THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 189 
About a mile cast of Palmer Junction the railway enters one of 
the productive coal fields of the State, though little coal or evidence 
of coal mining can be seen from the train. Several 
mines have been developed, however, south of the 
river, within a distance of 3 or 4 miles, and one or 
two mines to the north. 
Between Palmer Junction and Kanaskat the Northern Pacific 
is crossed by a branch of the St. Paul road which leads to several 
mining towns along the mountain front and _ter- 
minates at Enumclaw, on the Tacoma line of the 
northern Pacific, 10 miles to the south. The moun- 
; tains end abruptly at Kanaskat and give place to a 
glacial plain. The glacial drift on this plain is underlain by shale, 
sandstone, and coal beds, which belong to the Puget group and 
which are of about the same age as the Roslyn 
Palmer Junction. 
Elevation 869 feet. 
St. Paul 1,862 miles. 
Kanaskat. 
Elevation 859 feet. 
St. Paul 1,862 miles. 
Ravensdale. (Eocene) formation on the other side of the Cascade 
Elevation 628feet. Range, but fewof the rocks are exposed at the surface. 
Population 726.* 
There are two large coal mines at Ravensdale, one of 
which can be seen on the left (south) as the train 
passes through the village.’ 
- As the presence of coal beds means that swamps prevailed at one 
time in this region, it is reasonable to suppose that vegetation flour- 
ished in that far-off time much as it does to-day. Careful search has 
shown that plants did grow luxuriantly then, and their fossil forms 
are so well preserved that the botanist has been able not only to dis- 
tinguish the species that grew here, but to determine from the kind of 
plants the climate that must have prevailed. In the note below F. H. 
Knowlton compares the fossil flora with that living in Washington at 
the present time.’ 
St. Paul 1,867 miles. 
of the coal ranges 
British thermal uni 
1 The large coal tipple which the trav- 
eler can see on the left is used for hoist- 
ing coal up a slope about 1,500 feet long | |The McKay coal bed, which is worked 
m the workings below. Three coal | in a mine some distance away from the 
beds are being worked in this mine. | main line of the road, is about 5 feet 
The main slope leads down one bed and | thick and is all clear coal without part- 
a rock tunnel has been driven from it to | i i 
the other two. 
e main bed ranges in thickness in | this 
the mine from 4 feet 4 inches to 10 feet 
rom 11,290 to 11,850 
ts. 
tions of the coal beds, for the rocks are 
thrown into numerous folds and broken 
feet 10 inches thick, but contain much 
impure or dirty coal. The heating value 
in many places. 
2 The State of Washington now exhibits 
great diversity in soil and climatic condi- 
tions, with the result that it supports a 
