COAL MINES OF LAWRENCE COUNTY. 1053 
It is perhaps the most valuable body of this coal in the State that has 
not yet been attacked. The name by which it is most commonly 
known is the Waterloo coal, the little village of this name on the 
Lawrence county line marking the best known center of the field. The 
basin extends in a southerly direction along the valley of Symmes Creek, 
from about Waterloo for 8 to 10 miles, but we can well believe that some 
interruptions would be developed by working within these limits. The 
opportunities to estimate the extent of the field in an east and west 
direction are comparatively few, being confined to the transverse valleys 
that are cut deep enough to expose the seam, but a breadth of 2 to 3 
miles, it seems safe to infer from such facts as are met with. One fact 
of special importance is to be noted, viz., that the coal descends to its 
final cover on the east side of Symmes Creek in its best condition. A 
valuable extension of the seam below drainage is attested by this state 
of things. The area occupied by the coal, as it is now known, is. 
roughly indicated on map No. 8. | 
It is to be regretted that all of the statements made in regard to 
the Waterloo field must be somewhat vague and general. This results 
from the fact that the field has not yet been proved in any thorough or 
systematic may. Our knowledge of it, which is very little extended 
beyond that of former reports, is limited to such natural exposures as 
can be found in banks of creeks, in roadways, and on hill-sides, aided 
and re-enforced by a half-dozen farmers’ banks, together with one or 
two mines in which 2 or 8 acres, more or less, have been worked out. 
The general section that includes this coal has already been given 
(see pages 120-121). It lies 120 to 130 feet below the Cambridge lime-: 
stone. The errors of statement in the earlier references to this seam, 
and especially my own errors in regard to it, in Volume III, have been 
noticed and corrected on an earlier page (see page 120). 
Coming from the northward, the seam is first found in good develop- 
ment in the south-western sections of Walnut township. It has been 
mined by stripping for many years in the vicinity of Flag Spring. It 
shows here a thickness of five feet, and the quality of the coal is excel- 
lent. | 
Passing southwards one mile we reach the well-known mines of 
Jacob Webster, the largest workings in the Waterloo field. The struc- 
ture of the coal at this point is indicated in the accompanying diagram: 
