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Spring Place Jimplecute CARTER & HEARTSELL. PpOPRMTORS. VOLUME XI. rbwphata Bull ul oar Southern SIMM. BY FRANCIS WYATT, PB.U. FLORIDA PHOSPHATE. DEPOSITS. While, however, it is a • very good thing to find abundant phosphate mines, such mines are of little value without the necessary capital for their exploita¬ tion. This capital not being forthcom¬ ing in the south, it has followed that our great northern capataliats and hankers have been lately much attracted by the tempting offers to share in the benefits of the discovery. Expert chemists and mining engineers have, therefore, had plenty of work m the “Land of Flowers,’’ end my own exsisfunttess as one of these have extended during the last two years over every county on the Gulf of Mexico, from Tallahassee down to Puma Gorda. One of the first difficulties I encount¬ ered was the fact .that up to date we have no record of a systematic or cor¬ rect geological or topographical survey of fhe state. It will, consequently, be of interest to remark that, in its topo¬ graphical aspect, Florida is lowlying and gently undulating, the highest point being not more that 250 ft et, and the average about 80 feet above sea level. The elevated points or ridges are com¬ posed entirely of sand, and are covered with a very luxuriant growth of tall pines. The depressions or valleys, es¬ pecially when situated along the coa-t, are composed of a mixture of calcareous marls and sand, from which outcrop, at irregular and frequent intervals, large and small bowlders of limestones, sand¬ stones and phosphate rock. These val¬ leys are principally known in the coun¬ try as “hammock land,” and are said to be very fertile. When uncultivated, however, they are covered with a dense wild growth of vegetation, character¬ istic of the swamp. With the climatic conditions I shall make no attempt to deal, for they are too widely known, but of the geological aspect I may say that he entire state appears to be underlaid, at greatly varying depths, with upper Eocene limestone rock, and I am there¬ fore of the Qpinion that the first emer¬ gence cf Florida must be dated from that period. During the succeeding Miocene sub- merge nee there was deposited upon these limestones, more especially in the cracks or fissures resulting from tneir drying up, a soft, finely disintegrated ealcar- eons sediment or mud. The gradual evaportion of athese Mio¬ cene waters brought about the forma¬ tion, principally in the neighborhood of the rock cavities and fissures,' of large and small estuaries. These estuaries were replete, swarming with life and vegetable matter-fish, mollusks, rep¬ tiles, and marine plants. They were, besides, heavily charged with gases ar.d acids, and their continuous concentra¬ tion ultimately induced a multiplicity of readily conceivable process of decom¬ position and final metatnorphiem. In the estuaries and banks thus formed by the deposition and evaporation, or subsidence, of the Miocene seas we shall find the origin of our phosphate of lime, and, disregarding all other hypotheses, I consider that we are practically contem¬ plating: 1. A foundation of Upper Eo¬ cene limestone rocks very much cracked up and fiesiyed, the cracks having a gen¬ eral trend N. E. and 8, W. 2. Irregular beds, pockets, or banks of Miocene de¬ posits, dried and hardened by exposure, and alternately calrartous, - sn dy marly; generally phoepbatic, and some¬ times entirely made up of decomposed organic debris, the phosphoric acid being combined with various bases(iime, mag¬ nesia, iron, alumina, etc.) After the disappearance of the Mio¬ cene sea, there came some gigantic dis- t jances of the stratta. There were upheavals and depressions. The under laying bmestones were probably again split up, and the Miocene deposit was broken and hurled from the surface into yawning gaps, and from one fissure to another. Now came the Pliocene periods or end of Tertiary, and then the seas of Quat¬ ernary age with their deposits and drifts of shells, sands, clays, marls, bowlders and other transported materials, and the accompanying alternate or concurrent influences of cold, heat and pressure. Taking the whole of these phenomena oroadly into consideration, it must be concluded that those- portions of the phosphatic Miocene crust which did not fall into permanent limestone fissures or caverns at the time of the disturbance of the strata became at length very thor¬ oughly broken up and disintegrated. They were rolled about and intermixed ■with sand, clay and marls, and were de¬ posited with them in various mounds or depressions, in conformity with the violence of the waters, or with the un¬ even structure of the surface to which they were transported. Occasionally this drifting mass found its way into very low-lying portions of the country , say into thoee regions considerable depression waa brought by ihe sinking and settling of SPRING PLACE, GA., THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, »» recently deetturhed mass. 