HOCKING VALLEY COAL FIELD. 987 
Not a mine exists in either, but occasionally for convenience, and 
oftener from curiosity, the seams have been laid open far enough for a 
few wagon loads of coal to be obtained, but such openings generally 
fall in after a little, and no opportunities for examination remain. The 
best showing of Lower Freeport coal that is known in the field is on 
the Whitmore farm, Section 6, York township, near Buchtel. The coal 
is 3 feet thick, and appears to be quite highly cementing in character, 
more so, at least, than the Upper Freeport seam, which is mined and 
coked on an adjoining farm. 
The Lower Kittanning coal is known to have been worked on a 
very small scale at several points in Starr township, and at one or two 
points in York, but not a single locality can be pointed out at which 
the coal can now be seen. 
The “Slate Vein” Coal. 
In Starr and Washington townships there is a local supply of some 
importance, furnished by a coal seam, known as the “Slate Vein.” It 
was designated as Coal No. 36, in Vol. III, page 914. The name comes 
from the fact that the coal is overlain by 2 feet or more of a rich, fine- 
grained, fossiliferous black slate. The seam can be well seen in the 
vicinity of Ilesboro, where it is stripped at a number of points. In its 
best condition it carries 33 to 4 feet of coal, contained in two nearly 
equal benches. Frequently, however, only the lower bench is developed, 
in which case the coal is but 15 or 20 inches thick, while in place of 
the upper bench a bed of shale or clay is found. 
The black shale that overlies the coal is fossiliferous, containing 
many distinct impressions of lamellibranch shells and other marine 
forms. A persistent ledge of sandstone, white and hard, underlies the 
coal, sometimes being separated from it only by the clay that bears the 
coal. 
The Slate Vein is nearly equally distant from the Lower Mercer 
limestone below, and the Ferriferous limestone above, both intervals 
ranging from 40 to 50 feet. The most common measure from it to the 
Lower Mercer is 45 feet, and to the Ferriferous, 50 feet, but each will 
reach both of the limits named. At one point, indeed, it comes within 
25 feet of the Ferriferous limestone. 
It seems to represent either the Brookville or the Tionesta coal, 
Nos. 4 or 36, with the probabilities in favor of the former. In this case, 
¢ 
