564 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 



Bellair, with transportation by river and railroad, and an ample sup- 

 ply of cheap fuel, must become at no distant day an important center of 

 manufactures. The coal mines are generally successful, and belong to 

 the following proprietors : Jacob Hetherington and Sons, Charles Henry, 

 Wm. Kelly, Peter Schrum, Wm. G. Barnard, and the Pittsburgh Coal 

 Works. 



MEAD TOWNSHIP. 



This township is situated on the Ohio River, south of Pultney. It has 

 an extensive river frontage, and, consequently, contains a large area of 

 rich bottom land. The hills are full of limestone, and the soil is gener- 

 ally good. The township is chiefly drained by Weegee Creek, Big Run, 

 and Pipe Creek, all small tributaries of the Ohio. The hills are high, 

 and often steep. The Bellair seam of coal underlies the whole township, 

 doubtless forming one continuous sheet of coal proximately six feet 

 thick. From Pultney township the seam gradually dips, and near the 

 mouth of Weegee Creek it -is reported to be found in the bed of the river 

 at low water. 



The coal is mined at several points 1 — at the Weegee mines, at a point 

 nearly opposite Moundsville, and near the mouth of Pike Creek, etc. 

 The coal may at all points be reached by slope or shaft of moderate 

 depth. The coal every where presents the usual appearance of the 

 typical Wheeling coal. The location directly upon the Ohio River, the 

 advantage that can be taken of the dip of the seam for easy drainage of 

 the mines, and the thickness and general regularity of the seam, and 

 consequent cheapness of mining, all unite to indicate that in the future 

 this must be a coal field of much importance. 



Coal has been extensively taken from the Weegee mines, in section 32, 

 by P. Schaefer & Co. Here the seam is reached by a slope at the base of 

 the river hill. The coal is sold to steamboats at the landing, and also 

 shipped in barges to markets on the river below. The Empire Coal 

 Company, Smith & Watson, and Lockwood, Burley & Co., are all engaged 

 in mining coal in this township. 



A careful section was taken of the strata in the hill adjacent to the 

 river, about a mile below the Weegee mines, as follows : 



Ft. In. 



1. Laminated sandstone ....: g q 



2. Limestone 3 q 



3. Shale ' g q 



4. Hard blue limestone 4 



5. Shale, with a little iron ore 3 o 



6. Nodular calcareous ore 3 



7. Shale 3 q 



