Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/187

 HISTOEY OF KICHLAXD COUNTY.

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��isolated that the section cannot be constructed in detail. So far as seen, it is composed of alternate strata of argillaceous and siliceous shales having little economic value, though some of the layers afford a fair stone for ordi- nary foundation purposes.

Economic Geology. — From what has already been written, it is apparent that the mineral deposits of the county are not of very great economic value.

The heavy beds of the Waverly afford an inexhaustible supply of stone of good quality for bridge and foundation purposes, which would also make a very fair building stone, but not equal in value to the Berea north of it, or to the more homogeneous and finer-grained sandstones of the Waverly, further south. The peculiarly rich, but rather gaudy, coloring of the rock from the quarry near Mansfield and other places would, if properly selected, make highly ornamental window caps, sills, etc., and might be used for the entire fronts of buildings.

The Berea is too far beneath the surface to be accessible, except at the northwest corner of the county, and does not there present its best characteristics.

The iron ore of the county consists of the siliceous ore occupying the horizon of the conglomerate at the tops of the highest hills, nodules of clay-iron stone found here and there throughout the rock formations, and bog ore found in a few places on the surface. None of these are in sufficient quantity or of sufficient purity to pay for transportation to parts where they could be economically used.

Since the explorations of the county were made, considerable local interest has been man-

��ifested in the reported discovery of coal by deep borings in the immediate neighborhood of Mansfield. Coal is exhibited, said to have been taken from the borings. It is a legitimate part of the work of a geological survey to expose and to prevent frauds of this kind so far as it can be done, but not to assert that any particu- lar individual has attempted or practiced a fraud. This is the province of the courts, uix)n a proper case being presented to them. It is enough to say here that there is some mistake in regard to these pretended discoveries. Thin seams of carbonaceous matter, or thick beds of bituminous shale may be reached by boring in this vicinity, but no coal seams will ever be found beneath the city of Mansfield or the adjacent country, and all pretended discoveries of them may at once be set down as either frauds or mistakes. The only place where coal can pos- sibly be found in the county is near the tops of the hills in the northeastern part. In none of the hills examined, were coal-measure rocks found, and the highest are capped with the carboniferous conglomerate, which is below the coal; so that the probabilities are that.no coal will be found in any of the hills. Explorations in Holmes County have shown that hills of Waverly rock in places rose above the margin of the old coal swamps, and that coal is now found near them at a lower level. It is, there- fore, barely possible that some outlying deposit may exist in this part of the county, and that these have not been discovered in making the survey. It ma}^ be positively asserted, how- ever, that no extensive and valuable deposits of coal will ever be found west of the Holmes County line, in Richland.

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