206  CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,  1905. 
information  is  available.  Considerable  prospecting  has  been  done,  and  large  mines  have 
been  developed  by  the  Utah  Fuel  Company  at  Castle  Gate,  Winter  Quarters.  Clear  Creek, 
and  Sunnyside. 
The  outcrop  of  the  coal-bearing  rocks  shows  continuously  from  Grand  Junction,  Colo., 
westward  into  Utah,  in  what  is  generally  known  as  the  Book  Cliffs.  This  outcrop  cross! 
the  line  of  the  Rio  Grande  Western  Railway  at  Castle  Gate,  ancfal  thai  point  a  large  mine 
has  been  in  operation  for  a  number  of  years.  West  of  Castle  Gate  the  outcrop  swings  tc 
the  south  along  the  eastern  front  of  the  Wasatch  Plateau.  Some  development  has  taker 
place  along  this  line  to  the  south,  and  also  to  the  north  in  an  isolated  field  in  the  vicinity  oi 
Coalville,  where  considerable  mining  has  been  done. 
During  the  past  year  J.  A.  Tall',  assisted  by  C.  D.  Smith,  made  a  reconnaissance  of  mosl 
of  this  territory,  giving  particular  attention  to  the  Book  Cliffs  Held.  This  was  done  for  the 
purpose  of  determining  the  number  and  extent  of  the  workable  beds,  the  quality  of  the  coal 
and  the  amount  of  coal  land  still  unclaimed. 
Other Jields.— In  addition  to  the  work  already  mentioned,  which  was  done  expressly  fo) 
the  purpose  of  determining  the  extent  of  the  fuel  resources  of  the  country,  surveys  wen 
made  of  coals  in  other  fields  in  the  course  of  general  geologic  work.  This  was  particular! 
the  case  in  Wyoming,  where  C.  A.  fisher  obtained  valuable  information  on  the  coals  of  th< 
Bighorn  basin;  in  New  Mexico,  where  Willis  T.  Lee  obtained  data  on  the  scattering  coal  held; 
of  the  central  and  southern  part  of  the  Territory,  and  in  Utah,  where  G.  B.  Kichardsoi 
obtained  in  format  ion  on  similar  outlying  fields  in  the  central  part  of  the  State. 
WORK    OF   THE   FUEL-TESTING    DIVISION. 
The  plan  tor  i he  work  of  fuel  testing  w as  originally  proposed  by  Prof.  .1.  A.  I Iolmes,  chie 
of  the  mines  and  metallurgy  department  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition,  but  til 
actual  work  of  building  up  the  plant  and  carrying  on  the  tests  for  the  lirst  year  was  done  by 
committee.     This  committee  was  appointed  by  the  Director  of  the  Geological  Survey  an«i 
consisted  of  E.  W.  Parker,  J.  A.  Holmes,  and  M.  P.  Campbell. 
The  conditions  imposed  by  the  act  of  Congress  under  which  this  work  was  done  were  tha 
all  the  apparatus  and  material  to  he  tested  should  be  supplied  free  of  charge  to  the  Govern 
nient ,  but  even  with  this  restriction  and  the  small  appropriation  available  a  fairly  ellicien 
plant  was  established  on  the  exposition  grounds,  with  facilities  lor  making  chemical  tests 
washing  tests,  steaming  tests,  coking  tests,  briquetting  tests,  and  producer-gas  tt'sts.  Eac 
of  these  lines  of  work  was  placed  under  a  man  who  had  made  a  specialty  of  work  of  thi 
sort  and  was  considered  an  expert.  The  plant  was  run  continuously  from  about  Scptemix 
1,  190-1,  until  January  1,  1905,  and,  after  a  shut  down  of  a  few  months  for  alterations  an 
i-epairs,  was  again  put  in  operation  in  the  spring  of  1905.  A  preliminary  statement  of  th 
first  season's  work  was  published  several  months  ago  as  Bulletin  No.  261  of  the  United  State 
Geological  Survey,  and  a  more  detailed  report  of  that  work  has  just  been  issued  (Profe; 
sional  Paper  No.  48). 
Of  the  general  results  it  is  not  necessary  here  to  speak,  but  it  seems  desirable  to  call  attei 
tion  to  the  geologic  bearing  of  the  work.  This  may  be  divided  into  two  parts — first,  tin 
which  concerns  the  chemical  composit  ion  of  the  coal :  and  second,  the  geographical  distribi 
tion  of  the  samples  that  were  tested  and  their  representative  character. 
CHEMICAL   work. 
The  chemical  work  of  the  coal-testing  plant  was  placed  in  charge  of  Prof.  N.  W.  Lord,< 
the  Ohio  State  University,  Columbus,  Ohio.  Professor  Lord  has  probably  done  more  ori: 
inal  work  on  the  chemical  composition  of  coals  than  any  other  man  in  the  country,  and  tl 
committee  was  extremely  fortunate  in  being  able  to  secure1  his  services. 
Sampling. — Samples  were  taken  not  only  of  the  carload  of  coal  when  it  reached  St.  Loui 
but  also  of  each  individual  lot  as  it  was  tested  in  the  various  departments.  Two  mine  sai 
pies  vvere  also  taken  in  the  mine  from  which  the  carload  was  derived.  This  was  done  pra 
tically  for  all  samples  tested,  and  the  result  is  a  great  mass  of  chemical  data,  showing  tl 
