Lucas County 

   The seam of coal worked in this county is known as the Des Moines vein, and has a thickness of from 6 to 8 feet.  All Coal removed is blasted loose with explosives, and though it is a good general purpose fuel, not much has been done to produce it as heretofore it has been too expenisve to construct railroads to where mines could be located, but with the advent of new and better grading machinery something may be done at a later date, and then too the vein does not lie level, but rather has some very steep pitches which calls for the expenditure of large sums for grading to make haulage practical in the mines themselves.
   Most of the county is underlayed with this seam which terminates near the southern border, which is as far south as the Des Moines seam extends.
   However some large mines have been opened in this area alongside the main lines of the railroads crossing the county and at one time the largest mine in the state was about 10 miles north of Chariton which had a daily tonnage of nearly 2,000 tons.  This mine is still in operation and is known as the Williamson No. 3 mine.
    Within the last couple of years another mine has been sunk at the north limits of Chariton to a depth of 400 feet to reach the vein, and the vein here is from 7 to 9 feet in thickness.  As is also the case with the Williamson No. 3, the new mine is being operated as a truck mine and they both have a tonnage of around 500 tons daily.
   There are also a few small mines in the northeastern corner of the county next to the Monroe County line, where the vein lies at a lesser depth.
   There is still a large field of coal lying along the eastern part of the county that is still virgin.  Also a field that has been little worked near the town of Lucas but here it is very wet.