GRANITE OF MAINE. 



345 



be met with, from po-rphyry and syenite^ more 

 beautiful than that of Pompey's Pillar or Cleopatra's 

 Needle, to the close-granied, compact granite so 

 often seen in the public buildings of New-York and 

 Boston. Situated directly upon navigable waters, 

 it can be quarried and transported to market cheap- 

 er than perhaps any building material in the coun- 

 try ; many of the quarries of Maine, Dr. Jackson 

 states, can furnish unhewn blocks of any size, on 

 board ship, for $1 12 per ton, and the expense of 

 transportation to New- York is rarely more than 

 $2 50 per ton. As the article in any of our principal 

 cities is worth $7 per ton, this will give a profit of 

 $3 38 for each ton of granite. Masses suitable for 

 columns command about 90 cents per cubic foot; 

 so that a column similar to those of the New- York 

 Exchange costs $1500. At Kennebunk, rough-split 

 granite sells for $5 per ton of 14 cubic feet on 

 the wharf. The price remains uniform up to the 

 dimensions of 26 cubic feet, and above that meas- 

 ure, two cents per foot is charged for every addi- 

 tional foot. Stones for store fronts, hammered, sell 

 for 75 cents per superficial foot; and where two 

 sides of a stone are fine dressed and two rough 

 hammered, three sides are charged, and nothing is 

 demanded for the ends. Where three sides are 

 fine dressed and one rough hammered, they charge 

 for four sides and not for the ends. Numerous and 

 very extensive quarries of granite are now worked 

 both in Maine and Massachusetts, which are a fruit- 

 ful and increasing source of wealth to the inhabi- 

 tants. 



In the State of New-York we find mountains of 

 granite and gneiss, and various modifications of 

 these rocks, especially in Dutchess, Putnam, and 

 Westchester counties. Prof. Mather states, that 

 " there are many places in these counties where 

 quarries may be opened, which would afibrd build- 

 ing materials of the best quality, and which would 

 Dd 



