USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > The history of Nodaway county, Missouri, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens > Part 11
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Above the Platte River bridge, probably a little north of the town- ship line, between townships sixty-two and sixty-three, we have-
Section 92.
No. 1-12 feet slope of river terrace ; outcrop of shelly limestone at the lower part, containing Schisodus, Fusulina and a cast of Bellerophon. 2-6 inches flagstone ; even layer of strong and tough limestone, containing Bellerophon carbonarius.
3-4 inches like the last, but containing a small plant.
4 -- 5 feet of shelly, gray limestone, containing remains of Bellerophon, cast of Bellcrassus, remains of Nautilus, Naticopsis Altonensis, Athyris subtilita, Prod. Nebrascensis. The remains of the fossils seem generally to be replaced by calcite crystalized. I also observed Myalina and Aviculopecten, and Fusulina cylindrica was very abundant. West of this, on Long Branch, I observed an outcrop of limestone in two layers, the upper, six inches, the lower, five inches, separated by six inches of olive shales. The principal observed fossils were Sperifer cameratus, Sp. lincatus, a small Productus, Prod, Rogersi, Athyris subtilita, Chonetes, Pinna peracuta, Murchisonia, Naticopsis. A spring issues from the base of this rock. I refer these beds to No. 186 of General Section.
On the east side of the One Hundred and Two River, and about four miles south of Bridgewater, I observed a coarse, hard and tough, brown, ferruginous and somewhat oolitic limestone, containing but few fossils, but among them I observed Meckella and Myalina Swallow.
103
HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
This limestone I refer to No. 182 of General Section, and it is probably the equivalent of the rock used in the abutments of the bridge at Barnard. The latter was quarried on west side of the One Hundred and Two River, about two miles northwest. A mile and a half north, we find beds exposed, belonging to Nos. 184 and 186. No 186 is eight feet thick and burned into lime. Below it, there is two feet of brown shales, then mostly three feet of olive shales, resting on ash-gray lime- stone, No. 184.
The last named limestone (No. 184) contains minute calcite specks, thoroughly diffused, and would doubtless appear very well if polished. A quarter of a mile north, on the One Hundred and Two River, lime- stone No. 186 is seen, 113 feet thick, at 20 feet above the stream.
Less than a mile south of Bridgewater, we find exposed the follow- ing:
Section 89. No. I-Slope.
2-I foot 8 inches dark, chocolate colored limestone, weathering brown.
3-10 feet shales.
4-6 feet shaly limestone.
5-5 feet 8 inches thick-bedded, soft and hard sandstone, outer beds course brown, sometimes traversed by minute veins of calcite ; some interior beds are indurated, bluish-gray and calcereous.
6-15 feet slope, covered with debris from above.
7-9 feet shelly limestone in river-No. 186. Fusulina abounds in the latter.
The last name'd limestone occupies the bed of the river at Howard's Mill, at Bridgewater, and is occasionally seen up Dog Creek.
Section 87, on Dog Creek, a half mile up stream, is as follows : No. 1-Slope.
2-Loose fossils, overlying No. 3 ; including Rhombopora, Archaci- daris and Crinoidea.
3-16 inches blue limestone, weathering brown.
4-7 feet slope.
5-2 feet brown shales.
6-7 feet irregularly-bedded limestone, (186), contains Fusulina, Spr. cameratus and Prod. splendens.
11-2 inches brown, ochrey shales.
12 -- 13 feet of gray shales.
13-2 feet green, nodular shales.
14-2 feet 4 inches yellow shales, with nodular limestone layers.
15-I foot of suboolitic, firmly adhering, buff limestone.'
16-3 feet of dull, ash-blue limestone, with shaly parting, containing Archcocidaris, Spirifier cameratus and Prod. Nebrascensis ; No. 199.
104
HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
17-9 inches dark olive shales, containing Spirifer, Crinoids, etc.
IS-I foot of dark ash limestone, containing Archeocidaris, Fistu- lipora nodulifera, Rhombopora, Lepidodendroides, Ariculopæten carbon- iferous, Scaphiocrinus hemisphericus, Zeacrinus ; No. 197.
Portions of the above section occur on the Nodaway River, one mile below the mouth of Sand Creek.
