MERCER COUNTY. 309 



time I was there, there were two shafts and a drift bank in operation. These 

 mines furnish a large amount of good coal. To the east, this seam was reported 

 to thin out within a short distance. On going still farther east, it may become 

 thicker, and should this be the case, the seam may be found and worked in the 

 eastern part of the county. No coal has been discovered from this point for 

 about twelve or fourteen miles up the creek, where a seam, probably coal No. 

 4, is worked in section 3 of the northwestern township of Knox county. It is 

 thought that there is a coal seam in section 5 of this township, lying below 

 the bed of Pope creek, which may be No. 3 (?), and in that case it could, pro- 

 bably, be found between this point and the mines in township 14, range 2, in 

 Mercer county. 



The next coal seam, No. 2, has been found over a much larger area. This 

 seam, however, is only from one and a-half to two and a-half feet thick. At 

 present, the only mines in operation are in section 20, township 13, range 2, 

 section 20, township 14, range 3, and section 1, township 14, range 4. This 

 seam has been opened in a numbar of other places, but from one cause or ano- 

 ther, the mines have been abandoned for the present. The amount of coal 

 now obtained from this seam is comparatively small, but in most places the 

 quality is good. It probably underlies a portion of townships 13 and 14, range 

 1, the larger part of township 13, range 2, and the northern part of township 

 14, range 2, a little of the northern part of township 13, range 3, nearly all 

 of township 14, range 3, the northeastern part of township 14, range 4, a part 

 of township 15, ranges 2 and 3, the northwest part of township 15, range 4, 

 and the uplands of township 15, range 5. Although it has not been found in 

 township 15, ranges 4 or 5, I think that it may be, from the fact, that in or 

 near section 21, township 16, range 5, Rock Island county, a two-foot seam of 

 coal, resembling No. 2, is worked. This coal is found but little above the bed 

 of Copperas creek, and the mines are only about three miles from the north 

 line of township 15, range 5. The coal is worked both by drifts and a shaft, 

 and is said to be of excellent quality. Traces of coal were reported to have 

 been discovered in or near section 8, township 15, range 5, and if so, it may 

 belong to this seam. 



The lower seam, No. 1, affords the larger part of the coal now used in this 

 county. It is from three to four feet thick and underlies a large area, but is 

 most extensively worked in township 14, ranges 2 and 3, and township 15, 

 ranges 1, 2 and 4. It probably underlies township 13, ranges 1 and 2, town- 

 ships 14 and 15, ranges 1, 2, 3 and 4, and perhaps a portion of township 13, 

 ranges 3 and 4, and township 15, range 5. Coal No. 1 is not always found 

 where No. 2 is developed and its proper horizon is exposed, as in some places, 

 particularly along the outer edges of the coal field, the lower part of the meas- 

 ures were not deposited very regularly, and hence, in some of the above-named 



