The Limestone Industry

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THE LIMESTONE INDUSTRY.

Nature, Origin, and Uses of Limestone.

The name "limestone" implies stone from which lime is made. Strictly speaking, therefore, it should apply on to the carbonate of calcium, which, by ignition, is converted into lime. In practice, however, the name covers quite a variety of materials which contain carbonate of calcium, but in very different degrees. When limestone presents itself in crystalline conditions, so as to be susceptible of fine polish and delicate ornamentation, it is known as marble. Marble is specially treated in an earlier portion of this report, inasmuch as its beauty of texture and find crystalline condition make it applicable to uses for which the noncrystalline variety of limestone can not serve.

Calcium carbonate is frequently associated with magnesium carbonate in varying proportions. When the proportion of the latter is small the stone is called magnesian limestone, but when the proportion becomes 54.35 parts of calcium carbonate to 45.65 parts of magnesium carbonate it receives the name of "dolomite," which, if crystalline, may constitute a marble, but if noncrystalline is classed with the ordinary limestones. The term "ordinary limestone" is commonly used to include all the grades and degrees of limestone except marble, and it is of "ordinary limestone" with this meaning that this report treats.

The limestones are mainly, though probably not entirely, of organic origin, resulting from the deposition and aggregation of shells, corals, etc.; but at the time of deposition other materials, such as clay, sand, iron oxides, iron pyrites, mica, etc., may have been included, thus producing a large number of grades, which are frequently distinguished by names which imply the presence of the most characteristic impurity. Siliceous, argillaceous, and micaceous limestones are names in common use. Usually the presence of these impurities is an objection to the stone for almost all the great variety of uses to which limestone is applied.

The detailed uses to which ordinary limestone is put are numerous, and some of them are of vast importance, because they can not be met by any other kind of stone. Some of the uses to which limestone is put bring it into competition with the granites and sandstone, such as building of all kinds, road making, and structural purposes generally. In its application to lime burning and blast-furnace flux, limestone stands alone, and, as will be seen from the table of production, large quantities are devoted to these purposes.

Value of Limestone Product, by States.

Owing to the widespread distribution of limestone throughout the United States and the number and varied character of the uses to which it is put, the collection of accurate statistics becomes a much more difficult problem than is encountered in the same undertaking with any other kind of stone. In view of the difficulties which present themselves in connection with statistics of limestone, an entire revision of the directory was made, and as a result the original list of names and producers was decidedly lengthened. While the original list contained the names of all important operators, a great many additional names of less important producers were secured. The method which was found most effective in obtaining knowledge of new names consisted in addressing to postmasters of all offices located in limestone producing counties of the country a double postal card, which enabled them to return to this Bureau names of all persons in their vicinity who quarry limestone for any purpose whatsoever. The results which followed our subsequent request for information addressed to limestone producers are most gratifying, since there was every reason to believe that the returns relating to value of output were so full and complete as to amount to an actual census.

The following table shows the value of lime made, the value of stone used for building and road making, the value of stone used for blast-furnace flux, and the total value for all purposes together:

Value of limestone production in 1894, with uses to which the stone was applied.
States.	Lime	Building and road making.	Flux	Total
Alabama	$171,344	$30,925	$8,000	$210,269
Arizona	15,710	44,100	-----	19,810
Arkansas	34,360	3,868	-----	38,228
California	273,250	15,650	-----	288,900
Connecticut	204,414	-----	-----	204,414
Florida	16,419	14,220	-----	30,639
Georgia	32,000	-----	-----	32,000
Idaho	5,315	-----	-----	5,315
Illinois	387,973	2,167,979	-----	2,555,952
Indiana	307,545	895,563	-----	1,203,108
Iowa	237,066	379,564	-----	616,630
Kansas	12,065	228,974	-----	241,039
Kentucky	17,815	96,119	-----	113,934
Maine	810,089	-----	-----	310,089
Maryland	628,979	43,807	-----	672,786
Massachusetts	173,065	22,917	-----	195,982
Michigan	44,656	291,631	-----	336,287
Minnesota	78,499	212,764	-----	291,263
Missouri	167,133	411, 669	-----	578,802
Montana	42,850	36,165	13,955	92,970
Nebraska	700	7,528	-----	8,228
New Jersey	177,197	8,190	8,136	193,523
New Mexico	690	4,220	-----	4,910
New York	660,503	709,962	8,386	1,378,851
Ohio	930,705	752,772	50,000	1,788,477
Pennsylvania	1,743,947	547,990	333,625	2,625,562
Rhode Island	20,433	-----	-----	20,433
South Carolina	25,000	100	-----	25,100
South Dakota	2,013	1,650	-----	3,663
Tennessee	102,921	85,743	-----	188,664
Texas	13,308	28,218	-----	41,526
Utah	11,665	10,031	2,000	23,696
Vermont	407,730	1,080	-----	408,810
Virginia	151,915	109,172	23,460	284,547
Washington	57,148	2,000	-----	59,148
West Virginia	34,801	8,972	-----	43,773
Wisconsin	587,971	213,435	----	798,406
Total	$8,610,607	$7,382,055	$520,424	$16,512,904

