The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1902-03-14


fearless and lar sighted Democratl
in the T.. =, and would probably
have been the Democratic nomine,
for President in 1904. His dealt
was caused by cerebral hemorrhage
Indiana, Illinois. Kentucky Coal Field
The following abstract of the cur
rent publication OF the L. s. Geo
logical Survey, which had corpi
in this county Tor number 81
months in 1899 1900. will be found
Of value 10 coal dealers, and inter
esting to the general reader he
statement that Dubois county i
practically all underlaid with coal
is correct, but is apt TO mislead
some, as the coal in most of the
eastern portions Of the county has
not been found thick enough
veins TO be workable for mercantile
or manufacturing purposes, and
none can be mined profitably for
shipment by rail from that part,
while the central and western por
tons has veins from 3 TO ) feet in
thickness
"Illinois ranks, next TO Pennsyl-
vania, second in the list of ccal pro
ducing states of the country; and it
contains more than three-fourths OF
the entire area Of the Eastern In
terror coal field. This coal field,
as we are told by Mr.. George IL.
Ashley, in part Ill, OF the Twenty
second Annual Report of the United
States Geological Survey, now in
press, occupies so counties, 80, 900
square miles, in Illinois, 26 coun-
ties, 600 miles in southwestern In
diana, and 20 counties, 1900 square
miles in western Kentucky. OF
these counties, coal il now mined in
50 in Illinois, Fl in Indiana, and II
in Kentucky. The structure of this
field is that Of an elongated basin,
whose lowest portion is in south
eastern Illinois. In Indiana, the
camel coal, of Cannelburg, the
"Indiana Block COAL and the
semi block Goals, lying in small
basins, cover central Fountain and
Parke counties, nearly all Of Clay,
western Greene, practically all Of
Daviess, Dubois and Spencer, the
eastern portions OF Pike and War
rem, and western Perry. Very thin
between the basins, the coal attains
a thickness OF from 3 to ; feet in the
center Of each basin. What is com
monty called the bituminous field
in Indiana, covers that portion Of
Indiana lying west Of the block coal
field. 1t is found in Nermilion,
Wabash, Nigo, Sullivan, Knox,
Parke, Clay, Greene, Warrick, Glib
son, Nanderburg and Posey coun-
ties, in bedsl averaging probably 9
feet in thickness. The workable
Goals of Illinois underlie vast areas,
in beds Of from less than 3 to about
10 feet in thickness, and so near the
surface that in very many instances
the coal is mined by stripping
Beginning with the Danville field,
Vermilion county, on the north
east, these fields are north in Will
county, thence west to Rock Island
county, on the Mississippi River,
and thence southwark embracing
practically all the rest OF the west
ern, central, and southern parts Of
the state. There remains a large
area in the eastern part of the state,
from Kankakee county 20 White,
Vermilion excepted, in which the
workable coal, if, as is likely, such
exists, lies probably from 800 to
800 feet deep.
In Kentucky the coal of this field,
in beds averaging probably ) feet,
occupies the whole or parts Of seven
or eight counties lying in or near
the angle of the Ohio and Tennessee
rivers: Hopkins, Webster, Nc
Lean, Muhlenburg, Hancock, Hen
derson, Union. These beds lie
comparatively near the surface. AS
compared with the averages Of In
diana and Illinois coal, il would ap-
pear that the Kentucky coal was
richer in fixed carbon, but poorer
in gas, and with q greater quantity
Of ash and sulphur. Most Of the
western Goals run high in gas, which
puts them to a disadvantage in act.
ual present practice as compared
with Goals Of the Appalachian field
having about the same total amour,
OF combustible matter. As to theil
coking value, q study OF the stats.
tics OF coke production in Indians
and Illinois shows that those states
are not succeeding as coke pro.
ducers. On the other hand, the
production in Kentucky has riser
from 1928 tons in 1884, TO ~, 97t
tons in 1900. Of which "a, 2C4 ton,