The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-02-02
EDEN,s FINAL DRAMA.
By BISHOP j. c. KEENER, D. D.

EDEN'S FINAL DRAMA.
By BISHOP ]. c. KEENER, D. D.
I see that you keep yourself in proper
equipoise, Mr.. Editor, despite the advice
pressed upon you from several quarters
that you should carefully "read between
the lines" of what has been suggested in
respect to the site of Eden. But when
critics encourage and protect each other.
is it not plain that the atmosphere of this
fascinating theme has impaired to them
somewhat of "the time of mans inno'
cency"?
But We can patiently afford to be
advised, for we have at last secured
firm footing on the banks of the Ashley
the first that has been found for cen
turies-upon the fossilizsd relics of the
Original Home of Man. Here we can
make a stand for the Mosaic record
against the speculations of those Cos
mogonists who toss the history of crea.
tion about as kitten plays with ball.
These relics tell wonderful. story. As
far back as 1850 Professor Agassiz pro.
nounced the remains of marine vertebrate
in the Charleston basin to be "the
greatest cemetery he ever saw" And
Prof. Tuomey's Report said: "the most
remarkable feature of the fauna of the
period of the deposition of these beds
was the vast number of cartilagenous
fishes. It would seem as if about the
close of the Eocine period these voracious
monsters, conscious of their approaching
end, had congregated here to die" At
that time but few specimens of the
remains of quadrupeds had been found
upon the Ashley. Collectors had been
searching in the mari beds, not in the
overlying beds. Since then vast
deposit has been uncovered of fossilized
bones and teeth of mastodon, megatheri.
um, dinotherium, elephant, deer, horse,
COW, hog, muskrat, intermingled with the
remains of marine animals and phos-
phate nodules.
These phosphate rocks and fossils lie
intermingled but two or three feet below
the surface and nearly parallel with it,
extending over many miles, yielding an
average of over six hundred tons to the
acre. They contain sixty per cent. of
"bone phosphate" The working of
these beds has come to be an industry Of
amazing proportions. AS much as 432,-
757 tons have been taken out and ship
ped this present year, and during the
past eight years the enormous sum of
two million three hundred and .torty-sir
thousand one hundred forty three tons.
The whole tonnage of lake, river and
ocean steamers in the United States is
1921 ,2O6 tons. So that the product of
these Carolina beds would have loaded
them twice over with full freights
Large ships and steamers and fleets of
dredges and flats are employed in the
working and expectation of this fossil
and phosphate wealth. Millions of dol
lars have al:eady been realized from this
burial place of the antediluvian world.
The beds are exhaustless; far more 80
than the Siberian deposits of gigantic
elephants, great as they have proved to
be.
We naturally inquire, Where did this
mass of bones come from? They once
lived. How did these herbivorous
and carnivorous herds meet together;
these marine and land creatures? What
sound called them? They must have
lived together, to have been buried
together. How is it that the more
domestic animals, which are always
found on the outskirts of men, if not
with them, are also mixed with these
saurians as we'll as with the huge nam.
malia2 How came it that they all sleep
high and dry, near the very latest forma-
ton and within three feet of the earth's
surface? Nor could they possibly have
been foated here. They are in stu "in
place." where they fell, there they lie.
Had such float started from the shores
of Europe, it must have speedily been
strewn over the waves and found its rest
in ten thousand distinct burial places at
the bottom of the ocean. On the other
hand, how could the huge, swollen car
casses ofquadrupeds have been detained
in one spot until their remains could
form an evenly disposed stratum and be
covered over by red and yellow soil?
The Noachian food doubtless did its
share ofthe work, and that quickly, with
these and all air. breathing creatures that
inhabit the land. Yet in these mighty
records, which no mind, however specu.
lative, can afford to pass by, there is dis.
closed history which must have pre-
ceded that universal disaster.
As these creatures of field and food
we're widely scattered over the waters
aud the estuaries of the continent, not
only for substinence, but by the laws of
their distinct natures, the imagination Of
man cannot supply a satisfactory theory
for their Simultaneous herding just before
the instant of their destruction. Within
limited area, who heard the first NUT.
terings of the universal storm and were
near by on the hills would seek shelter
in grots and caverns, in company with
man himself. But the action was too
rapid, too wide, and, in the nature of
such overflow and such pluvial torrents,
after the first half hour there was no
opportunity afforded man or beast for
flight. So, whatever means was employ.
ed for massing these herds, it must have
preceded the flood by many weeks or
months.