29

CHAPTER III

TECHNIQUES OF QUARRYING AND DRESSING

HUMMELSTOWN BROWNSTONE

All brownstone contains a variable amount of water when freshly quarried which enables it to be cut readily, but at the same time it will crack and freeze more easily in cold weather. As a result the actual quarrying had to be done in the months when there was no frost in the ground. The coldest months of the year were used for stripping and cleaning the bottom of the as the weather permitted. In November of 1884 and

January of 1885 The Sun reported on three different occasions:

Work at the sawmill owing to the cold weather greatly impeded operations. The cold snap Monday evening did considerable damage to the quarried stone at the . Work has not yet resumed with the Brownstone mill and it is probable it will not until the weather becomes warmer. 1

One of the first problems facing Allen Walton as the new superintendent of a

novice company was to combat the affects of cold weather and freezing conditions. He

immediately informed the directors:

The sawmill should be heated and floored overhead to keep it from freezing, that is if I am to man the mill all winter. I think I can keep the mill in saw blocks. 2

The concern regarding freezing was not necessarily directed to the work force. This

freezing affected the stone that was in the stone yard to be seasoned. The purpose of the

1 The Hummelstown Sun , Nov. 21 & 28, 1884, and Jan. 30, 1885, Hummelstown Area and Derry Township Historical Societies, Hummelstown Brownstone Manuscript Group.

2 “Letter of Allen Walton to Louis Brown”, Dec. 6, 1868, Hummelstown Brownstone Manuscript Group, Dauphin County Historical Society. 30

seasoning was to decrease the amount of water in the stone so that it was less susceptible

to cracking and breaking during the winter months. Certainly it would be impractical and

economically unfeasible to provide storage buildings large enough to cover and heat all

the stone in the stone yard. The Hummelstown quarrymen had an ingenious method of

ensuring that the quarried stone did not freeze as related in this account from The Sun .

At present the majority of the men employed at the Brown Stone Quarries are engaged in packing large saw blocks of stone in a pit especially made to protect the stone from the extreme cold weather. These are then carefully covered with a heavy coat of manure, a precaution necessary to prevent the rocks from freezing and bursting. This care must be taken in the winter with the stone not thoroughly seasoned or run the risk of becoming shattered by the frost which means heavy pecuniary loss. 3

When the season for quarrying began, the pits would suddenly spring to life and the pace would continue rapidly until the first deep frost at which time the quarrying ceased. The scrap and waste would be cleared off the surface exposing the strata of rock.

Unlike , , limestone and a few quarries, the Hummelstown pits did not use channeling or gadding machines to remove the rock. This was most likely due to the considerable rake or angle of the rock strata. Rather, if a fissure or fault of a regular nature was evident it was desirable, for the workmen would then not have to blast the C-1: Eclipse Rock Drill

3 The Hummelstown Sun , loc. cit., January 9, 1903.

31

stone. Steel wedges were driven into the fault and hammered with a sledge until the stone separated. When this system was not feasible, particularly with the harder stone, a

row of channels was drilled with Ingersol Rock Drills (in appearance much like the

Eclipse Rock Drill) and charged with

black powder, but this was done as a

last resort. Dynamite was not used,

for too heavy a charge could fracture

and damage the stone. Engle and

Bossler of Middletown, was the chief

source of blasting material for the C-2: Men Drilling company in 1875. Although records for the Hummelstown Brownstone Company and

the Pennsylvania Brown Free Stone Company are woefully lacking, the following

itemized list for the month of February in 1875 gives one a general idea of the cost for blasting equipment during a productive month and a half for that year.

Jan. 26 To Balance on caps $ .50 Feb. 9 “ 50 lbs. of dynamite 23.35 “ 23 “ “ “ “ “ “ 23.35 “ “ “ 6 kegs of powder 18.00 “ “ “ 1000 ft. of fuse 4.50 “ “ “ 25 lbs. nail rods 2.25 March 16 “ 6 kegs of powder 18.00 $93.95 4

When viewing the quarries from a distance, of all the equipment used, the

derricks were the most impressive. Indeed, hoisting large stones that could weigh as

much as ten tons or more demanded gigantic rigs for the job. In quarry #4 which was the

4 “Account of Pennsylvania Brown Free Stone Company with Engle & Bossler, March 1, 1875, Hummelstown Brownstone Manuscript Group, Dauphin County Historical Society.

