306  CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,   1903.  [bull.  225. 
change  the  course  of  their  headings  and  take  out  quantities  of  rock 
in  order  to  preserve  the  grade  of  their  haulage  ways.  Susquehanna 
No.  1  is  worked  on  a  very  small  scale  and  has  a  very  primitive  equip- 
ment. The  Gussie  mine  still  adheres  to  mule  haulage,  but  it  is  venti- 
lated by  a  fan  and  the  coal  is  cut  by  air  machines. 
East  of  Spangler  there  are  two  mines  on  the  Lower  Freeport  coal, 
the  Eclipse  mine,  owned  by  the  Clearfield  Bituminous  Coal  Corporation, 
and  the  Maucher  mine,  owned  by  Peale,  Peacock  &  Kerr.  The  former 
is  located  at  the  point  of  the  long  ridge  on  which  is  situated  the  new 
town  of  St.  Benedict,  and  the  latter  just  south  of  and  a  little  below  the 
Spangler  and  Barnesboro  reservoir.  Both  of  these  mines  were  opened 
in  1900,  and  are  worked  by  hand  and  have  mule  haulage.  Maucher  is 
ventilated  by  fan,  the  Eclipse  mine  by  furnace. 
Directly  west  of  Spangler,  in  the  ravine  cut  by  Moss  Creek,  are 
located  three  new  mines  of  the  Pennsylvania  Coal  and  Coke  Company, 
on  the  Lower  Freeport  coal.  Those  on  the  west  side  of  the  creek  are 
known  as  Nos.  1  and  2,  and  a  smaller  one,  No.  3,  on  the  east  bank, 
extends  to  the  property  line  of  the  West  Branch  mine.  The  entire 
plant  and  system  is  a  model  of  completeness  and  efficiency.  The  build- 
ings are  substantial  structures,  the  power  house,  containing  dynamos  of 
sufficient  capacity  for  lighting  and  mine  work,  being  built  entirely  of 
stone  and  steel.  The  tramways  from  the  three  mines  lead  to  one  tipple 
from  which  a  part  of  the  coal  is  conveyed  to  the  bank  of  180  bee- 
hive ovens  for  coking,  the  remainder  being  loaded  on  cars  for  the 
market.  Electric  chain  machines  are  used  for  cutting,  and  electric 
pumps  for  freeing  the  mine  of  water.  The  coal  is  rather  disappoint- 
ing in  thickness  and  quality,  since  it  carries  a  number  of  bony  part- 
ings besides  the  binder.  Clay  veins  are  tolerably  abundant  and  there 
are  also  slight  folds  in  Nos.  1  and  2.  As  might  be  expected,  the  coke 
produced  here  is  ashy  and  dense,  but  is  fairly  hard  and  has  a  silvery 
lustre,  coming  from  the  ovens  in  pieces  of  about  2  to  2J  feet  in  length. 
Moss  Creek  marks  the  present  western  limit  of  the  field  and  is  one 
of  the  most  recently  developed  localities,  work  here  having  begun  in 
June,  1902. 
UPPER    KITTANNING    OR    "  C7 "    COAL. 
This  coal  bed,  which  lies  from  50  to  90  feet  below  the  Lower  Free- 
port  coal,  is  known  to  be  of  workable  thickness  only  in  the  eastern 
part  of  this  field.  It  was  developed  first  at  Hastings,  but  it  is 
most  extensively  worked  at  the  present  time  in  the  vicinity  of  Patton, 
where  it  has  an  average  thickness  of  55  inches. 
Thickness  of  the  coal. — The  bed  carries  a  number  of  shale  partings 
near  the  bottom  that  interfere  seriously  with  mining  this  part  of  the  | 
bed.     The  general  practice  is  to  cut  above  these  partings,  but  this 
reduces  the  available  coal  to  about  43  inches  in  thickness.     Besides 
