MARBLES. 29 



high up on the side of the mountain and at times even up to 

 the summit. The rock in its best quality is a compact blue 

 limestone, often highly fossiliferous. Weathered surfaces are 

 frequently marked with furrows called "karren felder" which 

 resemble the furrows which one makes by drawing the out- 

 spread fingers over a soft surface of plastic clay. These marks 

 are caused by the dissolving action of the little rills of rain 

 water running down the exposed surface. 



The best part of the rock is comprised within the uppermost 

 200 feet of the formation, the purest ledges carrying from 95 

 to 98 per cent, of carbonate of lime. With these ledges, how- 

 ever, are interstratified others of less desirable composition, 



Some of the quarries on the sides of the mountains show 

 clear faces of the stone 100 feet in height, and hundreds of 

 tons can be thrown down by a single blast. These quarries 

 have all the conveniences of situation above the crushers and 

 railroad tracks, and are admirably located for large production 

 at small cost. One extensive quarry is that of the Sloss-Shef- 

 field company near Gate City. 



For lime burning this rock has probably been more exten- 

 sively used than any other in the state, supplying kilns at Pel- 

 ham, Siluria, Hardyville, Genadarque, Longview, etc., in 

 Shelby county for the manufacture of the long celebrated 

 "Shelby Lime." 



In this connection we may speak oi other forms of limestone 

 capable of industrial application, viz., marbles and lithographic 

 stones. 



Marbles. 



The marbles of Alabama are of two kinds, crystalline or 

 true marble, and non-crystalline. 



The crystalline or statuary marbles occur mainly in a nar- 

 row valley along the western border of the Metamorphic rocks, 

 extending from the northwestern part of Coosa county through 

 Talladega into Calhoun. The outcrops have a width of about a 

 quarter of a mile and a length of 60 miles at least. 



The best as yet known are in Talladega county, and the 

 principal quarries from which the stone has been obtained are 

 in the vicinity of Sylacauga, and near Taylor's Mill," on Talla- 

 dega Creek. At a number of places within these limits, before 



