THE GREAT WESTERN COAL-FIELD IN MISSOURI AND IOWA.
The Great Western coal-field, as we before stated, is part of the Central coal-field, and might be appropriately described under the name of the "Great Central ;" for such it is.
On the east of the Mississippi, the accompanying map displays the Central field in Illinois, divided only by the erosions of the vast river which separates these fields; and on the west of the Missouri River we might display a continuation of this field to a limited extent in Kansas and Nebraska, as illustrated in figure 117, or the transverse section of the great basin.
The area, as shown on the map, is 45,000 square miles, of which 21,000 square miles exist in Missouri and 24,000 square miles in Iowa.
The dimensions or productive extent of the Great Central coal-field in clusive—applying this title to the coal-fields in the central portion of the great basin—may be set forth thus :— The denuded area over which this great field once extended, connecting all in one vast basin, must undoubtedly be double the extent of the present productive area as above set forth.
The western portion of the field contains only the lower seams, and seldom more than three; in most localities only one workable bed—the persistent and extensive B—is found.
Figure 131 will illustrate the geology of Missouri, which differs little from that of Iowa. In relation to the coal of Missouri, we make the fol lowing quotation from the geological survey of that State by Professor Swallow :— " Workable beds of coal exist in nearly all places where the coal measures are developed, as some of the best beds are near the base and crop out on the borders of the coal-field. All the little outliers along the borders
contain more or less coal, though the strata are not more than ten or fifteen feet thick. But, exclusive of these outliers and local deposits, we have an area of 26,887 square miles of the regular coal measures. In many places the thickness of the workable coal-beds is over 15 feet; and the least estimate that can be made for the whole area is 5 feet.
"This will give 134,435,000,000 tons of good, available coal in our State. (?) In our efforts to estimate the economical value of so vast a deposit of this most useful mineral, we must constantly bear in mind the position of these beds beneath the soil of one of the richest regions on the continent, within a State whose manufacturing and commercial facilities and resources are scarcely inferior to any, and adjacent to the Missouri River, and the Pacific, the North Missouri, and the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroads. With all these advantages of location, the certainty that these coal-beds can furnish 100,000,000 tons per annum for the next 1300 years, (?) and then have enough left for a few succeeding generations, is a fact of no small importance to the State."