REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR AND STATE GEOLOGIST 1903 173 



Shawangunk grit from which it is quarried is a light gray quartz 

 conglomerate. The quartz pebbles are usually of a milky color 

 and vary in size from a diameter of yq iiich to a diameter of 1^ 

 inches. The matrix is a gritty silicious paste. These grits begin 

 at High Falls and extend with increasing hight into Pennsylvania. 

 The beds are of unequal thickness but of the same general char- 

 acter throughout the county. 



The method of quarrying is very simple. A large block of 

 stone is separated by means of its natural lines of bedding and 

 jointing. It is then "roughly dressed to shape by wedges, holes 

 being drilled into which the wedges are driven. A final tool 

 dressing fits the stone for market.^ 



These stones vary in size and also in price. For milling, stones 

 are furnished from 15 inches to 7 feet in diameter. The larger 

 stones or " Chasers " are used in grinding and crushing quartz, 

 feldspar, etc. The smaller stones are used principally in portable 

 mills for grinding cement, plaster, paint, and corn. Blocks of 

 this material, 12 by 10 by 12 inches, are used in paving the 

 chaser flooTs. In 1893 the large stones 7 feet in diameter brought 

 prices between $50 and |100. The smaller stones sold from |5 to 

 |15 and upwards. The introduction and increasing adoption of 

 the roller process in flour mills and other industries caused a great 

 decrease in the total annual value of this industry,^ but recently 

 the output has begun to expand. 



To Mr James S. Van Etten the writer is indebted for the sub- 

 joined list of producers of Esopus stone foT 1903. 



Miles Decker Granite N. Y. 



James S. V^an Etten Granite N. Y. 



Ambrose Yan Etten Granite N. Y. 



W. H. Rose Accord N. Y. 



James Jonsbury Kerhonkson N. Y. 



Joseph Davis Kerhonkson N. Y. 



^N. Y. State Mus. Rep't State Geologist. 1893. p; 393-94. 

 =^Rep't N. Y. State Geologist. 1893. p. 393-94. 



