GALLATIN COUNTY. 207 



A few hundred yards above the Independent Company's shaft, No. 3 

 outcrops in the bank of Saline river, and No. 2 was reached there by a 

 shaft thirteen feet below the bed of the stream. The old works at this 

 locality have long since been abandoned, and the openings are rilled up 

 with rubbish, brought by the overflows of the Saline river. 



Near the foot of the hills, a few hundred yards north of the above 

 mines, and on land belonging to the same company, No. 4 coal was 

 struck by sinking a well, and was subsequently bored through at the 

 company's office. It is two and a half feet thick and lies between ninety 

 and one hundred feet above No. 3, as proved by the bore at the office 

 and by the section of the shaft above given. 



Nos. o, 6 and 7 are seen in their regular sequence outcropping in the 

 hill on the Independent Company's property north of the shaft, and on 

 the above section No. 5 is from eighty-eight to one hundred feet above 

 No. 4. This space is filled with thin-bedded sandstone and shales, with 

 more or less iron ore. It is generally a little less than five feet thick, 

 though usually called in this county and Union county, Kentucky, the 

 "five-foot coal." The color is a dull black, and ou the Saline river it is 

 often marked by a beautiful play of colors, giving rise to the appellation 

 of "peacock coal." It contains a large percentage of fixed carbon, and 

 but for the sulphur bands which are mixed with it, would prove the very 

 best coal for steam and manufacturing purposes in the basin. It has 

 been extensively mined for the supply of steamboats, both along the 

 Ohio river in Kentucky, and on the Saline river in this county, but 

 from injudicious mining or other causes, it has fallen into bad repute, 

 and Nos. 2 and 3 have for the time being supplanted it in puhlic favor. 

 The poor reputation which has befallen this seam I have no doubt may 

 be traced to the coal not having been properly screened and not sepa- 

 rating it from the sulphur bands with which it is contaminated. 



No. 5 has been opened aud worked at many places on sections 27, 35, 

 21 and 9, township 10, range 9, aud was reached in a bore on Eagle 

 creek, on section 13, township 10, range 8, on the south side of the 

 Saline It has been worked by a shallow shaft to furnish fuel for Boss' 

 mill at Equality, and can be seen in the bed of the Saline river at the 

 latter place when the river is extremely low. About two miles south- 

 west of Equality, on the eastern edge of Saline county, it is worked by 

 drifting into the hill, and furnishes the fuel to evaporate the brine of 

 the salt works owned by Messrs. Temple & Castle. 



The black bituminous roof shales of No. 5 coal contain, usually, au 

 abundance of beautiful, compressed shells, completely gilt with brilliant 

 yellow pyrites of iron. This shale, with its fossil treasures, rapidly 

 decomposes when exposed to the weather, aud can be preserved only 

 when obtained fresh from the mines, and properly cared for. When I 



