WALDRIP DIVISION. 207 



25 feet of sandstone, generally fine grained, though in some places conglom- 

 eritic and cross-bedded, and these in turn are overlain by nearly 1200 feet of 

 limestone. At this point these beds are thicker than where they are first 

 seen to appear from beneath the Cretaceous Brady Mountains. At Brown- 

 wood the beds are much more complex, as will be seen in the following sec- 

 tion, beginning at the base: 



Feet thick. 



1. The lower limestone 200 



2. Sandstone 100 



3. Limestone 80 



4. Sandstone (chiefly shaly sandstone) 40 



5. Limestone 60 



6. Sandstone ": 20 



1. Limestone 150 



8. Sandstone 10 



9. Limestone .... 640 



The lowest sandstone layer (2) has been traced along the strike entirely 

 across the Carboniferous, but all the other layers, 4, 6, and 8, thin out to the 

 south, and are there represented by an impure yellow rusty limestone con- 

 taining much argillaceous matter. The Milburn and Brownwood beds are 

 rich in organic remains of the usual Carboniferous types. The Brownwood 

 Beds besides being saliferous, are also oil-bearing at places, as at Brownwood 

 and Trickham. 



Above the upper Brownwood limestone begins the Waldrip coal division. 

 Below the coal-bearing beds proper is a considerable thickness of sandstone, 

 which like all similar formations in this area, thickens to the northeast. The 

 lower sandstone beds at Waldrip are not more than 100 feet thick, and are 

 chiefly conglomerate. West of Trickham it is 250 feet thick and quite uni- 

 formly a sandstone. At Thrifty, northwest of Brownwood, the sandstone 

 series is about 500 feet thick, with some conglomerate, particularly in the 

 lower beds. Thus in 35 miles along the strike proceeding northeast, these 

 beds thicken to five times their original depth. 



While this sandstone series forms a true portion of the Waldrip coal series, 

 it is as far north as I have seen it quite barren of coal, though in the north- 

 ern portion along the Jim Ned Creek some of the beds closely simulate coal- 

 bearing strata, and from here northeast beds of coal may possibly be found, 

 though this is merely an inference, since I have not personally examined the 

 strata north of the Jim Ned. 



Above these sandstone beds are the true coal-bearing strata, consisting of 

 thin beds of clays, shales, sandstones, and limestones. The thickness of this 

 series of strata is not more than 300 feet, and often less, and the breadth of 

 the outcrop from one to three miles. Owing to the character of the strata, 



