BUREAU COUXTY. 183 



fully traced to their sources, outcrops ami exposures of the upper seam 

 would doubtless be detected under the talus and along the little 



streams. 



Bureau county already produces coal enough to supply in great part 

 the home demand, except a considerable amount of transported coal 

 used in the larger railroad towns. 



As fuel becomes scarce, and the demand therefor greater, the coal in- 

 terests of the county will be more fully developed. The hungry maw 

 of the iron horse ; the iron stomachs of many steam boilers ; a great 

 increase among the people of coal stoves and coal-burning appliances, 

 will constantly increase the demand for coal. These hidden sources of 

 wealth and prosperity will then be looked up more carefully, and the 

 supply will be found adequate to the increased demand for many years 

 to come. 



Building Stone. So far as at present known stone quarries are few, 

 and the home supply of stone for building and other economic purposes 

 is quite limited. I have already named the localities where stone is quar- 

 ried, but even at these localities the supply and quality are both of such 

 a nature as to make the quarrying of rock an item of small economic 

 value. Heavy quarries could be opened below Peru, but access to them 

 would not be easy. The difficulty is largely remedied, however, by the 

 ease with which stone from Peru and La Salle, and from the marble 

 quarries of Athens and Joliet, can be shipped on the intersecting rail- 

 roads to convenient and accessible points all over the county. Lime 

 from the banks of the Mississippi, about Rock Island and Port Byron, 

 and from the stone ledges towards Chicago, is also readily obtained. 



Clays and Sand. The heavy drift deposits over the county contain 

 abundant supplies of sand and the common kinds of clays. Common 

 red brick of good quality can be made at reasonable expense, and sands 

 for mortar dug from almost every township. The facilities for building 

 are thus within the reach of all. No minerals of economical value 

 exist. 



Peat. Several peat beds exist in the Green river swamps in the town- 

 ship of Gold, and in one or two adjoining: townships. Some of this peat 

 is of fair quality and of considerable depth. But in the present state 

 of our knowledge as to the manufacture of peat fuel, none of these beds 

 possess very great value for burning and heating purposes. They, to- 

 gether with their associate muck beds, will some day possess a value as 

 a fertilizer of the surrounding prairie soil. 