'At other times it was rolled to and deposited on slight¬ ly higher points. In the first of these cases we find a vast and complete ag¬ glomeration, comparable to an immense pocket, of broken-up phosphate rock, finely divided phosphate debris, sands, clays and marls, all heterogeneously mixed in together. In the second case, we find the phosphate in large bowlders, sometimes weighing several tons and intermixed with but relatively small proportions of any foreign substances. Considering these facts, 1 form the opinion that the-feature in the Florida deposits of phosph&to to be most partic¬ ularly brought out is that the formation onsists essentially of: 1.Original pockets or cavities in the limestone filled with hard and soft rock phosphates and deb¬ ris. 2. Mounds dir benches, rolled up on the elevated points, and chiefly consist¬ ing of huge bowlders of phosphate rock. 3. Drift or disintegrated rock, covering immense areas, chiefly in Polk and De- Soto coqnties, and underlaying Peace River and its tributaries. At the present time the work of explo¬ ration or prospecting may be said to have extended all over the state in each of these yarieties of the formation. Actual exploitation on the large scale by regular mining and hydraulic methods has been commenced at various points and a very careful study of these work¬ ings has confirmed me in the theories I have just formulated. In one of the mines, in Marion county, for example, there is an immense de¬ posit of phosphatic material, proved, by actual experimental work, to extend oyer an area of several acres. It has shown itself to be a combination of the “original pocket” and the “mound” formation, and the superincumbent ma¬ terial, principally sands and matte, has an average depth of about ten feet. T h phosphate immediately underlies it sometimes in the form of enormous bowlders of haad rock, cemented to¬ gether with clay, sometimes in that of a white, plastic, or friable substance re¬ sembling kaolin, and probably produced by the natural disintegration of the hard rock by rolling, attrition or concus¬ sion. Tbe actual thickness of the eiiGre bed is still somewhat uncertain, but the depth ol the quarries is not more than 50 feet, and yet a little over two acres of the land have already yielded more than 20,000 tons of good ore, without signs ot exhaustion. Directly outside the limits of these quarrieB the “pockety” and “mound” formation seems to abruptly terminate, and the deposit assumes, over a wide area, the form of an unimportant drift, which sometimes crops out at the sur¬ face, and which has been followed all directions over the immediate vicini¬ ty without leading to another pocket of similar value. Identical geological phenomena being prevalent in nearly every section of the country, I consider myself warranted in declaring that the Florida phosphates of high grade occur in beds of an essen- tially pockety, extremely capricious, un- even, and deceptive nature. Sometimes the pockets will develop into enormous quarries, and will proba- yield fabulous quantities of various merchantable qualities. At othor times they will bo entirely superficial, or will contain the phosphate in such a mixed condition as to render profitable ex- oitalic n impossible. This capnciousness or uncertainty will be somewhat less in the case of the “pebble” or proved drift deposits, since they have been to exist at various depth** , and in varying thicknesses, , with ,, ; ® ■ coniparative . regularity over a very ex- , ensive area, The actual chief working center for this variety is Peace River, which rises in the high lake lands of Polk county and flows rapidly southward into the Gulf of Mexico. Its course is extremely irregular, and its bottom is a succession of shallows and deep basins. Lake Tsala Apopka and Chiliico- hatchee, and Paines and Whidden creeks are its chief tributaries and the main sources of its phosphate deposits; the peb¬ bles being washed out from their banks and borne along their beds by the torren¬ tial summer rains. The exploitation of the pebbles ip per¬ formed by means of a 10-inch centrifu¬ gal suction pump placed upon a barge. The pipe’of the pump, having been ad¬ justed by ropes and pulleys, is plunged ahead from the deck into the water. The mixture of sand and phosphate sucked up by it is brought into revolving screens of varying degrees of fineness, whence the sand is washed back into the river. The cleaned pebbles are dis¬ charged into scows and floated down to the “works,” where, after