Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1873-05-01
For the Advertiser.


provement," will be found Of equal in
terest and edification:
For the Advertiser.
PORT Royal C1TY. So. Ca,
oath April, 1873.
Dear Aduertiser.-To the visitor here,
| it is interesting to recollect that this was
the first settlement in South Carolina.
In 1870, Governor William Sayle landed
at this point, and planted an English
Colony. Sixteen years afterwards, the
| whole vicinity was laid waste by the
spaniards. In 1894, a Sea Captain, from
| Madagascar, gave bag of seed rice to
! one Of the early proprietors, and this
grain soon became one of the staple COM
| modities of these semi-tropical regions.
AS we walk and scan the enchanting
prospect, busy thought heats the brain.
We are apt to speak OF ours as an old
State, but twhat is two hundred and three
years In the life time of nationa Viewed
in the light of our strange, eventful his
tory, it seems like long period, but
| measured by the experience of the
"Mother Country" our little body pol
itic dwindles down in age to mere in
FAINT in the great family of nationalities.
1t is very sad to reflect, that after all the
hardships and privations endured by
our forefathers in establishing good Gov
ernment on this Continent, modern
maladministration, consequent in part
| upon a woful misunderstanding between
labor and capital, should drag the "Pal-
| metto State'' down, do,on but truce
| to all unavailing regrets. Let foolish
| fanatics seek their proper level without
! treading again upon the heels Of truth
justice, amity and moderation, and we
may yet be almost content, and bid de-
fiance to the Giants of Despair. Above
the blackest cloud, and the 6ercest storm,
the sunshine is always bright, and the
sky is always blue. "If God be for us,
| who can be against us?" One, who sees
these lovely shores and splendid waters,
| is prepared to sympathise with the old
navigators that, with one accord, agreed
| to call this harbor Port Royal. 1t is in
deed so gigantic and kingly in all its
proportions that the thoughtful tourist is
prone to wonder at the absence of the
bustling throngs Of people, and'the 9TH
or concomitants Of mighty City.
Dread of the treacheyous Spaniard, and
the want Of nayigable river to reach
the interior doubtless retarded the growth
Of this favored locality until it was su-
perseded and overshadowed by Charles
! ton and Savannah. This freak of trade
and capital has heretofore been no great
disadvantage to the United States. But
now mankind have a use for such place
as Port Royal; and its transcendent ca
pacity, we think will soon be utilized
Statistics having shown that the world al
| large is living from hand to mouth, the
food pro5len,is pressing upon all nations
for speedy solution. 1t isplain enough
that the vast Mississippi basin may be
made to furnish all kindred and
tongues" with meat and bread. Millions
of farmers in the central West are clam
! oring for cheap transport to the nearest
and best Atlantic harb ors, whilst hun
gry millions in Europe, and some OF us
| in Edgefeld, echo the cry with might
and main. The sturdy yeomanry OF tho
grain, growing States, through the Pat
rons of Husbandry, and by the help ot
English capital, may soon break up the
huge monopoly controlled by New York
and Philadelphia, by building competing
lines of Railway to Port Royal. We
should second SUCH a>motion with an
carnestness not to be mistaken. we
already have charter for railroad from
Anderson to Port Royal. This would be
an outlet for the Blue Ridge Road, which
may soon be completed to Knoxville on
the direct route to Louisville and Cincin-;
natl. We,turn with alacrity: to thisnew
project, because it is obvious that Angus
ia and Charleston give no heed to the
friendly fairies of fortune and fate beck
oning to them from the hill. tops OF op-
portunity, although it seems to US that
those Cities ought to pay some attention
to the Charter for Road from Aiken to
Spartanburg.
The Port Royal Railroad from Angus
ia to Port Royal is one hundred and
eleven miles long. The stations are, on
an average, less than five miles apart.
Some Of the new Depots are in the fields
and woods without single wagon road
leading in any direction. Further down
the line the usual improvements, here a
fine house and there slip-shod shanty,
catch the eye. Numerous saw mills in
full blast are scattered along on each side
of the track,-the lumber business being
| the first that was developed. From AL
landale to the salt marshes the traveller
fails to detect a single curve. This
straight stretch of over forty miles is for
the most part on the divide between
CoosawAatchie and Salkahatchie. AT
Yemassee we cross the Charleston and
Savannah Railroad without switch, and
at right angles. Such anumber of trains
congregate here at once as to give the
place quite an air of Importance.
According to the bestmaps, the ground
on which Beaufort stands, is called Port
Royal Island. Four miles South of this
Town, and at the end of this Island, this
new City has been extensively laid out
at tho terminus of the new Railroad. To
the West is Battery River, to the East is
Beaufort River, in front is the Bay wind
ing westward around Parry's Island into
Broad River, which leads out directly to
Sea, through Port Royal entrance, be-
tween Phillips Island and Hilton Head
Island, distant about fifteen miles from
this City. The deep water about the ''ew
City is land-locked by st. H elena, Cane,
and Parry's Island. By-thc-by, tile riv-
ers here spoken Of are nothing but arms
of the sea encircling the various Islands.
The little Cape, now marked off for Port
Royal City, is the plantation that belong
ed to the Elliot family before the war;
the next place up the Beaufort River be-
Ionged to John Joiner Smith. The first
now belongs to Mr.. Appleton, and the