32

deepest and terraced, these steam driven arms ascended from one tier to the next in

awesome magnificence. In the first decade of the 20th Century as many as twenty-two

derricks each with a separate steam hoist labored throughout the day heaving immense blocks to flat cars waiting above. (Prior to building the Brownstone - Middletown

C-3: Postcard Showing Derricks at Corner of Quarry #4

Railroad the stones were placed on teamsters’ wagons.) The timbers for the largest

derricks could not be provided from local timber, so they were shipped from the West

and the South. The upright beam was held erect with guys while the oblique arm or boom hoisted and swung the stone into position. Manila rope was first used for the guys, but this was later replaced with the more substantial steel rope. Fitler, Weaver & Co.,

Rope Makers and Chandlers (later know as Fitler and Co.) in Philadelphia was the major

supplier of manila rope while the G. DeWitt Brothers & Co. of the same city was the

chief source of wire rope.

33

Shortly after his appointment as superintendent of the quarries, Allen Walton

improved the ability to hoist stone in the quarry, and it became a never-ending search to

improve this capacity. In December of 1867 he was pleased to report:

I have the derrick and horse power all up, and in use. I think it will pay for itself in 2 months. I can raise a stone weighing about 3 tons with the horsepower. I think you will be pleased with all I have done when you come up. 5

And in May of 1870 his monthly report to the directors proudly stated:

We are now sawing the largest stone ever quarried here, it is 10 ft. x 5 ft. x 20 in. wide. We have one at the quarry not yet brought in 12 ft. x 4.6 ft. x 1.8 ft.; some of the people that think we cannot quarry larger stone should now pay us a visit. I think we could change their minds. 6

Indeed, as time progressed they were able to raise considerably larger and heavier blocks

from the pits.

After a slab was removed from the quarry, it was hoisted to a scabbling bank at

which time the workmen drilled a series of one inch holes along a line and into these

holes they placed small, half-round iron bars called feathers with a small steel wedge

inserted between the feather and the rock. They would then strike the feathers with

sledges until the strain split the stone apart producing a rough shaped slab. They then proceeded to or scabble the rough edges off the stone and shape it into a rough

rectangular solid in preparation for sawing. The hammer used for this operation was a

heavy, square-faced hammer called a face hammer, although the men at Hummelstown

commonly referred to it as a scabbling hammer. To speed the process on rougher

5 “Letter of Allen Walton to Louis Brown”, Dec. 7, 1867, Hummelstown Brownstone Manuscript Group, Dauphin County Historical Society.

6 “Report of Allen Walton to the Directors of the Pennsylvania Brown Free Stone Company”, July 30, 1870, Hummelstown Brownstone Manuscript Group, Dauphin County Historical Society.

34

surfaces they also used a scabbling pick which was similar to an ordinary pick only

shorter of handle and stout of casting. The scabbled blocks or saw blocks as they were

then called were taken to the sawmill and placed in the stoneyard for seasoning.

Work in the pits was dangerous and accidents were frequent. Bruised and

smashed fingers, hands, toes and feet were some of the more common injuries with which

Dr. Baker, the company doctor, had to contend. Fatalities sometimes occurred, but the

most devastating accident of this nature occurred at the end of November in 1887. At

that time the north band of quarry #1 gave way and hundreds of tons of earth and rock

entombed four men. John Boyer of Londonderry Township was freed and escaped with a broken leg, but John Bricker also of Londonderry Township, John Montpiere of France, father of seven children, and Hungarian #64 were killed. The body of John Bricker was not recovered until January of the following year and the description of the body in The

Sun spared no detail:

After an incessant search, ever since the terrible accident, the body of Mr. John Bricker has at last been found. The unfortunate victim was caught between great boulders, and literally cut in two. His head was crushed into a mass, and his hands were torn off. 7

It is interesting to note that John Bricker’s son Harry was injured in an accident in the pits about ten years later, indicating that despite the danger, families needed the employment.

