Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/310

 288 SOUTH CAKOLINA Union, Spartanburg, Greenville, Pickens, Anderson, Abbeville, and Edgeh'elcl ; bismuth in Chesterfield and Lancaster ; plumbago in Spartanburg ; soapstone in Fairfield, Chester, York, Spartan- burg, Laurens, Greenville, Pickens, Abbeville, and Edgefield ; coal in Chesterfield and Marlboro. Limestone abounds in nearly all the upper counties, but chiefly in Laurens and Spartanburg. The finest blue and grey granite is found in the middle and upper sections ; sandstone, burrstone, and flagstone in Edgefield, Pickens, York, and Fairfield. Pottery and porcelain clay, quartz, and sand for glass exist in many places. Tuoraey states that " the aluminous formations that occur in immense beds of the finest porcelain clay are often exposed by the denuding effects of -water and lie in rich strata upon the very surface, ready to the hand of the manufacturer. Between Aiken and Graniteville the beds are in many cases 60 feet thick, while those in the Savannah river near Hamburg are from 10 to 15 feet and of unsurpassed purity." The Aiken council committee report in this vicinity immense beds of different kinds of clay, from the purest and whitest kaolin to the dark-coloured mud of which bricks are made, sands of all hues, some as fine as flour, others with large coarse crystals, siliceous earths of many kinds, ferru- ginous sandstones, conglomerate shell, burrstone, mica, feldspar, and ochres of different colours. But a short distance off a deposit of magnesia is found, and potash can readily be made in the surrounding forests. Experts have pronounced the sands to be admirably adapted for making glass and crystal, and the quality of the kaolin is admitted to be equal, if not superior, to that of which Staffordshire ware is made. It is doubtful if the combina- tion of the ingredients of glass and earthenware can be found in such immediate proximity anywhere else. Mineral springs exist in several of the upper counties. Railways. Railroads are on the increase. The South Carolina Railway, between Charleston and Augusta, Ga., was, at the time of its com- pletion, the longest continuous railroad in the -world. In- Manufactures are growing in importance ; chief among them are dustries. cotton yarn and cloth, flour, lumber, turpentine, and fertilizers. The capacity of twenty-nine mills now in operation is estimated at 14,821,166 ft of yarn, 79,442,327 yards of cloth, and the value of product $9,097,464. In 1880 there were 82,324 spindles and 1676 looms; in 1884 195,112 spindles and 3652 looms. The number of lumber mills at work is 729, employing 5894 hands and a capital of $2,920,870. The value of their annual production is $5,592,565. Of turpentine stills there are 291, with 6991 hands and a capital of $1,454,800, with an annual production to the value of $2,912,271. These figures show an increase of 100 per cent, in less than four years. The fertilizers are valued at $3,346,400, and the miscellaneous manufactures at $2,114,680. The whole value of manufactured products was in 1860 $8,615,195; in 1870, $9,858,981; in 1880, $16,738,008; in 1884, $32,324,404. South Carolina phosphates are of recent date, but their importance may be shown by stating that they pay yearly, by direct taxation, an amount for royalty which is 20 per cent, of the whole income of the State. The value of this rock was first pointed out by Mr Jonathan Lucas, a planter, who afterwards materially assisted in developing its usefulness. The first company, the Charleston South Carolina Mining and Manufacturing Company, was formed in 1867. There are now fourteen land and eleven river mining companies with capital ranging from $10,000 to $200,000. In addition to these there are a number of individuals who are licensed by the State to mine in the navigable streams, employing an estimated capital of about $50,000. The total amount of phosphate rock mined and shipped in 1868-70 was 20,000 tons; in 1871, 50,000 tons ; in 1875, 115,000 tons ; in 1880, 190,000 tons ; and in 1883, 355,000 tons, the total since 1868 being 2,290,000 tons. Of this amount 1,078,070 tons were river and 1,211,830 land rock. The capital invested in the former is $525,000, and 649 hands are employed (wages $259,300), with an annual production of $907,170 ; in the latter the corresponding figures are capital $1,980,000, hands 1286, wages $363, 560, production $1,283,830. The six gold-mining counties report eleven mines in operation, employing 600 hands, with a capital of $440,000 and an annual production of $90,000. The same counties report eighteen gold mines or gold-bearing areas not now worked ; one of the mines has a capital of $40,000. Ten counties report quarries or kaolin beds. Worked and unworked, there are twenty-five granite quarries, five kaolin beds, and one soapstone quarry. There are also in the State large unworked deposits of mica, pyrites, corundum, and marl, with some silver. The quarries and kaolin works, with a capital of $96,350, have an annual production of $220,000. The upland cotton crop of 1883 was 468,227 bales of 400 ft. The corn area was 1,359,593 acres, and the production 10,876,744 bushels. 