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E., • 1 » •• « * « • *•••• »••»• • t • • • • • t • • • • • • • • • * » • t • • • t • • • » The rarer treasure^! of the mineral world are not alwayTiUosQ.;'! which yield tlie largest returns for the working. Accojjjiig' tc*-.-' Darwin, it is remarked in South America, that «' a person >^uh a- i» copper mine will gain ; with silver, he may gv ; ; but with goldjic ' '* ' is sure to loose." Continuing this sort of comparison to the §oar,^er mineral products, it could not be difficult to show that these qre many of them which pay better, even than copper. Li n^ie midHof the excitement about copper and gold in th e Eastern ^.^n- ships, our valuable treasures in roofing slate have not been altogether overlooked. But before proceeding to point oi t the importance of this source of wealth, let us consider for a moment the value of slate quarries in other parts of the world, and ascertain how others turn their advantages, in this respect, to profitable account. Tlie slate quarries of Wales are perhaps the most extensivelv wrought in the worM. The Penrhyn Quarry, six miles from Bangor n North Wales, and owned by the Hon. Colonel T'ennant, has been worked to a depth of nearly 900 feet bv sucjessivo benches or chambers, each sixty feet below the next above. The lowest of these have been reached by sinking shafts and running horizontal adits or drifts, from which the material has to be raised perpendicularly. The cost of working is thus much increased, but notwithstanding this circumstance, the quarry is believed to pay nearly a hundred per cent, profit, and the annual net gains amount to upwards of £100,000. This quarry whsn opened about fifty years ago. Tt employs 2,500 men in the^ \^.a.. BELL ON THE VALUE OP various optfl'ft!ions connected with its working, and produces I3j001\00firj)f;8lates a year. Tlio Lanberris quarry employs 2,000 m€;ft**A"^»^^V"3 ft nfct annual profit of about £70,000. The \V&J»lf.Sl«]the F^stiniog Slate Company ia now being further d^TelbpeOj Jo'd it is proposed to make it furnish 50,000 tons per aftfpn aJ*a*^rofil of £37,000 and a minimum dividend of from 3tf,\6'4CC(&i:cent. These and other quarries, employing from 250 ti^do rBfcJi'.'and yielding equally great returns, in proportion to thoir 'production, are situated on a slate band or " vein," as it is loopHy teviiaed, in the Festiniog district in North Wales.=i« There aiVbe8id^',*about a dozen other quarries in operation in Wale?, aSl .making the most satisfactory returns, when judiciously worked* afOiOUfflj V. i.ne of them have to cunteiid against great difficultief, M-Ising tlejnand',*^nd hence the producers have of late, been able to dictate alT'the terms and conditions of purchase to the buyer.". Tlje,"** rules and regulations" respecting the sale of slate at some of|fh6 (yijArjies have very much the tone of the laws in the statute booJIS?». .• •'. Some quarries have orders booked for forty to ^i«tj, wee£a.in advance. In consequence of the enormous dcmao3**fricd»ilK»ve lately advanced several times, and if they were ajjaiif raiaedifiO per cent, (says the Mining Journal from which these facti ar&'prm- cipally derived) the sale would not be affected — so iijanyjnew mar- kets are continually opening. In addition to the rapiitly'increasing demand in Britain itself, orders for slates are sent froin»all parts of the world. Large numbers are constantly shippdiS,,V) Russia, France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Prussia, Austria and America, alchough the demand from the last mentioned quarter has not been so great for the last two years. Slates, equal to those of Wales, are obtained in the west of Scotland and in the Delabole district, parish of Tintagel, in the north of Cornwall, where quarries are now worked paying 30 per cent, profit on the outlay. It wonld be needless here to enter into the merits of the slates of these regions, since ray object is merely to shew the great value of this source of wealth in Great Britain, for which it is hoped the facts given in regard to Wales are sufficient. Tae roofing slates of Great Britain and France belong to Lower Silurian strata, which are believed to be equivalent to the Quebec group of this continent, and which comprises many of the slate bands of Eastern Canada and New England. Since comoetition in the slate market of this continent, and per- 4 "' . BE'liL ON THE VALUE OF I>ap8 also