80 



Coal deposit at Wheeling. 



Coal deposit at Wheeling, Virginia. 



The hills in this vicinity are about two hundred and fifty feet in 

 height, varying from that, down to one hundred and fifty. The to- 

 pography of this contiguous portion of Virginia, is much like that 

 of the Monongahela valley. The hills abound in coal, very similar 

 in its character to that of Pittsburgh. In some of the beds it is 

 beautifully iridescent, vying in splendor with some of the richest an- 

 thracites. Vast quantities are annually sent from this neighborhood 

 to the towns below the coal deposits on the Ohio river. 



Section of the Wheeling Coal Strata. 

 Order, descending. — Dip 1° S. W. 



Fiff. 13 



Bed of the Ohio river. 



1. Yellowish clay loam on the top of the hill; growth of oak, 

 beech and hickory ; soil rather poor and thin, formed chiefly of the 

 decomposed argillaceous sandstone rock beneath. — 10 feet. 



2. Argillaceous, slaty, sandstone rock ; easily decomposing. — 12 

 feet. 



