The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-09-02
The old Years work and tlir Ecw
Years Promise.

SO many cicrry things, can bc said, anu
ought to be- said, about Charleston to-day that
We harliy know where To begin. Perhaps
nature herself will smile on lis, and i'll the
I mellow RAYS of the aEtlmn sun give inH'n III
HE lmunty i'm >;nr, mr. rs ON The lIi''slihhl "l
his new commercial year. Certain II i ina
Charleston will make the mot ut every OPP
Iurlunity, ana will evoke from the clash @!
The flint and steel of cyclone and shower the
, fire OF commercial life and industrial energy.
~lrrlIalS the most noteworthy f,aiur" OF the
commercial year is the cNlIil;tiatin" increase,
! TN the receipts of cnitun. The percentage Oh
increase III This port is 1870. Savannah comes
next with ih.G|. while Sew Orleans barely
holds her own. and The ports which are The
outlets of Texas are heavy losers: lhnric,t"n
Gains most OF all. both I'm quantity and IN per-
%rrlia.c. 1t is evident that cotton Is setting
steadily in tins dircctiun. Receipts 1T me
cotton ports show II strong ,drIit i"w;l,u,
Charleston and Savannah, and we trust lnlt
what is said In Tie Review on this subject VIII
he ronucrcd 10y our merchants.
The foreign trade OF the port is CROWNS
slowly, the imports l,rin. ;gI .G!r against .ii2,-
Ti7 in lS>;Si. The exports amounted To siS,-
7>3nl7. against clf. lli.C:ilin the preceding year.
There WAS AN incrca>r also in the tnIaSn Oh
the port. which WAS G.j.:"? tons. against Co.,
81 tons in lS>:-Si. There WAS, however, Il uc-
crease in the number of vessels.
The gross amount uf the the wholesale trade
of Charleston for isis was >2o,2l1,%.6 as COM
pared with Sl9,1 in.'Hl in lS>%-Sl. There Is IN
increase likewise in the retail business: and
the wholesale and retail trade in groceries,
com and hay, dry goods and cl"lliln", bn"lS
and shoes, hats ana caps. drugs. medicines
81, gli,NW i'm lSSi.>I. We invite special attcii.
ton to the fact that this gain in values eN.
presses Il much larger gain in the quantity OF
goods sold, and that IL tells the story of the
ability of charleston to extend her business
with success into Florida, Georgia ana North
Carolina.
In the receipts Of naval stores there Is, as
was expected ANA IS was predicted long ago,
Il considerable falling Gil. charleston re-
ports. for lSS!, Il,"I9 casks Of spirits ana 2lS,..
o.! barrels OF rO$In, against CLIO! casks OF
spirits and ri .hlg barrels of ro>ln for lSS5-Si.
The trade In produce was iarSc as compared
with 1SS2-Si. hut IL is no cause for regret To-
find that that the imports OF hay, corn anu
oats were much less than IN lS>3-i, ana that
the increase in the receipts Of bacon at char
lesion was only 3o,rM pounds. Yet it gives
food for thought to he told that Charleston
las! year imported, from The North and west,
thrcr-quartcr> OF II millinli bushels OF corn
and nearly twenty. one million pounds of bt-
con. not 10 speak of 1858 bales of hay and
Ia, SD bushels OF oats.
The rice trade held its own during the year,
and we take occasion to Reproduce in another
place what We have published before with re-
gard to the economic value of rice aS II means
of nutrition. II appears TO he the cheapest
food that can he obtained. having regard To
the results il produces. The South Carolina
rice crop was ln7, $50 barrels last year, against
$500 in lSSlSi. The total crop of the Initcd
States was II ,wI barrels. IT. Is of the ut.
nlnSt IIllDrtlnIf lnlI II nIln,rIS lluIl
bend their rnrnics TO the Improvement of the
nunI,iV nf fhc er,in> by selection and other.
Wise 81 thnt ihry Shall retain a profitable
market whenever the import duty on rice
may be lcS>cncd or repeated.
The Importance Of trade In Carolina pll0S'
pliatc; and fertilizers can hardly be over cs-
t:malcd. Not less than one and onr-half
million dollars are paid out annually IN
most of Tho protitS return here. TN compa-
MICS i'm the vicinity of Charleston nave n en-
nnci,y of :,7l,WM tons of phosphate rock an
rruliy. LAST wear the amount mined was
2nj:3fi tons, including GI,7:M tons consumed in
IInrlrston' The ShipIncutS from Beaufort
,mountrl TO l3,. Gg; ions. 50 that the total
urnInction Of rock last wear reached the cnor-
mons amount of iWl lMi ions. which by the
way. is ouly y, tons more than in lSS.-SI, but
is more Than :IiUm tons in excess of produc.
lion I'm iSS2 81, Th. business in manuflc.
turcd fertilizers has been large. the ship
mrnis for i>NI-Sj being 5>,l3G ions, against
lit 7vu tons the prrviUus wear. The total shin.
mrnts of commercial Fertilizers from Charles
ion. Savannah and Fort ROYAL were 2GS,jlS
ions. against 2S6,SSI In 1881. The value OF
the fertilizers mainufacturrd In Charleston was
nearly three million dollars, and the value
of the phosphate rock mined IN and around
Charleston was over two and Il half million
dollars.
\. general summary Of tho business or the
year shows Il grand total Of 81 .lH'l.GjS, against
Sol SIP, 10 in 1853 ST. being an increase, for the
year just en- led, Of Si,lN,h6|. This Is Il most
encouraging exhibit. ANA, the fnlnrSs OF the
hope and confidence which II j~ustilicS Will be
realized by those who study quietly the fig
urrS of which The result Is composed.
Tho outlook for the planters and farmers Is
Sin.uluriy favorable, although not quite rs
Joyous as II was Il few weeks ago. ON the basis
of the August reports IL WAS calculated tina
the cotton crop for 1881 would amount TO 7<j,
WW bales: but the rcpurtS received last night,
which take into account the injury effected
10y the caterpillar and unfavOrahlc seasons,
reduce the probable yield TO GS?ykn bales. The