GEOLOGY OF EA SALTvE COUNTY. 



49 



Fourth, ocher cla\^s, really as we have them, low 

 D-rade ores of iron. A bed of red cla}^ or clay slate, is 

 found west of the Big Vermillion, near Bailey's Falls, 

 which may be turned to account as a paint. There is 

 an immense supply of it; it is very accessible and the 

 color a pleasing- brown. 



The cla3's of La Salle count}^ also are important 

 from another point of view. Some of them are rich in 

 aluminum, carrying 30 to 35 per cent,, or more, of this 

 valuable metal. All that is needed to create a demand 

 for them in this direction is the discovery of a process 

 for obtaininof the metal directly from the clay. ' We pre- 

 sume this will be accomplished at no distant day, and 

 then these clay banks will be important as mines of a 

 valuable ore. All in all, the clays are of immense 

 value, of more worth to the world than all the ofold of 

 California — a surer and more regular source of wealth 

 than it, and much more necessary to the comfort and 

 convenience of mankind. These clays are not onl}^ 

 extensively manufactured, but are also shipped in large 

 quantities to Chicago and other places to be used 

 in making brick, tile, etc. 



Coal.==The coals of the county differ in quality 

 as well as the horizon of the bed. No. 2, coverino- 

 the greatest area, is a good steam coal and most exten- 

 sively mined, it being easily accessible at many points. 

 No. 7, covering a smaller portion of the county, is 

 thicker and yields in proportion to territory covered a 

 larger amount of fuel, and this coal makes less soot 

 than that of No. 2. No. 8 is hard, burns slowh^ and 

 is not generally- liked for any purpose for which it has 

 been used, and is little mined at the present time. But 

 the same bed differs considerably in qualitv in different 

 places, sometimes containing much more p3^rite or 

 other impurity than at others, so that the character of 



