The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-05-21
UNDER INDIANA SOIL
STATE GEoLoGIsT DETAILS SOME OF
THE STATES GREAT RESOURCES.
No Telling How Much Petroleum Will
Follow the Gas supply-The
Valuable C1ays.

IN the Introductory portion, colipriSlNs
twenty-five pages. the leading resources o.
the State. viz: coal, natural gas, petroleum
soils, building stones ana clays. are notice,
and their general distribution, abundance
and value are commented upon. Speaking
of the coal, natural gas and petroleum the
Geologist says:
| In treating of these natural fuels is tha
they are not being formed in our state TO-
day; No coal no gas. no OIL is being made
| in Indiana by natures processes. either In
| the bowels of the earth or above IL. Our
| present supply Of each will never increase
deposit of reserve force upon which the peo-
| pie of the present generation are daily draw
| ing without adding thereto. Like bank
1 account under the same conditions Ii is only
a question Of time until 1t will become ex-
| hausted."
| Seven thousand square miles of the State is
| underlaid with coal. This is of two varie-
| ties-block coal. which has an unrivaed rep
utation for steam and household purposes,
being free from sulphur. leaving no clinkers
| and but little ash; and bituminous coal,
| which, from analysis. is shown to be equal
| to, If not superior, to the best Pennsylvania
| product. The Indiana coal fields are as yet
| in the infancy of their development, yet last
year 4.2o2oS4 tons were mined from them.
| No accurate survey of the coal area as a
begun the present season, and will be carried
| on in such manner and to such an extent
| as the sum appropriated for such purpose
| will permit.
OF petroleum the statement is made that
| no man can tell how much there is beneath
| the surface of Indiana. The probabilities are
| that the greater part of the area at present
| yielding gas will in time be productive Of
petroleum. Such has been in general the his
| tory Of other gas fields and there is no rea-
| SON why that of Indiana should form an ex-
| ception.
| The average initial or rock pressure of rat
ural gas decreased from 325 pounds in 1889 TO
been half exhausted, but 10 one can say
| with certainty how long the remainder Will
| last. If the waste could be entirely shut OF
| the supply in the heart OF the field, where
| much undeveloped territory has been held in
reserve, would probably last for a number
Of years.
NEST valuable of her natural resources. The
drift soils of the northern half OF the state
are rich In all the necessary constituents OF
plant food and do not require large out
| lay for artificial fertilizers as do the soils
| Of some of the southern counties over which
| the drift did not extend.
THE CLAY DEPOSITS.
Among the most valuable of the uDdevel-
| oped resources of the State are her clay de-
| posits.
| every county, but the largest and most val
| liable ones occur in the western and south
| western parts of the State. where the coal
measures exist. for the coal measures Of the
| State are pre-eminently its clay measures.
| Every seam of coal is normally underlaid
1 with bed of fire clay, and above the Goa,
| there are almost always beds of shale. These
| coal shales a few years ago were thought 10
| be worthless, but experiment has proven that
| they are excellently adapted to the making
| of paving brick, roofing tile, sewer pipe and
| many similar products.
The State Geologist visited in person eight
| cen counties of the State in 1875 and made
careful examination of the leading clay
deposits, which were close enough to trans
| portation facilities to be of value. The re-
tail in a paper on "The Clays and Clay
| pages of the report Complete chemical an
| alyses Of eighty-two clays were made espe-
| the Rose Polytechnic and Professor Lyons
of the State University, and from them
much can be learned concerning the fitnt1;
( of the clays for especial products.
Twenty millions of dollars worth of clay
products are used annually in Indiana, yet
but about five million dollars worth are
rifed brick for roadways has become great
industry since 1880. Full statistics were gath
cred from the thirty-three towns and cities
in Indiana In which such brick have been
used. and from them tables were prepared
for the report showing the cost of brick
thu fae 81 and al
given by. the pavements, etc. Outside of In,
dianapolis where complete statistics could
not b re Go,a,e OF 1h,e lsrga sum the
brick have cost sSs4.ss7. But $2s7.675 have
been spent for material made in Indiana
while S547, 022 have gone to Ohio, West Vir--
which could have been made in Indiana, and
laid down at fair profit in the cities using
| them for less price than they were shipped
in from other States.
WORTH MUCH TO THE STATE.
At the close of the chapter on the clays
| found in the various counties Professor
Blatchley says:
This completes the list of counties COM
| As before stated, attention has been called
| only TO the larger and more available de-
posits Of commercial clays found within their
| the raw materials suitable for making every
kind of clay product used in Indiana, with
| the exception of some of the finer clays used
| In the better grades Of terra Gotta, en-
| caustic tile and china ware, has been shown.
| The clays for the cheaper and vastly more
used products, millions of dollars worth OF
which are annually imported into the State.
are lying undeveloped and surrounded in
most instances with the fuel necessary for
their burning With these resources present
| why should Indiana be behind the other
| States in clay manufacturing? Why should
she make only per cent. OF the total value
| or clay products made IN the united states,
when Ohio and Illinois, with no more ex-
| tensive or better beds of the raw material,
/ make respectively 16 and IL per cent? s
| to the opportunities and advantages In their
| midst. The majority of the clay industries
which have started up at Brazil, Veeders-
burg, Terre Haute and elsewhere within
| the past five years are owned by parties
outside of Indiana, and the profits accruing,
which are large, go mostly without her
| bounds. As was well said by the superin-
1 tendent of of the largest of these fac
| tories (himself an Ohio man and the factory
| owned by Ohio capitalists): The people Of
| Indiana don't seem 10 know good thing
when they have ii. They wait for outsiders
| to come il, gain possession of it and make
| IL known to them, and then, too late, they
realize ITS Importance. Home factories
should be erected. should be protected.
should be patronized, for in such a way only
| State be increased, and plentiful labor be
provided for her workingmen."
No State in the Union possesses better
stone for building purposes than Indiana.
During the year 1895 fifteen million cubic
feet OF oolitic stone were shipped from the
quarries in Lawrence and Monroe counties;
most of 1t going to points outside of Indiana.
The best deposits of this stone are found
in a narrow strip extending from Green
castle, Putnam county, to Salem, Washing
ton county, distance of ITO miles in length.
The width of this strip varies from three
to ten miles, and the State Geologist now
has two men at work mapping ii accurately
and preparing a complete report on the
oolitic stone for The next annual report.
One of the leading papers OF the report
ffsSf Il n "a IL