PYRITE IN COAL 
J. M. LINDLY 
A general discussion of this subject is not intended in this 
article, only the consideration of a deposit of pyrite in coal of 
a very unusual nature. 
Some time in the earlier part of the year of 1922, as I was put- 
ting coal into the furnace of our place of business in Winfield, 
I found imbedded in a large lump of coal an object that very 
closely resembled a stone ax of prehistoric times. 
The coal that we were using at this time had been procured 
form the Home Lumber Company, one of our local dealers, who 
had received the coal from some mine east or southeast of East 
St. Louis, Illinois, probably located about forty or fifty miles from 
the latter city. This coal was in large pieces. One of these 
pieces was a little too large to carry to the door of the furnace. I 
gave it a tap with the sledge. Instead of its breaking into several 
small pieces, it separated into two almost equal pieces, and in the 
heart of this large piece or lump of coal lay what appeared to be 
a stone ax. 
j Fig. 1. Left view, edge of “ax.” Right view, face of “ax.” 
