The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1880-02-19
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ThaEE MINUTES on COL.
NJ JoaH ". HIEKs.
(Laa';ss-sl Lesrs ae lSslisd Rssnd Of Bslss
The formatioa ofcoal-the age of ear.
bon, was the fourth IN succession oi
the important period which followed
the cooling OF Of this globe: That the
earth at one time Was . bninibg mar
Of moulten.nlatter, like the sun ijts-
day, il not questioned: No certain
knowlNdge fths copponent parts Of
the original crust has been obtained
but as soon As. water appeared and be-
gan the wearing away process, which
yet continues. the particles thus worn
away were formed into other rocks,
termed by geologists. Azoic. rocks.
The composition Of Azoic rocks prove
that they were once sedementary beds
beds formed by the action of moving
waters. like the sandstones, and lime
stones. of late times, and the formation
Is supposed to be from 1900 to q, 0OO
feet thick. Novegetatiop existed in the
Azoic age. Next In order was the age
Of mOhusks-an animal having o soft
body aud no Internal skeleton-an oys-
ter or any shell fish. Sea weeds were
the only vegetation.
The age Of fishes followed. Plants
accumulated In variety. mollusks In
profusion. and Ash appeared. Fish
have back bone, and q bony skeleton
thus we note the advance In creation.
The carboniferous age succeeded. This
was the age Of coal. the day Of profase
vegetation. Mollusks and fish, In
creased in number and perfection. and
reptiles slowly made their appearance
The climate was warm aud humid,
the air burdeRed with carbonic. Scid
aud vegetation fiourished In great lux
urisnOe everywhere. Man did not ex-
ist; could not have existed In such an
an atmosphere. xA..
During this period q nlarshy plxin
extended over this entire country from
where the Rocky Mountains now are
on the west, to the Appalachian chain
thu A~at and
tie fluctuations Of surface, interspersed
with shallow lakes. Neither Of these
mountain chains were then iR exist
ence; the first were under the ssa, and
the second bad not yet been formed
had not been uplifted. .
On such Q vast plain grew cone hear
Ing trees. ferns. DC, and some of them
Of immense sire, and luxuriana growth
was prolonged until the CREEPING rem
turtles Of time hsd piled up bfpkeu
branches, fallen trees, and vegetable
debris enough for Q. coal bed. Trees
and shrubs, With their leaves and ltujt,
made up the. accumulation. 6tunps
Of trees stood and dscayed In: the
swamps. and oil. such decaying. srge,
tation-decaying under fresh water.
formed coal. That 1t was formed In
fresh water We have aseertsIned BY
analiztng the deposits Ct sand, clay
and other rOck material which cover
It, In which no martpe deposits hsys
been found. Occasionally. the waters
a the sea swept over this great inter-
nal basin-watecs Of the old Arctic
ocean-an took possession = thence fol-
lowed deposits Of marine matter and
animals; vast -beds Of sandstone. lime
stone, Iron ore, &c, one Of these de-
posits being to the extraordinary Thick
ness Of 800 feet. The sea receedine.
an age. Of verdure succeeded, ouIy 10
decay and be formed into coal In
Nova Scotia such changes went on
until II $40 feet Of deposit were formed.
and In thRt space are IS coal seamsani
dirt beds, indicating as many levels of
vsrdant fields between the others
when the waters prevailed. In Penn.
sylvanta there are nearly 5000 feet in
The series, in which Is nom GO to I'D
feet Of coal. In Kentucky there are
10 distinct coal beds OVERLAPPING each
other. Time for such Immense depos-
It's ana FORMATIONS can only be counted
by. centuries; think. Of Ii. The Pitts.
burg vein Of Bituninous Is 29} feet
thick Z; the mammoth Anthracite Mt
Wilkesbarre, Pa. Is ~ feet; and Is 8
feet Of compact vegetation are required
to make one foot Of Bitumenous coal
and IL to make one Of Anthracite. Ii
will be seen that 2iO feet Of solid veg.
citation were required to form the first,
aad 800 to form the latter named de-.
Poslts. To grow vegetation for either
OF these beds, alone. must have re-
quired several centuries Of time, and
yet these beds are but single deposit
Of the many that 60 to make up the
coal deposit. What immense. tre-
mendods, wonderful periods OF time
must have been required for The I'm.
tire deposit OF cusl-ths coal itself.
How extensive then must have been
the period covering the entire deposit
during the carnOniferous aye, TO
answer this, add to the above fhe tisue
required to form the intervenkIRs6prfa
Of sandstones, shsIes, Husesen,t.,. or
iron ore beds u .. thickness Of fifty
tinrs 8r:a&T than that Of the coal
ned ~ We ase completely lost In
9oooeI ~ . dUi'osit Of hut few inches
- Q century accords best with the
lncts. The coal measures were not
formed In 900, 400 years. or the entire
deposit IN double that
lime duration Of time not conure.
aensied by the Inlnd Of msu.
The coal period WIS one OF uncsss-
ng change eras Of universal .vcrdure.
attended with Others Of widespread /,
md destructive waters-destructive of !
III vegetation and land life. except !
bat which covered regions beyond the |
'oai measure limits. II WAS . thug Of |
Ireat forests and jungles. Of n,agaifi-
'ent foliage, aud VI but few fiowehs
Nth marsh loving insscta, mollusks,
md worms; Of iish geuerally-lnciud-
ns sbarka scorpions, and reptiles Of |
ONE inferior species, aud representa-.
ives Of ell inferior Insects. but those
hsf 1--we among flowefx but neither
'ards nor mammals; thesef6ro there
vas no music In the Kroves. ave. nse.
laps, insect life and the osoekins kne.
Early in the caPA,on iferx,s,a 80 f6e I