Mexico weekly ledger., 1891-02-19
COAL N CLAY.
The Coal and Clay Interests of
Audrain County.

Coal and fire clay are very
abundant and OF easy access IN Au-
drain county. They r to be found
at a depth of about seventy but
in most Gifts ridges and especially
in those traversed by the Chicago
& Alton railroad from Mexico to
Vandalia, every n Of which, if
utilized, would make a choice To-
cation for manufactures of brick,
fire Innings, crucibles, retorts and
glars pots and tile pottery. In
those places are not only coal and
clay in abundance but the advant-
age also of close connection with a
system of railroads that traverses
the entire central portion of the
United States. When it is stated
that a single district of England
embracing about 4S square miles
mas nearly 800 kilns in operation,
employing more than lOO 5000 work
men, some idea may be suggested
of the importance of the inexhaus-
tihle Goals and clays of Au-
drain county when they shall be
fully developed.
These Goals and clays are known
to biologists are the lowest to be
found in Missouri and are therefore
supposed to be the earliest of the
whole series existing in this State.
There are in Audrain county three
veins or stratas OF them, all OF
which exist in the neighborhood O.
Mexico. The first can be found il
the cut of the Wabash, nearest Sail
River, west of this town; the second
crops out In the rear of the old
Graham mansion in the neighbor
hood of CIark's dairy and at Flat
Rock, and the third has been
worked in Abbay's pasture ant
otber places. This third or lowesI
vein has about 80 inches of coal il
| connection with about 16 feet o
fire clay. Assuming that an acre
Is 70 yards square and that a bee
of clay is Is feet or 5 yards thicE
the following formula will give thu
number of tons of that material II
such an approximate acre. TOXIC,
5-25, 400 tons. A similar formula
will give the number Of tons of Goa
everything such an extent of ella,
where the vein is 30 inches or 2 l p.
feet thick, 210x2lOx2 1-2-27-4 0S'
tons or 50 ,604 bushels. It Nigh
be said and, indeed, the writer ha
often heard the remark that
thirty inch vein Of coal wa
u thing OF small importance
Such indeed would be true of tn
vein to which attention is cal,ed
ii it existed separate and apar
from the clay connected with il
In that event the difficulty and ex
pense of mining it to supply a
intermittent and wintry deman
would deminish and, perhaps, eve
annihllate its commercial value
But existing as it does IN connee
ton with such a large strata c
superior fire clay, its supposed il
significance vanishes and 1t BIZ
comes an important industrial fat
tor, capable of being mined wit
the clay at a minimum cost. A
, Vandalia this strata of clay has 8
, much as three characteristic shade
of color. The upper three feet {
it is of a blue color, supposed I
have been derived from the CO,
, everything it. There is about th
same thickness of buff clay belo'
+ the blue and. the remainder {
lower part Of the strata is Whit
all of which makes it valuable 6
constituting material for the var
r ously coiored pressed brick E
+ much used at present in lars
, cities for the fronts of building
In st. Louis county a capital al
I proximat1ng three millions of do
!, lars is employed in MANIPULATE
and exporting its fire clays, and a
that is wanting to impart simil,
importance to those of Audrai
county is enterprise and capital.