QUARRYING  , the

art of winning or obtaining from the earth's crust the various kinds of stone used in construction, the operation being, in most cases, conducted in open workings . According to their composition, building stones are broadly classed as granites, sandstones, limestones and slates . Under the first of these heads is included a number of crystalline rock species, such as granite, syenite, gneiss, &c., which to the geologist are quite distinct, but which in commerce are all spoken Kinds of of as granite . They are chiefly composed of one or stone more minerals of the felspar group mingled with quarried- one or more of the micas or with hornblende, and usually contain quartz . Sandstones are chiefly composed of fragments of quartz cemented into solid rock by silica and oxide of iron . Of these there are many varieties, including flagstone used for foot-pavements, Limestones consist principally of carbonate of lime . Their chief variations are the crystalline form known as marble and the deposit from mineral springs known as -Mexican onyx . Slates are mudstones or shales hardened by heat and pressure, and rendered fissile by the latter agent . Chemically they consist chiefly of hydrous silicate of alumina . Theoretically, granites are massive, and have no bedding or stratification like sandstones and limestones; but all rock masses are usually found to be more or less shattered by movements of the earth's crust which occur as a result of its constant readjustment to the cooling and shrinking interior, so that the rocks are divided by cracks or fissures, which are commonly known as joints . In the massive granites these joints, which usually occur in two or more planes at right angles to one another, are of the greatest importance to the quarryman, as they enable him to separate masses of stone with approximately parallel faces. in gneisses the parallel arrangement of the minerals usually coincides with a direction of easy cleavage,known to quarrymen as the " rift "; at right angles to this direction is usually one less easy parting, known as the " grain." Sandstones and limestones are stratified rocks which have been formed as sediments in bodies of water; and whether their beds are found in the normal position of horizontality, or whether they have been tilted and folded by earth movements, the direction of easiest separation is coincident with the original planes of sedimentation and parallel to them . This is therefore called the " rift, " while the " grain " is at right angles to it .

In gneisses, sandstones and limestones joints also occur; and while frequently convenient for the

division of the beds into masses of useful size, they may be a detriment, as when they occur so close together as to fall within the limits of a block available for commercial purposes . In commerce the various kinds of building stone are usually designated by the name of the locality or region in which the quarry is situated . In the case of the more important varieties this geographic name usually conveys to the architect or builder full information concerning the colour, texture and other properties of the material . For example, the names Hallowell or Quincy granite, Medina or Berea sandstone, and Vermont or Tennessee marble, convey in the United States full information to those interested . The methods of quarrying vary with the composition and hardness of the rocks, their structure, cleavage, and other physical properties; also with the position and character of the deposits or rock-masses . The general pur- Method: employed . pose of the work is to separate the material from its bed in masses of form and size adapted to the intended use . Cutting the stone to accurate dimensions, dressing, rubbing and polishing are subsequent operations not involved in quarrying . The practice of quarrying consists in uncovering a sufficient surface of the rock by removing superficial soil, sand or clay, or by sinking a shaft or slope, and then with proper tools and, when necessary, with explosives, detaching blocks of form and size adapted to the purpose in view . Frequently the outer portion of the rock has been affected by the action of the weather and other atmospheric agencies, so that it has become discoloured or softened by decay . This weathered material must be removed before stone can be obtained for use . A quarry should, if possible, be opened on a hillside, for in this case it is usually much easier to dispose of the water which necessarily collects in any deep excavation, and which, if drainage by gravity is not afforded, must be removed by pumping, at considerable expense .

As it is generally most convenient to operate on a

vertical face of rock, the preliminary work of opening a quarry is usually directed toward the production of this result; but its accomplishment involves the waste of a certain amount of stone, which must be broken into irregular and useless pieces . The separation of blocks of building stone is effected ordinarily by drilling holes along the outlines of the block to be removed, and then, by exploding blasting-powder in the holes, or by driving wedges into them, exerting sufficient force to overcome the cohesion of the rock and rend it asunder . In many quarries it is found most convenient to separate a large mass and afterwards divide it into blocks of the required size . When the rock is stratified, or has an easily determined " rift," the holes are drilled at right angles to the plane of separation . When there is no stratification or " rift," or these ratural planes of separation are too far apart, or when the position of the joints is not advantageous, a row of horizontal holes must be drilled Into the face or " breast " of the quarry, along which separation is effected by the use of wedges . Of late at certain American quarries, in a granite which has no rift or direction of ready cleavage, compressed air has been brought into service to effect the separation of extensive layers . A hole is drilled as deep as the desired thickness of the layer to be separated, and a small charge of dynamite is exploded at the bottom of it . This develops a cavity in which a small charge of powder is next exploded, producing a crack or crevice parallel to the surface of the rock . A pipe for conveying compressed air is now sealed into the opening, and gradually increasing pressure is introduced . This results in the gradual extension of the crevice developed by the explosion of the powder . In the absence of compressed air, of the " coffin " of a horse's foot; in bootmaking, to the side water under pressure may be used and also small powder charges piece of leather reaching from the vamp to the heel . The exploded at intervals of a few days .

