154 THE IRON ORE DISTRICT OF EAST TEXAS. 



from two to six feet. On the John D. Pinson headright it is said to have a 

 thickness of between five and six feet. Towards the centre of the area wells 

 dug deep enough to pierce the lignite beds show them to have a thickness of 

 only from six to twelve inches. On the W. D. Ward headright the lignite 

 lies under thirty feet of sand and clay, and the mean of three wells does not 

 exceed two feet, and along the lake shore region around Port Caddo the bed 

 has a general thickness of about three feet. 



Outside of the gray sand region the lignite occurs at several places. In 

 the deep well bored at Marshall lignite about one foot thick was passed 

 through at a depth of one hundred feet. It was also struck in a well on the 



0. H. P. Bodine survey at a depth of thirty-two feet, and on the Francis 

 Wilson headright it is seen in a stream bed to have a thickness of two feet at 

 a depth of seventy-six feet. 



The bed found on the 0. H. P. Bodine headright is the upper or highest 

 bed found in a boring made near the same place under the direction of Mr. 

 Hoxie, when general manager of the Texas and Pacific Railway. The drill 

 was carried down eighty feet, and in its course passed through three beds or 

 deposits of lignite, showing thicknesses of twelve, six, and six feet. The 

 lowest bed was not pierced through, owing to the quantity of water accumu- 

 lating in the well and the inadequate means of pumping at hand. While 

 this bed is known to have a thickness of six feet, its actual thickness may be 

 much more. 



Sections showing the positions of the lignite have already been given in 

 the preceding pages. In one of the sections the lignite was found lying 

 upon a white sand. The section shown on page 128 shows the lignite at 

 Robertson's Ferry, on the Sabine River, to rest upon a dark blue sandy 

 clay, and on the Francis Wilson headright, as shown by the section on page 

 146 the lignite rests upon a blue iron-stained clay. 



At Rocky Ford, on the Sabine River, the lignite stretches across the river 

 in the form of a bar, and disappears under a deep covering of gray sand. 

 This bar of lignite has a width of about forty feet and slopes downward in 

 its passage across the stream, being about three feet higher at its upper edge 

 than at the lower. The lignite from this place is a dark black, devoid of 

 lustre, and friable when exposed to atmospheric agencies. In burning it has 

 an unpleasant odor and leaves a soft- brown ash. The thickness of this bed 

 is said to be four feet. 



A section of the place gives the following: 



1. Light yellowish gray silty sand . .... 20 feet. 



2. Lignite 4 feet. 



24 feet. 

 Except in very dry seasons this bed is always covered with water. 



