BUILDING AND ORNAMENTAL STONES. 411 



iuui uiicliaugcablc that in some cases oven tlio marks of the tool roinaiii 

 upon it to the present day. A specimen of red jiianite now in the 

 Mnseum, and formerly a portion of one of these obelisks, still shows the 

 original carving made npon it upwards of three thousand years ago. 



There is probably no country on the globe in which so large a pro 

 portion of its stone buildings are of granitic rock as the United States. 

 This fact is due rather to tlu' ready accessibility of the rock in those 

 ])ortions that were earliest settled than to any very decided preference 

 on the part of the builder. Tlie United States (Joveriiment has of late 

 sliown a decided preference for granite in the construction of its public 

 buildings, and has often had it transported mauy hundreds of miles, at 

 a cost that never would have been undertaken by private capitalists. 

 One item that tends to increase the cost of our granite, and other stone 

 buildings as well, to a seemingly ueedless extent is the fact that 

 American tastes seem yet inca])able of appreciating any but smoothly- 

 (hcssed or carved stone in a wall. This fact is, it seems to the writer, 

 greatly to be regretted, since, with the nvajority of stones, better and 

 more majestic eifects (;an be produced by rock-faced and rubble- work 

 than in any other manner, and at a much less cost. 



Probably the uiost elaborate granite buildings now in the United 

 States arc the State, War, and Navy Department Buildings in Wash- 

 ington and the new capitol at Albany, N. Y. 



(4) GRANITES OF THE VAlilOUS STATES AND TERRITORIES. 



California. — It is stated* that the first stone house erected in San 

 Francisco was built of stone brought from China, and at the present 

 <lay tlie granites most employed are bronglitfrom Scotland and the East- 

 eiii United States. However this may be, it is obvious that this condi- 

 tion of affairs need not long continue to exist, since granites of good 

 (jiiality occur in inexhaustible quantity in the near viciin'ty. As early 

 as IiS.I.'j a granite quarry was opened in Sacramento County, and since 

 then others have been opened and systematically worked in Penryn 

 and Rockliu in Placer County. The Penryn works are some 28 miles 

 east from Sacramento on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad. 

 Tiie first quarries were opened in 1804 and are now said to cover 

 some C8() acres at Penryn an<l Rockliu, t the latter point being some 

 or 8 miles distant from the former in a westerly direction. 



Tiie rock varies in color from light to dark gray, one variety, which 

 contains both hornblende and biotite, being almost black on a polished 

 surface. They are as a rule fine grained, and take a good polish. 

 lUocdvs more than 100 feet long, oO feet wide, and 10 feet thick have 

 been quarried out and afterwards broken up,| 



The buildings mentioned below have been constracted wholly or in 



'Hiiildini!,- Stone Jind Qiiany IiiduHtry, Ke)>or). Tenth Census, Vol. X, ji. 2. 

 t'l'lid K(ud<lin st.oncr in r.atlier i\. ((iiiirt/, diorite tli;in a true granite. 

 t Mineral liesoiirccs of Mic Uiiit.'d Stal(v-i, 1SH;{, p. tf);'). 



