The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-04-05
COEuJMBIA.,, AS IS. G.
Saturday Morning. April g.. 1878.
The MARI Beas and PhosphAto lAeclk
or South CaroIin1, 81 ':,FsA 2

SAtuIaHJ moEu1nKs april ~ 1915.
The mari neas and rhesphats yAssk.
OF, South OarollnAs. V ~ &
We: have been pleasantly confirmed in
the estimate. derived from review OF
the trade and commerce Of Charleston
for the last seven years, OF the extraordi,
nary vitality and varied resources Of our
old city BY the sea. by similar, favora-
BILE view Of some Of the leading business
Journals .; Eew York aud Boston. We
have derived no little satisfaction from
the pamphlet Of the Chamber Of Com
merce, which luoidly and elaborately
describes the growth OF the numerous
branches Of business lip The city, on. Of
the losses and ashes Of a:tprotraoted q
siege and dosolating freS, and in despite
Of heavy taxation and the eztravsgsnce
OF an ignorant and corrupt government
From5what has been sohieyed. under
suoh difficult circumstances, we may in
fer rapid and h1Athful progress in the
future, nader the, more favorable. oopdi.
sions which 'ars now rapidly grouping
snenselFe6 LQ&etnet. -nET!sf~ ,tt;',
As matter Of general interest. and
yet comparatively unknown IN; its de-
tails, we presented, Q tev days ego. the
more important facts and statistics con-
cerning the. msnh hhntura and trade in
commercial fertilizers. To make this
information more satisfactory and com.
plete, It will be necessary to briefly
notice the mari beds and phosphate
rocks, from which the crude material,
the base Of the manufactured article, is
drawn. We are indebted to the ex-
haustive articles on this interesting Bub-
jeot. contributed by Major Edward
Willis. and embodied in the recent pnb-
lication Of the Chamber Of Commerce,
fotyalqable information. which weAhall
freely uses The marls and rocks shave
long been known and are treated of in
early histories and reports. The eoo-
nonio value Of the marls was especially
brought to notice by Mr.. Edmund
Ruf1in, State Geologist, in 1841 and
1912, who also noticed in his report in
1843, the nodules, now known ns phos.
phate rock, which have since become so
famous. Mr.. Tuomy. who filed the
sapenposition IL 1s4s, alluded to them
as mhtl lstone, and represented, toac con-
tain numerous fossils. Professor Holmes,
in 1850, described them with considera-
BILE care9ss 4 tAhsT mari soet: FOSSIL q fssfSous.
emitting d f4la smsIl.}&o.i, bpt; without
allusion to their phosphate character,
of which, in fact, there is no recorded
evidence that it was understood prior to
the spring of 1867. During the summer
of that year, DE-. st. Julian Ravenel be-
came aware, from the examination oi
specimens of teeth, nodules and mari
from Goose Creek and Ashley River, Of
their true character and value. His con.
illusions were verified by the analysis oi
DR.. Pratt, who ut once grasped and
comprehended the immense interests
which depended on these rich deposits.
Thus. although known as curly as 1905,
and more familiarly since 1843. it was
regarded as; worthless for all purposes Of
practioal-dtility, its richness in the phos.
phatic element undiscovered, until
within tbalast Ave years. ~. / J" /
There;are two charaoters Of phosphate
deposit the land and river. The frs,
mentioned is altogether dng by hand.
with spade, pick and shovel-a portion
being taken from the sand that overiies
it; but the main yield is from the clay in
which it is imbedded, and is the best
land rock. The clay is hard to separate,
but that which is found IN the sand
readily yields to thu action of water, and
and can be we'll cleaned at small cost
This land is private property. mostly
owned by the parties working it, or it Ii
rented by them or worked on shares O,
for subsidy. Itpays no tax or royalty
to the State. The river deposit is en-
tirely different, being mined from the
navigable streams, the property Of the
State. The Legislature has granted
charters to two companies to mine them.
and exactcd for the State ono dollar pei
ton royalty for every ton mined or re-
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