The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-04-04
South Cardinals Bed Of Wealth.

The phosphate rock bed of South
haustible mine of wealth, and "now
supplies the civilized world with the
chief part of all the phosphate of
lime used in the manufacture of COM
mercial fertilizers" II underlies a
vast region of country, thirty miles
wide and seventy miles in length. The
scientists differ in their opinions as to
the origin of this great deposit, and
vary just as widely in their estimates
of the quaint ty of rock contained in the
deposit. There has been a steadily in
.creasing demand for the rock since the
shipment Of the first cargo n 1865, and
from an insignfi ant beginning phos-
phate mining has grown into one of
the largest and most important indus
tries in the State The rock forms the
bed of many of the rivers leading TO
the ocean. it underlies the wide streams
which surround the sea islands. it
crops ont of the land at many points,
it aboundS IN fossil remains, it var cs in
formation and color, it is wonderful in
all respects. The most important con-
sttuentS of phosphate rock are from 30
to 81 per cent. of bone phosphate of
lime. to IL per cent o. carbonate
OF lime. from ! to = per cent. of
sulphrric acid, So to AZ per .ent. of
lime and number of other elements.
The ordinary rock of com rerce does
not contain less than 80 per cent. of
phosphate OF lime.
The river deposits are mined with
crowbar and pick. tongs and dredges.
The land rock. OF the mining of which
it is intended here to give some ac-
count. is 'eXcavated with pick and
shovel IT is found at deptd of from
one to ten feet below the surface of the
ground, and in a seam ranging in thick
ness from few inches to thirty inches.
There are sixteen companies and in
dividuals now engaged in mining the
land rock with a joint ca 'ital of about
S2.0O0.pU0. The production of these
mines las. wear was about 10000 tons
of rick The country in which the
rock is found is generally level and the
soil is moist and soft. The rock is
sounded for by n long sharp-pointed
steel rod Whenever rock is struck
from six to eight feet from the surface
VI tuC SKo1&fu tSst plt Is Suuh ~
cel tain the 1hi kness of the stratum.
and to find whether the rock will
analyse up TO the market standard, If
the stratum is twelve inches thick it
will pay to mine 10 the depth of seven
feet for it: if it is ne. more than six
inches ttIck it will not pay to mine to
any great depth Whea rock is found
the land is sounded every leo feet, and
8 chart is repaired showing its location
and its depth and thickness Before be-
ginning mining operations the phos-
psate land is laid off into fields meas
uriug 500 feet long by 6O0 feet in
width and the lines are run A plat
form IS built in the center of the ricld
on which the rock from the mining pits
is piled. A railroad is run through the
center of the field alongside the plat
form. and the miners beginning their
on the sides of the field, dig
steadily to the center. A succession. of
pits measuring six by twelve feet are
sunk alongside the whole side of the |
field. The dirt from the pits is thrown /,
TO the rear and the rock to the front +
and is then rolled to the platform or
central pile in the field. The dirt from
the next pit is thrown into the pit previ-
ously excayated and the rock is thrown