GYiPSUM DEPOSITS OF NEW YORK 45 



It is then ground by four vertical Sturtevant " rock emery " mills 

 and is ready for mixing or for shipment as stucco. 



The prepared wall plasters are mixed in the west end of the 

 building by the Diamond Wall Plaster Co., the materiials used being 

 Cottonwood fiber, hair, sand and stucco. One mixture contains two 

 parts sand to one of stucco with a small proportion of hair and 

 retarder. The sand is obtained from Wheatland Center, 2 miles 

 west, between the farms of Frank Kingsbury and Albert Mudge. 

 Befoire use it must be dried and; screened. 



The Sackett Wall Board Co. occupies a large building adjoining 

 this plant on the north. The company manufactures the large thin 

 slabs of plaster board used so extensively for interior walls. The 

 stucco is obtained from the Lycoming mill. It is mixed with water 

 and placed by special machinery between many sheets of paper 

 and the whole rolled into a cardboardlike sheet which when dried 

 becomes the plaster board. 



Monarch Plaster Co. The next mill in order is that of the 

 Monarch Plaster Co., a little over a mile west along the Buffalo, 

 Roohester & Pittsburg Railroad. The mine and mill are situated 

 just noTth of the creek and railroad track near the railway bridge. 

 The mine consists of a tunnel driven into the 'hill to the north. 

 Drilling is done by auger electric drills and the mine is lighted by 

 electricity, power being furnished by a gasolene engine in the mine. 

 The gypsum bed is 6 feet thick, but owing to poor quality the 

 lower 2 feet is left as a floor and only 4 feet of gyp'Sum extracted 

 in the rooms. The cement companies, it is stated, do not care to 

 purchase the bottom rock. The mine is dry and tlie roof solid 

 so that large rooms can be made, and open spaces 30 feet sqCiare 

 are frequent. Mule haulage is employed. Six feet below the bot- 

 tom rock is a second layer of gypsum which is 6 feet in thickness, 

 I foot of which is of exceptionally white gypsumi. Nothing has 

 as yet been done with this lower layer. 



At {present the cars are hauled up a slight incline fro^m the 

 month of the tunnel and the material dumped into a small jaw 

 crusher and cracker and the crude crushed rock sold to cement 

 manufacturers. The company is installing, however, a large up to 

 date crushing plant, in which the cars can be drawn by a cable 

 directly from the mine to a considerable hight above the track and 

 the rock dumped into the largest of Sturtevant jaw crushers, and 

 from it into the bin and thence through a chute intO' the 

 cars. The power will be furnished by a gasolene engine. The 

 steel scales will be placed in front of the chute at the loading place. 



