Report on the Mines and Mining Exhibit. 33Y 



land ; in Delaware county in the towns of Colchester, Hancock, Tomp- 

 kins and Walton ; and in Chenango county in the towns of Oxford and 

 Norwich. Very little quarrying is done in Liberty town.ship. In 

 Rockland township there are several quarries at Roscoe, the largest of 

 which are worked by Wm. Youmans. Farther up the road there are 

 quarries at Cook's Falls, town of Colchester, and in Hancock township 

 at Trout Brook, East Branch, Fish's Eddy and Hancock Junction. 

 The stone from all these places is of very mucli the same character as 

 to color and hardness. Geo. S. Harris quarries and buys all the stone 

 at East Branch. The quarries at this place are all small. At Fish's 

 Eddy the quarries are larger. Storie & Hollywood work four quarries 

 at this place. 



In the town of Tompkins, Delaware county, there are quari-ies at 

 Apex and Rock Rift. At the latter place E. C. Inderlied has several 

 quarries and a mill. At Walton, Walton township, several quarries 

 are worked. Thos. Nevins & Son have a quarry and mill on 

 the Delhi division of the Ontario and Western railroad about four 

 miles from Walton Junction. The mill has been removed from 

 Weehawken to Walton, as it is cheaper to ship the stone dressed 

 than in the rough state. The workable bed in the quarry is thirty 

 feet in thickness and is covered by a light top. The F. G. Clarke 

 Bluestone Co. quarries extensively in the town of Oxford, Che- 

 nango county. The quarries of this company are located at Oxford, 

 and at Coventry, four miles to the southwest of Oxford on the Dela- 

 ware, Lackawanna and Western railroad. The stone from both 

 places is dressed at the mill of the company at Oxford. The thick- 

 ness of the bed in the Oxford quarry is sixteen feet. The top is 

 very heavy, consisting of about forty feet of loose earth and twenty- 

 five feet of solid rock. In order to make a profit under such unfavor- 

 able conditions, the quarry is worked on a large scale, and steam 

 machinery is employed in quarrying and handling the stone. A chan- 

 neling machine is part of the equipment. The stone is handled in the 

 quarry by derricks worked by steam, and is taken out by carts and a 

 wire tramway. The stone is of very fine quality. Its color is a 

 good blue and very uniform throughout the bed. It is softer than 

 ulster county stone and easily worked, which makes it desirable 

 for ornamental purposes. The lifts are too heavy for small fiagstones, 

 but many large ones, measuring fifteen to twenty feet or more on a 

 side, are taken out. Stone up to six feet thick can be obtained at this 

 quarry. Powder is used instead of plugs and feathers in getting out 

 large blocks. Deep holes are drilled with steam drills and reamed out, 

 making a hole about two inches in diameter. A small charge is placed 

 in each hole, which is tamped so that the force of the explosion is 

 exerted against an elastic cushion of air, and the block is thus loosened 

 from its bed without unnecessary splitting. The charges are fired 

 simultaneously by electricity. This method is found more satisfactory 

 than channeling. 



Stone is quarried at ISTorwich for local and foreign consumption. A 

 very dark stone is quarried here, valuable for ornamental purposes. 



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