landes;]  CLAY    DEPOSITS    OF    WASHINGTON.  553 
of  the  fire  clays.  They  are  brown  to  black  in  color,  and  contain 
some  carbonaceous  matter.  The  presence  of  nonmarine  shells  within 
the  clays,  in  connection  with  other  facts,  tends  to  prove  their  estuarine 
or  fresh-water  origin. 
The  coal  which  is  mined  in  connection  with  the  clay  is  all  shipped 
to  the  factory  at  Van  Asselt,  where  it  is  used  in  burning  the  clay 
wares.  Relatively  pure  sand  is  obtained  from  the  beds  of  sand- 
stone noted  in  the  section  above.  The  sand  is  shipped  to  the  factory 
and  used  with  the  clay  in  the  manufacture  of  certain  articles. 
In  mining  clay,  coal,  and  sand  at  Kummer  tunnels  have  been 
driven  into  the  various  beds  and  seams  at  points  about  20  feet  above 
the  high- water  mark  of  Green  River.  From  the  river  bank  the 
materials  are  drawn  up  an  incline  over  600  feet  in  length  to  the  top 
of  the  plateau.  At  this  place  they  are  dumped  into  cars  and  car- 
ried to  Van  Asselt. 
About  2  miles  west  of  the  town  of  Kummer,  at  the  base  of  one  of 
the  bluffs  of  Green  River,  several  beds  of  clay  have  been  found  and 
some  pits  opened.  As  far  as  developments  show,  the  beds  are  com- 
paratively thin  and  lie  almost  flat.  The  clays  exhibit  several  varie- 
ties of  color,  some  being  red,  some  blue,  and  some  pure  white.  Much 
of  the  clay  is  very  fine  grained,  free  from  grit,  and  possesses  marked 
plastic  qualities.  These  pits  have  been  opened  by  the  Auburn  Pot- 
tery Company,  and  the  clay  is  hauled  by  wagon  to  Auburn,  about  10 
miles  awa}-. 
At  Taylor,  on  one  of  the  branch  lines  of  the  Columbia  and  Puget 
Sound  Railway,  are  extensive  deposits  of  clay,  which  have  been  used 
for  some  time  by  the  Denny  Clay  Company.  The  clays  are  part  of 
the  coal-bearing  series,  and  both  clay  and  coal  are  taken  from  the 
same  tunnel.  The  strata  have  a  northwest-southeast  strike  and  a  dip 
to  the  southwest  of  82°.  In  the  old  workings  clay  is  taken  from  one 
stratum,  having  a  width  of  18  feet.  This  clay  is  compact  and  hard, 
and  is  in  three  colors — white,  buff,  and  purple.  At  the  new  workings 
a  tunnel  of  1,000  feet  has  been  driven  which  has  crossed  several  layers 
of  clay,  coal,  and  sandstone.     The  tunnel  shows  the  following  section : 
Section  in  new  tunnel  at  Taylor. 
Feet. 
Glacial   sediment 15 
Sandstone 00 
Coal    (No.   1) 5 
Purple  clay 18 
Sandstone 4."> 
Clay    (No.   1) 18 
Sandstone 00 
(May    (No.  2) 10 
Sandstone 75 
Coal    (No,  2) 7 
