The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-10-03
THOMAS COUNTY PHOSPHATE.
Description of the Beds and the Char
acter OF the Deposits.

acter Of the Deposits.
TOWNSVILLE, O,t 2-The NEWS cor
respondent has just returned from a VISIT
from the phosphate beds Of Thomas county
and an inspection of the deposits. The
| Foy beds, near the line Of the Savanna b,
Florida and Western railroad, and about
eight miles from Thomasville, Is one OF the
principal ones, though the Eason bed near
| by Is quite as rich and extensive.
In reaching the Foy place,
the rock was not found along
any creek OF ravine, or sink OF gulley, nor
even On broken ground. Ii lies beneath an
old oet field, without any indication above
| ground Of its presence beneath. The sur
face is not rocky, nor even pebbly. 1t IS the
common sandy loan for about twelve or
fifteen inches underlayed, not with the
| typical Georgia red clay, but with a dark,
reddish saudy clay, that crumbles easily
when dry. This deposit is from five to If
teen feet in depth.
There is no appearance Of the white,
chalky substance generally found beneath
all this section.
The phosphate rock is not found in layers,
or veins Il is said TO be found I'm pockets
but that expression is misleading. 1t occurs
imbedded in an absolutely capricious man
ner all through the reddish. dark-brown
clay above mentioned. The rock itself is
mostly white, and roughly resembles lime
rock The Jumps are found
from the size of pea
to that Of a half-bushel measure, and of
very irregular shapes. some being rough
and jagged, others with nearly smooth sur
faces
A large pit has been dug, from which
several CARLOADS of the rock have been
taken. These nodules or individual rocks
are sometimes found alone, sometimes In
groups, and at other times they are absent
altogether for several square feet of clay. At
no place are they more than small
part of the entire body of both necessary to
be removed. The larger pieces of rock can
be readily thrown out by the miners. The
smaller pieces will have to be sifted out
The clay, which has furnished resting
place for this valuable mineral for SO many
ages, is itself phosphate and it is said can
be used in making a low grade of fertil
izer.
The excavation above mentioned lies near
the dirt road, which at shat point,
by many years Of use, has
cut its may down several
feet through the yielding clay. 1t was the
outcropping of the phosphate material in
the road cut that first drew attention to its
presence.
This particular formation is a peculiar
one, and easily distinguished, even by the
unskilled eye, from the common lime and
flint rocks which occur abundantly through
out all this section. 1t may be OF interest
to state that nearly all this
lime rock contains a small percentage
Of phosphate acid, but this does not prove
its value, Us the per cent rs too small to
pay the expense Of mining and manufact-
uring 1t. It is like gold in the gold region
in North Georgia, where every land owner
has a gold mine; that is, gold is found on
his premises, but in very few cases has it
paid to work it.
The phosphate deposit described above is
an entirely distinct formation from all
other forms of phosphates as:found in so
many localities in this county. To the
question How came it thereN many an
Swers have been given and many theories
advanced.