Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 April 1899 — How Emery Is Quarried. [ARTICLE]

How Emery Is Quarried.

Emery comes from the Island of Naxos, In the eastern Mediterranean, whence It has been exported for the last two centuries or more. The beds are In tbe northeast of the is’and. There are about 300 men engaged In tbe trade, all of whom have to be married before they are admitted to tbe fraternity. The material is much too bard to be dug out or even Masted. Great fires are lighted around the blocks till the natural cracks expand with the heat and levers are then inserted to pry them apart This system is continued until the blocks are reduced in size to masses of n cubic foot or less, and they are then shipped aa If they were coaL There are said to be 20,000,000 tons yet available at Naxos, and the last reported year’s export was 3,950 tone It is one of tbe hardest substances known.