MOXROE COUNTY. 



Coal. The only coal in this county is that occurring in the small 

 synclinal basin already mentioned, and the area of workable coal is 

 consequently quite limited. At Gall's place, the coal, is about four feet 

 thick, but it is not very persistent, frequently running down to two feet 

 or less in thickness. The quality of the coal obtained is also inferior to - 

 that from the equivalent seam near Centerville, in St. Clair county, and 

 hence the mines here can not be successfully worked in competition 

 with the thicker beds of the main coal field. We are also inclined to 

 believe, from the examinations made, that over a considerable portion 

 of the northern half of this isolated basin the Coal Measure strata have 

 been partially removed by denudation, and are now replaced by drift 

 clays. This is indicated by the frequent occurrence of tumbling uia- 

 of the compact gray limestone, which overlies the coal, in the drift clays 

 011 the small stream south and south-west of Columbia. The block coal 

 a mile and a half east of Columbia, already described, and which is owned 

 and worked by a citizen of Columbia, Mr. H. F. Henckler, lies mainly 

 beyond the St. Clair county line. 



Iron Ore. A band of iron ore, apparently of good quality, occurs in 

 the vicinity of Henekler's coal mines, at the junction of the Chester and 

 St. Louis groups. At the only point we saw it exposed, it was not 

 above three or four inches thick, but it is quite probable it may be 

 developed somewhere in this county, or in the southern portion of St. 

 Clair, thick enough to become of some economical importance. 



Hydraulic Limestone. The Limestone at the Portland quarries, four 

 miles south-east of Waterloo, closely resembles the hydraulic rock oft n 

 found at the top of the Keokuk group. The bed has been exposed in 

 the quarry to the depth of six feet, and the rock is an earthy, buff col- 

 ored dolomite, very similar in appearance to that used at the cement 

 mills in St. Clair county, and also on the Piasa, in Jersey county. If, 

 on experiment, it should be proved to possess hydraulic properties, the 

 manufacture of cement might be successfully carried on here, as the 

 railroad now building through this county would open a good market 

 for all the cement that could be made. 



Limestone for Lime. First in value and importance for the manufac- 

 ture of quicklime, is the light bluish-gray compact limestones of the 

 upper division of the St. Louis group, which could be readily worked 

 at more than a hundred points in the county. It is one of the purest 

 limestones in the West, and is more extensively used for the lime kiln 

 than any other. The completion of the railroad through this county 

 will open new markets and facilitate the production of this article. The 

 Trenton limestone at Salt Lick Point, as well as the lower beds of the 

 Keokuk group in the same region, will afford an abundant supply of 

 excellent Limestone for this purpose, whenever any demand shall arise 



