278  CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,   1903.  [bull.  225. 
absent  elsewhere.  This  bed  lies  from  25  to  50  feet  above  the  mean 
level  of  Missouri  River,  the  difference  in  elevation  being  due  to  the 
broad  undulations  of  the  strata. 
(2)  A  bed  of  lignite  at  a  depth  corresponding  to  91  feet  in  the  Good 
fellow  well  underlies  several  square  miles.  It  has  a  thickness  of  1|  to 
2  feet,  and  varies  in  elevation  from  20  feet  below  to  10  feet  above  the 
mean  level  of  Missouri  River. 
(3)  A  bed  42  inches  thick  was  reported  in  one  of  the  first  holes  drilled, 
at  a  depth  of  275  feet,  or  at  190  feet  below  the  mean  level  of  Missouri 
River.  For  a  time  all  efforts  were  directed  toward  establishing  the  con- 
tinuity of  this  third  bed,  but  it  was  encountered  in  only  one  other  place, 
a  drill  hole  20  rods  south  of  the  place  where  first  discovered,  and  it  was 
only  6  inches  thick. 
Notwithstanding  these  unfavorable  showings,  the  Nebraska  Coal 
Company  sunk  a  well-timbered  shaft,  7  by  11  by  82  feet,  in  the  NW.  i 
SE.  i  sec.  22,  and  the  writer  was  present  shortly  after  the  second  bed 
of  lignite  was  reached.  The  section  passed  through  by  the  shaft  bore 
out  the  neighboring  drill  records.  The  first  bed  was  but  a  few  inches 
thick  and  of  soft,  charcoal-like  material.  A  large  volume  of  water 
began  to  enter  the  shaft  at  35  feet,  and  a  2- inch  pump  had  to  be  kept 
in  operation  day  and  night  to  keep  the  shaft  dry  enough  for  work  to 
be  continued.  When  the  second  bed  of  lignite  had  been  cut  through 
the  work  was  stopped.  The  roof  over  the  bed  was  a  sandy  clay,  and 
would  not  remain  in  place  without  timbering.  The  bed  was  22  inches 
thick,  not  entirely  homogeneous  in  texture,  and  was  underlain  by  a 
bed  of  fire  clay  containing  an  admixture  of  sand  and  splinters  of  lignitic 
material. 
A  second  locality  prospected  is  in  the  southeast  corner  of  Dakota 
County,  about  18  miles  southeast  of  the  first  locality.  This  work  was 
carried  on  by  Sioux  City  capitalists.  Three  miles  southeast  of  the 
village  of  Homer,  in  sec.  20,  T.  27  N.,  R.  9  E.,  in  a  ravine  about  one- 
half  mile  back  from  the  escarpment  and  about  60  feet  above  the  mean 
level  of  Missouri  River,  a  15-inch  bed  of  lignite  outcrops  from  the 
shales  in  the  Dakota  formation.  In  leased  land  in  sees.  27  and  28 
holes  were  drilled  to  depths  of  from  190  to  280  feet,  and  a  bed  of  lig- 
nite, 6  to  18  inches  thick,  was  found  at  practically  the  horizon  indicated 
by  the  outcrop.  Near  the  drill  hole  in  sec.  28  this  bed  was  uncovered 
by  digging  a  well  10  feet  deep.  This  well  disclosed  a  succession  of  clays, 
shales,  and  sandstones,  with  an  upper  bed  of  lignite,  5  to  7  inches  thick, 
at  a  depth  of  26  feet.  The  second  bed  underlies  about  a  foot  of  carbo- 
naceous earthy  material,  somewhat  shaly.  This  material  had  evidently 
been  mistaken  by  the  drillers  for  lignite,  and  in  this  way  the  thickness 
of  the  bed  had  been  overestimated.  Above  the  carbonaceous  shale  was 
a  grayish  shale,  familiarly  known  to  the  drillers  as  "soapstone,'1  and 