being dried by hot air, they are once more screened and are then ready for market. The total cost of raising, washing, drying screening and loading on the cars is one dollar and seventy-five cents. Four or five companies are actively working on this plan, and several more we preparing to enter the i«ih “TELL THE TRUTH. The pebbles, when freed from impuri¬ ties and dried, are of a dark blue color, and are hard and smooth, varying in size from srain of rice to about one to eh in diameter. Their origin is proved by (he microscope-to lie entirely organic, ai.rt they are intimately mixed up with the hones and teeth of numerous extinct species of animate, birds and fish, These river deposits all proceed from the banks of sand and debris to which 1 have alludded to as “drift,” and which are situated on the higher lands in Polk county. lakeland and Hartow may be taken as the central points of the dried- out deposits, the pebbles being of the same size, hut of a lighter color. They are embedded in a matrix of sand and clay, in which they form the proportion of about 20 per cent, in weight of the mass. The thickness of the deposit is ex¬ ceedingly uneven; in some places it reaches 20 feet, while in others it dwin¬ dles down to a few inches. As would lie expected in this specie of foinifttion, the chemical composition Florida phosphate is far from regula In some pieces perfectly white, in other blue, yellow or brown, it iH in many in¬ stances practically free from iron and alumina, while at others it is heavily loaded with these commercially objec¬ tionable constituents. A large propor¬ tion of the laud rock' is very soft when damp, but becomes so hard w hen dried that it has long been used by tho na¬ tives, ignorant of its other values, as a foundation or building stone. The following averages are selected with care from the results of several huudreds of complete analyses made either by myself or by my assistants in Florida and New York. The samples in every case were taken from the explora¬ tory pits in all the different counties and marked before leaving the ground with full details of their origin, They have been classed as hard rock phosphates, or cleaned, high-grade ma¬ terial; bowlders and debris, or unse- Inoted materiall merely freed from dirt; soft white phosphate, in which no bowl¬ ders are found; pebble phosphate from Peace river, aa market: pebble Phosphate trom Font ' aunty drift beite, washed and screened. ms- Dliale of ffiifi| Silicates Sl!lca h Carbolic Mill. Lime aliiun’ia bowlders (care¬ 120 fully samples).... selected, 80 2.55 4.30 2.10 49 Bowlders and lifts isl 137 sam¬ ples) .......... 74.93 4.19 0.25 1.90 Soft win to phos¬ phate (148 sam¬ 9.20 Pebtde ples).......... #5.15 5.47 4.27 r r o m Peace K i v e i Petihle (84 samples)... #1 2.90 14.20 4.60 I r a m drift b e d s, & Polk County, (S2 samples... 07.25 3.00 1.70 1 liave now written enough to show that the point of most importance in the working of Florida phosphates, es- peeially of the land deposits, will be the careful selection, by conscientious and capable superintendents, of the different qualities at the quarries, There being no present market for the highest grade in this country, it will al have to be shipped to Europe. Tho will, therefore, require to be crashed to a uniform size, to facilitate sampling, and then well washed and thoroughly dried, in order that all the iran and alumina so indiscriminately and unequally mixed up with it in the of clay may be practically elimi- na _^ c ore s liuinen , The maxnnuiu limit accepted by Eu- rapean buyers is 3 per cent and noth- hut experience id actual work, aailyguidedaiJdcontrolledbythere- ... ., : , . „ ,, ., milts of chemical u . * analysis, , . : be relied ... - can upon to keep the material within these bonnd8 . Even the most accomplished expert who examines the beds for the first time,and without a full knowledge of the variability of their composition in ref , ard tnjg iron ^ a i n , uinfti Would be gnre to go wrongand commit t be m f)g t fatal blunders. There can no doubt that Florida is the theater of a big “boom,” and that it is passing through a critical period of its history. Fertilizer manufacturers from all over the world are hurrying toward Its sandy plains, in the hope of acquiring its phosphatic treasures. They find these scattered in all directions, as well in the rivers as in. the lands, and so embarrassingly variable in grade that they are brought to a halt by the ques¬ tions: Where are the “bonanzas”? How are they to be found ? My pwn opinion of her phosphate mining, as will have been gathered from my remarks, is that it will prove extremely profitable to those who pur¬ chase and work its fields with judg¬ ment ; but that it will certainly turn out in the highest