Jasper County Democrat, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 January 1902 — INDIANA GREAT IN MINERAL WEALTH; RICH STONE QUARRIES OF THE STATE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

INDIANA GREAT IN MINERAL WEALTH; RICH STONE QUARRIES OF THE STATE

Enormous Deposits of Oolitic Limestone Which Yield Splendid Financial Returns Each Year, 9 History of the Development of Trade in Ecdford Stcnc —Tests Shew It Is Unexcelled as Euilding Material —Location of the Deposits and How They Are Found and Worked —Niagara Limestone and Sandstone. ,

Indiana is Justly proud of its natural resources. Nature has dealt generously with the Hoosler state, depositing within its borders almost unlimited quantities of natural wealth. One section is rich In oil and gas, another in coal, and still another in stone; fine timber is scattered about with a lavish hand, while the ground of practically the entire state yields to the tiller of the soil bountiful returns for his labor. It boasts of one of the most valuable and extensive gas and oil belts in the world, furnishing cheap fuel, the discovery of which has created cities as if by magic on spots where the farmer sowed and reaped, not knowing that nature had stored under his feet these potent factors of commercial prosperity which have made our great state a center of the glass and steel industries. Rich in Deposits. The state is rich In agricultural products almost beyond measure, the value of which annually exceeds the yearly production of gold in cither California or Colorado, and at times is greater than the combined value of the product of

both these states. Their mines are exhaustible, but the farm lands of Indiana are practically inexhaustible, if taken care of judiciously. The rlverß and creeks are* bordered with timber lands that have given their massive trees to further the progress of civilization. An abundance of coal Is found here, and the mines are furnishing. and will continue to furnish, this and bordering states with cheap fuel long after the gas and oil supply shall have been exhausted. t Extensive deposits of this valuable resource are found |jr» Greene. Sullivan and Pike counties, where mines have been worked for many years and where new ones are rapidlybeing developed. Building Stone. These are resources in which we all take great pride, but one of the greatest sources of natural wealth Is the oolitic limestone, commonly known as Bedford stone, ttjp production of which employs, directly and Indirectly, thousands of Indiana citizens. The roc Its of the earth's crust are divided into three groups— igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. The first come from the interior of the earth and reach the surface as a molten mass; the second kind are those which have been metamorphosed or changed, often by heat; Hie last group is composed of those rocks which were formed In water. To this group belongj tho oolitic ltmestones of Indiana. Bedford Stone. The geological history of this stone Is exceedingly Interesting and volumes have been written in regard to It, but omitting all technical terms and reducing this history to a few words, we may say that this stone is the result of the grinding together of the shells of sea animals that Inhabited the waters which once covered Indiana. Their infinitesimal particles settled to the bottom of the sea and were firmly bound together by the lime carbonate they contained, making.a firm, even mass, elastle, though possessed of great strength, thus producing a material which all the Ingenuity of man could never equal or even approach. Location of Deposits. Anyone with the Inclination and time would be Interested and Instructed by a visit to tho quarries where this stone Is produced. These quarries are scattered throughout Owen, Monroe and Lawrence counties, and, although there are some In bordering counties, it is only in these three that the stone Is quarried extensively. That one cannot open a quarry in this district at random or with even an ordinary amount of forethought and caution in which, will be found a bed of good stone reasonably free from defects In shown by dozens of abandoned quarries throughout these and other 1 counties which represent fortunes that have been wasted in the vain hope that a quarry might be developed from which an abundance of fine stone might be secured equal to that of the "Old Hoosler" quarry, which is and always has been the finest oolitic quarry in Indiana, and that means in tho world. It has cost millions to .!•- flne the workable ore deposits of BiJtte, Cripple Creek and Leadville, and so it jhas been with the, oolitic limestone fields of Indiana. The success which has been aehlev* by Indiana oolitic limestone in the mrffeta of this and other countries Is due t* the fact that it possesses all the qualitlA essential to a flrst-daga building durability, adaptability to any form TWa which stone can be worked, color and comparative cheapness. T As to its durability there Is no It has stood successfully all the physl^*

