The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-30
CANNOT HAVE MARSH LAND.
Chatham Academy Entitled TO 5000
Acres, But Not i'm the Marshes.

Chatham Academy EntItIed TO 5000
Acres, But Not in the Marshes.
\ recent dispatch in the Morning News
from Atlanta referred to a claim by the
"relfar Academy to a grant of 5000
acres of unclaimed land made TO it by the
legislature many years ago. L. was evil
IDENTIFY Chatham Academy which was
meant as the Telfalr Academy or Arts and
Sciences was not in existence when the
grant was made.
Chatham Academy is entitled to a grant
of 1000 acres of land from the state wher-
ever il can find this amount of ungranted
land. This grant was made TO the acad-
envy by the legislature about 100 years ago.
/ but for some reason other was never
/ taken advantage of. Wild land was
| plentiful and Of no particular value when
| the grant was made and these conditio
continued for nearly half century later.
There is still considerable ungranted land
| in the state, much of It in Chatham ooun-
| ", and it would seem to be the part of
wisdom for the trustees to take advan-
tage of the grant while there is yet land
10 be obtained
The records of the board of trustees show
that the question OF selecting and having
surveyed this grant of land has been taken
up and discussed at various times during
the last fifty or sixty years, but without
any definite steps being taken to this end.
Several years since the trustees gave the
Oemler oyster Company permission to take
up certain lands under this grant, a lease
being made to the company for this pur-
pose, the survey being made by the com
pany. The attempt to secure these lands
however, ran counter to an act adopted
by the Legislature in 1885, when IL was
1aC in
considerable quantities along the Georgia
coast, prohibiting the taking up of marsh
lands likely 10 contain phosphate, and the
then Attorney General Anderson decided
that the grant could not be confirmed be-
cause of che terms of this act
Another effort was made some time since
by Col John ScTeven, as chairman of the
board of trustees of Chatham Academy,
to have this grant confirmed, a survey of
the lands and other necessary papers be-
ing forwarded to the secretary of state.
Attorney General Terrell, however, to
whom the matter was referred, took the
same position as his predecessor and held
that under the act of 1885 the trustees could
not he granted marsh lands likely TO CON
tain phosphate.
g.. 5creyen is of the opinion that the
ate viii have to wall long time before
lt realizes anything upon its imaginary
phosphate lands in Chatham county and
he also has his doubts as to whether the
act of 1885 can affect the grant made to
the Chatham Academy so many years be-
fore The lands in question are of no val
ue except for the oyster rights In The nav
ieable streams running through them and
in The present confusion existing as to the
rights of private owners 10 exercise any
control over oyster beds which by any pos
sible construction can be GAINED to have
been natural oyster beds, II is not likely
that any great revenue can be obtained
from them. In the meanwhile II anyone
knows of 5000 acres of desirable land
which is sun the property of the state he
viii confer a favor upon the trustees of
the academy by giving them the informa-
ton in order that they may take steps 10
get possession Of it.