Oxen Pull Stone in Vermont Quarry

Eight oxen pull a block of marble from a Vermont quarry. The two in the rear may be acting as brakes for the wagon, or they could be resting. The article in Century Magazine, 1890, is colorfully written and an enjoyable read. Here is a quote: Passing close beside a deliberate ox-team and its bawling driver comes a puffing locomotive, tugging its long train of cars up the track among the towering piles of un-hewn marble. Side by side work the old and the new, each performing better than the other could its proper task.

The oxen enter the damp, dim stone-sawing mill, the machinery growls and hisses as it gnaws the stone like some monstrous beast in its den over its prey, and hardly another sound is heard. The lusty outdoor bawl of the ox-teamster sinks here to the pervading growl, and the whistle of his lash attunes itself to the swish of the saws.

Thanks to the work of an excellent website about stone structures in the northeastern United States, the complete article is available for your enjoyment, here: http://www.stonestructures.org/html/marble_hills_vermont.html