BUILDING MATERIALS. 8 I 



reader may consult Part IV for a part of this intended sketch, and the 

 rest in general treatises upon building materials, since the size of this 

 volume is already too great. 



Slate. 



The only formation likely to furnish quarries of roofing-slate is the 

 Cambrian range along Connecticut river. The Vermont portion has 

 quarries upon it in Guilford and Thetford. There have been several 

 quarries upon this belt in our state, at Littleton, Hanover, and Lebanon, 

 but no work has been done upon any of them for several years. The 

 stone is not quite so good as that in western Vermont or Maine, but 

 certain portions might be utilized in several localities for home purposes, 

 especially for curbs, platforms, tables, flags, etc. In Littleton are two open- 

 ings in the north part of the town, upon the adjacent farms of Richard 

 Smith and Mr. Bachelder. The band of rock suitable for working is 

 nearly an eighth of a mile wide, and the principal opening has been ex- 

 cavated to the depth of 20 or 25 feet. Bachelder's quarry is the farthest 

 from the road, and has had the most work done upon it. The strata are 

 vertical, and, as the outcrops are on a hill, the facilities for drainage are 

 good, and working surfaces can be obtained 100 feet in depth. The rock 

 seemed to be free from pyrites, was soft, but does not cleave so thin as 

 the slate from Maine, About two miles westerly from Littleton village 

 is a large excavation on the west side of the Blueberry mountain range, 

 high up, and well situated for mining. The opening is about 200 feet long 

 and 50 deep, presenting a face of these dimensions. There is a cross 

 cut into this opening through which the slates are transported over a 

 tramway. Several houses have been erected for the accommodation of 

 the workmen, and a large amount of rock has already been removed. 

 The samples of slate stored for shipment appear to be of excellent 

 quality. The color is a bright dark blue, and the stone soft, and appar- 

 ently durable. The face corresponds with the front of the hill, so that 

 the position is a favorable one for mining, the slate standing about per- 

 pendicular. Thirteen years since, an attempt was made to form a com- 

 pany to work the quarry, but for some reason it failed. Many of the 

 layers are filled with cubical crystals of pyrites, and it is likely that the 

 VOL. v. I I 



