The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-12-06
MINING ASBESTOS
IN VERMONT TOWN
Quarry in Belvidere Noun
tain District in
Operation
POWER PLANT WORTH
MILLION DOLLARS

tleborO, Vice President and General
Manag er-Advent of Automobile In
creases Industry.
Vermont has gone into the asbestos in
dustry with a will and lays claim to hav-
ing one of the largest mills of its kind in
America in operation, says a Burlington
despatch in the Springfield Republican.
Near the village of Eden in the valley
of Lamoille, on Belvidere mountain, is
the heart of Vermont's asbestos land, and
there the Asbestos Corporation of
America has just completed building a
power station and installing modern
equipment valued at upwards of S1,100,-
/ 600
/ The company is at the present time
/ bidding for a big contract with a south
/ ern California manufacturer of asphalt,
/ to supply him with Vermont asbestos,
1 which viii be shipped from Portland,
+ Me- through the Cape Cod and Panama
/ canals to Los Angeles, Cal, and be de-
4 livered at the manufacturers door from
4 the asbestos mills within % days.
4 Charles II. Thompson formerly of Brat
/ tleboro), vice president and general
manager of the corporation, plans to
/ start the first shipment in January and
4 have two boats month in the work.
4 Halfway Up the Mountain.
/ Some - miles south of the Vermont
Quebec border. dam obstructs the Mis-
/ sisquoi river in its course westward to
/ Lake Champlain. From the adjoining
\ lower plant, the wires of a transmission
i line string off cross-country to the south,
! in the direction of BelYidere mountain.
i Halfway up the mountainside from the
/ little village of Eden and 81 miles from
\ the generating station, the line termln-
I ates in a, clearing.
/ The American output has been little
/ declares Chester &. Gilbert of Washing
/ ton, ID. c.. consulting engineer of the
! company. There has been the produc-
/ ton of a little amphibole asbestos, here
and there in the Piedmont region of the
] South; minor operations in California
! and Wyoming; and work in the nearly
4 inaccessible deposits in Arizona. The
I demand for asbestos has multiplied four
1 fold in the past 20 years, doubling the
4 1900 requirement in 1910 and doubling
this latter again in 1920, says Mr. Gil
bert.
Automobile Doomed Industry.
The advent of the automobile has
been a powerful factor in the asbestos
market. for the product is used extern
N siyely in brake lining for cars. Practi-
cally the whole of America asbestos
supply comes from Canada, Mr.. Gilbert
there-at Thetford, Black Lake and
East Broughton-along what is known
as the asbestos belt in the province of
Quebec. just north of Vermont. North
ern Vermont Is one, geologically, with
the Canadian asbestos belt, says Mr.. Gil
bert.
The industry of getting asbestos out
Of the Thetford-Black iake-East Brough-
ton belt, across the border from Vermont,
is one of the major undertakings in Can
ada. Great pits around 1000 feet deer
and as many yards across bear witness
ITO what has been going on. The pres
ent market demands the fiber used in the
manufacture Of special products. such as
shingles. pipe-Coyering, steam-p packing
!: and brake Innings. Expert gradings OF
the asbestos is one of the most important
phases of the industry.
The Belvidere mountain district has
certain material advantages over Cana
dian operations to balance against its
disadvantages. The percentage of mil
fiber is considerably higher than the aver
age for the Canadian districts. The
Canadian product may be loaded more or
less directly aboard cars, but the rock
has to be quarried largely from great
deep pits, with all the retinue of special
equipment and operating costs this en-
tails and dumping space for waste rock
has come to be a serious problem.
Quarrying the Product.
ne btlNluere mountain product mas
to be let down The mountain side and
hauled Il miles to the nearest shipping
point which is Hyde Park. the home Of
United States Senator Carroll s. Page.
The rock can be quarried from the noun
tainside above and unlimited opportunity
is afforded for the disposal of waste
down the mountainside. with gravity
aiding in the flow from the quarry to the
dump. Mr.. Gilbert maintains that this
/ means an operating cost of less than
half the average in Canada. which may
more than offset the item for hauling to
the shipping point.
The work of getting the asbestos mine
ready for action has been going on under
the direct supervision of Mr. Gilbert and
| Mr. Thompson during the early part of
this year. Operations began on May -
and the enterprise had passed the expert
mental stage on July 10. so that today
the daily capacity of the mills is 30 tons
of the finished product and things are
running full blast.
The second new hydroelectric unit is
nearly completed at Stevens Mills, and
| with the concrete foundations, new
planking on the dam, and canal improve
mentS and water wheels. the power
plant, which is q miles from the mills
and quarries. represents investments
totaling $4,000. The power plant fur
nishes 1900 horsepower, and the aux
lliary station, which viii be pressed into
use this winter when Jack Frost inter-
fcres with the flow of Missisquoi river.