40 



mlomlti-ts. 3 ^^^ longwall system is in use. A total of 486 

 beehive coke ovens have been built at Michel. 



From Michel the railway continues down 

 the valley of Michel creek in a northwesterly 

 direction, for a further distance of four miles 

 (6-4 km.) when the wide valley of the Elk river 

 is entered. Elk river here flows in a general 

 southwesterly course and follows closely the 

 strike of the rocks, consisting of the Fernie 

 shales which he:e reach a much greater thickness 

 than on the eastern side of the Pass. The 

 Fernie shales, of Jurassic age, are composed 

 for the most part of dark shales, often aren- 

 aceous, and passing towards the base into 

 shaly limestone and calcareous shales [2]. 

 Owing to their soft, non-resistant qualities, 

 they have yielded to pressure more readily 

 than the harder overlying rocks and in conse- 

 quence are often highly flexed and broken. 

 Good sections of these rocks are also difficult 

 to obtain so that any estimate of their thickness 

 must be only approximate, but it is probable 

 that it exceeds 3000 feet (914 m.). 



From the mouth of Michel creek to Morrissey 

 creek, a distance of about 28 miles (45 km.), 

 Elk river follows the upturned edges of the 

 Fernie shales, the high mountains to the west 

 of the valley being built of Devono-Carbon- 

 iferous limestone, while the western edge 

 of the Cretaceous rocks forms a ridge or escarp- 

 ment which runs parallel to Elk river on the 

 east side of the valley. The height of the 

 escarpment is fairly uniform, being 3500 to 

 4000 feet (1067 to 12 1 9 m.) above the river, 

 while the base of the coal measures outcrop 

 at elevations of from 1500 to 2000 feet (457 

 to 609 m.) above the valley, and dip to the 

 east, at angles of from 30 to 65 degrees. 



237-8 m. Hosmer — Alt. 3447 ft. (1050-6 m.). At 



382-7 km. Hosmer the colliery of the Department of 



Natural Resources of the Canadian Pacific 



railway is situated. A rock tunnel, across the 



measures, has been driven at a point 600 feet 