tests to wlilch stone can be submitted. The ratio of absorption Is very small; the crushing strength very great. A test made by the United States government gives the crushing strength of Bedford stone at about 130,000 pounds per square foot. That this is ample is shown by the statement that the piers of the Brooklyn bridge, which are subjected to an unusual weight, sustain but 57,000 pounds per square foot Many fire tests have been made, all of which ofTer cencluslve evidence that the stone is fireproof up to the point of calcination or turning Into quicklime, In which respect it is much superior to the average building stone. Granite Is affected by heat far more than is Bedford stone, bursting with a loud report when subjected to extreme heat. Further proof of the durability of Bedford stone can he furnished by an examination of it where an outcropping shows along the ledges. These, although exposed, doubtless for many centuries, have been but slightly affected by wind, hair, heat and cold and the other natural agencies which tend to disintegrate and destroy. Bedford stone has stood both the natural and physical tests. It was first used for building purposes about sixty years ago. Tr.* stone in the Winthrop Foote vault in Bedford, built

in 1840, is still in a fine state of preservation. Many buildings that were erected nearly half a century ago In which this stone was used are monuments to Its durability. Test of Centuries. Although the stone has been tested in this country for a period of but sixty years, ollltic limestone has been used for centuries in the construction of some of the most important buildings In the world. The other great deposit of the stone is found in Portland. England. It was exclusively used in Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s cathedral, the old city wall of London and many churches erected in the time of Queen Anne. Bedford stone and Portland stone are nearly the same in quality and texture, although the following chemical analysis shows that Bedford stone Is superior, owing to the lesser quantity of oxide of Iron and magnesia, which it contains: Portland Bedford Stone. Stone. Carbonate of lime 85.16 97.26 Silica 1.20 1 63 Oxide of iron 50 .4? Magnesia 1.20 .37 Water and loss. 1.94 .19 Totals 100.00 100.00 It is also not nearly so porous as the English stone, a very important fact. It is easily worked, responding readily to the mallet and tool in the hand of the workman. It can also be turned or planed by machinery into almost any desired shape. These qualities have, perhaps, done as much as any one thing to make it the most popular stone on the market. A Recommendation. When the state house commission In 1877 organized to erect a capitol building for Indiana, Gen. Gilman, one of the best stone experts in the United States and of long experience in the construction of government work, was retained to make tests of the building stones offered from ail parts of the country. These tests were thorough and practical. All the building stones of the United States come under threo head*—granites, sandstones and limestones. Many samples of each of these were submitted. Granite was rejected on account of its cost and refractory character in shaping and other defects. Sandstone did not have the cohesivenesw required. Limestone was selected. and of the limestone submitted ■ Indiana oolitic stone was chosen because It met every requirement—crushing test, coheslveness In the cementing of the grains, ease of working into any desired form, beauty, and. above all. durability. The building was started with Owen county oolitic limestone, but mostly constructed with Bedford oolitic from Lawrence county. The center of this great Industry Is at Oolitic, a village four miles northwest of Bedford. It Is here that the deposit Is of greatest depth and finest quality. The oolitic belt Is fourteen miles long In this, district, but the most successful quarries are located on four sections of land —Oolitic. Buff Ridge, Dark Hollow and Reed. The natural conditions for the successful operation of a quarry are best In this neighborhood, and those In the immediate locality furnish about 80 per cent, of the oolitic stone produced In the state. It Is here, therefore, that one interested In the great Industry goes to study U In detail. By far the largest and best equipped .property In the state Is that of the Bedford Quarries Company, which adjoins the village of Oolitic. When one has seen

Its quarries, store houses, machine shops and mills, which are equipped with the most modern machinery, he has seen everything that can be seen In any quarries or mills In Indiana. This company owns 609 acres in the very heart of the best oolitic district of the state, anc| after many tests Is satisfied that its supply of flno stone is practically unlimited. They are undoubtedly the largest producers of oolitic limestone in the world. Old Hoosier. The Old Hoosler quarry of this company Is the queen of oolitic quarries. It was opened over thirty years ago and has produced such immense quantities of the very best quality pf bull and blue stone that its reputation is known wherever oolitic stone Is used. Many architects and owners when using Bedford stone specify that it shall come from the Hoosler quarry, knowing that by so doing they will receive only the best stone. The bull stono is found in the largest quantities, an 1 is of a warmer and more pleasing color than the blue stone. It contains fewer defects and is altogether a more satisfactory stone to use. In this quarry tho stone lies in homogeneous

