535-03 Page 2Beaehville
Lime Industry 11
Yea rar7
Blasting agents are less than
By M. E. Cropp
Al-
_
a • «
80 years old. Nitro glycerine
In the year 1833 Captain Philip
.,
Another man, to whom we will
a fictitious name, was noted
was discovered in Y848 by a
young Italian chemist, named
Graham, retired British naval
a x .
give
Sobrero, at Paris, but he made
officer, came to North Oxford to
,as -' `%b;"; v
for turning out a very inferior
no use of his discovery except
take u the land chosen b him,
P Y
M ,o ..
"" - g
product. It is said that the frogs
to play tricks on his friends.
and given to him b the Crown
Y'�,--..
4^" .°.�. ;gam
in the near -by pond used to
About fifteen years later, Alfred
-
for his. services. This land was
-; t^°-A°rt- a v' " `"
s°°"T--t^ as
"
chant:
Nobel, a Swedish engineer and
situated on the north side of the
. -+r�^` ;, °' y, �
Sid Merton, Sid Merton,
chemist, recognized its
g possibili-
Thames River, half waybetween -
§ -- a" re
�, ,,,
Burn lime, burn lime,
ties, and by 1866 had developed
Woodstock and Beaehville. Upon"
' . I
All stone, all. stone!
it as a blasting agent for earn -
his arrival he found two squat-
r
-*-• a
Seventy years ago kilns were
mercial purposes. A series of
-
ters already in possession.
dotted all up and down the val-
,horrible accidents, however,
-
' ' •
ley on both sides of the river,
caused nitro glycerine to be out-
OIn his diary, dated Saturday,
There were a dozen within the
lawed by several countries, in-
' November 19, 1833, is the follow-
5 "''
limits of the village of Beach-
eluding Great Britain, in 1869.
ing entry:
vine alone, and several men
--
« « «
-___ "Called at my land and gave
.,� > '�
� � ,» y,.., I� � '4, � �,f,wl�,a °s 's '
M
operated them as sidelines to
This led the development of
p
permission to Mattison to con-
`•R '+� ". d"•:
z
'«�'� x
some other business.
nitro glycerine compounds, such
time makinglime for Captain
p
•� _w:
&
« « +
as dynamite, gunpowder, gun cot-'
Drew's new. church (Old Saint
,',
%
° "
Some of the old set kilns are
ton, etc., in which nitro glycerine
Paul's Anglican Church in Wood-
Old Set Kiln Near Centreville
still to be seen in the area, and
was absorbed by some inert, por-
��-
stock) which is a neat brick
one stands beside Highway No.`2
ous substance, at first charcoal,
building capable of holding
.�
.between Beaehville, and Ingersoll,
g
sawdust, brick dust, paper, rags,
iir`e hundred persons without
near the sideroad leading to the
etc., which diminished ate sus -
galleries."
American Cyanamid quarry.
ceptibility to explode by shock,
-
Again, dated Wednesday, No-
NN,They
were usually built into a
and yet caused it to lose little of
vemb 23, we read:
"Saw
hillside, so teams could drive up
its explosive force.
{�
( ,?
attison again and sug-
..t.a. 1
+ r„
x
behind to unload and also down
« « «
gested tRhim that he should
y
in front where_ the lime was
Later it was combined with a
build peritFanent kilns on my ]and
x ,•
t I��
drawn off.
mineralized moss, called kiesel-
_ and make, lime on shares.. .
Gave Mattison injunctions not to
'r z + II a
« «
guhr, found underlying beds of
destroy s1i the trees on the flat
The draw kiln in the
peat. The principal formations
1
land which he is clearing to.
set style. This was a steel kiln
are found in Germany, Norway
,f
burn lime, and to carry on the
lined with brick, about 25 feet
and Great Britain. A substance
quarrying so as to form an ex-
'° '
high and 12 feet across inside.
called diatomite is now also used.
e
-�1
y on for a. fish pond to be
It had Your arches. The fire
. « «
ffrom
fed
fed from the river, hereafter."
, E �
would be built and the rock piled
In 1870 the world's whole out-
)' Thanks to this diary we learn
,. ;
in on top of it, These kilns were
put of dynamite was estimated
;i.
that the operations of quarrying
s� ik �e
drawn twice a day, and produced
at eleven tons, and in 1889 waste
�•
and lime burning have been
4
).
nine tons of lime a day. Men
estimated at 12,000 tons:
carried on within a seven mile
`:' s , r
would be_pili�.in rock above
The first blasting in the By oc
strip of'the Thames River flats, _
"`
at the same time others were
.vine quarries was done with
with Beaehville at its centre, for
;°:� a ^.
r
drawing off lime below, with
g
Black Powder. it came in kegs.
gs.
-
at least 116 q
years. It is uite
certain that there has never been
H•• �sR
nothing holding up the 35 to
The required number of handsful
were put into the hole, a fuse
a break in .quarrying operations. _
_ ,3qF,:;.
40 tons of rock above their heads
placed down the side of It, and
-
along this strip of the Thames
but the force of its own ex-
the hole tamped full of clay pro -
from that day to this. Mention Is,
,s
a x, *
pension by the heat.
cured up on the hill behind the
made in this diary of good frame
. jbe E„a
.° a.
