(Also see: the Stone Carver “Tools & Equipment,” “From Quarry to Cemetery Monuments – Tools & Equipment Used in the Stone Shops & Mills (saws, hand tools, etc.),” and “Quarrying Methods” sections of our web site.)
Lynn Northrop and her husband, and Wayne Northrop are seeking information on the quarry drag saw in the photographs below. (Lynn and Wayne Northrop own and operate the Raymond Museum located at Raymond, Madera County, California. You can read more about the Raymond Museum on the online article, “Raymond Museum now an historical place of interest,” by Elizabeth Gabriel, May 30, 2008, on the Sierra Star web site.)
The stone saw shown in the photographs below was donated by Mark Ward, owner of Mark Ward Truckin; and it was recently moved and installed by local volunteers as a new exhibit at the Raymond Museum (August 2010).
If you have any knowledge of this saw, please contact Lynn and Wayne Northrop at the Raymond Museum. Below is Lynn’s brief history of the saw:
“It was possibly a marble cutting saw moved from San Francisco in the 1890s or early 1900s. It sat at a small quarry near Bates Station, an old Stagecoach stop near the Madera Quarry about 12 miles from Raymond. A man named Carl Taylor ran it in the 1930s and then walked away with the blade still stuck in a slab of granite. The iron cutting blades run vertically instead of horizontally and the screw system is still intact on top lowering the blades as the water and shot cut through the slabs. We are trying to date the saw style and find out where it may have come from and if there are others left around California or the country (USA).”
Channeling Machines – “Channeling Rock Walls for Foundations,” by William M. McKearin & “Device For Drilling in Trenches,” in Mine and Quarry, Vol. VII, No. 1, October 1912.
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“Sullivan Class 6 ½ Single Gang Marble Channeler.” (pp. 101) |
“The north end of the South Dover quarries. A Sullivan double head channeler is in the center. ( pp. 98) |
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“A Sullivan ‘Z’ Channeler on the Barge Canal, Lockport, New York. |
“Buckeye Quarry of the Ohio Quarries Company, Amherst, Ohio. This company employs 16 Sullivan Channelers.” |
Channeler – “A New Sullivan Diamond Drill,” Mine and Quarry, Sullivan Machinery Company, Chicago, Illinois, Vol. VII, No. 2, April 1913, pp. 724-725.
The photograph caption on pp. 13 states: “Conveyor from stone cutting house.”
Crane Builders – the Morgan Engineering Company, Alliance Ohio, Advertisement (Harper’s Weekly, April 23, 1904, pp. 643)
The Morgan Engineering Company, Alliance, Ohio, U.S.A. The largest crane builders in the world. Manufacturers of Steam hammers, rolling mill machinery, punches and shears, hydraulic machinery, roller tables, disappearing gun carriages, special machinery, mortar carriages, electric charging machines for Siemens-Martin, soaking pit and horizontal furnaces.
Crane – “Electric Crane for a Marble Yard” (The C. D. Jackson & Co., of New York), Stone An illustrated monthly magazine Devoted to Stone, Marble, Granite, Slate, Cement, Contracting, and Building, Magazine, Frank W. Hoyt, Publisher, New York, December 1903, pp. 124-126.
(excerpt from the article)
“Electric cranes are now being quite generally introduced in large stone and marble yards in place of hand power cranes, and power cranes of other types. The extreme ease with which electric current is carried from either street car or other electric power lines, and the amount of intricate mechanism which the few simple wires will do away with, lead a great many proprietors of marble yards to introduce electricity for cranes….”
“The crane that is shown is in the yard of C. D. Jackson & Co., New York. It was installed by the Northern Engineering Works, crane builders, Detroit, Mich.….”
“Electric crane in a New York Marble Yard.” (C. D. Jackson & Co. of New York, Stone Magazine, December 1903, pp. 124) | ![]() |
“The craneway and finishing works, South Dover Marble Co.,” Wingdale, New York (from “The Marble Industry in New York State,” in Mine and Quarry, February 1907, pp. 100) | ![]() |
“‘Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth.’” – Archimedes.
