Ferguson jokingly claimed to have no real objection to the bill, while Chase had 30 years experience working in stone mills until he retired. Chase is claimed to have drawn attention to the bill by handing out tiny Indiana maps made of limestone. He is quoted in saying, “Limestone has been used for so many famous structures. It seemed appropriate to have it named the state stone.” The Indiana state stone sculpture has been located in a niche on the fourth floor of the Indiana Statehouse between the Senate and the House of Representatives chambers since at least March 5, 1983. The cube was cut to dimension using a modern diamond belt saw. P. M. & B. (Perry, Matthews, & Buskirk) Quarry The P. M. & B. (Perry, Matthews & Buskirk) quarry is located approximately one mile north of the town of Oolitic, Indiana and approximately three miles northwest of the city of Bedford, IN. This area is known as the Stone Belt; a 20 mile wide vein of limestone that runs through both Monroe and Lawrence counties. The P. M. & B. quarry company was organized on February 15, 1889, and development of the quarry began directly afterward. The original members of the company were William N. Matthews, Fred Matthews, Henry F. Perry, Captain Gilbert K. Perry, Sarah E. Matthews, and Phillip K. Buskirk. The original members of the company had it incorporated on July 13, 1893. The original members claimed to have put every cent they could scrap together into developing their first plot of land. The members boasted that if their land didn’t produce the highest grade of stone, they would have surly gone bankrupt. The company owned a total of 898 acres of land, of which only 240 acres were developable stone land. The original machinery used to excavate the quarry consisted of one channeling machine and a derrick. By 1895 the company had 10 machines running around the clock and was shipping between 10 and 15 car loads of stone each day on the Monon Railroad. The P. M. & B. Quarry was sold to the Consolidated Stone Company in 1897 for $600,000. In the 1920s individuals representing twenty-four of the limestone industry’s companies came together to form one entity. This entity became the Indiana Limestone Company and was founded in 1926. Today the Indiana Limestone Company owns over 2,300 acres of land and still