south the lignite is seventeen feet higher than at the Wadeson mine. Six inches of coal are left to strengthen the roof. Some water follows the seam and about 4,000 gallons are pumped daily. One Harrison compressed air drill is in operation part of the time, but most of the mining is done with the pick, as piece work. The output last year was 5,000 tons, and the average price at the mine $1.50. The mine is on leased land and a royalty of 7 cents a ton is paid.

Samples of coke reported by Mr. Wadeson as made by him from lignite were seen and appear to be of good quality.

An analysis of dried lignite from the Wadeson mine shows:

The power house and tipple are shown in plate XXV.

The Burton Mine enters the same seam as the Wadeson, and except that it lacks a power plant, is of much the same nature and is operated in the same way. It is one-half mile south of Sims. An older opening on the opposite side of the coulee is not now operated on account of water. A stream which fills a two-inch pipe flows from the entry. The dip of the coal from the entry renders it somewhat difficult to arrange for the draining and development of these old workings.

The output of this mine last year was 8,000 tons. It is operated only during the fall and winter months. The quality of the coal is satisfactory, and it meets with a ready sale.

The second seam, No. 4 in the section given, has furnished some coal at various points about Sims, but never has been systematically mined.

The log of the deep boring at Sims, quoted by Darton,* shows a number of seams lower than those mentioned:

* Preliminary Report on the Artesian Waters of the Dakotas, p. 62.

The first member of this series may represent the seam now mined, no data being given to determine this point. The remaining four seams, however, are in addition to those reported in the preceding section.

The Old Sims Coal Company, which has been out of operation for some years, mined in the same seam now opened by the Wadeson mine, but on the opposite side of the creek, the seam there being twenty feet higher than at the Wadeson mine. Figure 11 shows the series at this point.

Coal in Other Parts of Morton County.Coal in considerable quantities is reported about Heart Butte, and along the Heart river, throughout its entire course through the country. Large deposits are to be expected along the Cannon Ball and its tributaries in the county. Three miles north of Hebron, in Township 140, Range 90, Sections 6 and 16, five-foot seam of good lignite is reported. South of this station lignite banks opened for local use are numerous.

a

COAL DEPOSITS OF STARK COUNTY

Stark county is practically free from glacial drift, though glacial boulders are not uncommon in the eastern portion, and were observed at points where they could not be attributed to human agencies, as far west as Gladstone. The Northern Pacific railroad follows the Little Heart river through the western part of the county, bringing the natural exposures of coal early to the notice of investors and furnishing shipping facilities. As a result, the large mine at Lehigh was developed early in the history of the lignite. industry. The topography of the county is well shown in plate XXXIV. High buttes rise here and there, usually capped with sandstone and not uncommonly containing deposits of high grade fire clays. The drainage systems are mature and the surface generally is moderately rolling. The Heart river rises at the western border and unites with the Green river near the center of the county. Along both streams, even near their sources, are extensive low terraces. They are fed perennially by springs

which issue abundantly from the lignite seams; but on account of the evaporation in summer there are times when the water stands in the creek channels only in pools. It is a curious fact that in the fall, though no rain may have fallen, the streams gradually increase in volume till the flow is considerable.

The Mine of the Consolidated Coal Company at Lehigh.-A remarkably fine seam of coal directly on the railroad, varying in thickness from twelve to sixteen feet, has been developed by this company. It outcrops along the Little Heart river for about three miles, from three to six miles east of Dickinson, and on account of the proximity of the mine to this city the coal is known throughout certain parts of the state as "Dickinson coal." Between Dickinson and Lehigh the first good exposure of this seam occurs in Township 139, Range 95, Section 7. The river here is cutting into a bluff of Laramie clays on the right side, while on the left is a large alluvial flat underlain with recent gravels which lie directly above twelve feet of coal. The lignite has been mined here both in the bluff by drifting and along the edge of the flat by stripping. The amount of coal that can be won by removing twenty feet of sand and gravel here is very large, the flat at this point embracing at least twenty acres. It is possible that in spots old stream channels are cut through the coal, reducing the thickness materially and even removing it altogether. Still, making due allowance for this possibility, the locality affords an inviting opportunity for strip-pit mining on a large scale. Practically the same conditions prevail a little further east and north of the track, and the lignite is mined at a number of points by stripping.

Thirty feet above the thick seam at these points a three-foot seam is frequently exposed, and above this an equal distance a thinner and more variable seam. The whole series is shown in figure 12, where the black bands represent lignite.