88  CONTRIBUTIONS   TO   ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,   1907,   PART   II. 
north  of  the  creek  and  that  was  at  a  point  on  the  west  slope  of  a 
ridge  three-fourths  of  a  mile  N.  12°  E.  from  the  Rees  mine  mentioned 
above. 
Section  of  coal  bed  on  Sixteenmile  Creek. 
Shale.  Ft.  in. 
Coal 1     9 
Shale,  brown 2     4 
Coal 3 
Clay,  sandy 2 
Coal 2 
Clay,  sandy 1 
Coal * 3 
Sandstone.  
7     9 
Although  the  bed  contains  over  5  feet  of  coal,  it  is  so  broken  and 
separated  by  partings  as  to  be  economically  unworkable,  and  it 
stands  at  so  high  an  angle  that  it  can  not  readily  be  developed.  The 
section  was  measured  at  the  grass  roots  and  so  is  not  very  reliable. 
It  is  possible  that  the  thick  benches  of  coal  at  the  top  and  bottom  of 
the  section  contain  small  partings  or  other  impurities  that  make  them 
of  little  value.  Prospecting  to  some  depth  is  necessary  to  determine 
this  point. 
Development  of  this  same  coal  bed  has  been  attempted  on  the  head 
of  Cottonwood  Fork  of  Sixteenmile  Creek  in  sees.  12  and.  13,  T.  5  N., 
R.  8  E.  The  outcrop  is  marked  by  several  small  pits,  in  one  of  which 
the  bed  can  be  seen  now,  but  the  dumps  suggest  that  although  coal 
was  found  in  these  prospects  it  was  too  thin  to  mine.  Farther  south 
along  the  same  outcrop,  in  the  southwest  corner  of  sec.  24,  a  slope  was 
driven  to  cut  the  coal  and  a  shaft  was  sunk.  The  slope  is  completely 
closed  and  the  shaft,  which  is  well  timbered  and  covered  with  a  cabin, 
is  partly  filled  with  water.  The  expense  of  keeping  the  shaft  free 
from  water  was  probably  the  cause  of  its  abandonment. 
Still  farther  south  along  the  outcrop,  which  is  the  narrow  crest 
of  an  anticline,  other  pits  have  been  dug  and  abandoned  at  a  depth  of 
a  few  feet.  The  composition  of  the  dumps  suggests  that  although  a 
small  amount  of  apparently  fair  subbituminous  coal  was  found,  the 
value  of  the  bed  is  greatly  affected  by  carbonaceous-sandstone 
binders.  The  coal  has  been  mined  and  can  be  seen  in  the  southeast 
corner  of  sec.  36,  T.  5  N.,  R.  8  E.  At  this  point,  in  the  stream  bank, 
close  under  the  township  standard  corner  stone,  a  tunnel  was  driven 
west  for  140  feet  to  undercut  the  coal  bed,  which  dips  at  an  angle  of 
65°  E.  Drifts  were  run  for  20  to  40  feet  along  the  coal  in  both  direc- 
tions, and  it  is  said  that  about  200  tons  was  sold,  but  the  bed  ranged 
in  thickness  from  2  to  3  feet  and  lay  so  close  to  the  surface  that  it 
showed  the  effects  of  surface  weathering.  The  opening  is  said  to  have 
been  abandoned  because  the  coal  bed  pinched  out.  This  statement 
was  not  verified,  but  considering  the  fact  that  there  is  a  demand  for 
steaming  coal  for  the  traction  engines  used  for  plowing  and  harvesting 