It is evident from an inspection of the totals that the value of the lime output for the entire country is $8,610,607, or somewhat more than one-half the total value of the total output of limestone for all purposes. Somewhat less than half has been devoted to building and road making, while the remainder has been used for fluxing purposes. For the last-named uses the amount consumed has in the last year been smaller than usual on account of the depression which has existed in the manufacture of iron.

A comparison of the figures for 1894 with those of the census year 1890 shows a decline from $19,095,179 to $16,512,904. This, however, is not surprising in view of the exceptional financial depression.

Value of Limestone Produced in the United States During the Year 1894

The following table shows the value of the limestone output by States for the years 1890 to 1894, inclusive:

Value of limestone, by States, from 1890 to 1894.
Alabama	$324,814	$300,000	$325,000	$205,000	$210,269
Arizona	(a)	-----	-----	15,300	19,810
Arkansas	18,360	20,000	18,000	7,611	38,228
California	516,780	400,000	400,000	288,525	288,900
Colorado	138,091	90,000	100,000	60,000	132,170
Connecticut	131,697	100,000	95,000	155,000	204,414
Florida	(a)	-----	-----	35,000	30,639
Georgia	(a)	-----	-----	34,500	32,000
Idaho	28,545	-----	5,000	1,000	5,315
Illinois	2,190,607	2,030,000	3,186,000	2,305,000	2,555,952
Indiana	1,889,336	2,100,000	1,800,000	1,474,695	1,203,108
Iowa	530,863	400,000	705,000	547,000	616,630
Kansas	478,822	300,000	310,000	175,173	241,039
Kentucky	303,314	250,000	275,000	203,000	113,934
Maine	1,523,499	1,200,000	1,600,000	1,175,000	810,089
Maryland	164,800	150,000	200,000	-----	672,786
Massachusetts	119,978	100,000	200,000	156,528	195,982
Michigan	85,952	75,000	95,000	53,282	336,287
Minnesota	613,247	600,000	600,000	208,088	291,263
Missouri	1,859,960	1,400,000	1,400,000	861,563	578,802
Montana	24,964	-----	6,000	4,100	92,970
Nebraska	207,019	175,000	180,000	158,927	8,228
New Jersey	129,662	100,000	180,000	149,416	193,523
New Mexico	3,802	2,000	5,000	-----	4,910
New York	1,708,830	1,200,000	1,200,000	1,103,529	1,378,851
Ohio	1,514,934	1,250,000	2,025,000	1,848,063	1,733,477
Oregon	(a)	-----	-----	15,100	-----
Pennsylvania	2,655,477	2,100,000	1,900,000	1,552,336	2,625,562
Rhode Island	27,625	25,000	30,000	24,800	20,433
South Carolina	14,520	50,000	50,000	22,070	25,100
South Dakota	(a)	-----	-----	100	3,663
Tennessee	73,028	70,000	20,000	126,089	188,664
Texas	217,835	175,000	180,000	28,100	41,526
Utah	27,568	-----	8,000	17,446	23,696
Vermont	195,066	170,000	200,000	151,0067	408,810
Virginia	159,023	170,000	185,000	82,685	284,547
Washington	231,287	25,000	100,000	139,862	59,148
West Virginia	93,856	85,000	85,000	19,184	43,773
Wisconsin	815,963	675,000	675,000	543,283	798,406
Wyoming	(a)	-----	-----	-----	-----
Total	$19,095,179	$8,700,000	$18,392,000	$13,920,223	$16,512,904

a Limestone, valued at $77,935, was produced in Oregon, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, South Dakota and Wyoming. This value is included in the total.

