Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1923-03-15

power or Lne institutions you repre-
sent, in five years there will be a new
and greater state rising Phoenix-like
from the ashes Of the old.
"a salesman, to be successful, must
first sell himself. Perhaps we have
not realized the extent of the natural
blessings that we have been endowed
with, and 1t may be necessary In or
der to catch the inspiration to famil-
iarize ourselves with the resources of
our state and in this way arrive at
own conclusions.
Mineral Resources.
On the authority of the eminent
DIR. s. w. McCalke, state geologist, we
find Georgia rich in mineral resources
beyond computation. In state docu.
ments he informs us that our geolog-
ical formation accounts for an unusual
diversity OF minerals which for COM
mercil purposes cover a range not to
be exceeded by any geographical di.
vision OF the same area in the world.
"This mineral belt extends entirely
across the state with it's southern
boundary running from near Waynes-
borO to Columbus. II can be divided
into two sections-the Piedmont pla-
teau and the mountain region. All
that vast stretch of territory is rich
in marble, granite, slate, iron, coal,
bauxite, asbestos, copper, gold, ochre.
corundum and tale. While the extreme
northern section has not been fully
explored 1t is known to contain i'm
mense deposits of mineral wealth.
I'm addition to these most impor-
tant minerals there is miscellaneous
production that must not be overlook
ed. In this we find barytes, cements.
soapstone, Fuller's earth, marls and
graphites. Manganese is found in
the same section as some of the iron
ores, while mica is distributed through
out the Piedmont plateau. In the mat
ter of ochre Georgia produces half of
the output of the United States. Even
precious stones are found in variety.
There has been no systematic attempt
at mining along these lines, but acct.
dental finds include diamonds, rubles.
amethysts, rose quartz, rutilated quartz,
smoky quartz, agate, jaspers, opals,
beryls, garnets and moonstones.
"The marble deposits are so exten.
sive that 1t has been estimated that
all the monumental land marks of the
world could be reproduced from them
without serious diminution. The same
is true of granite. but with all this
the Georgia state capitol building was
not built of Georgia materials.
I'm the famed Pittsburg district iron
ore has to be transported by water
and rail from the mines in the far off
Lake Superior region to coal. In Geor.
gia these two minerals are found lying
side by side, together with all the
fluxing and purifying ores necessary
in the making of steel. The opal Is
Of the highest heating value and for
cooking purposes cannot be excelled.
"Bauxite, the basic material of alum
mum, is found in Polk, Barlow, Chat
tooga, Walker and Wilkinson counties,
but practically the entire production
Is shipped to New York and Pennsyl-
vania and not pound of 1t is being
manufactured in Georgia.
Practically all of the asbestos in
the United States is found In Georgia,
only one other state having shown
deposit. This ore is found chiefly
in the Piedmont plateau. New uses
are being discovered for 1t every day,
but in spite of this demand 1t is being
shipped away to be made into finish
ed materials elsewhere.
Some years ago l happened to be
in one Of the small cities in this min
eral belt. They were boasting OF
shipping more iron ore than any other
section of the state; but their sky was
unsmudged by smoke Of smelter' and
retort and their slumbers were un-
broken by rumble and roar Of fur
naces and mills. In their pride OF
shipping the greatest amount of ore
they were overlooking the greater
wealth Of conversion from a ram to a
finished product. A few days later
In another city | saw displayed fifteen