USA > Iowa > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 25
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ECONOMIC PRODUCTS
Coal
That Decatur County lies within the limits of the coal measures has long been known. The exposures of black shale outcropping along the streams in various portions of the county, and already dis- cussed, have led to considerable exploration in a small way, and have been the basis of various local coal excitements. As has already been stated the shale seen along the ravines belongs almost exclusively to the upper or barren coal measures. In a few cases it carries with
259
HISTORY OF DECATUR COUNTY
it a little coal. Along Weldon River in early days some coal was taken from the horizon below the Earlham limestone. Near the Cole Mill (section 14, Hamilton Township), in excavating for the bridge, it is stated that as much as eight inches of coal was found at this horizon. This thickness is quite exceptional. At no place in the county does coal of workable thickness outerop. Any supplies which may be obtained must come from lower horizons. As has already been stated the Des Moines formation extends under the Missourian. The dip is such as to bring the various coal horizons worked in the counties northeast of Decatur some distance below the base of the limestone here.
The Des Moines formation in Southern Iowa is composed of three members. (1) The lowermost beds of shales, sandstones and coal exposed along the Des Moines River, and from there west to the Chariton, and probably the equivalent of the Cherokee shales of Kansas; 3+ (2) the Appanoose formation consisting of a series of limestones and shales, and carrying the Mystie coal outeropping west of the Chariton River in Appanoose County 35 and extending under the eastern portion, at least, of Wayne County: (3) a shale sequence, as yet but little studied and infrequently exposed, extend- ing over Western Wayne County, and outcropping immediately below the base of the Bethany in Decatur and adjoining counties. It is probable, but as yet unproven, that this formation is to be cor- related with the Pleasanton shales of Kansas.36 The Pleasanton shales in this region, at least, are not coal-bearing. Their thickness is not certainly known, but is probably not less than seventy-five feet.
The Appanoose formation carries a much worked and valuable coal bed, thirty inches thick. This coal thins, however, to the west; being at Harvard in Wayne County but twenty-two inches in thick- ness. The dip of the bed if persistent is such as to bring the Mystic coal horizon about 100-150 below the base of the Bethany limestone in Decatur County. It is not certain, however, that the Appanoose formation maintains itself so far to the west. Toward the north in Lucas, Warren, Madison, Guthrie and Dallas counties, its equivalents take on a character somewhat different from that of the typical expo-
34 Haworth and Kirk: Kansas Univ. Quart., Vol. II. p, 105. 1894. Haworth: Univ. Geol. Surv., Kansas, Vol. I, pp. 150-151. 1896.
35 Geol. Appanoose County, Iowa Geol. Surv., Vol. V, 378, et seq. 1896.
36 Haworth: Kansas Univ. Quart., III, 274, 1895; Univ. Geol. Surv., Kansas, I. 152-153. 1896. Keyes: Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci., Vol. IV, 24-25. 1897.
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HISTORY OF DECATUR COUNTY
sures. The general facies, however, of the formation remains the same; i. e., it consists of argillaceous shales, thin limestones and thin but persitent coal beds. Its normal thickness is uually about eighty feet. It base should be about one hundred and sixty feet below the Bethany.
The coal output of Iowa, with the exception of that derived from the Mystic bed, comes almost entirely from thick coal beds of the Cherokee shales. The workable coal occurs in this formation along certain fairly persistent horizons marked in general by the presence of bituminous matter in some form, but varying much and rapidly in the thickness of actual coal. The better horizons are uniformly near the base of the formation. The best, perhaps, may be called the Wapello horizon from its considerable development in the county of that name.
The Wapello horizon has been proven through much of Keokuk, Mahaska, Marion, Wapello, Monroe and Lucas counties. The old Whitebreast mines at Cleveland in the last county mentioned, were the farthest west of any mines which have worked this horizon. From its proven extent and general richness it is the horizon most likely to vield returns to prospectors. Near Chariton, it occurs at about 675- 700 feet above sea level and approximately 200 feet below the base of the beds corresponding to the Appanoose formation. At Center- ville it should be at approximately 525 feet above sea level or 400 feet below the base of the Appanoose. Making the proper allowance for dip, the horizon should occur at a depth of approximately 500 feet below the base of the Bethany in Decatur County.
