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county, on the south side of the Rapidan, of an elliptical shape, about 9 miles long, 2 miles wide, with an area of 14 square miles.

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1 to 5. Shales and sandstones................ 46 to 64
6. Coal A, friable.........

7. Sandstone and shale...

8. Coal B......................

The James River deposits contain several occurrences of the formation about Warminster, on both sides of the James River, extending into Nelson, Buckingham, and Fluvanna counties. They consist of isolated, nar- 9 to 13. Sandstones, shales, limestone, iron row patches stretching for about 18 miles, from the south-west corner of Fluvanna county, about the Hardware River, with a width of about 5 miles, to a distance of about 1 mile below Warminster, on the James. The area is about 40 to 45 square miles.

The Danville deposits extend from Falling River, in Campbell county, across the Staunton River, through Pittsylvania county, to the north side of the Dan River, just above Danville, having an area of 260 to 272 square miles.

The Dan River deposits have an area of about 14 miles.

The principal rocks in the Virginia Mesozoic formation are sandstones and shales of various grades and colors; occasionally conglomerates and limestones, fireclays and igneous rocks, are met with. In some places the igneous rocks have penetrated the series of sedimentary rocks, which display a great variety of color, texture, and solidity in rapidly-changing strata. The coal of the beds is mostly bituminous in character, caking readily, and is excellent for gas-making. It consists of thick laminæ of bright jet, highly resinous, often alternating with thinner dull-black laminæ. Its specific gravity, according to Profs. O. P. Hubbard and B. Silliman, is 1292, according to Prof. Johnson, 1246; and it weighs 2075 pounds to the cubic yard. It contains from 30 to 38 5 per cent. of volatile matter, 59 to 66 per cent. of fixed carbon, an average of 5'58 per cent. of ash, and 0'6 to 17 per cent. of sulphur.

The Mesozoic anthracite is hard, of iron-black color, sub-metallic lustre, conchoidal fracture, and closely resembles the true anthracite, especially in the Dan River deposits.

WEST VIRGINIA. In proportion to its size, no State surpasses this in the variety of coals and area of coalmeasures. Out of fifty-four counties, but six are destitute of coal. In many, however, the coal is deeply buried. The First coal-field is the Potomac basin, a continuation of the Cumberland coal-field of Maryland. At Piedmont, Mineral co., the Pittsburg seam is worked 14 feet thick, having a 14-inch slate parting 4 feet from the floor. The entire thickness of coal is mined, but as it is here semi-bituminous, having lost a portion of its volatile matter, it is unfit for gas-making. It is, however, a good steam coal. The next is the Preston county basin. The Upper Freeport bed is worked here. At the Austin mine the coal-seam is 8 to 9 feet thick, but only the lower 4 feet is first-quality coal. The coal is coked. The Kingwood coal is worked 4 feet thick. The Monongahela basin has five beds of coal-the Lower Freeport, 4 feet; Pittsburg, 10 feet (9 feet clear coal); Redstone, 5 feet; Sewickley, 6 feet; Waynesburg, 5 to 6 feet. The Pittsburg bed is the only one worked to any extent. In this basin it makes valuable gas coal, but is high in sulphur. The coke is hard and tough. Near Clarksburg, Harrison CO., the Pittsburg bed is found 9 feet thick. Near Wheeling, Ohio co., the same bed is from 5 to 7 feet thick (5 feet worked).

Gas coals are mined in Marion, Taylor, Ritchie, and
Preston counties, on the line of the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad. The beds are from 6 to 11 feet thick.
The Clarksburg region contains very rich beds, from 10
to 12 feet thick. They analyze as follows:
Clarksburg bed.

Volatile matter...................... 56.74

Fixed carbon........
Ash.........

41.66

1.60

100'00

Cannel. 49.21 45:43 5:36 100'00

ore.....

14. Coal C........

15. Shale....

16. Coal D, friable........

17. Shale....

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19. Shale................

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20. Mahoning sandstone.................. 60 "70

Total..........

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The New River and Kanawha coal-fields, the most important fields in the State, contain a better quality of coal of several kinds, and a large quantity. They are well developed naturally by the deep cañon-like channel of the New or Kanawha River, exposing the beds at different elevations in the sides of its rocky boundaries.

