stose]  BARITE    AND    PURE    LIMESTONE,   PA.-W.   VA.  517 
base  are  thinner  bedded.  The  only  fossils  observed  in  these  beds  are 
a  few  Leperditia  found  in  the  upper  layers,  indicating  Lowville  (Birds- 
eye)  age. 
The  whole  of  this  mass  is  quarried,  and  is  stated  to  average  98  per 
cent  carbonate  of  lime.  The  two  samples  tested  by  the  Geological 
Survey  contained  96.2  and  97  7  per  cent.  The  limestone  is  quarried 
in  an  open  cut  200  to  250  feet  wide  and  80  to  100  feet  deep,  the  work- 
able depth  depending  upon  the  amount  of  stripping  that  is  profitable. 
The  open  cut  extends  for  over  li  miles  along  the  strike  and  is  being 
worked  along  its  entire  length.  The  same  beds  apparently  continue 
beyond,  to  the  south,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  they 
also  occur  along  the  strike  north  of  the  town.  The  rock  is  taken  out 
on  tram  cars,  is  crushed  to  5-inch  size,  and  is  loaded  directly  into  the 
railway  cars  on  the  track.  The  reason  that  the  stone  can  be  profitably 
shipped  such  a  distance  is  that  the  cars  which  transport  the  coal  from 
the  Pennsylvania  mines  to  the  south  return  loaded  with  limestone, 
thus  avoiding  an  empty  return  run  and  the  freight  rates  are  reduced 
to  a  minimum.  It  is  reported  that  from  20  to  50  carloads  a  day  of  the 
crushed  rock  are  shipped.  With  a  quarry  face  of  80  feet  and  the  dip 
of  the  rocks  20  degrees,  the  estimated  output  of  the  quarry  per  mile 
is  about  3,000,000  tons. 