degree disastrous to such as allow themselves to be led away by excited first impressions. The interior Is still practically unsettled and traveling is attended by the great¬ est difficulties and inconveniences. The negro labor is far from plentiful; there are tew wagon roads suitable for trans¬ portation purposes; and the railroad facilities are altogether inadequate, the companies being poorly provided with freight cars. Under these circum¬ stances, the natural difficulties ov im¬ pediments to Florida phosphates are at, present rather discouraging, and it is only when these have been cleared away, by the gradual development of the State, that the ores of all grades will begin to cotue forward in large quantities. Tlieir average richness in phosphoric acid is, on the whole, very satisfactory, though somewhat less than we were led to expect by the first reports, aul a large proportion of the output will compare favorably with many other phosphates extremely popular with feriiiizer manufacturers. Although more than a hundred companies have been already formed, with an aggre¬ gate capital of some $30,000,000, only 200,000 tons have yet been shipped to has. European ports. The bulk of this good however, prices, found a ready market a and it is quite certain that when speculation gives way to legiti¬ mate work, the constantly increasing demand will’make of Florida the larg¬ est contributor to the world’s supply. Another Party Louiuft Ui>. Saratoga, N. Y., July 20.—The first business before the National Temperance Convention this morning ■» as the read¬ ing and discussion of an essay on “Con stilutional Prohibition” by A. M. Pow¬ ell, of New York. The essayist and each speaker who discussed his paper were earnestly in favor of prohibition by con¬ stitutional ammendments. The side is¬ sues of “local option” and “high license” were characterized as makeshifts that were advocated by politicians and dis¬ tillers and brewers as tending to distract tho temperance voice. The Napoleonic principle of finding out where your en¬ emy .waits for you to strike and then hitting him elsewhere and in his weakest point was applicable in this case. Con¬ stitutional prohibition was asserted to be an atj.:io» Sneadt 5 | tbe enemies of temperance most and if the leading parties w«re%i favour of prohihition{and its enforcement, and party caucuses are to control add silence legislative voices, then independent action must be taken by the temperance men that will com¬ mand attention. ANOTHER THIRD PARTY. A distinct third party suggestion ran through the whole line of the discussion with but on 3 dissenting voice. The speakers were John Lloyd Thomas, Rev. Hugh Montgomery and Rev. D. Lawson, of Massachusetts; Rev. Geo. H. Hicks, J. H Bronson and Geo. W. Powell, of New York, and Mrs. Perkins, of New York, The same sentiment was further expressed in tho discussion of the essays on the “Citizens’ Protective League,” by W. Jennings Demorest, of New York, Mrs. Helen M. Gougar, of Indiana, and others. The New Atlanta Paper. A special to the Macon Telegraph from Atlanta, under date of the 16th, says; Here is a newspaper sensation. Sam Small has accepted the position of man - aging editor of the new afternoon pa¬ per, the Herald, the first issue of which will appear Saturday. To-night Josiah Carter, late managing editor of the Journal and the best newspaper man in the South, takes the position as news editor. This insures Atlanta having a first-class new afternoon paper. There is a prospect ahead of the liveli¬ est newspaper fight Atlanta has had since hill’s Henry Grady’s Herald and Hemp¬ Constitution locked horns. The press of the new paper is in readiness, thoroughly the salutatory organized. is in type and the force is A. T. Clark, of Atlanta, editor of the .Southern Congregationalist, S. Paul Brown, Montgomery O. L. M. Kelly, Folsom, Mrs. D. Hodges, all of Atlanta, and W. O. Gross, late of Carrollton, compose the editorial and local staff. It would be impossible to find a strong¬ er newspaper combination than Sam Small and Joe Carter. The Rev. Sam is a born newspaper man, a trained jour¬ nalist, and not to discredit liis profession of religion, in his natural sphere as no where else. His “Old Si” articles, well remembered by readers of his old Sunday Gazette and the Constitution, will be made a sparkle special feature of the new paper and his and dash go too. Joe Carter is the balance wheel of the concern, and his connection with it gives the paper a solidity which nobody else could contribute. «;hief Boattne Caught. San Francisco, July 17.