Limestone Industry in the Various States.

Alabama. -The total value of the output in 1894 is $210,269, including the value of lime, amounting to $171,344. The product comes from the following counties: Shelby, Colbert, Lee, Blount, Franklin, Dekalb, Etowah, and Jefferson.

Arizona. -The production of limestone in this State is a comparatively new development and the product amounts to be little as yet, namely, for 1894, $19,810, of which $15,710 is the value of lime made. The producing counties are Yavapai and Maricopa.

Arkansas. -The total value of the output in 1894 was $38,228, of which the value of lime made was $34,360. The productive counties are Washington, Independence, Carroll, and Benton. The State has never produced a large quantity of lime or limestone.

In northern Arkansas, according to the geological survey made under the direction of Mr. John C. Branner, State geologist, there are six distinct beds of limestone. Each of these six beds will furnish good building material. The upper bed in places will furnish marble, although the greater part of it has little commercial value. The third bed in the series furnishes an excellent building stone at almost every outcrop, and it is found throughout nearly all the northern counties. It corresponds quite closely with the Indiana oolitic limestone, being in the same geological horizon, and resembling it in structure, except that it is more crystalline and takes a finer polish than the Bedford (Indiana) stone. It is more crystalline, less oolitic, and more fossiliferous in the western than in the eastern part of the bed. It has been quarried at Batesville, Independence County, for building stone and burning into lime. The fourth bed in the series, belonging to the Trenton period, occupies the same geological position as the Tennessee marble, which it resembles in structure and appearance. It has been traced and carefully mapped through Independence, Izard, Stone, Searcy, Marion, and parts of Newton and Boone counties. It is known to exist also in Madison and Carroll counties, and possibly extends as far west as the State line or beyond. Only small quantities have been quarried, for local use in monuments and mantels. It varies in color through light gray, pink, red, variegated, and mottled. The fifth bed is found in great quantities in Independence, Izard, Stone, and Searcy counties. It is a fair building material, and produces good lime. Some lithographic stone has been obtained from it.

California. -The value of the limestone output, $288,900, in 1894 is largely the value of lime produced; i.e., $273,250. The productive counties, in order of importance, are Santa Cruz, San Bernardino, Kern, Riverside, and San Benito; small amounts have been quarried also in Eldorado, Santa Clara, San Diego, and Placer counties.

Colorado. -The total value of the output in 1894 was $132,170. Of this value $72,680 represents the quantity used for fluxing purposes, while the remainder was about evenly divided between building and lime making. Productive counties are Pitkin, Jefferson, La Plata, Boulder, Fremont, Pueblo, Larimer, and Chaffee.

Connecticut. -The total value of the output in 1894 was $204,414. The entire output is converted into lime. I spite of considerable complaint about hard times, business was better in 1894 than in 1893, as shown by a gain of $49,414. The product comes entirely from Litchfield and Fairfield counties.

Florida. -Production of stone of any kind in this State is limited to the past few years. The value of the limestone output in 1894 was $30,639, and its use was divided about equally between the building of jetties and burning into lime.

Georgia. -Catoosa County yielded lime valued at $32,000. Ordinarily, quite a considerable amount is used for fluxing in blast furnaces, but much less was used for this purpose in 1894 than formerly.

Idaho. -A little limestone was converted into $5,315 worth of lime in Kootenai, Bingham, Alturas, and Fremont counties.

Illinois. -The limestone interests of this State are very large and important. The total value of the output in 1894 was $2,555,952. Of this amount $2,167,979 worth was used for building purposes. More than half of the product comes from Cook and Will counties, while the rest is distributed among the following counties: Adams, Jersey, Madison, Hardin, Kane, Pike, Kankakee, Hancock, St. Clair, Winnebago, Rock Island, Henderson, Dupage, Randolph, Union, Whiteside, Monroe, Ogle, Stephenson, Kendall, Jo Daviess, McHenry, Greene, and Lasalle.

