JEFFERSON COUNTy. 733 



above Moretown a peninsular hill, commanding a detour of the valley, 

 is said to be surmounted by an ancient fort, and what is apparently a 

 similar monument is visible from the house of Mr. Dorrance. Looking 

 up the valley, what seems to be a large artificial mound is set on the 

 northern end of a low bend extending from the southern margin. 



IRONDALE. 



The section of the rocks at Irondale is given on another page. It is 

 typical of the geology of all the northern part of the county. From this 

 it will be seen that the upper half of the hill is composed of the Barren 

 Coal Measures, chiefly red and green shales, with a sandstone at the very 

 top. Below this is a coal six inches thick, with a thin band of fire-clay, 

 under which is the crinoidal limestone and a mere trace of the Harlem 

 coal. The "Salineville Strip Vein" — Coal No. 7 — is here from two to 

 three feet thick, and is not worked. About fifty feet below it is the "Big 

 Vein," five and a half feet in thickness. This supplies the fuel for the 

 rolling-mill. It has the general character and average quality of Coal 

 No. 6 of this region. From sixteen to eighteen feet below Coal No. G is 

 a coal seam two and a half feet in thickness, which is sometimes regarded 

 as the "Roger Vein" — No. 5 — but it seems probable that a thin coal, 

 sixty feet below the "Big Vein," should rather be considered Coal No. 5. 

 About fifty-five feet below the last mentioned eoal is Coal No. 4 — the 

 "Strip Vein" — two and a half feet thick, and eighteen feet below this 

 the "Creek Vein," three feet three inches in thickness. 



A boring made by Mr. David Morgan, the managing partner of the 

 Irondale Iron Works, to the depth of eighty feet below the "Creek Vein" 

 passed through shale and sandstone containing a seam of coal about one 

 foot thick and terminated in another of equal dimensions. This boring 

 did not reach the bottom of the Coal Measures, which should lie from 

 fifty to one hundred feet lower; but it is scarcely probable that any 

 workable coal would have been found had the hole been carried lower. 

 Coal No. 1 is due from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet below 

 the "Creek Vein," but it has not yet been found in Jefi'erson county. 



The fuel used in the furnace at Irondale is three-fourths coke and one- 

 fourth raw coal, both from Coal No. 4. A very elaborate coal-washing 

 establishment has been erected here for the purpose of cleansing the Coal 

 of No. 6 of its sulphide of iron, with a view to the manufacture of coke 

 from it. So far the experiment has been only moderately successful, and 

 the coke from the washed coal of No. 6 is inferior to that made from No. 4. 



Analyses of Irondale coals will be found in the tables at the end of this 

 chapter. 