“Hiero, king of Syracuse, learning of Archimedes’ remark, is recorded in history as having requested a demonstration to illustrate his contention that a very great weight could be lifted by a small force. Archimedes, who had been experimenting with a crude form of block and tackle appeared before the king and performed the same experiment that first had caused him to give voice to his claim. Whether he lifted a great block of stone or a tree trunk, history is not clear, but the fact remains that Archimedes was the pioneer in the field of cranes and derricks. Previous to the time of Archimedes the lifting and moving of huge stones was chiefly a question of man power and greased ways. Archytias, a deciple (sic) of Pythagoras, invented the single pulley and it was through a multiplication of pulleys that Archimedes somewhat later demonstrated his theory of the weight lifting. It might be said, in passing, that it was Archimedes, who upon discovering that his body displaced water, ran from his bath crying out the news of his discovery. The Early Greeks and Romans were well acquainted with the block and tackle, while during the Middle Ages it was used extensively to lift heavy loads. Working sketches of hoists, blocks and tackle and derricks in many forms are contained in the sketchbooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), the Florentine artist and architect, as well as engineer, who exercised such a pronounced influence upon the art and architecture of his time. But it was not until the age of steam that hoists and derricks really came into their own and began to be perfected in the form that we know them today. It was but a step to make them applicable to electric as well as steam power and it is with the latter that the stone industry is concerned, although quarries still use steam derricks to a great extent, due to the remoteness of many of their deposits from central electric energy plants. Thus from the first locomotive cranes built in England about 1850 or perhaps a little later, crane and derrick manufacturers have sought to meet the requirements of every industry. In small stone yards and mills hand cranes are still in use, but in the larger plants all stone is moved by means of the overhead electric traveling cranes, which are more than mere cranes, but rather suspension bridges of great lifting power and freedom of motion that make it possible to employ them in almost every conceivable manner for lifting and shifting of both the quarry blocks and the finished materials. They are as indispensable to the mill owner as are the pneumatic tools to the carver and the sculptor.”
“The rim of this saw contains 125 diamonds. They are embedded in steel, and when the exposed corner becomes dull the stone is broken out and given a new setting. A saw of this kind, if given plenty of water, will cut its way through the hardest marble.”
Diamond Drills – “Boring Blast Holes with a Diamond Drill,” from Mine and Quarry Magazine, the Sullivan Machinery Company, Chicago, Illinois, April 1914, pp. 810-811.
“Bit for Rock Drills” from the “Recent Inventions” section of The Monumental News, March 1906, pp. 243 | ![]() |
Plug Drills with Air Compressors – “Cleaving Granite by Compressed Air,” by J. E. Schultz, Houston Building, Knoxville, Tennessee, in Mine and Quarry, Sullivan Machinery Company, Chicago, Illinois, Vol. VII, No. 4, July-August 1913, pp. 744-749.
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“Starting a 400-foot ledge line with Sullivan Plug Drills.” |
“Sketch showing sectional view of granite splitting by air.” |
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“Feather edge of granite split by air.” |
“In the finishing plant.” |
“Sullivan Corliss Cross Compound Two Stage Air Compressor, North Carolina Granite Corporation.” |
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“A rush order for large stones; Sullivan Plug Drills at work.” |
Men in the North Carolina Granite Corp. quarry at Mt. Airy. |
Plug Drills & Tripod Drills (ca. 1916) – “Development of the Sauk Rapids Granite Company” (Sauk Rapids, Benton County, Minnesota), by Stanley G. Harwood, Mechanical Engineer, 2044 Aldrich Avenue, South, Minneapolis, Minnesota, in Mine and Quarry, Sullivan Machinery Company, Chicago, Illinois, Vol. IX, No. 2, January 1916, pp. 898-903.
The article begins: “The Sauk Rapids Granite Company is situated at Sauk Rapids, in Benton County, south central Minnesota, four miles from St. Cloud. This company, one of the youngest in the Minnesota granite district, was organized for the purpose of carrying on quarrying and finishing operations on a large scale, to the end that efficient handling of the quarry product, from monumental stock to crushed rock, might be attained….”
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“Sullivan Plug Drills at work, Sauk Rapids Granite Company” |
“Sauk Rapids Company, Quarry No. 2, Sauk Rapids, Minnesota” |
“Hoist and Sullivan Angle Compound Air Compressor at No. 2 Quarry” |
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“Sullivan 445-foot Angle-Compound Air Compressor, Quarry No. 3, Sauk Rapids Granite Company” |
“Quarry No. 3, Sauk Rapids Granite Company. Sullivan Tripod Drills at work” |
This article beings: “There are few more striking contrasts between old time and modern methods of doing business than is furnished by what may be called trade literature, that is, the publications put forth in the way of catalogues, price lists, etc. Issues of this kind are no longer confined to a mere enumeration of goods for sale, prices, etc. Invaluable suggestions as to installation, care of equipment, repairs, etc., as well as standard tables, supplement what is purely personal to the house making the issue. As an illustration in point, there are the following instructions for users of rock drills, issued by the Sullivan Machinery Company….”
