POCKET    COAL    DISTRICT,    VIRGINIA.  413 
bed  1.  This  bed  is  said  to  range  in  thickness  from  3J  to  6  feet,  with 
an  average  of  4|  feet,  and  it  is  generally  free  from  partings.  It  usually 
has  a  sandstone  roof  and  floor,  although  in  some  localities  a  "draw 
slate"  is  present  between  the  coal  and  overlying  sandstone,  which 
attains  a  maximum  thickness  of  7  feet.  As  this  is  the  lowest  work- 
able bed  in  the  series,  it  has  a  wider  distribution  than  any  other  coal 
bed  in  the  district.  It  outcrops  in  the  bluffs  on  either  side  of  Straight 
Creek,  a  short  distance  above  its  mouth,  and  is  carried  by  the  dips 
beneath  the  level  of  that  stream  some  distance  below  Black  Mountain 
station. 
Bed  2. — About  300  feet  above  bed  1  is  bed  2,  which  averages  3  feet 
in  thickness.  It  is  overlain  .by  sandstone  and  underlain  by  shale 
and  contains  no  partings  of  appreciable  thickness.  This  coal  bed  out- 
crops on  the  west  bank  of  Straight  Creek,  about  one-fourth  mile  below 
Black  Mountain  station,  where  it  passes  beneath  the  level  of  the 
creek. 
Bed  2  A. — Forty  feet  higher  stratigraphically  than  bed  2  is  another 
somewhat  thicker  coal  bed,  which  has  been  designated  bed  2  A.  In 
some  localities  this  coal  bed  is  said  to  reach  a  thickness  of  6  feet,  but 
its  normal  thickness  is  about  3  feet.  The  bed  generally  consists  of 
clean  coal  without  partings,  and  has  a  sandstone  roof  and  shale  floor. 
It  has  been  mined  slightly  at  a  country  bank  on  the  west  side  of 
Straight  Creek,  at  Black  Mountain  station,  where  it  occurs  about  10 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  valley. 
Bed  3. — This  coal  bed  occurs  about  40  feet  above  coal  bed  2  A,  and 
nas  a  thickness  of  3  feet  2  inches  at  the  Virginia  Lee  Company's  mine, 
one-fourth  mile  above  Black  Mountain  station,  on  the  west  side  of 
Baley  Trace,  where  the  bed  is  now  worked.  This  thickness  is  slightly 
below  the  average.  A  2-inch  parting  occurs  about  1  foot  above  the 
base,  and  the  coal  is  overlain  by  drab  shale,  which  is  said  to  afford 
an  exceptionally  strong  roof.  The  floor  is  of  clay.  Bed  3  passes  be- 
neath the  level  of  Baley  Trace  near  the  mouth  of  Fawn  Branch. 
Bed  4- — At  about  180  feet  above  bed  3  is  bed  4,  which  has  a  thick- 
ness of  about  2 J  feet.  This  attains  workable  thickness  at  a  few  places 
in  this  field.  It  is  exposed  on  the  west  side  of  Baley  Trace,  above  t  lie 
mouth  of  Fawn  Brand). 
Bed  5. — This  coal  bed  occurs  about  180  feet  above  No.  4.  It  ranges 
in  thickness  from  3  to  4  feet  and  is  clean  and  free  from  partings.  It 
is  overlain  by  sandstone  and  underlain  by  clay.  Al  the  head  of 
Fawn  Branch,  where  this  bed  is  being  opened  al  many  places,  a 
measurement  of  one  of  the  beds  opened  by  the  Virginia  Lee  Com- 
pany gives  a  thickness  of  3  feet  7  inches,  with  no  appreciable  parting. 
Bed  5  is  opened  and  mined  at  many  places  along  Fawn  Branch.,  Baley 
