56 



Indiana University Studies 



extended, and today the stone is carried to all parts of the country, 

 some of it CA^en being exported. The growth of the output has 

 not been followed by a corresponding development in the methods 

 of production. The tendency of the operators in this district 

 has been to continue with the old methods and machinery. 

 Only the growing demand for a fine grade, easily workable stone 

 has caused the operators to realize that there are possibilities of 

 development which might be attained by a careful study of the 

 industry, far in advance of the methods now in use. Within 

 the last few years competition has become so keen that the 

 operators are at present confronted with the alternative of 

 decreasing the cost of output or giving up the more distant 

 markets. The cost of production can be lowered only by more 

 careful handling of the waste products and by a lower cost of 

 power. The more progressive operators of the district have 

 begun to realize the wastefulness of present methods, and are 

 trying to introduce more up-to-date and efficient methods. 



The Southern Indiana stone belt is blessed with large deposits 

 of one of the best known and most valuable building stones in 

 the United States. The stone has all the requirements of a 

 perfect building stone. In structure, composition, color, durabil- 

 ity, ease of quarrying and dressing, and in fact all the properties 

 that go to make up an ideal building stone, it ranks among the 

 best in the world. One of the many properties which tend to 

 make the stone popular with the building trade is the fact that 

 when first taken from the quarry the stone is very soft and easily 

 workable, but upon exposure tends to become hard and very 

 resistant to the elements. The stone is easily carved and will 

 retain the carving in a good state of preservation longer than any 

 other stone of equal softness. 



The principal losses accompanying the production of building 

 stone in this district may be grouped under four heads as fol- 

 lows: (1) losses incident to the production and use of power; 

 (2) losses of second-grade stone, due to the present methods of 

 grading; (3) losses of lime, cement, and fertilizing materials; 

 (4) losses of human labor. 



Probably the largest loss, taking the district as a whole, is 

 that resulting from the present methods of power generation and 

 distribution. This loss may be due to any one of the following 

 causes: inefficient power-plant equipment, out-of-date methods, 

 and obsolete machinery. The methods at present in use are 

 very wasteful. This condition is in part the result of the prox- 



