Stevenson.] d7o [Feb. 5, 



it occurs two feet six inches thick, and seventy feet above the Pittsburg. 

 No attempt has been made to ascertain its value. On Wolfe's Summit, 

 eight miles west from Clarksburg, the coal is only two inches thick. This 

 bed seems to have as little persistence as the coals of the Barren Group, 

 when traced southwardly. It has not been found at Fairmont, in Marion 

 county.* No traces of it occur along the Staunton pike, in Gilmer 

 county, and I cannot speak with certainty respecting its presence in 

 either Lewis or Upshur county. It is, however, by no means improbable 

 that the small coal above the Pittsburg in the latter county, is the 

 Sewickly, and not the Redstone. 



The interval between the Sewickly and the Bedstone is entirely free 

 from limestone. It is occupied by shale, none of which is calcareous. 

 At Wheeling this space is tilled with limestone, and on the Monongahela 

 River near the State line, it contains thirty-one feet of limestone. On 

 the Staunton pike the shales are replaced by flaggy sandstones. 



The Redstone is a wide-spread and persistent coal, though rarely of 

 economical value in West Virginia. At Fairmont, in Marion county, it 

 is three feet thick and of good quality, but is not mined. Between that 

 town and Clarksburg, its blossom is frequently seen in the roadside, and 

 at the latter place it is six inches thick at the outcrop. At Wilsonburg, 

 four miles west from Clarksburg, it is barely one foot thick, while at 

 Coketon, two miles beyond, it is four feet, and of excellent quality. 

 Where last seen toward the west, at Wolfe's Summit, it is only three 

 inches thick. A thin coal, varying from one to two feet, is found above 

 the Pittsburg in Upshur county. Whether or not this is the Redstone, the 

 material in my possession is not sufficient to decide. 



The rocks occupying the interval between the Redstone and the Pitts- 

 burg are subject to great variations in character and thickness. At Fair- 

 mont the interval is eighty feet, at Pruntytown, seventy-five, at 

 Bridgeport, sixty-five, and at Weston, somewhat less. At all of these 

 localities which lie along a nearly northeast and southwest line, the in- 

 terval is occupied by sandstone and shale at the base, and limestone on 

 top. Westward from such a line passing through Morgantown, Fair- 

 mont, Bridgeport and Weston, the distance between the coals rapidly 

 diminishes. At Clarksburg, it is twenty-five feet, occupied by shale or 

 sandstone ; at Wilsonburg, it is the same, filled with argillaceous shale ; 

 at Coketon, it is twenty- eight feet; while at Wolfe's Summit, it is 

 twenty feet, the rocks being shale and limestone. A similar condition 

 exists in the vicinity of Morgantown, as stated in my previous paper. 



The limestone disappears altogether before reaching the Staunton pike, 

 so that with the exception of a few scattered nodules no limestone occurs 

 among the strata of this group along that lite. 



* In my previous paper, I stated that it occurred at Fairmont. I had misunderstood 

 the statement made to me by Ex-Governor Pierpoint, respecting the coals of that 

 vicinity. 



