Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1871-02-06
Alexandria Gazette
TIE PErR1FIED FOREST OF CALIFORNIA.

TIE PErRIFIED FOREST OF CALIFORNIA
The ''Petriied Forest discovered near Calls
toga last June, or then first made known to
the general public, Is one of the wonders OF the
State. The name adopted by common usage
conveys an erroneous IMPRESSION Tor there Is no
forest nor any petritied tree in standing posi-
ton. There are parts OF u dozen petrlted trees
lying down, and scattered over an area about
three hundred yards square. The largest Is
five feet in diameter and about fifteen feet
long with nothing to indicate what became of
the remainder Of the tree In no case have
any petrihed branches or leaves been found nor
more than twenty feet of the trunk of any one
tree. The diameterS of the trunks very from
one foot to five feet the majority being over
two feet The petritication is complete. All
the woody fibre has disappeared and has been
replaced by Il grayish crystallzatlon that seems
to consist mainly of carbonate Of lime. The
grain of the wood is distinctly preserved in
appearance, and also in the tirmness OF erystall-
zation for the ,petrltactlons spllt. readily with
the grain, so that there is no difficulty in get
ting long and straight splinters. The ground
near the trunks is covered with large and small
spinters which person, Ignorant OF the VI
cnity Of petrifcations, would not suspect at
first sight to be Of any material but ordinary
wood discolored by the weather. Knot holes
and fractures are found in the stone, and occa
sionally holes lined with transparent crystals OF
carbonate Of lime.
One of the most singular features OF this
forest is that every stone trunk Is broken
across transvcrsely, and at every breake the
end is not so smooth as if sawn but more smooth
than a trunk broken in its vegetable condition
could bc The wood had certainly turned into
stone or been replaced by stone before the
trunk broke. But the pieces are usually short
not more than two or three feet long, and
the stone is strong, and piece twelve or fifteen
feet in length supported at the ends would pro-
badly mol break by its own weight. We DO
not know that any person has broken these
trunks by design, and we have no way OF ex-
planning the fractures except by supposing that
the trunks were petrifed while upright and
were afterward broken by falling. g.-From thr
ALA California.
DOUBLE FAMILY MONUMENTAL somewhat
curious change of domestic relations occurred
in the town Of Orange, in this State, some i've
or six years ago! Two young men, neighbors
and friends, had married two young and amla-
BILE women, and each couple had lived together
happily for few years, each having one or two
infant pledges of affection in the meantime
vouchsated to them. At the time spoken Of
six years ago-one Of these friends and his
friends wife took sick, and both died within
"
their life had secured adjoining lots in the
cemetery of the town, and when the decease OF
the parties mentioned took place, they were
buried in their respective lots, but in such
way that a monument could be erected be-
tween them.
Whether this was accidental or not, is not re-
lated About five months after the double de-
cease, however, the surviving male and female
representatives of both houses, somewhat to
the surprise of the neighbors, concluded to per-
petuate the former friendship by a closer al;
lance; in other words they got married, and
their wedding was splendid affair. After
tme-about three years ago-the united rep
resentatives of both houses concluded joint
arrangement to show their love Tor the dead,
by erecting a splendid marble monunent-thee
finest in the cemetery-on one of the faces of
which the name age and virtues of the dead
husband were set forth on the other face those
of the deceased wife We should think that 4
visit Of the living couple to the cemetary would
be somewhat embarrassing to each, though we
admit that it is difficult to say what is the state
of mind of people Of the peculiar taste they
evidently possess. Boston Traveller.