The following description of the Lemont and Joliet stone is taken from the writer's report in Mineral Resources for 1889-90:

The operations in Cook and Will counties, on account of their magnitude, the general excellence of the stone produced, and the ease of quarrying and working out, deserve special mention. The region embraced by these two counties is known generally as the Joliet region. It includes territory from about 5 miles south of the city and running along the valley of the Illinois River. Most of the quarries are situated on the banks of either the river or the canal. The stone exists in layers at the surface, varying from 1 inch to 3 inches in thickness, and growing in thickness with the increasing depth, until at about 25 feet it is found of a thickness varying from 15 to 20 inches. It is, however, rarely quarried below the 25-foot level, owing to the expense of getting it out and dressing it, since at that depth it is much harder, although the quality of the stone is superior to that in the upper levels. At the depth of 25 feet the inflow of water materially adds to the expense of quarrying. The stone found at or near the surface is almost valueless and is almost entirely thrown away in stripping the quarry. The next two-fifths furnish stone of sufficiently good quality to be used for riprap, rubble, sidewalks, and curbing. The last two-fifths contain the best stone, namely, that used for building. It is generally of a bluish-gray color. The exposed stone is of a yellowish color, from the effects of the exposure to the atmosphere. It is also true that most of the Joliet stone turns more or less yellow upon exposure. The beds are divided vertically by seams occurring at somewhat irregular intervals of from 12 to 50 feet, and continue you with quite smooth faces for long distances, and also by a second set of seams running nearly at right angles with the first, but continuous only between main joints, and occurring at very irregular intervals. This structure renders the rock very easily quarried and obtainable in blocks of almost any required lateral dimensions. The stone is easily worked into required shapes, and takes a fine, smooth finish, and is susceptible of being readily planed. This forms a very rapid and cheap method of finishing flagging stones and preparing such as are to receive a smooth finish on the polishing bed. Enormous quantities of flagging stone are taken out, most of which goes into Chicago; but business with other cities is decidedly on the increase. The finest varieties are readily produced in forms which are capable of being turned out by lathes.

The following is an analysis of Cook County limestone:

Analysis of Cook County, Ill., limestone.
	Per cent.
Silica	26.08
Alumina and oxide of iron	6.57
Carbonate of lime	46.90
Carbonate of magnesia	14.19
Water	6.26
Total	100.00

The crushing strength of this stone is 16,017 pounds to the square inch; specific gravity, 2.512. The stone obtained in the vicinity of the towns of Sterling, Morrison, Fulton, Cordova, and Port Huron is largely burned into lime. This is true of much of the stone along the Mississippi River. The best grades of Alton stone become whiter upon exposure to the air, and some of it that has stood in buildings for twenty to twenty-five years has become almost perfectly white. The quarry at the Chester (Illinois) State prison is an immense bluff about 200 feet in height. It has been worked for only the past two or three years and is now turning out fine stone. All work is done by the convicts.

Indiana. -Owing to the production of what is known as Bedford Oolitic limestone, this State is widely known as the most important in the Union in its output of limestone for fine building and ornamental purposes. The total value of the output of limestone of all kinds for the year 1894 is $1,203,108. Three-fourths of this amount is the value of stone used for building, while the remainder represents the value of lime made. The productive counties are as follows: in order of their relative magnitude: Lawrence, Huntington, Monroe, Decatur, Washington, Ripley, Owen, Clark, Franklin, Putnam, Wabash, and smaller amounts from Shelby, Grant, Carroll, Cass, Delaware, Howard, Blackford, Madison, Harrison, Jennings, Adams, Floyd, Wells, Crawford, Jay, Fayette, Miami, Randolph, Vanderburg, Wayne, and White.

