100 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. geologically, far back of the coal measures, since the coal measures rest upon the upper Waverly as its floor; our theme requires us to notice each layer till we reach the eastern water-shed. These strata aggregate about 1,500 feet, in vertical height; by this we mean that the crest of the eastern water-shed of the Hocking Valley is, geologically, 1,500 feet higher than the Waverly floor of Fairfield, and that the mouth of Hocking at Hockingport is, stratigraphically, at least 1,000 feet higher than its fountain source in Fairfield County. When speaking of strata it must not be supposed that each stratum is found in every part of the valley, nor that they are of uniform thickness. Shales vary in thickness from a few inches to fifty feet. As they were still-water deposits, the duration of the stillness and the amount of the clay sediment and clay and sand determine the amount of deposit. Limestone formations are not uniform ; nor are the sand rocks, iron ore and coal deposits; they often lie in pockets and lagoons. We shall name such strata only as may be found somewhere in the valley, describing only where they are of special value. As we pass down the valley we shall pass up the strata, as one ascends a flight of stairs, each stratum being a step, or, as the shelves of a mineralogical cabinet, each stratum forming a shelf. Commencing with the Waverly, as the floor of our cabinet, let us note each shelf and its contents as we ascend. It may be remarked, then, that the first shelf in our coal-measure cabinet has the Maxville limestone; this horizon does not extend over the entire valley, still it is a large deposit in certain localities, and is of considerable value. It is a valuable deposit of the cabinet. The shale stratum is next in order in the ascending stratigraphical shelves. As the shales have not been utilized, only by nature in forming the basis of many of its soils, we shall pass then' with a general remark, that they being still-water deposits predominate in our valleys and determine, principally, their extent. The alternation of mineral rock deposits require sandstone. The sandstone strata are numerous, and vary exceedingly in their texture, Some are too soft for building stone, others hard and shelly; seine are conglomerate and coarse grained. The ridges have specimens of glass rock over fifty feet thick. The Hocking Valley abounds in excellent freestone belonging to the lower coal measures. Some of the rocks resemble the best Waverly sandstone. The valley contains extensive beds of excellent flagstone. We therefore place our freestone stratum among our valuable minerals. There are many horizons of fire-clay. These are in places of excellent quality. HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 101 They form the floors of our iron ore beds, coal seams, and sometimes underlie limestone formations. The fire-clays are, therefore, of great commercial value. The strata that lies below the coal veins we pass without further notice. Our mining operations will, perhaps, extend only to the lower coal veins, which crop out near Nelsonville, in the Hocking Valley, along Monday Creek, and Lower Snow Fork, at New Straitsville, Shawnee, and is at the depth of about eighty feet in Lower Sunday Creek Valley; at Corning, about forty feet; and at Rendville, but a few feet beneath the surface. The seams of coal in the Hocking Valley, including its eastern tributaries, number in all six. The first is about twenty-six feet below the "great vein," known as the Nelsonville seam. It measures about three feet. The second vein is the Nelsonville seam. It pleasures in the Hocking Valley proper about six feet. On Monday Creek it is six to ten feet thick; on the waters of Upper Sunday Creek it measures from seven to ten feet, at one point thirteen feet. In the Lower Sunday Creek Valley, in the shafts, it averages nine feet. This is the only coal which, from Hocking Valley, has reached successfully the general market. Its excellent quality is admitted, and the vastness of the deposit places its value in the front rank of all the mineral deposits of the valley. The third seam of coal is about seventy-five feet above the Nelsonville seam. It averages, in thickness, about four and one-half feet. It is called the Bailey's Run coal, and belongs principally to Sunday Creek and, as it has been the only coal ever used in the Lower Sunday Creek Valley, and lies at the base of its hills, it may be called the Sunday Creek coal. It is not yet known in the general market. It has often been analyzed and coked. For steam generation it is excellent, makes coke, and for domestic uses it is not readily excelled. Should it come into general use for coking it will become of immense value. A fourth seam of coal is found thirty-seven feet above the Bailey's Run coal, too thin, however, for mining except in mining a seam of ore of which it forms the floor. A fifth coal seam, two and one-half feet thick, lies about seventy-five feet above the fourth seam. About 400 feet above the Bailey's Run coal comes in the Pittsburg or Pomeroy coal seam. This seam closes the Hocking Valley coal seams. The amount of coal in Hocking is immense. Centuries will be required to mine and remove and utilize its vast deposits. Alternating with our coal seams and limestone strata are counted thirteen horizons of iron ore. Hocking Valley is located within the iron belt of Ohio. Some of its ores have been in use for iron-making, for at least, one 102 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. half a century. Its veins of ore are, in certain localities, rich and productive. They vary from six inches to five and one-half feet in thickness. They yield by analysis from twenty-five to sixty per cent of pure iron. Mixed with other ores they make an excellent iron. In Hocking Valley are found twelve horizons of limestone. Four of these spread through half of the valley, the other strata lie along the eastern rim. One deposit is about thirty feet thick, and very pure. Our eastern ridges are formed of heavy limestone layers. The principal strata, which we have enumerated, are found in the higher portion, and in the eastern division of the valley, commencing at the tops (top shelf in our mineral cabinet) of our eastern hills and counting the strata as we descend the rock slopes: (1) The buff limestone; (2) Shales; (3) Sand rock; (4) Limestone; (5) Sandstone; (6) Iron ore; (7) Shale; (8) Pittsburg coal seam; (9) Fire-clay; (10) Rich nodular ore in thirty feet of red marl, nodules yielding fifty-five per cent. of pure iron; (11) Limestone; (12) Sandstone; (13) Iron ore; (14) Ames limestone; (15) Shales; (16) Ferruginous clay stone; (17) Coal, two and one half feet; (18) Ferruginous limestone; (19) Black limestone; (20) Ferruginous limestone; (21) Shales; (22) Black band ore; (23) Coal, one and one half feet; (24) Big vein ore, five and one half feet; (25) Shales under fire-clay; (26) Bailey's Run coal, four and one half feet; (27) Fire-clay; (28) Limestone; (29) Iron ore; (30) Sandstone; (31) Shales; (32) Li-estone; (33) Sand rock; (34) Shales; (35) Limestone; (36) Sandstone; (37) Black slate; (38) Nelsonville coal; (39) Fire-clay; (40) Sandstone; (41) Limestone; (42) Shales coal, two and one half feet thick. Here ends the coal seams of the valley. This inclined plain, which was, by erosion, constructed into the Hocking Valley by the rising of the land, must have had six formative periods when the surface was above the sea and remained above water until the growth of vegetation prepared materials for a vein of coal, when it again, subsided, thus rising and falling till the last coal vein was formed, when, after the various strata were deposited, it arose to sink no more. Such appears to be the process by which the Hocking Valley plain was formed. The valley was grooved into this inclined plain by running water. The Ohio River flowed toward the gulf down a series of inclined