190 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 



The coal is compact and must be blasted. It is apparently very clean, 

 and is regarded as among the best for blacksmiths' use. 



In Orange township the bed shows the following section at Mr. John 

 Pearch's bank : 



FT. IS. 



1. Coal 1 i 



2. Parting J 



3. Coal 1 li 



4. Parting i 



5. Coal 9i 



6. Parting i 



7. Coal 11 



a Parting .: 2-3 



9. Coal 4-6 



4 5 



No. 1 is the best coal, containing little pyrites and coming out in clean 

 blocks ; No. 3 is quite poor, containing much nodular pyrites ; No. 5 is 

 brittle, and in mining is converted into slack ; No. 7 is fair, and No. 9 is 

 rather poor. This coal is hard, requiring the blast, cakes readily on the 

 fire, yields a compact coke, and gives off intense heat in burning. On 

 the north branch of Myers's Creek the coal is mined by Mr. Amos Pres- 

 ton, at whose bank it is separated into three benches by thin persistent 

 partings. The top bench is eighteen inches thick and yields a brittle 

 coal, which burns well but is of inferior quality. The middle bench, 

 thirty-one inches, is a good coal for domestic use. The lower bench, 

 eight inches, is slaty, burning moderately well, but leaving a bulky ash. 

 The proportion of ash is very great throughout. Nodules of pyrites are 

 of frequent occurrence. As Smith's mill, where this bed first appears in 

 the bed of the stream, it is but thirty-five feet below Coal No. 7. 



In Brown township we find this coal mined by Mr. R. B. Hamilton, 

 not far from Waynesburg, at whose bank the following section is ex- 

 posed : 



1. Black shale 



3. Coal I 5 



3. Parting i 



4. Coal 1 8 



5. Parting, pyritous 2 



6. Coal 6-8 



7. Fire-clay 10 



The top coal is slaty, almost a bone coal, and is poorest next the roof. 

 The rest of the bed yields good coal, very pure and much prized by black- 

 smiths. Near the middle is a somewhat pessistent layer of mineral char- 



