MOUNTAINS OF MARBLE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 13 December 1924, Page 13

MOUNTAINS OF MARBLE.

- A VISIT TO CARRARA. One of the most interesting places in Italy visited by Mr. W. J. Crouse, who lias just returned from Europe, was the n ; iai,rble quarries near Carrara. Here the niountains wholly consist of solid marble of every conceivable tint and design, as well as pure white. The method oi cutting the marble out of the mountain side he found most curious. First of all a hole is bored in the marble by a circular diamond drill, which cuts in a ling, as it is forced ih, so that at the conclusion of the cut the piece of marble in the centre may be drawn out like a shaft. From a point above that hole a vertieial hole is cut downwards Until it meets the lateral one. Then by some means a wire rope is passed down one and through the other. This rope, fed with hard sand and water, becomes the cutter, and is worked backward and forward until it completes the cut — just as cheese is cut with a wire. Another such cut is made some little distance away, both cuts working outward on a. fairly acute angle. Other lateral outs are made at the top and bottom of the block to be removed, and when that is done a charge of gelignite blows the whole piece out, leaving a kind of cave with perfectly smooth floor, ceiling, and side walls of marble. Sometimes the blocks so removed weigh 100 to 150 tons, ensuring that marble in almost any size for monoliths or big columns may be obtained, just as readily as building blocks or facing slabs. '