20 



XOTEB OINT THE GEOJ.OGY 



"West of the river it is seen near the mouth of Scott's Eun, on Mr. Boyer's pro- 

 perty. It is tliere about four and one-half feet thick, and was worked somewhat, 

 many years ago, for blacksmiths' use, the coal being very pure. A mile and a half 

 up the run, a little stream comes in, on which this bed is exposed, showing a thick- 

 ness of four feet. The next exposure is by the side of the road at the " fill." The coal 

 disappears under the run at Stumptown, opposite Ira Eamsay's house, a little more 

 than two miles from the river. There is now no opening on Scott's Run, and it is 

 almost impossible to speak positively respecting its character there. 



On Robinson's Run, a short distance above Mr. Murphy's house, perhaps two and 

 one-half miles from the river, several rude openings have been made. Here the coal 

 is four feet nine inches thickness, showing a clear bright wall at the end of the drift. 

 The coal is very brilliant and compact, coming out in large blocks, two feet from the 

 outcrop, and showing little disposition to disintegrate upon exposure. At these 

 openings the fireclay varies in thickness at the expense of the coal, sometimes cutting 

 out a foot. The Ijed disappears a short distance beyond this locality. 



Wherever seen, this is the clearest and purest coal in the basin. It seems to con- 

 tain a very inconsiderable proportion of pyrites, and it has always been in great favor 

 among the blacksmiths. Openings in this as well as the Sewickly are not numerous 

 except in short distances. The people evidently regard a four or five feet seam too 

 thin to pay, and the inclination is to depend on the Pittsburgh coal. Along Scott's 

 Run there are, however, some who appreciate the excellence of these coals, and use 

 them in j^reference to those of the Pittsburgh bed, even abandoning openings into the 

 latter l)ed on their own propei'ty. 



The Sewickly and Redstone coals diminish in tliiclaiess toward the south and west. 

 At Fairmount, twenty miles south from Morgantown, the Redstone is three to tln-ee 

 and one-half feet thick, with a slaty parting. The Sewickly reaches four feet and has 

 a pai'ting of bituminous shale. They appear to be represented at Wheeling by two 

 seams, twenty feet a]jart, and each five inches thick. ^ ■ • • ' 



Piitsbur(j]i Limestone. Under this term I include all the limestone below the 

 Waynesl)urg coal, although I am aware, that it does not rightly cover so much. The 

 total thickness is about one hundred feet in three hundred and fifty feet of strata. The 

 color varies from light blue to almost black, while most of the strata are quite com- 

 pact. The layers in each stratum are separated by thin calcareous shale. J^o 12 of 

 our section yields a good hydraulic lime, which, however, has sufficient tendency to 

 slack to prevent its being a cement of high grade. ISi o fossils have been found in any 

 part of the deposit here ; but at Wheeling, a layer of bituminous shale, about two 

 inches thick, occurs thirty-five feet above the coal, and contains a great number of 



