New Mineral Boom?
Beaufort's phosphate may be north
more than all the rest of our min¬
erals together.
By FRED KELLY
HOW MILDRED LEARNED
TO READ
(Continued from
раке
9)
Phonics enjoyed a period of popu¬
larity in ihe schools of North Carolina
and the nation. It was challenged again
by the word method in 1 90S, and
suffered a decline in the 1920‘s. It
began to come into favor again in
the 1940’s, at least as a supplement
to other methods. In recent years,
the extraordinary popularity of Why
Johnny Can't Read and the number of
phonic texts that are being published
— three appeared in the period from
January' to July, 1962 — indicates a
revival of the method Edward Moses
called "something toward smoothing
. . . the rugged path that leads into
the green fields of literature."
LATE. BUT GOOD, SEASON
FOR TRAVEL
(Continued from page 8)
acrovs the street. So did Pat Dickicson and
hi* fabulous table at Cottage Inn.
On up the ridge at Highlands, the report
was the same. Mary Gardner. C of C secre¬
tary. said Highlands had more people than
ever before. We confirmed this with Martha
Goode, publisher of The Highlander, and
with lid Potts, civic leader. But there was
a difference up here. No one complained
about a slow June; the season started early
and lasted late. In spite of the fact that
Dick Lee has added around 50 units to his
Lee’s Inn. he stayed full most of the year.
On September 14. the day we checked with
Frank Cook, his Highlands Inn was full,
and had been all season.
Down the mountain reports were good,
but not that good. Sapphire Valley Inn had
good week-end crowds this season. II. D.
Cosby’s Lake Toxaway Inn. after a slow
start, had capacity business through July
and August.
Brevard
Brevard reported a record season. Jimmy
Gaither’s restaurant showed a 22 per cent
increase. Opening of the Parkway from
Pisgah Forest Inn all the way to the Smokies
increased traffic in this area. Leslie Kirsch-
ner. up at the Inn. which is at the present
northern terminus of the Parkway, reported
larger business, especially in his dining room
at lunch.
But Mrs. Lucy Ford, Brevard Chamber of
Commerce secretary, said Brevard’s 1963
boom really started in January, due to ex¬
pansion in industry and the building of the
new tracking station near Rosman. Release
of money for construction, more employ¬
ment, and the coming and going of people
involved in the various expansion programs
have contributed to a year of prosperity
for Transylvania County.
Hendersonville
Hendersonville reports were mixed. Some
places said business was about the same as
last year. But Jack Miller at Echo Inn had
his best season since he took over the place
four years ago. When we were there on
September 12. he had a full house, which
we thought was unusual for that time of
C»r. Hendersonville’s cnd-of-scason festival
noring the apples was a resounding
success, so far as traffic was concerned.
THE STATE. DECEMBER 7. 1963
Phosphorus — a product of phos¬
phate rock — was discovered in 1 669
by Hcnnig Brandt of Hambcrg. Ger¬
many, according to the Florida Phos¬
phate Council’s publication Phosphate,
Florida's Hidden Messing. He called it
“Phosphorus" a Greek word meaning
"light bearer."
The recent interest shown in the de¬
posit of phosphate rock in the beds
of the Pamlico and Pungo rivers in
Beaufort County has aroused curiosity
as to how these deposits were formed.
There arc several theories about the
beginnings of phosphate. One of the
most widely accepted is that primitive
rock contained small amounts of a
mineral known as tri-calcium fluo-
phosphatc. Exposed to the elements
over vast periods, the rock weathered
and was washed into streams. Even¬
tually most of the minerals were dis¬
solved and their elements, including
phosphorus, became part of the ocean.
The discovery of phosphate in the
beds of the Pamlico and Pungo rivers
recalls that the first discovery in Florida
in 1X80 of phosphate pebbles and fos¬
sil bones was in Peace River south of
Fort Meade. 'Ihe area now known as
Florida has been entirely covered by-
water several times. Each time, as the
land emerged, large lakes and pools
remained. Chemical and possibly bac¬
terial action resulted in the formation
of phosphate particles of various si/cs.
Geologists say these phosphate beds
originated in the late Miocene or
Pilioccne Age.
It is also well established that some
of Florida’s phosphate came from the
remains of marine animals, including
sharks and manatees or sea cows. Con¬
tinuing to quote: "Phosphorus is an
irreplaceable ingredient in all complete
plant foods." When a farmer buys a
complete fertilizer it is usually desig¬
nated by numbers for example: 8-
10-12. The first figure refers to Nitro¬
gen. The middle figure refers to acid
phosphate and the third figure to
potash.
The estimated volume of future
tonnage moving from Eastern North
Carolina may be arrived at by com¬
paring it with the present movement
from the Port of Tampa, where at
least one foreign vessel is loaded daily.
Geologists, by using borings from well
drillings estimate that more than ten
billion tons of phosphate lie below the
farmlands and rivers of Beaufort
County.
Л
U. S. (icological survey of
Beaufort County has pinpointed one
of the world's largest phosphate re¬
serves. It is expected to create a S25
million a-ycar industry within a few
years.
Two firms. Texas Gulf Sulphur Com¬
pany and Magnet Cove Barium Cor¬
poration already have begun pilot
operations in the County. The study
found phosphate deposits beneath 7(H)
square miles of land. They ranged in
thickness from a feather edge at Wash¬
ington to 120 foot thickness in the
northeastern part of the County. State
Geologist Dr. Jasper L. Stuckey’s pre¬
liminary study, recently released, esti¬
mates that by 1970 the phosphate in¬
dustry in Beaufort County will surpass
the present $52-million-dollar-a-year
value of all other mineral industries in
North Carolina.
Phosphate ores are not the first min¬
erals in the waters of Eastern North
Carolina which have attracted atten¬
tion. At one time or another E. I.
duPont Company and others have been
interested in underwater deposits of
titanium ores, although they are not
active at the present time. Incidentally
the duPonts arc mining these same
titanium bearing minerals in Florida,
which contain monazitc. zircon, garnet,
etc. It is generally accepted that many
of these minerals were carried to
Florida from weathered crystalinc
rocks, originating in the mountains of
North Carolina, being washed down to
the sea by the rivers and finally set¬
tling in the shore-line of Florida. The
same minerals arc being found
by Rockhounds every day in various
parts of the tourist section of Western
North Carolina.
17