HOCKING VALLEY. 707 



IRON ORES. 



The lowest iron ore of the series is on the horizon of the massive cal- 

 careous ore found north of old Straitsville, on the level of Monday Creek. 

 Its outcrop may be traced near the base of the hills in the neighborhood 

 of Haydenville, with a fire-clay and faint traces of coal smut below it. 

 It is the horizon of Coal No. 3, which is ordinarily capped with a blue, 

 cherty limestone, frequently ferriferous. Here it shows a thick band of 

 blue, calcareous ore, not thick enough to be mined by drifting, or to war- 

 rant much stripping, but sufficient to justify further explorations on this 

 level. 



The ore above I have called the Haydenville drift ore, as it was exten- 

 sively mined by drifting some sixteen years ago, for use in the old 

 Hocking furnace at that place. It was reported to be a solid block-ore, 

 ten inches thick. From the specimens seen, I should call it a brown ox- 

 ide, of good quality. 



The third ore I have seen opened only on the hill directly above the 

 last. It is there fifty feet above the drift ore, and fifteen feet above a 

 thick bed of fire-clay, which is mined for the Columbus potteries. The 

 ore is from two to three feet thick, a blue, silicious carbonate, changed 

 upon the outside of the layers to a yellow sesquioxide. It is not as rich 

 as some of the other ores, but may prove of sufficient value to be profit- 

 ably worked. 



The fourth ore from the bottom is the equivalent of the " Baird ore," 

 which is ordinarily just below the fire-clay of Coal No. 5, often resting 

 on a drab, cherty limestone. This horizon carries two ores, only one of 

 which I have found largely developed in the same locality, one directly 

 above the coal, one below the fire-clay. And in all cases where there is a 

 considerable body of the ore the coal is reduced to a mere carbonaceous 

 shale. The thick bed of fire-clay is a characteristic indication of this 

 horizon. On Mr. Peter Hayden's property, near Haydenville, this ore is 

 from eighteen inches to two feet thick, and of good quality. On 

 the Brooks property, section 29, Ward township, it is a good grajj- ore, 

 and its presence is indicated in all the western part of this territory 

 where the horizon of No. 5 is above drainage, and ranges from about 

 twenty- five to thirty-five feet below the Great Vein. On Charles Robbins's 

 land, south of Nelsonville, it is thirty feet below the Great Vein, is two 

 and a half feet thick, a very rich brown oxide, changed on the outcrop to 

 a soft yellow sesquioxide, of great excellence. On Lost Run of Monday 

 Creek, in the roof of Coal No. 5, there is a silicious ore, much like the 

 " Baird ore," two to two and a half feet thick, which is also found on 



