100 NEW YORK STAtE MUSEUM 



good grade. The mines are opened by vertical shafts, usually less 

 than loo feet deep, and are equipped and operated after approved 

 modern methods. Extensive use is made of electricity for hoisting 

 and lighting. 



Just west of Oalvfield are the mines and mills of the United States 

 Gypsum Co., which entered the New York field about 1903 and 

 whose enterprise gave the impulse to the recent rapid growth of 

 the industry. The mines are the largest in the State and altogether 

 embrace several hundred acres. The larger share of the output 

 is calcined and sold in the form of stucco, wall plaster, board, blocks 

 etc., but a considerable tonnage goes to cement mills. The com- 

 pany operates a separate plant for making building blocks and 

 tile. 



The Niagara Gypsum Co. works the gypsum bed to the west 

 of the above mentioned property, its mine and mill being about 2 

 miles west of Oakfield, or ^ mile east of South Alabama. The mill 

 is equipped with rotary kilns for calcining the gypstmi, whereas 

 the usual practice is to employ vertical retorts or kettles. The 

 advantage of the rotary kiln lies in its greater efficiency from con- 

 tinuous operation. The workable gypsum is present in a single 

 bed 4 to 5 feet thick. 



Between the. latter property and that of the American Gypsum 

 Co. near Akron is an interval of about 8 miles in which it is not 

 unlikely that gypsum deposits of economic grade and size occur 

 although no mining operations are being carried on at present. 

 The American Gypsujn Co. operates on an extensive scale, having 

 a thoroughly equipped mine in which electric power is largely used, 

 and a three-compartment shaft for hoisting the product to the 

 surface. A crushing plant is located at the shaft. All the output 

 is sold crude to cement mills and to calcining plants elsewhere. 

 The bed underlying the property is about 4 feet thick and together 

 with the continuation of the bed under the adjoining lands seems 

 to be an attenuated lens which gradually thins down to the east 

 and west. The gypsum is of excellent quality. 



The American Cement Plaster Co. operates a mine in this area, 

 having entered the district recently as successor of the Akron 

 Gypsum Products Corporation; the property was first opened in 

 1908 by the Akron Gypsum Co. The mine is a mile northeast of 

 Akron and is connected with a calcining plant nearby which utilizes 

 most of the output. This is the last of the active mines in the 

 belt to the west. 