beds from twenty to seventy feet in thickness, and is remarkably free from seams, crowfeet and lother defects. The marketable oolitic stone Is covered by dirt and hard limestone, which must of course be removed until the oolitic stone Is laid bare. This stripping, which forms a large percentage of the cost of producing the good stone, is carried on to o large "xtent during the winter when the oolitic stone is not quarried owing to danger from frost; for. strange as it may seem, stone will freeze: that Is. the quarry sap that is In the stone will freeze and shatter the block of stone so that it becomes worthless. After the stone has been quarried a few weeks and has seasoned there is no longer any dancer from frost Those -vho have never seen the operation of quarrying stone as it Is performed In these quaiTles have an erroneous idea that It is done by blasting. No powder Is used. The stone is cut bv eliannelers. machines very much resembling a portable engine or small locomotive. Each engine Is provided with portable Iron rails, braced and bolted together in sections, of the proper width and gauge to carry tho machine ba k and forth in the same manner that a locomotive follows its track. A set of drills, five in number, clamped side by side and sharpened to an edge, play up and down on the side of the machine, cuttlhg about an Inch at each stroke. In this way a cut Is made about an Inch and a half wide, six to ten feet deep and ns long as the tracks will permit, generally from fifty to one hundred feet. After a cut Is completed to the desired depth and the channeler removed to another position a steam drill is employed to break the block loose on the bottom. Derrick power Is then applied and the stone Is rolled over on Its aide ready to bo drilled and broken into blocks of any size, usually six to twelve or fifteen feet long. Tvvo Mills. The Bedford Quarries Company hae two of the largest mills in the country, which are thoroughly equipped with the latest improved gang saws, wire saws, planers, headers and lathes for the sawing, turning and planing of the stone when so desired by- its customers. These mills aro lighted by electricity furnished by a fine plant the property of this company, thus enabling it to run the machinery night and day when necessary. That this is important is shown by the fact that It has been running right and day for the past eight months and expect to continue doing so all winter, so great Is the demand for its produc*. The buildings at this plant are models of their kind, built of solid dressed stone. The machine shops are in charge of skilled mechanics, who make most of the new parts v for the machinery when the old ones givo out. and who keep the entire plant In first-class order. To have even a reasonable conception of the magnitude of the quarries and equipment of the Bedford Quarries Company one must Inspect personally. An idea of their business may be conveyed by the statement that every weekday a long train load of stone,ls shipped from the quarries over the Belt railway, some of the ears perhaps destined for Canada, where a good demand for the stone has developed. while some may go to the plains of western Texas. Stone from the Hoosler qtlarry has been used In Abe construction of many of the handsomest and most expensive public and private buildings throughout the country. Reference to the list of structures which follows, all of which have been built from stone furnished by the Bedford Quarries Company, will show the

high estimation in which the product of this quarry Is held: - —PUBLIC BUILDINGS.— United States postofflee, Paterson, N. JState normal school, DeKalb, 111Allen cyjnty court house, <Ft- Wayns. Ind. Chicago unlveiaity buildings, Chicago. Columbia college library. New Tork. N - *■ «... Mississippi state house. Jackson, Miss. Providence pubUc library. Providence. United States postofflee. Hot Springs. Ark. Georgia railroad bank, Augusta, ua—RESIDENCES.— Sloane mansion. New York, N. V. James F. Sinnott's residence. Bryn Mawr. Pa. „ . Mrs. Vanderbilt’s residence. New York, Mr. Stuyvcsant Fish’s resident. New York. N Y. . Mr. Otto Young’s residence. Lake geneva, Wla. Fabri residence. New York, N. Y. —OFFICE BUILDINGS Chicago national bank building. Chicago. 111. Constable building. New York, N. Y. Prudential life building, Newark, «- Dean building, Boston. Mass. -HOTELS.Hoffman house. New Y&rk, N, Y. Hotel Majestic. New York. N- YThere are hundreds of other buildings, but this list Is a fairly representative an*.

INDIANA’S STATE HOUSE.