28 Transactions Texas Academy of Science. [74] 
The best modern appliances were nsed in the construction of the dam. 
The granite material for the facing was obtained from Granite Moun- 
tain, near Marble Falls, being hauled from the quarry to the dam over 
the Austin & Northwestern Railway, a distance of seventy miles, and 
delivered at the east end of the dam. The granite blocks were of aver- 
age dimensions and weighed four tons each. The four classes of mate- 
rial used — i. e., the limestone rubble, the cement, the sand, and the 
granite — were transported from the end of the dam to place by a cable 
two and one-half inches in diameter, stretched between two towers — one 
on the east and the other on the west bluff — 1350 feet apart. The cable 
was anchored to “dead men” at the ends, weighted down by stone. The 
saddle shown in Fig. 9 was especially designed for this work, and ran on * 
the main cable. The wire ropes were known as the “hauling rope,” the 
“hoisting rope,” and the “button rope.” The hauling rope was attached 
to the lower part of the frame work of the saddle, passed over pulleys at 
both towers, and wound around a drum under the east tower. The end- 
less hauling rope was operated by an engine to which its drum was 
attached. It was completely under the control of the operator, and could 
be stopped in any position along its course. After being checked in the 
position desired, the drum operating the hoisting rope was brought into 
motion and the load was lowered to the dam. 
The granite blocks and the larger limestone rubble stones were handled 
by immense tong-like grips. The cement and sand were loaded into 
cages, transported to the place of construction, and there dumped on the 
dam. The cement mortar was made at the place where it was to be used, 
and the blocks of masonry were placed where needed by crane derricks. 
A wire rope one-half inch in diameter was used in connection with the 
cable and saddle to prevent excessive vibration of the operating ropes. 
On this rope there were buttons which increased in size from the tower 
to the west. The hoisting rope was supported at different points by car- 
riers which rested, when the saddle was stationary, on the main cable. 
This carrier consisted essentially of two parallel bars, between which and 
near the lower end a small pulley was supported to carry the hoisting 
rope. A series of slots were arranged in the upper part of the carriers 
through which some of the buttons could pass. When near the east tower 
the saddle supported all of the carriers on a horn. In moving from the 
tower to the west, the smaller button passed through all of the carriers 
except the last, which it took off the horn; the second button passed- 
through all of the remaining slots except that in the second carrier, 
which it pulled off the horn ; etc. The carriers were thus stripped off 
the horn by the buttons and rested on the main cable, affording a groove 
or support for the hoisting rope and reducing its vibration. 
Not only was there a lack of hydrographic knowledge, but the location 
of the dam was ill-chosen. Under the dam, near its eastern end, a geo- 
