Lovejoy, Ellis, 1860-

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 The Knowledge Bank at The Ohio State University Ohio Mining Journal   Title:  The Clays of Five Mile Creek Creators:  Lovejoy, Ellis, 1860- Issue Date:  1-Oct-1888  Citation:  Ohio Mining Journal, no. 17 (October 1, 1888), 34-40. URI:  http://hdl.handle.net/1811/32567  Appears in Collections: Ohio Mining Journal: Whole no. 17 (October 1, 1888)  The Clays of Five Mile Creek.ELLIS LOVEFOY.READ AT LOGAN MEETING.Five Mile Creek finds its source among the hills of WestCentral Starr township, Hocking county. It flows north andempties into the Hocking river, one and one-half miles belowLogan.The geological structure of this limited field presents no verystrange features. A series of engineers' levels show some littleirregularities in the dip. The rock falls less than ten feet from nearthe mouth of Five Mile to Union Furnace, a distance of fourmiles. From Union Furnace to the south it rises, until at SummitMine it has risen thirty-five feet. The distance from Union Fur-nace to Summit Mine is about one and one half miles. South ofthe Summit the rock again falls toward Starr. Across the fieldeast and west there is no reverse dip, but the levels show threebenches or steps. The following section will show the geologicalrange of the field:Upper Freeport Limestone—6. Flint Clay, } Interval 23Coal,Interval 0—18Lower Freeport Limestone—5. Flint Clay, } Interval 27—30Middle Kittanning Coal,Interval 304. Lower Kittanning Coal and Clay,Interval 603. Tionesta Coal and Clay,Interval 19Upper Mercer Horizon(black slate)Interval 312. Lower Mercer Lime, Coal and Clay,Interval 15—20Sand Block Ore,Interval (from O. G. S.) 65—1001. Maxville Clay.There are six horizons of clay in this field, of more or lesseconomic value, exclusive of valuable beds of red clays whichcap the hills at and above the Freeport horizons. If we reversethe position of the clays placing the Maxville at the top of thelist and the Freeport at the bottom we will have them in the or-(ier of their importance and value in this field. The MaxvilleTHE CLAYS OF FIVE MILE CREEK. 35clay is a dark gray, blue gray, to light gray flint clay. It is oftenhighly marked with organic impressions and stains. The fractureis irregular, sometimes conchoidal where best developed. Theclay is usually without the so-called fire clay grain though notalways. It disappears below drainage near the mouth of FiveMile. Thus far no attempt has been made to reach it either byshaft or test-well along this run.It lies near enough the surface to warrant such exploration.It is mined on the Westenhaver place, southeast of Logan, andin several places northeast and north of Logan. The flintycharacter of the clay, the compactness of the seam, together withthe absence of soft clay, makes the mining difficult and expensive.The clay is won by making a bearing-in above the clay and wedg-ing up. The coal which sometimes overlies the clay serves for abearing-in. Miners have been paid $1.00 per ton for mining. Theroyalty asked is 25 cents per ton. On board cars at Logan, theclay will cost $1.75 per ton.The chemical composition indicates a high grade clay.I have arranged in a table the analyses of several of the bestflint clays for comparison:SilicaAluminaCombined water.Koolin base . . . .QuartzInactive impur's.Sesqui oxide ironLimeMagnesiaPotashTotal a lk . . .MoistureTotalLogan—Maxville.42.5137.5613.0393.103.99.78.40.051.382.611.16100.86Kentucky— Maxville.44.3240.4213.8698.60.76.28.441.48100.08i\r inton Co.—Maxville.43.9237.6413.2494.80.57.92.15.12.741.831.9499.14Sciotoville—Maxville.52.4834.3911.001.28I .892.17100.04Mineral Point.35.3931.8411.6878.9117.131.6818.81.67.50.19.591.95.69100.36Mt. Savage, Md.,N. J. report.34.5030.087.0076.5816.901.1518.051.6912.303.99.9099.52Stourbridge, Eng.,N. J. report.30.5022.528.3061.3233.651.0034.651.43I .501.932.1099.90Average of three clayswhich stood highestheat, N. J. report.43.7236.3013.3093.322.431.273.701.03.08.07.241.421.67100.11* Probably from Si O2—not separated.36 OHIO MINING JOURNAL.The clay belongs to the Kaolinitic variety, which admits of awider use than the silicious clays.The Logan clay, I believe, will make a high grade fire-brick,but the brick must be made, not thrown together. The clayshould be thoroughly washed, a high percentage of true calcinethoroughly mixed with it, a small percentage of carefully selectedbond clay should be used. By small percentage I mean, only suf-ficient to give a good bond at an intense heat, not at an ordinaryheat. I believe brick should be burned at as high a temperatureas they will be required to withstand in metallurgical operations.By using crushed quartz with the clay and silicious bond clay,we may extend the use of the Logan clay to resist the action ofmore silicious slags.The Lower Mercer horizon gives us the next most importantclay. The seam is made up of three parts, as follows:White clay \ 24" to 48"Black clay 12" to 18"White clay 12" to 24"The white and black clays of this