The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-02-10
The Wonderful South Carolina Clay
Beds.

information respecting the South Caro-
line lay beds. 1t is proposed in respons'
to these inquiries to give some facts ane
details respecting them, not familiar It
the general public. The, result of 10
9uiries show that the South Carolina clay
deposits differ in many respects from al
other known deposits of clay, foreign ant
domestic-in formation and in mode o
treatment, and that in all respects they
are anomalous and wonderful. 1t is as
certained that large amount of the clay
is now annually put on the market; thai
the clay is highly appreciated and largely
utilized in several important industries
displacing to large extent English clays
and that the business has, in fact, taken
on such proportions and become so well
established as to take rank among oul
great American industries.
LOCATION OF THE DEPOSITS.
The locality of these deposits is in gen.
eral in Aiken County, in the vicinity Of
Bath, on the South Carolina Railroad,
and about ten miles west of Aiken, the
we'll. known winter resort.
The main deposit is at Kaolin, vii.
lage on the highlands or hills about one
mile TO the south of and at an elevation
of about one hundred and fifty feet above
Bath station.
Here, confessedly, is the grand centre
of the South Carolina clay enterprise.
Here is found the mammoth bed of the
South, and, 20 far rs kuuwD, Of the world,
The bed is fully twenty feet thick, has an
average breadth of one thousand feet,
and is probably over one mile in length
Suffice TO say, the clay is utterly mex.
haus,ible, no matter to what extent The
working be increased, for at least one
hundred years.
From this bed is taken the clay known
M the "White, Pure and Lustrous,"
Excelsior" also The Extra Buff" clay.
ANTEcEDENTs.
The magnitude of the deposit appro.
priately gave the name Ka0iin to the
village more than twenty years ago, and
here, at about that time, the Southern
Porcelain Manufacturing Company" wa-
organized, and extensive and costly
works were built by it for the manufac
ture of general line of pottery ware
from the clay here found. During the
war the South was largely supplied with
china ware from the Kuolin works.
Here, also, during the war, this clay did
good service to the Confederacy, for from
it "insuators" for telegraph wires were
extensively made-gass insulators not
being obtainable at tue time.
I'm the course of human events" the
entire corporate property of the company
named, which included the village OF
Kaoiin and seven hundred acres OF clay
land about it, came by purchase into the
hands OF the present owners, R. Nc
Nance & Co. Another purchase, that OF
a plantation of four hundred acres ad
joining, brought 10 them the celebrated
Diamond Lustre" clay bed. This clay.
it is said, is now the standard clay ful
wall paper manufacturers, and is highly
valued Us well in other industries.
And now some particulars az to the
position of the clay in the earth, how the
bed is opened and how worked.
Kaolin Village, as stated, is on high
laud-it is built along the summit ridge
1t is beneath the surface of this high
ridge, some twenty-five feet, that the clay
deposit is located. And this position ot
the clay favors both the working of the
bed and the drainage Of it. The clay is
reached by horizontal cut in the side ol
the hill, and through this cut the clay is
removed to the drying sheds near by, ana
the cut naturally takes the drainage
water and gives roadway for the earth
removed from over the clay, for the earth
must be removed; theclay is not reached
aud worked through tunnel or shaft a.
in the case of coal and minerals-this
would be quite impracticable.
CHARACTER OF THE EARTH COVERING.
The land, though not barren, is moi
valuable for agricultural purposes; the
soil is light and sandy, yet cotton and
corn are to some extent grown upon it,
also trees, as pine and oak. Stones and
isolated rocks considerably abound.
She'll stones also are frequent-these
when opened are found filled with a req
powder-an oxide OF iron. Below the
surface sand aud sand only is met with
down to the clay. The sand for the most
part is of light brown color till within
few feet OF the clay, when the color
changes to white, and the deeper the
white sand the better the clay.
In order to reach and to work the clay
all This sand covering must be removed,
rs already stated, and the amount re
moved at tine is usually enough for u
seasons work at clay.
And now that the clay is reached, we
come to the
MANNER OF WORKING THE BEDS.
First of all the surface of the clay is
scraped and swept to clear it OF any re
fuse clay and ali remains Of the sand.
The immense body of white and glist-
eniug clay now exposed to view is solid,
com pact and continuous in all its length,
breadth and depth, not existing in pock'
cts US do must other clays. 1t is com.
pact and solid US marble. Here, surely,
one finds good specimen of the "solid
South"
But the clay, although solid, is not
hard; it dues not require giant powder to
blast it, nor does it require au ore mill tn
grind it. With apickaxe you may break
it from the bank, with knife you may
whitlle it; you may shape from it u
fauItless block Of foot square, or if you
will u shaft of the size OF the Egyptian
uLelisk, and water will quickly reduce
the cIay, SO apparently hard, to powder:
Suspend piece of it dry in wafer aud
quicF it begins TO disintegrate, and its
PARTICLES exceedingly fiue, fall like snow
The clay is also pure-pure as the al
pine snow-it does not require, therefore,
like all English clays and most American
clays, to be washed to remove free siiieia
and general impurities from it. The
South Carolina clay has already been
washed and purified in natures great and
perfect layalory; but though pure, the
clay is not IulIy dry, about 20 per cent
of water remains, and hence it must be