campbell]  MEADOW    BRANCH    COAL    FIELD    OF    WEST   VIRGINIA.       339 
At  the  present  time  the  shaft  is  full  of  water  and  little  can  be  learned 
regarding  the  condition  of  the  coal,  bat  the  fragments  show  a  coal  of 
good  quality  and  presumably  of  equal  purity  with  that  at  the  northern 
end  of  the  field. 
Chappelle  shaft. — This  mine,  marked  UC"  on  the  map,  is  located 
on  the  west  side  of  Short  Mountain,  near  the  northern  end  of  the 
basin.  It  is  the  only  mine  in  active  operation  and  even  here  the  full 
thickness  of  the  bed  of  coal  is  not  at  present  visible.  The  writer 
examined  such  parts  of  the  coal  bed  as  were  accessible,  but  a  recent 
slide  had  concealed  most  of  the  bottom  bench.  The  section  of  the  bed 
as  observed  and  reported  is  as  follows: 
Section  of  coal  bed  in  Chappelle  shaft. 
Ft.  In. 
Coal,  badly  mixed  with  slate 4  4 
Clay 1  3 
Coal,  with  two  or  three  irregular  partings 5  3 
Clay 0  6 
Coal  (reported) 11  0 
Total 22      4 
The  coal  in  all  of  the  benches  is  so  badly  crushed  that  all  of  its 
Iriginal  lamination  is  obscured  and  it  is  slickensided  on  almost  every 
face.  The  original  shale  partings  are  broken  into  small  fragments 
and  intimately  mixed  with  the  body  of  the  coal.  The  coal  is 
Bxtremely  fragile,  appearing  originally  to  have  been  very  soft  and 
tender,  and  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  lumps  of  any  considerable  size. 
Upon  exposure  to  the  weather  it  breaks  up  into  small  particles,  so  it 
is  doubtful  if  lump  coal  of  any  considerable  amount  could  be  obtained 
in  this  part  of  the  Meadow  Branch  field. 
Coal  at  other  points. — Efforts  have  been  made  to  open  this  bed  on 
the  western  side  of  the  syncline,  but  so  far  they  have  not  met  with 
£reat  success.  An  opening  recently  made  at  the  foot  of  Sleepy  Creek 
Mountain,  northeast  of  Whites  Gap,  shows  a  small  coal  bed,  but  it 
does  not  in  any  way  resemble  the  coal  at  the  Chappelle  shaft.  The 
entry  was  not  driven  far  enough  to  show  the  coal  under  cover,  and 
consequently  that  which  is  exposed  is  deeply  disintegrated  and  gives 
little  indication  of  the  true  character  and  thickness  of  the  bed.  The 
section  exposed  is  as  follows: 
Section  of  coal  bed  northeast  of  Whites  Gap. 
Ft.     In. 
Coal,  badly  weathered 1  6 
Clay 0  1 
Coal,  weathered 0  8 
Clay 0  3 
Coal 1  0 
Total 3      6 