The article begins: “The peculiar formation of this stone, and its remarkable adaptability to grinding corn meal, has, in a comparatively short time, been thoroughly brought to the attention of the milling world. In Moore County, North Carolina, located about in the center of the State, this conglomerate was discovered by the early settlers, and was known to exist in a well-defined vein for a distance of nearly two miles, and was first worked in several places by them for their own use in grinding corn meal, and as sought for in every section of the State, and hauled in wagons long distances….”
“About four years ago the entire vein was purchased by the North Carolina Millstone Company, and for the first time since its discovery, improved machinery and appliances were put to work in quarrying and developing this grit….”
“‘Moore County Grit’ Portable Corn Mills” from “Moore County Grit” (the North Carolina Millstone Company, located in North Carolina), in the Scientific American, May 12, 1883, pp. 294. | ![]() |
Guillotine Stone Cutter in Sandstone Quarry (Photographs) (Stone In Arizona, by Roland C. Townsend, Consulting Geologist, Phoenix, Arizona, 1961, pp. 13)
The photograph caption on pp. 13 states: “Guillotine stone cutter in quarry of Coconino sandstone.”
The photograph caption on pp. 13 states: “Close view of guillotine cutting Coconino sandstone.”
Hammer Drills (circa 1906) – “Westerly Granite” (Rhode Island), from “Westerly Granite” (Rhode Island), Mine and Quarry, Sullivan Machinery Company, Chicago, Illinois, Vol. VII, No. 2, January 1913, pp. 690-694.
The article begins: “One of the oldest and most widely known quarry districts in New England is that of Westerly, R. I., and vicinity, from which comes the stone commonly known as ‘Westerly Granite.’ Westerly is situated at the extreme western edge of the state, on the Atlantic coast, five miles from Watch Hill. A few miles away is Bradford, formerly known as Niantic, where some of the quarries are situated.
“Some of the Westerly quarries are on a ridge running east and west, about a mile northeast of the town…Other quarries are a mile southeast of Westerly…Granite was quarried in this neighborhood as early as 1846, which was the date of opening of the first quarries, now owned by the Smith Granite Company and the New England Granite Co. The Crumb Quarry was opened in 1857. More recent openings are those of the Newall Quarry, 1883, and the Klondike quarry, 1897….”
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“The Klondike Quarry, Westerly.” (pp. 691) |
“The old way of splitting granite at Westerly.” (pp. 692) |
“The new way, Sullivan Hammer Drills.” ( pp. 692) |
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“Plan for channeling steps from a granite block.” (pp. 106) |
“Special broach.” (pp. 107) |
“Sullivan ‘Plug Drill’ on a test run.” at the Jones Bros. quarry in Barre, Vermont (pp. 107) |
Harrison’s Magazine, May 1929, Harrison Supply Company, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts. Contributed to the Internet Archive by Mark Stansbury, Trowel and Masonry Tool Collector Resource.
Harrison’s Magazine, October 1929, Harrison Supply Company, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts. Contributed to the Internet Archive by Mark Stansbury, Trowel and Masonry Tool Collector Resource.
Harrison Supply Company, Inc., Catalogue Number Five, 1924, Boston, Massachusetts. Contributed to the Internet Archive by Mark Stansbury, Trowel and Masonry Tool Collector Resource.
The time period covered in this article is during the early 1800s.
Key words in article: Adamant Quarries, Montpelier, Vermont; block and tackle; boom derrick; clog chains; John Crouse of Syracuse, New York; Fayette Cutler, Barre, Vermont; double runner sleds; freight Tariffs; Joseph Glidden, Mark Glidden;granite quarries; granite sheds; horse sweep; Jones Brothers, Vermont; “New Hampshire Horses,” railroads; ramp, rollers; single-drum winch; skids; spur track; St. John the Devine Cathedral, New York City; Stanford Mausoleum; wagon pulled by horses and oxen teams, wagons.
