New-York tribune., 1872-06-15
INDIANA's MINERALS.
rr.rr crnInGICAL Survey.

RRIOW TIE BLOCK COAL SEAM
20 ne Edifor Of The Tribune
SIR: The first surveys of Indiana were nlauo 1
nv direction Of the Legislature, in 1887 and 1885, py III
I1.vta uae Owen His reports, though not eN'en,O
were interesting and valuable and gave TO 'ne Mol'u
,aneral though not a fu knowledge ot ule s0oiOey -
the state. After an interval OF 20 years. ouIi"N w.
Httle was done, the survey was for uie aa
under the charge OF Prof. Richard owen, LIS ',,
the previous director having ded IN 'ne NV" 49,
Isrtber DELAYS and Interruptions, probably uue 70 tho
outbreak Of the war; again checked ulo pros'oS VI %
work untn three years siiVe'
,,as orce moro taken up, and committed 10 fFoI'
Cox formerly engaged on the survey OF hentueh|'
Tho Dresent report forms a neat octave volume OF
80 aoo p,ces The first half consists OF Prof. Cox's
avn record OF observations and work during the year.
.nd Is almost wholly concerned with the southwestern
ouer OF the state in which the coal Then fol-
lows brief highly interesting paper also by Proi
Cox on the western coal beds in general with particu
lar reference to OF Indiana. This paper was read
nv its author before the American Association lO inc
Advancement OF Science at the indianapolis meethg IN
August Last The second half Of the volume occupied
bv two reports Of assistants the survey, that
81 Prof. CoIett the geology of Sullivan County
and that of Mr. A. H. Young of Hanover College, on the
Betany of jefferson County Elaborate indces are found
nj the close OF the book The geological relations OF the
State Of Indiana may be briefly stated as follows Inc
coal Of North America lies principally in two immense
basins known a. the Appalachian and the western OF
uunos coal Aelds The first extends from the western
base of the Aeghanes, much OF Pennsylvania and
West Virginia, over eastern 0nio and Kentucky, ana
down into Tennessee and even Alabama The second
spreads Western Indiana and Kentucky, over the
greater part OF Illinois, much of Iowa ana MIS-
souri, and stretches down across Arkansas and into
Texas These two great are separated IN western
Ohio and central Kentucky by what is known
10 geolorists as an axis Of elevation, Whlch
passes through the region from Nashville 10 Cln-
sinnati and sinks away northWard toward cleveland
This elevation marks the position OF an ancient lan
which Law between the OF marsh ana bayou III
which the coal vegetation OuTsbed in the earbonierous
are With this explanation in mind, we can now trace
tbe relation Of the Indiana cOabeds to the rest OF the
eounry On southeastern border OF the state Is the
blue limestone OF the old island, Lower siurian, then
above this on the west comes belt OF Upper Shurlan
limestone then broad stretch OF DeyOnan rocks then
the carboniferous limestone and beyond and above that
he coal The coal covers the southwest quarter Of the
State in an area limited by line curving east and south
from the vicinity Of Wiliamsport on the Wabash to
Rome on the Ohio
tits with this portion OF the State, which has the
Greatest economic importance, that the present reports
almost entirely concerned Especially valuable are the
recent discoveries Of the sOcaled book COAL which mas
such remarkable smelling properties, and which has al
ready within very short time, awakened an actVe iron
industry at mauy points in the southern part OF ne state
Prof Cox describes the coal region of Indiana as diys-
ihe into distinct regions. One of these consists OF
the coal basin the Ohio River to the Illinois line
As this outcrop about miles long, its total area is
some $50 square miles This is the celebrated block
coal district The western portion, comprising all the
rest Of the eOabeds in the State, covers some COCO
sonare mies and yields what is known as cakng coa
which sOftens into pasy mass in the furnace, and
hence cannot be used for ironmakng until it has been
heated 80 az to expe much Of the btumnous and voa
lille matter, and has thus been changed into coke
Whether the bordering Of the block coal extends
much into Illinois and Kentucky, is matter on which
ReOogists hesitate 70 express opinions The great i'm
Portance this fuel lies partly in its singular purity
and partly in the fact that il is freebnrnng coal,
not cakng into mass and that hence II may be used in
the iron furnace without any preparatory treatment
The name block coal" is given TO 1t from its peculiar
mode Of breaking into clean blocks or masses The
seams or layers traversed by systems Of parallel
cracks OF crossing each other nearly at night
angles The material therefore, readily tai out in
square pieces Of the thickness Of the seam. leaving an
angular zgzag edge where II had been removed which
looks as Prof Cox says, like Virginia fence.
The block coal is very .fnely and evenly lami-
mated and singulary free from impurities especially
from the muchdreaded admixture Of sulphur or phos-
pborus so very detrimental in irOn-making. Until
lately this valuable fuel supposed TO be confined to
a small area in Clay County But the su'yey has now
shown that far is this from being the case many To-
calities found in region that extends like
narrow belt around the general of the coalheld 1t
has been ascertaned moreover since the issue OF last
years report that the original Brazil seam" of block
coal undertake. only by second seam, was then
proved, bur also by a third These very important dis
eoveres Prof Cox will doubtless OF themselves,
pay, in two years, the entire expense Of the
survey.
Coal OF like character first found IN this country
some yeaIs gO on the edge Of the Appalachian
held in the Mahoung Valley, Ohio. The survey in
progress IN that state under charge of Prof Newberry
has developed much valuable information respecting
THE fuel 1t is found, in similar manner, on the out
ie nm Of the coalheld and tie lowest
- . points in northeastern Ohio. 1t comes
- i hocts iiie t,e Indiana deposit has the same re-
ra,Eable freedom from sulphur and acts In the same
way I'm the furnace burning clear and on 9nIll u Is
uuite consumed As a natural result it has been the
means Of awakening much activity in the manufacture
Of iron in that part ot QUO 10 the western
field this block coal first mined near
the town Of Brazil, in Clay County, Indiana
Before the survey had been resumed under Prof Cox
an important iron industry had sprung in that vicn-
ny. and five well-coustructed hot blast" furnaces
Acre in operaton in Clay County. These were the Brazil
Furnace which BEGAN work. "blew in" as the teehni
cal phrase Il, In December, 1867; two owned by the
western Iron Co. and the Planet and Lafayette Fur
naces These five irOn-wOrks used each day 900 uns OF
block coal $50 tuns from Lake Superior and Iron
Mountain Mo- and 80 tuns Of limestone as fux. Their
daily yield was 40 Of pig iron, worth $40 tun
During the past year the progress that was hoped for
hss been somewhat checked by miners strike. The
Ftagnaton thus caused however, enabled the ronmak
ers 70 20 out Of blast tme and alter and improve
their works in many respects. At Terre Haute,
very fine new work. the Vgo Blast Furnace, has been
built during year. There is little question that in
Indiana as likewise IN Ohio great manufacturing in
this kind will grow all over the regions
favOrably situated in regard 10 the coal In
the manufacture Of iron the must be brought 10 the
coal rather than the coal TO the The Ieyer mate
nal, occupying less bulk, be oheapy trans
ported than the lighter The that used in these