The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1867-08-29

| lHc IlVet anu JHe larger creeks. n
large amount OF coal, however ii
found in the south eastern part Of the
county, the principal mine of which
is worked at Alpine Station, on the
D. V. R. r., by the Alpine Coal Com.
pany, under the direction of Mr.. G.
j. Love. &f n
This mine furnishes largo quanti
ties OF coal fer the Keokuk market
where it is in good repute, being in
shipped there upon the D. ". r.
The bed is from four to I've feet thick
and since the the miro was opened
it has furnished about one million
bushels ofcoal, which il probably
more than heproduct up to this time
ofany other mine in the State.
sTRATIGRAPHIcAL GEOLOGY.
The limestone which is seen in the
bed ofthe river and along the creek
near Ottumwa, and also at various
points along the valley from there to
Eddyvilie is tho sub.carboniferous
limestone before referred to existing
along Avery's creek, beneath which
no coal need be sought for. There is
almost no need of mistaking this lime.
stone for any other, at least upon the
north side Of the Des Moines river,
for, with the exception ofsmall isola-
ted masses of impure limestone in the
coal meas Tres, there is no other to be
seen within many miles of the Des
Moines Valley. This limestone
furnishes the county with ex-
celelnt material for lime and building
purposes, much Of which is also suit
able for dressing into ali desirable
forms. Besides this limestone, there
nre lsrge quantities Of sandstone, par
ticularly along the river below Of
tumwa, much of which is suitable for
the purposes of common masonry. It
is usually rather soft when quarried,
but hardens upon exposure to the at
mosphere. This sandstone belongs
to tho coal measures, and of course
orerlies the limestone. It is believed
that the principal bed of coal of this
region lies beneath this sandstone
where the latter exists, and not far
from its base. Usually the strata OF
the coal measures, rs well as the un-
DERIVING subcarboniferous limestone
are very regular and undisturbed, but
commencing a little above Ottumwa
and going down the valley there is
seen to be considerable evidence of
disturbance Of the strata. '
This disturbance has not been vio-
lent, but yet sufficient to pass the
limestone beneath the level of the
river just below Ottumwa, SO that it
does not appear again below that
point in This count y At the Alpine
mines before referred to, the coal and
its associated beds also partakc of
the disturbance SO that the bed OF
coal is entirely cut off at one place
within the mine, by what seems to
have been a settling OF the snperin-
cumbent mass in longitudinal folds
havinga general direction from north
east to, southwest. A number ofthese
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 tho char
acter. of the others, the miners may
expect to find the coal again after
Ipassinga short distance through the
material which now occupies its
place. The cause of these dis.urban-
ces is not at present clearly seen,
from the fact that the effects have
not been traced in longitudinal di-
rection overa considerable extent of
country as they usually may be in
such cases. Besides this | am not
aware that any similar disturbance
of coal measure strata has been OBJ
served in the west, although the rocks
of older date are well known to have
suffered such disturbance. This sub
lject will be further discussed in my
letter from Van Buren, county. IL
MINERALS. g
No minerals Of value, except coal,
have been discovered in this county,
and it IS hardly probable that any
tsuch will be found. Small quantities
of iron ore have been found in this,
as well as in many other Of the coal
counties. It is usually in the form of
small, irregular, lenticular masses,
called clay-iron stone, or in still more
irregular masses Of peroxide of iron,
usually called red hamatite. The lat
ter is an excellent ore Of iron, but to
be profitable it must exist in large
quantities and easy of access. One
cannot fail to see that thess small
quantities of IRON ore, however ex-
cellent, are vaiucless when he learns
the fact that iron ore is now being
shipped from the famous Lake Supe
rior mines to the furnaces in north
eastern Ohio and northwestern Penn
sylvania, which were built tor smell
ting the ores OF their own regions
Upon the completion Of our North
and South railroads the iron region
of Missouri will supply us much more
cheaply than we could produce that
metal, even if our supply Of ore were
many more times greater than it is.
In the assures ofthe clay-lroifnodules
found in the dark shade just north OF
Ottumwa, small quantities Of the sui
pheret Of zinc were found. This dis
covery is valuable, however, only as
an interesting fact in mineralogy.
GENERAL RESOURCES.
Besides liberal supply Of good
building stone, mentioned under a
previous heading, Wapello county is
well supplied with timber, which will
always keep wood at reasonable
price for those who prefer it to coal
G,c1 r. I'LL ~. Al -