The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1867-08-25
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Iowa Orr, Ass. -, 1857.

Iowa CIR, Ass. 3oth, 1851.
r...:..;. - exan;saaiats q ~ col Ii
-. - ~ Des Moisss v61lsy, allsf lssv. 1
q. Marion and Monroe ccaatiss ! psssssdsd 4
= - Northwestern part 81 Wapslle, visit. /
~ tho mines upon - Sosth d6e Of ths'I
liver, going FIRST to th0se &c. Dudley
Co., near Chillicoshe, on sect,oas 4. q, and
is. Judging from what is NOE 70 b seen Of
his mine it, coal win probably peeve 70 b |
sususpasssd by my other SOW offered 10 the
market, aad thsss gentlemen will soon %
able tofuenish very large quantities. The
bsd i fosr fest thick. and vesy uniform 10
quality. They a.e now constructing tram.
road from this mine TO the track, Of the B.
IN. +. r., lissls less thaa mile distant. |
Abcst han uiiS south~ard from this
mine an opening has been made in what ap>
pears TO be the same bed, but the quality OF
the coal now obtained is poor, and fear the
prospect is not hattering that it will improve
much within short distance.
A quarter OF mile westward from Dudley
& Co 4 mine m opening in the same bed is
berg made with good prospect Of finding ex
ceilent coal. The bed in which the last
named opening has been made, as we'll as
that Of Dudley l. Co. is the second in the
series, as may be seen BY going down the
creek few rods where the limestone-which,
as have often said in my previous letters,
forms the floor Of the coal measures, and
beneath which no coal need be sought for-is
found in the bed of the creek. About three
eet above this limestone is seen a bed of coal
which, is here only about one and-a half feet
thick, and which is, Of course, the lowest in
the series. Above this bed of coal is space
OF about forty five feet, the material compos.
ing which is partly hidden by the slope ofthe
hill; and upon this rests the four foot coal
bed Of Dudley & Co Is mine On the North
side Of the creek North Avery, a little
more than q mile from the last named mine,
Mr.. J. g. Heacock has opened one in four
foot bed of coal, but since the before men
toned limestone is seen exposed in the slope
doubt is felt that this is the lower bed of
coal, and therefore not identical with that Of
the mine Of Dudley / Co., but with the thin
one which lies forfy-fve feet beneath it. Mr..
Heacock has only just opened his mine, and
the quality does mol seem to be as good as
some others, yet it will, no doubt, make a
good fuel for steam purposes. 1t is reasona>
BILE to suppose, however, that the quality will
somewhat improve az the mining proceeds
beneath tie hill but there is also reason to
believe that the coal of the second bed will
be found to be better than that of the first
at least in this part of the county. Going
down the river valley, three miles below the
village of Chillicothe, to the mines of Henry
Shock Co., on sections 8, u and IA, ths
coal was found TO be OF good quality and the
bed five feet thick. These gentlemen furnish
a large amount of coal for shipment on tn,
B. & NJ. r. K. About quarter of mil.
I further up the small creek which comes int
the Des Moines river there, and upon tn,
same section, Mr.. David c. Evans has jus
got anime into good working order in the sam,
bed of coal which here also measures fiy,
feet in thickness, and the quality fully equa
to that Of Shock e. Co. There is no doub
+ that the high lands bordering on this small
creek and the adjacent parts along the De
Moines river bottom is underlaid BY as goot
coal as is seen in the mines just mentioned
u In the immediate vicinity Of Ottumwa sey
eral mines have been opened, but the bed
hpr nd ho IL
the coal of the county will average, although
they furnish considerable amount of goos
!, coal. The first and second beds of coal ar
represented in the hills at Ottumwa, but We
it seems probable that the principal supple
for the city must be brought from mines fou
or five miles distant. About that dstanc,
to the northwestward from the city, on sec
So, 10, IA, Messrs Brown Godfrey hav,
some mines in operation, from winch the,
are preparing to ship large quantities o
coal. Both the d. V. L. T. aud the B. 4
NJ. Il. X. run near each other, within mill
: Of their mines, which will give them unusua
advantages in shipping coal to various mar
kets on both roads. The quality of heir Goa
, ia good, aud the bed measures from four /,
four aud a~half feet thick. Northwestwart
from these mines, and about mile south
ward flom kirkvlle, several other mine
have been opened. all apparently in the sam
! led. Those latterly known as Smith mine
have been on fire for several months past
probably the work of an incendiary, but ar
now Ut .rlY extinguished. The coal of tbes
mines has long beeu in good renute, and Mr.
) Smith will soon have them in working orde
again.
Mr.. Joshua Marshall has a good five.foo
mine, in good condition, on sec. II, IS, IA
; and has good local market for his coal
In the immediate vicinity of Eddyvill
several mines are worked in bed whic
ranges from three to four and half feet i
thickness. From these mines | obtaine
! some specimens of coal as fine as any hav
ever seen in the West. / was told Of an ex
posure of camel coal in the immediate ban
of the Des Mones river, about half mil
above the town, but the river was too high q
8 the time OF my visit to see it.
From indications observed in the north
western quarter OF the county, there is rea
son to believe that this region will furnis
very large quantities of excellent coal for es
t port, which may be readily run down to tn
railroad By branch tracks laid along th
: numerous small streams which empty int
the Des Moines river. This will make Wa
rello one of the principal exporting cos
counties of the State indeed, more coal i
now shipped upon the B. 4 NJ. r. r. fror
this county than from any other throug
which it passes.
Thus far very little coal has been foun
IN the southwestern and northeastern quarter
. of the county, but in the former, if not ais
III the latter, 1t is probable that coal may b
found at moderate depth beneath the sur
face, but down to which the valleys of til
creeks, being small ones, have not been cui
as has been the case along the river and tn
larger creeks.
teron cvonpt or ooo1 la-.-