116 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS. 



About a mile and a half north-east of Mr. Ensminger's, on the S. E. 

 qr. of the 1ST. E. qr. of sec. 16, there is an outcrop of the same cinnamon- 

 brown limestone mentioned in the foregoing section, and the coal below 

 it is said to be from two to three feet thick, and has been mined iu a 

 limited way for blacksmiths' use. This is probably coal No. 8 of the 

 general section, and has been mined by stripping in the valley of a 

 small creek. Owing to recent heavy rains the holes from which the 

 coal had been taken were full of water, and the thickness of the seam 

 could not be measured. 



South of Mr. Ensminger's on sec. 32, T. 9, R. 4, coals No. 5, 6 and 7 

 may all be seen within a short distance. No. 5 is here from two to six 

 feet thick, while No. 7 is pinched out to about three feet. The following 

 section was seen here : 



Ft. In. 



Dark-gray massive limestone 4 to G 



Bituminous shale 3 to 5 



Coal No. 7 to 5 



Fire-clay and clay shale 2 to 3 



Alassive sandstone 15 to 18 



Sandy shale 10 to 12 



Bine and brown clay shale 15 to 20 



Coal No. 6 lJto 1 10 



Brown and blue shales 20 to 30 



Dark steel-gray limestone 1 



Bituminous shale with concretions of limestone 4 



Bine shale 8 to 10 



Coal No. 5 (Ensminger's coal) lito .6 



One locality was noticed on the creek where the above section was 

 made, where the massive sandstone beneath coal No. 7 seems to have 

 pinched the coal entirely out, but a half mile to the eastward it comes in 

 again and ranges from two to five feet in thickness. The bituminous shale 

 over Ensminger's coal contains numerous large concretions of black 

 limestone which weathers blue on exposure, but contain no fossils at 

 this locality. This seam I believe to be the same as that at the water 

 mill on the south fork of the Saline, though it is much thicker here 

 than there, and varies from one and a half to six feet in a distance of 

 less than half a mile. Owing to the limited demand for coal, no syste- 

 matic mining has yet been attempted here, but an extensive coal mining 

 business could be easily and cheaply carried on whenever this portion 

 of the county is provided with railroad facilities, or manufacturing 

 enterprises shall be established to create a market for the almost inex- 

 haustible supply of coal now hidden beneath the soil. 



At Dr. Smith's old place, south of Corinth, where a shaft was sunk 

 several years since in search of silver, the following section was found : 



Ft. 



Brown shale 10 to 15 



Blue shale, partly bituminous 8 to 10 



Coal No. 10 ? 



