AIKEN  , a

city and the county-seat of Aiken county, South Carolina, U.S.A., 17 M . E.N.E. of Augusta, Georgia . Pop . (189o) 2362; (1900) 3414 (2131 of negro descent); (1910) 3911 . It is served by the Southern railway, and by an electric line connecting with Augusta . Aiken is a fashionable winter resort, chiefly frequented by Northerners, and is pleasantly situated about 500 ft. above sea level in the heart of the famous sand-hill and pine-forest region of the state . The dry and unusually equable temperature (mean for winter 50° F., for spring 570 F., and for autumn 64° F.) and the balmy air laden with the fragrance of the pine forests have combined to make Aiken a health and pleasure resort; its climate is said to be especially beneficial for those afflicted with pulmonary diseases . There are fine hotels, club houses and cottages, and the Palmetto Golf Links near the city are probably the finest in the southern states; fox-hunting, polo, tennis and shooting are among the popular sports . There are some excellent drives in the vicinity . The city is the seat of the Aiken Institute (for whites) and the Schofield Normal and Industrial School (for negroes) . There are lumber mills, cotton mills and cotton-gins; and cotton, farm products and artificial stone are exported . Considerable quantities of aluminium are obtained from the kaolin deposits in the vicinity .

The city's

water supply is obtained from artesian wells . Aiken was settled in the early part of the Igth century, but was not incorporated until 1835, when it was named in honour of William Aiken (1806-1887), governor of the state in 1844-1847, and a representative in Congress in 1851-1857 .