The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1901-07-12
MARION coUNTY'S CONTRIBUTIONS
TO the STATE.

t0lnGS because tney go out ana nunt
for them. They are the Columbuses
of our times. They believe that the
earth is filed with things of inestima.
BILE value to mankind and have the
patience and the industry and the en-
durance to make careful investiga.
tons and the knowledge to know
things when they find them.
In 1883, while digging we'll on his
orange grove at Panasoff kee, Mr.. A.
L. Eichelberger unearthed a substance
that he believed was valuable. He
had it analysed and it proved to be
gypsum.
The Ocala Banner told of this dis
covery and its value as a fertilizer.
1t is but fair to say in this connec-
ton that Mr.. Eichelberger planted
the first orange grove for profit after
the civil war in this state and is enti-
tied to be styled the "father of the or
ange industry"
His example was followed by Mr..
James A. Harris in the planting of
his celebrated mammoth grove at
Citra, which fixed the date of the
great orange industry of Florida.
Mr.. Eichelberger's discovery of
gypsum put people to thinking, and
when a people enters seriously upon
| line of thinking great results are sure
to follow.
Thought is the great Archamedian
lever that shall remove want and the
fear of want from the earth and make
it what it was at the beginning-a
paradise, with the stree of knowl.
edge" unfolded in almost all direc-
tions.
The discovery of gypsum led, few
months later, to the discovery of
phosphate-a more valuable fertilizer
ingredient-by Mr.. Albertus Vogt, of
Dunnellon.
This discovery gave Florida a new
birth and made it known in the
marts of trade and commerce of the
world.
Fuller's earth, and kaolin, and &C.
ment, and asbestus, and other SUBJ
stances of value followed, and the last
and browning discovery of all is oil,
the credit for the discovery of which
must be given to Marion county.
Strontianite, another very valuable
discovery, is reported at Blind Horse
ferry, on the Withlacoochee river,
about thirteen miles from Dunnellon.
1t is a beautiful mineral and has
the appearance of amber. When
heated il makes crimson flame, and
is used Cor making red light which
is utilized for signaling purposes, in
theatres, for fireworks, etc. The
United States imports all the strontia
it uses, and the finding of this min-
eral at Blind Horse ferry, the only
place its discovery is reported on the
western hemisphere, may give this
isolated and picturesque spot name
in history.
Dolomite is another one of our new
discoveries. 1t is a rock of granular
and crystalline structure. 1t is usu-
ally white but is found of various coll
ors. Chemically speaking, it is u
magnetism carbonate of lime, and,
burnt like lime, is used for mortar
and the hard rock for building pur-
poses. 1t is sometimes so hard and
of so fine texture as to be classed as
marble. In England dolomite has
proved so durable that it was selected
in building the new houses of parlia.
ment. The choir of the Southwell
church was built of this stone in the
twelfth century, and a report recently
made upon it says "the mouldings
and carved enrichments were as
sharp and perfect as when first exc
cuted." The report ends by saying
that "it has resisted the decomposing
effects of the atmosphere"
Dolomite is sometimes, if not very
often, found in close proximity to pc
troleum, and that is what makes its
discovery of interest here at this time.