« « « _
Anglican Church. The clay would
houses already in existence, and
°°
A draw kiln would use five
be Pounded as hard as rock then
of others of frame, brick and
:�Na" :....,.,,
of wood a day and as a
a man ]it the fuse with a ma°.ch,
plaster going up. At this period,
Wilbur German, Beaehville, Operating Old Steam Drill _
cords
and ran. If the fuse was too short
too, the old timers were replac---
----- a�—" --�+r
of water seepage. The earth was
result this district was one of
he would be assisted in his flight
ing their log houses with others_
removed by men with wheel- Men still loaded the rock, now
the earliest to be denuded
by the power of the blast behind
of better material, so that lime
barrows and the rock drawn into steel buckets, shaped like
w
its trees. The teams which drew
him, to the amusement of his
fellow workmen.
r products would be in increasing
away by team and wagon and a scoops, which were swung up by
rock in summer drew logs in
and continuous demand.
hole with a five foot face was the derrick and emptied into
winter. Camps were set up In
(To Be Continued)
« « «
considered a fine quarry 40 years freight cars standing along -side
the woods and many Indians
_�L_ It Is quite possible that lime
ago on the railway siding. Hand cars
on a track, to
and farmer lads turned lumber-
in winter to earn extra
// /_
,•�
was burned here -. years before
Then somebody introduced which ran similar
men
the forests.
LxJsxoKK
_
-,
that, for certain uses of lime, as a
cleaner and purifier and for
water wheels, run by the river, those which may be seen today
and connected by shafts to log in the American. Cyanamid
They
money. So fast did
disappear that by '1856 house -
in London were card -
building purposes, were well
or iron pumps. The wheels could quarry were also used. are
holders
known. When it was procurable,
be lowered or raised according to towed by a small engine to the
plaining that wood was becom-
�r,�
-°�
the cracks between the logs of a
the level oP the river, and ran foot of the slope, and then drawn
ing scarce and high priced.
burn or gas,
-
cabin were sometimes filled with
day and night, screeching their up by cable.
Modern kilns coal
v
Master, and this was a well
- - -- - .--- - The earliest kilns were called
the gas type being drawn every
-.
,cleared and settled district when
protest to sun 'and stars alike. set kilns and were built of stone
two hours in producing about
e Captain Graham made the above
_
Each wheel ran one or two pumps and lined with brick. They stood
75 tons of lime per day.
T
per on the pioneer settlers who[
entry in his diary. In fact the
and when they froze up in the about 10 feet high and were six
• « «
°Icame from the British Isles, ones
(1Yuws.Ci
first settler came in 49 years be-
fall was suspended feet across inside. A good fire
Early .drilling was done by
of them being her father who
ea
More. A man clearing his land
quarrying
until spring. Rock was piled up was built and the rock piled in
hand. .One man sat on a keg
il, came from Clovelly, England to
had only to pile his logs, heap
ahead to keep the kilns burning on top. of it. The fire avas kept
and held the drill, which he kept
Woodstock, later moving to
the rock on top, and keep the
during the winter: going steadily for five to seven
turning while another hit it with
geachville. The first test of burn-
' mass burning until he had his
days. Then the ashes were raked
a sledge hammer. It took an
ing stone to lime in a crude way
- 3ime.
« « «
out, and when the mass cooled
hour and a half to drill a three
{was made -by him along the Tha-
- • s ♦
With the coming of gasoline- the lime dropped
ro me PP down and raked
foot hole,
,roes River. The setup was pattern-,
In comparison with the longpowered
pumps quarrying went
out. There would be two to three '�
There was much jubilation
ed after a kiln owned and operated,
history of quarrying and lime
deeper. A derrick replaced the hundred bushels of lime for the
when steam drills were intro-
by Ilis father and randfather 1,
y g
burningin this district, it is in-
teams and wagons. The derrick
g work.
dueed. A steam drill, with �20
from the high cliffs at Cloven in j
g y
iG cresting to note that the
week's
was a ponderous affair raised on In those days people turned
pounds pressure behind it, could
England. She told of some of the
methods Used,. from the earliest
trestles, the whole, supported by their and. geese in the-
do the first two feet in two
dships endured by her family)
\ to the most modern, have all
-dunks -out
a platform on wheels which ran - summer to fend for themselves
minutes, then carry to a
the earl days pioneering.
y ys
told
5gress
been developed during the work-
P g
on.a track. From each side pro-
beam. These were sup- along the river. The tale is told
to
depth of 12 at the rate of 100
of
rs, Graham also told fa the'
is
made in the manufactur-'
;
ing- life of men living today.
truded a
from the ground by tall
of a certain man who, when on
feet per day. The steam drill
�n of lime and some Of the pro-';
g
,
At first the rock was picked
ported
wooden horses which kept the night shift, used to steal among
g
was followed by the electric
It
ducts made. Now there are Bev-
out of the river bed when the
structure from tipping over when flock sloe in birds, catch
drill, such as is used today.
eril lime companies doing a thriv,
s
was low in summer, one .
a of P g
the arm swung back and forth it,
drills a 5%' inch hole, 50 feet
100
ing business.
ch location being just west of
ch
one, wring its neck, and roast
with its load. When a blast was i
or more deep, and can do
I Refreshments were served by
_
�village bridge, or the earth
ld be the
to be set off the derrick was plastered with mud, in the coals
feet per day.
1Ithe
hostess and her assistants,
dc'
cleared away and
pulled back from the face on the a of his kiln. One night he caught
- __ ----�
Mrs. McKennev Mrs. P. Graham
Brio
Face rock removed, The pick,
P
track by means of a cable. himself a treat, and when he got
,�-hands. qrc:; lea,
ovn
Ivbar and sledge hammer were
back to the fire, found he had
Mrs. R M. Graham gave a pa -land
Mrs. Dorland
only tools and it was impos-
- _
wrung the neckof his mother's
-- — -
gu,
.able tq-90 very deep on account
aEt.:SEtT!dar.
I