At Quitman, we find limestone corresponding to No. I of the above section in the bed of the stream ; the overlying rocks are the following :
Section 84.
No. I-Slope of bluff clays.
2-22 inches blue spathic limestone, containing Bellerophon (large sp.,) B. Kansasensis, remains of a Plenrotomaria, and a very small gas- teropod 1-16 of an inch long, with six whorls.
3-23 feet sandy shales.
4-2 feet ash-blue limestone, containing Terebratula bovidens, Syntrilasm hemiplicata, Productus, Prattenianus, Naticopis Shumardi ; No. 218.
5-26 inches olive and drab shales ; in the lower I foot are fossils, including Sp. planoconvexus, Rynchonetta Osagensis, Enomph alus rego- sus and Avicculopecten Coxanus.
6-14 inches rotten coal, No. 215.
7-23 feet gray and ochrey sandy clay, with remains of plants, Stigmaria, ficoides, etc.
8-8 feet five inches, sandy shales.
9-4 feet irregularly-bedded, brownish-drab sandstone.
10-7 feet sandy shales.
II-I foot blue, argillaceous shales, containing Aviculopecten occi- dentalis; No. 213.
12-3 feet shaly slope.
13-2 feet dark blue shales.
14-2 feet blue, compact limestone, containing Avieulopinna Ameri- cana, a large Discina, a Lingula, Cordaites and remains of other plants, and a fish tooth. At City Bluffs, formerly known as Halsey's Ferry, on the Nodaway River, a shaft has been sunk forty feet deep, reaching the coal of the Quitman section at 24 feet below water. Opposite the mill- dam are seen the highest rocks in the county. The section of them is the following :
No. I-A few feet of a porous, ferruginous limestone, closely resem- bling the bluff limestone, over the coal near Rulo and the mouth of the Big Nemaha, in Nebraska, No. 224.
No. 2-76 feet shales, containing beds of carbonate of iron near the upper part, a bed of septaria at forty feet from bottom, and a calcareo- ferruginous bed just below, containing Prod Prattenianus, Nos. 221, 222 and 223.
.
105
HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
No. 3 is about twenty-four feet to the coal, including shales and limestones.
The rocks gradually rise from this, northward, and at Allen's coal bank, near the northwest corner of Township 66, Range 36, we find the coal corresponding to No. 215 of Gen. Sec., about the water line in the Nodaway River. Less than a quarter of a mile the deep blue limestone, No. 212 of Gen. Sec., is in the bed of the stream, indicating a rise in that distance of twenty feet.
At Braddy's Mill, in Iowa, about a mile and a half further north, we find green shales corresponding to No. 203 of Gen. Sec., at the edge of water, indicating a rise of thirty-seven feet in one and a half miles, with- out reckoning the descent of the stream in that distance. This rise must continue some distance, for the coal above named is mined at Clarinda, twelve miles north.
Section 88 was obtained at Dog Creek, on the land of John Lund, in the northwest of the northwest section 62, township 63, range 35, as follows :
No. 1-Slope.
2-I foot olive shales, No. 210.
3-5 inches ash-blue limestone, No. 209; contains Hemipronites crassus, Productus splendens, Chronites Smithii, and Rhombopora lapi- dodendroides.
4-23 inches shales, upper half a dark olive, and calcareous ; bitu- minous below; contains Spirifer (Martinia) planoconvexus and Cor- daites.
5-10 inches blue limestone ; containing Hemipronites. The inte- rior of the fossils is crystallized calcite. Corresponds to No. 206.
6-4 feet somewhat sandy, olive and blue shales.
7-2 feet shales and nodular limestone.
8-7 inches suboolitic, coarse gray limestone, No. 201.
9 -- 6 inches nodular, calcareous shales, No. 200.
10-23 feet coarse, shaly, ash-colored limestone, No. 199.
II-13 inches olive shales.
12-3 feet of dull, deep ash-blue limestone; weathers drabs, con- tains Prod. punctatus, No. 197.
13-7 inches dark blue, calcareous shales ; contains Archæscidaris, Scaphiscrimus hemisphericus, No. 196.
