Mmice: Q-uarry Industry of Southern Indiana 121 



The above figures were submitted by Mr. William Johnson 

 of the Chicago and Bloomington Stone Company and Mr. S. C. 

 Freese of the National Stone Company. 



During the earlier years of the stone industry in the Southern 

 Indiana stone belt only the finer grades of stone were made use 

 of and large quantities of quarry blocks were discarded as waste. 

 At the present time these are utilized more and more, but there 

 is still a large amount of stone piled on the waste-heaps that 

 could be used if the selection of the stone were carried on more 

 carefully. 



It has been suggested that a large amount of the waste quarry 

 blocks and even a large amount of the waste of the mills could be 

 utilized if a machine for cutting the stone in small sizes, say 

 brick size or cement-block size, could be perfected. It seems 

 possible that an arrangement of small circular saws might be 

 made that would turn out this stone in small rectangular blocks, 

 such as would be suited for use in cheaper buildings. In fact, a 

 very cheap product could be put on the market in this way and 

 its development would assist materially in the solution of the 

 problem of waste stone. 



Another method of utilizing much of the rougher block stone 

 would be to use the poorer grades of stone in the upper parts of 

 buildings. The wearing and lasting qualities of this stone are 

 equal to those of the better grades, and the only reason for its 

 rejection is the fact that its appearance is not as attractive as 

 that of the better grades. If the lower parts of the building were 

 finished in the fine grades of stone and the higher stories were 

 made of the poorer grades the cost of the building would be 

 materially lessened without lowering its durability, or in any way 

 impairing its appearance. No person at the street level can 

 distinguish the grade of stone used in the second story of a build- 

 ing. 



In the following chapters I shall attempt to show the economic 

 value of the waste stone as a means of fertilizing acid soils and as a 

 flux in the manufacture of glass. These two industries are 

 growing rapidly and should offer a broad field for the disposal of 

 much of the accumulating waste heaps. 



