330 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



"Concerning cost here I have very grave doubts — not but that it could be 

 afforded cheap enough, but because it would be so nice a thing to be (virtual) 

 sole proprietor of the only available material for paving a prosperous, thriving but 

 muddy city of 75,000 inhabitants. 



"I append a i^^^ notes of approximate cost drawn from correspondence on 

 the subject a year or two since. Under the most favorable circumstances, no 

 less a thickness of gravel than four inches will answer. Assuming that our cheap 

 limestone has been used to sheath over the road-bed. With a sixty foot street, 

 two twelve-foot sidewalks and two six-foot gutters, there remains twenty-four feet 

 of road-bed for traffic, and consequently to be graveled or paved. Twenty-four 

 by one-third feet, equal eight cubic feet per running foot. Eight cubic feet of this 

 material will weigh fully 1,000 pounds, and a carload of 24,000 pounds will dress just 

 twenty-four feet in length. I understand that this gravel will cost say per car- 

 load (7 cubic yards) $3.50 in the bed; $2.00 for loading; $15.00 for transporta- 

 tion from Burlington to Kansas City, and $7.50 for hauling and spreading on 

 street. Total $28.00, besides cost of paving and grading, say fifty dollars more, 

 making all told about $80.00 per twenty- five feet front by twenty-four feet wide." 



Robert Gillham, civil engijieer of Kansas City, writes: "I visited Burling- 

 ton by request and investigated the gravel beds. My examinations embraced a 

 large portion of the surrounding country. Outcroppings may be found along the 

 banks of the Neosho River, and creeks emptying into it. In my opinion the 

 beds cover a large area, having traced it as far south as Oswego, and as far north 

 as Emporia. It can be seen present in many cuts along the railroads in eastern 

 Kansas and western Missouri. The gravel at Burlington varies in depth below 

 the surface, and several miles west of the town it may be seen at the surface. 



" The maximum depth as found by the tests resorted to, was sixteen feet 

 below the surface and will probably average nearly three feet in thickness, and is 

 usually the water-bearing stratum throughout the surrounding country. When 

 property owners, in sinking wells, meet the gravel they are sure of water possess- 

 ing most excellent qualities. 



" In the Neosho River at Burlington large beds have been forming' for a 

 number of years, the gravel being transported from creeks and rivers emptying 

 into it, during high water. These beds of gravel are available in quantity, and 

 may be shipped to any point by rail. 



"The gravel may be used successfully on residence streets in any town or 

 city, and laid at a very small cost. The street should be excavated to the re- 

 quired depth and width, a good foundation of broken stone laid, followed by 

 4" of pit gravel well rolled, followed again with another layer, and so continue 

 until sufficient covering has been used and the whole becomes hard and compact. 



" With proper care the Burlington gravel will give great satisfaction in mak- 

 ing streets and roads, which will be more durable than the ordinary macadam 

 road. I am fully convinced that these gravel deposits are valuable, and may be 

 developed with profit. Geologically considered the beds are doubtless modified 