Whether or not it would carry workable coal so far to the west can not be foretold and can only be determined by careful work with the diamond drill. In the region where the horizon has so far been opened up it has been found to be generally rich but to be often entirely or practically barren. Even where the field is best known and has been most largely developed it requires careful and extensive drilling to locate the coal accurately enough to warrant opening a mine. The coal is not evenly distributed along this horizon but lies in a series of partially or wholly disconnected basins. Within the limits of a single square mile it varies in thickness from nothing to seven feet. In a recent set of twenty diamond drill holes through this horizon only ten showed coal of more than three feet in thick- ness and seven showed no coal at all.
The attempts so far made to locate coal. in or near Decatur County, have not been tirely successful. At Davis City a boring was
261
HISTORY OF DECATUR COUNTY
put down about twenty years ago. Starting near the base of the Beth- any limestone it was carried to a depth of 212 feet and is said to have shown only two seams of coal four inches and six inches thick respec- tively. Near De Kalb a hole was sometime since put down without success. This started at the base of the De Kalb limestone and ended apparently in the Pleasanton shales. An examination of such of the drillings as have been preserved shows the usual limestone and shale sequence.
At Bethany, Mo., a hole was drilled in 1895, starting at the base of the Bethany limestone. It was carried down to 650 feet and should accordingly have reached the Wapello horizon. No coal more than nine inches thick was reported. Winslow 37 who reports the drillings, casts some doubts on its accuracy.
In 1897 Mr. C. Woodruff of High Point, in drilling for water reported three beds of coal respectively one foot, three feet and four inches in thickness. The hole was located upon the highland and started accordingly approximately 1,125 feet above sea level. It was carried to a depth of 412 feet and seems to have stopped in the Cherokee shales.
So far as known all drilling mentioned was done with the churn or jump drill. In the last case at least, coal was not sought, so that no special preparations were made for the accurate determination of its thickness. As is easily understood, results, particularly at such depths, based upon churn drill records have very small value. The method does not permit, except under the most favorable circum- stances of fine discrimination. Results of real value are only to be obtained by means of the core drill.
There has been some recent discussion in the county as to the advisability of direct prospecting for coal, and because of this fact, as well as the further facts that the conditions here are very similar to those obtaining over a considerable portion of Southwestern Iowa, it may be advisable to say a little as to the cost of such work. From what has been said it will be readily understood that there is no coal to be obtained in the surface formations. Also that below these is a thickness of seventy feet of shales which are practically. if not entirely, barren. Below these in turn is a thickness of 150-200 feet which from all previous experience may be expected to carry thin coal, but no thick seams: probably no coal as much as two feet thick. There is accordingly a thickness of at least 200 feet under the low- land or 400 feet under the high table land which for practical pur-
37 Mo. Geol. Surv., Vol. I, p. 99. 1891.
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HISTORY OF DECATUR COUNTY
poses may be expected to prove barren. Below this is a thickness of 300-400 feet in which coal may be found; the chances of thick coal increasing toward the bottom. To explore the strata thoroughly a hole running from 300 to 600 feet in depth would have to be drilled even if one could so locate the work as always to drill from the low- land. If the prospecting company owned its own drill and were not unfortunate in the loss of diamonds, the cost would probably average $1 to $1.25 per foot provided 5,000 to 10,000 feet were drilled. To locate 400 to 600 acres of workable coal, provided the strata prove as rich as farther east, a matter unproven, once could hardly count on less than twenty and might need 100 drill holes. The work would accordingly cost $10,000 to $40,000 or more. In the end it might prove that the money would be lost, though on the whole it seems probable that some coal at least would be located, though perhaps not enough to warrant a large mine. In some exploratory work in Iowa where the holes are about half as deep as they would need to be here about seven thousand dollars was spent and work was carried on for nearly two years before a good coal basin was located. If a suitable coal basin were located the cost of working it would probably not be prohibitive. It would depend more upon the amount of railway track necessary than the depth to the coal, and if it should chance that the shaft could be located near a present railway the mine might even cost less than some now operated. The amount of capital invested would depend largely upon whether the mineral rights were leased or purchased, and upon the equipment of the mine. It might perhaps be as low as $60,000 under very favorable circumstances, or as much as $150,000. A large percentage of this would necessarily be invested before any return could be expected.
