I hope someone will enlighten us to the damage chalk causes. I am an advocate of using chalk to bring out the inscription, esp. when all else fails. It seems to me that if it is the only way to read the stone, at least we have preserved the information contained there when there may be no way to read it in a few years. I have been carrying a spray bottle of plain water with me to rinse the chalk off afterwards. I am, however, willing to listen to the reasons not to use chalk. Debby Beheler __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Listen to your Yahoo! Mail messages from any phone. http://phone.yahoo.com