14-9 inches irregular bed of blueish-gray limestone, contains calcite veins and specks, and zinc-blende. Hemipronites crassus is also con- tained.
15-9 inches, dark, sandy micaceous shales, No. 195.
16-14 to 23 inches bituminous coal.
17-5 inches even layers of regularly laminated black sandstone, slightly calcareous.
106
HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
18-8 inches sandy clay, No. 193.
19-Blue fire clay ; 3 feet is exposed ; said to be six or seven feet thick.
Most of the rocks of the above section are exposed on Peter Collins' land, west of Bridgewater. The thin coal-seam is also seen, but I do not consider it of any economic value.
This seam is represented by bituminous shales, near Oregon, Holt County. In the quarries on Collins' land, No. 210 was observed, con- taining Fusulina cylindrica, Crinoid stems, and Zeacrinus mucrospinus.
In No. 212, I observed Cetenacanthus (sp.,) Lingula and Rhyncho- nella Osagensis.
In No. 209, I observed sp. cameratus, Chonetes, Smithii, sp. Ken- tuckensis, Prod. Prattenianus, Retzia, punctulifera, Crinoids, Rhonbopora, lepidodendroides, Ælis Swallovi.
West of this, on White Cloud Creek, we find some of the members of the last section, including the thin coal-seam.
On Elkhorn Creek, southeast of Graham, we find about 10 feet of limestone, No. 186 cropping out near the water. It is of grayish color, the upper part brown-tinged ; below is dark shaly, and reposing on blue clay shales. On the Nodaway River, west, are outcrops of lime- stone, No. 197, and its correlated beds.
Formations along and near the Nodaway River .- In townships 62 and 63, we find strata included from Nos. 182 to 210. On Mr. Bagby's land, near the center of section 15, township 63, range 37, rocks included in section 81 are the following:
No. 1-2 feet dark olive clay shales.
2-9 inches bituminous shales.
3-I foot of even-bedded blue limestone ; contains Hemipronites crassus and Productus Nebrascensis, Prod. Prattenianus, Polypora (sp.) The interior of the Producti is replaced by calcite crystals, No. 206.
4-2 feet blue clay shales ; a lasting spring of water issues from them.
5-12 to 16 inches of concretionary limestone, with carbonaceous remains of plants.
6-4 to 5 feet green shales.
7-Limestone in creek, having a vitreous appearance.
Three miles northwest of this, on the Nodaway River, at the Old Mill site, in section five, township sixty- three, range thirty-seven, these beds are well exposed, with other correlated strata. A descriptive sec- tion is as follows :
Section 82.
No. 1-2 feet deep blue, compact limestone, in even 6 to 10 inch layers, containing Lingula, Prothyn's elegans, Edmondia Nebrascensis, Discina, Aviculopinna Americana, No. 212.
107
HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY ..
2-6 inches deep ash blue limestone ; contains Athyn's subtilita, Prod. Nebrascensis, Prod. Prattenianus, Edmondia Nebrascensis, Avicu- lopecten, Macrocheilus, Orthoceras cribosum, the pygidium of a Phillip- sia, Crinoidea, Rhombopora Lepidodendroides, Fistulipora nodulifira, Synocladia biscrialis and Polypora Submarginata, No. 211.
3-4 feet bluff shales and limestone, nodules abounding in fossils, including Fusulina cylindrica, Rhombopora, Chartetes, Byozoa, Archiæo- cidaris, Crinoid stems, Prod. splendens, Terabratula bovidens, Retzia punctulifera and Spirifier, No. 210.
4-10 inches blue limestone full of remains of fossils, including Hemipronites crassus and Rhombopora. The Brachiopoda are generally replaced by calcite, No. 209.
5-I foot of blue calcareous shales, full of fossils, including Athyris subtilita, Prod. splendens, Prod Nebrascensis and Orthis carbonaria.
6-1 inch bituminous shales.
7-9 inches dark blue shales.
8-5 inches black, bituminous shales.
9-3 inches Olive shales.
10-10 inches deep blue limestone ; abounds in fossils, including Bellerophon, Hemipronites and Edmondia. The interior of fossils is replaced by calcite, No. 206.
9-4 inches chocolate-colored, sandy, calcareous clay.
