458 
CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,   1903. 
[BULL.  225. 
distant,  via  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  and  Baltimore  and  Ohio  rail- 
roads. At  this  place  coal  could  also  be  obtained  from  the  Norfolk  and 
Western  Railroad  by  way  of  Elkton.  Harrisonburg  is  favorably 
situated  for  reaching  the  Norfolk  and  Western,  the  Chesapeake  and 
Ohio,  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio,  and  the  Southern  railroads. 
At  Staunton,  Va.,  a  plant  could  obtain  coal  on  favorable  terms  over 
the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio,  while  its  shipments  would  necessarily  be  by 
that  line  and  the  Southern  Railway,  while  the  Baltimore  and  and  Ohio 
would  only  be  of  use  locally;  it  would  be  possible  in  times  of  strikes 
and  labor  disturbances  in  the  New  River  field,  to  secure  coal  on  reason- 
able terms  from  the  Fairmont  region.  At  Staunton  the  shaly  Trenton 
limestones  are  very  well  developed.  They  resemble  the  Lehigh  rock, 
being  dark,  smooth,  and  silky  in  texture  on  unweathered  surface,  and 
could  undoubtedly  be  quarried,  crushed,  and  ground  with  great  ease. 
The  following  analyses  by  Charles  Catlett  are  typical : 
Analyses  of  Trenton  limestone  at  Staunton,  Va. 
l. 
2. 
3. 
SiOo 
Per  cent. 
23.08 
10.08 
35.89 
.94 
Per  cent. 
19.92 
10.76 
37.05 
1.72 
Per  cent. 
19.28 
ALA,  Fe203 
9.86 
CaO 
36.42 
MgO 
1.08 
Volatile 
31.  70 
Closely  associated  with  the  beds  making  the  border  line  between  the 
Trenton  limestones  and  Hudson  shales  are  beds  of  pure  limestone. 
They  are  not,  however,  well  developed  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  Staunton.  The  following  is  the  analysis  of  the  best  limestone  there, 
which,  however,  is  not  in  very  large  quantity: 
Analysis  of  pure  limestone  from  Staunton,  Va. 
[Charles  Catlett,  analyst.] 
Per  cent. 
Si02 '. 1.79 
A1203,  Fe203 74 
CaO 50.36 
MgO 1.79 
CO2 41.  36 
Alkalies,  etc 3.  97 
There  are,  however,  one  or  two  beds  of  a  dark-colored,  fine-grained 
limestone  which  weathers  very  readily,  and  which  is  astonishingly 
brittle,  a  slight  tap  with  a  small  hammer  on  the  outcrop  often  break- 
ing off  a  piece  weighing  4  or  5  pounds.  The  readiness  with  which 
these  beds  are  decomposed  makes  the  natural  outcrop  of  them  incon- 
spicuous.    But  they  can  probably  be  found  in  abundant  quantities. 