Seasoned saw blocks were then taken to the sawmill. Existing records do not mention the specific saw that was used in the early years of the business, but from 1875 on it was a stone cutting saw patented by Andrews T. Merriman of Cook County, Illinois.

7 The Hummelstown Sun , loc. cit., January 6, 1888.

35

In that year Allen Walton bought the patent rights for this saw for five hundred dollars. 8

This saw worked on the same principle as other stone cutting saws. The saw frame and sliding bars were raised and the number of desired blades was inserted. The stone was placed on a small cart or flat tram and rolled under the frame and locked in place. The saw frame was then lowered and the pitman powered by the driving pulley moved the saw frame back and forth over C-4: Merriman Stone Cutting Saw the stone. The sliding bars were

connected to the saw frame with

hinged rods to allow the horizontal

motion of the saw frame. As the

sliding bars descended on the screws

the belt from the drive shaft would

begin to slacken. The big C-5: Men At Saws In Sawmill improvement in this patent placed the drive shaft and pitman higher and allowing the entire frame of the saw to recline slightly as the sliding bars and saw frame dropped. This action kept the belt from the drive shaft to the sliding bars tight at all times. 9

8 Patent For Improvement of Machines For Sawing Stone , U. S. Patent Office, Patent No. 24478, June 21, 1859, Title Transferred April 9, 1875. 36

Merrill gives a good description of stone cutting saws and their blades:

The principle consists simply of a smooth flat blade of soft iron, set in a frame and fed with sharp sand and water. The saws are now frequently set in gangs of a dozen or more in a single frame and several gangs are tended by one man who shovels on the wet sand as needed, while fine streams of water from overhead wash it beneath the blade as it swings backward and forward in its slowly deepening groove. 10

C-6: The first sawmill of the Pennsylvania Brown Free Stone Company was located at the north end of Hummelstown adjacent to the track of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. The old Zion Lutheran Church is in the background.

The only variation that was used in the Hummelstown operation was that of the sand.

The abrasive used here was tiny steel pellets much resembling shot.

9 Interview with John M. Whittock, Chief Engineer of the Hummelstown Brownstone Company, 1905 - 1908, March 19, 1965.

10 Merrill, loc . cit ., p. 412. 37

In 1886 after the installation of the railroad line, the sawmill was relocated from

Hummelstown to the pits, and at that time its capacity was greatly enlarged. At a cost of

$40,000 the dimension of the new mill was 165 x 52 feet and it was equipped with “12

C-7: The second sawmill was located south of quarries #1 and #3. In this illustration the sawmill is the building discharging the large jet of steam. The stonecutters’ shed is the long white structure attached to the left end of the mill.

frames of the most improved order.” 11 As the illustration (C-5) shows, these saws were huge and towered above the men operating them. The need for this new mill was evident in that the old mill was running twenty-four hours daily and had little time to make required maintenance repairs. Business was so brisk in these early months of the new mill’s operation that the Philadelphia & Reading railroad had a difficult time furnishing the necessary cars to ship the increased production of processed stone. 12 Fortunately the

11 The Hummelstown Sun , loc. cit., May 21, 1886.

12 Ibid , May 27, 1887

38

Waltons did not dismantle the mill on Second Street immediately, for upon increased

demand for the stone it was reopened from time to time. As late as May, 1891, this mill was reported to be running at full capacity.

Stone processed by sawing could be used at this stage as flags, sills, jambs, lintels, curbing, blocks for wall construction, etc. If additional finishing was required it was sent to the planing mill where it was then surfaced on planers C-8: Stone Being Planed or turned into cylindrical shapes on lathes. By 1897 the company had nine planers and

two lathes running. The lathes had to be the more

impressive of the two machines. The cutter on

these was a similar to those used for wood or

metal turning. However, judging from some of the

columns turned on these machines they must have

been gigantic. In some cases they not only turned

drums for columns, they turned the entire column

where the stone had to weigh tons. The stately

columns on the portico of the State Hospital in

C-9: Portico – State Hospital, Harrisburg are an excellent example of this. Then Harrisburg too they turned specialty shapes as with the drum, 39 base and capital on a porch column of the Hermance House in Williamsport. In addition,

the capital of this column had to be embellished by the stonecutters and the base had to go

through planing operations.

