﻿472 
  Forty-seventh 
  Report 
  on 
  the 
  State 
  Museum, 
  

  

  three 
  flags 
  four 
  inches 
  thick. 
  The 
  number 
  of 
  square 
  feet 
  flag 
  

   measure 
  which 
  this 
  block 
  of 
  stone 
  ought 
  to 
  yield 
  the 
  " 
  renters 
  " 
  

   will 
  be 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  Length, 
  300 
  feet 
  ; 
  width, 
  50 
  feet 
  ; 
  thickness, 
  

   5 
  feet 
  ; 
  number 
  of 
  flags 
  per 
  foot 
  3 
  ; 
  equals 
  300 
  X 
  50 
  X 
  5 
  X 
  3=225,000 
  

   square 
  feet 
  flagstone 
  measure. 
  The 
  flags 
  are 
  then 
  sold 
  on 
  the 
  

   ground 
  to 
  buyers, 
  who 
  haul 
  them 
  either 
  to 
  Yoorheesville 
  on 
  the 
  

   Delaware 
  and 
  Hudson, 
  to 
  Albany 
  or 
  to 
  Coeymans 
  Landing 
  on 
  

   the 
  Hudson 
  river. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  above 
  estimate 
  of 
  production 
  no 
  allowance 
  has 
  been 
  

   made 
  for 
  broken 
  flags, 
  thin 
  layers 
  which 
  are 
  worthless 
  or 
  loss 
  

   by 
  trimming. 
  This 
  is 
  at 
  times 
  very 
  considerable. 
  The 
  joint 
  

   planes 
  in 
  the 
  quarry 
  determine 
  to 
  a 
  certain 
  extent 
  the 
  

   size 
  of 
  the 
  stone. 
  These 
  joints, 
  instead 
  of 
  being 
  at 
  right 
  angles, 
  

   are 
  usually 
  acute 
  angled, 
  the 
  stones 
  thus 
  coming 
  out 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  

   of 
  paralLelograms 
  instead 
  of 
  squares. 
  Four 
  feet 
  or 
  more 
  are 
  

   thus 
  often 
  lost 
  from 
  each 
  stone. 
  Checks 
  and 
  flows 
  often 
  render 
  

   a 
  flag 
  worthless, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  passed 
  to 
  the 
  waste 
  heap. 
  Probably 
  at 
  

   least 
  75,000 
  feet 
  would 
  have 
  to 
  be 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  225,000 
  feet, 
  

   estimated 
  contents 
  of 
  the 
  stripped 
  block. 
  

  

  Nearly 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  larger 
  quarries 
  are 
  worked 
  on 
  this 
  system. 
  

   Some 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  handlers 
  of 
  flagstone 
  own 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  quarries 
  

   only. 
  By 
  far 
  the 
  larger 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  quarries 
  are 
  worked 
  

   intermittently. 
  

  

  While 
  it 
  is 
  true 
  that 
  the 
  quarries 
  of 
  Albany 
  county 
  can 
  not 
  

   produce 
  stone 
  equal 
  in 
  dimension 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  Ulster 
  county, 
  the 
  

   material 
  that 
  is 
  produced 
  is 
  of 
  a 
  very 
  superior 
  quality. 
  The 
  

   extension 
  of 
  the 
  output 
  is 
  hampered 
  by 
  lack 
  of 
  shipping 
  facili- 
  

   ties. 
  The 
  nearest 
  point 
  of 
  shipment 
  by 
  rail 
  is 
  sixteen 
  miles 
  dis- 
  

   tant, 
  while 
  tide 
  water 
  is 
  twenty-four 
  miles 
  away. 
  For 
  several 
  

   months 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  the 
  roads 
  are 
  practically 
  impassable 
  to 
  heavy 
  

   loads. 
  The 
  heavy 
  rise 
  from 
  Clarksville 
  to 
  Eeidsville 
  and 
  South 
  

   Berne 
  soon 
  uses 
  up 
  the 
  very 
  best 
  teams. 
  It 
  is 
  hard 
  work 
  hauling 
  

   the 
  heavy 
  loads 
  down 
  the 
  long 
  steep 
  hill, 
  and 
  the 
  work 
  is 
  not 
  

   much 
  less 
  when 
  it 
  comes 
  to 
  hauling 
  the 
  necessarily 
  heavy 
  wagons 
  

   back 
  again. 
  This 
  lack 
  of 
  transportation 
  is 
  the 
  sole 
  obstacle 
  in 
  

   the 
  way 
  of 
  a 
  wide 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  flagstone 
  business 
  in 
  the 
  

   county. 
  There 
  is 
  an 
  abundance 
  of 
  the 
  material, 
  of 
  excellent 
  

   quality, 
  and 
  the 
  labor 
  of 
  stripping 
  the 
  beds 
  of 
  workable 
  stone 
  is 
  

   really 
  less 
  than 
  in 
  many 
  other, 
  localities. 
  

  

  