Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-07-20

~ fire 4E4 Yefters clay exists q
very Ene quality. and easy Of aees-s-,
being al Of fs-ei in thickness, ~o2le
/ 90 rc,,s- in length. and frcnl : 10 Io
rod. vide. This land belongs 70
Virgil Roberts. Also. on the ;. "
OF the ". T.. Of same Section, i,e-
l1sging 10 same individual. J. q
heavy stonc-sguarfy already opened
quality, ferrgginous sandstone, and
.ir..-r..e. Here j. large mass o:
rock. and very easy Of ac.ess-thick-
ne-- already exposed Oh It's face j.
i. feet, on both sides Of the little
branch. which runs between, and
extending all.of 100 yards III length,
and running hack under heavy
body u high bluff land 10 great
width. Millions Of perch Of good
sandstone can he quarried here. This
quality Of rock, a. We have said in
previous reports, harden5 as it l.
exposed 10 the atmosphere, which
then makes IL all right for all kinds
Of building purposes. Also on the
:. f.. Of the y. W. Of same Sec,
another fire ledge Of this same quail
it's Of rock exists, being all Of 100
yards in length, and from II to II
feet in thickness, and runs back into
high table land. Here is good
point for opening heavy quarry.
Also underlying the North J Of the
y. w. Of same section, heavy
deposit Of coal exists -this land being
Mr.. Roberts also. The Ist and 2nd
beds have been partially proven
here. lst bed viii not pay to work.
End bed will pay, as there must be a
very extensive bed Of it. End bed is
% feet below the LIST bed. Depth
from the apex Of table land, by a
level measurement taken by Ourself,
IL 100 feet to 2nd vein or bed, and 50
feet to the 1st vein. The 2nd vein
must certainly make to all Of & feet
in thickness under this high land.
The 81 vein or bed would necessarily
underlie the Ind here, and perhaps
other beGs. Mr.. Roberts has proven
the 2nd bed here by sinking stock
well, and passed through the coal
finding it feet in thickness ut this
point, it being close to the edge Of a
fault. The coal was mixed with
sulphur and other impurities, which
invariably gather around washes,
breaks, faults, &c. This impeachment
will be done away by sinking shafts
farther back on the high land.
On the w. Of the n. w. /. of same
Section, we find a metallic substance
resembling quicksilver. This sub.
stance seems to exist in small pockets,
through a heavy bed Of potters' clay
which exists here. AS the water
rushed i'm to such an extent while
proving the clay, we could not pro
cure sufficient quantity OF it to
make fair test, SO as to become
satisfied rs to what it really is. II
seems to increase as we go deeper
first strike it about 2 feet from the
surface, which seems to he fair
sample Of melted lead, in small,
shiny globules, but when gathered
and rubbed in the palm OF the hand
makes into numbers of little beads,
which move over the hand ut the
touch of the finger, being in Il nearly
fluid state. Whether this is quick.
silver or not, we must say that il
resembles it SO nearly, that If it is
not, it must be its "half sister or ster
mother" We hope to examine II
more ninutely ut some future time
Should it prove to be quicksilver
almost all know the great value o.
this precious substance; and there
must have been several large-sizeo
bottles of it split here, whether spill
by man, or from natures urn.
Thence we visited several Goa
banks along Walnut creek, DC.
namely Sherwood's old coal bank
coal some feet in thickness. White
ley's old bank, coal some 3 feet II
thickness where they quit work
lIammond's coal bank, now aban
doned, from to feet thick. Pratt''
coal bank, coal from 3 to feet thick
Roofing over the coal at all these
banks is slate, soapstone and sand
stone, which is very thick, will
high bodies Of land above. There
are few other banks along this
creek. This coal has been worked
by entry, or rather, the gouging pro-
cess. This creek is some 4 miles tt
the south of English creek this Is a.
near point as these creeks come
together. The land between is high