“The electric channeling machine runs on a movable track which is placed on the floor of the quarry. By continual pounding on the marble, this machine sinks a narrow groove to a depth of several feet, making it possible to take out blocks of uniform shape and size. The cutting is done by five chisel-pointed drills, clamped together in a row and attached to the end of a steel bar.”
This article describes the need to mass produce the Civil War headstones rather than by individual stone carvers. Contracts for the headstones and bases were given out to several different quarries and companies in Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Tennessee. The need for large numbers of markers also increased the use of the sandblasting process to speed up carving the names on the stones. Both mass production the sandblasting process caused great changes in the work of the stone carvers, which led to demands by the stone workers’ unions, such as the eight-hour work day.)
Moulding Machine – “Steam Stone Works” (at the Barr, Thaw & Fraser, Hoboken, New Jersey, Plant), in Scientific American, Vol. LXVI, No. 6, New York, February 6, 1892, pp. 89.
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“Planer at work in the cut stone department of the Tenino Stone Company’s plant at Tenino, Washington.” 1909) |
“Polishing Granite,” in the “Practical Pointers” section of The Monumental News, March 1896. This article begins as follows: “By way of preface to the following remarks upon granite polishing, it should be stated that the discussion is based upon the employment of machines of the most approved type and excellence, several of which are manufactured in Barre, Vt. Illustrations of some of these may be seen in the advertising columns of this journal….”
“The work is all done by a small, whirling disk which is moved about over the watered surface of the stone. The first plate used is coated with carborundum, the second with aloxite, and the third with hone. To complete the process, the plat is covered with felt and applied in conjunction with polishing putty.”
This book fully covers the United States stone quarry industry up through 1939. There is also a chapter on “Foreign Building and Ornamental Stones.” Below is a listing of the information covered in the chapters. (Many photographs of quarries, etc., are included in this book.)
Part I. General Features of the Stone Industries
Chapter I. Extent and Subdivision. Extent of the Industry – Major Divisions of the Industry – Varieties of Stone Used
Chapter II. Minerals and Rocks. Distinction between Rock and Stone – Relationship of Rocks to Minerals – Rock-forming Minerals – Classification of Rocks – General Distribution of Rocks in the United States.
Chapter III. Factors Governing Rock Utilization. Rock Qualities on Which Use Depends – Importance of Other factors than Quality – Available Markets; Diversification of Products Transportation Facilities – Production Code
Chapter IV. Prospecting and Developing. Prospecting – Stripping – General Methods of Operation – Bibliography
Part II. Dimension Stone
Chapter V. General Features of Dimension-Stone Industries. Definition of Dimension Stone – Principal Uses Requisite Qualities of Dimension Stone – Adaptations of Raw Materials to Use – Complexities in Marketing – Royalties
Chapter VI. Limestone. Definition – Origin – Physical Properties – Varieties – Qualities on Which Use Depends – Uses – Industry by States – Occurrences of Travertine – Quarry Methods – Milling Methods – Limestone Products – Cost of Quarrying and Manufacture – Waste in Quarrying and Manufacture – Utilization of Waste – Limestone Marketing – Bibliography
Chapter VII. Sandstone. Varieties – Composition – Size and Shape of Grains – Cementation – Color – Porosity – Uses – Production – Industry by States – Quarry Methods – Quarry Processes – Yard Service – Sandstone Sawmills and Finishing Plants – The Bluestone Industry – Waste in Sandstone Quarrying and Manufacture – Bibliography
Chapter VIII. Granite. General Character – Mineral Composition – Chemical Composition – Physical Properties Varieties – Related Rocks – Structural Features – Uses – Distribution of deposits – Industry by States – Quarry Methods and Equipment – Milling Methods and Equipment – Market Range – Imports, Exports, and Tariffs – Prices – Bibliography
