stone] COAL IN SOUTHWESTERN ALASKA. 159 
Section of coal in Eastland Cam/on, Kachemak Hay. 
Ft, in. 
Coal 1 3 
Clay 2 
Coal 4 
Clay and coal 1 .°> 
Coal 2 6 
Total 5 6 
This seam is about 250 feet above tide, has a sandstone roof and 
clay floor, and dips north at an angle of 4°. The tunnel driven at the 
end of the tramway on this coal seam is choked at the mouth and was 
not accessible. Farther upstream, on the eastern fork, there is a coal 
seam 3 feet 2 inches thick at an elevation of 360 feet, and a vertical 
fault crosses the canyon, trending N. 45° W. 
The next stream entering the bay by a deep canyon is 1 mile beyond 
Eastland. A 20-foot fall within a few rods of the beach suggests the 
name Falls Creek, given to it by the writer. A number of coal seams 
1 to 2 feet thick are exposed in the bed of the stream. There are at 
least four which range in thickness from 3 to 6 feet. The coal in this 
cairyon is fairly solid, but light and woody. It has a dull fracture and 
brown color, unlike the glossy lignite west of Homer spit. This char- 
acter is noticeable from McNeil Canyon eastward. 
From Falls Creek toward the head of the bay the strata dip at low 
angles toward the north. For some distance the upper part of the 
bluff is red, due to the baking of clay beds by the burning of coal 
seams. The coal-bearing formation is visible as far as the head of the 
bay, and a 3-foot seam of coal is reported 15 miles beyond the head of 
the bay, 200 feet above tide, on Sheep Creek. 
Shoal water extending a half mile or more offshore makes access to 
the Kachemak Bay coal seams difficult, and the quality of the fuel is 
such that there is no large demand for it. Analyses of some of these 
coals are given on page 170. 
The Kachemak Bay coals carry a large quantity of moisture and it 
seems probable that 15 to 20 per cent is the amount that would be held 
by the marketed coal. DalPs analyses for the same field average less 
than 12 per cent moisture, which is explained by the fact that his sam- 
ples were kept in cloth bags and had a chance to dry. A recent 
experiment by W. F. Hillebrand showed that a coarse ground sample 
contained in a covered tin standing' in the laboratory lost one-half per 
cent of moisture in a week. 
The fuel ratio of the coal from this bay is low and its bulkiness is also 
an objection. It can be mined in large quantity without much difficulty 
and is an excellent house coal, but the demand for it is small in this 
region. This coal will make steam readily and might be used locally 
if it were offered for sale at the proper price. If put on the market, 
Kachemak Bay coal would have to compete with higher grade lignites 
