448 REPORT ON NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1886. 



There is, however, a vast difference in material from the same quarry. 

 I have seen tombstones perfectly sound and legible after an exposure 

 of nearly two hundred years, while others begin to scale in less than 

 ten. The remarks made in the chapter on selection of stone are es- 

 pecially applicable here. 



Dakota. — The pink and red quartzite from Sioux Falls in this State is 

 one of the most promising stones of the West. Chemically the stone 

 is almost pure silica, with only enough iron oxide to impart color to it. 

 It is so close grained as to be practically impervious to moisture, so 

 strong as to endure a pressure of 25,000 pounds to the square inch, and 

 will take a polish almost like glass, with which it may favorably com- 

 pare in durability. In color the stone varies from light pink to jasper 

 red, and it is one of the few stones at present quarried in the United 

 States which is equally well adapted for rough building and for orna- 

 mental work, both interior and exterior. Professor Winchell, in report- 

 ing upon this stone, states that it bears a heat up to that of redness 

 without cracking or scaling. The writer is informed by Mr. J. II. 

 Drake, of Saint Paul, that the stone will shortly be introduced into the 

 Eastern markets for tiling, decorative work, and general building pur 

 poses. The chief drawback to the stone, as may readily be imagined, 

 is its great hardness, which is fully equal to that of pure quartz, or 7 of 

 the scale as given on page 294. It however possesses a remarkably per- 

 fect rift and grain, and by especially designed apparatus the company 

 expect to be able to put it upon the market at such prices as shall in- 

 sure its adoption, and at the same time return a fair profit. 



The stone has been used in the construction of the u Queen Bee" 

 flouring mill at Sioux Falls, a structure 100 feet long, 80 feet wide, and 

 106 feet high, the walls being 5 feet thick at the base and averaging 2 

 feet 9 inches throughout. It has also been used in the construction of 

 several private residences, and the Dakota penitentiary in this same 

 city, and in the buildings of the deaf-mute school at Keokuk, and those 

 of the Grinnell College at Grinnell, Iowa. It has also been used in 

 polished columns and pilasters in the Germ an- American Bank and 

 Union Depot buildings at Saint Paul, Minnesota. 



Idaho. — The Museum has received samples of a rather coarse, very 

 light-colored, sandstone of fair quality from Boise City, in this Territory, 

 but we have no information regarding their availability or the extent 

 of the deposits. 



Illinois. — Carboniferous sandstones of light and dark-brown color and 

 good quality are found near Carbondale, in this State. The stone is of 

 medium texture, works readily, and closely resembles some of the 

 Triassic brownstones of Connecticut. The beds are about 14 feet thick 

 and are capable of furnishing blocks of large dimensions. A very fine- 

 grained light bluish-gray laminated stone is quarried in a small way 

 near Xenia, and other sandstones of fair quality occur at Suka, Marion 

 County, Chester, Randolph County, and various points in Perry and 

 Greene Counties. 



