The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1908-05-12

the boat. 1t takes twenty or thirty
ears TO load a barge
y big drying shed is being erected
- Inglis on the bank of the river at
the end of the railway 1t looks queer
10 see cement piers and arc lamps out
III tie wilderness. but ii Is the proper
thing to do when practicable.
At Inglis the phosphate is turned
over to the Port Inglis Terminal Com
pany. steIn-wheeler tug, which
can almost run ON a heavy dew, lows
the barges down the river half way
20 the port. and turns them over to
the sea going tugs. A boat drawing
light feet, however can go to the
IDglis wharf. The sea-going tugs, Of
which there are three, take the barges
down to the port and to the ships,
which lie in their loading berths about
eight miles out. 1t looks to a lands
man like the anchorage Is entirely
exposed and out at sea. Port Inglis.
however, is at the inside of a blight
Vi very wide bay, and the weather in
Il Is seldom rough enough to affect
Il big ship. The Port Inglis Terminal
Com ANY has a derrick boat and sew
era! hOuSebOats. AS soon as shin
ties up to her buoy, the derrick boat
Or O"e of the house boats is fastened
1'on"side and the tugs begin bringing
cut the barges loaded with rock. The
derrick boat has an immense dipper
which, will lift two or three tons at
a time, and will empty barge in a
few bours. The houseboat crews are
trained men, and aided by the ships
donkey engines can load vessels al
most as fast as the derrick boat and
its huge dipper. -
Port Inglis stands on an island in
he mouth of the Withlacoochee. The
original channel to the sea was not
Il good one, so when the company
went to work it dredged out creek
10 the north of the island and made a
new channel AS the water inshore
was very shallow. a channel had to be
cut several miles out.
The island Port Inglis stands on is
about a mile long by half a mile
broad Seven Fights of it is a marsh.
Al the northern end is the port, with
custom house, Offices of the. company,
ship yard and coaling station. The
ship yard is well equipped; the COM
pany can build and repair all it's own
here are twenty steamers. tugs and
launches, eleven big barges, three
house boats for stevedores, eight sail
ing vessels and a dredge.
Port Inglis leads the world in ship
ring phosphate. Last year there were
shipped 1S3,037 tons. more than from
Savannah by 10000 tons, and exceed
Ing Fernandina's exports by nearly
$4,000 tons. The custom house re-
teipts last year were nearly five thou
sand dollars, nearly all OF which was
T. image fees. There are no imports
except coal and pyrites, all Of which
are for the use of the company. But
the day is probably not far off when
a big trade in other goods will pass
through this channel. All that is need
&c is cooperation and the building OF
a few miles of railway, and it will be-
come the place of export and import
for three big counties, namely, Levy,
Citrus and Marion.
Loading in the pool at Port Inglis
at present are four big ships, the
smallest of which has a capacity OF
$500 tons and the largest about 1000
There have been as many as eight
large steamers off the port at one
time.
Port Inglis is n pretty and healthy
riace as well as a busy one 1t is en-
tirely surrounded by salt water and
there is nearly always a strong sea
breeze, which is one Of the best tonics
in the world for tired bodies and
minds. There is never any dust and
very little malaria, for a salt marsh
and a swamp marsh are no kin to each
other.