Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1889-05-25
South Cardinals Phosphate Beds.

South CarOllnas phosphate BEDS.
The phosphate beds of Charleston,
S. G., have proved OF great value to
the place. and they have more than
compensated for the gradual loss OF
the Gotten trade which has gone
largely to the cities north or to Sa-
vanah on the south. These beds and
the great 3 Ashley fish basin /" are
the most wonderful aud inexplicable
formations known to biologists. The
deposits consist of nodules of phos.
phate of lime, thickly interspersed
with the hugh bones and teeth Of
antediluvian mammalian and marine
mammoths of gigantic proportions.
The mastodons, giant balloons, pro
digious gorrillas, Lizards thirty.three
feet long, and other huge gramini
vorous and carnlvorous quadrnpeds
have been found lying in the same
bed with briny leviathans, vorac
ious marine vultures and other mon
sters Of the deep The beds have
been styled by Agassiz as the
greatest curiosity of the world, "and
they constitute by far the most val
liable fertilizer known to man since
the exhaustion of the Peruvian qua.
no deposits. That they are an al
most inexhaustible source of wealth
to the whole State may well be judg-
ed, and thousands of people are en-
gagged in getting the fertilizers TO
market. The amount of trade in
phosphate rock in Charleston
amounts to several millions dollars
year, and it is increasing year by
year as the demand for the fertilizers
becomes more general through the
world. The deposits underlie vast
region of the country, thirty miles
wide and several miles in length.
Scientists differ as to the origin of
this great deposit and in their esti.
nation of the quantities of rock con.
tanned in the deposit. The rock
forms the bed of many rivers lead.
ing to the ocean, and crops out of
the land at many points. The river
deposits are mined with crowbar,
pick and dredges, The land rock is
evacuated with pick and shovel and
is found in a seam ranging in thick
ness from three to thirty inches, at
a depth of about ten feet below
the surface of the ground. The
country is generally level, and the
soil is soft and moist. The rock is
sounded for by sharppointed steel
rod. When rock is struck from six
to ten feet below the surface test
pit is sunk to ascertain the thick.
ness of the stratum and to find ii the
rock will analize up to the standard.
From the mines the rocks are haul.
ell in dumping cars 70 the washers.
The rock is here crushed into pieces
of uniform size. 1t then falls into
troughs or tubs resting on an in
cline. La each of these tubs an oc-
tagonal shaft, cased in iron and set
with blades or tlukes, revolves,
which turns the rock around and
forces it out Of the tubs upon screens.
While in the tubs it is subjected to
a continuous and powerful stream of
water which cleans 1T of all foreign
matter. $50
There are sixteen companies en-.
gagged in mining the land rock with
a joint capital of about $4,000, 1000.
The production of these mines aver.
ages about 100000 tons of rock
year. This industry has been the
bed rock OF Charleston life for many
years, and now it seems all along
the coast the perennial fruits of the
earth, which in themselves are
things Of beauty, and will become As
valuable in commercial sense as
the life giving rock which has been
vitalized by the decaying bones Of
antedivulian monsters. Side by side
80
with the rivers and fields which fur.
nisll forth phosphate rock are the
broad savannas and low.lying
islands where melons, cabbage, as.
paragus, potatoes aud strawberries
flourish abundantly. Large quantl.
ties OF these products are shipped
Forth every year.-N y. Commfrcial
Advertiser. 9a ~
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