MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 59 



by some of the Erie county yards. The latter make wire-cut brick 

 and have permanent kilns. 



Front brick are made in comparatively small numbers, and it is 

 in this branch that the greatest opportunity for development seems 

 to lie. At present most of the ornamental brick are brought from 

 Ohio, Pennsylvania and more remote states, although materials 

 are at hand that could be used for their manufacture in local yards. 

 Some of the shales are well adapted to the purpose and are being 

 used successfully by a few plants. The following statement by 

 R. W. Jones^ is also of interest in this connection. " There is found 

 along the Hudson river in certan localities a heavy bed of light brown 

 laminated clay having a low fire shinkage and comparatively high 

 fusing point. This clay without the addition of any other substance, 

 burns to a dark red color and when formed in the auger machine 

 gives a perfectly smooth surface. It is not necessary to add sand 

 in tempering with the present mining equipment and with a small 

 addition in the way of auger machines and kilns at a few of the 

 present Hudson river yards there could be turned out an immense 

 quantity of first-class, smooth-face red front brick for the New York 

 market." 



Fireproofing. The production of this material has shown a fairly 

 steady growth in the last ten years and has become an item of 

 considerable importance in the list of manufactures. The material 

 is known under the various names of terra cotta lumber, hollow 

 tile, hollow building block, as well as fireproofing which may serve 

 as the collective term. It includes a variety oi shapes and sizes 

 that are used in the construction of side walls, floors, arches and 

 partitions, but usually one of the faces has an area of i square foot. 

 The product is mainly sold by the ton, but for small quantities the 

 prices may be quoted by the square foot. The number of air spaces 

 varies from one to nine. According to R. W. Jones^ the material 

 in New York State is made by the stiff -mud process. Both clays 

 and shales are used, either separately or mixed, depending upon 

 local conditions. While the clays of the Hudson valley are not 

 usually suitable for the manufacture of stiff -mud wares, there are 

 local beds, especially among the delta deposits, that can be employed 

 for the purpose. Such deposits occur near the mouth of the Mohawk 

 river and are utilized for the manufacture of both fireproofing and 

 common hollow brick. The calcareous clays of the -western part 

 of the State are also used and the shales in some sections seem to 



1 N. Y. State Mus. Bui. 190, p. 22, 1916. 

 » N. Y. State Mus. Bui. 174, p. 22, 1914. 