Powering this vast collection of

machinery was steam. Time and again The Sun reported the addition of a new boiler or the augmentation of the steam power at the quarries.

A new 62 horsepower boiler was hauled to the Hummelstown Brownstone Company’s Quarry #2 on Monday last. C-10: Side Porch – Hermance House, This will add greatly to the present Williamsport facilities for hoisting stone and will enable the company to work the quarry more extensively than before. 13

Since the new boilers at the mill have been fired, our friend, Tom Grove, has had them in charge, and their general appearance indicates mechanical attention. They now furnish the steam used at Quarry #3. 14

Whether one views photographs of the quarries or the various mills, the use of steam power is more than evident. Little wisps and jets of escaping steam from railroad engines as well as many buildings and sheds speaks of its presence.

Noted for its decorative arts, the Victorian Age precluded that high style meant greatly embellished surfaces. Architectural forms were no exception. Consequently, the art of the stonecutter was of great importance to the Hummelstown brownstone industry.

13 The Hummelstown Sun , loc. cit., November 28, 1884.

14 The Hummelstown Sun , loc. cit., August 20, 1886.

40

Many quarries, at this time, including the huge brownstone quarries at Portland,

Connecticut, were solely suppliers and purveyors of the stone. Few were involved in the finishing processes or the elaborate process of stonecutting; rather this was done by another company. The Walton firm was the rare exception that chose to handle all aspects of production and in so doing bypassed a middleman which certainly helped it compete more effectively in the market thereby increasing the profit margin. Thus their highly skilled artisans transformed a mundane material into elaborate and graceful works of art.

C-11: Stone Yard Adjacent To Stonecutters’ Shed Showing Various Kinds of Stone Ready For Processing

The work was of a quality sought by other companies for the January, 12, 1909, issue of

The Sun reported:

A carload of handsomely dressed Ohio sandstone which was carved at the Hummelstown Brownstone Company’s sheds at Waltonville, attracted the

41

attention of every passerby as it lay on the siding at Brownstone Station. The Company is doing considerable of this kind of work and therefore has a large lot of expert stone cutters employed. 15

The stonecutters’ shed, just as the sawmill, was originally located in

Hummelstown and moved to the quarries after the railroad was installed. The preceding photograph (Fig. C-11) of the stoneyard adjacent to the sawmill and stonecutters’ shed clearly shows that other lighter colored stones are in the yard waiting to be processed.

The first step in the production of a sculptural or ornate form was the artist’s or

architect’s sketch which was then

converted into a carefully

rendered mechanical drawing in

the drafting. The drafting room

of the Hummelstown Brownstone

Company was located on the

G-12: Drawing Room Where Stereotomy Was Done second floor of the office adjacent to quarries #1 and #3. Here the art of stereotomy was performed. Stereotomy is the science of making patterns, or templates, to which a stone is to be cut to fill a certain place in an arch or other complicated piece of stonework. --. A drafting indicates where the joints in the face are to be located, and the stone cutter then details each block and cuts it to fit exactly with the others. It is at this point that the various stones are numbered on the drafting with those numbers being transcribed on the actual stone.

When the stone reached its destination along with the numbered plan it was then put in place by masons on the site. In viewing buildings made of Hummelstown brownstone,

15 The Hummelstown Sun , loc. cit., January 12, 1900.

42

one should be aware that the highly ornate work was done in this manner and not at the construction site as many surmise.

