The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1867-08-25

4
sasd1lose, rsss;sslarly sioas ~ river below
Ot4anwa, nsek' q - = Snisss1 for the
peuposss q eonndn 6asossE Il i usually
su(kse - xAss quardsd, - hardens upon /
szpossrs - lie asnosAses. tbs sandstone !
hSloues = he coal nSaslrse, and Of course
evsrIiss ~ liaestsns. u y believed that
he priseipAi bed u ssal q this region lies
,Aeneeth shis sandstone when the latter exs
ists, and NOT far from its base.
Usually the strata Of the coal measures, ~
vail = ~ underlying subcarboniferons hna-r
stone. are very regular and undisturbsd bat
comrencinS little above Ottumwas aud 81
ing down the valley, there 10 seen TO he cvu.
siderable evidence Of disturbances Of the
strata. u ~
T This disturhAace has not been violent, but
yet sufficient 70 pass the limestone beneath
the level Of the river just below ottumwas
so that it does not appear again below thas
point in kfsEcounty.
At,the Alp;ns mines, before referred to,
the coas snd It's associated beds also partake
of the disturbance SO that the bed OF coal u
entirely cut off at one place within the mine
| ~ what seems TO have been . settling OF the
superincumbent mass in longitudinal folds
having a general direction from north east 70
| sonth west, A number Of these folds have
/ been met with in the mine, depressing the
roof. but only one of them has been found
! TO cut the coal entirely off Judging from
the character of the others, the min.rs may
expect to find the coal again alter passing q
short distance through the material which
now occupies its place. The cause of these
disturbances is not at present clearly seen,
from the fact that the effects hare not been
traced in a longitudinal direction over co1
/ siderable extent OF country as they usually
i NAV be in such cases. Besides this am not
aware that any similar disturbance OF coal
measure strata has been observed In the
west. although the rocks of older date are
i we'll known to have suffered such disturb
ance.
i This subject vii be further discussed in
nv letter from Van Buren, county.
MINERALS.
i No minerals of value, except coal, have
been discovered in this county, and 1t is
hardly probably that any such will be found.
Small quantities of iron ore have been found
in this as well as in many other Of the Goa
counties. 1t is usually in the form OF SMALL
irregular lenticular masses, called clay, IRON
i stone, or in still more irregular masses o
! liv ffo1
! tte. The latter is an excellent ore of iron
but to be profitable it must exist III large
D quantities and easy of access. One canno
| fail to see that these small quantities of iror
+, ore, however excellent, are valuless when h'
z learns the fact that iron ore is now beint
e shipped from the famous Lake Superio
y mines to the furnaces in north eastern Ohlt
g and north. western Pennsylvania, which wer
9 built for smelling the ores Of their own re
b glen. Upon the completion Of our nortl
e and south railroads the iron region OF Mis-
9 souri, will supply US much more cheaply thar
. we could produce that metal, even if ou
9 supply of ore we're many tunes greater thai
It it is. In the assures of the clay iron nodule
e found in the dark shale just north of Ottum
g wa, small quantities of the sulphuret OF zin
y were found. This discovery is valuable
It however, only rs an interesting fact in min
IL eralogy.
IS GENERAL RESOURCES.
d Besides liberal supply Of good buildin
!. stone, mentioned under previous heading
Z Wapello county is we'll supplied with timber
70 which will always keep wood at a reasonabl
u price for those who prefer it to coal as a fue
h It is we'll watered by the Des Moines rive
d and its numerous tributaries. as well as b
e numerous excellent springs. Good wells ar
It easily obtained almost any where.
g Its nperhuous to say that the soil is es
+ cellent Flor no poor soil exists along th
e great valley of the Des Moines.