CAHABA COAL FIELD: BLOCTON BASIN. 117 
Basin over the “Aldrich Slope,” The base of the Millstone 
Grit showing itself in the tops of the mountains where the 
measures have a very light dip, at the north end of both 
coal fields, more especially the Wearior. 
Prior to 1884, there had been no mining done in this 
basin ; in that year, the Cahaba Coal Mining Company first 
began to sink their Slopes and construct their nine miles of 
railroad from Woodstock, on the Alabama Great Southern, 
to their mines ; though they have now in this basin nearly 
twenty miles of railroad of main line, branches, and sidings ; 
they have increased their mine openings until they now 
have ten mines opened up in this basin, mostly slopes, the 
others are vertical shafts and drifts, their output has in- 
creased at about the same speed as the Pratt Mines, did in 
the same space of time after first commencing. 
This company have some 450 coke ovens of the bee-hive 
pattern, well constructed, and with the latest improvements. 
They are intended to supply the furnaces at Anniston with 
coke. The coke is of excellent quality. 
