Campbell.]  MEADOW    BRANCH    COAL    FIELD    OF    WEST    VIRGINIA.       337 
to  develop  the  coals  in  the  northern  end  of  the  basin,  but,  owing  to 
the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking,  little  more  was  done  than  to  build 
a  few  wagon  roads  and  the  coal  remained  undisturbed.  In  the  latter 
part  of  the  century  many  efforts  were  made  to  determine  the  value  of 
the  coals,  but  generally  this  work  was  done  without  a  thorough  appre- 
ciation of  the  geologic  structure  and  of  the  stratigraphic  position  of 
the  coals,  consequently  little  information  was  obtained  from  the  pros- 
pecting. Most  of  the  work  has  been  done  on  the  eastern  limb  of  the 
syncline  and  three  shafts  have  been  sunk  which  afford  a  fairly  good 
idea  of  the  condition  of  the  beds.  One  of  these  shafts  is  near  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  basin,  but  at  present  the  coal  is  inaccessible 
through  the  flooding  of  the  mine.  The  second  shaft  is  located  about 
a  mile  and  a  half  northeast  of  Pinkerton  Knob  and  it  likewise  is  inac- 
cessible at  the  present  time,  but  from  this  opening  considerable  coal 
was  obtained.  The  third  shaft  is  located  on  Short  Mountain  and  is 
the  only  point  at  which  the  coal  is  exposed  at  present.  Besides  these 
shaft  mines  on  the  eastern  limb,  many  prospect  pits  have  been  dug 
and  also  two  or  three  openings  of  importance  have  been  made  on  the 
northwestern  limb,  but  so  far  as  information  can  be  obtained  the  thickest 
coal  has  been  obtained  on  the  eastern  limb  of  the  syncline. 
Shepperd  shaft. — This  shaft,  marked  "  S"  on  the  accompanying  map 
(page  331),  is  located  near  the  southwestern  extremity  of  the  mountain 
and  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  easternmost  synclinal  basin.  The  rocks 
are  approximately  vertical,  and  a  crosscut  at  a  depth  of  42^  feet,  accord- 
ing to  measurements  made  by  Mr.  Hammond  Hunter,  of  Martinsburg, 
gives  the  following  section: 
Section  of  coal  bed  in  Shepperd  shaft. 
Coal 
Sandstone 
Coal 
Shale  and  coal  (half  and  half) 
Coal 
Shale 
Coal 
Total 24    9 
Although  the  above  section  shows  a  large  number  of  benches  of  coal, 
it  is  probable  that  there  is  a  considerable  amount  of  shale  in  each  bench. 
The  crushing  of  the  coal  usually  results  in  the  breaking  up  of  thin  shale 
partings  and  their  dissemination  throughout  the  mass  of  the  coal.  No 
definite  information  is  obtainable  regarding  the  qualit}^  of  the  coal  from 
this  shaft,  but  a  large  amount  was  sold  and  from  the  fragments  remain- 
ing on  the  dump  it  appears  to  be  of  the  same  quality  as  that  which 
occurs  at  the  north  end  of  the  basin  and  which  will  be  described  on 
another  page. 
Bull.  225—04 22 
Ft. 
Id 
5 
9 
1 
6 
4 
0 
3 
8 
2 
2 
4 
0 
3 
8 
