CARROLL COUNTY. 197 



where it may be worked from Carrollton to the county line without 

 difficulty. The bed varies somewhat in thickness, but seldom falls below 

 four feet, often reaching five and occasionally even six feet. It is rarely 

 of bad quality, but for the most part contains too much pyrites to be em- 

 ployed in the manufacture of gas or, unless washed before coking, in iron 

 smelting. The coke is usually compact, so that there is every encourage- 

 ment to test its value, washed, as soon as an outlet is afforded. In the 

 Sandy Creek valley the bed is generally too thin to be of much impor- 

 tance, but in some localities, in Brown and Augusta townships, it attains 

 a thickness of four to four and a half feet, and the quality is good. 



The following is an analysis of R. B. Hamilton, Brown township — No. 

 1, upper bench, No. 2, lower bench : 



No. 1. No. 2. 



Specific gravity 1.328 1.281 



Moisture 2.70 3.00 



Ash 8.40 3.00 



Volatile combustible matter 33.90 33.00 



Fixed carbon 55.00 61.00 



100.00 100.00 



Sulphur C.12 1.76 



Sulphur left in coke 3.43 0.85 



Sulphur forming of the coke 5.41 1.32 



Gas per pound, in cubic feet 3.40 3.64 



Ash Brown. White. 



Coke Compact. Compact. 



The coal mined by Mr. Davis, six miles south-east of Minerva, has the 

 reputation of being the best mined in the vicinity. 



Iron. — In the shale underlying the Crinoidal limestone in Union, Lee, 

 Center, and Monroe townships, there is always more or less iron ore, 

 sometimes plate, sometimes blackband, but usually in small nodules or 

 evenly disseminated throughout the mass, which is often twenty feet 

 thick. When concentrated in one layer, the ore is rarely more than four 

 or six inches thick, and of by no means good quality. One can not fail 

 to regret that so many reckless assertions have been made respecting this 

 ore. Wandering geniuses, anxious to acquire a fleeting reputation for 

 knowledge, have gone into ecstasies over this mass of dark shale, and 

 have pronounced it the finest exposure of blackband that they had ever 

 witnessed. In the neighborhood of Cannonsburg and other villages 

 intense excitement has been aroused by these statements, whereas the 



