The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1867-05-02
A Handful Of Sand.

page perchance volume in the
worlds history. Every tiny rill and
rivulet which pours its waters through
ravine and valley, to lose itself at last in
some passing river, brings with it,
slowly but surely, grain by grain, speci-
meps of the rocks and deposits over
which its waters have for ages worn
their way. Each winter food and sum.
rner storm lends its aid to break down,
disintegrate, and drift away the detritus
brought down by the ever tretting, ever
wearing, influence of running water
If you doubt as to the geological
formation Of distant hills and inaccessi-
bic mountains, consult handful of sand
from the nearest brook flowing from
them, and much light will be thrown on
the subject by the Investigation To
examine sand, it has been my custom,
after washing and drying it, to lay a
well-mixed portion, say of the size of
q shilling, over sheet of clean white
paperi to fiatten out the pile until the
particles are evenly distributed, and
then with my pocket lens to scan them
carefully. The boundless treasures so
long buried in the wide valleys of Cali
fornia might have remained at rest and
undiscovered to this day had not sand
disclosed the golden secret, and thus it
was diyulged. One Capt. Sutter, an old
soldier of the American Republic, had
settled in the valley of the Sacramento,
laid out farm, built mill, and regu-
larly established himself 1t was found
that the ''race" constructed to carry off
the water which had passed the wheel
was not deep enough for its purpose
It was therefore decided that the whole
water-power should be turned on, and
allowed to rush through, and deepen it.
The pent-up torrent not only did the
duty it was called on to perform, but
oyerfowed the banks, carrying turf
sticks, stones, and sand far over the
meadows. As the water drained of,
and the sun shone out, the white quartz
particles glittered like a thousand dia-
monds, and handful was gathered by
one Of the Captains people, when the
yellow grains as well as white were dis
covered, examined, and found to be gold.
How the human tide flowed in endless
thFongs to the new El Dorado, and how
splendid cities sprang into being where,
few months before, herdsman's fire
and O lean wol6sh-looking dog or two
were the only signs Of occupation, need
not be dwelt on here, as they are mat
ters Of history. Hargraves, too, tempt.
ed by the golden prospects held out in
the new lands, quilted Australia, and
joined the gold-seekers in California.
There the rocks and drifts struck him
IS being so much like those which he
had left behind, that he, like Whiting
ton, retraced his steps, visited the
riyer-bed near his own home, gathered
sand which told him the great gold
secret, and unlocked the vast Golfers OF
the Antipodes. Many other highly val
liable alluvial gold and diamond wash
ings are dependent on, and have been
discovered by the drifting sand borne
ever onward by the giant strength
of water. So vast and irresistible is
that strength, that huge boulders which,
when the river-bed Is dry, the reeds
withered aud yellow, and the water
plants crumbled up like parched tobacco
leaves, look as though no earthly power
could stir them from their beds, are
rolled pell-mell over aud against each
other by winter floods or "sprates" of
molten snow that thunder down from
distant mountains.
Each Of these water-worn blocks
lends its contribution to our "handful
of sand" The mineral veins and quartz
reefs traversed and intersected by tho
crushing mass are laid bare, pulverized
Is by mighty mill, and ground into
particles and fragments little more than
sand. These, with other atoms worn
from the bed of the torrent over which
the abrading masses have passed, arc
borne onward, and settle for time, 40
cording to their gravity and size, to be
again disturbed, carried onward, re.
deposited, shaken about, fretted, round
ed, and again crushed. Your veritable
''rolling stone" gathers no moss, indeed,
but obtains, like many waits and strays
on the stream Of life, q particularly
smooth surface instead. Onward aud
ever onward journeys our sand, forming
at times "bars" across rivers and the
mouths Of harbors, sitting up lakes---a
process now going onin that OF Geneva
blocking up channels, forming "sinks"
for whole rivers to disappear IN, aud, in
fact doing its part TO bring about many
Of the changes which tho Earth's crust
isalways undergoing. On tho burning
desert and amongst tho sterile dunes,
sand holds high festivals and we'll do
know, from painful experience, what a
tyEant he Is, when whirling aloh like
some huge pillar, curlingrouDd in may
spiral, onward march, the sand storm Is
upon us, aud we bow our heads in meek
~..t...saItan Ms.k.,... H.