The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-02-02

| City the river flows over soft yielding
rocks that have been hallcwed out b.
water into oroad. shallow valley. At
| Hutchinson. or Wichita Kansas. FOR ex-
ample. there are nc buns and the valley
IS from Ten to twenty miles wide. Near
| Geada Springs. Kan. the river begis.s u
narrow rapidly. The first ledge OF lime
stone is crossed al the dam Eve miles
west OF Arkansas City. Near he mouth
O. the Walnut. just north OF the state
| line. the heavy bluffs OF limestone appear
and from this point 70 the southwest cor
ner Of the Usage nation the river flows
/ in a series OF ox-bow bends. seeking its
| tortuoUs way in AID out among the finr
hills AS the crow flies this distance Is
not to exceed eighty miles. but the water
/ OF the river flows az least twice thar dis
! tsnce. In one place the TWO bends @.
/ the river approach within a mile and a
/ half OF each other. while 20 Soilow the
channel a person would have 10 travel
more than nine miles. Throughout the
greater part Of this course the bluTs ars
high and precipitoGs. The valley IS Per
l haps two miles wide on m aveface
nearly half Of this being occupied ~ the
sandy channels Of the stream. In places
however. the distance from bluff 70 tlun
IS not more than a mile
The smaller streams tributary 70 the
Arkansas in this region have unusually
carved deep channels through thA lime
stone lodges These lodges follow the
/ sinuors course Of the streams. o,iteroD-
ping along the bluffs and forming In
many places conspicuous outlines. il is
from these lodges which. as stated above
form the southern extension Of the Flint
| hills. that the lines tone is obtsined Halt
a dozen CT more lodges outcrop betw cen
the bed of tho river ana tn top Of the
hills 70 the west. In the hills IN the Csare
and Kaw reservations east OF the river
there are perhaps as many more each
from FIVE 70 twenty feet thick
The stone IS in general rathar 7ne
grained. gray or nearly white massive
limestone. For building purposes - is
easily the equa, OF the best stone from
tho Winfield or Cottonwood Falls Guar
Ties. Indeed. It VIII be matter n sur
prise if time shall not demonstrate tha.
the Oklahoma store will outlast most OF
that obtained from Kansas. The supply
is IneXhausthle. Kay county alone can
supply Oklahoma with building material
for hundreds Of years and scarcely l-nou
where IL came from.
Dimension stone Of all shapes AMI sizes
lagsiug and rabble. are obtained frosn
the various quarrles. Not long ago a
block Of twelve feet square and thirty
inches thick was shipped ore Of The
most practical purposes to which this
stone is being Put, however is the r-an,,-
facture OF stone posts. Tie sock splits
readily in almost any required size. I'd
vantage is taken Of this fact TO secure
long Slender block suitable for fence
post. Posts from i've to seven feet long
are split down TO SIX By eight inches ana
posts fifteen feet long are often secured
These posts sell in Tie quarry for from
twenty 20 ttirty-fve cents each. accord-
ING 10 the size. and are rapidly replacing
the wooden posts formerly used. They
are very similar 90 The llmes;ous posts
from tho Benton cretaceous in central
Kansas. and seem destined to serve as
important a part in the development OF
the country as do the latter
Standing upon almost any or the hlch
hills east Of kildare. or Nevklrk. in kay
county. 4 person may see not only the
white stone houses nested away in the
valleys or crowning the knclls. bur also
the lines of white posts stretching for
mixes across tie country. il seems bat
"A question of a few years till the greater
part Of tho farnhouses OF the country
VIII be built OF stone. and stone posts viii
replace the last Ok ,he wooden rosts
throughout the region.
while more restricted in area than that I
of the Flint hills. IS rtill more than suf- !
fcent 20 supply the southwestern part !
OF Oklahoma with building stone for I
generations. GeoIoeicaiiv this stone is 1
much older than that Z have Just dis i
cussed Ia general. it belongs to the /
or even the upper Cautrian. I
and is thus clessed among the oldest 81 /
The straufed rocks IN this region the i
limestone occurs as outlying hills flank +
ing tie Wichita mountains On the north +
west and southeast
The Wichita mountains are nothing /
but the tops of buried mountain ranges 4
sticking Up out Of q sea CT plain They
are composed OF ingenious rocks. chiefly +
granite. rabbro and porphyr. These ~ /
themselves are Of such excellent buiia- +
Iur stone. At the present time these
mountains are Fun OF prospectors and /
miHers- For seventy sears reports ~ (
gold and silver have been coming ifom
these mountains. Whether or not any-
thing moro Tangible than reports Viii
over be obtained. remains e be proven.
The Ordovieian outiiers trend rorth-
west and southeast parallel 70 the faaln
-auge From Fort SD these hills eStera
Tor nearly FORTY miles 10 the northwest
md IN places Gre nfteen miles acr7ae
Southwest or TIE fort the Bills extend
or twelve miles or more. The sf9ne ls .n
,cnersI rather coarse grained and fa
ilaces IS almost marblelzfd. u ls usually /
much edge. showing that tho region has
much fauited end folded often Standing I
"a edge showing that Tho region has been
ubferted % rreat procure
The government hulidirus- barracks.
,eicers' quarters and efables-at Tort
~ have been constructed of limestone
AIKEN from quarry On toe recreation
nile routhsast - the post u u1hes q
Ileudid building stone Tbe prrfaH.rg
olors as seen ir thc hllasuz are leht ,
r7y anf lrow0iHh ~ veuaufsh rraT
'-is fort perhaps as much on acrs nt
z the material composing ere aHlai1es
g uren ifs Vocation aeers destined -
~ ofrgrici bv governments tr srt Ions
tfer Az otrsr ocrt .r CsIahont et ere
orr Glhson Wefl-a. ArhrcEie ar.I ssp-