It will hardly be seriously thought that the present local market, or any probable local market of the immediate future, would war- rant such an investment. It remains to examine the chance for a shipping mine. A mine in Decatur County would have the theoretical advantage in competition of nearness to Missouri River points. Prac- tieally this advantage would not be entirely realized. The C., B. & Q. Railway would furnish a direct line to St. Joseph and when the D. M. & K. C. Railway is extended, a short line to Kansas City would be open. Both of these markets are, however, well supplied, and competition is so keen as to offer few attractions to prospective investors. Coal would not, of course, be sold north or east to advan- tage. In reaching the Omaha, Sioux City and Nebraska markets, a
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HISTORY OF DECATUR COUNTY
local railway tariff would always tend to destroy any slight advantage which the location gives.
Under present circumstances it will be seen that the opening of the Decatur County coal field would be too hazardous to be a legiti- mate business venture. One might put down one hole and strike workable coal, and open up on such slender prospects. Such things have been done occasionally with profit, often with loss; but the undertaking would be a gambler's chance, not a business proposition. For the present it is probably better not even to put down random search holes. If good coal were found in such a hole it probably would not serve to interest capital and if no coal were found it would discourage future work, even though such a result is entirely unwar- ranted by the conditions of the field. Some time in the years to come when the demand for coal is greater, Southwestern Iowa will be pros- pected and then the Grand River Valley will prove the most inviting field, not so much because of any better prospect of coal occurring there rather than under the hills or in other valleys. but because the depth to which the river has cut will make the prospecting cheaper and easier. Until that time Decatur County's wealth must come, as in the present and past from its other resources.
Clays
The clays so far developed in Decatur County have come entirely from the surface formations. The loess present throughout the county, is of the older type common in Southern Iowa. It has become somewhat changed for a depth of twelve to eighteen inches from the surface, losing some of the finer and more soluble constituents and acquiring a considerable proportion of humus. The soil resulting is admirably adapted to the production of hand brick, having all the usual characteristics of alluvium. It is now used at Garden Grove and Leon. The main body of the loess below the soil, and the gumbo clays below the loess have not so far been worked. The gumbo clays are not of any value for manufacturing except in the produc- tion of clay ballast. For this purpose they are unexcelled. their plasticity and high tensile strength causing them to shrink consid- erably in burning and so by cracking, open up the pieces of clay to thorough interior burning. These very properties make them unavail- able for use in ordinary elay works. The gumbo clays are widely dis- tributed throughout the county and their ready accessibility makes them a valuable source of burned clay. So far they have been used only by the C., B. & Q. Railway, for which several kilns have been
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HISTORY OF DECATUR COUNTY
burned at Davis City. The material here is obtained from lowland forming a long gentle slope on the west side of Grand River. It may represent, in part at least, redeposited gumbo worked over by the river. The earliest kilns here were burned by hand and required a large force of men. Ballast is now being hauled out which, however, was burned about five years ago with the aid of machines.
The material is light, porous and yet strong. It seems probable that in the future it will become an important source of road metal and be applied to the improvement of the wagon roads. The wide distribution of the clays, the ease with which it can be obtained and the cheapness with which it can be burned, all render it worthy of serious investigation.
The shale clays occurring in the county have never been utilized. From the point of view of accessibility the shales at Davis City and De Kalb are the only ones at present worthy of consideration. In each case the thickness is not great, and the shales carry limestone nodules. At De Kalb an important portion of the section (page 278) consists of bituminous shale or slate, which would need to be thrown aside. The clays would in all probability yield a good hard brick, and possibly pavers could also be made. They could not, how- ever, be worked by open pits, but would need to be mined. This would impose no especial burdens at De Kalb as there is a good lime- stone roof and a fair thickness of clay above water level. It would, however, make the work more expensive than at many competing plants.