plains 100 feet below the plains down which its waters now flow. Rain falling on this Hocking plain, the river, as a short river, begins to form by grooving out the strata, and floating the debris, suspended HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 103 in the running water, till the river had its head waters at Coolville, then as far as Athens, to Chauncey, Nelsonville, Logan. Millville, Sugar Grove, and finally a few miles beyond Lancaster. The tributaries were formed by a similar process, the eroded materials being carried into the main stream. In like manner the branches of the branches, even to the smallest rills, were eroded. This process of erosion is still in progress, and would finally carry all the hills to the ocean, unless a new era should change the order of things. What a vast amount of eroded particles have been taken out of the valley. For the purpose of drainage, irrigation and exposure of the mineral resource, what a work has been, and is being, accomplished in the Hocking Valley. The earth truly is standing out of the water and in the water, and was thus formed; the strata, coal excepted, were formed in or under the water, an 1 the coal elements growing out of the water, but converted into coal under the water. Thus has the Architect of all the created universe, in his laboratory in the ocean caverns, constructed a rich cabinet of minerals for exposition and future use. After constructing the materials for ages to come, and placing his mineral merchandise upon their appropriate stratigraphical shelves, he raises the entire materials above the deep, and begins the process of opening his grand exposition. We have seen his erosive work. It is our duty to examine the effects that we may discover their intelligent, all-powerful cause. We have now examined the geological make of the Hocking Valley. We have walked up and down its strata, and noted their variety, their position, and searched into the modes of their formation. The age of the valley we have not given, and for the reason of our inability. ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE HOCKING VALLEY. What races of men occupied the Hocking Valley before the white man entered it, and its forest began to retire before the march of civilization? To answer this question intelligently, and with entire satisfaction, requires more data than we are able to command. When the Europeans first entered the Hocking Valley they found it occupied by the Indians. But who were the Indians? Were they indigenous to the soil, natives, born out of the earth of the valley, or were they exotics? Elias Boudinot, LL. D., held that the Indians were of the ten lost tribes of Israel. He made a collection of many of their traditions, manners, and customs, and, from testimony which he deemed sufficient, came to that conclusion. 104 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. Be his theory true or false, they were not aborigines of that valley. They came into the valley from some distant country. Their mode of living originated their peculiarities of color and peculiar modes of thought. The Indians were not the Mound-builders, since they do not appear to have any knowledge of the time when the mounds were built, nor by whom they were erected. It is very generally conceded that the mounds are tumuli. Another point is, perhaps, equally true: that they were built over distinguished chiefs, fallen in battle. The mounds occupy grounds, once battle-fields, since they are covered more or less profusely with flint arrow heads. These heads strewn over the ground indicate a battle-field. These mounds are quite numerous in Hocking Valley, on what is called Wolf's Plains, between Salina and Athens, were a number of very large tumuli. Two have been particularly noted. One of these mounds was quite demolished to make room for a school-house, an act of desecration to the tomb of the ancient dead. One that is now standing is not less than thirty feet high, and quite regular in its form, it being a cone. It was once not less than forty feet high.. The materials of which the mounds are composed vary according to the geological formations of the districts where they are erected. On the plains they are formed, principally, of the drift sand and gravel, these materials composing the plains. The materials were carried by many persons, and well packed, or storms of so many centuries as they have seen would have washed them almost to a level with the surrounding plains. The mound of which we are now speaking is in an excellent state of preservation. Though times have been set to have it opened, Providence has defeated all the intentions of the mound desecrators. How long its once living human remains will be allowed to remain in their long and unbroken slumbers is not revealed. On the farm of Daniel Weethee, in Dover Township, Athens County, two mounds have been opened; the one, about fifty years ago; the other, recently. The one first opened was on the Sunday Creek bottom. It must have been originally twelve or fifteen feet high and about twelve feet in diameter. It was surrounded, when first seen (1798) by a shallow ditch, formed by the removal of the dirt to construct the tumulus. It had on its slope bushes and a large tree. The surrounding lands were thickly sprinkled with flint arrow-heads of all sizes, colors and shapes. Here and there were stone-axes, black and gray. One implement was metallic, and answered, perhaps, for a sword. It has been so many HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 105 years since I saw it that I cannot describe it intelligently. In the center of the mound's base was a circular heap of dark mold, about two feet in diameter, evidently the dust of the person over whom the mound was erected. In that pile was found a ring, composed of metal, large enough to clasp the human wrist. It was rust-eaten and broken. The mound had been raised around and over the person standing. This must have been a battle-field, since the implements were those of war. Whether the field, at that time, was cleared, or covered with a dense growth of timber, cannot be clearly ascertained at this late period. We should suppose that the land was then under cultivation, since it would have been difficult to construct such a tumulus in the midst of an unbroken forest of beech, sugar tree, oak and hickory, as it was when Mr. Weethee, the first white man, entered it. If it were a cultivated field, the Mound-builders must have been advanced beyond the purely savage state. They might have been semi-barbarians as their arrow-heads and stone implements indicate. The second mound opened is on a bill. Its size and shape were about the same' as those of the one just described. It was constructed of materials that had to be conveyed about one half of a mile, as they could not have been found any nearer. The contents of this mound were in a much better state of preservation. Near the top were bones of what appeared to be a young child. Three skeletons were found resting on its base. Two of the skeletons were human; the third skeleton resembled that of a dog. This might have been for a fallen chief and his family. On an adjacent hill, overlooking the 270-acre field first described, is another mound, not opened. It is about the same size as that of the other two. Another mound, of similar size, and unopened, is located on a hill south of the battle-field. Relative to these four mounds and those on Wolf's Plains, if we be allowed to conjecture the occasion of their construction, it would be about as follows: The Sunday Creek Valley and the plains were two great battlefields, chosen as the ground on which to decide the claims of great rival powers. On the plains was fought the first bloody battle. The defeated army retreated up the Sunday Creek Valley. Being recruited from the north they made a stand. On the North Dover field was fought another engagement, more destructive than the first. Till the dead of those battle-fields