1875.] o77 [Stevenson. 



ping in tlie run, tlie superiority maybe owing entirely to removal of tlie 

 pyrites by the water. The same bed is mined somewhat extensively at 

 West Union, where one finds 



Shale, 2 to 8 ft.; Coal, Cannel, 3 in.; Clay, 2 in.; Coal, 31 in.; Clay, 4-11 

 in.; Coal, 6 in.; Fire-clay, 3 ft.; Shale, to road, 7 ft. 



The overlying shale is drab or slate-colored, quite fissile, and cDntains 

 much nodular iron ore. It exhibits vast numbei-s of vegetable impres- 

 sions, chiefly Neuropteris, Cyclopteris, Pecopteris and SpJienophyllum. 

 Many of these are beautifully defined and equal those from the same 

 horizon in Monongalia county. This shale varies in thickness at the ex- 

 pense of the sandstone above it. The fire-clay underlying the coal passes 

 gradually into ferruginous, slightly arenaceous shales, below which, some 

 limestone is seen farther up the stream. The upper parting in the bed 

 occasionally shows leaf-prints. The lower parting is variable in thickness, 

 and sometimes holds two sheets of coal, each one inch thick. The main 

 coal is very hard, evidently open-burning and bears much resemblance 

 to semi-cannel. It is said to be an excellent fuel. Though showing but 

 little pyrites, when freshly mined, it becomes streaked with copperas 

 when exposed to the weather. In this vicinity the bed is cut by numer- 

 ous vertical seams of drab clay, which are quite distinct in the solid 

 coal. 



Along the Staunton pike this bed is much degraded. Several openings 

 have been made upon it between Smithville and Troy, but it nowhere 

 exceeds two feet. At a short distance east from Harrisville, in Ritchie 

 county, it is found varying from six to eighteen inches in thickness. 



Northward from the railroad this coal steadily increases in thickness 

 until near the State line it averages more than eight feet, varying from 

 eight to eleren. It is rarely single, usually double, and frequently 

 triple. 



The rocks occupying the interval between the Wayneshurg and the 

 Sewickly, show variations which deserve some consideration. Near the 

 State line on the Monongahela River we find here, fifty-six feet of lime- 

 stone, and at Wheeling there is one mass of limestone and calcareous 

 shale, fully one hundred feet thick. At both localities much of the 

 limestone is compact and quite pure. Along the Northwestern pike and 

 the railroad, not more than sixteen or twenty feet of limestone can be 

 found, and most of this is so poor that it ought rather to be called a 

 compact calcareous shale. Still farther south, along the Staunton and 

 Parksburg pike, not one foot of limestone was observed in this interval. 

 From the northern portion of the State to the railroad, the limestone 

 diminishes and gives place to shale, but from that line southward the 

 shale apparently disappears, and sandstones appear instead. Along the 

 railroad the limestones were seen near Wolfe's Summit, near Smithton 

 and West Union. Traces of them occur east from Harrisville. 



The SewicMy coal was identified at only two localities. At Clarksbux'g, 



A. p. S. — VOL. XIV. 2w 