seam are widely different.The white clay is a coarse grained sandy clay, containing more orless undecomposed material and runs high in alkali.The black clay belongs to the Kaolinitic class of clays. It islow in impurities, both silicious and alkaline. When first minedit is quite hard with conchoidal fracture. The color is brown-black.The following analyses show the composition of these clays:SilicaAluminaCombined water. . . .Sesqui oxide of ironLimeMagnesia...PotashMoistureBLACK SEAM,PROF. LORD.46.1035.6012.901.28.74.641.621.97WHITE SEAM,PROF. LORD.69.3020.705.501.17.54.473.13.46BANK RUN.58.1927.648.721.39.51.642.701.15A comparison of the analysis of the black seam with thoseof other bond clays is very favorable to this clay. While its phy-sical characteristics are unexcelled for bond clay purposes, thegrain is fine and close. Under treatment, the clay is highly plas-tic, insuring a strong primary bond with the use of a minimumamount of clay; while the final bond is obtained only after longcontinued, intense heat.THE CLAYS CF FIVE MILE CREEK. 37The white clay is not a high grade fire material. The highpercentage of silica, much of it free or as undecomposed mineral,together with the excess of potash, are sufficient proof of its non-refractoriness. It has, however, very desirable qualities for abuilding brick. It burns to a uniform buff color. The secondaryor final bond is perfect. It has one other redeeming quality whichplaces it high in the scale of building material. The brick do notshow any efflorescence, which make so many pressed brick build-ings unsightly.Without going into the subject of efflorescence on brick, letme give briefly the explanations of it which have been offered.Analysis has shown it to be sulphate of the alkalies with iron andtraces of lime and magnesia which, being soluble, is brought to thesurface of the brick by alternating rain and sunshine. One ex-planation is that the air in our smoky cities, ladened with oxidizedsulphur fumes and moisture, act on the impurities in the mortarto form the sulphate. This sulphate is dissolved in a wet period,absorbed by the brick, and in a subsequent dry period brought tothe surface of the brick by capilarity, and left there by evapora-tion.In another explanation the alkalies in the clay, acted upon bythe sulphurous anhydride from our soft coals used in burningthe brick, forms the required product, which needs only the at-mospheric agencies to complete and bring to the surface of thebrick. The brick from the Lower Mercer clay are laid in mortar ina manufacturing city using soft coal, with none of the many devicesto avoid the evil as first explained. They are burned in variouskinds of kilns using soft coal high in sulphur. If we useTionestaclay, a clay having one-third less alkali than the Lower Mercer,and burn it at the same time, in the same kiln with the LowerMercer, the first change from wet to dry after removing the brickfrom the kiln, brings the white or green efflorescence to the surfaceof the Tionesta brick while the Lower Mercer brick remains un-changed.The explanations do not explain. In the above case thedifference must be in the clay and not in the burning or laying.At the Upper Mercer horizon is a plastic clay which hasnever been worked along Five Mile. Immediately overlying theUpper Mercer, at Union Furnace, is a rock of some importance.It is a fire sandstone which has done good service in the old Loganand Union furnaces. It was claimed for this rock that it had lesstendency to crack and spall off. An analysis of the rock explainswhy. It has 23 per cent, of kaolin base. The total active im-purities are less than 2 per cent. The rock is massive, and fromtwenty to twenty-five feet thick. When first quarried it dressesor crushes readily, but after long exposure to the atmosphere ithardens. The rock in its natural state is now doing servicein the hearth of Franklin Furnace at Columbus. In the form of38 OHIO MINING JOURNAL.brick it is being used in cupola furnaces, to which work it seemswell adapted.We next come to the Tionesta clay which has given me sev-eral puzzles. The seam is made up of two parts—in the bottomtwo to four feet of black clay, and about the same amount ofwhite clay on top. The clay weathers like a flint clay, it crumblesto pieces instead of forming a mud. It is silicious in composition.The kaolin base is 64.5 per cent. ; the total silica, 61.7 per cent.;potash, 2.10 per cent; the free silica, nearly 30 per cent., is in afine state of division. The temptation to use this clay is great. Itstands high pressure without cracking, and important item in dry orsemi-dry press work. It takes a fine finish, has an unusually strongprimary bond, and burns to a deep buff color.