In thinly bedded sandstones, "

quarter " of a ship is the after part of her side from the main-where vertical joints are frequent, it is often possible to separate chains to the stern (see QUARTERDECK) . the desired slabs and flagstones with crowbars and wedges, There has been much discussion as to the origin of the use of the without drilling or the use of explosives . When blasting is word " quarter " in the sense of mercy, clemency, the sparing of necessary, some form of gunpowder is generally used, rather the life of a beaten enemy and the acceptance of his surrender. than a violent explosive like dynamite, in order to avoid shatter- The same use is found in Fr. quartier . Cotgrave explains this word ing rock . This, however, applies only dimension stone. as faire war, wherein souldiers are taken prisoners and ransomed g P- to at a certain rate." The he real origin cannot be, as has often been When the production of broken stone for road-making, concrete, repeated, following De Brieux (Origins de plusieurs fagons de parler, or similar purposes is the sole end in view, violent explosives are 1672), that it was due to a supposed agreement between the Dutch preferred . In limestones and marbles and in the softer sand and Spaniards for ransoming officers and men at one quarter of stones, channelling machines, driven b steam, are employed, their pay . The true source is either the assignment of " quarters," g by i.e. lodgings, to captured prisoners whose lives were spared, or the by which vertical or oblique grooves or channels can be cut use of the word, now obsolete, for relations with or conduct towards with great rapidity to a depth of several feet . A level bed of another, often in the sense of fair treatment; thus in Bacon's Essay rock is cleared, and on this are laid rails, along which the machine on Cunning, "two, that were competitors, ...kept good quarter moves . After the channels are cut, a row of holes is bored between themselves." Quarter days are the days that begin each quarter of the year . perpendicular to the former at the desired distance below the In England they are the 25th of March (Lady Day), the 24th of surface of the bed, and by driving wedges into these the required June (Midsummer Day), the 29th of September (Michaelmas Day) blocks are separated. and the 25th of December (Christmas Day) . They are the days When the beds of stone to be quarried are thin, and when to on which it is usually contracted that rents should be paid and houses or lands entered upon or quitted . In Scotland there are remove the whole of the overlying mass of earth or rock would two legal terms, the 15th of May (Whitsunday) and the uth of be too expensive, it is found convenient to treat the November (Martinmas); these, together with the two conventional Mince. as if it were a mine, and to rely upon on methods terms, 2nd of February (Candlemas) and the 1st of August (Lammas), stone. quarry y P make up the Scottish quarter days .

In the Scottish burghs, however, similar to those practised in

mining . A horizontal the removal terms are the 28th of May and the 28th of November . bed of rock is usually opened at its outcrop on some hillside, or In the United States the quarter days are, in law, the 1st of January, if this is impracticable, as shaft or slope is excavated to reach it . April, July and October . If dimension stone is required, a deep horizontal groove is cut QUARTERDECK, the after part of the upper deck of a ship. near the top or the bottom of the bed . The quarry face is then In former times the upper deck of a line-of-battle ship or frigate divided into blocks by saw-cuts, channels, or rows of drill-holes, ended at the mainmast, and was connected with the forecastle and the blocks are separated by wedging or blasting . As the by two narrow passages, or gangways running along the sides. excavation or stoping progresses, portions of the rock are left The quarterdeck is the residence and symbol of authority in in place as pillars to support the roof . At many localities in a warship . The starboard, or right side looking forward, is Europe where roofing slate is quarried, it is found in beds dipping reserved to the senior officer . A sailor who had a complaint to more or less from the horizontal . These deposits are worked by make was said to come to the mainmast, because he placed stopes which follow the inclination of the bed, from which, at himself at the forward end of the quarterdeck near the mast. convenient intervals, levels are driven across, to take advantage According to the ancient custom of the sea, the quarterdeck is of the cleavage of the slate . As in other subterranean quarries, to be saluted by all who come upon it, and the salute is returned pillars of rock are left to support the roof, since artificial supports by all officers present .

would be more expensive . At some of the marble quarries in QUARTER SESSIONS,

COURT OF, in English law, the name Vermont, U.S.A., where the strata are very nearly vertical, the for the justices of the peace of any county, riding, parts, division beds are worked to a great depth with a comparatively small or liberty of a county, or of any county of a city or county of a surface opening. town, in general or quarter sessions assembled; it includes the See G . P . Merrill, Stones for Building and Decoration (New York, court of the recorder of a municipal borough having a separate 1898); C . Le N . Foster, A Text-Book of Ore and Stone Mining court of quarter sessions . The word " general " in this context (London and Philadelphia, 1894) ; O . Herrman, Steinbruchindurtrie is contrasted with " special " or " petty." The court is a local and Steinbruchgeologie (Berlin, 1899) . (F . J . H .