THE MIXING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I913 99 



Production of trap 





19 



12 19 



13 



MATERIAL 



CUBIC ^^^^ ^„ CUBIC 

 YARDS ! ^-^^^'^ YARDS 



VALUE 



Crushed stone for roads .... 

 Crushed stone for other pur- 

 poses 



283 628 

 391 681 



$207 957 1 631 134 

 275 906 640 165 



$499 776 

 501 394 



Total 



675,309 



I483 863 1,271,299 



$1 OCX 170 



The production of trap in 19 13 was large, in response to the 

 demand for crushed stone in road improvement work. The sta- 

 tistics show a big increase over the reported output for 191 2, but 

 the gain did not reflect any actual extension of quarry facilities ; 

 the output in 19 12 was abnormally low. 



TALC 



The talc mines in the Gouverneur district, St Lawrence county, 

 had an active year, although operations were hampered somewhat 

 by the long drought that prevailed in the late spring and summer. 

 The talc is all used in ground form and its preparation involves a 

 gradual reduction in crushers, rolls, ball mills and cylinders, which 

 is carried out in plants located on the Oswegatchie river above 

 Gouverneur. This river has splendid water power sites, but the 

 flow is very unequally distributed so that in dry seasons the avail- 

 able power is reduced to a fraction of the average amount. The 

 condition of low water has been a recurrent one in recent years, 

 and the talc industry is vitally consumed with the plans for the 

 regulation of the stream which have been prepared recently by the 

 State Conservation Commission.^ Cheap power is a necessity, since 

 the grinding operations otherwise would enhance the costs to a 

 prohibitive figure. Talc competes with a number of materials which 

 are substituted for it whenever the prices rise above a certain level. 

 In the present conditions the mill output in the Gouverneur district 

 is probably only from one-half to two-thirds of the capacity under 

 continuous full power. 



' " Power PossibiHties on the Oswegatchie River," Albany, 1914. 

 4 