The most productive portions of the State are the southern and southeastern. The limestone of the State may, for convenience, be divided into three general classes: First, the oolitic limestone, otherwise known as cave limestone, from the numerous caverns which are to be found scattered throughout it; second, the harder and much more crystalline variety; and third, the rock which occurs in thin strata and which is well adapted for purposes of flagging, etc. The oolitic limestone extends in a southeastern direction from Greencastle, in Putnam County. This stone is commonly known in trade as Indiana Stone, or Bedford stone. It is well known over a wide are in the United States, and is an exceedingly popular building stone not only in cities of the West, but in Eastern cities as well. It has been most extensively quarried at Stinesville, Ellettsville, and Bloomington, Monroe County, and at Bedford, in Lawrence County; but owing to the increased demand for this stone, new quarries are being opened and extensively worked at frequent intervals along the lime of the Louisville, New Albany, and Chicago Railroad from Gosport to Bedford, and these give promise of rich and practically inexhaustible supplies. This stone is almost exclusively used for building purposes, and it is the great production of this stone which enables Indiana to take second place among the States producing limestone for building purposes, Illinois standing in the first place. The stone is characterized by its oolitic character, and is comparatively soft when first removed from the quarry, but hardens on exposure to air. The deposit varies from a few feet to a great many in thickness, and it is practically free from fissures. Solid walls 40 to 50 feet in depth, without a seam or fault of any kind from top to bottom, have already been revealed. It is easily quarried in blocks of any size required, being cut from the solid mass by means of channelers. It is soft enough to be readily sawed, ordinary steel blades, with sand as the abrasive material, being used for sawing. Occasionally diamond saws are used with fine results. For most part the stone is fine-grained, but contains also layers of coarser material in which shells are easily recognized with the unaided eye. Operations in all quarries producing this kind of stone are conducted on the largest scale and the machinery employed is usually of the very best.

The harder, more crystalline stone is found in the eastern and southeastern parts of the State, principally in Decatur County, in the southeastern part. The quarries in general are rather small, there being twenty of them in Decatur County alone. Some of the quarries are operated on a large scale. On account of its hardness this stone can not be sawed. It is used quite largely for building purposes. In the northern and northeastern portions of the State the stone is used somewhat for building and street purposes, and in Huntington County it is largely burned into lime. The great center of the lime industry is at Huntington. The most important concern producing lime at this point is the Western Lime Company. The product has a widespread reputation for use in building. On account of the flagging nature of the stone in the more northern portions of the State, it is often quarried simply by aide of a pick and bar. This is more especially true in regard to the northeastern sections of the State. In the northern, northeastern, and eastern portions of Indiana are a great many small quarries. A number of them seem to be capable of more extended operations, but the lack of railroad facilities from the quarries to the main lines of travel exerts a retarding influence. The stone quarried at Greensburg, in Decatur County, is decidedly crystalline, and is susceptible of a high polish. The thin-bedded stone in the upper portions of these quarries is used to some extent for flagging.

The development of the oolitic or Bedford stone is largely the result of operations conducted within a comparatively few years. In a small way it has been quarried and used for twenty-five years or more, but it is within the last twelve years that the stone has been recognized and appreciated by the larger cities of the East and West. It occupies at present a very prominent position among the best building stones of the country.

Iowa. -The total value of the limestone output in 1894 was $616,630. As is evident from the following list of productive counties the stone is widely distributed. There are as yet few large operators, but a large number of firms producing in each case upon a comparatively limited scale. The counties yielding the product are Jackson, Dubuque, Cedar, Marshall, Jones, Scott, Lee, Clinton, and smaller amounts from Des Moines, Madison, Decatur, Cerro Gordo, Dallas, Wapello, Linn, Muscatine, Blackhawk, Mahaska, Washington, Benton, Clayton, Pocahontas, Montgomery, Tama, Floyd, Adams, Mitchell, Humboldt, Johnson, Jefferson, Clarke, Van Buren Howard, Taylor, Keokuk, Pottawattamie, Louisa, Webster, Allamakee, Story, and Buchanan.

The following notes on Iowa building stones, by Mr. H. Foster Bain, of the Iowa State Geological Survey, are of much interest, particularly as indicating future possibilities in the stone industry of the State. Although these notes are not entirely confined to the consideration of limestone, so much of the matter relates to it that it has been thought best to insert them in the space devoted to Iowa limestone rather than in any other connection.

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