oris  wold.]         COAL    IN    BURGETTSTOWN    QUADRANGLE,    PA.  407 
into  the  headwaters  of  Kings  Creek,  down  which  it  would  proceed  to 
Ohio  River.  Probably  the  most  expensive  part  of  the  line  would  be 
the  tunnel  near  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  since  the  grade  of  the  stream 
at  this  point  is  too  great  to  be  followed  by  a  railroad  line. 
PITTSBURG  COAL. 
In  all  that  portion  of  the  area  in  which  the  Monongahela  formation 
has  not  been  eroded  the  Pittsburg  coal  is  present.  Within  this  area 
the  coal  is  remarkably  regular  in  thickness  and  quality,  not  attaining 
the  maximum  thickness  found  in  the  Monongahela  Valley  to  the  east, 
but  averaging  over  54  inches  of  workable  coal.  In  fact,  this  coal  bed 
is  so  constant  in  thickness  and  quality  that  large  sums  have  been 
expended  in  the  purchase  of  coal  lands  in  localities  where  the  outcrop 
is  several  miles  away  without  the  previous  precaution  of  test  wells  to 
determine  the  presence  and  thickness  of  the  coal.  Space  does  not 
permit  the  presentation  of  detailed  sections  of  the  coal  and  of  par- 
ticular descriptions  of  the  mines.  Only  a  short  description  of  the  coal 
can  be  given  with  reference  to  its  slopes  and  the  most  advantageous 
points  from  which  to  develop  the  territory  so  that  the  coal  may  be 
delivered  by  gravity  to  the  mouth  of  the  mine  or  to  the  foot  of  a  shaft. 
In  the  northeast  corner  of  the  quadrangle  the  coal  shows  in  many 
places  in  outcrop.  All  of  the  large  streams  and  most  of  their  prin- 
cipal tributaries  have  cut  their  channels  bejow  the  horizon  of  this  bed, 
exposing  it  in  the  hillsides.  The  dip  of  the  coal  is  not  pronounced 
except  to  the  southeast  and  the  southwest  of  the  Candor  dome,  where 
it  dips  advantageously  for  mining  and  delivery  to  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad.  North  of  the  summit  of  the  dome  the  coal  is  nearly  flat, 
but  it  has  been  dissected  to  such  an  extent  by  the  streams  that  mines 
can  be  located  in  almost  any  ravine,  so  as  to  have  natural  drainage 
and  down  grade  for  hauling  the  coal  to  the  mouth  of  the  mine. 
Similar  conditions  exist  throughout  the  region  from  the  Candor  dome 
to  the  town  of  Clinton. 
The  only  coal  area  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the  quadrangle  that 
is  large  enough  to  support  commercial  mines  lies  along  Florence 
Ridge  and  the  high  spurs  which  extend  toward  the  south.  In  this 
territory  the  coal  has  a  southeast  dip,  and  it  can  be  brought  to  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  at  or  near  Burgettstown  by  a  long  down- 
grade underground  haul  or  to  tipples  overlooking  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  on  the  ends  of  the  spurs  which  extend  south  from  the  main 
ridge  toward  Harmons  Creek. 
A  short  distance  south  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  the  coal  goes 
under  cover  and  does  not  appear  again  except  along  the  valley  of 
Cross  Creek,  near  the  western  edge  of  the  quadrangle,  and  on 
Westland  Run  in  the  southeast  corner. 