Chapter IX. Marble. History – Definition – Composition – Origin and Varieties – Physical Properties – Jointing or Unsoundness – Chief Impurities of Marble – Uses – Distribution of Deposits – Production – Industry by States – Quarry Methods and Equipment – Transportation; Equipment and Operation in Mills and Shops – Waste in Quarrying and Manufacture – Marketing Marble – Imports and Exports – Tariff – Prices – Bibliography
Chapter X. Slate. Definition – Origin – Mineralogical Composition – Chemical Composition – Physical Properties – Structural Features – Imperfections – Uses – History of Industry – General Distribution – Production – Industry by States – General Plan of Quarrying – Quarry Operations – Quarry Methods – Yard Transportation – Manufacture of Roofing Slate – Storage of Roofing Slate – The Art of Roofing with Slate – Manufacture of School slates – Manufacture of Mill Stock – Slate Floors – Walks, and Walls – Crushed and Pulverized Slate Products – Waste in Quarrying and Manufacturing – Tests and Specifications – Marketing – Imports and Exports – Tariff – Prices – Bibliography
Chapter XI. Soapstone. Composition and Properties – History – Uses – Origin and Occurrence – Quarry Methods – Milling Processes – Marketing – Rocks Related to Soapstone – Bibliography
Chapter XII. Boulders as Building Materials. Origin and Nature of Boulders – Stone Fences – The Use of Boulders in Buildings
Chapter XIII. Foreign Building and Ornamental Stones. Scope of Discussion – Imports of Stone – Foreign Limestones – Foreign Sandstones – Foreign Granites – Foreign Marbles – Foreign Slates – Bibliography
Chapter XIV. Miscellaneous Rocks and Minerals Used for Building and Ornamental Purposes. Agalmatolite – Alabaster – Amazonite – Catlinite – Clay – Diatomite – Tripoli and Pumice – Fluorite – Jade – Labradorite – Lapis-lazuli – Malachite and Azurite – Meerschaum – Mica Schist – Porphyry – Quartz; Snow and Ice – Sodalite – Bibliography
Chapter XV. Deterioration, Preservation, and Cleaning of Stonework. Deterioration of Stone – Preservation of Stone – Cleaning Stone – Bibliography
Part III. Crushed and Broken Stone
Chapter XVI. General Features of the Crushed-Stone Industries. History – Types and Values of Stone Used – Crushed Stone and Dimension Stone Contrasted – Uses of Crushed Stone – Competition – Markets – Transportation – Prices – Royalties – Capital Required
Chapter XVII. Crushed and Broken Limestone. Types of Stone Included – Extent of Industry – Uses of Crushed and Broken Limestone – Uses for Which Physical Properties are Most Important – Uses for Which Chemical Properties are Most Important – Uses of Dolomite and High-magnesian Limestone – Industry by States – Quarry Methods and Equipment; Bibliography
Chapter XVIII. Crushed and Broken Stone Other Than Limestone. General Features – Uses – General Distribution and Value – Industries by States – Quarry Method and Equipment – Marketing – Bibliography
“The underground marble quarries at West Rutland are 2,000 feet long and have a maximum width of 700 feet. An electric road which operates on the floor of the quarry is 300 feet below the surface and stretches for 800 feet out into the tunnel. Connecting with this electric railway and leading up to the ground level is a cable track which is 500 feet long and rises at an angle of forty-five degrees.”
The ‘Numa’ Rock Drill Maker and Sharpener from “The Mechanical Sharpening of Rock Drill Steel,” by Matt. Brodie, M.E., Mine and Quarry, February 1907, pp. 104 | ![]() |
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“Rock Drills for Department Stores,” from “Mine and Quarry,” Sullivan Machinery Co., Chicago, Illinois, April 1913, pp. 725. |
Rock Drills – Sullivan “Hy-Speed” Rock Drill in a New England Granite Quarry on the front cover of Mine and Quarry, Sullivan Machinery Co., Chicago, Illinois, April 1913.
“The rubbing bed is a large, horizontal, castiron disk, made to revolve in a frame and so constructed as to allow sand and water to play over its surface. After the mills have reduced the marble to the required size, it is placed on the rubbing beds, where it is held in a fixed position until the corners are perfect and the surfaces smooth.”
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First page of the article, “Sand-Blast: Its Place in Monument Industry,” October 1920, pp. 35 |
Second page of the article, “Sand-Blast: Its Place in Monument Industry,” October 1920, pp. 36 |
“Maximum Efficiency with the Sand Blast,” A Series of Papers on the Possibilities and Limitations of the Sand Process. X. Some Typical Examples of Current Sand Blast Ornament, by Roderic Stuart, from The Monumental News, Vol. XXXIII, No. 5, May 1921, pp. 348-350.
