Mance: Quarry Itidiistnj of Southern Indiana 



173 



The Portland cement industry began its development in 

 France in 1850. in Germany in 1855. but was not . taken up in 

 this country until 1872 when the first mill was built at Coplay, 

 Lehigh county. Pa. The present Coplay Cement Manufacturing 

 Company is a direct outgrowth of this modest beginning. 



The real history of the industry in this country- dates from 

 about 1880 when it was first realized that the methods in use in 

 Europe where fuel was expensive and labor cheap were not fitted 

 to the industry in this country where fuel was cheap and labor 

 expensive. Up to this time the manufacturer in this countrj^ 

 had followed closely the methods in use in Europe. From 

 this time methods began to diverge, and in time the American 

 methods were to completely outstrip those in use in Europe. 

 The first step came when it was known that dry materials could 

 be fed continuously to the kilns. The introduction of the rotary 

 kiln and grinding machinery instead of millstones was the next 

 step. In 1895 powdered coal was first used as fuel, and soon all 

 other fuels were abandoned in its favor. The size of the kiln 

 has also undergone great changes until kilns up to 250 feet in 

 length with capacities up to 1,000 barrels are now in use. 



The Report on ''Portland Cement ^Materials and Industry 

 in the United States" by Edwin C. Eckel, Bulletin Xo. 522 of the 

 United States Geological Survey (1913), gives a very comprehen- 

 sive treatment of the development of the industry in this countrj^, 

 together with a number of anah^ses of materials and cements. 

 Anyone interested in the industry will find this work especially 

 helpful and instructive. The accompanying table of the growth of 

 the industry is taken from Mineral Resources for the year 1912 

 (p. 512). 



The total amount of cement of all kinds produced in this 

 country during the j^ear 1912 was 83,351,191 barrels valued at 

 $67,461,513. The output for 1911 was 79,547,958 barrels valued 

 at $66,705,136. This represents an increase of 4.78 per cent 

 in quantity and 1.13 per cent in value over the previous year. 

 Of this amount over 98.5 per cent was Portland cement. This 

 quantity of cement which is given in barrels represents a total 

 weight of 13,985,034 long tons and a value of about $4.79 per 

 ton. 



Indiana with five producing plants put out (in 1912) 9,924,124 

 barrels with a value of $7,453,017. The average price per barrel 

 for cement in Indiana for the year was 75 cents. Of this amount 

 9,634,582 barrels was shipped. 



