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


liza lay beds. 1t Is proposed in respons,
to these inquiries to give somo facts ant
details respecting them, not familiar I,
the general public. The result of 10
quiries show that the South Carolina ella,
deposits differ III mauy respects from al
other known deposits of clay, foreign anc
domestic-in formati..i and in mode o
treatment, and that in all respects the,
ara anomalous and wonderful. It il as
certained that large amount of the ella,
Is now annually put on the market: tba,
the clay is i:ighly appreciated and largely
utilized in several important industries =
displacing to large extent e., ,,lish claya
and tll.t the business has, In fact, taken
on such proportions and become 40 well
established as TO take rank among on,
great American Industries.
LOCATION OF THE DEPOSITS
Tho locality Of these deposits is in gen.
eral in Aiken County. in the vicinity OF
Bath, OH the Soutll Carolina Railroad
ana about :..n miles west of Aiken. the
well.knul,n winter resort.
The main deposit is at Kaolin. vii.
rage on tho highlands or hills about one
mile to the south of and at an eleyption
0i about one hundred und 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, TO far MS known. of the worlI
Tile bed is fully twenty feet thick. bas mn
average breadth Of one thousand feel
and is probably over one mile in length
Suffice TO say, the clay il utterly i5cx.
ha',stible, no inalter To what extent the
working TO increased, Ter at least one
hundred years.
From this bed is taken the clay known
an the white, Pure and Lustrous y
Excelsior" also the Extra Buff" CLAY.
ANTECEDENrs.
The magnitude of the deposit nppro.
prlateiy gave the name Kaolin to the
vlilhge more than twenty years ago, aud
here, ut about that time, the "SHuthern
Porcelain Manufacturing Company" war
organized, and extensive and costly
WORKS were built by it for the manufac.
tuse OF general line of pottery ware
from tho ciny here found. During the
war the South was lnrgely supplied with
china ware from the Kuolin works.
here, also, during the war, this clay did
gopu service 10 the COniederacy, for from
1t 'innulators" for telegraph wires were
extensively made-gass insulators mol
being obtainahle at tue time.
In the COURSE of humun events" the
entire corporate property of the compap,
named, which included the villurc OF
haoiin and seven hundred acres Of clay
iAnd about 1t, came by purchase into the
nahos OF The present owners, K. Nc
Nance & Co. Another purchase, that OF
a plantation of four hundred acres nd
Join'ng, brought TO them the celebrated
Diamond Lustre" clay bed. This clay.
IT Is said, ID now the standard clay fu,
wall paper manufacturers, and is highly
valued ns we'll in other industries.
ana now some particulars IN to the
position of the clay in the eurtll, how the
bed Is opened and how worked.
kaolin Village, as stated, is on high
ianu-it Is built nlong the summit ridge.
IL IL beneath the surfncc of .his hiph
ridee, some twenty five feet, that the clay
deposit IL located. And this position o,
the clay fnvors both the working of III,
bed and The drainage Of it. The clav tx
reached by horizontal cut in the side ol
Inc iiiii, aud 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 eartl,
must be removed thee clay is not renched
abd worked through tunnel or shaft n.
Ia the case of coal and miuerals-thi.
would be quite impracticuble.
CHARACTER OF THE EARTH COVERING.
The land, though not barren, is no,
valuable for agricultural purposes; the
aoil Is light and sandy, yet cutton and
corn are To sGme extent grown MON it
ALSO trees, as pine and oak. S.oncs and
Isolated rocks considerably abound.
Shell stones also are frequent-thcse
when opened are found filled with a reu
powder-an oxide of iron. Below the
surface sand aud sand only is met with
down 10 the clay. The sand for the mosl
part is Of light brown color till within
q lew feet of the clay, when the color
changes to white, and the deeper the
White sana the better the clay.
In order To reach and to work the CLAW
all This sand covering must be removed
as already stated, and tue amount re-
moved at : time is usually enough for u
seasons work OF 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 ia
acraped and swept to clear IT. of any re
fuse clay and all remains of the sand.
The immense body of white and gist-
ening clay now exposed to view is solid,
compact and continuous in all its length.
breadth and depth, not existing in puck.
eA Us DO must other clays. 4 is com.
pact aud solid as 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 nn ore mill 10
grind il. With q pickaxe you may break
1t from the bank, with a knife you may
whittle it; you may shape from it n
faultless block # foot square. ar if you
will shaft Of the size OF the Egyptian
obelisk, and water will quickly reduce
the clay, 40 apparently hard, to powder.
Suspend piece of it dry in water aud
quickly it begins TO disintegrate, and its
PARTICLES, exceedingly fine, 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 silicia
and general impurities from it. The
South Carolina clay has already been
washed and purified in natures great and
perfect lavatory; but though pure, the
clay 10 not lnlly dry, about 20 per cent.
OF water remains, and hence it must be
removed TO the sheds 70 dry. But 70.
this moisture the clay could he packed
directly Mt the bed as taken out.
The analysis OF the South Carolina clay