1(32 THE CLAYS OF ARKANSAS. 
Some small patches of brick earth occur close to Altus. These 
vary in extent from 1 to 10 acres. No bricks have been made here 
for several years. 
The following is a section at Altus station, on the St. Louis, Iron 
Mountain and Southern Railway : 
Section at Altus station. 
Feet. 
Reddish-brown clay 3 
Yellow clay 2 
Whitish-yellow clay, visible 1 
The colors seem to be the only distinguishing features, as each of 
the three divisions contains pebbles and their texture is otherwise 
alike. 
In the N. ^ SE. I sec. 16, T. 9 N., R. 26 W., the road passes a band 
of red sandy clay. It lies upon the slope of a hill, facing north. It 
is about 150 yards across, but its depth is not known. 
At several places around Altus there are disintegrated blue argilla- 
ceous shales. On the Roseville and Altus road these shales are 
among red and blue shales and thin beds of sandstone close to George 
Page's house, in the SW. J NE. \ sec. 2, T. 9 N., R. 26 W., and also 
in a ditch at a corresponding level in the NE. \ SE. J sec. 16. 
CLAY INDUSTRY. 
In the NE. \ NE. \ sec. 20, T. 10 N., R. 26 W., J. M. Van Curom at 
one time manufactured coarse earthenware. The material used was a 
partially disintegrated red and light-blue argillaceous shale, from 18 
inches to 4 feet in thickness, which occurs on the tops of the hills near 
by. The shale is overlain by a thin layer of gravel, and owing to the 
difficulty of separating the two the material used in this pottery con- 
tained a considerable quantity of small pebbles, which, with the 
appliances employed, the owner of the shop was not able to remove 
entirely. The red color of this material is so marked that even when 
ready for burning the ware has a light-red color. 
Only the commonest classes of ware used in the neighborhood, such 
as churns, jugs, crocks, and jars, were manufactured. A small 
quantity of 6-inch piping was also made, for chimney flues. 
The slip used for glazing was the ordinary black or Albany glaze. 
The kiln was not suitable for salt glazing. Owing to the general 
roughness of the ware a great amount of slip was used, leaving a 
rough surface streaked with slip in different stages of fusion. The 
construction of the kiln also allowed ashes to settle on the hot ware, 
where it became fixed by the glazing, thus adding to the roughness 
of the surface. 
The fuel used in this kiln was mostly oak wood, but coal was also 
used. 
