FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 31 



but the thickest and best beds yet discovered outcrop in the lower 

 coal measures of the extreme southern part and below. 



As the dip of the strata is so uniform, and thick beds are gener- 

 ally continuous over a large area, an estimate can readily be made 

 of the approximate depth it will be necessary to go at any point to 

 reach them. Upon such a basis work was commenced in the shaft 

 at Leavenworth, and coal reached at about the depth anticipated, 

 although not of as great thickness as was expected. 



In th-^ northern part of Bourbon county, and from thence in a 

 line northeast and southwest, outcrops a fine stratum of coal about 

 thirty inches thick, called the "Osage vein," but generally known 

 throughout the State as Fort Scott coal. This appears in commerce 

 under two names, black and red ; names derived from the external 

 appearance of the lumps, the real difference in quality, if any, being 

 in favor of the black. It contains a large amount of bituminous 

 matter that furnishes abundantly a gas of high illuminating power. 

 The amount of ash and sulphur it yields is a little larger than some 

 other coals yield, but this does not detract materially from its super- 

 iority over most of them for general use. The coke from it is firm 

 but does not possess the body of coke from the best eastern coals 



Farther south, in the center of Cherokee county, outcrops another 

 stratum of coal six feet thick, that also stretches northeast and 

 southwest, and is of finer quality than the preceding. For the pro- 

 duction of gas and heating purposes it is the best coal in the State, 

 the only drawback being a tendency to run together into a solid 

 coke in the furnace, which, however, by a little attention, can be 

 readily prevented. It yields a much larger quantity of illuminating 

 gas than the Fort Scott coal, of equal quality, gives a coke of more 

 body and heating capacity, less ash, and but little more sulphur. 

 The Lawrence and Kansas City gas companies, after a thorough trial, 

 pronounce this the best coal for the manufacture of gas that they 

 can obtain from Kansas or Missouri. 



The Leavenworth mine furnishes a fine, compact coal of greater 

 heating capacity than the Fort Scott, but not equal to the Cherokee. 

 It is not as rich in bituminous matter as the Fort Scott, and contains 

 a decidedly larger perceatage of sulphur that causes it to "clinker" 

 badly. 



These three are the best and leading coals of the State. Besides 

 these, only two other fields are worked to any extent ; one, the 

 Osage county field, stretching from Carbondale to Osage City; the 

 other at Grayville, Franklin county. These are of about the same 

 quality, from twenty-four to thirty inches in thickness, yield a small 



