1. From smooth rock downwards, 6 feet, in Smith & Price's quarry. Further analyses of this limestone can be found on page 682, of the present volume. The characteristics of the Columbus lime comes out to view in these figures. The stone from which it is burned contains about ninety per cent. of carbonate of lime, and is, consequently, a strong and hot lime, but the percentage of silica is a little higher than is desirable. The silica occurs in association with the fossils that constitute so large a part of the limestone. The production has not been increased during the last ten years. There are but two draw-kilns used in the manufacture, and these are located in the city of Columbus, while a considerable part of the production is, as it always has been, derived from pot-kilns of primitive construction, located near the various quarries. The truth is, the Columbus lime is being displaced, to quite an extent, from the field it has always hitherto occupied. Many of the bricklayers and plasterers of the city are abandoning the home supply in favor of the mild magnesian limes of Cedarville, Carey, Fostoria, Rising Sun, and other like centers of production. The Carey lime is especially valued for the finishing coat of the plasterers, on account of its extreme whiteness. Marion lime is also coming into the city in considerable amount. For paper mill use and for gas purification, the Columbus lime ranks deservedly high. The lime-production of Delaware county is less important than that of Franklin county, but it is of very much the same character. The same section of the Upper Helderberg limestones is the basis of the manufacture, and the process is conducted only upon a small scale, and, for the most part, in a primitive way. At Delhi, in the valley of the Scioto, Meredith & Jones have two draw-kilns, and John Jones one kiln. A good deal of their production is marketed by wagon, but they also reach the general markets by hauling to Radnor on the Toledo road. Thomas Owens has a single draw-kiln, located a little lower in the valley than the Delhi kilns. Local demand covers much of his production. (b) Marion County. Lime-Calcareous division. Within the last ten years important centers of lime-production have been developed at two points in Marion county, on the line of the Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo Railroad, viz., at Marion and at Owen's Station. Three or more interests have been combined in the development of these quarries, viz., the production of a superior building stone for the Columbus market, the supply of limestone in large quantity for flux for the Hocking Valley furnaces, and the manufacture of lime for the general market. To these interests has been added the supplying of crushed stone for road metal, in large quantity. To meet these several demands the work of quarrying has been actively pushed, and a large amount of stone has been taken out. Limeburning, on a large scale, has been made the most prominent of the interests already named. : Marion. One mile north of the Bee-line crossing, on the Columbus, Hocking Valley and Toledo Railroad, a short ridge or knob of Upper Helderberg limestone rises to the surface from under the heavy beds of drift that generally cover the country. It is separated by comparatively long intervals from any similar outcrop. It occupies a few acres only in extent; the highest portion is about twenty-five feet above the prevailing level of the country. The beds composing it are dipping to the east or northeast at an angle of two to five degrees, so that on the eastern extremity of the outcrop, which is also the highest portion, there is a much greater thickness of beds than is to be found at the western extremity. The quarries, as now developed, extend in an east and west line not more than twenty rods. By means of this dip, combined with the deep excavations that have been made in two of the quarries, all the elements that enter into the Upper Helderberg limestone in northern and central Ohio are dis closed within this small area. The bottom of the series is reached in the drainage sump of the Norris & Christian quarry on the west, and, in a like situation, in the limestone quarry of John Evans on the north. Here there are found four feet of flinty courses, overlying by a short interval the Waterlime or Lower Helderberg limestone. The order of the beds seems very similar to that of the bottom of the series at Point Marblehead. Counting upward from this Lower Helderberg boundary, the first division that we find is the "bottom-rock" of the formation in northern Ohio. Its thickness here is twenty-five feet. In composition it consists of sixty-five to seventy per cent. of carbonate of lime, and twenty-five to thirty-three per cent. of carbonate of magnesia. Next above it is the "cap-rock" of northern Ohio. It has a thickness of fifteen to twenty feet. It consists, on an average, of eighty-four per cent. of carbonate of lime, the several courses ranging from seventytwo to ninety-two per cent. It is the only part of the quarry that is used for furnace flux. The Sandusky or Delaware blue stone completes the section, adding about thirty feet thereto. This is found in the easterly quarry, formerly owned by Smith & Sons but now by John Evans, and also in one of the original quarries of the latter party. The series can be represented in tabular view as follows, viz.: Flinty courses, overlying at short remove the Lower Helderberg, 4 to 10 