MURPHREE'S VALLEY ; ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 67 



much lime rock here that is really good, is thrown away ; 

 much of it that would do for flux, or make excellent lime, 

 is wasted and thrown on the dump. The company pays the 

 same price (12^ cents per tram load) for refuse, as for selected 

 shipping rock. This falls very heavy on the profits of the 

 company. Two thirds, probably three-fourths, of the rock 

 mined here is thrown on the dump as refuse. 



The company does all the drilling, for quarrying and pop 

 shots ; supplies all the dynamite, or explosives that are 

 needed in this work. The drilling is done by compressed 

 air, delivered by pipes from a central station, where the air 

 is compressed by a large stationary engine. 



Compressed air is found to be much more desirable and 

 comfortable in working than steam power; it dispels the 

 dust and diffuses a cooling atmosphere around the drills, 

 enabling the operatives to work in comfort under the ex- 

 posure of intense sunshine and heat of this Southern climate. 



Quarrymen here work by the car load, or piece work, not 

 by the day. They work in the morning and in the afternoon, 

 and on an average make about 12 tram car loads per day, 

 netting them as wages about $1.50 on an average. 



The face of the bluff in all these quarries is now from 50 

 to 75 feet. It seems to be no longer practicable to quarry 

 this amount of rock, and only ship 16 feet of it. Arrange- 

 ments are, therefore, being now made to tunnel and mine 

 out this pure ledge alone. An experimental drift is now 

 being run into the bluff at one of the quarries, to test the 

 feasibility of mining instead of quarrying this rock. If this 

 project succeeds if they can successfully mine this ledge 

 alone, and put out an amount of rock equal to what is now 

 done by quarrying it will be a great saving in expense to 

 the company. It will require fewer hands to operate the 

 quarries and attain the same results, or product of the quar- 

 ries ; and while wages of operators will not be diminished, 

 the profits of the company wilj, be increased, and the impor- 

 tance of the quarries very largely augmented. 



The town of COMPTOX, built up solely by this mining and 

 quarrying industry, is the largest town in Blount county. 



