collier.] MINOOK CREEK. 41 
located on the bank of the Yukon directly opposite the month of Hess Creek. An 
attempt was made to steam the boilers of the United States steamer Nunivak, using 
this coal alone, but without success. Used mixed with Comox coal in the propor- 
tion of two parts of Yukon to one part Comox, moderate steaming could be done. 
Used with wood, it served fairly well, about 400 pounds being used with one cord of 
wood." Used to maintain low-banked fires when the engine was stopped, it seemed 
to be fully as good as Comox coal. If, however, a fire was wanted to furnish steam 
for running a 10-kilowatt dynamo, the Yukon coal was inferior, due chiefly to 
the waste caused by the sifting of the coal through the grates when the fires were 
disturbed with fresh coal or fire tools. Although the attempt to steam with this 
coal was a failure, I am of the opinion that with some experimenting to deter- 
mine the best kind of grates, amount of grate surface and draft most suitable, 
and the proper way to handle the coal in the furnace, good results could be 
obtained. Judging by my limited experience, the Yukon coal will compare with 
Comox coal and with wood about as follows, using the average hourly consumption 
of the Nunivak as a basis: 1,200 to 1,500 pounds Comox coal equal 2,000 to 2,500 
pounds of Yukon coal, equal 1\ to lh cords of spruce wood. Comox coal was on 
the market in St. Michael in 1899 at $15 per long ton. The same price was charged 
pet- short ton for the Yukon coal at the mine. The cost of wood is from $6 to $10 
per cord. 
At the point where this mine was opened a low hill rises about 200 
feet above the river, affording a considerable amount of coal above the 
river level that could be stoped down into a main gangway driven in 
directly from the river bank. Behind this hill there is a broad 
depression, nearly one-fourth mile wide, cutting off the greater part 
of this coal seam. Beyond this depression there is again high ground, 
reaching an elevation of from 400 to 600 feet above the river. The 
greater part of the coal above water level in the hill near the river has 
probably been mined. In extending the mine along the strike of the 
bed there will be a limited amount of coal to be mined above the gang- 
way at the present level until the higher hill is reached. Here, if this 
bed holds its thickness and is not displaced b} r faulting or folding, a 
large amount of coal will be found that can be readily stoped down 
into a gangway at the present level. It is also probable that further 
prospecting may show some of the other coal beds here exposed to be 
of economic importance. Most of these beds are well situated topo- 
graphicalty for yielding a continuous supply of coal. 
Minook Creel-. — This creek enters Yukon River from the south 
side, about 1 mile above the town of Rampart. It has a length of 
about 20 miles, heading in the Yukon-Tanana divide, opposite the head 
of Baker Creek, which Hows to the Tanana. Sandstones carrying some 
coal seams outcrop along the left bank of the Yukon for 3 or 4 miles 
above Minook Creek and also about 2 miles below the town of Rampart. 
They form the floor of Minook Creek Valley for 2 miles above its junc- 
tion with the Yukon. They are best exposed in a bluff along the left 
bank of the Yukon for several miles above the mouth of Minook Creek. 
The strike of the beds at this place is constant, N. 70° E. , while the 
dip increases from 20° near the northern end of the outcrop to 50° 
