Correspondence (incoming) - Bo-Bz

May 15th 1889 Hon. Leland Stanford Palo Alto, Cal Dear Sir:

Per your request I herewith furnish the following statement of the cost of stone work and concrete for the Dormitory Building. I have computed this as [mean?] as possible with the plans we have on hand at present. The quantities may vary slightly. 19,000 cub. feet concrete for foundation @23[cts?]= $4,3700.00 24,050 cub. feet rough stone work @30[cts?]= $7,215.00 100,000 cub. feet faced stone work above foundation @60[cts?]= $60,000.00 Total= $71,585.00

Yours Respectfully R.S. Briggs

526 Grand Ave Los Angeles Cal. 4/8 1889

Secretary of Regents [c/o?] Leland Stanford Jr. University San Francisco, Cal. Dear Sir:- Will you kindly inform me, when the University will be prepared to receive students and when the school will have its first session. Will you also send me such information as you may have in [point?] concerning the institution and greatly oblige Yours Very Respectfully, [N.A.?] Brown

San Francisco, Oct.14,1886 Sir: I have to report the result of my examination of the stone deposits found on the property of J.D. Farwell in Alameda County, which I visited on the 12th inst. The locality of these deposits is near the line of the Southern Pacific R.R., about three miles from Niles Station and about one mile northerly from the track. I found here, three varieties of stone, differing somewhat in color and texture, but all constituting species of sandstone, which I classify as follows, with their characteristics: No.1 Is known as a "buff sandstone" from its color when dressed. The extent of this quarry is large and may be traced from 300 to 400 feet along the face of the hill in which it is situated and to a height of abot 300 feet above the bed of the creek at its foot. The strata are from 5 to 10 feet in thickness, yielding blocks of almost any building dimensions when quarried, and of a remarkably uniform color throughout the deopsit. Considerable stone has been quarried here, and used in various buildings and in cemetary monuments. The stone is easily split in very regular rectangular blocks, and dresses with little labor, giving fine surfaces and sharp arrises: it weighs something over 156 poubds to the cubic foot, and for a sandstone, is hard and dense. Its quality as a building material, is best understood by the samples of

its use, which I have seen. In the cemetary at Centerville, situated about 3 1/2 miles southerly from Niles. There are four dresses monuments of this stone, the oldest of which appears to have been erected in 1852, and is yet in a perfect state of preservation, showing no signs of disintegration or decay. Its surfaces are smooth; the arrises or corners clean and sharp, and the lettering is perfect as when originally chiseled. Its base show the original marks of the dressing tools, all of which appearances indicate a strong and durable stone, resistant to influences of air and weather. The other, but later monuments, show the same characteristics. This stone was also used for the abutments and piers of the railroad bridges crossing Alameda Creek, several of which I examined, finding the masonry in fine condition, except about the base courses, which showed a small amount of wear induced by the action of sand and gravel put in motion by the high water of the floods. No. 2. Is what is termed "gray stone," being of darker hue than the above, from which it is separated in position by a slight swale in the hill. The deposit can be traced about 800 feet in a northerly direction, and at least 200 feet above the bed of the creek. In regard to stratification and uniformity of color, it agrees with No.1. I examined in place one block which had been exposed by clearing away its overlaying soil, finding it to measure 55 feet in length, 10 feet in thickness, extending into the ledge to an unknown distance of which 8 feet were in

sight, without a seam in the whole mass. In respect to quarrying and dressing, this stone shows the same characteristics an No.1, the only difference being apparently in color. Its weight per cubic foot is about 150 pounds. As a building stone, I infer that it is equally as good as No.1, it having been used as a part of the monuments above mentioned, and remains in the same good condition. No.3. The ledge from whence this specimen is taken, is situated about half a mile westerly from the last mentioned deposit and in the same cañon, and known as the upper quarry: it is bare and exposed to view for about 300 feet along the creek, and about 150 feet in height. In color it resembles that of No.2, but in texture and grain is much finer than either of the above: its fitness for quarrying and dressing is also equal to the above, being susceptible of very delicate carving, and was used for the surmounting vases of two of the aforementioned monuments, one of which was carved in 1856 and the other in 1859, both showing firm resistance to atmospheric influences and weather. This stone weighs about 160 pounds per cubic foot and is of uniform color and quality throughout the ledge. All the above ledges have the same dip of 65 degrees from the vertical to the south and the same direction of N.85 degrees W. In regard to the price of the above stones, I consulted Mr.Farwell, and was informed that he now is paid 75 cents per cubic foot, loaded on the cars at his side track, at a point