can utter their true history, our conjecture will, perhaps, come as near to the facts as our 106 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. data will allow. The fortifications of the Mound-builders show about the same skill. In a cave, on the same farm on Sunday Creek, is a vessel, worked out of the rock, which was used as a kettle for boiling; whether it was constructed by the Indians or by the Mound-builders we have no means to decide. The materials out of which their arrow-heads and axes were made came from some other region, since we have no such strata belonging to the valley. They might have obtained their granite from the drift found in the Hocking River terraces, but this drift is foreign. It is true that they might have obtained their black flint from Rush Creek, but whether they found their white and red flints in this locality we are unable to say; perhaps they did. They had stone implements whose uses we are not able to discern. There is a mound on Minor's Branch of Federal Creek which possesses some peculiar features worthy of special notice. A circular area about twelve feet in diameter is sunk about two and one-half feet below the surface of the earth, around the circumference of which were found lying, heads to feet, six skeletons; in the center of the area rested the seventh and the largest skeleton. Over these the mound was erected. These must have died at the same period, since the seven rest on the same horizontal level and were covered at the same time. This account we have from Dr. Dennis Newton, of Trimble Township, Athens County. It is said that there are 10,000 mounds, and 1,500 circumvallations in Ohio. Of what race were these Mound-builders has not been satisfactorily ascertained. That they were originally from Asia we feel quite sure. From a skull obtained from one of the mounds we are inclined to give them a Mongolian extract. They evidently came to America over Behring's Straits, which they could have crossed on the ice, or in small crafts. It would require centuries to have gone as far south as Central or South America. As they moved toward the south they advanced in their arts. That they came from Northeastern Asia and from that quarter peopled America will appear from this: that the American continent, between the great mountain range (consisting of the Rocky Mountains in North America and the Andes Mountains in South America) and the Pacific Ocean, was first peopled and grew into powerful empires. The memory of the Mound-builders has perished from the earth, and the rude monuments give us a far more imperfect sketch of their being and character than that of the fossils whose tombs are in the earth's strata. HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 107 THE FAUNA OF HOCKING VALLEY. We are requested to describe the Hocking Valley in its three departments, or, kingdoms: Mineral, Animal and Vegetable. We have described its mineral or geological formations; and have dropped a few thoughts relative to its aboriginal inhabitants in their monuments; it now remains to consider its original animal and vegetable kingdoms. What beasts, birds, fishes, and reptiles originally occupied the valley ? This department we now propose to investigate. THE BEASTS OF THE VALLEY. When the first white man entered within the limits of the .Hocking Valley, it was a dark, unbroken wilderness. The silence of its continuous forest was broken by the piercing cry of the eagle, the howling of wild beasts, and the whoop of the savage. The co-mingling of such wild, unusual, and discordant voices produced a sense of loneliness to which the present occupants of the valley are utter strangers. Far from the cheering smiles of quiet civilization lie is resolved to take up his abode with these untamed denizens of the valley. What were they that made his nights so dangerous and gloomy A few of its most dangerous occupants deserve special notice. Others will simply be named. (a.) Puma or Cougar, Felis concolor, leopardus concolor or puma .concolor—one of the largest of the American feline, rivaled only by the jaguar. It is called panther (Felis Pardus) called by the vulgar " painter." It is sometimes called the American lion. It does not often attack man, but has an unusual thirst for blood. One puma has been known to kill fifty sheep in one night, drinking a little blood of each. These monarchs of the forests were not numerous in the Hocking Valley, but their name always carried terror with it. When it was reported that a panther (painter) had been heard or seen in any district, the whole country turned out for a hunt, each man hoping to be the fortunate one to give it the death shot. This animal was the prince of beasts, though sometimes mastered and killed by a single dog. (b.) Bear—American black bear ( Ursus Americanus) were found in abundance, all over the valley. It was rather timid, but had great muscular power. It usually fed on berries; seldom made an attack on man; but, when attacked it was very dangerous. The bear was hunted for the value of his fur and oil. Bear-hunt- 108 - HISTORY OF HOOKING VALLEY. ing was a chief pursuit in the early settlement of the valley, and a successful "bear hunter" was enrolled among the honorable. Bear meat was a great relish. Long since has the American black bid adieu to his favorite haunts in the flocking Valley, and retired to Western lands, from the face of his human foe, there to pursue in secret his own natural calling. (c.) The Wolf—The gray wolf (Canis occidentalis) was the wolf usually found in the Hocking Valley, though now and then a black wolf was caught. The wolves roved in packs, and when hungry disputed with the early settlers the right of possession of the flocks, and at times challenged man to mortal combat. Their barking howl, breaking upon the ear at noon of night, reminds one of those fabled monsters that are said to guard the entrance to the realms of Pluto. Wolf hunts were very common and quite necessary. They, too, have been driven from the valley, and in a few more years even their name will not be known in the valley. (d.) Deer (Cervidoe).---Deer were, in early times, very. numerous in the Hocking Valley. They were hunted for their skins and flesh. Many families lived, principally, on venison, and made deer-hunting their chief occupation. The deer have also retired from the valley. Here and there one may be seen, but they are so scarce as to render their hunting quite unsuccessful. The four kinds of animals formed those classes which were, perhaps, the most noted. While these haunted the valley, hunting formed one of the chief occupations. When they disappeared hunting became more of a sporting business. Other wild animals were numerous, some of which were valued for their furs, such as the beaver, foxes, otters, muskrats, minks; others may be enumerated, as the hares, squirrels, mice, rats, weasles, porcupines, badgers. These animals occupied the valley at the time when the white man first entered it. The smaller animals still continue. Foxes have been very numerous and often destructive on the poultry. The opossums were numerous. BIRDS OF THE VALLEY. The Eagle Family (Aquila)—deserves the first notice as it is the royal family among birds. The eagles were, in the early settlement of the valley, quite numerous, there being many species. The eagle has always been a noted bird. Its extraordinary powers of vision, the height to which it is able HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 109 to rise, its love for wild scenery, and its longevity constitute it as a bird of poetic associations. " It was associated with Jupiter in the Roman mythology ; its figure on the standards of the Roman legions expressed and animated their confidence in victory." It is the emblem of our standard. The American eagle inspires the American soldier in the day of battle. The spe- cies of eagles formerly numerous in the Hocking Valley are: (a) The white, or bald-head eagle of America; the chosen emblematic