46 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA. 



SECTION : 



Roof, clay slate. 



COAL, good ' 9^ inches 



Clay parting 1 foot 6 inches 



COAL 2 feet 2 inches 



Under day 2 feet 



Whole thickness of coal nearly 3 feet. 

 Thickness of seam, 4 feet 5J inches. 

 Dip of strata, 4 N. W. 



It was readily seen that a short distance below, or south 

 of this bed, this seam could be opened above water level, 

 and at a right angle with the strike, so as to secure natural 

 drainage. A most eligible and desirable position for min- 

 ing. This coal is known to be an excellent shop coal that 

 determines its merits, because a good shop coal must neces- 

 sarily be a good coking and furnace coal. It must be low 

 in sulphur, high in fixed carbon, coking well and easily, and 

 producing but little clinker ; hence a good shop coal must 

 necessarily be a good all-round heating, steam and furnace 

 coal. 



It is a very peculiar fact that the Murray Seam No. 9 and 

 the Adkins Seam No. 13, lying within less than 300 feet of 

 each other, and carrying the best coal as yet passed over in 

 this description, have both very thick clay partings, the re- 

 moval of which will probably somewhat increase the cost of 

 mining the coal, but the coal from either seam, when put on 

 the market, will command a price that will fully compensate 

 for any increased cost of its production. Both seams are so 

 situated as to afford excellent facilities for operating self 

 draining mines above water level, and accessible to any mode 

 of transportation. 



The next 70 feet of strata above the Adkins, or Adkinson 

 Seam No. 13, are mainly composed of thin, smooth sand- 

 stones, with occasional intervening bands of hard, sandy 

 slates. 