10-I foot blue, sandy clay.
II-I foot green, nodular shales, brown on top.
12-2 feet green shales in water, No. 203.
We perceive that the upper beds of this section correspond to the upper beds of section at Milton, Nodaway River, twenty miles south, and also correspond to the base of section at Quitman.
NODAWAY COAL.
The only coal within working distance from the surface is that cor- responding to No. 215 of the General Section. It is found on Nodaway River at Allen's, within two miles of the Iowa line, on Mill Creek, and southward to Quitman, near Quitman, on Sand Creek, Florida Creek, and Elkhorn. In thickness it varies from nine to sixteen inches, and is of rather inferior quality, containing a large per cent of ash. In 1872 the coal at Allen's was hidden by fallen debris and drifted material from the stream. Our section, taken in 1860, shows the following :
No. 1-Slope from hill above.
2-12 feet shales ; drab, with buff and brown tinge ; contains con- cretions of ironstone.
5-53 feet slope, including a local drift of debris from above.
4-43 feet dull, lead-colored limestone, possessing a rough fracture ; in two beds, the upper containing a thin, spathic seam, with crystalline
108
HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
fibres perpendicular to stratum ; the lower, weathering brown, is pyri- tiferous, and does not make good lime ; contains Eutolinum aviculatum and Enmicrotis, Chonetes -, and Athyris, No. 218.
5-13 feet blue and bituminous shales, containing black septaria, enclosing Bellerophon carbonarius, etc.
6-20 inches alternations of blue shales, with coal as follows :
No. 1-53 inches good coal, a little shaly about the middle.
2-4 inches dark, lead-blue clay shales.
5-2 inches good coal.
4-3 blue shales.
5-6 inches good coal, with one inch of clay near the middle.
6-Fire clay.
Brick of good quality is made from the overlying shales, Nos. 2 and 3 of the section. The lower layers are the best. The clay is dug out, allowed to slake, and mixed, one- third of it, with sand and clay. The vein reached in the shaft at City Bluffs was reported to be 16 inches thick. On Samuel Bowman's land, in section 31, township 65, range 37, the coal is 14 to 18 inches thick, cropping out in the branch.
The coal mine of James C. Smith is located on the northwest of the southwest quarter section 9, township 64, range 37, a half mile south of Quitman. It is reached by a horizontal entry into the hill. We find here exposed :
No. 1-2 feet spathic limestone, No. 220.
2-2 feet shales, No. 219.
3-I foot shales, with thin limestone strata.
4-16 inches limestone, No. 218.
5-2 feet clay shales, bituminous at lower part.
6-12 inches coal, sometimes thickening to 16 inches.
7-2 feet clay shales.
Spirifer planoconrexus occurs in the overlying blue shales. The coal is bright, black and tolerably hard, the top and middle harder than the bottom. It is joined with intervening calcite-plates, and contains some iron pyrites. An analysis by Mr. Regis Chaurenet, chemist, for the surgery, gives :
Water 3.53
Volatile matter 42.72
Fixed carbon 40.71
Ash 3.04
Color of ash a very light brown.
The section of Burdick's coal bank, one mile below the mouth of Lund Creek, as observed by Mr. C. J. Norwood, is as follows :
Section 86.
No. 1-20 feet slope.
109
HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
2-2 feet clay shales.
3-16 inches ash-gray limestone, shelly on top ; contains some fos- sils, Nucula Beyrichii, a Goniatite, Murchisonia, etc.
4-23 feet dark-blue clay shales.
5-16 inches hard, ash-blue limestone, containing Entolium aricula- tum, Edmondia Nebrascensis, Athyris Subtilita, spirifer planocon- rexus, Prod. splendens, Bellerophon Kansasensis, crinoid stems, Hemi- pronitas crassus, Ariculopecten occidentalis, Pinna peracuta, Edmondia reflexa, Lingula, Prod. Prattenianus, Nautilus-Polypora submarginata, (No. 218.)
6-3 feet four inches shales.
7-II inches coal, No. 215.
On Sand Creek, one mile east of its mouth, Mr. C. J. Norwood observed --
No. I-Slope.
