158 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
their position, the higher ones being diminished in extent by erosion and the 
lower maintaining more completely the area which nature assigned them. 
The coal-veins lie horizontal and are remarkably even and regular, not more 
than twenty inches of irregularity as yet having been discovered, and that a simple 
wave. The roof of the vein is of sandstone so firm in structure that no timber- 
ing is required in the entries. Although timbering has been deemed unnecessary, 
but very few fatal accidents have occurred in this vicinity. The vein upon which 
most development has been made is the middle one, which is the largest. The 
others, however, have been sufficiently opened to verify the fact that they are as 
pure and valuable as the middle vein. A remarkable feature about this region 
is that while the two upper coal veins face the south the lower one faces the west. 
The veins or beds, being horizontal, are opened by driving in at convenient 
points where the coal has been worn away in ravines : no shafting or hoisting is 
necessary. The mines are perfectly dry — consequently there is no damp or foul 
air so common in other localities. 
The coal from the middle and upper beds has superior coking qualities, 
making coke which is chemically superior to that of Pittsburg, and equal to the 
Connellsville article, and practically superior to the latter, being firmer and 
requiring a greater weight to crush it — an important and very desirable feature 
when heavy ores are to be smelted. It is also unexcelled for the production of 
illuminating gas. The coal from the lower vein is non-coking, but is superior for 
domestic purposes and for use in steam-engines, a non-coking coal being more 
convenient for those purposes. 
The mines now open and being worked are as follows : 
The Colorado Coal and Iron Company, Engleville, some two and a half 
miles east of Trinidad. Its output averages looo tons per day. 
The Trinidad Coal and Coking Company, Starkville, three miles south of 
Trinidad. Output 800 tons per day. 
The Consolidated Stone and Coal Company, two miles south of Trinidad. 
Output about 100 tons per day. 
The Detmer & Ostenburg, about three miles north of Trinidad. Output 
about 30 tons per day. 
The Colorado Coal and Iron Company has 250 ovens in blast at El Moro, 
four and a half miles from Trinidad, and the Trinidad Coal and Coking Company 
50 ovens at Starkville, and are unable to supply more than half the demand for 
Trinidad coke. 
This most memorable tour was concluded by a visit, over the Denver & 
Rio Grande R. R., to the Royal Gorge or Grand Canon of the Arkansas, whose 
grand and picturesque scenery has been described so often that we will, for the 
sake of brevity, omit it here. 
Many incidents and points of interest along the line of this 3,300 mile trip 
have necessarily been overlooked in this hasty letter, but we shall try to do them 
justice in future descriptions. 
In conclusion, it is eminendy proper to say that everything possible was done 
