J30 MAINE STATE SOCIETY. 



SLATE. 



Statement regarding Slate from the Bangor and Piscalaqtds^ 

 Slate CompanT/^ at Brownville. This company possesses a terri- 

 tory of some one hundred and eighty acres, on -which they have ar 

 workable vein known to be more than eighty yards wide, and in 

 length, one mile, save three rods, while its average perpendicular 

 depth, from the jjresent level of working, cannot be much short of 

 five hundred feet, showing that the material is inexhaustible for 

 ages to come. A statement in writing, signed by all the principal 

 slaters of Boston, is now in possession of the writer, stating that the 

 slate from Maine are in all respects equal, and in some supeiior ta 

 any slate produced in market from any known country. In fact, 

 the world is hereby challenged, to produce an article of slate, which 

 after being submitted to any competent test, shall be pronounced 

 superior to this. These slate can be procured at the quarry at any 

 time, and of any size, from 16 by 8 up, at $3 per square, while 

 smaller sizes, though of equal quality, will vary from $2 to $3 75 

 per square. A square of slate, as sold, will cover one hundred 

 square feet of roof. The weight of a square is about six hundred 

 pounds. Two dollars per square will be added if delivered in Ban- 

 gor. The expense of nails to lay a square is from twenty to twenty- 

 five cents; 4c/ nails generally used, except when laying slate over 

 shingles, then ^d or Qd are used. 



It is well known that the county of Piscataquis can furnish slate 

 for the whole United States, if not the whole commercial world, and 

 I predict, that more slate will be shipped from the port of Bangor 

 in Maine, than has ever been from the port of Bangor in Wales. 

 At present, the transportation from the quarry to the shipping port 

 at Bangor, is done by horse teams, for which the sum of $5 per ton 

 is paid. With this heavy charge for inland transportation, the slate 

 cannot be afforded at Bangor for less than ^'S, and at the Atlantic 

 towns and cities, as far south as Boston, ,^5 50 per square. 



If, however, a railroad was built on which transportation could 

 be done for ^1.50 to ^2 per ton, the company Avould guarantee never 

 to ask more than ^4 per square in Bangor or Atlantic cities, thus 

 effecting a saving to the community, which would be sufficient in a 

 very few years to build a railroad, besides affording them the best 

 and the cheapest material for roofing in the world. With a railroad 