to silpe extent in that of the old world, is to bo expect- mainly frojAVerrao.it, it may not be uni.,tercst.ng hero to Prefer to^.t^ slat^r'esources of thatstato. Threo belts of slate rock ed reler lo.l^oslRfce^couul^.v^ v^. V occur i«*'the srietrunning southward down its eastern middle and westcrft-h^i-tions. In the first, which keci.. near the bounda.y ot New if^mpshlre, the slate is of a dark color, and the cleavage gen- erally tbrrespAnds with the pla,.es of stra-ificatio... Although the belt has a great thickness, but little of it is available for work.ng owing Oi^Wntprtj^^ns, the presence of foreign ingredients, imperfect cleavage'a^d cro^s joints. An occasional band, however is found to be siiilkble .1i.v roofing slates and upon one of them the Giul- fordq'n«.ies:are situated. The slates of this locality are sufhci- ently (y>l^blfe;"l)iitowi..s to their thickness, require a heavily timberWvWt;). support them. They are also liable to become rusty ft6hlt)i«:pr:eseace of oxide of iron. The situation of these quarri^B^iilsivclliis to prevent their produce competing successtully ,vith thV&lat^fc' Imported from Wales. The slate bands in the eas- tern bihra'ip it iiigh angles to the horizon, and thus have an ad- vanta^-Kr V^Kj'rlnng, over those of the western belt. The* 'iniddle Estate belt extends from the Canada line at Lake Mempfetnagogi about halfway down the middle of the state. In places it is'^'ound to split into thin sheets, and is of a uniform olor —nearly blabf-^diftering in these respects from the slate bands of the eastern BelU- Northfield, near the centre of the state, is the only place ai'.wDnch it has been worked. Here the price ot slate delivered on the car.) is $3.75 a square, or 60 csnts more than Mr. Walton's price, on the Grand Trunk cars at Richmond. It may not be generally known that a square of slates is a hundred square feet, and that the greater the number required to make this area, the smaller the price per square. The workable seams of the westerly belt are largely quarried for roofing and other purposes in the southwestern part of the state, where" slate manufacturing forms a leadmg branch of industry. The slate is of a more uniform charact t than that of the eastern or the middle belt, and more exempt from foreign matter, which renders it capable of beimr sawn, as slab slate, and used for a great variety of purposes. The color of most of the western Vermont slates, like that of the Welsh, is dark purple, sometimes mottled wiih green spots. Bands of green, and sometimes of red elate are likewise found in this part of the state. Whatever may CANADIAN ROOFING SLATE. be the causa of the green spots in the purple shito, tliey fonu a very objectionable feature, being liable to deconiposo under the weather, and allow the rain to leak through the roof. A .^niall speck of iron pyrites can generally be detected in the centre of each of the spotP, and these may have had something to do with their formation. The slate quarries of western Vermont have a common disadvantage, in the low underlie of the cleavage, which in several cases '3 less than 20 degrees, thus requiring a much larger expen- diture in working, than when the cleavage is vertical, or under- lying at a high angle to the horizon. In some of the quarries the underlie, which is always to the eastward, is from 20 to 40 degrees, but unless the angle is sufHiifutly high to give a self- supporting hanging \va 1, a great loss is incurred in removing or supporting the supeiincumbt^it mass. About a dozen quarries are worked on the western belt. The piincipal one is the Eagle Slate Quarry, situated a mile south of Uydeville, and which produces about 10,000 squares a year. Here the underlie of the cleavage, which m^arly coincides with the dip of the strata, is at an angle of only 17 degrees. Roofing slates alone are made at this quarry, ami bring from $2.50 to $3.50 a square at Uydeville depot. In the town>hip of Castleton, the West Castleton Railroad and Slate Company n.anufactrrc 150 squares of slate a month, bf sides sawing from 15 to 16,000 square feet of slab slate. The cleavage here underlies to the eastward at an angle of 40 degrees. In 135*7, the second year of operation, the sales of the produce of this quarry amounted to $(50,000. A planed surface of slate is found to retain remarkably well the compounds use! in enamelling, even in the presence of heat or acids, and hence slab slate