines on the rift from
ten to two hundred feet in length;
and with aid of halfrounds and
wedges the blocks are separated from
the tables or sheets.
1t often happens when blocks OF
large dimensions are wanted, that a
new face or edge of sheet must be
laid open to remove the edges Of the
everything sheets, and expose a layer
of suitable thickness, powder is used
to throw off the upper strata. To a
man who has never seen granite quar-
ried, it seems mystery how blocks
seventy-fve or hundred feet long,
six feet wide and from four to six
feet thick can be cut, almost as
straight as if sawed from a bed of solid
rock One block, quarried last season
on Cobble hill. seventy-five feet long, |
no less than | 800 cubic feet,
and weighed not far from 1875 tons.
Granite, like all the other produc
tions of nature requires the incorpora-
ton of human industry to give it an
exchangeable value The water of the |
Merrimac, for thousands of years, |
flowed over the rapids opposite the
cities of Lowell, Manchester and Law
renee, and no one sixty years ago con-
sidered it of any practical account;
but directed by intelligence and hui
man skill, it is the source of great |
wealth, and its loss would be felt |
not only at home but throughout the
world
The timber of our forests in the
place of its growth has a small com
mercial value, but as soon "a it is COM
1ined with the labor of the lumbermen,
/ becomes an element of the utmost
Importance TO the prosperity of the
itate
The inherent energy and the hidden
activity of the soil, left uncontrolled
~ human industry and intelligence,
would never spring up into the golden
'orn, or clothe our fields with the rich
harvest of grain.
The thousand streams of Vermont
will always as they ever have continue
o leap from rock to rock in their chan
lels, until the men of energy and
means shall divert their power to effect
uch changes in the raw materials of
,ur state that shall confer upon these
INSTANCES an intrinsic value that win
Tot only enrich the producer, but in
he change leave large margin for
he manufacturer
In like manner the granite of Wash
ngton county TO become valuable 10
Is owners and source of wealth to
he county needs for its development
he hand Of human industry and skill
o give il form and direct its move
nents.