no abstract provided by author / Master of Science

A study or the possibility of a modern mining operation in the Valley Coal Fields of Virginia begins with a brief history of previous mining operations in the area. Following this is a study of the geological occurrence and a geographical description of the site selected. The deposit is studied from various angles - physical characteristics of the seam in place, chemical characteristics and washability are all included. After the amount and type of impurities present in the deposit are ascertained, a coal preparation plant is proposed to clean the coal to the desired level. Leaving the surface problems, the underground problems of hoisting, mining methods, ventilation, haulage and drainage, and power are taken up separately and a solution recommended for each problem. To operate the mine an organization is designed to fit the solution of the various problems. The estimate of the cost of equipping and providing the labor and supervision to operate such a mine is included in the study. This cost is compared with the expected income. / Master of Science

This thesis explores the role of political culture in the secession of two Virginia counties: Augusta and Rockbridge. These two counties, which in 1850 were staunchly loyal to the Union, shifted loyalties late in the secession crisis of 1860 and 1861. Comparing local reactions to national politics with local views on the nature and unity of political communities more generally moves the decision to secede in April 1861 into clearer focus. Specifically, comparing regional attitudes towards the sectional controversies surrounding Virginia's constitution with the national debates on slavery in the territories reveals a general concern with the unity of political communities, and the common interests and values needed to sustain such communities. In the context of cross-cutting borderlands between eastern and western Virginia and the northern and southern United States, these sectional questions took on important significance. Political decision-making in this region emerged from a combination of widely-circulating views on the nature of government in this borderland setting. By placing the Valley's secession within these contexts, this thesis argues that Augusta and Rockbridge seceded when they did because events in the North persuaded them that the moral and political character of white northerners had become suspect relative to the question of slavery. / Master of Arts

This investigation was undertaken to determine the feasibility of producing a cellular, lightweight product by subjecting shales to temperatures of 2100 ± 100 °F in a muffle furnace. Such a product can be utilized as an aggregate for lightweight concrete to supplement cinders which have long been used. The growing scarcity of cinders and the inferior quality of the cinders now available account for the demand for another material to replace them. Samples of weathered and non-weathered, Liberty Hall shale; non-weathered, Martinsburg shale; weathered and non-weathered, MacCrady shale; and non-weathered, Brillier shale were obtained from deposits located in the state of Virginia. The degree of bloating or expansion of the shales was measured by determining the bulk density of the shale before and after exposure to 2100 ± 100 °F. The best bloating shale investigated, non-weathered Liberty Hall, bloated from a bulk density of 2.349 to 0.544 gram. per cubic centimeter; while the poorest bloating shale, Brallier, bloated from 2.448 to 2.389 grams per cubic centimeter. In a firing test on tour types of whale, weathered and non-weathered Liberty Hall and non-weathered Martinsburg and Brallier, it was determined that only 12.5 percent of the total bloating occurred in the temperature range between 70 and 1900 °F, while 87.5 percent occurred in the temperature range from 1900 to 2200 °F. In firing tests using non-weathered Liberty Hall shale it vu found that no additional bloating occurred after prolonged heating at 2050 °F for forty-five minutes. This was indicated by no change in the bulk densities of the fired and unfired test specimens. Additional firing tests using specimens of non-weathered Liberty Hall. shale indicated that a rapid firing schedule was conductive to good bloating. The specimens showed bulk densities of 0.524 and 0.623 gram per cubic centimeter when heated to 2050 °F in twenty minutes and one hour and forty-five minutes, respectively. Weathered and non-weathered MacCrady shale showed no bloating tendencies at the temperatures used. in this investigation. The densities of cinder concrete and bloating shale concrete were 93.47 and 114.3 pounds per cubic foot, respectively. The densities of these materials compare favorably with ordinary sand and gravel concrete which weighs approximately 145 pounds per cubic foot. / Master of Science

The broad architectural issue of whether a specific design form can facilitate the function of an educational institution was focused upon the question of how the addition of a media center might serve to unify and improve the School of Education at the University of Virginia. Specifically the two thesis issues are the addition in architecture and the media center as catalyst. Here the media center addition is intended to bring together isolated areas of the school and become both a physical and ideological center. / Master of Architecture

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