can be marbleized and used in a great variety of ways. The western Vermont slate is marbleized for jambs ond mantelpieces, table and bureau tops, billiard beds and kerosene lamp bottoms. These are successfully rjade to imitate all kinds of ornamental marble, and arc sold in immense numbers at one fourth the price of real marble. The cost of marbleized mantels varies from 10 to 125 dollars, according to the workman- ihip which has been cxpendel upon them. Writing slates are also prepared in great imrabers at the western quarries ; and Micre is a large demand for unplaned slabs for sanitary and other pur- poses. The foregoing facts in regard to the slates of Vermont are •condensed from Prof. Hitchoc k's report on the geology of the state. HELL ON THE VALUE OF In Can .!« ..o clav .latcs have yet boon di.covorcd among the „,„|,1., «!'-'•"«-, ^"1 „ ::;.,,, ,„v,; tlu, .l.«»cte« of roof- Vose, occur on the Sl.it.3 isian l, o.iebcc Uroup, In Fi.tfvn Ciina.la tho avgilluceons kvn.ls of tbc Quebec ui ^u^ , In LastunL.ma. ^^^fij^^.i-vicB, Nvhicl. have alreacly been in many places yuM S^^^^'/^ "= . ^he m.st important of U;rlhcron. ^ ' ;;^'; ^^^.^^^j, i^-,,,, i,to Clcvelana, whore, in rn ::::;; tf ^-^- the CU. ,,. of the oa. Range, but ^ 'A^: la^onea, from the band l.ing t.o narrow^o^ ^ to overcome the difficuitie. in the way of >vorbng it. The si a e Idla .-as nearlv Uack in color and of the best qnahty. T^^ V^yl on the Grand Tronic Railway, about three mdos south :fU i^^^^^^^^^ ^"^" the .tth lot of the 1st range o ^^0 tern bmk ofihe St Francis llivor, about seven m.es below h g, caste. nu^ ^^^^^^ ^^.^ ^^^ ^^ j,^,^^ ,,,j ,„,„ .tlcmptol to work tins quarry, bnl aban.lonel i after gra d"! a r, V V track down tkc bank of the St. F,anc,» from iU St nkatKicl,mo.>a. Tl.o failure to earryont .l,.s ou e - S^rrl^nrtil^t^ofiible uatur. anaof ae.,op . 1 a ™t dale quarry ia t!anas un- llasso; by any in the w^rld, either in ,he quality of the slates produced, or in the facilitie. for work! ,. The lungsey .la e Cxl ontinned into the Township of I ■ ,rham on OeweBtsde of the St. Francis, and has been vrorked t. . a -«" " -^ °" * >; 6th lot 0' the 4-.h ra-,?e. At the slate rap,d . ou the Black R.ver, ^ • Mr. MiaeEi Journal •ongult J,i CANADIAN ROOFING ,-LATE. iig the ly of a 1, Imvo For ex- !8 from of roof- as thin ;c SupQ- ch may lOve the lliis pur- lle. 5 Group, uly been arlant of lescribci.l ,vard ex- ■herc, in nge, but I to pay The slate ity. The ilos soulh range of ,1 in the il OS below Imnl and treal cora- fifier gra- from the .his cnter- |aiust slate laiiicd the )f develop- ich is un- the slates ijTsey slate >e west side cat on the Uack River^ on the l-2t'i lot of lIk' lOlh rnngoofEly, nn attempt wnsmn Ic some years ago to open n .piarry on n band of very foi^Hile bhiinh-black slate. 'J"ii"^ cleavage is vertical and strikes S. 50° W. Bands of ap- j p.ireiUly good roofin:,' slate are mot with on the 14tli lot of the 1st 1 range of Halifax, and furtlter to the northeast, in tho Township of [Frampton. For some tlistanee nhove and below the junction of the iKiviere du Loup with the C'haudi.-r.', good clay slates are largely de- Iveloped. On the Rivi^'re du Loup, half a mile above the junction, a [band of the rock exceeding halt a mile in breadth, wouM, in several [places, afford good writing and roofing slates. A locality for slate Joccurs on the 18lh lot in the 3rd rango of Tring. L» the continua- ' tionof the Quebec group to the northeastward, slater apparently fit Jot roofing, are found on the Maisouin River in the northern part tof the County of (Jaspd, a few milen back from the St. Lawrence. JtIio above mentioned slate babuls in the E is'ern Townshijis also ^beloneen cleared on either side to hIIow of the accept" of the sun and wind to dry the road. In making these clearings and conctruct- iiig the road, the proprietor expended about twelve hundred dol- lars. At the end of about a mile, we come to the cluster of buildings attached to tl^e quarry, and leaving our conveyance at one of the boarding houses for tiie employ6s, proceed to inspec* the work?". The quarry itself is not soen from the approach, being concealed by a band of serpentine which flanks the slate band on the north. It was found necessary to drive a tunnel, a Ininlred feet in length, from the slope of the hill through the serpentine, in order to expose a workable face of the slate rock behind. In front of the tunnel are