Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1875-03-25
Ignite.
L1gnlte.
We take the following interesting let
ter from the Western Progress:
NIINNEAPoLIs, MINI.

q
March 12, 1875.
EDITOR PRoGREss.- Your letter in re-
gard to discoveries of what some regard
coal and others peat, in Mower county,
reached me yesterday, and the package
by express came today. In tile first place
Iwant to thank you for the interest you
take in the matter, and for the informa-
tion you give in the letter. hope your
example will be followed by others in the
progress Of the State Survey, for there is
no one who can SO quickly and so cor
rectly indicate the leading points Of in.
tercst in any county as the people who re-
side therein.
Last fall made survey of Mower
county, and have reported to the I.egis-
lature. That report contains considera
bic information on the subject of which
you ask, and will he rcadyfor use: in a
few weeks. The Legislature ordered a
certain number of extra copies for the
use of the inhabitants: They are placed
in the hands of the County Commission
crs for gratuitous distribution. The law
will supply extra copies for other coun-
tics, when others are reported on in the
same way.
In relation to the specimens enclosed
in the letter, found in pockets IN the drift
in sinking the shaft for the we'll, they are
the same as have been found in a multi
tude ofsother places all over the settled
portions of the State, especially the south
ern portion, and consist of a good crcta-
ceous ignite. They indicate that that
formation extends, or did once, as Tar
east as Mower county-evcn as far as the
eastern part of Mower county, and that it
carried this Ignite. This Ignite is of
little economical value, especially when
goon wood can be had for four or six dol
lars per cord, and particularly as in its
manner of recurrence it is not en- massc,
so good as the specimens that are dissem-
mated through the drift. The excitement
last year at Frceborn, in Freeborn coun-
ty, was caused by such bed of Ignite.
In reference. to the specimens you send
by express, your letter supplies the first
necessary account Of their location and
source. You will observe that the man
ner of occurrence of this deposit is simi
lar to that of Leroy and Bennington. l
met with it also in Window township, in
Mower county, and there a man by the
name of Smith has followed it by drifting g
| into the bank of Rose creek, 4 distance
of about 20 feet. 1t pertains to the eleva-
ted and prairie portions of the county
equally with the lower, or rather, seems
to exist more frequently in the elevated
ridges, in one of which the we'll of the
German was dug in Pleasant Valley. Il
is really an ancient peat, and often con
tains wood and bark, especially near it:
upper part. I lam satisfied that it is wide
spread. 1t has been found in several pla
ces in Iowa. Wells in Frceborn county
have also struck it. It pertains to tho
DRIFT. It is both underlain and oyerlair
by a drift clay of "a blue color, and tho
OVERLAPPING clay is simetimes fifty feet il
thickness. The OVERLAPPING drift materi
ais sometimes consist of gravel and sane
beds, to certain extent. The greatqucs
ton to determine definitely in respect tt
the drift materia al is, are these boulder:
and other evidences Of glacier action, ii
the overlaying blue clay? If boulder
occurred in it, were they glacier.scratch
ed? know the general aspect Of th'
surface is that of glacier-drift district
boulcers, often of great size, lying on TIN
prairie. The specimen of the overlayinE
blue clay that you send me will not ena
bic me to form an opinion as to whethe
it is the result of deposition of g!acie
agency OF by standing water.
! Whatever the origin Of this peat, j
brings into the history of the drift epocl
of Southern Minnesota new element. /
indicates an interval when much Of tn
surface of that portion of the State wa
). covered with an accumulating layer Q
peat This seems to separate two glacia
epochs, and to constitute one of Jame
Geikie's "interglacial' epochs. In thi
case probably the proximity of the ic
fields was the occasion of great deal o
moisture in the air, a condition that is eS
cnpli6cd by the fogs and mists Of Greer
land-a condition favorable for the pea
moss on any surface.
Economically, this substance is lik
any peat. II burns we'll, and if it can b
had easily, so as to compete with woo'
and coal in price, it will be useful as
fuel.
Respectfully,
n. Fl. WLNcHELL.
Bismarck's Letter.