The brick made at present are the common salmon brick, bring- ing about six dollars per thousand. The Foster Mullinix yard is located in the northeastern portion of Leon. The brick are hand made from the surface loam and burned with wood in a cased kiln. South of Leon (township 68 north, range 25 west, section 9, south- west of southeast) W. H. Mills has burned brick of the same char- acter. None were burned here in 1897. W. H. Jenkins runs two kilns having a capacity of 100,000 each, in the northern part of Leon, and Mr. G. C. Dilsaber burns brick of the usual character at Garden Grove. Mr. Dilsaber has recently installed a brick machine and intends to work the loess under the surface loam. The loess here should make a good hard brick of cherry red color if properly handled. It will doubtless, as usual, require extra care in drying, but there is no reason to doubt that here, as at other upland points in the county. a considerable and profitable industry in the manufacture of stand- ard building brick can be built up.
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HISTORY OF DECATUR COUNTY
Building Stones
The great limestone formation which underlies so considerable a portion of the county has been opened up and quarried at a num- ber of widely distributed points. In the main, the quarries are located in the western half of the county. In the southeastern town- ships a little stone has been taken out, but none of the openings there are extensive enough to be called quarries in a commercial sense. Indeed nowhere in the county is stone quarried upon an extensive scale. A majority of the openings are for local and temporary pur- poses. Few enjoy a regular trade and all are worked intermittently. Nevertheless the aggregate amount of stone taken out in any one year is fairly considerable. For the most part it is used rough for foundations and for well rock. A considerable amount is used in the county bridge work. Some is sold as dimension stone and some has been dressed and used for monumental purposes.
The quarry appliances are of the simplest. In general the strip- ping is removed by hand and wheelbarrow; occasionally scrapers are employed. The rock is pried loose by wedges and crow-bars, or where these means are ineffectual, the jump drill and blasting powder are called into requisition. In most instances perhaps, the quarries are worked on short leases; royalties being paid to the fee holder, and the quarryman deserting the opening so soon as the stripping becomes heavy or the bedding too massive for his tools. For these reasons the stone has not been opened up enough to allow its real value and character to be positively determined. That which has so far been placed upon the market has been almost entirely obtained from the croppings.
So far as shown by the natural outcrops and the quarries now open, the stone is predominantly thin-bedded. Ledges of over twelve inches are rare, though stone of fourteen and eighteen inches may be found. The majority of courses, however, show four, six and eight inch stone. In this particular there seems to be but little difference between the various members of the formation, except that in gen- eral the Winterset seems to include heavier courses than either the De Kalb or the Earlham, which are the main quarry rocks. In physical characteristics there is considerable uniformity. The rock is fine-grained and usually ash-gray to buff in color. It breaks with a conchoidal fracture showing smooth surfaces set with inclosures of clear calcite. It is a non-magnesian stone of great purity and con- tains little or no pyrites. So far as its mineralogical constitution is
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HISTORY OF DECATUR COUNTY
concerned it is well adapted to withstand weathering agencies. As a matter of fact the stone so far quarried does not usually withstand weathering so well as its general appearance would lead one to expect. It splits and cracks under frost action, the fault apparently being in the physical structure of the rock. It is cut by minute cracks which allow the absorption of water, while the close texture prevents this from freezing out, so that the full force of the expansion, which has been calculated to be as much as 138 tons per square foot, is expended upon the rock. Since this rock has a crushing strength only of about four thousand, five hundred pounds per square inch, a good deal of it gives way before this strain. Some of the ledges naturally withstand frost action better than others, but it is doubtful whether it would be practicable to quarry them separately with a profit. For the purposes to which the stone is now applied it answers well enough, but its use in large and important structures or in bridge work, except after careful selection, can not be recommended.
It is quite probable that the Winterset rock would yield an average stone of better quality than that now marketed; but so far it has been but little quarried.
The Westerville limestone occurring in the hills along Sand Creek, has not been quarried to any great extent. In general it is very similar to the De Kalb in character. A thickness of about ten feet is present and the stone is readily accessible. The rock showing near the water at the mill is the same as is exposed at Reynold's ford. It is a thin bed of impure nodular rock and has only a slight value.
