﻿OOLITIC LIMESTONE INDUSTRY 



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purposes all over the United States, and considerable quantities 

 are shipped to foreign countries. Chief among the reasons for 

 this extended use is the fact that it is easily worked. Occurring 

 in large masses, it can be quarried in blocks of almost any re- 

 quired dimensions : and its freestone nature adapts it especially 

 well to cutting and carving. Probably no other building stone 

 quarried in this country is so well adapted to carving. Like most 

 stones, it is much less easily worked after seasoning. 



The color of the stone is regularly either blue or buff. Both 

 occur even in the same quariy, and the line of cleavage between 

 them is very irregular, so that a considerable quantity of 

 "mixed'' stone either is waste or is sold at low prices for rough 

 work. The buff stone is supposed to be the product of the oxi- 

 dation of the iron and organic matter in the blue, a process that 

 is carried on chiefly by the oxygen in solution in the meteoric 

 water. The oxidation sometimes extends to the depth of the 

 deposits, sometimes only a few inches, since the circulation of the 

 water is not equal in all parts of the stone. The difference be- 

 tween the colors is naturally more marked in large blocks than 

 in small pieces, and is more pronounced after seasoning. Either 

 the buff or blue from any one quarry is remarkably uniform in 

 shade, and is quite generally free from patches, streaks, or stains 

 of other colors ; and this uniformity is an additional cause for 

 the popularity of the stone. 



In texture there are even greater variations than in color, 

 yet, as a rule, the coarser fossils are clustered, and not scattered 

 indiscriminately throughout the bed, so that the separation of 

 the finer stone, which is more desirable commercially, is not diffi- 

 cult. 



Durability, unfortunately, is not always a quality of what is 

 often considered good building stone. The Indiana oolitic stone, 

 however, appears to have a high average durability, evidences 

 of which may be seen in the bold cliffs and smooth faces on many 

 outcrops: in the sharp corners, square blocks and faces of old 

 qudrries ; in the condition of a number of old buildings which 

 have stood for a half century or more ; as well as in chemical 

 and physical tests. Some of the earliest uses of the stone were 

 in the foundation of the courthouse at Bloomington, and in the 

 stone chimney on the Dr. Foote homestead near Bedford. Here 

 the stone, after an exposure lasting through two generations or 

 more, is still in good condition. 



The accessibility of the oolitic stone plays a large part in its 