the sheds for manufacturing the slate, and a dump or spoil bank, composed of the refuse from the dressing process. Beautiful specimens of asbestus are seen on either side in passing through the tutmel, from which we emerge on the level of iho tloor of the quarry and find ourselves in a great roofless chamber, the four walls of which rise to the height of seventy feet. The cleavage of the slate is about perpendicular, and runs in the direction of the greatest length of the quarry. As in the best quarries in other couidries, the slate is found to improve in all the desirable (lualiiics in descending, and the waste, due to surface in- fluences, to diminish continually. Owing to the vertical cleavage the surface influences have penetrated to an astonishing depth. In the upper forty feet the rock was injured to such an extent, that fully half the material quarried was wasted, and even at the present depth, the same influences are still discernible, but rapidly dying out. At first the rock was so fissile that it could with diffi- culty be split into sufficiently thick sheets, but now the plates can be split to any required thiikness with perfect uniformity and beautifully smooth surfaces. No ditliculty is to be apprehended from imperfect cleavage in' slate of this character, at the greatest depth to which the quarry can be worked. Since it is always found that in working a good band of slate the quality improves in respect to sinoolhness, regulaiiiy of cleavf'ge, color and hard- ^less, in goi"! .Mji.ires to hi worked to a j Hes in Wale ^o bo so hij The pecu |knd the perp |()r the mos Iho quarry is |liat ample r Jriven from bumping anc lin adit at a ^, one from ^mo level. Inest slates |uarry, in it ) ;ar, so t Ifork to be firds in dc\ ),752 cubi to the ^cpoi'tion iluch dimit iM>w rem air \^g\ of the than that h The posi II the Gth i4 belongs from the q eluding the ||ne in con |(bile to th ly, and tl certainec! sad est p as can am the wic ward from .iftiich dist CANADIAN ROOFINO SLATK. 9 to the rail- Following :li,aIthoiigli saiyfcatiiro woods llHS lie sut) and conf^truct- iidrod dol- > cluster of vcyance at to in spec* icli, being te band on !i Iiiiiilrcd Hcrpeuiine, ehind. In 5 slate, and ic dressing cither side n the level at roofless jvcnty feet, uns in the in the best c in all the surface in- il cleavage ling depth, an extent, vcn at the but rapidly with diffi- platcs can .)rmity and iprchendcd le greatest t is always 1 improves and hard- .08S, in going down, it will bo perceived that r\ first lale quarry roqi'ircH to have such a situation that it can bo advantageously worked to a groat depth. The great depth of the principal quar- \m in Wales is onoof tho reasons which cause the Welsh slates ^o bo so highly prized. i The peculiarly favorable position of the Walton Quarry Ind the perpendicular cleavage of the slate, oflfor ovory facility U the most extensive and advantageous working. The top of ,0 quarry is 451 feet above the St. Francis llivrattho dopot, so .a;U ample room is atVordod for working by horizontal galleries driven from the side of the hill, thus avoiding all expense tor ^..mping and hoisting. For future working, it is proposed to run |in ndit at a level of forty feet bolow the presciuone, an.l ullimate- >r, one from the bank of the river at about 30() feet below the uiie level. From this last an almost unlimited supply of the Jnost slates might bo taken out at the level of the railway. The luarry, in its present state, is capable of yielding 20,000 squares I ) ;ar, so that the galleries referred to may be looked upon ns fork to be performed by another generation. It meabures 24 ^rds in depth, 14 in breadth and 32 in length, giving a total of |p,752 cubic yards whi.'-h have been excavated. The yield of slate Cto the present time has been about 10,000 squares. The Scpo.