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Cut Stone Plant of H. J. Horner & Sons, Lister Avenue, Newark, New Jersey ( 1924) |
In the main runway of the cutting department of the stone plant of H. J. Horner & Sons, Newark, New Jersey (1924) |
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“No. 1, Single Gang Machine, Price $1,400. Net.” |
“No. 2, Double Gang Machine, Price $1,600.” |
“No. 3, Double Gang Sandstone Machine, Price $1,600. Net.” |
“The modern marble mill is constructed of steel and is divided up into stalls or compartments, any one of which will accommodate a large quarry block. The sawing is done by smooth iron bands, set in a moving horizontal frame and acting in conjunction with sand and water. While the soft strips of iron are being dragged to and fro across the marble, the water is pouring down over the top of block, bringing the particles of sand which are to serve as teeth for saws.”
Sawing Machine – “Steam Stone Works” (at the Barr, Thaw & Fraser, Hoboken, New Jersey, Plant), in Scientific American, Vol. LXVI, No. 6, New York, February 6, 1892, pp. 89.
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“Fig. 1. Battery of Granite Saw Blades in Position.” |
“Fig. 2. The Inner and Outer Frame Work of the Granite Saw.” |
“Fig. 3. The Outer Framework.” |
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“Fig. 4. The Saw Blades and Their Pivots.” |
“Fig. 5. Granite Block Broken in Two After Having Been Partially Sawed Through.” |
“Fig. 6. A Long Granite Beam With Two Faces Finished by the Saw.” |
The photograph caption on pp. 13 states: “Quarry in Coconino sandstone, showing wedging, waste, and stone stacked for shipment.”
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“Fig. 5. Application of Gay’s Stone Saw in a Marble Quarry” |
“Figs 1, 2, and 3. Apparatus for Sawing Stone” |
“Fig. 4. Apparatus for Sawing Stone into Slabs” |
Wire Saw cutting Coconino Sandstone (Stone In Arizona, by Roland C. Townsend, Consulting Geologist, Phoenix, Arizona, 1961, pp. 13)
The photograph caption on pp. 13 states: “Stationary wire saw cutting Coconino sandstone.”
(This is the end of the section on “Saws.”)
Shot – Harrison Supply Company Catalog, Boston, Massachusetts – For Sawing and Rubbing, Freestone, Granite, Marble and Onyx, Office & Warehouses at No. 34 India Wharf, Boston, Massachusetts, Nathan C. Harrison, General Agent, 1904.
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Front cover of the Harrison Supply Company Catalog, Boston, Massachusetts, 1904 |
“The Pumice Mines” |
“Our Pumice Warehouse” |
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“Interior Drying Room, Florida” |
“One of our teams loaded with five tons of chilled steel shot, part of shipment just received by steamer from abroad.” |
Stone Quarrying Film filmed in the 1950s in a Vermont quarry, presented on Facebook (open to the public)
Part I. Vol. 59, No. 2, June 2006. (“Introduction: This article, the first in a series of four on granite working, deals with granite as a material, an industry, and a product and begins the description of the granite quarrying process.”)
Part II. Vol. 59, No. 3, September 2006. (“Introduction: This article, the second in a series of four on granite working, completes the description of the quarrying process....”)
Part III. Vol. 59, No. 4, December 2006. (“Granite Finishing: A small number of basic finished dimension stones made up the great majority of granite shed production. For gravestones and private....”)
Part IV. Vol. 60, No. 1, March 2007. (“This article is the last in a series of four on the tools and machinery of granite working....”)
Traction Engine – “A New Principle in Mechanical Locomotion,” in Stone, An Illustrated Magazine Devoted to Stone, Marble, Granite, Slate, Cement, Contracting and Building, Frank W. Hoyt, Publisher, New York, Vol. XXVII, No. 2, December 1903, pp. 141-145.
The article begins:
“Owing to the immense variety of our stone deposits, and their wide distribution, it is generally found that it does not pay to work a quarry unless it is close to railroad transportation. A large proportion of our quarries have switches running from the main track of a railroad directly to the pit whence the stone is taken, so that the output can be loaded directly into the cars with the minimum of handling and expense. Occasionally it is found, however, that certain quarries will pay for operation when there are few facilities for transportation. There may be anywhere from one to ten miles that the stone has to be hauled before a shipping point is reached. This cuts very deep into the margin of profit. One granite quarry in the South that occurs to mind gets out a high grade of monumental stock. This has to be hauled six miles to a railroad, and formerly mule teams were used for the purpose. The company has recently installed a traction engine with excellent results….”
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