CEMENT RESOURCES: ST. STEPHENS LIMESTONE. 51 



the Selma chalk ; even the harder beds will not be so expensive 

 to handle as the Bangor or Trenton limestones of Northern Ala- 

 bama, or as many limestones now worked for Portland cement 

 in the Northern states. 



Accessibility to Clay. Residual clays from the decomposition 

 of the St. Stephens limestone are usually present over most of 

 the beds of this rock. These clays are in general quite similar 

 to the residual clays of the Selma chalk, as may be seen by the 

 appended analyses. 



But in most of its territory, the St. Stephens limestone is man- 

 tled by the strata of the Grand Gulf formation, which includes 

 beds of clay of considerable thickness and extent, and of quality 

 adapted to the purposes of cement manufacture. The analyses 

 of some of these clays will show their chemical character. The 

 samples taken for analysis are from beds that occur in the im- 

 mediate vicinity of the limestone outcrops, and either on navi- 

 gable river or railroad line. 



Table VIII. Composition of Clays near St. Stephens Limestone. 



*Trace. 



The Fuel. The question of a cheap fuel will be an important 

 one for the limestones of the Coastal Plain and while these rocks 

 occur along the banks of the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers 

 or on railroad lines, yet the high rates of freight make it diffi- 

 cult to get the coal from the fields of Northern Alabama at a 



