HANCOCK COUNTY. 365 
any rolling country where the finer materials of the Drift have been 
partially washed out by the rains. North of the Van Wert Ridge—at 
least north of the Blanchard River—the Drift deposits reach a greater 
thickness. At McComb, a point on the Leipsic Ridge, wells are said not 
to reach the rock at a depth of eighty feet. At Arcadia, also in the 
northern part of the county, water is obtained, without reaching the 
rock, at forty-seven feet. On the other hand, the average thickness of 
the Drift south of the Blanchard, judging from the height of the river 
banks, and the very frequent exposure of the rock in the streams, cannot 
exceed thirty feet. This moraine-like thickening ofthe Drift must have 
been the cause of the westward drainage of the southern portion of the 
county through the valley of the Blanchard, instead of northward 
through the valley of the Portage. 
MATERIAL RESOURCES. 
The underlying formations are not known to possess any minerals of 
special economical value. The only uses to which they can be put is the 
manufacture of lime, and stone-quarrying for building purposes and for 
paving. For both of these purposes they are admirably adapted, and 
some of their outcrops afford unusual facilities for acquiring the stone in 
the necessary form and abundance. ‘The lack of railroads has a discour- 
aging effect on these enterprises, and at the present time but little more 
is effected than the supply of the home markets. 
The Drift affords every where in the county abundant materials for 
the brick-maker and the potter. The lack of sufficient sand for mixing 
with the surface of the hard-pan clay in the manufacture of brick is the 
principal difficulty in that branch of industry; yet the brick made are 
some of them of superior quality. Tile-making is also extensively car- 
ried on at Findlay, and at other points in the county. The following 
establishments of this kind may be enumerated: 
— 
Mantiunmlinsine rs sitincllayeasedestsleccccesccivecssucoe seeisces vscstens Tiling and pottery. 
Louis Bruner, UTE oes ies Cee wer ne cbney tees Seas tives ceciacnsse ete ice seadece Brick. 
Gates O’ Hara, MONO Ear ang May gaweees tesa kere sesclcabeslseneebectes acme ‘ 
7 Vonnektarshenali maleswestiot Min dlay, iile.s.:\scsccassselbeenbncecs slceceeeecs Tiling. 
RODE HUMD OMEN MEMO TONM cccvectnscrcsedeecddsiteerecieseres setae dseees ster cakes aoneats PSEC. 
William McKinley, S. W. ¢ section 1, Orange township .................. ap 
Hlias Wilson, section 4, Delaware townshhip............... s20..2.0. sss os-0r-- iy 
Frank Brown, section 36, Pleasant ‘“ ...... Sesh elersinna cisions Brick and tiling. 
Davis Pendleton, te ry TA ERT GC AHACED CcieeaAsOt hen Sec ee eR Aae Brick. 
Andrew Powell, N. E. ¢ section 34, Liberty township ..............0000 0s. if 
Matthias Markley, section 28, Union township .............05 ccseceses coe ove sf 
James Kelly, section 1, Washington FT OE aibe ee AMISae alate auiecuaee onadah fs 