—The Chron¬ icle’s FlagBtaff, (Ariz.) special says: Sheriff Francis and part of the posse who went out with him Sunday to ar¬ rest Indians at the Roddens cattle ranch, returned last night with Chief Hostine, leader of the band of Navajo renegades. The chief was surprised with only one buck, and taken in baste to the railroad station with several hundred Indians in pursuit. The escape was a narrow one. The remainder of the posse is surrounded by Indians at the ranch, and grave fears are entertained for their fafety.” A World 1 * Fair Building. Chicago, July 17.—Contracts have been awarded for the construction of the administration building of the world’s fair. The total cost of the building wifi be $27(1.462. THE LAW MUST BE OBEYED. Governor Buchanan ofTennetaee Talk* to the Miners. Nashvillk, Tenn., July 21.— Gov¬ ernor Buchanan and Col. Granaille Sevier left the city last nigpt for Briar Hill, where, yesterday morning, three hundred armed free laborers drove convicts and guards from the Tennes¬ see Coal and Mining company’s mine. During last evening Adjutant-Gen¬ eral Norman telegraphed the Lookout Mountain Guards and Moeriein Zouaves of Chattanooga, and the Knoxville Ritles to be in readiness. Captain Woodford replied for the Lookout Mountain Guards, saying that he would have forty-five men un¬ der arms. Captain Semmes of tbe Moeriein Zouaves answered, putting the number ot available men at forty. Captain Patton af the Knoxville Rifles said he had forty men under arms. Two extra coaches will he attached to the morning train out of Chattanooga The Stone River Guards and the Washington Artillery have been order¬ ed to he in readiness. Two thousand rounds of ammunition went down on the train with the governor last night. THE GOVERNOR ARRIVES. Knoxville, Tenn, July 16.—Late news last night from Briceville, the seat of the mining trouble, was very threatening. The miners had left their houieB and gathered at a rendezevous in the mountains where they were awaiting the advice of the leaders. This proved pacific and the night passed without trouble. Tnis morning at 9:25 Governor Buchanan and his adjutant-general, together with the mining and labor commissioner and three companies of the state guards, left this city for Briceville. At Coa) Creek, where a branch road leads off to Briceville, and itself a large mining center, large but orderly crowds assembled Bri'seville was reached at noon and the convicts were transferred to the stockade from which they had been liberated by the miners. The company from Chattanooga was thrown around on guard- Tho news was spread that Governor Buchanan would speak to the mini rs, and in an incredibly short time about a thous and people assembled. The governor was introduced by Eugene Merrill, an ex-convict and a most influential man among the miners. Governor Buchanan said that he had no speech to make, but would say to them that he did not make laws, but executed them, and “so help him God,” the law must be obeyed on this occasion. After Governor Buchanan’s talk Mr. Morrill made a speech from the stand point of the miners and amid great cheers. It is feared that the effect of the speech has in a large degree coun¬ teracted the presence of the governor. Merrill was followed by Farmers' Al- liauce men who scored the governor for bringing an armed force. After the speaking the crowd slowly dis¬ persed, bat it is evident the trouble is not over. Nothing in the way of vio¬ lence is expected to night, and may not be till after the militia Is with¬ drawn, but as soon as the troops leave it is almost certain that every convict on the mining district will be liberated by the miners and mountain men, all of whom are most efficiently armed. At a late night meeting action was deferred till to morrow, but all the miners in Tennessee and in the Ken¬ tucky districts near by have been •e- quested to come to Bricevilla Morgan aud tbe GntboUes. Washington, July 31.— Commission¬ er of Indian Affairs Morgan has out the relations between the Indian Bureau and the bureau of Catholic Indian missions in two with a sharp letter to Father Chappel, vice president of tbe bureau. Hereafter Commissioner Morgan will make contracts with Catholic Indian schools directly instead of through the bureau. This action of Commissioner Morgan that is condemned by Catholics, who say it is but a part of the poliev which he has avowed to get all Catholics out of the Indian school service. They represent much embarrassed Secretary by Noble as tieing very the action of the commissioner, and predict that Com¬ missioner Morgan will have to resign when the administration wakes up to ()he fact that it is impolitic to maintain wtiat they term the unjust discrim nation agauwt Catholics established by the commissioners. President Harrison, they say, will not be able to gloss over this religious proscription by personal courtesies to Cardinal Gibbons. A People’s Party Boom. Louisville, Ky., July 16.