The Hudson, from the wilderness to the sea . fisheries extend from the Donder Berg toPiermont, a distance of about twenty-five miles. I went on shore at the ruins of an old lime-kiln at the upper edge ofTomkinss Cove, and sketched the fishermen in the distance toward PeeksKill. It was a tedious task, and, with benumbed fingers, I hastened tothe office and store of the Tomkins Lime Company to seek warmth andinformation. ^Yith Mr. Searing, one of the proprietcrs, I visited thekilns. They are the most extensive works of the kind on the Hudson. They are at the foot of an immense cliff of limestone
The Hudson, from the wilderness to the sea . fisheries extend from the Donder Berg toPiermont, a distance of about twenty-five miles. I went on shore at the ruins of an old lime-kiln at the upper edge ofTomkinss Cove, and sketched the fishermen in the distance toward PeeksKill. It was a tedious task, and, with benumbed fingers, I hastened tothe office and store of the Tomkins Lime Company to seek warmth andinformation. ^Yith Mr. Searing, one of the proprietcrs, I visited thekilns. They are the most extensive works of the kind on the Hudson. They are at the foot of an immense cliff of limestone, nearly 200 feet inheight, immediately behind the kilns, and extend more than half a milealong the river.* The kilns were numerous, and in their management, andthe quarrying of the limestone, about 100 men were continually saw them on the brow of the wooded cliff, loosening huge masses andsending them below, while others were engaged in blasting, and othersagain in wheeling the lime from the vents of the kilns to heaps in front,. AVINTEH riSHISG. where it is slaked before being placed in vessels for transportation tomarket. This is a necessary precaution against spontaneous combustion. ? This deposit of limestone occuiiies a superficial area of nearly 600 acres, extending in the rear ofStony and Grassy Points, where it disappears beneath the red sandstone formation. It is traversed bywhite veins of carbonate of lime. In 1837 Mr. Tomkins purchased 20 acres of land covering this lime-stone bod for 100 dollars an acre, then considered a verj extravagant price. The stratum where theyare now quarrying is at least 500 feet in thickness. It is estimated tliat an acre of this limestone,worked down to the water level, will yield ti00,000 barrels of lime, upon which a mean profit of 25 centsa barrel is the minimum .Some of this limestone is black and variegated, and makes pleasing orna-mental marbles. Most of it is blue. 280 THE HUDSON. Many vessels are employed in carrying a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjecthudsonrivernyandnjde
