BUILDING AND ORNAMENTAL STONES. 383 



has shown itself to be very durable, in point of beauty it falls far short 

 of the marbles from the more Eastern States, and hence its use for any 

 form of ornamental work has almost entirely ceased. There were, how- 

 ever, on exhibition at the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876 (and since 

 then transferred to the National Museum) samples of this limestone 

 from along the Lebanon Branch of the Philadelphia and Beading Kail- 

 road, some of which gave promise of great utility. I would mention 

 especially two samples from Myerstown and Mill Lane. These are very 

 fine-grained and compact, of a drab or bluish color on a polished surface, 

 and traversed by wavy and very irregularly anastomosing, nearly black 

 lines. They seem in every way admirably adapted for decorative work, 

 though I am not aware that they have as yet been at all used for this 

 purpose. Newberry states* that a fine variety of black marble occurs 

 in or near Williamsport, Lycoming County. I have never seen the 

 stone and know nothing further regarding it. A black limestone that 

 takes a fine polish and appears well suited for interior work is stated 

 also to occur near the east end of Mosquito Valley, in the same county. 

 For exterior work it is stated to be unsuited, as it splinters up badly on 

 exposure. 



Tennessee. — The valley of East Tennessee is underlaid by limestone of 

 Lower Silurian age that furnishes some of the finest and most beautiful 

 grades of colored marbles at present quarried in the United States. 



The history of the quarrying industry in this part of the State, as 

 given by Dr. Safford,t is substantially as follows : In April, 1838, the 

 Rogersville Marble Company was formed by gentlemen in and near 

 Rogersville, Hawkins County, for the purpose of sawing marble and 

 establishing a marble factory in the vicinity. The company operated 

 to a limited extent for several years, erecting a mill and selling several 

 thousand dollars' worth of material annually, most of which was used 

 within the State limits. In 1844 the company sold out to a Mr. Rice, 

 who shortly after sent a block of the light mottled, strawberry variety 

 to the Washington Monument ; another block was subsequently sent, 

 in accordance with an act of the State legislature. These blocks at- 

 tracted the attention of the building committee of the National Capitol, 

 who finally decided on the adoption of the material for the interior 

 decorative work in the extensions of that building. As a consequence, 

 what was known as the Government quarry was opened, at a point about 

 9 miles southwest of Rogersville, where the Holston River intersects 

 the marble range. The rock here was in large part massive and the 

 bed several hundred feet in width. Many thousand feet were taken out, 

 being shipped by river and rail to Charleston or Savannah, and thence 

 by water to Washington. Public attention having thus been drawn to 

 the beauty of these stones, there has arisen a constantly increasing de- 

 mand for them, to supply which other quarries have been opened, and 



* Rep. of Judges, p. 138,139. t Geology of Tennessee. 