-tion of waste to maniifacLured slate has of course very Such diminished in the lower portion of the quarry, and there ^w remain 881 feet between the bottom of the quarry and the ^el of the St. Francis in which even better slate may be expected tban that hitherto obtained. The position of the quarry i A about the centre of the 22nd lot § the 0th range of Melbourne township. The property to which % belongs comprises 1180 acres, extending in every direction from the quarry— as far as the railway, to the easi w.id— and jq- eluding the ground around the depot. The great band of serpen. Be in^'contiict with the slate has a steep slope to the north, lile to the south of the slate band, the ground falls away gradu- ay and the rock is seldom seen. The roofing slate has been Le'rtained to have a breadth of at least a third of a mile at ttjc Ldest place, and the whole of it appears to be equally good, as ■ as can be determined from surface trials. The quarry is situated . the widest part and the band is traceable on the surface (west- ard from the river) for about a mile and a half; at the end of Mch distance it appears to be cut off by the serpentine, but 10 BELL ON THE VALUE OF reappears fin tl>er on. Ea^t of the river, it is again met with in the strike, with a greatly reducofl thickness. It was on this part of the band that the qufirry in Cleveland, already mentioned, was opened. The whole series in this neighbourhood is tilted to a vertical attitude, and strikes S. 'J5'' to 55° W,, or at right angles to the river. The serpentine atfords many vaiieties of green and green- ish-black marble, of which a few have been proved by Sir William Logan, to be of good quality ; and the -^necimens in the Geologicai Museum are genera'ly admired. On the west end of tlie quarry lot, there occurs a bed of cliromic iron, of the hard dark, cry&talline variety, worth fifty dollars a ton in the English market, containing, as it does, 53 per cent, of the besqui-oxide of chromium,* It appears to be obtainable in sufficient quantities to work at a profit. On the north-east end of the adjoining lot (22 in the 5lh range — part of the same property) vitreous copper ore is found along a crack or vein in the serpenti "'i ; and further on in the strike, larger deposits of copper ore are found in the township of Orford, associated witlx the same rock. The average price of the Melbourne shites delivered at tlie railway is $3.25 i>er square. They are made by contract at the qu;uTy at $1.75, leaving a ditferenco of $1.50 per square. From tins is to be deducted 25 cents for cost of carriage to the railway- All other contingencies are covered by 15 cents more, giving upwards of a dollar a square, or 50 per cent, as the net profit to the proprietor. It is to bo observed, thit this calculation of profit is based on the present working expenses, and makes no allowance fi'r pa^t expenditure or future development. The quarr} h now brought into good working order, and, at the pro-ent rates the contractors are making large profits. It iscalcu- !a el that in future, by a ditTerent system of working, the proceeds to {.\\^ proprietor will be not less than 100 per cent upon the cobt af;er delivering on the cars. It is scarcely nrccssary to notice the superiority of slates, both in regard to appearance and excellence, as a roofing material, over shingles, compositions, and even metals. The original cost of slate is about one-third more than shingles, although cheaper in the end ; it is one-half less than tin and one-third less than galvanized iron. The reason of slate not being adopted in preference to these latter, is often attributable to prejudice, arising from examples *Mr. Robb's analysis. CANADIAN ROCriNG SLATE. 11 met with in on this part mtionecl, was ;o a vertical ngles to the 1 and green- )ved by Sir imens in the west end of of the hardj the English squi-oxitle of quantities to ng lot (22 in lopper ore is rther on in township of 3 red at tlie :ract at the lare. From the riilway- ore, giving et profit to Iculation of I makes no lent. The md, at the It is calcu- he proceeds >on the cobt slates, both iterial, over jostof slate per in the galvanized Inference to 1 examples where slates had been unskilfully employed. In our to'vns and cities they are now displacing these materials, and since good wood for shingles is becoming scarce in the agricultural districts, we may look fovvard to the time when slates will form the principal roofing material used in Canada. But outside of our own country, ihe market for slates is unlim- ited. For instance, after being sold at Richmond, at the large protlb just mentioned, they can be delivered in Portland for $4.14 per faquare and sold in Boston and New-York at from $8 to ^10. The western cities in the United States could be more easily sup- plied from the slate quarries of Eastern Canada th vn from any others and the prices in the old world arc such, that our slate could probably be sent there and sold to advantage. Among the desirable qualities of a good