Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 310, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 December 1914 — Probable First Use of Mortar. [ARTICLE]

Probable First Use of Mortar.

The use of lime as binding material for mortar originated in the remote past It is probable that some savages when using limestone rocks to confine their fire noticed that the stones were changed by the action of, thewat. Apassing shower may have slaked the-lfme to a paste, and they discovered that the parte was smooth and sticky and was a better materio than clay to fill the crevices in theh rude dwellings. From this discovery it was but a'rtep to add synd to the paste in order to produce a mortar.