eagle of American States, is also an erne, one of the eagle group; (b) The forked-tailed eagle was another species quite common in the early settlement of the valley. On almost any clear day of summer its piercing cry would call your attention.. Looking toward the sun you would discover the eagle, with expanded wings unmovable, and forked tail circling in a spiral path upward till it disappears in the boundless expanse above. That bird has also forsaken the valley. The bald eagle did much damage in the way of carrying-off pigs, lambs and 'other small animals. Sometimes infants have been stolen. The Hawk (Falcomidoe)—is an " ignoble " bird of prey. This family has always had a full representation in the Hocking Valley. The two most noted species are the (1) " hen hawk," so called from its larger size; and (2) the " chicken hawk," one much smaller. A third species may be added, the " blue hawk." The three species are " ignoble " birds of prey. They are far-seeing, and have always been disputants for a large share of the domestic products of the poultry. Our good and wise law-makers placed the family, for a time, under legal restrictions, but, for some reason, wise, perhaps, have signed for them, a reprieve. This large family is pleased with its treatment and fare, and has concluded to continue its residence in the valley. The Owl (Strigidoe).—This family is the nocturnal section of birds of prey. It was once a very large family in the Hocking Valley, and made the nights hideous with its hootings. The owl family has always been one of poor repute, being a family of " evil omen." It has this bad reputation from gloominess of its haunts, such as old, dilapidated buildings, caverns, and the dark solitudes of the woods ; and, especially, from its cry, " hollow and lugubrious," but loud and startling, " heard during the hours of darkness, and often by the lonely wanderer. It is evidently from this cry that the name owl is derived, as well as many of its synonyms in other languages, and of the names appropriated in different coma- 110 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY tries to particular species, in most of which the sound oo or ow is predominant, with great variety of accompanying consonants. Many of the owls have also another and very different cry, which has gained for one of them the appellation screech owl, and to which, probably, the Latin name Strix and some other names are to be referred." Between the settlers and the owl family there has been a continued struggle as to the right of certain kinds of property, the owl being a noted thief and robber, sleeping in the light of day, but wide awake during the hours of darkness—having such a big eye and so peculiarly constructed, that it can see without light. The owl family still remains in the valley, following its old occupation. The eagle, the hawk and the owl were the principal families of prey; what the eagle and the hawk failed to accomplish in the light, the owl finished in the darkness. Birds of other families abounded in the valley. Enter the dark valley of the primeval forests in the hot and shady months, and the notes of a great variety of " feathered songsters " always salute the listening ear of the lonely traveler. These families prefer the retired wilderness abode to the cultivated lands of civilization. Other families soon formed an intimacy with the new comers of the valley. As the forests removed and the lands were made productive they came in for their share in payment for their "gabble " and musical entertainments. Of these there was a great variety, such as the buzzard, the raven, the crow, the dove, the lark, the quail, the partridge, the black-bird, blue-bird, the humming-bird, the wild turkey, water-fowls, and a great variety of swallows, martins, American mocking-bird (cat-bird), robin ,whip-poor-will, yellow-hammer, woodcock, wood-pecker, and many other families; these continue in the valley, and prefer the haunts of civilization. One other family of birds should not be overlooked, since it outnumbered the sum of all others, viz., the wild pigeons. Flocks of pigeons often in their flight darkened the whole heavens. Their roosts were so crowded and large that they broke down forests. This family have now deserted the valley for homes more retired. FISHES (PISCES) OF HOCKING VALLEY. The Hocking River and its tributaries, were abundant in their supply of excellent fish. Some have been caught weighing fifty pounds. They were of many varieties, and of nearly all sizes. Those prized most for food were the pike, weighing from one pound HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 111 to ten pounds; the black perch, sometimes called bass; white bass; the sucker and salmon. The cat fish, sometimes called " mud cat," is now, by far, the most abundant in the Hocking waters. It grows, sometimes, to a very large size, and affords an excellent supply of choice food for the inhabitants of the water courses. During early spring, fishing is made a pleasing and profitable amusement. To fish with a hook and line, standing in the water up to the middle, was one of the early pioneer spring and summer occupations. Should our waters be supplied with foreign varieties of choice fish, the time may come when Hocking River and its effluents will yield the citizens of the valley a satisfactory income. Fish culture, in point of commercial value, will, perhaps, compare favorably with grain products, provided, however, that the culture is properly guarded. THE REPTILES OF HOCKING VALLEY. When first discovered, the valley was full of reptiles. (1) Ophidia, or serpents; (2) Sauria, or lizards; (3) Chelonia, or tortoises. The serpents were of many species: (1) The rattle-snake; (2) Copperhead; (3) The black-snake; (4) The striped snake; and (5) The "racer." These were the most common of the serpent family. The rattle-snake and the copperhead were very poisonous. The rattle-snake always gave warning, and was not, therefore, so dangerous as the copper-head, which accomplished its deadly work from an ambush. The racer was not poisonous; still it was dangerous in its mode of attack, coiling about its victim, and, sud denly, and with great power, crushing the object. There were combats between the rattle-snake and the racer which resulted in the total destruction of the former. The serpents of the poisonous species have become scarce, except in a few localities. Lizards in the Hocking Valley are small, and without any special interest. About the same may be said of the tortoises; some few species are used as food. The insects of the valley were also numerous, some of which are useful. The wild honey-bee belongs to that class. Many species may be placed in the rank of pests. Our space will not allow further notice. Before closing our notice of the Fauna of the Hacking Valley, it may be well to notice some ancient animals that once occupied the valley but are now either extinct or have long since retired to other regions. 