Mount Desert Island: Shaped by Nature

The working conditions of Hall Quarry were
a great concern for the quarrymen. ? In addition to
great physical danger of working year after year
with the massive stone blocks and machinery, many
of the men suffered from silicasis, a chronic lung
disease common in people who breath stone
dust.?(Wedin. Pg141) At the start of the
company there were as little as 6 men working the
quarry but that soon escalated to about 1000 when
the Quarry was at its peak. The quarrymen were paid
$1.50 per day even though the work was very
difficult. But that soon changed, ? In 1892, labor
strikes began to create unrest in the quarries
along the coast of Maine. Unions were trying to get
a foothold in the granite industry at that time,
and the companies predictably wanted nothing to do with the movement?(O'Neill)