BLUESTONE AND OTHER SANDSTONES 93 



tliick with 3 feet of shale and earth overburden. The product 

 is all rough building stone, some of which is used for culverts 

 on the roads. Louis Cheney has alsD worked a small quarry 

 near Himrod, but not for some time. 



Watkins, Schuyler co. 

 No quarries are worked continuoush' here, but there is an 

 opening in the hill 1^ miles south of Watkins, made by the 

 Elmira and Watkins electric road, that is worked intermit- 

 tently. The face at the back is 50 feet high and 200 feet long. 

 Stone and shale are interbedded, the thickness of the stone 

 approximating 12 feet. The stone is fine grained, even bedded 

 and very dark blue. It is not handsome, but durable. The 

 stone has been used for culverts on the electric railroad between 



Watkins and Elmira. 



Portage, Livingston co. 



The quarry of the Genessee Valley bluestone co. is 3 miles 

 south of Portageville, just west of the Western New York and 

 Pennsylvania railroad in Wyoming county. It has been worked 

 for many years, and a large amount of stone has been produced. 



The excavation is rectangular in shape, 120 feet x 210 feet. 

 The stripping is of clay 20 to 10 feet thick, and increases on 

 the western side. A great deal of trouble is experienced with 

 the top, as part of it is in the nature of quicksand, and slides 

 occur during the wet season, filling the opening with earth, sand 

 and rock. The bed has been worked to a depth of 42 feet, 

 divided into lifts by mud seams 2 to 8 feet apart. The lifts 

 run in the following thicknesses vertically: 8 feet, 2 feet, IJ feet,. 

 3 feet, 2J feet. If feet, If feet, 8 feet and 14 feet. The second 

 lift from the bottom, 8 feet thick, contains a streak of stone 

 containing a large amount of iron and is known as " black 

 rock." This is of poor color and is sawed into flag. Just above 

 the black. rock the best stone is produced. The stone is fine 

 grained and soft. The best is greenish blue. It is homogene- 

 ous in texture, easily worked and presents a very fine finish. 



A representative specimen of this stone gave the following 

 tests: Specific gravity 2.00;"), w(Mght per cubic foot 1G8 lb, water 

 absorbed 2.97^. 



