The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-27
KAoLIN AND ITs USES.
That Found in Florida of Exception
ally Good Quality.

Waycross, Ga. Dec. 26.-Ioshua Wedge
wood of England, about the year l770,
received some kaonn from Florida, which
he found to be of such purity and value
for fine cameo work that ne regretted that
he could not get more of It. Until re-
Gently. though this story and other tra-
ditions of the existence of kaolin in Flor
ida might be now and then recalled by
few, the discovery excited no practical
INTEREST," But In 1880 the recovery of phos-
pilates set every one digging and analyz-
ing.
The search for phosphate soon brought
to light other valuable minerals-gypsum
and pigments earths among others, and
that which we are here most interested in,
namely. kaolin.
In 1891 the United States geological sur
vey reported: 1.-THE recent discovery of
sedmentary kaolin In the miocene forma-
ton of the state Of Florida bids fair to
be one of the most important events N
the recent history of the china clay In
dustry of this country. Those deposits in
the vicinity. of villa City, Lake county.
on the Palatlakaha river prospecting
shows the clay to be some forty feet in
thickness and chemically similar to that
The remarkable characteristics of those
deposits are due to the fact that, without
losing their whiteness, they are sediment
airy. E.aOnn Is QeCOmpOSeu LelSpdIt anu
usually found in the granite rock which
contained the felspar before 1t was de-
composed. But these deposits under no
tice are illuvial, or sedimentary' They fol-
| low the course of the stream, and must
| have been washed out of sand, for there
are no granite mountains nearer than the
| Rockies.
Hence follow several important consid-
| erations. 1t is most easily got. The best
| deposits are deep and extensive, and with
only few feet overburden. The material
ic ell htlf =
| is obtained, therefore, by surface quarry
ing of the simplest Klnd, there is, m JreoVer
| Again, unlike other white china clays, this
| is strong and plastic. 1t lands the most in
tense heat, and is, In fact, first class fire
clay. Bricks made from ii have been tested
| in a wedding furnace with Welsh fire.
| brick, to the advantage of the former.
Analysis approach the ideal kalinite as
| nearly as can be found in nature while in
| the kiln it is said TO bake hard and white,
| and TO take a glaze admin ably, with no n
| dency to craze. The glass sand washed
| out in the process of refining is worthy of
notice. 1t is the purest silica, and has been
| pronounced by Frenchmen to be superior
| to their Fontainbleau sand for fine glass.
| The sand washed from the crude clay in
| the process of refining, a waste product,
| which under the microscope is of the linz
| pid purity of clear crystal has been en-
| dorsed by no less a man than M. Goodrie,
head of the firm of Legras & Gle de ST
| Denis, who took the first prize for the
glass in the Paris exposition of 1889. He
| says IL surpasSeS any european glass sand
| for plate, crystal, crown, sheet enamel
| and all art wares, and makes the most
| brilliant glass he has ever seen.
Forschhammer's formula for true kaolin
is: A12OS, 2Si02, 2H20. as follows:
| Per Cent.
2SiO2 46 40
AiSV0 ~ ~
10 w
In Young's ceramic art 1t is stated that
| the following is the ideal for that stand
| ard kaolin," or pOtter's ideal, for which
no clay has yet been found:
Silica 40 100
Alumina a.. 90
Iron ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 0.33
Lime Observation-Disclosures. 0.33
MagneSia ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. O23
water lSuO
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