112 - HISTORY OF HOOKING VALLEY. Among these we may reckon the buffalo, and the mastodon. That both of these species once made Hocking Valley their homes, we have sufficient proof. On some of the points of the spurs, on the east of Sunday Creek, in Trimble Township, Athens County, are buffalo beats—spaces covering several square rods of ground. These are trodden very hard. They were localities where, in hot weather, buffaloes congregated to beat flies. The points of ridges were selected by them as watch towers, to give alarm at the approach of an enemy. What proof, it may be asked, is there that the mastodon ever inhabited the Hocking Valley? About fifty-one years since, the Hocking River, during a high flood, on its east bank, on the farm of William Courtney, one mile above Athens, washed out part of the skeleton of a mastodon. It was in the alluvial bank, about thirteen feet below the surface. Its molar teeth and some parts of the jaws remained; still, exposed to the air they began to slack. They were removed to the museum of the Ohio University, where they remained for many years. From the size of those parts obtained the size of the animal was approximately estimated at about eleven feet high and sixteen feet long. It was deposited in the water, or mud of the river. Whether it died there, or washed there from some other part of the valley, cannot be ascertained. It was not found, however, in the glacial drift. That the buffalo and the mastodon once fed upon the banks of the Hocking River, passed up and down its numerous branches, roamed over its ridges, and stood upon its spurs, cannot be a matter of any doubt. They had left the valley before the white man entered it; how long before is a matter of conjecture. From the condition of skeletons, the mastodon and the Mound-builders might have been face to face. But, aside from time ancient denizens of the Hocking Valley, let us view the inhabitants of the valley when first seen by the Caucasian. Not a tree has yet fallen before the ax of the white man. Among the waving branches of the heavy timbered bottoms, and on the stately oaks of the hills, are heard the notes and cries of birds of various plumage, new and strange. The Indian whoop, the panther's cry, the hoarse growl of the bear, the howl of the wolf, mingled with thousands of notes of living organism, fall upon his ear, as from the animated beings of a new world. Is he dreaming? or, does he behold the animated beings of a literal country, like the one left behind him? HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 113 Are these numberless organisms indigenous to the soil, like the trees that grow out of it? or, are they the offspring of an eastern ancestry, that, in ages long-passed, found their way over a pathless ocean? Have the human family one center, or many ? Do animals follow the same law of unity? These points are unsettled in the minds of many learned men. The animals of the new world had their laws of natural combination corresponding with a new human development, each to move in unison as another great whole in the divine government. THE FLORA OF THE HOCKING VALLEY. The flora concerns those trees and plants which are indigenous to the district. We shall, under this term, include the botany of the valley, as it was when first settled by Europeans. A few general remarks will be of use to a proper understanding of what shall follow. The Arctic flora of Europe, Asia and America resemble more closely than that of the equatorial regions. The same holds true of their fauna. This affords an argument in favor of the idea of one floral center. Species in the three grand divisions are not alike. Trees of the same name differ in America from those in Europe and Asia. These variations are mostly the result of climate and soil, and not because of different original centers; the families are more alike than their species. The family name is not changed, but the species differ. The American forests, as in Europe and Asia, consist of pines, oaks, birches and willows; but they are not like those that cover the plains and mountains east of the Atlantic. The same is true of other trees, such as poplars, elms, planes, maples, hazels, and other families of trees, and, also, it holds good with roses, brambles, strawberries, bilberries, etc.; it is true also of grasses, common flowers, and weeds. Each zone, therefore, has its peculiar flora. The change in the species is evidently the result of a change in the soil and climate. The oaks and pines on the mountains of Mexico differ from the Arctic oaks and pines of America. Geological formations vary the features. Look at the white oaks, growing on thin hill land, rich north side hills, southern and western exposures, on rich bottom lands, on lands containing much iron, lime or sand, those that are on wet, cold and sour soils. We conclude, therefore, that the flora of a country varies with its geological formation, temperature, light and heat. We speak of a white oak soil, a walnut soil, buckeye soil, - 8 - 114 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY beach soil. Each soil is adapted to its peculiar flora. The seeds being in the soils will not germinate unless the laws of germination are met. This is true of all floral seeds. Put a heavy coating of lime on a field and, without sowing, clover springs up from seed already in the earth. These laws of germination understood, we proceed to investigate the flora of the Hocking Valley. ITS FORESTS. No one passing for the first time (1883) through the various sections of the Hocking Valley, noting carefully its cultivated fields; its railways, villages, towns and cities; its coal, salt, and iron establishments, can form any fair picture of Hocking Valley and its tributaries one century since. All its bottom lands were then shaded by a very dense, high, and heavy growth of green, healthy trees, composed of immense sycamore, poplars, black and white walnut, black and white ash, buckeye, beech, soft and rock maple, white, black, red and yellow oak, standing so dense when clothed with foliage, as not to allow the sun's rays to penetrate to the earth; turning bright noon-day into twilight. What immense labor to consume those primeval forests. The hills were covered with a dense growth of oak, hickory, ash; here and there pine, poplar, maple and some few other species of forest trees. The ravines, slopes, and plains were covered with a mixture of the bottom and upland growth. These dense forests have given way to the march of civilization. Over a large portion of the valley there is nothing left to teach the rising generation the majestic beauty of nature's original clothing. What is a cornstock beside a venerable oak, or poplar, or ash, or sycamore? }What are our steepled houses beside the beauty and the glory of " God's first temple "? These forests, so wantonly mutilated and destroyed, have been the necessary servants of the citizens of the valley, by supplying them with fuel, bridge, fencing and building materials, and by satisfying various other wants. There has been, however, a great waste of timber; thousands of acres of choice timber were burned. The "log rollings" of early times are sufficient testimony of the truth of the assertion. Could that choice timber have been sawed into lumbar and protected it would have supplied the wants of many generations, but where then were their portable saw-mills and the men to work them? Steam itself was yet slumbering. Relative to the flora of the Hocking Valley something should be said relative to its tree families, their location, growth, and HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 115 particular habits. Many families, each consisting of several members or species of trees, formed the vast wilderness of the Hocking Valley. Sometimes miles were occupied by the members of a single family, such as the oak family; in other localities the family of hickories held almost exclusive possession; in another poplar; beech, another, and so on through the catalogue of families, each family occupying the land that best suited it, forming all over the valley "little squatter " sovereignties. Other localities were covered with family mixtures. Not that they amalgamated, but that they were not exclusive in their habits; they grew up quietly in the same beautiful grove. Such habits do not come by chance; they must spring from philosophical causes.' Why such habits among the more noble families of the floral kingdom? Be it true or false, we venture an explanation. Seeds, the parentage of vegetation, were the result of an original creation. Whether they were created in one place and distributed or were formed where they afterward germinated, we do not say. The seeds, through some agency by the waters of the flood, by birds, or by some other means, entered the soils. in every quarter of the globe, waiting there for favorable conditions of germination, each variety or family varying in its conditions. They may have been placed