DESCRIPTION OF SAND8TONE QUARRIES 



393 



In the absorption test 2.08 per cent, of water was absorbed by 

 the dry stone. There was no loss of weight in repeated treat- 

 ment with water containing carbonic acid gas and with 

 sulphurous acid gas. A solution of 1 per cent, of sulphuric acid 

 occasioned a slight loss in weight, equivalent to 0.02 per cent. 

 The test of freezing and thawing left the stone apparently 

 unchanged. When heated to 1,200 ° -1,400 ° F. and suddenly 

 cooled, the color was unaltered, there were no checks, and the 

 strength of the specimen was but little impaired. 



Potsdam sandstone has been tested severely in its home. The 

 wide range of temperature between the maxima of summer and 

 the minima of winter, and the large annual precipitation, of 

 which a considerable part is in the form of snow, present the 

 conditions which demand material with resisting capacity. The 

 houses of General Merritt and Senator Erwin, and other buildings, 

 erected about sixty years ago, are solid structures to-day. The 

 arris and corners are as sharp as when first cut, and the faces 

 show no sign of scaling or flaking. The pavements also show 

 how well the stone wears under use, not becoming smooth and 

 slippery when wet. The Normal school buildings, the town hall, 

 the Cox block, and the Presbyterian, Universalist and Episcopal 

 churches are the more prominent structures of this stone in Pots- 

 dam. In the last-named church there is much carved work, 

 making it very expensive on account of the hardness of the stone. 



The Potsdam stone finds a wide market, and the demand for 

 it is growing, as its beauty, strength and durability are better 

 known and appreciated. 



On account of its hardness,- and the cost of fine tool dressing, 

 the stone is best adapted to rock-face, ashlar .work. It may be 

 seen in the " Florence," South Salina street, Syracuse ; All Saints' 

 Cathedral, Albany ; Columbia College and Kutger's Protestant 

 Episcopal Church, Seventy-second street, New York city; Reid 

 building, Seventh avenue and Sterling street, Brooklyn ; the 

 State Asylum, at Matteawan; the New York State Asylum and 

 City Opera House, Ogdensburg; and in the Dominion Parliament 

 buildings at Ottawa, Canada. 



Hammond, St. Lawrence County. — Sandstone is quarried at 

 three localities in the town of Hammond, and on the line of the 

 Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg railroad. The stone lies in beds 



