TOWNS OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 687 



devoted to the education of orphan children, many hundre*ds of whom 

 have enjoj'ed its bount}'. There is, also, a lodge of Masons. The choicest 

 game, fish and o^^sters are abundant and cheap. Beef and mutton sell 

 at ten to twelve cents per pound ; eggs, twelve to fifteen cents per dozen ; 

 fowls, twenty to twenty-five cents. Stores rent from $100 to $500, and 

 dwellings from $60 to $300 per year. The building materials are heart 

 pine and brick ; the latter are manufactured in any quantity called for, 

 on Port's creek, eight miles from the town. The total value of all pro- 

 perty, real and personal, is stated at $800,000, and the annual taxes are 

 about $7,000. The town has no debt. 



One hundred and seventy -five sail of vessels, of from fifty to five hun- 

 dred tons burthen, and drawing six to thirteen feet of water, cross 

 Georgetown bar annually. There is regular communication with 

 Charleston and Cheraw by steamboat, and a line of eight three-masted 

 schooners ply regularly between this port and the coast towns. The 

 annual shipments are given as follows : 



1,500 bales cotton, valued at $ 75,000 



30,000 bbls. spirits turpentine 540.000 



170,000 bbls. rosin 510,000 



6,500,000 feet lumber, shingles and other stuff 300,000 



16,000 tierces of rice 560,000 



Total $1,885,000 



The yearly sales of goods is estimated as follows : 



Groceries and provisions $ 700,000 



Dry goods 300.000 



Hardware and miscellaneous . . 300,000 



Total $1,300,000 



There are three saw mills, capacity of 20,000 feet per day ; a shingle 

 mill, capacity 15,000 to 20,000 shingles per day ; an inexhaustible supply 

 of the finest cypress timber is at hand; it is furnished in blocks three 

 feet to five feet diameter, clear of knots, at five cents to seven cents per 

 cubic foot. A large rice-pounding mill has recently been established, 

 and the direct shipment of this grain to Northern ports is increasing. 

 Other manufactures are the preparation of naval stores, and of corn in 

 various forms, oak staves, &c. The average wages paid to laborers is 

 twenty-five cents to seventy-five cents a day, and for skilled labor, one 

 dollar to two dollars a day. 



