48 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
reached, without having penetrated the Coal Measures, the city council voted 
enough money to go toa depth of 1100 feet. When a depth of 1100 feet was 
reached some of the directors thought best to discontinue the work, as nothing 
of value had been found in the last 300 feet, and the foreman in charge of the 
drill had said it was ‘‘burning the peo- 
ii ple’s money’’ to go further. But, as 
O aA there was hope of finding coal until the 
Coal Measures had been entirely pene- 
trated, others of the directors thought 
best to continue, and money for the next 
100 feet was raised. 
The Sullivan company, however, at 
first declined to proceed, as the letter of 
the contract had not been kept by hav- 
ing the contract price of the next 100 feet 
of drilling in the bank when the 1100 feet 
were finished, although this money was 
put in the bank later on during the same 
day. This matter was finally adjusted, 
and it was shown that it was due toa 
misunderstanding that the Sullivan com- 
pany thus took advantage of a techni- 
cality. In order to prove their good faith, 
the Sullivan company agreed to drill the 
balance of the distance through the Coal 
Measures for three dollars per foot. 
—— ——=— ——_ >= Under this agreement the drilling pro- 
aa ie ¥ L ceeded, and a 36-inch seam of coal was 
JS LTS ay r found at a depth of 1123 feet; a 28-inch 
seam at 1187 feet 9 inches; and a 15- 
inch seam at 1197 feet 6 inches; besides many other small seams, as shown by 
the appended record. By this record it will be seen that the drill penetrated in 
all eighteen seams of coal, making a total of fourteen feet five inches, of which at 
least eight feet is probably workable coal. The core of the coal] occurring at 879 
feet 5 inches is quite remarkable, in that the bottom of it forms an angle of 
about forty-five degrees. This shows that the drill penetrated this seam, either 
where a fault occurs or else where there is a horseback; most likely the latter. 
The above sketch illustrates the appearance of the core. 
From the accompanying table, prepared from an analysis of the Atchison coal, 
made by Mr. E. B. Hayes, of the university, it appears that it is second only to 
the Cherokee county coal, and as a gas coal is superior to that. 
When the Subcarboniferous, or Mississippian limestone, was reached, at 1315 
feet, it was thought best by some of the directors to continue to such a depth 
that there could be no doubt of having entirely penetrated the Coal Measures. 
The drill, therefore, penetrated the Mississippian limestone for a distance of 
thirty-eight feet, the core brought up showing it to have the same marked fea- 
tures which characterize it in the extreme southern part of the state, 200 miles 
away. This correspondence is further shown by an analysis made by Mr. F. B. 
Porter, a report of which accompanies this paper. 
The drilling was completed October 18, 1900, taking nearly three months, an 
average of one day for each fifteen and one-half feet. The total expenditure by 
the Atchison company, for all purposes, was about $4700, or, roughly, $3.50 per 
foot. 
