The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1888-03-01

60 800 and 600 feet, exospt toward the Doul
n. western portion Of the State, where II o.
i. pGnds in thickness like ali the 9TH
In groups, and measures SO feet near Cha
10 lesion.
10 Although usually meriting the nan
Z "BErTsH MsEEuTts," 70. ooeAr!51Al!y son
10 good Coal 10 found In this group over r
s. BtElctsd areas. Tbs BAkeTstoWn coal,
10 "iour ioo." bed Of Preston county, Is on
70 Of thsse exceptions, and the BFueh Gree
u bed which caps the hills ut C0Alburg o
o the KsnAWha, and furnishes some in
e "block" coal IN several counties Of th
!. southwestern part Of the State, Ia another
!, Thcsa two bedB belong In the lower hA
i Of the group, and the last named lg tn
lower ons. The Barren Measured" ar
0 limited above by great bed Of eoal, th
9 most important onB In the Appalachian
!. field, the famous Pittsburgh bed. Thi
0 bed marks the beginning Of another, ant
I the last Of tho groups Of the true Goa
measure rocks, which Is termed the up
per Coal Measures" This 5nTiee, milk
) those below Il, stiAins lie maximum thick
{ ncss and Importance II the Irthern enc
OF the State, ing.esd Of the southern. II
MonongaliG county Il hes y thickness o.
$50 feet, aud cOnlAina four valuAble Goa
I bsdE, disposed ~ follows: At base, the
great Pittsburgh bed, with s workable
thickness OF ssyen TO niue leoi; forty feet
above this comes tho Rsdslone bed, With
q thickness Of four to hvs iesti aixty feet
above the latter liei tho SsWicklsy bed,
having e thickness Ct dyO to elk ie6t,
while 2G0 Zee: above the last, and Gaping
the seris4 We get the WAynssbuTR bed,
With a workable thickness Of six 70 seven
ieel. Thus |; happsnE that In many Of
the bills oil Monongaiia twenty TO twenty.
five feet Of meTChAntAblO coal may be
mined without shailiug.
In coming Bou:hEErd from MonongAlia
:he PittebuIgh, SewicEley and WAynCs-
burg Goals hold their usual thickness
through Marion county, but the Redstone
bed thinS on before reaching there, and
on beyond Marion tho SuEickley and
WhynesburR beds dwindle down 10 thin
and unimportAnt layers. leaving the PittG-
burgh Gs the only valuable coal In the
group, but the latter maintains such 4
standard Of thickness ard value W to
amply compensate for the loss Of the
higher members poGseassd In more favored
i s'NhNAk AAA hllu AAhIlUus NJ ptA1a NI1k-
ward from the MononHAhell river, In the
last mentioned counties, theae upper coal
measure beds dip beneath the surface
down into tho great trough Of the Appa.
lachian Bsain and do not come up to day.
light again till We reach the Ohio river
valley Hsar Wheeling, and here We find
that only the Pittsburgh bed remains i'm
portant, the others being represented by
thin aud ulaty beds, hence 1t will be OBJ
served that so far as cur State 10 concerned
the upper coal measures derive their chief
Importance from the presence Of one bed,
the Pittsburgh, but II 10 so valuable Is TO
merit q more detailed description than
could be given to the other individual
beds within the limited space Of this ST.
tirls.
TIKI MOST IXPOETANT eEAH.
This Pit;hburRh bed, - We have already
stated, is the most important seam in the
entire Appalachian aold. 1t is the same
bed which furnishes the coal for the man.
uiGcture Ofthe famous Connsllsvills coke,
and hence Is often called the Connellsville
or Youghiogheny bed. Coming IS It does
60 high up in the Ueries Of rocks. 1t has
suffered more from erosion than any
other Of the coal beds below II, having
boen worn away from many thousands Of
square milrs, where 1t oncs existed. This |
We realize whom crossing the Alleghanies |
10 Piedmont, and lind the same Pittsburgh |
bed represented In the "Big Bed" Of tina. |
region and tho Georges creek bALin, where
Il 10 fifteen 10 twenty feet thick. We alao
discover the same coal bed on tho heights
at Elk Garden, on the West Virginia Cen.
trail Railroad, sud in the is0la!ed patch ii
Fairfax Summit, more than $500 fest
above tho sea. The remnant Of this bed
in CoDemAn's knob, nsar KingWood, the
scattered patches OF the hill top around
Negburg, aud tho few acres Of Il on the
highest submits near BeAlIngton, taken
In connection with the Fairfax and Elk
Garden areas will give the reader some
idea OF the vast intermediate BurlaCs from
which It has alreAdy been mined by the
c9ssole59 action Of the elemsng. But for.
tunately for our State, thsidespest portion
Of tho Appalachian trough passes across
its territory from the PENNSYLVANIA
line clear through 10 the Kentucky
border in Wayne county, and has thus
presbrved for us In Its ample fold. n very
large area OF th!s valuable bed. Is out.
crop has been followed from the State line
southwArd past MorgantoWn. Fairmont,
ClslksbuTE, We6ton, Troy, Chenille, Sut.
ion, sifeonville, and on the Great Ks-
nARhA at Raymond City. Beyond this
liver the coal Is thin, and found in inter.
ruptod patches, but 1t has recently been
opened in the tops Of tho hills back from
Huntington, and the las. patch oil 1t with.
In the State is 10 the summit Of q high
knob overlooking the Big Sandy, and Ter
miles above It's month. Kentucky "a.
ceiyes Sill Of tho coal beds under this one
from our State, bu! she gets not an ounce
oil the great Pittsburgh HeanI, for II pAsses
into the air over tho tops OF her highest
hills, from point in our State within a
stOns'B throw Of her territory.
On the Ohio river side OF West Virginia.
this bod comes int the tops OF our hills
opposits S!eubeIyille, and dipping down
from theuorth 10 only 100 feet above water
level at the mouth OF Wheeling creek. II
hss thus been the bed rock Of WheelinR's
industries, and prosperity, and Il IB the
liquidation stone on which her sister city.
Pittsburgh, has built such grand super.
structure oil manufacturing interests. And
notwithstanding the temporary advan.
tAGea Of natural gas, this coal bed will
BE- the main source Of the future greatness
Of the two cities.
BELOW THE WATER LEvRL.
Followed below Wheeling, this coal
gradually approaches the river level aud
passes beneath the same short distance
balow BenwoOd, and although 1t IL
reached by the sbSIta at Moundsvllle, the
horizon Of the coal keeps constantly
below watOr level till We reach tho Vol.
cano oil upliit, uhort distance below St.
MEIys. Here the place where Il should
be Is lifted $50 10 800 feet shove the river
for two or lhTss miles, but the coal la
wanting or go thin that II ia practically
Rbsent, and the same thing 10 true Rll
along this arch from Eureka through by
Volcano TO Burning Springs and beyond
toward Spencer. How broad this barren
belt may DO We cannot yet certainly de-
teTmine, owing to want Of observations In
the central part oil the State, but there are
some reasons for believing that this bar.
rem region 10 coincident with the course
Of tbs Volcano arch, and that Il thus ex.
tends from Eureka through to Burning
SPRING., on the Great Kanawha, 10 mllgs
above Charleston and that along this line |
for distance Of several 40 to i6l miles
on each side, no valuable depoe!ts Of thls
coal can be found. We know, however,
shat the coal comes IN again west Of this
arch. Tor when the Ohio turns north be-
low Lslars Falls the rlss cf the rocks soon
brings the coal to tho surface OF Hartford
City aud other points in that region,
where 1t Is still! a valuable bod, though
much reduced In thickness from It's nor
IN al ais n tho