there in the original creation. The ground is full of seeds not sown by the hand of man; how long sown there is not known. Seeds retain their vitality many centuries; instances are given which would show that some varieties (grains of wheat about Egyptian mummies) have held their vitality forty centuries. Corn in the tombs of the Incas has vegetated. " After the great fire of London, in 1666, plants not previously common sprang up abundantly on the waste ground; certain plants previously unknown there are sure to appear after a fire in the American forests, in deep trenching of land, or turning up of the soil, by railway or other operations, producing a crop of some kind of plants unknown or rare in the locality." The seeds then that have produced these families may have been in their localities ages before exposed to their various conditions of germination. The seed of the oak might germinate in one place; those of the beech in another; of the poplar in another, each variety of seed germinating in that locality best adapted to its growth. Thus we call one soil a beech soil, another oak, another walnut, because best adapted to that peculiar growth. These tree preferences and habits are well understood, and followed in the purchase of lands. Each geological formation has its distinct flora. It is not our 116 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. purpose to discuss fossil botany, but simply to give some account of what might be the origin of the Hocking Valley forests. These forests sprang up among the debris of the lower coal measure, yet they are infants in age compared with the duration of those measures. To the cretaceous formation many of the genera now living are said to belong. " They formed the forests of that period, and the fossil remains show that their appearance was much the same as now. Among the living genera represented were the oak, poplar, plane, willow, beech, sassafras, magnolia, fig, maple, walnut, tulip tree, etc." That the seeds were long in their various localities, and were not therefore brought from the Old World, will appear when we learn that many are natives of America, such as maize (Indian corn) and the potato. The wild flowers of the Hocking Valley were exceedingly numerous and of many varieties. We have no data by which any botanical description can be given, neither will our limited space permit such a scientific notice. We simply describe it as the first settlers saw it. Wherever the sun was permitted to warm the earth, seeds of unknown plants germinating sprang up in profusion. The deep soils of the river and creek bottoms soon brought them into bloom. One of nature's flower gardens would extend many miles, showing every size, shape and shade of color. Such a profusion and co-mingling of odors and tints can exist only in the gardens of nature's planting. You might walk seventy miles and still be surrounded with this wild Eden bloom. The rose, the pink, the violet, the tulip and the lilies! Who could count the numbers or tell their varieties? We have floral exhibitions of our times, but they would not favorably compare with one of Nature's exhibitions in the Hocking Valley of those early days. Over hills, up ravines, along the slopes, on the plains, in the valleys, over a space of 2,000 square miles, from April till September, was this beautiful flower garden on exhibition. How true to nature are these lines: " Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air." METEOROLOGY OF THE HOCKING VALLEY. Meteorology discusses atmospheric phenomena. We shall confine our remarks to those phenomena that relate to weather and climate. This department of nature has, so far, refused to submit. HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 117 to any regular system of well-defined laws. At least it has been very reticent before the most distinguished savants. The element that we breathe, and in which we live and move and have our being, is too intimately associated with our health and happiness to allow us not to be familiar with its nature and habits. Let us look into the character of this constant companion. Pure atmosphere is the element of life. Impure air is a death angel. Whatever, then, affects its purity or condition as a breathing element, or as a faithful servant and companion, should be made familiar. The atmosphere is the home of those meteors that so much affect the human family, viz.: Dew, clouds, fog, rain, hail, frost, lightning, and storms of wind, rain, hail and snow. Its temperature and weight are constantly varying. Whatever changes its weight, its temperature, its moisture or its motion or direction has a direct bearing on our health and our enjoyment. We speak, also, of its electricity. In every light, therefore, atmospheric changes affect our happiness more sensibly than any other natural department. All nations are watching its changes, that, if possible, they may discover the laws which govern its greatest meteor storms, how to forecast storms, and, consequently, to avoid their terrible effects. If its tornadoes, or cyclones could be seen twenty-four hours in advance, much of their damages could be avoided. To prevent rains when too abundant, or to cause showers in times of drought, would be a great achievement. We hold that the atmosphere is like water, under the control of specific laws; that these laws will finally be known, and meteorology will be brought under the theorems and problems of all true sciences. This, however, will not be accomplished until the influence of disturbing causes are distinctly ascertained. Then storms will be accurately predicted and their forces ascertained. The 2,000 daily observations taken in all parts of the world is bringing about an important era in the history of meteorology. All that aid in that work are public benefactors. Every river system has its own meteorological peculiarities . The course of the river and its branches, and the nature of its soils, determine the character of its atmosphere. These, united with temperature and the rapid or tardy flow of the streams—all these combined—make its peculiar atmospheric features, The atmosphere of the Mississippi is subjected to two currents of air, between which there exists a continuous struggle; a cool, dry wind from the north and northwest, and a sultry wind, charged with vapor, from 118 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. the south and southwest. Were it not for the struggle for the ascendency between these opposing winds the Mississippi Valley would long since have been a desert waste. The reason of this will appear when a third atmospheric current is traced. A west wind, saturated with vapor, starts from the Pacific, eastward, direct for the Mississippi Valley, in the same latitude. Pass. ing over the Coast Range, with the fall of temperature its capacity to hold moisture decreases. There it parts with a portion of its vapor. It does not recover its full capacity when it meets with its second mountain range (the Nevada), where it makes its second deposit, this range being higher than the coast range. Having passed the third range (the Rocky Mountains) it descends the eastern slope a dry wind. 