COAL MEA8UBES. 17 



Ft. In. 



Hard rock (limestone?) 8 1 



Black shale 2 :< 



Clay shale 8 4 



Limestone 4 



Sandstone 1 5 



Shale and slate 36 



Hard sandstone 3 8 



Fire-clay : : 2 10 



Shale 45 10 



S of t sandstone 2 i; 



Clay shale 03 



Coal 1 5 



Fire-clay 3 



Total depth 475 10 



I am of the opinion that the coal seam at the bottom of this 

 boring is number six or seven of the general section, and if so, 

 number five would be found from fifty to seventy-five feet below, 

 and would probably be from four to six feet in thickness. 



A coal shaft has been sunk at Decatur to the depth of about 600 

 feet, but I have not been able to obtain any reliable information in 

 regard to it, further than a copy of the published record of the 

 boring made previous to sinking the shaft. I visited the locality 

 shortly after the shaft was completed, and found, by an examina- 

 tion of the roof shales, that it was probably coal No. 5, and was 

 told that it was about four and a half feet in thickness, although 

 the published record of the boring gives but three feet six inches 

 as the thickness of the coal. For the privilege of copying this 

 record from a Decatur paper I am indebted to Mr. Stoddard, of 

 Mattoon. That this boring is not quite reliable, is shown by the 

 fact that it records a six foot one inch seam of coal at the depth 

 of 413 feet, while the shaft was sunk to the depth of about 600 

 feet to a seam but little more than two-thirds the thickness of the 

 one reported above. The coal passed through at the depth of 413 

 feet was probably coal No. 8 of the general section, which seldom 

 exceeds two feet in thickness, and is often replaced entirely by bitu- 

 minous shale. The following is a copy of the published record of 

 this boring: 



Ft. In. 

 No. 1. Superficial deposits, consisting of clay, sand, hard-pan, and two distinct 



forest beds 110 6 



No. 2. Argillaceous shale 52 6 



No. 3. Bituminous shale 3 



No. 4. Calcareous shale 14 



No. 5. Marly sandstone 1 



No. 6. Calcareous shale 32 



2 