—At Pad¬ ucah yesterday the republican conven¬ tion decided not to nominate a candi¬ date for the state senate, but to support Graham, the People’s party candidate. In an interview there Jess Harper, the People’s party leader, said the purpose is to get a strong vote in Kentucky to show that the People’s party will receive the support of the farmers' alliance in the south. What Kentucky does, he be¬ lieves, will largely determine the ueee etihe#*!*?. One Dollar a Year. NO 27. Some Queer Exchangee. From the Voice. London boasts a weekly jonrnal with a weekly circulation through whose columns some queer exchanges are carried on. The following are taken at random: “Grandfather’s clock, oak case eight-day, good condition, 30 shillings cash, or wiill take half a dozen under¬ shirts. Apply to the Rev. Cleveland, Yorkshire.” “A handsome new dress is offered in exchange for a book-case, three feet high with glass doors; also a hall table and occasional chair.” “A sponge bath for sale cheap; have no further use for it;” The next line intensifies the humor of the preceding: 1 Will take half a dozen new dozen or a second-hand silk pocket handker¬ chiefs.” Half a dozen demands appear for boots. One gentleman, who signs “Ar¬ my Officer” says: “I have top-hunting boots, small eights, very good; will take a Stilton cheese or a dozen battles of sherry In exchange.” Now look at the next advertisement: “Wanted—New boots for a family of seven; good exchange given* or ar¬ rangements can be made for instruc¬ tion in bicycling and French.” “I am ill,” says a lady; “will any¬ body take my handsome, quite new, dark gray velvet bonnet from me? It cost me thirty-five shillings, or I will take two quarts of codliver oil, a pack¬ et of mustard plasters and 100 quinine pills in exchange.” And here is something unique: “Anything useful to the value of one pound will be gracefully accepted by a reformed young man who wishes to part with his dress-coat; plain cloth, new; would suit a person of five feet eight inches, with chest of thirty-seven inches; do not care about offers of jew¬ elry, billiard balls or cigars,” Will Religion Isn’t, From the Ram’s Horn. It isn’t going to church to see what the people wear, or to find fault with the preacher. It isn’t running in debt for things you don’t need and never pay for. It isn’t giving away a great deal of money publicly, simply that tbe people may speak well of you. It isn’t staying away from church when you know a special collection is to be taken. It isn’t leaving one church and join¬ ing another whenever you do not like the preacher. It isn’t reading bo many chapters a day, or saying one prayer over and over. It isn’t Bitting in the house and look¬ ing solemn, and refusing to eat any¬ thing cooked on Sunday. It isn’t putting all the big sound ap¬ ples on the top of the measure, and the little and rotten ones on the bottom. It isn't telling other people what to do in prayer-meeting, and letting the devil tell you what to do in business matters. It isn’t whipping your boy for smok¬ ing while you have a cigar in your own mouth. It isn’t telling the servant to say “not at home.” What Religion It. It is helping a man to reform when he is trying to. It is alleviating troubles of your fellow men and women. It is not repeating evil reports of your neighbors. It is giving kind words for abuse. It is acting the part of peace-maker. It is helping a fellow get a job when he needs it. It is keeping your word and promises. It is doing unto others as you would be done by. It is making allowances for other people’s It faults, knowing not the causes. is' telling tbe truth and shaming the devil. It is praying “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Gl as smalt era Combine. Pittsburg, Pa., July 21.— At a meet¬ ing of the tableglasa manufacturers of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia in this city to-day the plants were con- solidated, and an association formed under the name of the United State Glass Company. elected D. C. Ripley of this city comprises was thirteen president. The association ital $1,000,000. concerns with a cap¬ of The object of the com¬ bination is said to be to systematize and harmonize the workings of the several plants and secure such economy in cost as may result from consolidation of the interest. The headquarters will be in Pittsburg. Hart! in Arms. New York, July 21.—The steamship Alesa arrived here to-day from Jamaica and brought sensational news from Hayti. The purser of the steamer states that everything promises a gen¬ eral uprising. Hyppolyte has been ' slaughtering people in the streets right and left. It is understood that Legit¬ ime, who is at Kingston, has delegated an ex-offioer of the Atlas Steamship Company to acme to this city and pur¬ chase vaweta and war material.