144 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS. 



near the creek, but they are now filled with debris. At Bichardson's 

 the coal was taken from the side of the bluff, bat is now hidden from 

 view by the talus from above ; the thickness of the seam is reported to 

 be from 16 inches to 2 feet, and the coal of good quality. These places 

 can be worked without much cost. 



On Beck's creek, about a mile above the Shelbyville road, a good deal 

 of coal has been taken from the creek, but the water is generally 

 in the way. This is known as the Good en coal bank. A bed of coal is 

 reported to be at the bottom of the Kaskaskia river, in the S. E. corner 

 of T. 9 N., E. 2 B., but the water is generally at least 6 feet over it. 



The western boundary of coal No. 15 is a north and south line two 

 miles from the east county line. The western boundary of coal No. 14 

 is nearly parallel to the last and three miles west of it, with an outlier 

 of a few miles square near the north county line, east of the railroad. 



The western boundary of coal No. 13 passes northwardly near the 

 middle of E. 2 E., crossing Kaskaskia river near the mouth of Beck's 

 creek, and thence north-westwardly. West of this line no coal beds 

 have appeared in the county. 



The coal under the Shoal creek limestone is about 230 to 240 feet 

 below the lower Hickory creek coal. Coal No. 7 is 375 to 500 feet below 

 coal No. 13. From this I would suppose that in order to reach a good 

 workable coal, a shaft would have to be sunk 300 to 500 feet at Vanda- 

 lia ; at that depth coal No. 7 (6 to 8 feet thick) might be reached.* 



Iron Ore. — Thin beds and concretions of carbonate of iron ore are 

 common in the Coal Measure shales, but were not found sufficiently 

 abundant to work in this county. On the National road, nine miles 

 east of Vandalia, I noticed a deposit of very dark colored oxide of iron 

 in prairie clay or soil ; it crops out about 4 inches thick, in a rough 

 massive stratum around the margin of a washed place of 50 feet square ; 

 on one side it is 6 inches beneath the surface and on the other 2 to 3 

 feet. The clay at this place is probably of older age than the soil or 

 alluvium ; probably nearly, if not quite as old as the loess. Small con- 

 cretionary nodules of a similar variety of iron ore are often found washed 

 out of the prairie clays. 



The ferruginous sandstone, previously spoken of under the head of 

 "Drift," may sometimes be considered an iron ore ; it is abundant near 

 Vandalia, and is also found near Greenland and at William Porter's 

 on Little Hickory. 



Building Roc~k. — There is a good sandstone quarry near Eamsey creek, 

 two miles below the railroad : the rock is generally about 2 feet thick 

 and of good quality; part of the stone arch culvert on the I. C. E. E. 

 at Vandalia, was procured here. 



:t " Se"e section of shaft and boring at Vandalia, at the close of this chapter. 



