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PORTAGE COUNTY. 139 
stricted to a small island west of the river, in Mantua, and a narrow arm 
which projects from Freedom northward, through Hiram, into Geauga. 
In the northern part of Portage county the Drift deposits are so thick 
as to hide the outcrops of the coal rocks, and it is here very difficult to 
trace the line along which the edge of the lowest coal seam should be 
found. It is probable that coal, in greater or less thickness, underlies 
the principal part of Hiram, the western half of Shalersville and Ra- 
venna, and the south-western corner of Windham. The northern and 
| southern portion of Paris, and nearly all of Charlestown, he above the 
horizon of the lower coal, as do most of Palmyra, Deerfield, Brimfield, 
and Suffield. 
Along a belt running through the central part of the county, the land 
is high enough to carry the second and third seams of coal from the bot- 
tom. With this breadth of coal area it would at first sight seem that 
Portage county should produce as large an amount of coal as Trumbull, 
and much more than Summit, but up to the present time the coal pro- 
duction of the county has been exceedingly small. This arises from the 
fact that the margin of the lower coal (Coal No. 1) is so generally covered 
with Drift that it does not show itself at the surface in many localities, 
and also that this coal here, as in the Mahoning Valley, lies in detached 
basins of limited extent, and is entirely absent over large areas from the 
place where it belongs, or is so thin as to be of little value. We may ex- 
pect, however, that important basins of the Briar Hill coal will be found 
within the limits that have been marked out. Were it not for the Drift 
it would be easy to follow the outcrops of the rocks, and knowing just 
where to explore by digging or boring, to determine the presence or ab- 
sence of the coal. In the present circumstances, however, even where 
coal may be supposed to exist, it can only be detected by boring blindly 
through the Drift deposits. In many places these will doubtless be found 
so thick as to cut out the coal, though the surface may be considerably 
above the coal level. Hven where the rocks which belong above the coal 
may be found in place, from the irregular distribution of this seam, the 
chances are more than equal that the result of boring will show it to be 
absent, or too thin to have any economic value. , Since, however, the 
coal of this stratum is so excellent, it will be the part of wisdom for all 
those who own territory lying within the lines I have traced to make 
such explorations as may determine whether or not they are in posses- 
sion of some portion of this great source of wealth. The level of Coal 
No. 1, in the northern half of Portage county, varies from five hundred 
to six hundred feet above the Lake. The dip being toward the south, 
the coal sinks rapidly in that direction, and rises correspondingly toward 