In the vicinity of Grand River Station there are numerous quar- ries working the De Kalb limestone. Among them are the quarries of S. C. Jennings, Blair Brenneman and C. Miles. The Miles quarry is east of the town near the railway bridge over Grand River. The total thickness of the stone is about three feet, the ledge yielding rock six and eight inches thick. It is a hard blue stone somewhat similar to the Reynolds' Ford rock and may represent the same horizon, though apparently at Grand River it is not far above the De Kalb proper. The most pretentious attempt to quarry the De Kalb lime- stone was at the old Madarasz quarry, now abandoned. This quarry is located on the river about three miles northeast of town, in section 36. It was opened near the Humeston & Shenandoah Railway and at one time had a switch from that road. It is said that considerable rock was taken from the quarry for railway construction. Nothing can now be seen of the quarry face, which is said to have shown ten feet of stone with the base five feet above the river.
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HISTORY OF DECATUR COUNTY
East of De Kalb station are the typical exposures of the De Kalb rock. A section has already been given but the following details from a neighboring quarry will show the thickness of the individual ledges.
6. Stripping, bowlder elay.
5. Limestone, irregular and waterworn
6
4. Shale, hard 6
3. Limestone, irregularly bedded 8
2. Shale or bastard rock. 2
1. Limestone in five ledges that are respectively
9, 12, 6, 13 and 8 inches in thickness. 4
The upper courses yield little of value and the main output is of stone from the lower ledges. There are two quarries here. the south one being owned by Mr. B. D. De Kalb and the north one by Martha Fry. A short distance west of De Kalb station the stone has also been opened up on Short Creek (northeast of northwest section 32, Long Creek Township). In the quarries here the following section was observed.
10. Shale, gray to green.
2 6
9. Limestone, shaly 6
8. Limestone, solid
9
7. Shale, drab to yellow . 2
6. Limestone, thin, shaly
4
5. Clay parting 1
2
4. Limestone
3. Limestone
5
2. Limestone
4
1. Limestone 6
FEET INCHES 6
FEET INCHES
The roek is the usual character and carries Productus nebrascensis. Produetus eora, Produetus eostatus, Meekella striato-costata and Chonetes verneuilanus.
Along Hall Run and Elk Creek, in Grand River and Blooming- ton townships, there are numerous exposures of the De Kalb and Winterset, and, near the mouth of Elk Creek, the Earlham lime- stones. The exposure shown in Fig. 2, Plate xxiv, is one of the best and shows the Winterset limestone to a thickness of fifteen feet with the shales below it and extending down to the Earlham. This
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HISTORY OF DECATUR COUNTY
exposure is almost five miles northeast of Lamoni on Pot Hole or Potters' branch. The section at this point includes the following beds.
FEET INCHES
6. Limestone (Winterset) with Spirifer came- rata, Productus punctatus, Productus costatus, Athyris subtilita, etc. 15
3. Shale, gray to drab 3 6
4. Shale bituminous 2 6
3. Coal 11%
2. Shale, gray 6
1. Limestone (Earlham) in bed of creek.
A few miles north of here at the Millsap quarries (section 34, Grand River Township) the base of the De Kalb limestone shows again with some ledges of rock thirty-six inches thick. Below the limestone is a drab to gray shale carrying Athyris subtilita and Productus longispinus. About five feet below the base of the lime- stone, and in the shale, is a third band of limestone very full of Chonetes verneuilanus and overlying an irregular ledge of nodular blue limestone carrying large well formed Productus cora. The exposure does not seem deep enough to expose the Myalina horizon though Derbya crassa is present. In the southeast corner of the same section the blue limestone shows again and a short distance farther down the Winterset is exposed.
In the northwestern portion of Burrell Township the Fragmental, Earlham and Winterset limestones and associated shales are exposed on the west side of the river (section 7, west half northeast quarter). On the east side of the river the Earlham has been quarried on the Anton Rauch land. This quarry has not recently been worked but the stock pile shows some excellent eighteen-inch rock. The stone from the quarry has been dressed and sold for monumental work.
South of Terre Haute on Pot Hole Branch, near the exposure of Winterset figured above, there are the S. A. Ferguson, N. N. Hazelton, and Isaac Toney quarries, all in the Earlham rock. The section here is as follows: .
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