The Kanawha coal-region proper lies on the Kanawha River, below the junction of the New and Gauley rivers, and along its branches, Coal River, Pocotalico, Elk, and Greenbrier creeks, where the beds are exposed. The strata rise gently from the mouth of the Elk to the falls of the Kanawha. Above this point the strata dip to the south-east, and then gradually rise to Gauley Mountain. A band of black or bluish-black siliceous rock is seen several hundred feet above the river, and marks the boundary between the Lower and Upper coalmeasures. Its thickness is in some places 6 feet. Farther up the Gauley River it is found forming the tops of the hills. Thirty miles north from Charleston the coal-seams below the black rock are exposed. Two broad undulations return the strata above the river. Four beds of coal are above water-level. At a dis tance of 60 feet above the river is a 6-foot bed, affording the best coal; 45 feet higher is a 1-foot 6-inch bed; 200 feet higher, a 4-foot bed; and 150 feet higher, a 4-foot bed; 266 feet above this occurs the black flinty shale. Some of these coals are good gas coals, others hard splint and cannel.

The New River coal-field lies in Fayette and Raleigh counties, bordering for forty miles the New River from Quinnimont to Kanawha Falls. This region contains the bituminous and semi-bituminous steam and coking coal. The mountains rise abruptly to a height of 800 to 1200 feet. The coal outcrops on the river, showing two workable beds with over 3 feet of coal. Farther back from the river, in the high hills, are seen three more beds. The measures have a dip of 75 to 100 feet to the mile. The coal is soft and easily mined, ventilation and drainage being readily ob

Gas made per gross ton, 12,839 cubic feet, 16 candle- tained. This coal makes an excellent coke, showing a power; coke, 37 bushels, of 45 pounds.

better analysis than the famed Connellsville coke of

VOL. II.

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tom of these "swamps," and decreases gradually as it rises, until it runs out at or near the original rim of the basin, unless it is suddenly cut off by a wash-fault,' or seam of foreign matter deposited in the bed of some ancient water-course, which washed away the peat before it had time to harden into coal. Sometimes two or more of these "swamps" are found side by side, the coal-bed being continuous from one to the other, but always very thin on the ridges between them. These ridges are never marked by "wash-faults."

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FIG. 16.-Map of Ohio Coal-field.

dimensions over great areas. Bed No. 1, however, is considered the most valuable wherever found in workable condition. It is the block coal of the Mahoning Valley, called elsewhere "Massillon" and "Jackson' coal, and is a bed of great excellence, its coal, in most places, being especially adapted for smelting iron in a raw state. In the Mahoning Valley it ranges from a mere trace to a thickness of 7 feet, its general workable thickness being from 24 to 5 feet. It is thinly laminated, and is broken by transverse cleavage into cubical blocks, whence its distinctive name. The faces of the laminæ are often covered with mineral charcoal, and the whole bed is made up of alternate layers of coal and "mother of coal." It is highly prized for furnace use, as it can be dumped into the hopper just as it comes from the mine, without coking or other preparation. The blocks are sufficiently firm to support the weight of the materials with which they are intermingled, and retain their shape, without swelling or softening, until they are consumed. This bed, however, is very uncertain in its localities, and no rule save actual search can be made for assuming where it may be found.

TABLE XVII.-Analyses of Ohio Coals from Different Beds

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(Newberry).

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No. 4 (C, Kittanning),

2 to 6 ft.

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2:44

VIII. Harrison co.......

The State Inspector of Mines' report for 1880 shows 246 collieries in twenty-seven counties.

This coal-region is an excellent illustration of the "peat-bog" theory of the formation of coal. The beds rest on the Waverley sandstone, the upper surface of which was worn into a series of hollows by some erosive action previous to the formation of the coal, and in these hollows the present coal-deposits are found, the original shape being so clearly apparent that the basins are commonly called by the miners swamps." The coal is always thickest at the bot

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The report of the census of 1880 gives the coal-statistics of Ohio for the year ending May 31, 1880, as follows: Tons of coal produced, 6,437,725; value, $8,281,979; number of large mines, 216; number of employés, 15,622; number of small mines, 383; number of employés, 1350. The number of men employed was 16,331, of whom 13,626 were miners; they received wages aggregating $5,100,547. There were employed 131 steam-engines, of 3835 horse-power and valued at $386,904. The amount employed as working capital is returned as $1,177,328, the value of the plant at $3,258,581, and the value of the real estate at $8,529,931, making a total capital invested and employed in the industry of $12,965,840. On 2,630,108 tons $458,468 were paid as royalty. In the list of counties Perry stands first, with 913,974 short tons, followed by Trumbull with 722,265, Columbiana with 515,602, Belmont with 399,747, Meigs with 359,678, Stark with 347,820, Hocking with 331,170, Jefferson with 324,070, Athens with 310,750, and Tuscarawas with 255,495

tons.

