Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1873-11-04

$ Ill in search OF its hidden treasuh es.
Thirty or more crystals of remarkable
transparency aud beauty rewarded the
labors of The students; and withjoy they
held them up to the sunlight, aud adj
mired their varied colors of green, red,
white and yellow, of different shades,
They had, indeed, stumbled upon one
ct the richest and rarcst of Natures
laboratories. All around the brow of the
/ ledge, enormous masses of rose red
lepidolitc, splendid groups OF crystalized
quartz o! white and smoky hues, crys-
( tails OF tin, broad iuleW of glistening
mica. snowy flakes, studded with trans.
parent green anil red louImalines. lay
scattered about in prolus.on. Collecting
u many OF the choice and beautiful spec.
/ linens as they could carry, the students
heavily ladencd. returned to the village,
aud sought To ascertain the nature of
/ their mineral treasures. Subsequent eN-
animation indicated that the ledge was
/ perforated with cavities in which the
/ tuurmalines and other rare minerals had
been deposited 1t was also evident that
! lHc cry stalls that had been gathered up 10y
! the students had been sci free from their
cavities by the decomposition of indefinite
/ period, oi time, which bad removed the
surface OF the ledge. There WAS 10
evidence OF drift; and the crystals lay
. exposed upon the rock while the softer
material, had bccu washed los the rain
I d,Nu To- the base oi The ledge, and accu.
rau.atcdu, soil. Parts ol the ledge yet
exposed To view were fairly honey comb.
ed with small cNilic, and -oll spots.
where the Jccompo-iug ici>pai WAS
crumolmg away. Ia these cavities and
decay cd places in the rock. other tour.
m1iucs were obt.ined by breaking away
Tie edges 90, removing the d,compo-,d
stone
Two years alter the discovery tie
younger brothers of the di,coyerer Gurus
and Hannibal HsmIin. although scarcely
in their teens, resolved to make an NJ
tempt at % more complete exploration OF
the ledge Having borrowed some blast
mg tools in the village, they proceeded
to the hill. ard managed, in Il rough
way, To- drill lout or i've holes in the sur
lac, OF the ledge. aud blast out. These
operations. though ol trivial magnitude,
were attended with unlocked tor success,
Tor the explosions threw out, 10 the us
toui,hmeul of the boy, large quantities
OF bright co.ored lepidoiJe, broad io.ise
oil transparent mica, and masses a
quartz CRY stalls ul a variety OF hues.
The las, blast exposed decaled spot in
the edge, which yielded readily to the
tnrusis oi 4 sharpened stick or the poi",
OF the non d.ii.s. A. the surface wi,
removed, great numbers % minute Tour.
nia.incs were discovered in the decom.
posed icispar and lepidoiilc lhe rock
became softer as the boys proceeded IN
their labor OF excavation, aud soon they
reached large cavity ol two or more
bushels capacity. rhi, cavity, which
was situated IN the Eeart OF the solid ledge,
Was filled with substance which np
peared to bc sand. loosely packed.
Amongst TIN, sAad. or disiLtcgtated rock,
ca ,,a.s OF tourmliIue ol extraordinary
beauty Werr found scattered here and
there in the SOFT mAlriN. Scratching
aN-y with renewed energy, the boys
soon empticd Jhc pocket ul lis contents,
aul ,Vund that they nad obtained more
/ Than twenty splendid crystals Oi VaIIous
iurms aud uucs. One ct these WAS u
magnificent luu. naHuc Oi = TIch green
color aud IemarsaOie transparency. II
WAS more than TAO incut> aud q half in
/ llugth. ay nearly two inches IN diameter;
and uutn OF lis examinations We're nnely
/ tolmct, aGd were perfect. SeN eral 9th
ei, possessed eNtr1Ouiuary beauty, and
some OF them we're FUZZY three inches IN
ieusth. and an inch Ia diameter, The
color oi these tourm0hues welc qIlte
varied, sut were chiefly led aGd green,
,,uJ iar surpassed ia the purity aud rans-
/ pa.Uucl oI their hucs he crystals co.-
. .ecIcI Oy Elijah ilam.!E IN his previous
examination ot ,ue locality. The exact
number oi cry stalls obtained l. not now
/ knuWn; but when collected together,
with the fragments OF others. lhoy filled
basket OF nearly tSo quarts capacity.
! Besides the tOurmaliness. the quantity oi
| lcpidoiuc, mica, aud other choice miner,
ais. thrown out 10y Toe blasts. OF found in
the sides OF the cavity, was so great, that
the boys were obliged to seek tor an OK
team 10 transport them home. So little
w;ss known OF the value OF these rare
minerals at that time, that the possesogs
considered the finest oil their treasures 10
be worth about guinea. Cyrus had
learned from I.s brother + jah, who was
then living in the eastern part OF the
safe, the names Of some European min
eralogists who had made inquiries OF him
concerning The discovery Of Mt. Mica
and the disposition ol lis minerals. With
some Of these he placed himself iu com.
muuicalion and hom time TO time diSpos
ed OF nearly all OF The finest of the crys
tails in exchange for money or minerals.
Cryus afterwards movedto Texas, where