feet. In this series there are four large quarries now opened-one on the west side of the railroad, owned and operated by Norris & Christian, and three on the east side, all owned and operated by John Evans. The quarry on the west side embraces in its present workings only the lowermost division, or No. 1 of the column above represented. As it approaches the railroad, the section is re-enforced by the second division, or the furnace-flux; but this part of the property has not yet been developed. In the Evans quarries the entire series is included. The northernmost workings are in division No. 1. The middle quarry includes fifteen feet of the blue stone (No. 3), and also about the same amount of the second division, or furnace-flux. The easternmost quarry is operated altogether in No. 3, or the blue stone. The latter element is a valuable one in the quarry interest. It yields a handsome, even bedded and exceedingly strong stone, excellently adapted to range work. It is highly esteemed and largely used in Columbus, and in the other markets which it reaches. The spalls are all turned to good account for road metal and railroad ballast, several crushers being kept at work in preparing them for these lines of service. Lime-Production. Norris & Christian have thus far but a single interest in operating their quarry, viz., the production of lime. Their present workings cover the entire thickness of the lowermost division. The quarry-face is about twenty feet in the longest sections now exposed. The quarry equipment is efficient in every respect, steam being used in lifting the stone and in pumping. They have five excellently-planned and thoroughlybuilt draw-kilns in operation, and are about adding a sixth. The daily production of their several kilns ranges from 250 to 280 bushels. Most of their lime is sold in bulk, but they are also prepared to ship in barrels. The production of these five kilns in 1887 was 320,000 bushels of seventy pounds weight. The best of wood for burning the lime is secured by wagon and rail at $2.00 per cord. The composition of the limestone, as determined from a careful sampling of all the courses of the quarry, is as follows: Marion Limestone, from Norris & Christian's quarry. (Lord.) The lime has an excellent and growing reputation. It has found market in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus, and at many other points, everywhere displacing limes that have been used for a long time and acceptably. One of its principal uses is in paper mills and strawboard works. For plastering and brick work, also, it seems to be wellapproved. It lacks the extreme whiteness of the dolomites of northern Ohio, but still it compares well in this respect with ordinary white limes. Its durability in mortar seems to be all that could be asked. It appears to much better advantage in walls that have been exposed for a score or more of years than Columbus lime, for example, and will apparently compare favorably in this regard with the dolomitic limes. Mr. Evans has five draw-kilns connected with his limestone quarry. The capacity of the kilns is about 240 bushels daily. To keep up this production, a consumption of three cords of wood of the best quality is required. All the lime of this plant is sold in bulk. It is identical in character with the lime already described, and is applied to the same uses. The section of the limestone quarry of Mr. Evans coincides exactly with the section of the Norris & Christian quarry. Both begin and end alike. Mr. Evans has the limestone of the second division opened on a large scale, as a source of flux for the Hocking Valley furnaces. He has sometimes filled his kilns for a few days with the stone of this division, but he reports unfailing dissatisfaction on the part of his customers with the lime derived from this source. Complaint is made of its being fiery and unmanageable. The lime in question, it will be remembered, contains eighty-four per cent. or more of carbonate of lime. Owens' Station. The remaining lime-production of this district is found at Owens' Station, five miles south of Marion. A considerable area of limestone either comes to the surface in this region or is covered with but a thin covering of drift. The quarries have been worked for twenty-five years for lime and building stone, but in the large way only since the Toledo railroad has been opened. They are now owned and operated by Daniel Owens & Son. Four or five acres have been worked already as deep as it seems practicable to carry them. Three draw-kilns are established here, the daily capacity of which is rated at 200 bushels. Mr. Owens reports a consumption of about four cords of wood to a kiln. The cost of wood ranges from $1.50 to $1.75, sometimes reaching $2.00. The production of the kilns in 1887 was about 175,000 bushels (seventy pounds to the bushel). The character of the lime is quite different from that of the Marion lime, as will be seen from the account here appended of the range of the quarries. The stone reached in these quarries includes the lower half of No. 3 (the blue stone division) of Marion, and the whole of the middle division, or No. 2, of the section given on a preceding page, together with a few feet of the lowermost division, or No. 3. It can be shown thus, in diagram: lower half...... Section of Owens' quarry- Flux-stone, or cap-stone..... (Blue stone, Sandusky or Delaware, 15 feet. 20 feet. 5 feet. 40 feet. (Bottom-rock, or limestone....... |