lUTILDlNG AND OliNAMENTAL STONES. 453 



near i>iil()ii lor ust; iu IJiittc, Dcor Lodge County. ISo leceuily bas the 

 Teiiitory become settled that tlierc lias as yet arisen but little demand 

 for other materials than wood for biiildiny. The great scarcity of this 

 article in the most thickly settled portions of the Territory, together 

 with the abundjj,nce of easy-working, but in so dry a climate durable, 

 sandstone, will doubtless bring about a radical change within a very 

 few years. 



New Jersey. — The largest and most exteusiv^ely worked quarries of 

 stone of any kind in this State are in the Triassic belt of red or brown 

 .sandstone which extends from the New York line in a general south- 

 westerly direction across the State to the Delaware River. The principal 

 qAarries are in various towns in Passaic, Essex, Hunterdon, and Mer- 

 cer Counties. The stone, like that of Connecticut and other Triassic 

 areas described, is a granitic sandstone, cemented by iron oxides, silica, 

 and carbonate of lime ; the colors varying from light brownish gray lo 

 reddish brown. As shown in the Museum collections, the stone is as a 

 rule of finer texture than that of Connecticut, and less distiiictly lami- 

 nated, consequently scaling less readily when exposed to atmospheric 

 agencies. According to Professor Cook,* this stone has been used from 

 an eaily date in Bergen, Passaic, and Essex Counties for building i>nr- 

 poses and for monuments and gravestones, where it has shown good 

 l)roof of its durability. It has also been very extensively used in New 

 York and neighboring cities. At the quarries, as is usually the case, 

 the surface stone is found more or less broken up and blocks of small 

 size only can be obtained, but the beds become more solid as they are 

 followed downward. At some of the Belleville quarries blocks contain-, 

 ing 1,000 cubic feet have been broken out. In one of these quarries over 

 2 acres have been excavated to an average depth of CO feet. Some 

 of the quarries, as at Passaic, produce stone of several varieties of color, 

 as light brown, dark brown, and light gray; the fine-grained dark brown 

 is usually considered the best and is the most sought. In several of 

 the quarries trap rock (diabase) also occurs. 



Neto Mexico. — From the vicinity of Las Vegas Hot Springs have been 

 received samples of light gray, brown, and pink sandstone, of fine text- 

 ure and apparently excellent quality. They are not as yet much used, 

 owing simply to lack of demand for stone of any kind. A soft, very 

 light gray vol(!anic tuJf occurs at Santa Fe, which may prove of value 

 for building i)urposes in a dry climate, or one where the temperature 

 does not often fall below the freezing point. 



Xcvada. — A coarse, gray, friable stone is quarried at Carson, in this 

 State, but it is unfit for any sort of fine work or foundation, owing to 

 its softness and porosity. 



New Yorlc. — The principal sandstones now quarried in this Stale may 

 be divided into three groups, belonging to three distinct geological 

 horizons, each group possessing characteristics i)eculiar to itself and 

 *Aimual report State Geologists, 1881, p. 43. 