TABLE XVIII.-Census Statistics of the Coal-mines of Ohio for the Year ending May 31, 1880.

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series, the upper one corresponding to the Lower coalmeasures of Pennsylvania and Ohio. These upper measures contain the best coal. The general dip of the measures is to the south-east. A great dislocation divides the coal-field into two zones-one north-west of Pine Mountain, and the other south-east. The entire thickness of the measures is between 2500 and 3000 feet. Twelve coal-beds are known to exist above the great conglomerate, and two or three are below it. The latter occur all along the western margin of the field, being from 4 to 5 feet thick. Greenup county, on the Ohio, has a good cannel coal. The sub-conglomerate coals are similar to the same class of coals in West Virginia on the Kanawha.

The first bed above the conglomerate is equivalent to the Ohio Briar Hill coal. It varies in thickness from 15 inches to 5 feet. The coal is generally splint, or free-burning. Near the Ohio the coal is not as good as it is a few miles back from the river. The second bed covers a wider extent of territory, but is not very good. It is from 2 to 24 feet thick. The third bed (the Kittanning coal of Pennsylvania) varies from 23 to 6 feet in thickness on the Big Sandy River. The coal is usually bituminous, though with a streak of cannel. The fourth No. of No. of bed is less persistent than No. 3. The coal is cannel, Mines. ployés. With sections of bituminous. It is from 2 to 5 feet thick, but in some places is wanting. It is sold as the Hunnewell cannel. The fifth bed is from 38 to 40 inches thick. It is mined at the Buena Vista furnaces, and is of good quality. The sixth bed, Keys Creek or River Hill coal, is over 2 feet thick. The seventh bed is the Coalton coal, which is extensively worked. The coal is a splint and good for furnace use. It is from 3 to 6 feet in thickness. Coal No. 8 is mined at Coalton, where it is 4 feet thick, but is inferior in quality to No. 7. Nos. 9, 10, and 11 are found in Lawrence county. They are of little value.

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349

21 10

587 21

768

300 1,095

312 1,106

138

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TABLE XIX.-Analyses of Kentucky Coals [from Owen's
Geological Survey of the State].

Athens..

14

Belmont..

452,754 456,890

716 35

Carroll..

20,692

27,227

43

18

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Holmes...

17,460

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26,190 249,385

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8

34

182

31

No. of

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4

21

143

63

11

105

12

30

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9

19

42

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FIG. 19.-Map of Kentucky Coal-fields. EASTERN KENTUCKY.-Kentucky contains portions of two great coal-basins, the eastern part of the State being covered by the Appalachian basin, the western by the Illinois basin. The coal-field of the eastern portion extends westward from the State boundary on the east, and is limited on the west by an irregular line running north-east and south-west through the counties of Greenup, Carter, Morgan, Powell, Owsley, Jackson, Laurel, Pulaski, and Wayne. It includes fifteen counties and parts of five others, covering altogether 8983 square miles. The coal-measures are divided into two

3-27 33.77 54.51 8.91 1-56 5.19 Coalton (av. 12 anal.) 32:04 | 55-59 6.71 1.68

WESTERN KENTUCKY.-The extension of the Illinois coal-field into Kentucky covers the extreme northwestern portion of the State, and includes ten counties, with parts of five others, having an area of 3888 square miles of coal-measures. The number of coal-beds in this region has been differently stated, an extensive fault and upheaval making it difficult to identify them. There are, in places, twelve beds, but the number varies with the locality. In the analyses below, the beds are lettered, starting from the top and going to the base of the measures. There are but four principal seams.

Coal "A," commonly known as No. 12," extends over a large area, but is not mined extensively, being near the surface and not in good working condition. Its thickness varies from 3 to 6 feet, and the characcoal ter changes from a "firm, glossy, black, dense to a "soft and rather fragile" coal. It cannot be used for furnaces in the raw state, but makes an excellent coke.

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Coal "B" is untrustworthy and full of slips It is more persistent than "A," but has a clay parting. A layer on the top of the bed is a rich gas coal.

Coal "D""No. 9" of the geological survey-varies in general quality. It is usually hard and compact, with layers of fibrous coal. It has a uniformly large percentage of sulphur, occurring in the coal in bands. The thickness of the bed is 4 to 6 feet. It has a good roof and is worked extensively.

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