'Crossing a vast extent of country with a higher temperature it has no moisture to precipitate, it reaches us a dry west wind. Should there be no north and south winds we should have no rain. Two currents, one cool, the other warm and saturated with vapor, make a general rain fall—what we call " steady rains." Summer showers are produced by the law of condensation, but in another way; a warm, saturated current moving upward meets a cold stratum of air, part of its vapor being condensed is precipitated in the form of rain or hail. The law is the same in each, but they differ in mode and direction; the one is horizontal, the other vertical. With this view before us let us examine the lay and peculiar features of the flocking Valley. Its course is northwest and southeast, the direction of the two contesting currents of .air—the line of advance and retreat of the contending elements. The storm belt is where the contending winds meet. If the wind is southeast the storm is further north; if south, then we have a northwest wind. Our various winds have the following characteristics in Hocking Valley: A south wind, east wind, or southeast wind in the spring, fall and winter bring a storm, because they being warmer and saturated with vapor meet a cold wind which precipitates a portion of its moisture, and will continue to storm tin they are driven southward, and the wind, in common language, shifts to the north, northwest. The true expression is, the colder or opposite wind prevails and has driven the warmer wind and, consequently, the storm belt , to the south. The rains in the .valley are local, often covering less than a mile square. Severe and protracted droughts are seldom known in the Hocking Valley. The reasons are obvious : The valley has so many hills and ridges that th'ey serve to introduce heated rising currents of HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 119 moist air; these rising currents carrying their vapor with them it is condensed and falls in rain. Hence it is said that turning up so as to show the under surfaces of the growing leaves is a sign of rain. It shows the existence of upward currents of air, which indicate rain. A west wind is usually a dry wind for reasons already given. East winds, those due east, bring rain only when they are heavily charged with vapor—for meeting a cool, dry west wind, much of its vapor will be absorbed. The winds of the Hocking Valley are very much broken, owing to so many breaks. Every hill is a wind-break. In the North Fairfield division the winds are more uniform, the country being level. The north and west winds have no obstruction, but in every other section the hills, spurs and ridges " chop" the winds. Among the hills it is difficult to determine the general course of winds, except by the clouds. Within one mile square the wind at different points blows at the same time from every quarter, it meeting with obstructions. Four persons meeting after a heavy blow, might thus speak: A.—We had a severe north wind this morning. .B.— No, sir;. it was a west wind. C.—You are both mistaken; it was an east wind. D.—You must all have been dreaming, for I was on a hill and know that it came from the south. They were all correct, for (chameleon like) it had a course for each. In this manner the valley in a hot summer's day, when upward currents are forming, is full of eddies or local whirlwinds. The winds of the valley are, therefore, peculiar. Its climate, for the same reasons, is peculiar also. It has every kind of exposure. On the same farm there are summer gardens and winter gardens, summer fields and winter fields in one locality, owing to the exposures being nearly a month earlier than another. This climatic variety gives Hocking Valley an advantage in fruit culture, since there is scarcely ever a season in which the fruits of all its localities are destroyed. From its conformation it has its share of fogs and clouds, rains, snows and storms. The valley, at times, has had its tornadoes, yet they have been quite limited, since all the hills combining soon put an end to their devastations. The evaporation of the valley is also very unequal. The whole structure of the valley tends to destroy atmospheric equilibrium. Storms must be the result. One question deserves further notice : Has the valley civilization changed or modified its meteorological phenomena ? What atmospheric changes have resulted from clearing, draining and culti- 120 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. eating the soil, and erecting villages, towns and cities, and establishing manufactories, constructing railways and other improvements ? The writer of this article has kept a weather journal for about fifty years. Much of that time he has been a citizen of the Hocking Valley. He speaks, therefore, from positive knowledge when saying : The seasons are not now what they were one half a century ago. The four seasons have been changed, not that they are opposite in character, but that there has been many atmospheric changes and modifications. The valley evaporation has been made over and vastly augmented. The letting of the sun's rays, unobstructed by dense forests, falling upon the earth has greatly increased evaporation. ,Streams that once flowed during the entire summer are dry, only after showers. This vapor, floating in the atmosphere, must change its density and tend to produce local rains. The cultivated fields are great absorbents, so that the size of the streams, except in heavy rain-falls, is reduced. Much of the land since the removal of its forests lies in its undress. It suffers the extremes of heat and cold, sowing in its bosom the seeds of consumption. This epidemic tendency is communicated to the atmosphere, robbing it of its freshness and vitality. We breathe a cultivated air, impregnated with a thousand malarial impurities. The improvements of the valley have changed its atmospheric phenomena. Prof. J. P. Espy, the " storm king," used to say: "Give me fuel enough and I can break up any drought." A great upward current thus produced would carry with it a mass of vapor to be condensed and fall in rain. An upward current must be produced to have rain-fall in the summer. It is said that it rains every day in and around London; so many fires in such a small space produce upward rain currents. These disturbing elements are increasing in Hocking Valley, and their results are apparent. Any cause that tends to break up the atmospheric equilibrium introduces a storm element. Man has, therefore, introduced meteorological changes. These disturbing causes will increase as the valley fills up with a working, enterprising population. A coal district is subject to a greater flow of water, and, therefore, affects, the atmosphere. Human industry so much changes the meteorological phenomena that it is difficult to predict accurately coming changes of weather. Every person should learn the names and peculiar characteristics of the clouds, ;winds and all such HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 121 meteorological phenomena as affect either his health, character or business. SUMMARY. The natural history of the Hocking Valley has been briefly outlined. It now remains to aggregate its principal features and sketch its future. That section of Ohio known as the Hocking Valley was once an irregular block of mineral deposits, about eighty miles long by thirty miles wide, and 1,200 feet deep, resting horizontally on the Waverly group, composed of about six geological formations, viz.: Sandstones, shales, limestones, fire-clay, coal and iron ore; consisting of nearly 100 layers or strata resting upon each other horizontally, as they were deposited from the primeval ocean, and, at that time, under its waters. Its upper surface was smooth, horizontal, and level. That plain was some feet above the highest point of the eastern water-shed, the hills being lowered by ages of erosion. When these strata were finished to the smooth surface of the last and highest stratum, a great geological change took place. The Cincinnati Arch and the Allegheny Mountains arose out of the bosom of the waters, carrying up with them the' strata intervening to an elevation above the sea level, and inclining so as to form the longitudinal trough, the bottom of which is now occupied by the waters of the beautiful Ohio. Since that noted upheaval which extended over thousands of miles, there was no further submergence of the Hocking Valley section. The work of the valley formation by erosion then commenced. The Ohio River flowing in a channel 100 feet lower than its present channel, made its tributaries and sub-tributaries erode very rapidly. Hocking River then ran in a channel abut 100 feet below its present bed. All its tributaries near :their mouths were 100 feet