Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/109

 1868.] The Gazette. 89 indefinitely downwards. What the en- tire area may be, cannot yet be ascer- tained ; but enough is known, to prove that it must be large, and that the quality of the marble impi-oves with the depth. Messrs. Struthers & Son, of this city, have polished a fine mantle-piece from the stone taken out of the upper part of the quarry, which specimen may be seen at their office. The formation is evidentby stalag- mitic, that is : deposited, drop by drop, from above ; and when the higli polish- ing of which it is susceptible has brought out the grain, the surface appears in waves, drops, feathers, clouds and radi- ations of all sorts, in which brown and creamy tints of surpassing beauty are blended. From its variegated and semi-trans- parent character, this mass of compact stalagmite, which is an almost absolutely pure carbonate of lime, has been called by the Messrs. Struthers, Agate Mar- ble. It is as easily worked as the Italian ; and admits of a much higher polish. As it lies in a very large body, blocks of any given dimensions can be had. The prevailing color is a rich deep " raw sienna." The reader will observe that it belongs to the same county with the Natural Bridge. IMPROVED SASH- WEIGHT. THERE has lately been introduced into this city by Rogers, Oldershaw & Co., of the Fairmount Iron Works, Philadelphia, a sash-weight, with suffi- cient merit to bring it into universal use. A sheet-iron or other metal case is filled with the slag or black cinder, from fur- naces and rolling-mills, the whole being coated or japanned, to render it smooth and prevent rust. All shapes and sizes are manufactured. Two shapes being adopted as the standard ones for the hardware trade, round (a) and oval (B). The round answering the purpose of all the old square weights, and the oval supplying the place of the old flat weights. As these improved .weights have no square 'or sharp-corners or burrs, a always inseparable from the old style weights, and are rounded on the bot- tom, sliding freely, they cannot jam in the boxes. The eye being deeply fixed in the cone-shaped head, as shown by the dotted lines in the cut, cannot pull out or break off, and this compels the weight to hang plumb. The iron cases protect these weights from fracture. They are uniform in size and shape. They are sold retail at the wholesale prices of the old weights. These and other considerations recommend them to builders as the most desirable weight in the market. Sash, dumb-waiter, clock, and all dead-weights, are included in the manu- facture. The above cut hardly gives the true idea of rounding up the bottom of the weight. It appears rather more like the perspective of a flat-bottomed weight. We think, however, that, between the cut and the description, the true idea must be obtained by the reader.