GYPSUM QUARRIES JJ 



is solid with the roof; sometimes "ashes" or earthy gypsum 

 are found up to perhaps 2 ft. in thickness. The mill which 

 the company have put up is a new one this year. The 

 material is broken into suitable pieces with sledges, is then 

 put through a crusher, from which it is elevated to a set 

 of burr stones. From these it is carried by an elevator to 

 hoppers where it is weighed automatically and is dropped 

 through a chute into cars. The material is largely shipped 

 to Buffalo the local trade being small. The amount paid 

 to miners is 60 cents per ton on the bank, the powder being 

 provided by the company. Some dynamite of a low grade 

 is also used. A twist drill was noticed in one of the pits 

 and the quarrymen rather like its operation and ease of 

 working. No. 1 shaft has been worked for several years. 

 No. 2 was opened this year and No. 3 is not yet completed. 



No. 1 pit is about 200 ft. from the No. 2, and No. 2 about 

 100 ft. from No. 3. The ground plaster of this company is 

 of excellent quality and color and the deposit will probably 

 be operated in future on a larger scale. 



The next point west is Oakfield in Genesee Co. There 

 are three plaster quarries here owned or leased by Mr Olm- 

 sted of Oakfield. Only two are working, both underground. 

 They are almost 1^ miles north of the village. The most 

 easterly pit is worked by four men. The shaft is 8x12 and 

 31 ft. deep. A former owner ran a tunnel to the north which 

 is now closed up. There are two tunnels at present, one 75 

 ft. long, the other 55 or 60 ft. long. These are separated 

 80 or 85 ft. at the ends. The 55 ft. tunnel is at present being 

 worked. The deposit is only about 4 ft. thick, not so much as 

 this in many places. The only timbering is a few short 

 stalls. The rock is very much the whitest plaster rock seen 

 in New York, and when ground is like flour. The material 

 is loaded in flat cars running on a track made by laying 

 stringers and nailing cross pieces, and covering with hoop iron. 

 This lessens the labor of handling and increases the output. 

 At the bottom of the pit the material is loaded into an iron 



