412 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Hand and horse-power pumps were used, and found to be of too 

 small capacity to handle the water. The owners intend putting 

 in steam pumps. 



About one-half mile north of the village, on the same ledge, is 

 the other opening, in which four parties are engaged in quarry- 

 ing — Patrick Kelly, Cornelius Harvey, John S. Mower & Co., and 

 A. Carn wright. The total length of the quarry face is about 

 300 feet. Each quarry employs eight to twelve men, and pro- 

 duces $4,000 to $6,000 in stone per year. Is o steam machinery is 

 used. Pumps are worked by hand or horse power. The quar- 

 ries are below the level of the surrounding country, and there is 

 no natural drainage. The water is pumped behind a common 

 dam, extending the length of the workings. The average thick- 

 ness of the workable bed in these quarries and in the district 

 is about thirteen feet. On this lies a stratum of worthless rock, 

 about three feet thick, which is overlaid by two to twenty feet 

 of earth. The stone is of three grades as to color and hard- 

 ness. The top layers of the bed are gray and very hard, while 

 those of the bottom are blue and softer. Between these an in- 

 termediate grade can be distinguished. 



This change in color and hardness occurs in almost all quarries. 

 A bed of bluestone is rarely uniform throughout its entire thick- 

 ness. Usually the color becomes darker as the distance below 

 the surface and also the distance from the face of the ledge in- 

 creases. Sometimes, however, the stone is darker in the upper 

 layers. The thickness of the several layers also increases with depth 

 and distance from the face of the ledge. Usually the stone m 

 the second block is about twice as heavy as that in the first. 

 The " lifts " or layers of stone in this district vary from three 

 inches to four feet in thickness. The stone taken from the lower 

 lifts does not stand weathering well. It contains seams and 

 " reeds," invisible seams, which open when the stone is exposed 

 to frost. That from the upper lifts is more compact and durable. 

 The stone is carted to Maiden, distant five or six miles by road. 

 The rough stone is worth forty- eight to sixty cents per cubic foot, 

 or four to five cents per inch. 



A general description can be given of the method of quarrying 

 throughout the bluestone district, which will apply to all quarries, 

 with the exception of a very few where steam machinery is used. 