2-14 inches ash gray limestone, somewhat splintery, abounding in fossils, many similar to some of those found at Burdick's and also con- taining Naticopsis Altonensis, Spirifer cameratus, Syntrilasma hermipli- cata and Euomphalus rugosus.
3-4 inches yellow and gray argillaceous shales.
4-I foot slaty shale.
5-I foot soft black shale.
6-3 inches bituminous shales.
7-I foot hard black shales.
1
8-Coal, said to be one foot thick.
On William Smith's land, in the northwest quarter of section three, township sixty-three, range thirty-seven, the coal is about six inches in thickness, and is separated by four feet of shales from the limestone above.
At Charles P. Martin's, in the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section twenty-six, township sixty-four, range thirty-seven :
Section 83.
No. 1-16 feet bluff and drift ; the lower two feet pebbles and sand of the drift.
2-2 feet olive shales, No. 219 of General Section.
3-17 inches ash blue limestone ; weathers brown.
4-4 feet eight inches shales, subdivided as follows :
No. 1-16 inches olive shales, with white specks.
2-5 inches bituminous shales.
3-9 inches olive clay shales.
4-2 feet bituminous shales.
5-10 inches coal, No. 215 of General Section.
6-93 feet lead blue micaceous sandstone.
7-8 feet blue, sandy shales.
IIO
HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
8-4 feet blue clay shales.
9-4 feet deep blue, compact limestone in even flags ; contains Prod. Nebrascensis, Prinna peracuta, Edmondia Nebrascensis, Prothgris ele- gans, Pleurophorus, Prod. Prattenianus and a small Myalina.
Coal crops out at several places in this neighborhood, in thickness varying from nine to twelve inches. On the land of the Maryville Coal Company, in the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section twenty-five, township sixty-four, range thirty-seven, it is six inches thick, the lower part intersected by a seam of pyrite.
By comparing the above sections we find the coal to be much thicker in the northern part of the county, and thinning as we go south. This is further verified by observations on the Missouri River bluffs, near Forest City, Holt County, where it is only from two to four inches thick. When we say that this and the coal of Andrew and Buchanan Counties are the only seams in the upper coal series of Missouri thick enough to work in a total thickness of over 1,000 feet, we may well term the upper series "Barren Measures." On the waters of Elkhorn Creek, in the north- west part of township sixty-three, range thirty-seven, we find beds of limestone, whose position is over the coal, indicating its presence beneath. But nowhere east of the divide, between the waters of the Nodaway River and those of the One Hundred and Two River, are there any accessible beds of coal in this county worthy of notice. To reach good coal, shafts would have to be extended a long distance into the rocks below. From a careful summation of measurements, I find that from the Nodaway coal (215) the depth is about 395 feet, to the one foot seam of Buchanan and Andrew Counties, occurring in No. 134, or, 1, 160 feet to the Holden coal, also of one foot thickness, or, 1,233 feet to the Lexington coal. With these facts before us, it would be expensive work to sink a shaft in search of coal. A shaft sunk from the top of the lime- stone, in the river at Brdgewater, would only lessen the depth about seventy feet. I mention this, because it is the easiest limestone to rec- ognize in the central and eastern portions of the country.
There are several coal mines in the county, that are being successfully and profitably worked. The best are perhaps in Atchison Township, located near Quitman, and are a source of income to the town, large quan- titics of coal being shipped. There are seven mines of coal being worked at the present time. The names of the persons or firms mining coal are as follows : David Kimball, Chas. Leonard, Emmerson & Brig- man, Brigman Bros., Manorgan Bros., Ellsworth & Wells and Neely Bros. There are thirty miners at work who take out daily 700 or 800 bushels of coal. During the winter season, when the demand for coal increases, the number of miners is increased. Some shaft and others slope to the coal and then drift. The veins are from fourteen to eighteen inches in thickness, and the quality of the coal is quite good. The
III
HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
deeper veins, which could probably be found anywhere in this county by boring, will doubtless produce a better quality, as the rule generally is the deeper the vein the thicker and better the coal, ceteris paribus.
There are excellent stone quarries at Quitman which yield a very fine quality of blue limestone. The stone is used for flagging in the town and building, and serves the purpose well.
BURLINGTON MINERAL SPRINGS.