lower than now. This made their flow much more rapid, and the growing process was very active. Every flood carried out of the tributary valleys an immense amount of eroded debris. Thus was the Hocking Valley formed and fashioned into its present size and shape. One other modification of the depth and race of the chief valley deserves notice. A glacial epoch followed with a temperature of Greenland in the Hocking Valley and over the continent. Immense masses of ice were formed, binding up in their glacial fetters millions of tons of sand, gravel and boulders. This was followed by a sinking, so far as to detach icebergs, which, floating south., south- 122 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. east, by melting, deposited their drift, boulders, clay and gravel. All the Western and Northwestern Ohio was leveled up with this drift. A large amount was deposited along the Hocking Valley, through which the river has cut its modern channel. Such is a brief sketch of the formation and shaping of the present Hocking Valley. Had it not been for the upheaval there would still have been a sea to occupy its present site; there could have been no erosion; and without erosion, the geological and strati-graphical formation of the valley would never have been known. This great upheaval gave birth to the valley, with all its living organisms. It was evidently elevated above the ocean waters and made and shaped by erosion for some wise purposes. The immense mineral deposits of the Hocking Valley, exposed by the upheaval and erosion, are sufficiently indicative of the intention of its Creator. The topography of the Hocking Valley is peculiarly varied. It would be a difficult task even to count its ridges, spurs, hills, mounds, gulches, ravines, slopes, valleys and plains; its fountains, rills, rivulets or creeks; and its various bodies of water. Such a pleasing variety never tires the eye. But, to the geologist preparing to benefit mankind by his untiring researches, the Hocking Valley is a theater of unusual interest. Its mineral formations are remarkably rich and exceedingly varied. Of these, its early inhabitants knew but little. There are no remains of any structures in Hocking Valley that indicate any extended use of its sandstones, limestones, shales, fire-clay, coal or iron ores. Flint supplied the place, principally, of iron; cones of earth, that of marble monuments. In the midst of untold mineral wealth, they pursued the chase, and, residing in forests, they subsisted on nature's most simple fare. Its fauna and flora have changed, and we now behold a valley fast filling up with a population capable of appreciating and utilizing the resources treasured for their use by natures' architect. CONCLUSION-THE FUTURE OF THE HOCKING VALLEY. Who knows its future ? " Secret things belong to the Lord our God." We forecast only as he furnishes the data and ability. Three terms given, a fourth readily follows. Hocking Valley's future depends upon its mineral resources, the capital to develop HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 123 and the will; their actual development necessarily follows as the fourth term. In this term is the future of the Hocking Valley. Its future, therefore, can be readily ascertained. ITS MINERAL RESOURCES. We shall name no mineral that is not found in the valley, and as herein described. We do not say that each one extends over the entire valley. This would not be true. What we describe is in the valley, and is equal in quantity and quality to our estimates. This is is all that any one should require. We would further say that our estimates cover a compact territory of about 600 square miles. We have selected a part of this territory as the basis of one estimates, with which we are quite familiar, Sunday Creek Valley, a mean between the out-crops and deep shafting. What, then, are the mineral resources of the Hocking Valley? 1. Petroleum. —The Hocking Valley has its fountains of petroleum. On some of its eastern tributaries, such as Federal Creek and Sunday Creek, thousands of barrels have been obtained. How extensive are its fountains, if properly tested, we cannot say. There is money in it, if diligently worked. 2. Salt.—The brine of Hocking Valley comes from the Upper Waverly. It is from 570 feet to 1,000 feet below the surface.  It has produced a large amount of salt. Should the brine be drawn up by the power that elevates the coal, and evaporated by the slack of the shaft seam, it could be manufactured with profit. We reckon salt as one of the mineral resources of the valley. 3. Freestone.—Building stone is in great abundance. In Fairfield and Hocking counties are the Waverly sandstone. Some of the strata are of excellent quality. In Perry and Athens counties we have the heavy sandstone formations of the coal measures. They are in some localities fifty feet thick, fine grained and sharp, white and pure—a glass-making rock. We have districts where the flag-stone is well developed. The quarries consist of many layers, varying from one inch to six inches thick, sound, and with surfaces as level and smooth as the sawed flag of the Euclid Avenue, Cleveland. A vast amount can be obtained. 4. Fire-clay.—This deposit is very abundant in the valley, and much of it is said to be of superior quality. It will, in time, add much to the mineral wealth of Hocking Valley. Three minerals remain, which, from their joint use, should stand as a whole 124 - HISTORY OF HOOKING VALLEY. relatively : iron ore and limestone, and coal employed in their reduction. Profitable iron-making requires that these three minerals should be found in the same localities. This is true of the Hocking Valley. 5. Limestone.—Three veins of limestone extend over the most of Hocking Valley, but in the Federal and East Sunday creek hills, that limestone has its heaviest developments. The divide between those two streams is formed principally of limestone of an excellent quality, for quick lime, and for a flux. It may be truly said that the limestone is ample for all its practical uses. Furnaces erected on Federal Creek or on Sunday Creek will have limestone within easy range. 6. Iron Ore.—Deposits of iron ore can be found in nearly all sections of the valley, especially in the coal measures. One vein of coal is the floor of an iron ore seam. They occupy different horizons of the same territory. In Sunday Creek Valley we have examined thirteen horizons of iron ore within a vertical space of 400 feet. These veins vary from six inches to five feet. Three veins are, severally, two and a half feet, four feet and five feet thick. One vein, on analysis, yields thirty-three per cent. of pure iron; another, fifty-five per cent., and a third, sixty per cent. These seams extend for miles, and crop out in the opposite slopes of the same hills. Two men of great experience in iron-making, made the following remarks: One from the Cambria Iron Works said: "There is iron ore enough; the per cent. is fair." The one from Mahoning Valley said: " One bushel of the coal should not be taken out of the valley, for it will all be wanted in smelting its ores. Neither of these practical iron masters had seen all the horizons. Such declarations from practical men must have meaning. 7. Coal.—We have reserved this mineral to the last, because it is first in value, and well deserves the name of " King of minerals." It is the motive power—the motor of the world's machinery, for its heat generates the steam that moves the world; the treasured sunlight of the carboniferous age; the world's renovator; the fuel for man in his high intellectual life. Time value of coal is measured by the power generated in its combustion. "The power developed in the combustion of a pound of coal is reckoned by engineers as equal to 1,500,000 foot-pounds. The power exerted by a man of ordinary strength during a day of labor is about the same, so that a pound of coal may be regarded as equivalent to a day's labor of a man. Hence, 300 pounds