GLASS    SAND    OF    MIDDLE    MISSISSIPPI    BASIN.  405 
thickness  is  probably  in  excess  of  300  feet.  At  the  quarries  of  the  Ottawa  Silica  Company 
only  60  feet  of  sand  are  worked  al  present  on  account  of  heavy  ground  water  encountered 
at  that  depth.  The  sand  is  mostly  massive,  and  is  frequently  cross-bedded.  It  is  pure 
white  and  free  from  clay  where  freshly  exposed  in  these  two  quarries,  but  the  water  thai 
flows  from  the  lower  portion  of  the  pits  leaves  a  strong  iron  stain.  Being  very  friable,  the 
sandstone  breaks  down  almost  completely  in  blasting,  and  the  loose  sand  is  washed  down 
by  a  stream  from  a  small  nozzle,  through  a  screen,  into  a  pump.  This  pump  forces  (he 
water  and  sand  through  a  6-inch  pipe  along  the  quarry  bottom  to  an  elevator,  which  carries 
the  wet  sand  up  into  the  mill.  Here  the  sand  is  washed  twice,  dried,  and  screened  and  is 
ready  for  shipment.  The  prepared  sand  is  perfectly  white  and  consists  of  well-rounded 
waterworn  grains  averaging  coarser  than  sands  from  the  other  States  mentioned  in  this 
article.  Sand  of  different  degrees  of  fineness  is  screened  to  order.  The  greater  part  of  the 
product  goes  for  glass  making,  although  some  is  sold  for  furnace  lining  and  for  stone  sawing. 
One  thousand  tons  per  day  is  the  average  output  of  these  two  mills. 
On  the  south  bank  of  Illinois  River  about  1  mile  southeast  of  Ottawa  is  the  plant  of  tin1 
United  States  Silica  Company.  The  sand  is  quarried  by  the  hydraulic  process  from  sand- 
stone outcropping  at  the  surface  near  the  top  of  the  formation.  In  the  pit  first  opened 
four  or  five  clay  pockets  or  holes,  similar  to  buried  wells,  filled  with  clay  were  found.  The 
new  quarry  has  been  sunk  to  100  feet  in  one  place,  in  order  to  get  a  good  location  for  a  water 
hole.  Water,  some  of  which  is  strongly  mineralized,  flows  in  below  a  depth  of  75  feet, 
requiring  the  pumping  of  about  600  gallons  per  minute.  This  water  is  utilized  in  hydrau- 
licking  the  sand.  The  depth  of  the  sand  beyond  1 10  feet  has  not  been  determined.  The  sand 
is  cross-bedded  and  contains  a  few  yellowish  layers,  in  which  the  grains  appear  slightly 
coarser  than  the  average.  This  yellowish  sand,  when  friable,  is  mined  with  the  rest,  as  the 
color  nearly  all  washes  out.  Some  layers  are  so  hard  that  blasting  does  not  break  them  up, 
but  crushing  has  not  yet  been  resorted  to,  as  t  he  supply  of  sand  that  can  be  hydraulicked  is 
still  very  great.  The  sand  is  shot  down  and  washed,  by  a  stream  of  water  under  high  pres- 
sure, into  the  sump  of  a  Nye  pump.  Before  entering  the  sump  the  sand  passes  through 
a  three-eighth-inch  screen.  It  is  raised  by  this  pump  to  an  air  compressor,  at  present  about 
15  feet  above  the  Nye  pump.  The  air  compressor  has  two  tanks,  which  receive  material 
alternately.  The  sand  is  raised  to  the  mill  by  this  compressor  pump  and  run  into  bins  or 
washers.  From  these  washers  the  water  which  was  raised  with  the  sand  is  drained  off  into 
the  river,  then  clean  water  is  added,  and  the  material  is  pumped  into  a  second  set  of  bins — 
the  drain  bins — 24  in  all.  Here  the  sand  stands  about  twelve  hours,  until  the  water  is 
entirely  drained  off.  From  the  drain  bins  the  sand  is  shoveled  out  on  driers.  There  are 
twelve  driers,  each  consisting  of  five  tiers  of  twenty  16-foot  steam  pipes.  The  bottom 
driers  are  closer  together  than  the  upper  ones.  The  sand  requires  about  fifteen  hours  for 
drying.  It  falls  gradually  through  the  driers  onto  a  belt,  which  carries  it  to  an  elevator. 
From  the  elevator  it  goes  through  dry  screens,  and  from  the  screens  into  storage  bins. 
From  the  storage  bins  the  sand  is  lowered  into  cars  by  elevating  it  to  a  delivery  pipe.  The 
hest  sand  sold  here  is  Used  for  fine  cut-glass  ware  and  flint  glass  and  bottles,  the  great  bulk 
of  it  going  to  points  in  Indiana.     Some,  however,  is  shipped  to  Kansas  and  to  Pennsyh  ania. 
Utica.—  Below  Ottawa,  along  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific  Railway,  are  a  number 
of  small  sand  banks  producing  mainly  crude  sand  from  the  upper  part  of  the  St.  Peter 
formation,  but  as  Utica  is  approached  the  sandstone  rises  higher  in  the  bluff,  bringing  the 
fine  quality  of  sand  into  convenient  position  for  quarrying.  Two  quarries—that  of  the 
Utica  Fire  Sand  Company  and  that  of  E.  J.  Reynolds  &  Co.— are  situated  respectively 
l\  miles  and  one-half  mile  east  of  town.  These  firms  produce  mainly  a  good  grade  of  sand, 
which  is  loaded  directly  on  cars  at  the  quarry  without  crushing  or  screening,  but  they  also 
make  glass  sand,  employing  a  hydraulic  jet  and* pump  to  move  the  material  down  from  the 
bluff  to  the  mills. 
Wedron.—  The  Wedroa  White  Sand  Company  at  this  place,  on  Fox  River,  7  miles  above 
Ottawa,  is  a  large  producer  of  glass  sand.  An  analysis  of  sand  from  Wedron  is  given  on 
page  456. 