Most bas relief and flatter sculptural forms could be visualized from the

architectural rendering or drafting, but if the shape was more complex, a three

C-13: Plaster-of-Pairs model of griffin C-14: Finished griffin above entrance adorning Wilkes-Barre’s City Hall to Wilkes-Barre’s City Hall

dimensional Plaster-of-Paris model was sometimes made to see how its precise form

would appear and to act as a guide for the stonecutter. The following model of a griffin

was used to fabricate the griffins that appear guarding the main arch that is the entrance

to Wilkes-Barre’s City Hall.

To make the necessary templates and drafting of a brownstone building,

it was necessary that the architect be familiar with the various methods of stone finishing.

The following are the most common methods of finishing brownstone:

1) The rock face finish (sometimes called pitch faced work) was done with the pitching

chisel and the face of the stone left rough. This finish requires little work and is cheaper

than any other kind. 2) The dressing of margins to distinguish it from the work it

surrounds such as rock face or pointed surfaces. This too was done with a chisel. 43

3) Pointed work done with a point chisel which knocks off large projections. If done few times it produces a rough point finish while fine pointed finish is achieved with additional applications of the point. 4) Done by the tooth chisel, the tooth-chisel finish resembles

C-15: The illustration to the left is taken from George P. Merrill’s Stones For Building and Decorating and shows the following finishes: A. rock face B. pointed face C. pointed face D. toothed chisel E. square drove F. patent hammered

pointed finishes, but it is not so

regular. Working stone with a

tooth chisel is one of the cheapest

methods of dressing a stone. 5)

Broached work is done with a point

so as to leave continuous grooves

over the surface. 6) Tooled work is

done with a tooth chisel that is

three to four inches wide. The lines are continued across the width of the stone and resemble drove work that is executed on harder stone. 7) Crandalled work, which gives the stone a fine pebbly appearance, is done with a crandall which looks much like a large comb. It is especially effective for , and in the eastern states it is used probably more than any other finish. 8) Rusticated work is used to designate sunken or beveled joints. This style of 44

C-16: This illustration of hand tools for stone is taken from George P. Merrill’s Stones For Building and Decorating . The tools are as follows: 1. Tooth chisel 2. Square drove 3. Points 4. Hand drill 5. Pitch chisel 6. Pitch chisel (the preceding two of which are used for trimming edges to a straight line) 7. Chisel 8. Chisel 9. Face hammer (used for roughly shaping stone from the quarry, and often called the scabbling hammer by quarry- men at Hummels- town) 10. Sledge 11. Patent hammer 12. Hand drill 13. Ax hammer 14. Wedge or plug 15. Mallet 16. Hand hammer 17. Grub saw (used for hand sawing stone)

45

work is expensive and is often, but not solely used in the finish of foundation walls or to emphasize piers and other projections. 16

All of these finishes were used by the Hummelstown Brownstone

Company. The knowledgeable architect or mason could combine them with subtle effect. The predominant impression one has when viewing a brownstone building is that of color. Closer inspection of the masonry technique in the finishing of the stone and the combination of those finishes reveals a sensitivity to the material that is often missed by the layman. This entrance detail of the First Baptist Church in Summit, New

Jersey, (now Christ Church) is a good example. The foundation and buttresses supporting the bell tower are laid in even C-17: Entrance – First Baptist Church – Summit, New Jersey courses of blocks while the panels between the buttresses are laid in a random pattern with rubble stones. Both have a bold, rock face finish. Contrasting with this finish are the flat capstones of the foundation and buttresses as well as the coursed stones above the entrance which have been crandalled.

The smooth finish of the Gothic arch surrounding the door and the crenellated band and lintel below and above the two windows are also a contrasting feature to the rock faced masonry both in finish and shape.

16 “Elements of Stone Masonry,” Pasvocal, 100 Bogert St., Cloister, New Jersey, www.pasvocal. com 46

Without a doubt, as the brownstone industry grew and prospered under the

management and ownership of the Waltons it adapted to and adopted the latest technical

improvements in the industry. In so doing they established a reputation for the quality of their work that was recognized in the industry as among the finest. From the quarrying of the rough stone to its intricate finishing at the hands of skilled artisans, The

Hummelstown Brownstone Company had few rivals.