ROGUE   RIVER   VALLEY   COAL   EIELD,    OREGON.  403 
COAL   NEAR   MEDFORD. 
The  coal  6  miles  east  of  Medford  lies  along  the  foot  of  the  steeper 
slope,  which  rises  from  the  edge  of  the  valley,  600  feet  above  the 
town,  to  the  bold  front  of  the  Cascade  Range.  Some  years  ago  the 
Southern  Pacific  Company  prospected  a  coal  bed  at  this  point,  and 
the  size  of  the  dump  indicates  that  the  trial  drift  must  have  been 
about  100  feet  in  length.  Since  then  R.  P.  Little  has  discovered  a 
number  of  other  coal  beds  a  short  distance  farther  up  on  the  same 
hillside  and  opened  two  of  them  by  slopes,  tunnels,  and  drifts  aggre- 
gating nearly  900  feet  in  length.  Drainage  is  effected  by  a  lateral 
tunnel  into  an  adjacent  ravine.  Considerable  coal  has  been  hauled 
to  Medford  and  sold  at  $8  per  ton. 
The  principal  bed  prospected  is  about  12  feet  thick,  and  the  striking 
feature  at  the  entrance  of  the  gentle  slope  is  the  large  number  of  clay 
and  sand  partings  with  very  little  coal  between  them.  The  partings 
weathering  whitish  are  strongly  contrasted  with  the  darker  bands. 
As  the  slope  is  descended  along  the  bed  there  appears  a  decided 
increase  in  the  quantity  and  improvement  in  the  quality  of  the  coal 
toward  the  northeast.  The  bands  of  black  lustrous  coal,  generally 
not  over  6  to  8  inches  thick,  locally  swell  to  more  than  a  foot  and 
furnish  the  source  of  supply  for  the  local  demand.  The  intermediate 
shaly  coal  and  coaly  shale  is  abundant  and  requires  much  picking  to 
obtain  satisfactory  results.  Several  faults  striking  N.  40°  E.  and 
dipping  26°  to  42°  SE.  have  been  encountered  in  the  tunnels.  The 
direction  of  movement  and  the  amount  of  displacement  could  not  be 
definitely  determined.  No  lavas  were  seen  in  the  mine,  but  they 
appear  higher  up,  overlying  the  whole  succession  of  coal  beds.  The 
decided  improvement  in  the  coal  down  the  dip  suggested  that  as  the 
most  favorable  direction  in  which  to  prospect. 
Since  the  examination  on  which  the  foregoing  statement  is  based 
was  made  the  Pacific  Coal  Company  has  purchased  this  mine  and  lias 
developed  the  openings  to  the  northeast  along  the  dip  of  the  coal  bed 
for  more  than  1,000  feet.  The  prediction  that  the  coal  would  be 
found  of  better  quality  and  in  larger  quantity  has  been  confirmed. 
A  few  small  faults  have  been  encountered,  but  these  are  all  of  the 
normal  type  and  easily  overcome.  The  mine  is  now  producing  coal 
and  supplies  the  local  market.  The  development  of  this  mine  has 
greatly  stimulated  prospecting  in  other  parts  of  the  field. 
J.  A.  Holmes,  of  the  Geological  Survey,  collected  a  sample  of  coal 
at  this  locality  last  summer  and  has  kindly  furnished  the  following 
results  of  an  analysis  made  in  the  laboratory  of  the  Survey  fuel- 
testing  plant: 
