36 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Severance quarry near Lyndon, notable for the great thickness of 

 the gypsum beds which are exposed around the summit of a hill and 

 have a vertical extent of from 40 to 60 feet. They are worked by 

 open cut excavation, after first blasting down the overlying shale 

 and limestone which are from 20 to 25 feet thick. The lump gypsum 

 is loaded on 20-ton wagons and hauled 2 miles by a traction engine 

 to the Erie canal for shipment. The quarry formerly worked by 

 the National Wall Plaster Co., in the same vicinity, produced some 

 gypsum which was ground in the local mills to land plaster. 



The quarries at Union Springs, Cayuga county, were worked dur- 

 ing the year by local interests, the lease under which they had been 

 operated for several years by the United States Gypsum Co. having 

 expired. Most of the output from this place has been used for 

 land plaster and for portland cement. The gypsum ranges from 20 

 to 30 feet thick and is worked by quarry methods. 



In Monroe county around Garbutt the usual activity was mani- 

 fest, though there was one less producer than in the preceding year. 

 The Garbutt Gypsum Co., one of the pioneers in the district, closed 

 down its mine and mill. The active companies were the Consoli- 

 dated Wheatland Plaster Co., the Empire Gypsum Co., the Lycom- 

 ing Calcining Co., and the Oatka Gypsum Co., the last named suc- 

 ceeding the Monarch Plaster Co. The gypsum occurs in two seams, 

 each from 5 to 8 feet thick, separated by from 6 to 12 feet of lime- 

 stone. Only the upper seam has thus far been attacked. The work 

 is all underground, conducted through adits or shallow vertical 

 shafts. About one-fourth of the output last year was marketed as 

 crude or ground raw gypsum, the rest being converted into calcined 

 plasters. Monroe county held second place in quantity and value 

 of its products. 



The active mines in the western section were those of the United 

 States Gypsum Co. and the Niagara Gypsum Co. near Oakfield, 

 Genesee county, and of the American Gypsum Co. and the Akron 

 Gypsum Co. near Akron, on the Erie-Genesee county boundary. 

 Their output was consumed mainly in the manufacture of wall 

 plasters by the plants located at the mines. The American Gypsum 

 Co., however, shipped most of its output to portland cement makers. 

 The gypsum beds in this section are rather thin, averaging not more 

 than 4 or 5 feet, but they are of high-grade character, well adapted 

 for calcination. The mines are worked through vertical shafts in 

 a manner similar to that employed in coal mining. Their equipment 

 and management are based on the most modern approved methods, 

 some of the mines being operated by electric power. 