These springs have for years been tested as to their medical proper- ties. The following analysis has been recently made by Merrill & Wright, of St. Louis :
Specific Gravity, 1.001I.
Carbonic Acid, 64 cubic inches per gallon.
Carbonate of Lime
1.04 Grains.
Carbonate of Magnesia
1.00 66
Carbonate of Iron
2.31
Sulphate of Lime
2.65
Chloride of Sodium
1.42
Silica
.77
66
Alumina
.41
Organic and Volatile Matter
.45
11.05
This analysis shows the springs to possess rare virtues. A more complete and perfect combination of the most essential minerals, with less waste matter, cannot be found. The water is very pure and as clear as crystal.
The springs are located on Mineral Branch, a small tributary of the Nodaway River, one mile southwest of the city of Burlington Junction, Nodaway County, Missouri. Near the spring are beautiful groves for public purposes, or tenting grounds. A picturesque little lake, covering nine acres, fed by springlets, abounding with fish, and its banks lined with shady nooks, all combine to make this a pleasant resort. Public drives will be opened around the lake and through the groves, and not a more beautiful spot could be found in the Missouri Valley. The lake is now supplied with boats for the accommodation of the public.
A good bath house with all the improved fixtures, and contain- ing ample accommodations has been erected at the spring. It is under the care of Dr. James Evans, an able and experienced physician, who controls the bathing and gives medical advice. Those attending the springs can have the benefit of his professional counsel.
II2
HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
MINERAL WELL.
This well is located in the town of Burlington Junction, and is owned by Mr. J. T. Anderson. The peculiarity of this water is its pureness, and yet it is claimed that it has all the essential minerals. It is very much like the Eureka Springs, holding about the same amount of min- eral substance, and in nearly the same proportions. The analysis of the Eureka Springs give 5.85 grains to the gallon. Bath houses have been constructed.
From an analysis made by Wright & Merrill, of St. Louis, July 27, 1881, it was determined that one gallon of 231 cubic inches contains the following ingredients :
Specific gravity, 1.0010.
Total solids per gallon
5.61 Grains.
Sodic Carbonate
2.00
Calcic
.30
.6
Magnesia “
1.34
Ferrus
.37
Magnesia Sulphate
.13
Calcis
.50
Silica
.18
Sodium Chloride.
.25
Organic Volatile matter and loss
.64
Carbonic Acid Gas, per gallon
18 cubic in.
66
.
CHAPTER V. FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
IMPORTANCE OF FIRST BEGINNINGS-WHEN AND WHERE COMMENCED.
Every nation does not possess an authentic account of its origin, neither do all communities have the correct data whereby it is possible to accurately predicate the condition of their first beginnings. Never- theless, to be intensely interested in such things is characteristic of the race, and it is particularly the province of the historian to deal with first causes. Should these facts, as is often the case, be lost in the myth- ical tradition of the past, the chronicler invades the realm of the ideal and compels his imagination to paint the missing picture. The patriotic Roman was not content till he had found the "First Settlers," and then he was satisfied, although they were found in the very undesirable com- pany of a wolf, and located on a drift, which the receding waters of the Tiber had permitted them to pre-empt.
One of the advantages pertaining to a residence in a new country and one seldom appreciated, is the fact that we can go back to the first beginnings. We are thus enabled, not only to trace results to their causes, but also to grasp the facts which have contributed to form and mold these causes. We observe that a state or county has attained a certain position, and we at once try to trace out the reasons for this position in its early settlement and surroundings, in the class of men by whom it was peopled, and in the many chances and changes which have wrought out results in all the recorded deeds of mankind. In the history of Nodaway County we may trace its early settlers to their homes in the Eastern States and in the countries of the Old World. We may follow the course of the hardy backwoodsman of the "Buckeye" or the " Hoosier" state, or from Kentucky and Virginia on his way west " to grow up with the country," trusting only to his strong arm and his willing heart to work out his ambition of a home for himself and wife and a competence for his children. Again, we will see that others have been animated with the impulse to "move on," after making themselves a part of the community, and have sought the newer parts of the extreme west, where civilization had not penetrated. or returned to their native soil. We shall find much of that distinctive New England character
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