# In all these re-spects it is far superior to the Lower Mercer clay, and besides, theclay is more refractory than the Lower Mercer. Why then do wenot use it? The brick under the action of heat has a tendency tospall off, even when the heat is raised very gradually.This spalling off is due, I think, to the silica, the fineness ofgrain, and the density of the brick combined.The deep buff color, the sharp edges, and the finish wouldhave made a very desirable building material. But this is the claywhich showed such unusual efflorescence. I sought for an ex-planation which would explain this case. I find in the clay littlenodules of sulphide of iron, many of them not larger than a pinhead. With a clay containing sulphide of iron and alkalies, exposedto an oxidizing flame, and subsequent to atmospheric agencies, wewould not be greatly surprised to find sulphate of the alkaliesbrought out on the face of the brick. There is a very broad fieldfor scientific investigation in this subject, which has scarcely beentouched. The color of the efflorescence is white, and various shadesof yellow and green. The variation in color may be due toan excess of one or other of the impurities.In burning brick there is a successive bonding, or uniting of theimpurities, with the clay and sand. Probably the potash combinesfirst, possibly the lime second, the magnesia third, and the iron last.Whatever the order, in a soft brick containing soluble sulphates ofthe alkalies, all these alkalies will be found in the efflorescence.In a medium hard brick a part or all of the alkali, which bonds withthe clay first, will be absent from the coating or efflorescence.Thus the composition of the efflorescence would vary with thedegree of hardness of the brick, and the color would vary more orless with the variation in the composition. In a vitrified brick wewould expect no efflorescence, and in fact we get none, even withthe Tionesta clay.The occurrence of sulphide of iron in fire-clays is not uncom-mon. We were compelled to reject some flint clay from two placesin Vinton county, and also some clay from Kentucky on this ac-count. They belong to the Maxville horizon. Very recently weTHE CLAYS OF FIVE MILE CREEK. 39have come to recognize the superiority of the black portion of theseam. Unfortunately I have no analysis of the separate seams.With difficulty we have succeeded in bonding a mixture offire-sand and Lower Mercer clay in a common clamp kiln. Usingthe same amount of black Tionesta clay with the fire-sand, we havenot succeeded in getting a satisfactory bond at the highest heatobtainable in an Endaly kiln especially constructed for high heats.Our next clay lies under the Lower Kittanning coal. The seamat Union Furnace is about four feet. It has a uniform light drabcolor, is quite free from grit, and extremely plastic. Its plasticityand whiteness have gained for it the name of "whitewash." Itgives a strong primary bond, burns to light buff color, bonds readilyand vitrifies without difficulty. Its use in the manufacture of fire-brick will be limited. It is well adapted for paving brick, forbuilding material, and for pottery.Care must be taken in the manufacture of any product fromthis clay on account of its shrinkage, which is extreme.Two other clays are found in the section. They are bothflint clays of a light buff or drab color. The lower one is the mostconstant. It is by no means confined to Five Mile.Wherever I have had an opportunity of examining the land Ihave found it from Carbon Hill to Minerton.An analysis of the clay from Union Furnace shows but 1.64per cent, impurities, not including, of course, the Free Silica. Asimilar clay from Kittanning, Ohio, which I think is the same hori-zon, shows 2.03 per cent. A sample from Carbon Hill had 2.66per cent.The clay belongs to the Silicious variety. Of four samplestaken from Carbon Hill, Swackhammer farm, Union Furnace andKittanning, the highest percentage of silica was 63.03 ; the low-est 58.84. We expected great results from this clay, but theresults have not been realized. The clay, with us, has proved tobe an out-crop of clay with coarse sandstone back of it.On the out-crop we found fine grained, dense clay three tofour feet thick; behind it was good clay with more or less sandy,open-grained clay mixed with; next came sandy, coarse-grainedclay with some good clay bedded in it, and finally came the sand-rock. Our experiments with the out-crop have led us to regret itsfickleness.Above these clays, capping the hills, about the head-watersof Five Mile, are valuable beds of red clays.This clay takes a velvet finish and burns to a rich, live redcolor.Beyond a few experiments which have been very satisfactory,no attempt has been made to use it.40 OHIO MINING JOURNAL.DISCUSSION OF MR. LOVEJOY'S PAPER.This was very interesting, being participated in by Messrs.Willard, Morris, Price, Bancroft, Haseltine, Lovejoy, McClintockand Dr. Jas. Little, dwelling on the clays, the inexhaustible sup-ply and their adaptability to various uses.Brick pavements were discussed, red brick, fire brick andpaving blocks, each kind being extensively laid in Columbusduring the year.

The Clays of Five Mile Creek

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The Clays of Five Mile Creek

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