308  CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,   1903.  [bull. 225. 
This  analysis  indicates  a  ratio  of  volatile  hydrocarbons  to  fixed  car- 
bon of  8.34  :  23.74,  or,  in  whole  numbers,  of  nearly  1  :  3.  Assuming 
that  40  per  cent  of  the  sulphur  contained  in  this  coal  would  be  vola- 
tilized during  the  process  of  coking,  this  coal  would  yield  theoretically 
76.17  per  cent  coke.  That  is,  it  would  take  1.24  tons  of  coal  to  yield 
1  ton  of  coke.  Mr.  Schaller  reports  that  in  his  laboratory  tests  of 
this  coal  "good  coke"  was  obtained,  but  the  practical  coking  qualities 
could  be  determined  only  by  actual  oven  tests. 
The  operations  of  the  Beech  Creek  Coal  and  Coke  Company  in  the 
vicinity  of  Patton  are  the  most  important  on  this  bed.  Mine  No.  3, 
the  largest  and  best  arranged  mine  working  the  "  C  "  coal,  was  opened 
in  1893,  during  the  early  development  here.  It  is  ventilated  by  fan, 
has  rope  haulage,  and  the  coal  is  cut  by  air  machines.  The  Patton  Clay 
Manufacturing  Company  also  is  operating  a  mine  on  this  coal  at  Patton. 
To  get  the  clay  underlying  the  coal  is  the  real  object  of  the  mine, 
but  the  coal  is  taken  out  first  for  use  about  the  plant  and  in  the  kilns. 
The  westernmost  opening  on  this  coal  is  at  Hastings,  where  the  Rich 
Hill  Coal  Mining  Company  has  put  down  a  slope  to  reach  the  coal 
where  it  does  not  show  in  outcrop.  Very  little  work  is  being  done  at 
this  mine,  but  rope  haulage  is  being  installed  and  a  fan  will  be 
obtained.     The  coal  here  shows  a  maximum  thickness  of  58  inches. 
This  is  the  lowest  bed  worked  in  the  field,  being  from  130  to  175 
feet  below  the  Lower  Freeport  coal.  Its  outcrop  is  confined  to  a  lim- 
ited area  in  the  vicinity  of  Bakerton,  where  it  is  exposed  near  the 
bottom  of  the  deeply  cut  ravines  on  the  flank  of  the  anticline.  Exten- 
sive prospecting  with  the  diamond  drill  has  shown  this  coal  to  be 
present  and  probably  of  workable  thickness  throughout  the  entire 
field.  This  bed  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  valuable  coals,  but  it  j 
has  been  considered  too  far  below  the  surface  to  receive  much  atten- 
tion until  the  higher  beds  are  exhausted.  The  seam  is  very  much 
broken  up  and  separated  by  a  number  of  partings  of  shale  and  fire 
clay,  but  these  readily  part  from  the  coal  in  mining,  and  are  picked 
out  in  loading  the  coal. 
Thickness  of  the  coal. — The  average  thickness  of  this  bed  is  38 
inches,  the  thinnest  measurement  reported  being  36  inches.  Follow- 
ing are  sections  of  this  coal  taken  from  the  mines  at  Bakerton  and 
near  Elmora,  a  half  mile  south  of  Bakerton: 
