302 KANSAS UNIVERSITY QUARTERLY. 



shales period the conditions in general were favorable for the growth 

 and accumulation of coal forming materials, so that in the aggregate 

 vastquantities of the material were formed. According to the esti- 

 mates given in the Report of our State Mine Inspector for 1893, the 

 total output of coal from the Cherokee shales aggregated 85. 79 per 

 cent, of the total output for the state. It may be stated that 

 this not only shows how the coal-mining operations are conducted 

 at present, but also gives a fair indication of the way we may reason- 

 ably expect them to be developed in the future. The Cherokee shale 

 beds are par e.xcelloice the great coal-producing formations of the 

 state. 



THE PLEASANTON SHALES. 



Above the Cherokee shales little coal exists anywhere in the state 

 below the Pleasanton shales. In a few places small amounts have 

 been seen in the shales between the Oswego and Pawnee limestones, 

 but it has not been mined at any place so far as known to the Survey 

 except in one point to the southwest of Fort Scott. But when the 

 Pleasanton shales are reached large quantities of coal of an excellent 

 (juality are found at their very base, or within less than 20 feet of the 

 Pawnee limestone, which places it only about 100 feet above the top 

 of the Cherokee shales. The principal mines are located at Pleasan- 

 ton, Boicourt, and La Cygne, at which places the coal is reached by 

 shafting to a depth of from 50 to 90 feet, the exact distance varying 

 considerably with the surface contour. The vein is from 30 to 34 

 inches in thickness, so that it can be extensively mined with profit. 



In other places, particularly around Mound City, still within the 

 Pleasanton shales, other seams of coal are found which are worked 

 either by the stripping process or by drifting. To the south of Pleas- 

 anton all the way to Fort Scott coal is frequently mined locally. At 

 some of the mines the coal seam is from 20 to 30 inches thick, but 

 usually from 15 to 25 inches. The exact geologic horizon of many 

 of these places has not been determined. Some of them should 

 undoubtedly be corellated with the Fort Scott "red" coal, and 

 others probably with the Plasanton coal, while Mr. Bennett is inclined 

 to believe that at some of the mines the coal is in the shales between 

 the Oswego and Pawnee limestones. 



THE THAYER SHALES. 



Above the Pleasanton shales the next coal of any note lies within 

 the Thayer shale beds, the base of which will average about 500 feet 

 above the summit of the Cherokee shales, or 950 feet above the base 

 of the Coal Measures. This coal is particularly noteworthy on ac- 



