Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

THE ABERDEEN GRANITE INDUSTRY. 63 French monument is that to Charles Garnier, the famous architect of the Paris Opera House. The whole of the granite work of this memorial was executed in the yard of Messrs. Alex. Macdonald and Company, Limited, the pioneers of polished Aberdeen granite. It is scarcely necessary to speak of the home trade. Everyone in this country has seen some bank, assurance office, or other public building embellished with the product of the granite city, its shining surface defying the grime and smoke of a London atmo- sphere. Within the last ten years or more, such has been the demand for architectural granite work, that the Aberdeenshire quarries, extensive as they are, have not been able to furnish a sufficient supply, and although it may appear very like the proverbial carrying of coals to Newcastle, it is never- theless a fact that large quantities of foreign granite are imported into Aberdeen, in the rough state, principally from Russia, Norway, and Sweden. None of the foreign material, however, can compare with the home article. As the deposits of native rock are practically inexhaustible, and the development of the quarrying industry is going steadily on, it is confidently anticipated that in a few years there will be a large enough output of Aberdeen granite to meet all demands. Apart from architectural and monumental work, Aberdeen granite is rapidly asserting its superiority as a bridge-building material —the widening of London Bridge being one of the latest examples of its adoption for this purpose. In conclusion, one last word may be said in regard to the artistic possibilities of granite work. For several years a granite-cutting class has been con- ducted in connection with the Aberdeen School of Art, the students being taught to model their design in clay before repro- ducing it in the more permanent material. The object of this class is to still further improve the quality of the work done in the stone-cutting yards, by inculcating a taste for art in the minds of the younger genera- tion of workers in granite. Victor Mitchell. SETTING UP A GRANITE MONUMENT.