THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I915 J J 



Trap' occurs in numerous places in the Adirondack^, but mostly 

 as narrow dikes. It is especially common in Essex and Clinton 

 counties where there are many thousands of dikes that range from 

 a few inches to 20 or 30 feet thick. On the southern border of the 

 region are a few dikes of notable size, such as that in the town of 

 Greenfield, Saratoga county, and at Little Falls in the Mohawk 

 valley. A quarry has been opened in the Greenfield occurrence for 

 the supply of crushed stone. 



For many years the leading trap quarries have been those situ- 

 ated along the river front of the Palisades from Haverstraw to 

 Nyack. Their output during the height of the industry amounted 

 to over a million cubic yards annually. Since 1910 negotiations 

 have been in progress for the acquisition of the quarry properties 

 in connection with the Palisades Interstate Park which is designed 

 to include the lands lying between the river line and the top of the 

 ridge. The completion of the plans for the park is now in prospect 

 and it is unlikely that quarry operations at the present sites will 

 last much longer. The quarries of the Rockland Lake Trap Co. 

 and of the Manhattan Trap Rock Co. have already been closed. 

 The final extinction of the industry will involve an increase in the 

 price of trap in the lower Hudson district, inasmuch as there is no 

 other place where it can be obtained so conveniently and at so low 

 cost. 



The output of trap in 191 5 amounted to 683,700 cubic yards 

 valued at $550,960. Of this quantity 409,100 cubic yards valued at 

 $331,280 consisted of crushed stone for roads. The figures showed 

 a decrease in comparison with the totals for 1914 which were 

 reported as 975,000 cubic yards valued at $770,000. 



TALC 



The dulness in the talc trade which prevailed during the later 

 months of 1914 continued into the following year and caused some 

 reduction in the mining and milling operations, although there were 

 no producers that withdrew from business. The depression was 

 caused more particularly by the .curtailment of demand in the paper 

 industry which supplies the principal outlet for the local product. 

 The market showed some improvement during the last six months 

 of the year, when paper makers began to experience difficulty in 

 filling their requirements of white clay which had been obtained, 

 hitherto, from England and Germany and consequently turned to 

 talc as a substitute. 



The output for the year amounted to 69,514 short tons valued at 

 $576,643, or a little less than in 19 14, but fully up to the average 



