THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY igil 67 



field work has been given by R. W. Jones of the State Museum 

 staff. 



No complete report on the quarry materials of the State has been 

 issued since the publication of Smock's Building Stone in New 

 York, which appeared in 1890 as Bulletin 10 of the State Museum. 

 This work presents a brief but serviceable description of the quarries 

 in existence at the time, as well as chapters on the use of stone in 

 cities, physical tests, and the durability and causes of decay of build- 

 ing materials ; it is still a valuable reference work though, of course, 

 scarcely representative of present conditions in the industry. A 

 short paper on the granite quarries in southeastern New York is 

 included in the report of the State Geologist for 1900. This paper, 

 prepared by Edwin C. Eckel, was intended to be only preliminary 

 to a more detailed treatment of the granite and marble industries of 

 the whole State. It affords information in regard to many quarry 

 localities not mentioned in Smock's report, and gives a short 

 description of the geological structure of the region as a basis for 

 the classification of the building stones. 



Adirondack region. The great expanse of crystalline rocks 

 included in the Adirondacks and the bordering area affords a 

 variety of quarry materials. The commoner types which are useful 

 for building or monumental stone comprise granites proper, syenites 

 and anorthosite. These are found in both massive and gneissoid 

 development. Gabbros and various dike rocks of which diabase is 

 the most abundant representative occur locally and have limited 

 application for purposes of road improvement and engineering con- 

 struction. 



The quarry industry of this region has made slow progress. Until 

 recent years its development was greatly retarded by lack of ade- 

 quate transportation facilities and the high costs of shipment to the 

 important markets. Though of less consequence than formerly, the 

 factor of transportation is still of critical importance in some sec- 

 tions, particularly as competition has became very keen with the 

 advantage naturally inclining toward the long-established enter- 

 prises of other districts which have attained a certain prestige in the 

 trade. At present the only promising fields for industry are to be 

 found in the marketing of special grades of stone which command 

 attention through their exceptional attractiveness or their adapta- 

 bility to certain uses. 



Among the better known quarry materials for building and monu- 

 mental purposes are the red granites on the northwestern side of 



