Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1867-05-11

Surihco-dark vegetable soil, 3 II,
Ycllowish red clay ard sand, 4
Yellowish and blue shales, 10"
Coal, s TO 10 "
Fire clay and black shalo
to bed of stream, 10
Recent rains had raised the
streams, so that we could only see n
portion of the lower bed Of coal
above the waters of Littlc River,
where the coal crops out TO the dis
tance of several hundred feet. We
found no fossils at this locality, BY
our campfire at night we tested
SONG of the coal; and found 1t to
burn well, with a strong bituminous
odor and oily appearance, very
similar to what we have often seen
in the burning of the 'bituminous
Goals of the North Western States.
DR.. l.. remarked that he thought it
would prove valuable for the man
ufacture of oil.
The mud in the roads and almost
everywhere else was so deep that
DIR. l.. did not wish TO cross the
Brazos with his ambulance, and
here we parted, agreeing to meet
again at the Falls Of the Brazos, a
bout 40 miles above Port Sullivan.
On foot and alone, we crossed the
Brazos at the Port Sullivan ferry
into Robertson county, and went up
the river or 10 miles to the plan
tation ofMr Thos. p. Tindall, where,
ON the banks of the Brazos, there is
the largest and best exposure ofcoal
we have ever seen. we DelleVe
there are no known bods Of Goa,
equal to it in thickness west or south
Of Pennsylvanin-the Brazos coal
bed being in some places at least 10
feet thick, having good, hard
woi kablc coal of from 10 to II feet
thick. A short distance below Mr..
Tindall's, we measured the follow
ing section:
Surface soil-dark loan, 2 it.
Red clay, II"
Reddish iron rock and con-
crctionary iron ore, l
Greyish blue shale, 6
Coal to surface Of river
and bottom not seen, 10"
Huge blocks of coal of several feet
thickness, are scattered along the
banks of the river. Above Mr.. Tin
dall's the coal is within few feet OF
the surface. 1t extends along the
bank of the river about 700 yards,
and is also seen to some extent on
the west bank Of the river, which,
at that point, is much lower than
the eastern bank. This coal bed
has N. East and S. West direction,
and evidently belongs to the same
bed or beds which are on Little Riv-
er. This is proved by. the similari-
ty ofthe rocks at both localities; also
by the sinking Of wells in the coun-
try between the two. Mr.. Caleb
Pendarvis, who resides few miles
west of Port Sullivan, told use that,
in digging his well, two beds Of coal
were passed through, the upper of
which was about 10 feet thick, and
the lower 4 feet. We also heard
that other wells, on the route to-
wards Mr.. Tindall's, has passed
through one or more coal beds. Mr.,
Us, is nearly due west from Sterling,
hence the distance from the coal on
the Brazos to that on Little River is
more than Is miles, according to
Pressler's map of the State. We
were told that coal was also to be
seen, at low water, in the bed of the
Little Brazos, east or north east OF
Mr.. Tindalls. These things leave
little doubt but that this coal extends
over quite large extent of country,
which, added to its great thickness,
makes the supply immense. Is this
a true bituminous coal? We be-
lieve it IL, but belonging to a later
geological period than the carboni-
ferrous, and similar to the Richmond
coal Of Virginia, and that of Deep
river in North Carolina, bo.h of
which belong to the Triassic Period
of the Biologists. Extensive use is
now made Of these Goals, and they
are considered equal to most of the
bituminous Goals of the Northern
States. The coal of Deep river was
thought to be of little use until Prof.
Emmons, the State Geologist of
North Carolina, ascertained its ge-
illogical place, Git took him several
months TO do IT'D and showed its
true value. 1t is now one of the
great sources of the wealth of that
State. We found but few fossils,
and those of Trassic forms, in some
loose rocks at the Brazos coal de-
posit. These rocks may have been
brought by the river currents from
strata far up stream. The river
was mn. and its waters dashed over
a ledge of rocks, extending across
the stream at the upper part OF the
coal exposure. We think an ex-
animation of these rocks. at low
water. will determine the geological
position ofthe coal. The cretaceous
rocks we saw, but few miles to the
n ~ Na.a