slate, are uniformity of color, smoothness o' s.urfiice, durability and strength with lightness all of which are possessed in an eminent degree by those of the Walton Quarry, the slates from it being equal to any in the world Tlioy are of a bluish-black color, contain no carbonate of lime. are unatfected by acids and almost perfectly non-absorbent, and thus can, in no way, be affected by the weather. The rock is fine grained and splits with great facility when newly taken from the quarry, but the slates harden rapidly and acquire great toughness and strength. From analyse'; by Dr. T. S. Hunt, the Melbourne slates are shown to have a very striking resemblance in composition to chose from Bangor in Wales, and also to those from Angers in France. Slates from the latter place have been exposed for a hundred yea-s, without [erceptible deterioration, on the roof of tlic seminary building at the corner of Notre Dame and St. Francois Xavior Streets in Montreal, which proves that a slate covering is well adapted to resist the influence of the Canadian climate.-*^ It is to be regretted that no analysis of the Vermont ■ s'ates is available for comparison, but the purple varieties are more liable than our bluish black slates, to fade and give the roof a checkered and unsightly appearance, and hence the latter are the more desirable, especially where artistic arrangement is required. AVhile the bands or " veins" of workable slate in the principal Vermont quarries are said to be only about 18 to 24 feet thick, the Melbourne band has been ascertained to have a thickness of at least 1700 feet, opposite the Walton Qnariy, and to occupy a * Descriptive Catalogue of the Ecoaomical Minerals of Canada seat to the International Exhibition of 1862. 12 CANADIAN ROOFINQ SLATE. surface area in tlii'^ neigb ovhood of about a liundretl acres. SucL a volume of slate is practically inexhaustible, and jiidgingfrom ap- pearance it is all of a uniformly good quali'y. Mr. AValton con- templates manufacturing writing and slab slates at bis quarry, for both of which the Melbourne band is admirably adapted. It may not be out of place here to des -ribe the process of man- \ifacturing the roofing slates at the "Walton Quarry. The rock i^ blasted by experienced workmen, in such a way as to give regular- ly shaped masses, which are conveyed on a tram-way to the dressing sheds. Here, the blocks, fresh from the quarry, are split ]>y a mallet and chizel into sheets of the required thickness and thrown into a heap ready for trimming. The slate dresser* who is seated, places the sheet upon a horizontal steel bar in front of liim, and with a ihick-bladed knife or cleaver, cuts oft' at a blow the part projecting ovt-r the edge of the bar, the knife and the bar forming, as it were, a pair of shears. The undressed sheets are received on the left side, and the finished slates piled on the right, each size being kept separate, Mr. Walton has adopted sixteen sizes, varying from 6 by 12 to 14 by 24 inches. From long ex- perience, the slate dresser perceives at a glance the largest size that a sheet will produce, and in a second, trims two of its edges, and having marked otf the other two with a measuring gage^ squares them with two blows, the whole process being performed in a twinkling. Mr. Walton commenced opening his quarry in i860, and liav- ing himself every confidence in the undertaking, pushed it steadily forward, in the face of man/ obstacles, to the present successful re- fcolt. The outlay incurred in l>iiylno and developing the property, amounted to about $;36,000, but the quarry and all its machinery are now i.i a condition for profitable working for a long time to come. At first it yielded no adequate returns, and Mr. Walton was obliged to ^vork on through many a dreary day, without sym- pathy or encouragement. It must therefore be a great f^atisfac- . tion to him, that bis most sanguine hopes have been realized The quality of the slate has proved to be all that could be desire' and the demand is already in excess of the sup[>ly, the proprietor })aviug been obliged, just the other day, to refuse, amongst others, an order for a thousand squares. We admire the enterprise and perseverance, and rejoice at the success of the gentleman.who em- barked his fortune, and bestowed his time and attention, to develo to important, but hitherto untried source of wealth to our counx Melbourne, Canada East, October 8, 1803. 1-