The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1870-04-08
The CLAW county EXCURSION.

-8@A4 - ALA ~ Al
.ng States, and our citizens generally. v
Quite a number Of prominent gentle y
men of Evansville were present. and j
express themselves pleased with the t
trip. The section of State visited has I
recently had a most thorough survey, :
under the authority of the State, By I
Professor Cox, State Geologist, assist 1
ed by Professor Bradley, and Drs. !
and Levette, and a portion !
of their report has been already print /,
ed, which, when completed, will be !
placed in the hands of the State Board
Of Agriculture for distribution. The
Indianapolis Journal says that as
the survey progresses, it is the
Professors intention to publish
maps of each county on which will be
marked the boundaries of geological
formations, and the location of coal
mines, ore banks, stone quarries, etc,
the county maps to be finally collated
into a geological map of the entire
State. In that part of the report al
ready printed will be found the maps
of Greene, Clay. and Vermillion coun-
ties. Prof. Cox, under its direction,
has been collecting information which
will tend in no small degree to pro-
motto the interests Of agriculture, arts,
manufactures, and mines in the State,
and in a few days the Professor will
issue his first annual report. Re-
ferring generally to the coal measures
Of Indiana, the forthcoming report
says:
The area Of the coal measures in
Indiana, which, in advance of a com
putation to be made from an actual
detailed survey, may be stated to APP
proximate six thousand five hundred
square miles, or ono. fifth of the en-
tire State. Insignificant as this coal
area may appear when compared to
that of the whole United States,
which has been estimated at 10000
square miles, it is, nevertheless, more
than half as large as the entire coal
area of Great Britain and Ireland.
Concerning Clay County, and the
coal fields thereof. the report says:
The Terre Haute and Indianapolis
and the indianapolis and st. Louis
Railroads cross the 'bl0ck coal" field
in the northern part of the county.
running nearly parallel with each
other, and only about FIVE miles apart.
Branch roads or switches have been
built to the blast furnaces and to the
most important coal mines nov OPEN
j., ed, both to the north and south of the
, main line, making, in the aggregate,
about fifteen miles Of additional rail-
: road fecilities. -Four passenger aud
six regular freight trains run daily
each way over this road, and when it
is borne in mind that nearly every
regular freight train flags another,
: and that fully one-half of this bust
t ness is derived from a very small part
D of tho coal lands Of this county,
/, some idea may be formed Of its vast
mineral resources, which are begin
, ming to be developed.
/ The following is an exhibition of
, the quantity and value of block and
; bituminous caking Goals mined daily
in Clay county: al.
Block coal shipped daily, 40 tons.
valued at 81 so per ton .. -............ 9 l,025
Block coal used daily In blast fur
naces, 800 tons, at 81 80 per TOM. $50
81 50 per I,775
Bituminous caking coal mined. 90
3 tons, Mt 81 per l2O
Total coal mlpad.latlE ..T.z.a .a:: I.Sg5
: Approximate yeld Of coal for one
, year, 23O. 1000 tons. Value~."....... $4,000
: The diagrams showing the geologi-
cal formation of Clay County, exhibit
at the depth of 522 feet the a9prAs~to
thickness Of coal beds 40 Delng zo9-lz
t feet. and the entire coal area of the
county comprises three hundred
! square miles.
From the remainder Of the econom-
: inal geology ofsthe county set forth
in the report, the following facts are
/ cleaned: n.
FIRE CLAY-Is found at the bottom
of every coal bed, and also in places
where there is no coal, butt it is every
. where sufficiently refractory to admit
of it's being used in manufacturing
fire clay. Much of it is useful, how
ever, for that purpose, and from 49,
. 600 to So, 900 brick are made daily In
the county, and meet with q ready
q market. The county is also abund-
l. antly supplied with a variety of fire
4 clay that is admirably adapted for the
- manufacture of pottery.
" BUILDING STONE. - The sandstone
q of the county makes an excellent
j. building stone, and is extensively
" used in Brazil for making founda-
tions, l%intels, steps, and other parts OF
buildings, while the sub-carbonifer.
GUS limestone is good for building pur-
"a poses, and makes q fine article oil
&c quicklime.
u IRON ORE.-Thcre is no locality in
d the county where iron ore has YET
been found in n sufficient quantity TO
D. supply a blast furnace, but it can be
h used advantageously to mix with Lake
- Superior and Missouri ores.
"a From this report we also learn that
al in an agricultural point of view, Clay
- County cannot be said to stand in the
4 front rank. The upland soil is prin-
- cipally derived from the drift, and is
&c a cold, wet, clay soil, varying in color
from ash grey to yellowish red. The
tenaeity with which it holds water
- renders understanding indispensable
IL to good culture. A top-dressing OF
st lime, woOd-ash, and even eoal-ash,
would prove highly beneficial to tho
% character of this soil. The sandy.
loan soil of the prairies is decidedly
l. the best in the country, and is well
=. adapted to the growth Of the cereals
clover, and grasses; orchards also dc
we'll on this land.
= The upland, where attention has
u been paid to dressing and cultivation,
of and especially in favored localities,
ot produces good crops of wheat, clover,