60 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS. 



eventually justify the erection of an iron furnace in this vicinity. At 

 another old ford about a mile further up the river, the same coals 

 outcrop in connection with a thin bed of nodular argillaceous limestone 

 of a light-gray color, weathering to a yellowish-brown on exposure. 



Five miles north-west of Albion, on the N". W. qr. of sec. 22, T. 1 S., 

 E. 10 E, an argillaceous limestone similar to tbat above mentioned, but 

 rather darker colored, is found underlaying a bed of bituminous shale, 

 as shown in the following section : 



Ft. In. 



Sandy shale and thin bedded micaceous standstone 4 . ..10 to 12 



Bituminous shale 1 to 1 G 



Kodular argillaceous limestone 2 to 3 



Gray sandy shale with bands of iron stone 3 to 4 



This outcrop seems to be on the same horizon with the beds at the 

 Wabash fords, the coal found there being represented here by the bitu- 

 minous shale of tbe above section. The thin bedded saudstoue has 

 been quarried here for building cellar w T alls, i'oundatious, etc., and seems 

 to be the best material in the neighborhood for such purposes. 



At Mr. Hartman's mill, on the east side of the town of Albion, there 

 was a boring made for oil some years siuce, of which the following is a 

 reported section : , 



Ft. 



Clay and soil 7 



Shale 49 



Coal 1 



Blue shale 107 



The boring was ended in a hard rock, the character of which was not 

 determined. It was made in the creek valley in which the mill is situa- 

 ted, and the first shale struck was probably the upper part of that 

 forming the base of the Albion section given on a preceding page. 



Prof. Cos reports the following section at Bjeal's mil!, on Blockhouse 

 creek, a branch of the Bonpass, in the east part of the county : 



Ft. Iu. 



"Drift 5 



Gray shale with clay iron ore 12 



Silicious iron ore - 1 



Blue argillaceous shale 5 



Black bituminous shale 1 6 



Impure limestone 6 



Coal in the bed of the creek 8 " 



All the beds represented by the foregoing sections in these two coun- 

 ties belong between coals Xo. 10 and 13, and do not attain an aggregate 

 thickuess of more than 150 to 200 feet. 



E conomical Geology . 



Building Stone. — A fair quality of building stone may be obtained 

 from the sandstones outcropping in various portions of these two coun- 