321,958 acres in oats yielded a crop of 4,187,082 bushels. Of wheat (182,215 acres) the yield was 1,388,731 bushels. The rice crop of 1883-84 was 33,600 tierces. The sea-island cotton crop was 9500 bags. This last, as well as the small grain and subsidiary crops, has suffered a decline in the last few years of 25 to 35 per cent. The proportions of white and coloured labour in the State are about 30 per cent, and 70 per cent, respectively. The rate of wages paid is from $8 to $9 a month for men and $6 for women, with board. About 23 per cent, of white women and children work on the farms, and about 61 per cent, of the coloured. The systems used are the contract, in which services rendered are paid by giving the labourer the use of the land and house, or where the wages are paid monthly, or a portion monthly and the remainder at the end of the year ; and the tenant system, in which the labourer rents the land, and from the crop pays the landlord the rent and for the use of the animals. Land varies in price from 50 cents for pine barren to $100 for choice farming land. Horses and mules are raised at very little cost. Ordinary scrub Live cattle are seldom housed, roaming the forests at will, except when stocli herded for branding or for driving to market. Sheep thrive away from the salt, and are profitable in the mountains. Hogs, not improved breeds, like cattle, have the liberty of the woods, and are taken with dogs when needed. According to estimates of im- proved stock, there are 792 Jerseys, 177 Ayrshires, 50 Devons, 33 Holsteins, 1 Guernsey, besides a number of Shorthorns and Brahmins. Merino, South Down, Oxford Down, and Broad-Tail sheep are raised in many parts of the State, with Essex and Berkshire hogs. Free schools trace their origin as far back as 1710. A system Educa- of free schools was inaugurated in 1811. The present public- tion. school system was established in 1868. It provides free instruction to pupils of both races, in primary and intermediate grades. Their management is under the direction of the State board of examiners, consisting of the State superintendent of education, and four other persons appointed by the governor. In each county the school commissioner is elected by the people for two years. The schools are supported entirely by taxation. There are 3562 public schools in the State. The number of persons in the State between the ages of six and sixteen is 281,664, of whom 51,440 are white males, 49,749 white females, 90,897 coloured males, 89,578 coloured females. The number of pupils enrolled is 178,023 (41,819 white males, 36,639 females, 48,418 coloured males, 51, 147 females). The number of male white teachers em- ployed is 1137, females 1205 ; coloured males 982, females 449, making a total of 3773. There arc 3562 public schoolhouses, valued at $405,097.31. Institutions for higher education, sup- ported by the State, are the South Carolina College and South Carolina Military Academy for white males, and the Claflin College for coloured persons of both sexes. There is an institution for the education of the deaf, dumb, and blind. There are, besides, numerous private schools and colleges. Churches of all denominations multiplied in the State during the Religion, colonial period, and subsequently Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, and French Protestants established congre- gations in Charleston just after 1680. Methodists and Romanists came a century later, Jews in 1756, German Lutherans in 1759. The coloured people are for the most part Methodists, some being Baptists and Presbyterians, a few Episcopalians. CHARLESTON (q. v. ) is the largest city of the State. COLUMBIA Cities. (q.v. ), the capital, has (1886) a population of 20,000, while that of Charleston is 60,000. Greenville, in the north-west portion of the State, is a growing railway centre and manufacturing city, with a population of 10,000. Georgetown and Beaufort on the coast do a good shipping business in lumber and other exports. Spartanburg and Aiken are important places, the former as a railway centre, the latter as a health resort for invalid strangers in winter, when the population is more than doubled. Other towns are Newberry, Orangeburg, Florence, Camden, Sumter, Graniteville, Chester, Anderson, Abbeville, Winnsboro, Yorkville, Union, Cheraw, Wal- halla, Piedmont, Port Royal, Marion, Darlington, Lancaster. The executive department consists of a governor, lieutenant- Govern- governor, who is ex officio president of the senate, comptroller- ment. general, treasurer, secretary of state, attorney-general, and a superintendent of education ; these are elected by the people, to serve two years. The legislative department embraces a senate and a house of representatives, which together are called the general assembly. The former is composed of thirty-seven members, elected for four years, one from each county, except Charleston, which sends two. The house of representatives consists of 124 members, elected for two years. The judicial department consists of a supreme court and of circuit, probate, and justices' courts. The supreme and circuit court judges are elected by the general assembly, the former for six years, the latter for four. The probate judges for each county are elected by the people, and the j ustices of the peace are appointed by the governor. The first attempt to settle Carolina was in 1562, when Admiral History. Coligny obtained from Charles IX. of France permission to plant a colony of Protestants on the coast of Florida. An expedition was fitted out at the expense of the crown, and placed under the command of Jean Ribault. Fear of the Spaniards perhaps induced them to change their plans, and, entering Port Royal, they landed on Lemon Island, where they erected a pillar, and afterwards a fort, which they named, in honour of the king, Arx Carolina. Leaving a sufficient number to garrison the fort, Ribault returned to France. Two years later a second expedition under Laudonniere,