eckel.]  IRON    ORES    OF    NORTHEASTERN    TEXAS.  351 
This  particular  section,  it  will  be  noted,  shows  but  one  ore  bed; 
but  a  10-foot  pit  farther  up  the  same  hill  shows  alternate  layers,  one- 
half  to  3  inches  thick,  of  sandy  ore  and  white  clay. 
The  thickest  single  ore  bed  opened  in  any  of  these  cuts  measures 
about  30  inches.  The  aggregate  thickness  of  all  the  seams  may  aver- 
age a  little  less  than  3  feet. 
Numerous  deposits  of  lignite  occur  in  this  area.  At  Stone  Coal 
Bluff,  on  the  Sulphur  Fork,  a  6-foot  bed  of  lignite  occurs  at  the  base 
of  the  bluff,  exposed  only  at  low  water.  A  well  1  mile  west  of  Alamo 
station  showed  two  lignite  beds,  the  uppermost  1  foot  8  inches  thick, 
struck  at  a  depth  of  about  50  feet,  while  a  thicker  bed  (4  feet  2 
inches)  was  struck  about  10  feet  below  the  first.  Most  wells  within 
a  mile  or  two  of  Queen  City,  on  the  west  side  of  the  town,  strike 
lignite  beds  within  about  25  feet  of  the  surface. 
Should  it  prove  practicable  to  utilize  this  lignite  (either  directly 
or  as  a  gas-producing  material)  in  blast-furnace  practice,  its  occur- 
rence near  the  Queen  City  iron-ore  deposits  would  be  of  much  prac- 
tical interest. 
Along  the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Kailroad,  from  Jefferson 
to  Dangerfield,  a  series  of  important  ore  deposits  occur.  Many  of 
them  have  been  worked  at  different  times  to  supply  the  furnace  at 
Jefferson,  so  that  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  composition  and  ex- 
tent of  these  ores  can  easily  be  obtained.  The  principal  deposits  are 
located  between  Lasater  (Pyland  post-office)  and  Veals  Switch,  a 
few  miles  northwest  of  Hughes  Springs.  All  these  deposits  were 
examined  in  some  detail. 
The  first  important  deposit  westward  of  Jefferson  is  on  Doctor 
McCasland's  property,  one- fourth  mile  southwest  of  Lasater.  Here 
an  area  of  about  20  acres  is  underlain  by  nodular  iron  ore.  The  iron- 
ore  fragments  are  8  to  12  inches  in  diameter,  and  occur  in  sands,  the 
total  thickness  shown  being  about  2  feet.  The  ore  is  usually  overlain 
by  2  or  3  feet  of  clayey  sand  and  soil. 
The  Booth  ore  bank,  formerly  worked  extensively  by  the  Jefferson 
Iron  Company,  is  located  1  mile  west  of  Lasater.  Here  2  feet  of 
massive  ore  of  excellent  quality  is  shown  in  a  series  of  shallow  pits. 
This  is  overlain  in  places  by  about  6  inches  of  yellow  indurated  sands. 
The  principal  ore  banks  of  the  Jefferson  Iron  Company  are  about 
2  miles  northwest  of  Lasater,  the  ore  having  been  shipped  at  ( )n- 
switch,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  mines.  Several  feet  of 
bedded  ore  are  here  shown,  but  as  much  small  ore  occurs  in  the  over- 
lying dirt,  the  workable  thickness  amounts  to  4  or  5  feet. 
The  next  series  of  large  deposits  occurs  at  and  near  Hughes  Springs. 
Excavations  made  on  Hooten  Hill,  one-half  mile  away  from  the  sta- 
tion at  Hughes,  shows  3  feet  of  massive  hard  ore  overlain  by  3  feet  of 
wash  ore,  consisting  of  ore  fragments  mixed  with  soil,  etc. 
