The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-03-21
THE ASHLEY PHosPaATEs.
A BALTIMORE OPINION AS TO THEIR ORIGIN, Ex'
TENT AND VALUE.

A BALTIMORE OPINION AS TO THEIR ORIGIN, Ex-
TENT AND VALUE.
from the Baltimore Gazette March 1871
For nearly four wears the City Of Charleston
successfully resisted all the efforts OF the FED
eral Government to compass her sa1Jectlon,
and for one-half of that period she wlths TODD
the fiercest assaults OF the pesleglng 1orcss.
of South Carolina, and as the bitterest and
most influential opponent Of Northern fanati-
cism, all the appliances OF merclless STRIFE
that could be devised by people numerically
powerful and singularly ingenious IN expedl-
ents, we're brought to bear for her sup]ugaIlon'
Devastated by fire and shell; the grass grow
ing in her streets, and the more vigorous por,
tion of her inhabitants either dead mutilated
| or dispersed, the close OF the war FOUND ner
ruined. Since then she has been making
| earnest efforts to re-estabhsh her OLD pros
perity and Importance. Connected as her peo-
pie are to ours, by many links of friendly feel,
ing, and by mutually beneficial commercial
relations, whatever may tend to revive and in
crease the prosperity OF South Carolina affects
us nearly. Of the many lines Of steamers car
ryinp on a coastwise traffic with the States of
the Southern seaboard, the line to Charleston
is one Of the most important. Bound thus
closely to that city, both by our sympathies
|
nary pleasure to record discovery that pro-
misses to be of more than ordinary service to
her commerce, and to bring wealth to at least u
| norton of her people, It has been for some
| time past a matter of rumor that immense beds
of rich phosphates have been found on the
banks OF the Ashley River. The Importance tnat
attaches to such discovery, in view of the
rapidly. increasing demand for fertlllzers OF al
can compete in richness of organic remains
with the phosphates now imported in such
large quantities from islands IN the remote
Pacific, their proximity to market must give
them such an advantage over all others as
would in itself be equal to bonus. What was
once but rumor has since been confirmed; but
it is only within short time past that the
Charleston deposits have been subjected to
scientific analysis, and our knowledge of them
is as yet somewhat imperfect. This much, how
ever, is certain-an the indications point to
rich and exceedingly valuable beds OF phos-
pilates, extending in varying thickness for IN
unknown distance along the line OF the Ashley
River, and probably forming the substratum
OF the soil upon which the City Of Charleston
itself is built. Along the river side these de-
posits, averaging about foot in thicknes and
largely composed of organic remains, are known
to cover an area Of several square miles.
From the smooth dark brown appearance of
the crust Of the phosphate rock, which is first
reached, the numerous holes made IN 1t by sea
insects, and from the character OF the remains
found embedded, it is conjectured that the
mass at some lar distant day must have been
subjected to the dash and wear of the sea
waves. Under this phosphate rock is STRAIT
um OF stiff blue clay, in which is found innu-
merable bones Of the shark, whale zeuglodon,
mammoth, and of otler animals, whose very
names carry the imagination back to the world
before the food. Mingled with these-time as
we'll as misery, sometimes bringing together
strange bed-fellows-are the more modern re-
mains of the deer, the horse and the wild hog.
Under this stratum Is q third deposit of white
mari, unusually rich in phosphoric acid, con-
tanning perhaps four or five per cent. of this
valuable fertilizer, whilst ordinary white marls
rarely exceed a fraction OF one per cent.
Professor A. Snowden Piggot Of this city,
war, examined the extent, and investigated the
nature of these several Phosphate deposits.
He states that the superintendent rock 's
essentially mixture Of the phosphates OF
lime, iron and alumina, with sand and carbon
ate Of lime-the amount of phosphoric acid it
contains being equivalent Of 54.95 per cent. OF
bone phosphates Of lime" If his conclusions,
as well as those of Others, as to quantity and
quality, are confirmed by subsequent research
es, the commercial value Of these deposits
must be very great
In what manner the ages have wrought their
changes upon the face Of our globe continues
to be, to great extent, o perplexity to geolo-
rists. At periods go chronologically remote
as to make our Biblical records, as literally IN
terpreted, seem modern, the bones of myriads
of land and marine animals buried beneath the
CITY of Charleston, and under the soil OF the
Ashley River, grew br gradual accumulation
into strahfied deposits. And, what seems
bama. more than hundred miles from the
sea, and shut in from the latter by intervening
ranges of high hills, almost stinexhaustible beds
of marine shells are found. There is only one
way in which to account for the presence OF
these enormous shell banks 80 far in the inte-
rior. Obviously the SEQ must ct one
time have covered that region. When, we
know not-that is O secret guarded by the
pest and impenetrable eveI by the keenest IN
vestigatons OF science.
The theory as to the deposit OF organic re-
mains discovered in the vicinity of Charleston
is not simply plausible, but is probably cor
rect. 1t interferes In no wise with tho present
geographical aspect Of that region, and If
confirmed by the changes even now going on,
City of Charleston, like the cities OF London
and Paris, is situated in what resembles the
segment Of basin. That slope Of the basin
from which the cantle is cut out is towards the
sea- and through it the Ashley and Cooper
Rivers debouch into the harbor. During the
tertiary period this scoop OF iand was praoaDiy
sound, subject to the hux aud rehux OF the
ocean. Between the sound and the open sea
there must have been long stretches Of sand and
alluvial pierced by irregular and shifting chan
nels. Up these inlets, at stated seasons OF the
year, immense schools of fish came to feed,
end larger sea animals to prey upon 3.tdnsad them
the interior, would bring down supplies of food
and empty them into the sound, Sometimes
the carcases of wild animals would be doated
down, and their bones would be added to the
annually increasing accumulations on the san
dy bottom Of the sound , Fin Finally partly Sr yy,6;y BY
SSnbeaval S the waters were pushed back, and
the deposits emerged from the surface OF the
the shore line uIs Of Mns is hs syeb pn nIy
of Newfoundland will probably be uplifted, and
disclose to remote generations deposits Of
character similar to those in the neighborhood
of Charleston.
A CoNyERsAr1oN WITH Mr.. STEpHENs.-T
v;avs ~ tbe 1eadinp men Of the nation upon