﻿Report 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  Geologist. 
  223 
  

  

  But 
  Mr. 
  Townsend 
  was 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  discouraged. 
  Selecting 
  a 
  site 
  

   two 
  miles 
  south 
  of 
  his 
  first 
  well, 
  on 
  land 
  owned 
  by 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  C. 
  

   Reed, 
  he 
  had 
  another 
  well 
  drilled 
  in 
  1888, 
  which 
  penetrated 
  both 
  

   beds 
  of 
  salt 
  and 
  was 
  sunk 
  109 
  feet 
  into 
  the 
  soft 
  shales 
  which 
  lie 
  

   beneath 
  them. 
  A 
  very 
  careful 
  record 
  of 
  the 
  strata 
  passed 
  

   through 
  was 
  made 
  by 
  Mr. 
  George 
  Townsend, 
  who 
  kept 
  samples 
  

   of 
  the 
  comminuted- 
  rock 
  every 
  five 
  feet. 
  

  

  In 
  June, 
  1889, 
  the 
  organization 
  of 
  the 
  Livonia 
  Salt 
  and 
  Mining 
  

   Company 
  was 
  completed, 
  with 
  a 
  capital 
  of 
  $1,500,000, 
  and 
  the 
  

   following 
  officers 
  : 
  Milo 
  M. 
  Belding, 
  president 
  ; 
  Martin 
  L. 
  Town- 
  

   send, 
  vice-president; 
  Milo 
  M. 
  Belding, 
  Jr., 
  secretary; 
  William 
  B. 
  

   Putney, 
  treasurer. 
  

  

  Land 
  and 
  mining 
  rights 
  were 
  immediately 
  purchased, 
  and 
  a 
  

   site 
  chosen 
  for 
  the 
  present 
  shaft 
  about 
  1,000 
  feet 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  

   test 
  well 
  and 
  twenty-seven 
  feet 
  higher. 
  

  

  The 
  work 
  of 
  sinking 
  the 
  shaft 
  was 
  begun 
  September 
  15, 
  1890. 
  

  

  The 
  Livonia 
  salt 
  shaft 
  is 
  situated 
  about 
  twenty-seven 
  miles 
  

   nearly 
  due 
  south 
  from 
  Rochester, 
  and 
  one 
  and 
  one-half 
  miles 
  

   south 
  of 
  the 
  village 
  of 
  Livonia 
  Station, 
  Livingston 
  county, 
  ~N. 
  Y., 
  

   and 
  close 
  by 
  the 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  tracks 
  of 
  the 
  Rochester 
  division 
  of 
  

   the 
  New 
  York, 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  and 
  Western 
  Railroad. 
  It 
  is 
  on 
  the 
  

   western 
  slope 
  of 
  the 
  ridge 
  which 
  separates 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  Conesus 
  

   lake 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  Hemlock 
  lake, 
  and 
  whose 
  summit 
  on 
  an 
  east 
  

   and 
  west 
  line 
  through 
  the 
  shaft 
  is 
  133 
  feet 
  higher 
  than 
  the 
  mouth 
  

   of 
  the 
  shaft 
  and 
  1,215 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  sea. 
  

  

  The 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  shaft 
  is 
  263 
  feet 
  higher 
  than 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  

   Conesus 
  lake, 
  187 
  feet 
  higher 
  than 
  Hemlock 
  lake 
  and 
  1,082 
  feet 
  

   above 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  sea. 
  

  

  Toward 
  the 
  north 
  and 
  west 
  around 
  the 
  shaft, 
  the 
  ground 
  falls 
  

   rapidly 
  away 
  for 
  a 
  short 
  distance 
  to 
  the 
  border 
  of 
  a 
  nearly 
  level 
  

   tract 
  of 
  several 
  acres 
  of 
  swampy 
  land, 
  which 
  is 
  twenty-eight 
  to 
  

   thirty 
  feet 
  lower 
  than 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  shaft. 
  The 
  debris 
  from 
  the 
  

   shaft 
  has 
  been 
  used 
  to 
  fill 
  up 
  to 
  a 
  convenient 
  level 
  a 
  part 
  of 
  this 
  

   depression, 
  and 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  bed 
  for 
  railroad 
  tracks 
  across 
  it. 
  

  

  When 
  first 
  brought 
  out 
  the 
  rocks 
  were 
  covered 
  by 
  a 
  thin 
  coat- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  mud, 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  fossils 
  were 
  obscured, 
  and 
  frequently 
  

   entirely 
  hidden. 
  Except 
  when 
  an 
  opportune 
  rain 
  storm 
  rendered 
  

   valuable 
  assistance, 
  it 
  was 
  necessary 
  to 
  use 
  the 
  hammer 
  or 
  scrub- 
  

   bing 
  brush 
  to 
  bring 
  them 
  to 
  view. 
  

  

  